“You just let us know how we can assist,” Eckels said.
“You can assist,” Paul said firmly, “by finding the person who murdered our daughter.”
Ellie intervened before Eckels unwittingly offended the Harts further. “We’re doing everything we can on the investigative front. The crime scene unit and the medical examiner’s office have collected some physical evidence that might prove very important. We obtained detailed statements this morning from your daughter’s friends. They were extremely helpful. Thanks to Stefanie and Jordan, we have a thorough timeline of their activities yesterday and are following up on every lead.”
“Are the girls here?” Paul asked.
“They just left a few minutes ago,” Rogan said. “They worked with a sketch artist for a couple of hours-”
“You have a suspect?” Miriam interrupted, sitting up straighter.
Rogan shook his head. “It’s too early to say. Just a man Chelsea was talking to at the club last night. But the sketch artist wants to work with the girls again tomorrow, so we had a victim’s advocate take them back to the hotel.”
“We’re going to need them to stick around in New York for the time being,” Ellie said. “Once we have a suspect, it’s essential that we get a prompt identification.”
Miriam nodded. “I’ll call their parents and the university this afternoon and make sure they know it’s important that the girls stay here. We’ll be here, too. However long it takes. Those poor girls,” Miriam said, her voice breaking. “I promised their parents I’d make sure they were holding up.”
“They’re strong girls,” Rogan said. “They’re hanging in there.”
“I do think they’re putting some of the blame on themselves,” Ellie added.
“They shouldn’t. Do you know how many times I caught Chelsea breaking curfew, just to learn that Stefanie had been there trying to get her to come home?”
“Our daughter wasn’t perfect, but she was a remarkable girl,” Paul said.
That single sentence was enough to fully break Miriam’s composure. Her shoulders began to shake, and she choked back a sob. “She was unique and wonderful and remarkable in every way. But she did what she wanted, Paul. I was trying to say it wasn’t Stefanie or Jordan’s fault. They didn’t do this.”
“Shh.” Paul placed an arm around his wife’s shoulder. “What do we need to do next?” he asked quietly.
“Unfortunately, I think you need to prepare yourselves for significant media attention. Reporters are going to call you for quotes, for photographs, for old yearbooks. Your daughter’s MySpace profile will have thousands of hits before the end of the day.”
“The Polly Klaas people mentioned that, too,” Paul said, “right off the bat. They’re going to contact the company on our behalf to remove her profile.”
“Good,” Ellie said. “They can help you juggle the media requests as well. You’re also free to refer anyone you want to the NYPD’s public information office.”
“What else?” Paul asked.
Rogan cleared his throat. “When you’re ready, we’re going to need you to make an official identification of your daughter’s body.”
Miriam let out another sob, but Paul nodded stoically. “We’re ready. I’ll do it,” he said to his wife. “You won’t need to see.”
“I can take you to the medical examiner’s office,” Eckels offered, “while Detectives Rogan and Hatcher continue the investigation.”
The Harts muttered their thanks as they rose from their seats. As Miriam Hart passed Ellie, she turned and looked at her directly with puffy, bloodshot, pleading eyes. “Chelsea wasn’t just a drunk girl at a club last night. She was my baby.”
“I know,” Ellie said, returning the eye contact. “She loved Wuthering Heights and that bulldog of hers. She lit up a stage and could run like the wind. And she was good to her friends. She was the glue that held them together, and she could make them laugh through anything.”
A tear fell down Miriam’s cheek, and she mouthed a silent “Thank you.”
PART II / Dream Witness
CHAPTER 11
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN the Thirteenth Precinct and the Meatpacking District was almost exactly two miles, but culturally, the neighborhoods were a globe apart. The short drive from the east twenty-something blocks of Manhattan to the far west teens unveiled a dramatic transformation from the sterile and generic high rises of Stuyvesant Town to what was currently the city’s hottest neighborhood.
The key to the Meatpacking District’s current popularity rested in its unique blend of glamor and grit. All of the upscale requirements were here-high-end boutiques, trendy clubs with signature cocktails, expensive restaurants with tiny portions piled into aesthetically pleasing towers. But they existed in loftlike, pared-down spaces that still had the feel-if not the actual structure-of rehabbed warehouses. The streets outside were narrow, many still cobblestone, adding to the sense of an old neighborhood uncovered, dusted off, and polished by its latest visitor.
And, of course, there was the name. Not SoHo. Not Tribeca. Not NoLIta. Nothing cutesy, crisp, or clean. This was the Meatpacking District, and, lest you forget it, the distinctly bloody odor emanating from the remaining butchers and beef wholesalers was there to remind you: this was a neighborhood with substance, history, and dirt beneath its blue-collar fingernails. Just ask the Appletini-sipping supermodel taking a load off her Manolo Blahniks on the stool next to yours.
Ellie had called Pulse from the car on their way to the west side. There had been no answer at the club where Chelsea was last seen-just a recording over techno music with the club’s location and hours-but Rogan figured it was worth a pop-in before trying to track down a manager through business licenses and other paperwork.
The entrance to the club was underwhelming, at least before sundown. No velvet rope. No bass thumping onto the street outside. No well-dressed revelers lined up in front, eager to be selected for admission. No stone-faced body builders clothed in black to pass judgment on who was worthy and who must remain waiting. Just a set of double wooden doors-tall, heavy, and closed, like the sealed entrance to a fortress.
A frosted glass banner ran along the top of the threshold, the word Pulse etched discreetly across it. The trendiest establishments always had the least conspicuous signage. Some bars had no signs at all. One hot spot around the corner from here didn’t even have a name. If you were cool enough to be welcome, you’d know it was there, and you’d know where it was.
As Ellie pulled open the heavy wooden door on the right, the first thing that struck her about the darkened club was its temperature. In the second week of March, it shouldn’t have been colder inside the building than out. “Geez. They’re taking the whole meatpacking concept a bit literally,” she said.