In Her Tracks (Tracy Crosswhite #8)(27)

And Tracy and Kins were already behind.



They spoke to the Bartell store manager in North Park. The woman did not recall Stephanie Cole, but the store had cameras in the ceiling tiles, and the manager suspected they still had the data for Wednesday at 4:18 p.m. They followed her into a room in the storage area at the back of the store and she logged onto a computer, then pulled up the video for that date and time.

“There,” Tracy said, viewing the monitor. “That’s her.”

Cole entered the store in her running clothes. It was just a video, but something about seeing Cole alive, walking into the store, made the image compelling and personal. It also gave Tracy hope. She prayed it wasn’t false hope.

Cole walked to the back of the store, where she found the package of pirate accessories. After less than a minute, she moved to the front of the store.

“She was on a mission,” Tracy said.

“Certainly didn’t waste any time,” Kins agreed.

“Makes me think she called ahead,” Tracy said.

Tracy watched other people in the store to determine if anyone took an interest in Cole. She didn’t see anyone suspicious as Cole walked to the registers at the front of the store, where she was assisted by a young woman. “Who is that?” Tracy asked, pointing at the female cashier.

“That’s Denise,” the woman said.

“Is she working today?”

“No. She’s off.”

Tracy took down the woman’s full name, and the manager promised to provide her work schedule. The exchange between Cole and the cashier was brief. At one point on the video, Cole considered the Fitbit on her wrist.

“She’s worried about the time,” Tracy said.

The monitor at the bottom of the screen registered Cole leaving the store at 4:19 p.m. Again, Kins and Tracy watched to determine if anyone had followed her.

No one did.

The manager typed on the keyboard and pulled up footage from the parking lot. They watched Cole leave the store and move quickly to her car. A slow jog. Another indication she was rushed. Again, Tracy watched the people and cars around her. Cole pulled from the parking lot and departed on surface streets.

“If anyone followed her, this would be the time,” Kins said softly.

They watched the tape. No car pulled from a space to follow.

They asked additional questions and provided the manager with business cards. Tracy requested that the manager email Kins the video, which he’d also send to the unit at Park 90/5.

“You got any ideas?” Kins said as he and Tracy got back inside their pool car.

“One. She bought the costume at 4:18. No way she drove back to Ravenna in that traffic in time to get a run in. Not in daylight anyway, which would seem to be a priority for someone who didn’t know the running trail and was trying to make a party.”

“Maybe she didn’t know it gets dark at four thirty, not being from up here,” Kins said. “Maybe she thought she had more time.”

“Maybe,” Tracy said, though she was not convinced. “Or maybe she didn’t run there.”

“Her car is there.”

“I know. But so far there’s no indication she ever was.”

“We’re speculating. Maybe someone near Ravenna recalled seeing her or the car.”

“I think we should look up running parks and trails around here.”

“Okay, but let’s get some lunch. We can go over our notes, and talk this through, see if we’re missing anything. We can look up running trails and give Pinkney a call and determine if CSI has found anything more or if anything came in on the dedicated tip line.”

Tracy checked her watch, not realizing it was already 12:30. She wanted to talk to Bill Miller, the North Precinct patrol officer who had been the first officer at Jewel Chin’s home the night Elle had gone missing. She’d confirmed the night before that Miller continued to work out of the North Precinct, and the patrol sergeant said Miller had been scheduled to work the First Watch last night, which meant he’d be just getting off.

Tracy told this to Kins.

“Give him a call. Maybe we’ll kill two birds with one stone,” Kins said.

“You need a different idiom.”

“Not to mention a better vocabulary. Idiom?”





CHAPTER 14

Tracy reached Bill Miller on his cell phone as he left the North Precinct following his watch. Tracy had questions regarding the report Miller filed the evening Elle Chin disappeared. She felt Miller shaded his report to benefit his fellow officer. Miller was just about to eat before a workout, then go home and sleep, but said he’d be happy to talk to Tracy at the IHOP restaurant on Aurora Avenue not far from the North Precinct.

“See,” Kins said. “Two birds with one stone.”

Miller wasn’t hard to find, and not just because he remained in uniform. Almost as wide as the booth he sat in, Miller looked to be early thirties, with boyish facial features, a broad chest and back, and biceps that strained his shirtsleeves.

“He looks like Li’l Abner,” Kins said as they approached the booth, referencing a very dated comic strip character.

“You really are old,” Tracy said.

“Raise three boys,” Kins said. “They zap the youth out of you faster than you can say ‘vasectomy.’”