Chapter 2 – Chicken Alfredo

Don Flack looked up from his notebook and broke into a grin as Jo ducked under the crime scene tape, thanked the officer on duty and walked towards them. She looked radiant. "Morning Jo."

"Morning Don, what have you got for me?"

The latest addition to the crime lab had a voice that had a lovely lilting quality to it and her smile made his day. Don missed Stella but he had to admit that Jo Danville was a breathe of fresh air and he had noticed that he wasn't the only one who thought so. Mac Taylor may have the perfect poker face but his eyes were a dead give-away and he certainly couldn't keep them off his new colleague. Don suppressed a smirk contemplating the possibilities as he watched Jo. She gazed down at the fair-haired young man laid on the side-walk, his arms flung out to his sides and his chest caked in blood. A look of sorrow passed over her features. That was always something that impressed Don, how she always took a moment to look at their victim, not as a victim but as a person. He gave her a moment. "That looks like a big calibre," she commented finally.

Sheldon Hawkes looked up at her from his position kneeling at the far side of the body. "Yup. At least a 44. Punched straight through his sternum. Helluva mess. Sid's going to have fun getting the fragments from that bullet. I wouldn't hold out for much from ballistics." His face was grim. Jo twisted round and looked at the alley, the most obvious location for the shooter to have been standing. The alley was deserted and, oddly for New York, relatively unencumbered from human detritus. A large green dumpster stood to one side next to a jumble of empty cardboard boxes. The only untidiness was an abandoned bag of groceries. Jo arched an eyebrow at the incongruity.

"Shot came from the alley. No witnesses." Don pointed to the dry cleaners. "Owner said he heard the shot and looked out but there was no one in sight. Just our vic lying here. He panicked and went straight back in and called 911. He's still refusing to come out ..." Don rolled his eyes. "... even though I told him the shooter was long gone."

"Do we have an ID on our vic?"

"Yeah." Sheldon lifted a wallet and an ID card in a clear plastic bag. "Justin Myers. 33. Works as a night security guard at Walsh and Bennett."

Don pointed his pen down the street. "Their offices are just around the corner. Looks like he was just coming off his shift." Jo nodded. "There's something you need to see." Don nodded towards the alley.

Sheldon rose and walked with them. They paused fifteen feet into the alley just next to the dumpster and the bag of groceries strewn across the tarmac. Several tomatoes were scattered around, a squashed one lay next to a tin of anchovies, a packet of mozzarella and some pepperoni. Jo pulled on a glove and picked up a slip of paper. "A shopping list. Neat writing. Hello Kitty paper. Looks like a child's. They've spelt pepperoni wrong." She looked at the groceries and then back at the guard. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked, a slightly sick feeling entering her stomach.

Sheldon nodded. "Our vic was walking past, saw something he shouldn't …?"

Don huffed. "... and gets shot for his trouble." Don turned to where their security guard was lying. "Kid with the groceries was here. Our vic turns up. Maybe shouts a challenge. Shooter turns and ..." He raised his hand and mimicked firing a shot. Sheldon pulled out a flash-light and started examining the ground sweeping the light back and forth.

"It's hard to tell whether they left on foot or in a vehicle. No obvious sign of tire marks. Might be able to pick up latent treads."

Jo nodded and looked around. "Other than the groceries, there doesn't look to be any signs of a struggle." She stepped over to the dumpster and peered inside wrinkling her nose at the foetid smell. There were just a few black rubbish sacks. She dropped the lid and pulled at one of the boxes piled up next to it. "Wait, there's another grocery bag back here." She pushed the box to one side as she retrieved the bag. Don appeared by her side holding it for her as she explored the contents. "Looks fresh … Oh no …" she whispered, the colour draining from her face.

"Jo?" Don looked at her oddly not understanding why the contents of the bag which contained cream cheese, pasta, zucchini, broccoli, bell peppers and chicken should shock her so. "What is it?"

"Chicken Alfredo"

"Huh?" Sheldon stepped up to look into the bag also surprised by her reaction.

"He said it was his speciality."

"Jo?" Don repeated but she just stared at the bag with wide eyes. He began to get a bad feeling. "Jo!" He was shocked when she looked up at him with fear in her eyes.

"Mac. He said he was going to make me Chicken Alfredo. For dinner tonight," she whispered.

Neither man was able to say anything. They looked at the bag. They looked at Jo. "It's probably just a coincidence," muttered Sheldon not wanting to believe what Jo and his eyes were telling him. Don pulled out his phone and hit a key. He listened for a moment and then grimaced.

"Mac call me as soon as you get this." He pulled the phone from his ear and stared at it as though it had made a mistake. "It's going to voice-mail," he said uselessly. He opened his mouth to speak, to say that this was just a coincidence like Sheldon had said but the words wouldn't come. His mind was working overtime. Mac lived three blocks away. He looked at the grocery bag with it's logo. Mac would have shopped there. It was on the next block. Sheldon pulled his eyes away from the groceries and peered at the pile of boxes. Leaning over he stuck in an arm and pulled out what appeared to be two dark suits in plastic wrapping. A muscle twitched in his jaw as he lifted them for Jo and Don to see. There was no doubt. They all recognized the suits. Don stared at them shaking his head. Mac used that cleaners. Don knew that for a fact. He had often dropped Mac off at the store. "What the hell is going on?"

Before anyone could say anything a commotion back on the street attracted their attention. A uniformed officer was trying to restrain a large woman with a mop of curly dark blond hair tied back in a scarf from ducking under the crime scene tape. She was waving her arms and even from that distance they could hear the anguish in her voice. They caught the words "girl … missing … called" Automatically they turned and headed towards the woman.

Don's long legs took him faster than Jo and Sheldon who paused to put down the grocery bag and the dry-cleaning. "Brent, it's okay." Don's voice was hard as he addressed the officer. "Ma'am, I'm Detective Flack, can I help you?"

The woman looked panicked. "Please, you have to help me. My little girl ... my foster daughter … Stacy. She's missing. She went out to get groceries and she ran into my neighbour. They were going to Flora's the florists on the corner but she still hasn't returned and she's not answering her phone." She looked past Don at the man lying on the street, her eyes wide with fear and then at Jo and Sheldon and then at the tomatoes lying in the street. She looked pleadingly at Don.

Don swallowed and cleared his throat trying to quell the panic. "Ma'am, what is the name of the neighbour you said Stacy ran into?"

"Mac. Mac Taylor. He's a policeman too. Do you know him?"

Don's stomach did a somersault as he heard Jo's gasp behind him. He nodded to Brent to let her through. The young officer lifted the tape and Don steered her away from the body and the crowd that was gathering to see what was going on. Brent did his best to move them on. "What's your name?"

"Alice Graham. What's going on? Do you know where Stacy is? They're all right aren't they?" Alice looked around at the three of the them.

"Alice this is Jo Danville and Sheldon Hawkes from the crime lab. They work with Mac. Can you tell us exactly what happened this morning?" Don saw her hesitate. "It's really important."

"We're having pizza night and Stacy went to get groceries ..."

"Tomatoes, anchovies, pepperoni, mozzarella?" asked Sheldon.

"Yes, how do you ..." Alice broke off as she looked into the alley. "That's her bag isn't it?" Jo nodded and held up the list. Alice stifled a cry and placed a hand over her mouth as she saw the paper with it's Hello Kitty logo. "I shouldn't have let her go on her own but she's thirteen and she needed to be trusted … it was only two blocks ... I shouldn't have let her go." Alice's voice trembled and she took a deep breath unable to continue.

Jo placed a hand on her arm and did her best to look reassuring despite feeling exactly the opposite. "I understand. I have a daughter of a similar age too."

Alice smiled gratefully. "She sent me a text to say she'd met Mac – he lives on the floor above us – and that she was going to Flora's to help him choose flowers for his girlfriend." Don and Sheldon's eyebrows rose at this and slowly they turned to look at Jo who was doing all she could to avoid looking at them. However, this was hardly the time or the place for that particular question so they turned back to Alice as she continued. "She really loves flowers. She wants to be a florist when she leaves school. At first I didn't worry as she was with Mac. I thought perhaps she had gone to arrange them for him but I called to see what was taking so long and she didn't answer so I called at Mac's but there was no answer there either. So I came down to see if I could find her. It's been almost an hour " She looked at all three, tears glistening in her eyes. "Please tell me what's happened. They're not ..."

"No." Jo said firmly refusing to allow anyone to go there. "No. We don't know where they are. Do you recognize this man?" Jo pointed to their security guard. Alice stepped over to look nervously down at him but shook her head. "His name is Justin Myers," added Jo to see if the name meant anything. She shook her head again. There was no flicker of recognition.

"Mrs Graham?" began Sheldon.

Alice turned away from the body and brushed at her eyes, clearly trying to compose herself "Alice, please."

Sheldon smiled. "Alice, could you give me Stacy's phone number. I'm going to get a colleague of ours to trace their phones."

Alice nodded and handed over her cell phone. Sheldon could see that her number was already on screen ready to be called at the touch of a button. Jo and Don leaned over to see a photograph of a pretty girl with a thin, pale face, and long, straight, dark brown hair. The dark eyes that stared out at them seemed sadder and wiser than those of a girl barely into her teens but she had a tiny ghost of a smile on her lips that was oddly reminiscent of Mac's. "That was taken when she came to us a few months ago. She's put on a little more weight since then." She could hold it back no longer. Alice Graham burst into tears.

"We're going to do everything we can to find Stacy." Jo smiled at Alice putting her arm around her.

Alice nodded trying hard to hold back her tears. "I know. I know you are." She looked at their faces. She could tell they were trying to hide their concern. "It will be all right. Mac will look after her. He's a good man." No one was sure who she was trying to convince more, herself or them.