Partners in Crime; A Jay Halstead Fanfic

Sanctuary

Yn's POV

"You excited" Jay asked me as we walked around the crime scene. "For what" I ask. "It's fall" Jay said. "And" I question. "That means its officially sweater weather" Jay said. I smiled and stuffed my hands in my jacket pockets. "I can't believe you remembered my favorite season." "Of course I remembered" Jay said. "Hey! Patrol just spotted the subjects over on Green Street" Al said. I nodded and ran over to Kenny, grabbing him and dragging him to our car.

We then drove off towards Green Street, and when we saw the boys, we chased after them with our car. However, one of the streets they went down was crowded, so we soon had to chase after them by foot. "Come on Rixton. Catch up" I yell back to him as we chased the two boys. I turned a corner and saw the boys heading for the church, which I knew was not good. "Hey! Stop. Chicago Police. We need to talk to you"I shout at them. The boys ignored me though and went inside the church. When I got to the front door, I growled and pounded my fist against the wood. "Hey. Why'd you stop? Lets get them" Kenny said and appeared at my side. "We can't" I say. "Why" he asked me. "Because they've got sanctuary" I reply.

We were able to set up a little bullpen in a building near the church so that we could conduct our investigation close by. "Forensics fast-tracked photos from the crime scene. The M.E. says the victim's injuries are consistent with strangulation" Jay said. "And she shows clear signs of sexual assault. Vaginal tearing. They're running the DNA now" Erin added. "The DOA was Zoey Sims. 27 years old. According to her Linkedin profile, she was a saleswoman at a relocation company. She's not in any law enforcement databases, never been arrested" Kim said. "The guy who does have a long rap sheet is the priest. Father Bill McSorely's been arrested 11 times, civil disobedience stuff, most recently for defacing liquor billboards in his neighborhood" Kenny said.

"It's quite a scene out there. I understand you have a couple of suspects claiming sanctuary protection inside the church" Kot said. "How long can they stay" Jay asked. "As long as the priest will have them" Kot replied. "Look at this. Why are we waiting around on some custom" Kenny asked. "Because, Kenny, it's not some back alley gang bust. If we're going to pull those boys out of that church with the whole city watching, it's going to be with a warrant and an airtight case. All right, check the POD footage on the park cameras, And let's find out who Zoey is. run her emails, check her phone records. Oh, and let's notify her family before they hear it on the news. Al, you and Burgess" Voight said.

........................................

"What do you got" Voight asked me. "I went through all of the POD footage from Washington Park. As you can see right here on the north end of the park, we find Zoey Sims. A bunch of different cameras can capture her along the way. Right now, there's nobody really around, but seven minutes later, ee find our witness at the scene, Jane Henderson, who claims that she was followed by an African-American male in a red sweatshirt who shows up two minutes later right here. Now after that, we don't have any cameras and we find the body 300 yards ahead in the woods" I say.

A bit later, we had information on the boys inside of the church. "Miles Vincent, 16 years old, and Jaylen Hines, 15 years old. They're both in the foster care system, and they're both in the same home" Jay said. "These boys have a history of trouble together. They got popped for stealing a car stereo just last year" Erin added. "What are we waiting around for? Some angel to whisper into the priest's ear" Kenny asked. "Kenny, relax" I say. "Hey, do you know who runs Wash Park" Voight asked Kenny. "Yeah, G-Park Lords" Kenny replied. "All right, see if the boys were jumped into a gang, and if we have to start throwing charges or arrests, you go at them with both barrels. I also want to start building a timeline on these boys, and let's talk to Zoey's coworkers and friends. Let's make sure we haven't overlooked anything" Voight said.

A while later, Kevin called our attention to the chalkboard. "So, I've been looking into Zoey's stepfather, Eddie Ryan. This cat has two priors in Buffalo for domestic violence" he said. "Let's see if he has an alibi for this morning. Hey, you talk to that shot caller from G-Park Lords" Voight asked Kenny. "Yeah, I looked for him, but he skipped town. The word on the street is these boys are clean. There's no gang affiliations" Kenny said. 

"Hey, I've got something. Open case file on Miles's mother, Arlene Vincent. Postal worker, murdered coming home from work. No arrests were made, and get this, it happened exactly one year ago" Jay said. "You're saying she was murdered a year ago today" I ask. "Yeah" Jay replied. "That's why Miles was getting drunk in the park" Al said. "Sergeant" Father McSorely said and entered the room. "You can speak with the boys on two conditions. Inside the church, and no gun." "Deal" Voight said.

Minutes after that, Zoey's boyfriend, Travis, threw a molotov cocktail into the church, so we had no choice but to bring him, along with Miles and Jaylen, back to the district. We also got a look around Zoey's apartment, and the landlord said he heard her and her boyfriend arguing this morning. When we showed him a picture of Travis, the landlord didn't recognize him. However, when we showed him a picture of Kirby, Zoey's boss, he recognized him. So, we brought Kirby down to the station in order to interview him.

"Well, I checked Kirby Michael's alibi. He was in a meeting at the time of Zoey's murder" Kim said. "Anything on the stepfather" Voight asked. "No, Eddie Ryan's airtight, boss. Three people put him at work at the time of Zoey's murder" Kevin said. "Violent stepfather, crazy boyfriend, sleazy boss. Zoey sure had some winners in her life" Erin said. "The M.E. just finished the DNA test on Zoey. There's no match for Miles or Jaylen" Kenny added. "So a day into this, and we're right back where we started" Jay said.

.........................................

"Hey, Yn. Check this out" Jay said and waved me over to his desk. "What's up" I ask. "So Zoey stretches for about a minute before her jog, right? And then if you freeze the image, right there, we can see she's looking at something" Jay said. "Do we have other angles from this part of the park" I ask. "No, unfortunately" Jay said. "Well, I guess we're taking a ride" I say.

At the park, we followed Zoey's path according to the cameras. "So Zoey took this path into the park. She stopped here to stretch, and she looks over her shoulder. She sees something in the woods back there" I say and point to the woods a few hundred yards away. "Or someone" Jay suggested. I shined my flashlight around, but got nothing. "Bingo. Look. They've got cameras in those birdhouses" Jay said and shined his flashlight at a few birdhouses a few feet away. 

The next morning, when Jay and I got to work, we showed everyone the footage. And there, hidden in the woods, was a man. "I know that guy. He's the park worker who put the two boys at the scene of the murder. Russell Tillman" Kim said. "Ping his phone" Voight said. "The number he gave me is out of service, but I got an address off his license. 3942 Wyoming Street" Kim said. "Get a warrant. Let's hit it" Voight said.

At that address, we didn't find Tillman, but we did find the dismembered body of John Gleason. So, while Kenny and Kevin were watching the house from the outside, and Kim and Al were on the inside, Jay, Erin, Voight, and I did more digging. "Hank, we got a fingerprint off the dirty coffee cup. It's a match for Russell Tillman. He's got a few priors all across the south. Animal cruelty, indecent exposure. He was arrested for a Peeping Tom in Texas and did three months in a psych ward there" Erin said.

"Well, the head in the freezer belongs to John Gleason. He's also the owner of the house. Sanitation worker, retired with full disability five years ago. Now he only has one living relative. It's a sister in St. Louis. The last time they spoke, he told her that he took on a boarder" Jay said. "He rented a room to Russell Tillman, who killed him" I say. "Now it looks like Tillman kept cashing the disability checks. The last one was cashed at a BofA on 40th Street ten minutes ago" Jay said. "It's right near Gleason's house" Erin added. "All right, does Gleason have a car registered in his name" Voight said. "Yes, he does. A 2005 red Silverado" I say.

Al and Kim ended up catching Tillman, so the case was now closed. "Good job today, Kim. I heard you saved Al's life" I say. "Yeah. Thanks" she said. "Listen, I'm going to head home, but if you want to join me for some wine, I wouldn't be opposed to it" I say. "I didn't think you were into wine" Kim said. "Yeah, well, sometimes it's good to try new things. You down" I ask. "Yeah. That sounds fun" she said. "Great. It's about time we had a girls night together. I'll see you in a bit" I say.