Keeping It in the Family (Linstead)

Chapter 110

"Uh, he's in the back, uh, officer," he stumbled, pointing up the closest aisle.

"Would you take us to him, please?" Halstead said. To his amusement, he figured he knew who would play good cop and who would play bad cop when they did interrogations together.

"Of course, sir," the employee said. He set off at a pace that demonstrated just how keen he was to hand them off to his manager.

Halstead walked with Gonzalez, making their way through the busy store. The incident outside didn't seem to have slowed business down at all.

"Ah, there he is," the staff member they were following said, heading towards a man in a cheap suit who was talking to a female employee. The manager looked quite flustered.

"Mr Holcroft? These are police from Chicago PD," the man escorting Halstead and Gonzalez announced.

The manager sighed as he turned to them. "Great, something else to deal with. How long is it going to be before you have the parking lot open? You ask people to walk an extra couple hundred yards to get in here and they complain. Can you believe that?"

Gonzalez totally blanked his rant as she showed him her badge. "A man was killed last night in your parking lot. I need a list of names, addresses and phone numbers for everyone who worked the night shift last night. And I need all of your CCTV footage."

"Okay. I can probably get that done for you later, once the morning rush is over. I could have someone bring it to..."

"Now," Gonzalez said, cutting him off. She did a menacing voice very naturally.

"Uh, right, of course. Yes, ma'am," the manager said, losing most of his attitude right away. "Come with me to my office."

Gonzalez looked at Halstead and rolled her eyes as if to say, 'Some people.' He had to agree, and smiled at her. So far, he was enjoying watching her work. Her style was different to his, but it seemed no less effective.

Without further incident, they emerged from the supermarket fifteen minutes with a print out of the employee's information and a copy of the CCTV footage on a USB drive. They discovered that Ruzek and Atwater were gone from the parking lot, so Halstead got on the radio.

"Ruze, we've got the employee information on paper and the CCTV on a USB drive. I think Wallmart are allergic to modern technology. The manager's computer looked like it was running Windows XP." It was an exaggeration for comedic effect, and he pictured his friend smiling when he heard it.

"Understood, Jay. Take it back to the 21st for Z, would you? She got a ping on our vic. Arrested once for a drunken fight with two of his friends. Twin brothers, actually. Andy and Liam Dunbar. We're going to see Russell's parents now and break the news. Kim and Purrazzo are on their way to Andy Dunbar's place. Need you to go see Liam and find out when he last saw Adam. Maybe one of them can shed some light on something."

"Will do. I'll get the address from Z when we're in the office."

With that, they went over to Gonzalez's mustang. She cruised slowly out of the crime scene, then got her foot down, heading for the 21st.

"So, have you done any wedding planning yet?" Halstead ventured to his new partner.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, Jay. But I don't do personal while I'm working. Why don't you and Erin come over to our place tonight or something? We can talk personal then. Right now, we've got work to do, and I'd rather focus on that."

Fair enough, he thought. He knew plenty of cops that operated the same way, and he acknowledged that it was probably a good idea. Focus was very important in all walks of life. In policing it could make a case or even save a life, possibly your own. The invite to Raquel and Z's place was interesting. They hadn't visited each other before outside of work, so he felt up for it. But it wasn't that simple in his life anymore.