After gathering his belongings along with Victoria’s house key, Cale walked up and into Captain Hooker’s office with an attitude, “Barbara downstairs said you wanted to see me. What’s up?”
“How are you doing?”
“Let’s see, I’ve been stabbed in the back by an assailant, a woman I’ve had a short sweet relationship with was found tortured and murdered in my apartment, I’ve been questioned and held over night in jail cell with some quality people, and suspended indefinitely pending the findings of an ongoing investigation which is getting as mysterious as the case I was working on. I just want to get home and figure this out.”
“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to come to my office; you can’t go home just yet. It appears there has been a second altercation at your place and Victoria is involved and now missing.”
Cale was in shock, “What!?”
“Take it easy, we’re on it. But we have to talk.”
Ignoring the Captain, Cale blurted, “When did this happen?”
“We think after work last night. After you asked her to go pick up your camera chip and I gave her permission to do so. We got a call this morning from one of your neighbors and her kid; they reported the police tape broken, your door wide open and a bullet casing at the top of the stairs. Victoria’s car was found out front of your place a few hours ago with her purse, cell phone and her keys on the passenger seat. After that, forensics found your camera outside your building in the bushes by the front stairs. Forensics later found a bullet hole in the door jam at the exit at the far end of your hallway and luckily the bullet. It’s being checked out downstairs. But no one has seen or heard from Victoria since she left this building. Surveillance cameras have her leaving the parking lot at 6:15 pm and we’re gathering more data en route to your place; traffic cams, bank cams, anything on the way.”
“Is the chip in the camera? Because if its not, then hopefully Victoria has it and ran with it. Think about it, that’s why there would be a bullet hole at the far end of the hall. Has anybody checked the exit stairwell for a second casing? What kind of gun was it?”
Captain raised his eyebrows while hunching his shoulders and offered compassionately, “We can call down and find out.” The Captain picked up the phone.
“Is forensics still at my place?” asked Cale.
The Captain nodded as he put the phone to his ear. “And so is Martin and Matt. You’re supposed to bring Matt dinner.” The Captain smiled. “He’s standing at your door and out of my face.” Talking into the phone, “Yeah, can I talk to somebody working on the Dixon case?”
Cale asked, “Can I go check out my place?”
“Not yet. Just give me a minute here.” Captain Hooker grabbed Paula Henderson’s autopsy report and handed it to Cale, “We have to talk about this and Rayman Stell, he’s alive.”
“Captain, I told you that.”
“And, for the record, I need to know what’s on the camera chip that everyone seems to be after. You said some photos were taken from your place?”
“Yeah, alright.” Cale opened Paula’s file and scrolled down the details until he got to the word, ‘Pregnant’. Cale sat down. The Captain’s voice became a background murmur of question and answers to the forensics department. Cale went numb.
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