Stitch by Jaime Lewis
Chapter Eighteen
Detective McDonnell stood at the water’s edge of the Hudson River while divers brought a woman’s body ashore. Police had been alerted after a business nearby heard a woman screaming and called 911. After searching the surrounding area, personal effects were recovered along the road leading to one of the piers, triggering a water search. New Jersey police believed the personal items recovered belonged to the victim. Since the driver's license showed the possible victim had a Queens address, he had been called to the scene. Ironically, when he received the call, he was already in his vehicle heading that way to have a look around the area where Agent Larkin had found Mia.
“Do we know who owns the surrounding warehouses?” He asked one of the officers. The officer looked at his notepad.
“One belongs to a Seafood distribution company. Another belongs to a custom t-shirt and screen printing shop. The one behind you is registered to a veterinarian EJW in Manhattan. To your right, with the grey brick is a cleaning supply distributor, and the building one over with the mural of the mermaid painted on the front belongs to a clothing distributor in Europe.”
The officer looked to have another four or five businesses listed, but only one piqued his interest. “Do you have a name for the veterinarian?”
The officer shook his head. “Not here, but I can get it for you.”
“That would be great.”
McDonnell couldn’t shake the odd feeling he had right now. It made his gut twist. He would bet money that the EW in the name belonged to Elijah Walters. Why would a veterinarian in Manhattan have a warehouse across the river?
Just then, his phone rang, and he excused himself. “McDonnell.”
“Detective, this is Ace, Mia’s brother. Look, I’m sorry to bother you, but Alex just informed me of something that I think you’ll want to hear.”
“Go ahead.”
“We just left Dr. Walters’ office. Alex didn’t want to bring attention to it at the time, but while we were there, Alex spotted Mia’s hoodie lying on Dr. Walters’ sofa in his office.”
Since Mia worked at the clinic, the detective really didn’t see what the big hoopla would be about that. He understood Ace’s sense of urgency in wanting to catch the person responsible for what happened to his sister, but he needed to sit back and think through the details before throwing out accusations, although now with the Dr.’s warehouse in the close vicinity of a murdered woman, maybe it wasn’t an accusation.
“She does work there, Ace. Could be she left it there.”
“It’s the same hoodie she was wearing the night she was abducted.”
McDonnell felt his body vibrate with excitement. This could be the smoking gun they were looking for. He walked away from the crowd of people for a little more privacy.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. Mia said it was taken from her. Alex recognized it because she was the one who bought the hoodie for Mia last year.”
The detective took a deep breath and released it. With this new information, along with the murder situation unfolding in front of him, he was pretty sure he could get a search warrant executed.
Detective McDonnell caught some of the other detectives discussing something then start walking towards him.
“This is huge news, Ace. I’m currently working an investigation right now. Let me give you a call back when I get back to the office as I may have some additional information to share with you.”
“Yeah, sure. Thanks.”
McDonnell disconnected the call and ran a hand down his face. He knew something was up with the doctor. Especially with the crew he had working for him. He approached the group of officers.
“What do ya got?”
“One of the witnesses just returned and gave us a description of a tan sedan they saw leaving the area around the time they heard the screams. They even got a plate number. We called it in, and it came back to a shell corporation backed by Demitri Barros.” The hairs on the back of Detective McDonnell’s neck stood up. He knew the name very well. Every law enforcement agency had tried unsuccessfully to have him thrown in jail on various organized crime charges, but with a team of good lawyers with inside connections, the charges never stuck. Demitri and Elijah were close associates. Were those two working together?
McDonnell stared at the choppy, dirty water of the Hudson River. Something fishy was going on, and all the signs were pointing to Dr. Elijah Walters. Then an idea popped into his head. He pulled his phone out and called into the precinct.
“Yeah, Astor, McDonnell here. I need background on a couple of perps.” He heard the man typing on a keyboard. Astor was somewhat of an odd man, but he was a genius when accessing information. He could get his hands on about any record needed.
“Sure. Give me the names.”
“Dr. Elijah Walters, Claus Jenkins, and Marlon Zurek.”
“How soon do you need it?”
“As soon as possible. It pertains to an extremely important case.” His gut was telling him he was close to nailing the bastard.
“You got it. Let me finish up a report, and then I’ll work on it. Tomorrow by noon good?”
Detective McDonnell grinned. “Perfect. Thanks, man.”
