Chapter 2
The two detectives escorted Katrina to the local precinct to continue the interview. En route to the police station she called Allison to make sure she had arrived in D.C. The whole incident had shaken her so badly she just wanted to hear a familiar voice.
“Hey, Allison?”
“Katrina?” a sleepy Allison replied. “What time is it?”
“I’m sorry to call you so late, it’s about 4:45 a.m. here, and I just needed to make sure you were okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay, I’m at my parents’ house? Why are you calling so early?” asked Allison sleepily.
“There was a break in at the apartment.”
“What do you mean there was a break in at the apartment? Are you okay?” cried Allison wide awake now.
“I’m fine. I’m headed to the police station now. I’ll call you later and explain everything okay. I have to go. The police are waiting on me. Give your mom and dad my love,” said Katrina before hanging up the cell phone and walking into the police station.
The precinct was newly built. It was part of the Renovate Chicago Project that began in 2003. Katrina looked around the precinct. It was crowded. There were police officers sitting at glass tables with state of the art computers at their fingertips. Suspects sat handcuffed to seats and patrons waited to file complaints. The space was open and airy. There were several prints of Chicago artists hanging from the walls. The corner offices had floor to ceiling glass walls. There were a lot of officers on duty. More than Katrina expected to see so early in the morning. Detectives Christian and Johns escorted her to their desk and asked her to take a seat. Katrina sat down and laid her bag in her lap. She was thankful to still have the blanket the fireman had given her back at the apartment. She pulled it more securely around her. She wasn’t comfortable sitting out in the open in her pajamas.
“Do you need anything to drink or eat Ms. Castillo?” asked Det. Christian.
“No, I’m fine. I just want to answer your questions so that I can, oh hell! I can’t go back to my apartment,” she said in exasperation.
“No, I’m afraid you won’t be going back to your apartment anytime soon.” Det. Johns paused before continuing. “Can you tell us what you did yesterday? Start from the last time you saw your roommate. Where did you go? What did you do?”
“Well, I dropped Allison and Sophie off at the airport at about 3:30 this afternoon. Then I went to the library to catch up on some assignments for school,” said Katrina.
“Who is Sophie?” asked Det. Johns.
“She’s my best friend Kim’s little sister.” said Katrina.
“Describe Sophie to us,” said Det. Christian.
“She’s petite, about 5’2, French, short black hair, with brown eyes. You don’t think it was Sophie, do you?” asked Katrina in surprise.
“No, the description doesn’t fit. Go back to what you did today. You mentioned catching up on some assignments. Are you a teacher or a student?” asked Det. Christian.
“I’m a graduate student at State University.” Katrina took a deep breath. “I left the library at about 7:30. I met my friend Kim for a cup of coffee at 8:00.”
“What does your friend Kim look like?” asked Det. Johns.
Katrina was beginning to dread every time she mentioned one of her friends. At this rate she’ll have described every female with whom she attends classes. She shook the thought off and began describing Kim. “She’s about 5’9, slender, with long black hair and green eyes.”
“What’s her race?”
“She’s part French, part African American, although she generally doesn’t classify herself.”
Det. Christian and Johns exchanged looks, Det. Christian shook his head.
“You just said that Sophie is your best friend Kim’s little sister. But you mentioned Sophie was French.” said Det. Christian questioningly.
“Yeah, Kim is older by seven years. Kim’s mother died when she was three and her father remarried. Sophie’s mother is French,” said Katrina. “Sophie doesn’t have any problems defining herself.”
“What else did you do tonight?” asked Det. Christian. He decided to continue the interview in case she started wondering why they were so interested in Kim and Sophie.
“We left the coffee shop about nine. Kim tried to convince me to go clubbing with her, Adan and Maxi. But I have a big paper due on Monday and declined. I told her I would catch up with her tomorrow if I had some free time. I made it home about 9:30 and took a shower. I read a couple of chapters from one of the books related to my paper. I worked on a rough draft until about midnight, than I went to sleep.”
“You didn’t speak to anyone from the time you arrived home until you went to sleep?” asked Det. Johns.
“No, my phone was on the charger. It was dead by the time I got home.”
“How did you know there was someone in your apartment?” asked Det. Christian.
“I don’t know what woke me. I was sleeping extremely well when I shot straight up in bed but I couldn’t figure out why I was startled out of my sleep. I laid back down to go back to sleep when I heard someone rambling in one of the other rooms. I grabbed my stuff and went up the fire escape.”
“If you went up the fire escape, how did you know the apartment was on fire?” asked Det. Christian.
“I was on the phone with the dispatcher when I smelled smoke. I came down the stairs to make sure my senses weren't playing tricks on me. The smell of smoke got stronger the closer I got to my floor. When I could peek into my apartment, I saw the fire,” said Katrina.
“What did you do then?” asked Det. Johns.
“I told the dispatcher my apartment was on fire and she told me to get off the fire escape. But I was scared. I thought the intruder would be downstairs waiting on me. The dispatcher could hear the sirens through my phone. She told me the intruder would most likely run away when he heard the sirens. So I climbed down the fire escape. I was shaking so badly that I dropped my phone. I was still a little scared so I kind of sneaked up to the front and peeked around the corner of the building. I was about to come around the corner when I saw the guy leave my building.”
“Did anything seem familiar about him? The way he walked, did he say anything, or did you notice anything that would make him stand out?” Det. Christian inquired.
“The only thing I noticed was the way he was walking. It was the way that body builders’ walk. You know how they walk when they've gotten too big. Their arms spread out instead of touching their sides. He was short. He didn't look right walking down the street. It was like his upper body didn’t match his lower body.” said Katrina.
“Could you see his face or hands, anything to identify what race he was?”
“No, I was too busy trying not to be seen by him. When he came out of the building I jumped back and thanked my lucky stars he went in the opposite direction,” said Katrina.
“How tall would you say he was?”
“I think he was about 5’7, I’m 5’4 and he didn’t appear to be much taller than I am.”
“You’re a petite woman, so when you say he was big for his height, what exactly do you mean? Was he about Det. Johns’ size or my size?”
Katrina looked at Det. Christian, he was about 6’3, and muscular, yet in proportion to his body the size fit him. She looked at Det. Johns, he was about 5’11 and had an athletic build. Katrina decided to look around the precinct, neither Det. Johns nor Det. Christian fit the body type of the guy she had seen. She found an officer that fit the build and pointed to him. “Do you see that officer over there with the woman and baby?”
Detectives’ Christian and Johns looked in the direction she was pointing.
“He just sat down. The woman has on a pink hat.”
“I see who she’s referring to, Officer Lance.??
?
Det. Johns spotted Officer Lance and examined him. Officer Lance was about 5’8 and extremely muscular. Some of the guys in the precinct called him Arnold, as in the Terminator. When he first joined the force he took down a half crazed druggie without any assistance from the hoard of police officers standing by watching. That’s when the squad started calling him “Arnold”. The addict he took down was about 6’4 and had at least 150 pounds on Officer Lance. Yet, Officer Lance wasn’t even winded when he came up with the guy in cuffs.
Det. Johns called Officer Lance over to their desk to be sure they were looking at the right officer.
“Yeah, he’s the one I was referring to, he has the right build for the guy I saw leave the building, but he carries his better. His gait isn't awkward as he walks,” said Katrina.
“Lance, how tall are you?” asked Det. Johns.
“I’m 5’8, why?”
“And about how much do you weigh?
“275” said Officer Lance. “Are you trying to set me up on a date?” he asked giving Katrina the once over.
“No just getting some measurements for a perp,” said Det. Christian.
“Gee, thanks, glad I could be of assistance. When you find him, I'd like to meet him. I want to know if he's as pretty as I am,” said Officer Lance as he walked back to his desk shaking his head.
“Is there anything else you need from me Detectives, I’m tired and need to find a place to crash.”
“No, this is all the information we need right now. We do need you to make a list of any valuables you might have had in your apartment for the theft report,” said Det. Christian.
“We don’t keep expensive things in our apartment. The most expensive things that we have are the laptops we brought from home,” said Katrina.
“We still need an inventory just in case,” said Det. Johns.
“Okay, I’ll try to come up with a list.”
“Where will you be staying since your apartment is a crime scene?” asked Det. Johns.
“I’m going to call my friend Kim. I can stay with her and her sister until Allison and I find a new place,” said Katrina. An officer walked over to the desk and handed Det. Christian a picture. Detective Christian tapped Det. Johns on the shoulder. He gave Det. Johns the signal "to watch her reaction" as he interrupted their conversation.
“Before you go, we need you to look at a picture. Tell us if you recognize the girl in the picture,” said Det. Christian.
“Is this the girl they found in my apartment?”
“Yeah, we only have one side of her face because the body was burned pretty badly. Let me warn you she’s pretty banged up, so brace yourself,” said Det. Christian.
Katrina tried to brace herself, she had never had to look at a dead body before. Det. Christian handed her the picture of the dead girl. The picture slid through her hands and fell to the floor. Tears welled up in Katrina’s eyes as she doubled over in pain. No sound would pass her lips. She couldn’t breathe. She knew the face on that picture, had known it for years, Kim! The room started spinning and then blessed darkness.