“We don’t know that yet. The medical examiner will make that determination.”
“Is it true that somebody called 911, the cops came, and then refused to enter the apartment, while the murderer was inside?”
“A few minutes before two this morning, Miss Williamson’s neighbor called 911, reporting that her mirror had fallen off the wall. Two patrol cars-not just one-of the Thirty-fifth District responded, and were here in just under four minutes. They listened to what the neighbor said, that she suspected that something had happened in Miss Williamson’s apartment that had caused her mirror to fall off the wall. The officers rang Miss Williamson’s doorbell and knocked at the door. They did that at both the front and rear doors. And they looked for signs of a forced entry and found none. There were no lights on in the apartment, and they could hear no sounds. They concluded there was no one in the apartment.”
“And left?”
“And left.”
“Why didn’t they go in the apartment?”
“Because that would be against the law,” Coughlin said. “Without sufficient cause, police have no right to break into anyone’s home.”
“The neighbor said, you said, that she thought something had happened in the apartment. That’s not sufficient cause?”
“If there had been any sound, even any lights burning, any indication of forced entry, I’m sure they would have entered the apartment. There wasn’t, and they didn’t.”
“And how do you think her family will react to that explanation? ”
“This is Detective Lassiter,” Coughlin said. “She can answer that better than I can.”
“I’ve spoken to Miss Williamson’s mother and brother,” Olivia said. “They both told me they understand why the police did not break into the apartment. Mrs. Williamson said all that she wants is for the police to find whoever did this to her daughter before the same sort of thing happens to someone else.”
“And what exactly did this guy do to her?”
“At this point, we don’t even know it was a guy,” Olivia said. “We just started the investigation. Commissioner, may I be excused?”
“Yes, you can, Detective, and I am about to excuse myself,” Coughlin said. “Whenever we learn more, we will make it available to the press. Thank you.”
“He’s very good at that,” Lowenstein said, in the apartment. “We look a lot better than we did five minutes ago.”
Everyone agreed, but no one said anything.
Lowenstein looked around and found Jason Washington.
“You know O’Hara’s cell phone number?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I think it would be a very good idea for you to meet with him, now. Take Payne and Lassiter with you.”
“Yes, sir.”
“As for the rest of you, one or two at a time, not all at once, get out of here and let the Homicide people do their job.”
There were nods of understanding and a few “Yes, sir”s.
Chief Inspector of Detectives Lowenstein had two more thoughts:
“If you don’t mind a suggestion, Sergeant Payne,” he said. “I think that you personally should try to run down connecting the camera with the doer.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And I think it might be useful if you asked Dr. Payne to look at those pictures. Do you think she would be willing to do that?”
“I’m sure she would, sir.”
“Chief,” Captain Durwinsky said, “I’d like to have copies of those pictures as soon as I can have them. We may be dealing with the same doer.”