Background
This is a complicated murder crime thriller. The story is best read from the beginning, however this chapter can somewhat stand on its own.
|
Terry opens Olesia Ivanov's file. Inside, the following facts are gleaned. She is an immigrant who only recently arrived in the country. She is divorced and her husband is still in the Ukraine, along with her children. She has a local lawyer working on her green card and getting her children into the country.
She is employed through a work-visa programme and was sponsored by The Kimpton Hotel. Covid struck down most of the employees and local people were hard to find. Olesia's skills seemed to fit the needs at the time. A copy of her passport and the work visa are in the file.
Olesia was only in the country for 2 months when she disappeared. Her last known location was at the Albertsons where a clerk remembered seeing her at the checkout. There was a remark about Olesia's accent and difficulty with English. She was reported missing when she didn't show up for work for a few days.
Olesia was living in a one room apartment not far from her work. She had no known outside work relationships. Interviews with her co-workers revealed that she kept to herself and performed her duties well.
Olesia's cell phone records were being requested but there was nothing yet in the file. Finally, someone did something about cell phones, Terry thought to herself.
Terry determined that a deeper look into her work and neighbors may bring up information not contained in the file. She quickly marked down the lawyer's name and contact information, Olesia's direct supervisors name at work and her home address. She left the precinct and climbed into her unmarked car.
She stopped at the lawyers first. When she approached the desk, the receptionist asked her to wait and she would let Amanda Henderson know that she was waiting.
After almost an hour, she was escorted to a board room. A few minutes later a serious looking older woman entered the room.
"Detective Smythe, how can I help you?" She asked her hand outstretched.
"Good afternoon and thank you for seeing me." Terry replied having shook the lawyer's hand and taken a seat.
Amanda took the seat opposite of her and plunked down a manilla file, that Terry assumed belonged to Olesia.
"I am following up on the disappearance of Olesia Iverson. I understand you are taking care of her immigration case?" Terry inquired.
"Yes, I am but I fail to see how this will help in your investigation Detective Terry. There is nothing unusual about her file."
Terry sensed this woman was going to hold all information close to her and this was going to need a deft hand.
"I was wondering about the company that sponsored her. Who was that exactly?" Terry asked already knowing the hotel was the sponsor.
"It was a numbered company registered out of California. A hotel chain with a local branch here." She replied.
Terry, surprised somewhat by the answer kept her reactions inside.
"I understand but do you have the contact information for the office that handled the request?"
"Detective Terry, do you have a specific reason for this request? I fail to see how it would connect to her disappearance." An irritated face replied.
"Well, Mrs. Henderson. With all due respect. You are the expert in immigration issues and I will be the one determining if anything is pertinent or not. However, if you choose, I can get this information directly from Immigration USA and Olesia's agent, when they ask me why I contacted them instead of her lawyer, what would you prefer I say to them?"
Terry knew any inquiries to Immigration could potentially affect the lawyers' relationship with the agent and with the department as a whole.
"Fine Detective, I'll have my secretary copy all the information you need. Have a nice day."
With that last comment she abruptly left the boardroom without a backwards glance.
Terry went to reception alone and found herself waiting for several minutes before the information was given to her. Guess she irritated the woman.
Terry then headed over to the hotel. It was an elegant establishment and looked expensive. She entered the lobby and at reception asked to speak to the manager. After a few minutes a rather handsome man in his late 30's came to the front desk. He was tall, around 6 foot 2 and had a Hispanic look. He was dressed in an expensive business suit and shiny black shoes. He stood tall and had an almost arrogant look to his face. He wore heavy cologne and a bright forced smile.
"Detective, please follow me." After a quick handshake he escorted her to the back office and encouraged her to sit down.
"How can I help you detective?" He smiled that saccharine grin at her again. He passed her his business card and it read, Jose Montiguez, General Manager.
"Detective Smythe. I wanted to speak to you about Olesia Invanov. I understand she worked here?" Terry asked him not taking her eyes off of him. She needed him to feel her authority.
"Yes, she did work here. But she wasn't working the day she disappeared. She just didn't show up for work and after a few days we called the police. We hold her work permit and we are required to report these things." He added without prompting.
"Did she have any friends or was she close to any of her co-workers that you are aware of?" Terry asked.
At this question Terry noticed that his professional arrogant face slipped a little. Something she took mental note of.
"She was pretty quiet as she had so much trouble with her English. But she did talk to another Ukrainian on our staff. A Sven Ericson. He is a porter here. They seemed to get along well and I frequently had to tell them that when they were around our customers, they had to speak English and not Russian or whatever it is they spoke."
This comment she found odd. It seemed our manager was prejudiced at least a little, against Ukrainians. Considering the danger and the war over there you would think he would be more compassionate. Terry again marked this little tidbit and continued.
"Can I get his contact information, please?"
"I'll pull his employment card and get his number for you." A pause and a curious look on his face. "Detective, why did it take so long for your precinct to come down here and ask questions?"
Terry is quick and answers, "We were looking elsewhere until today. Thank you for your time. Can I get that number please?"
What? No one interviewed her work before? That's very odd. Incompetence and incomplete work all over that office.
After she received the number, she left for Olesia's home address. She wasn't able to get inside the building. She saw a young man entering and asked them.
"Excuse me but did you know Olesia? I understand she used to live here?"
"Yes, she lived in 10C. But she kept to herself. I didn't really know her." The young blonde man answered. "Who are you?" He asked.
Terry figured this person would probably not talk to cops so she answered. "I am working on her Green Card application and was wondering what her forwarding address was. We haven't been able to reach her."
"Oh man, you gotta get caught up. She disappeared a couple of months ago. No ones seen her. The landlord packed up her stuff and turfed it so she could rent out her pad again."
"Oh really. Do you happen to know the landlord's number?" Terry asked.
"Yea, I got it in my phone."
A couple of minutes later Terry had what she wanted. When the young man entered the building Terry slipped in behind. Good thing the kid wasn't paying attention. Terry made her way to the lobby and found the mail boxes. 10C was overstuffed. She plucked out some fliers and, in the mix, she found a credit card statement issued to Olesia Ivanov. She slipped this inside her pocket and left. Today was a good day. But she had a pile of work to do.
Terry went home and there she started her diorama. She needed to piece together some of the clues she was able to gather, so far and to make a plan going forward.
YVETTE TURNER SANDRA JESPERSON OLESIA IVANOV BUDDY STANG
43 years old female 26-year-old female 51-year-old female 14-year-old male
Husband Frank Single Husband Sven Teenager
Last seen - leaving work Last seen â€" work Last seen â€" grocery store Last seen â€" school
June of last year 9 months ago 4 months ago last week
Interviewed husband Inv co-workers Interview Sven & store Interviewed mother
& Joe Strabynski
Evidence gathered
Personal cell blue sweater Cell missing already got # Laptop
Blue glove at scene Prescription Charge card statement Cell # & cell phone?
Relationships
Husband Frank Boyfriend? Husband â€" divorced Sister & teachers,
Adult children Joe Garrison? Sven â€" close co-worker counsellor classmates
Joe Strabynski Where is family? Landlord emptied apartment
Follow up
Niece Stefanie - email Call Garrison go through CC bill Laptop â€" browsing
Look at car impounded Re â€" visit pub? Pharmacy purchase Check game friends
Purse â€" prescription Call Sven and landlord Cell bill â€" call Mom
What is the connection here? Why is Joe such a common name or thread here? Why the teenage boy when before it's all women â€" are they actually connected? Why is the precinct ignoring the connections here? Why are they doing such a poor job on these? Is it just these cases or is the whole precinct corrupted?
Waiting for:
Blue glove â€" are there fingerprints? DNA? Present
Cell phones â€" Bills â€" see common numbers â€" pinging â€" where were they based on pings â€" cell towers
Charge card statement â€" find a path that Olesia took â€" try to get surveillance camera footage if possible.
Well, she had so much more work to do. Terry now thinks her own precinct may have something to do with these cases.
