“Nancy Freel.”
“How old was she?”
“Oh . . . wait a minute ... I think she was . . . oh, in her late thirties, early forties, something like that.”
Adelle sensed Tully’s surprise. “I know she looked a lot older. She had a tough life.”
She would get no argument from Tully. The figure he’d just seen in the tub looked to be well in her fifties.
Obviously, they could get most, if not all, the personal data about the victim from Adelle at any time. For now, Tully was most interested in what these women wanted to tell that they would relate to no one but him.
“The other officer told me you both had some information you wanted to give me.” He looked at one, then the other.
“You go first,” said Ruby.
“Yeah, I guess I should,” Adelle said. “See, Zoo, it’s like this: Nance and me was buddies. You know how that works.”
Tully nodded.
“We been workin’ together for a long time now.”
Something in Tully’s expression told Adelle to hurry along. She picked up the pace, but not much. “Well, this afternoon, we was workin’ over by Springwells and Michigan, just a couple blocks from here. Not much doin’ today. Don’t know why. Maybe the weather.”
Tully laid his pen on the pad. Obviously, Adelle would move at her own set speed.
“Anyway, there was this car circled the block two, maybe three times.”
“What kind of car?”
“Ford, I think, all black. No whitewalls or nothin’.”
So far so good.
“I guess I wouldn’t have paid much attention,” Adelle continued, “except there was so little traffic today.” She looked at her colleague. “Why do you ’spose that was, Ruby? Even for a Sunday in January, things were really slow today.”
“How ’bout that football game?” Ruby suggested.
“Oh, yeah, that Super Bowl. That must be it. Anyway,” she returned her gaze to Tully, “this car was cruisin’ real slow. Well, it went slow every time it got to us, anyway. So, finally, on the second or third pass—maybe it was the fourth—the guy stops and rolls down the window on the passenger side. So Nancy goes up to the car and talks business to the guy. Then she opened the door and got in. And he drove away.”
“Did you get a look at the guy?”
“Well, yes and no. I can tell you he was wearin’ black. All black. Hat and coat. That’s how I could tell he was blond: ’cause his hair stood out against all that black.”
Still on course, Tully thought. Black Ford. Guy dressed in black. For the first time, a definite indication the guy has blond hair.
“How come,” Tully asked Adelle, “you didn’t get a better look at him? You couldn’t have been that far away.”
“No, it wasn’t that I was far away. It was where I was—in a doorway. I don’t think the guy even knew I was there. It was so goddam cold that Nance and me took turns workin’ out on the street. The rest of the time, one of us got to huddle back in the doorway. So I don’t think the guy ever saw me. And I didn’t get a helluva good look at him.”
“Did you get the license?”
“No. Damn, I wish I hadda got it! We could nail the guy with that, couldn’t we, Zoo?”
“Uh-huh; it’d help a whole lot.”
“Most of the time, I do get the number. And Nance’d get it for me. That way we can check for each other better. But a couple of things: I was back in that doorway, like I said. By the time I got out on the sidewalk, he’d already pulled away and I couldn’t make it out. And, also, I wasn’t too worried. Nance and me had a signal when we thought there might be trouble. But Nance didn’t give no signal at all. She just got in, like she either knew the guy or thought she could trust him. So, like a damn fool, I relaxed for just a minute.”
“You say she acted like maybe she knew him?”
“Yeah . . . either that or she figured she could trust him. She just hopped right into the car. Didn’t hesitate at all.”
So far so good in making a connection between last week and today. The guy dresses in black, drives a black car.
But why does he case the block so carefully? He circles it two, three times, maybe more. Is he looking for a specific woman? A specific kind of woman? Is he trying to make sure she doesn’t have a buddy who might make him? Tully might have dismissed that last question since today the victim did indeed have a buddy—Adelle. But, according to Adelle, the guy most likely didn’t see her. So, as far as the perp was concerned, Nancy Freel appeared to be alone, unprotected as well as unaccompanied.
So maybe he wants to make sure that there will be no witnesses. That makes sense. And, as far as he’s concerned, neither last week nor today did his victim have any back-up protection.
But what about the other question? Was he looking for a specific hooker? A specific kind of hooker? Both the victims were white. Both were of advanced age for whores. At least both appeared to be. It was a puzzle to be solved.
And the other puzzle: Neither woman had shown the slightest hesitation in taking on the customer. Yet both were very experienced hookers. El, particularly, knew her buddy wasn’t around. There must be something about this guy that instills trust or confidence. At least there certainly is nothing about him that alarmed them or caused any apprehension. Both women readily climbed into his car and rode off to their deaths. Interesting. Another puzzle to be solved.
“Okay,” Tully said. “That’s as much as you saw, eh, Adelle? Nancy got in the guy’s car and they drove off . . . right?”
“That’s it, Zoo.”
“Would you recognize him? If we looked through some mug shots?”
“Geez, I don’t know, Zoo. Maybe if I saw him in real life again. But I don’t think I could make him with just a picture. I don’t think so.”
Tully sighed. You couldn’t have everything.
“Maybe Ruby . . .” Adelle offered.
“Ruby!” Tully had been concentrating so intensely on Adelle, he had almost forgotten the other woman. “Ruby, where do you fit into this? Adelle saw the pickup. You saw the delivery? When they arrived here at the apartment?”
“Not exactly.”
“Oh. Okay, you tell it.”
“Well, I wasn’t in any hurry to get out on the street today. It wasn’t the kinda day there’d be many Johns out shoppin’. Just a gray, cold day in January. Plus I remembered the football game. That’d keep a lot of Johns home. Parties and all.”
Tully sat back. He wished he could play this recital at a faster pace. But, better they recount what happened at their own pace. That way there was less chance they might omit what could prove to be important.
“So, like I said, I took my sweet ol’ time gettin’ out. In fact, when I left my place, it was colder out than I figured on. Bad wind—what do they call it?”
“Wind-chill factor,” Adelle supplied.
“Yeah, that’s it: wind-chill factor. God, it was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. I couldn’t imagine any John payin’ for no blow job less’n I turned on the hot air.” Ruby grinned, then continued.
“Well, anyway, since it was so cold out and I wasn’t dressed all that warm, I was sort of huggin’ the buildings. Two or so times I almost turned ’round and give up on this Sunday. But, for some reason or other, I decided to give it a try. But I couldn’t stand that wind-chill thing for more’n a few minutes at a time. So, like I say, I was huggin’ the buildings . . . you know what I mean?”
Tully nodded.
Ruby explained anyway. Evidently she thought it important that he understand. “I mean I was stayin’ close to the buildings so’s I could keep out of that wind’s way. Often as I could, I’d duck into doorways, entrances, whatever, to get out of that cold. That musta been why he didn’t see me.”