Thats so sad. She was such a young girl.But this was the girl who would torment Sorin. Why did her friend Gwen stop bullying him? I suppose it could be expected in the wake of Tonyas death. But how bad was it if, after all these years, Gwen refused to talk about it? And would any of this have any connection to Jerome Fell in Denver, or Carl Nelson, or Vanessa, or anything? Kate shook her head. Sure its a long shot, but thats what Im here to do, take a long shot.
The white picket fence protecting the islands of dirt and tufts of browned grass of the Plesivskys front yard was missing a few pickets. The next thing Kate noticed was that the front of the wood frame bungalow had a wheelchair ramp. She glimpsed sheets and shirts flapping on a clothesline in the backyard as she went to the front door and knocked.
Kate heard movement, then voices. A moment later the door cracked open, releasing the smell of cigarettes as a woman, her face creased with a taut frown, greeted her.
Were not buying anything, thank you. She started closing the door.
Wait, please! Im a reporter from New York. I need your help.
The door stopped.
Kate held up her ID. Kate Page with Newslead.
She says shes a reporter! The woman shouted to someone else in the house, which prompted a muffled response before the woman turned back to Kate: What do you want?
Im researching some neighborhood history that involves Tonya Plesivsky. Would you be a relative?
A cloud of pain passed over the woman.
Tonya was our daughter.
Kate let a moment of respect pass.
May I talk to you a little bit?
Wait.
The woman left Kate at the door. She heard subdued voices before she returned and invited Kate inside. Now the cigarette smell mingled with onions and something evocative of a hospital as they went to a small living room where a man in a wheelchair muted Wheel of Fortune on a large-screen TV.
He had thin white hair, glasses and white stubble. He wore a flannel shirt and work pants that looked like shorts. His legs were missing below his knees. He gestured to the sofa and Kate sat.
Whyre you writing an article about our daughter?
Kate took out her notebook.
Im sorry. Ill explain, she said. First, I should get your name, youre Ivan Plesivsky?
Yes, and my wife, Elena. Do you have a card or something?
Kate gave him a card.
Would you like a coffee or soda? Elena asked.
I dont want to trouble you.
No trouble.
Black coffee would be fine.
So? Ivan leaned forward in his chair. Answer my question.
Im researching the background of Sorin Zurrn for a story. He may have some connection to some crimes. Or he may not.
What kind of crimes?
Computer crimes, cyber theft, maybe harming people physically, but were not sure.
Doesnt surprise me. Ivan grunted. He was odd.
I understand Tonya and Sorin went to Thornwood High and knew each other. And since you were neighbors, I was hoping youd tell me what you remember of the Zurrn family.
The man looked long and hard at Kate before turning to the mantel holding framed photographs of Tonya with Pepper. Then he removed his glasses and ran his hand over his face.
Youre aware of what happened to our daughter? Elena asked from the doorway.
Yes, and Im terribly sorry.
Its very painful for us to think about that time, Elena added as a kettle in the kitchen came to a boil.
Ivan replaced his glasses, sat straighter as if steeling himself.
We didnt know the Zurrns, he said. We werent friends. We knew his mother was a slut and her boy was odd. Some kind of computer whiz who chased butterflies all day, or something. We didnt bother with them.
Elena set a mug of coffee with a Cubs logo on the table before Kate.
Didnt Tonya and Sorin have difficulties with each other?
Elena and Ivan exchanged glances, telegraphing to Kate that shed shifted matters to an uncomfortable level.
That was so long ago, Elena said. Why bring this up?
I need to know as much about Sorin as possible for the story.
We were aware of the rumors, Ivan said.
What rumors?
That Tonya and her friends sometimes teased the Zurrn boy. And maybe his mother a little bit.
His mother?
Look, Ivan said. They were kids in high school. Hell, who doesnt get teased at school?
Tonya was very popular at school, Elena said.
Thats right, Ivan agreed. She had a bit of a following. Was it right for her to tease Sorin? No, but thats what goes on in high school. Besides- His chin suddenly crumpled and he froze a heaving sob as he turned to the photo shrine of his daughter.
Elena stood, put her hands on his shoulders and, as if sensing what was coming, turned to Kate.
Maybe you should go.
Surprised, Kate was at a loss. In the moment shed hesitated, Ivan found his composure.
No, stay. I want her to hear this. All of it.
Ivan, his wife cautioned him.
Listen. Ivan stared at Kate, his jaw muscles pulsating. Whatever sins our little girl may have committed as a child, she paid for them. I paid for them. He glanced to his wife. We paid for them.
Im not sure I understand.
What happened with Tonya is why Im in this chair.
Kate glanced at Elena, then back at Ivan.
Pepper was Tonyas dog, Ivan started. When he was lost, Tonya was beside herself, putting up posters, looking everywhere. When she fell in the park our world stopped turning. You cant imagine our pain at losing our angel, our only child. It hurt so much. But we had to go on. For Tonya. So I went back to work thinking I was coping with it, thinking I was strong, but I wasnt. I was a shell.
What work did you do? Kate asked.
I was a utility lineman. After Tonya was gone, the silence of her room, seeing her things and knowing she was never coming backGod. I started drinking. One day I was doing maintenance work on a substation. Something went wrong and I got electrocuted. I lived, but I lost my legs below the knee. I tried to sue, but the court said because of the level of alcohol in my blood at the time, I was at fault. Go figure. Im mourning my daughter and Im at fault. Anyway, I got a tiny compensation and pension. We barely survive.
Im so sorry its been so hard for you.
Ivan looked off at the photographs.
Every day, it feels like it happened yesterday. I miss her so much. She was so pretty, wasnt she, Elena?
She was.
I think of what shed look like now, that shed have children, our grandchildren, and how you would spoil them and how happy wed be.
Elena patted Ivans shoulders and Kate said nothing.
Ivan inhaled a loud, deep breath.
And then it happened, he said.
Excuse me? Kate was confused.
Then, one by one, the years passed and we started to cope with losing Tonya. We were holding strong, then that Zurrn woman, that psychotic-
What happened?
She came to our house one night, banging on the door. She was a mess, drunk, crying. Shed been living alone for years. We knew she was the neighborhood whore, with men coming and going, that she took drugs.
What did she want?
It was about two in the morning. She was drunk or high. She was nearly incoherent, but she starts telling us that shes been haunted by her fear that her son, Sorin, pushed Tonya down the stairs that day at the park.
What?
We didnt know what to do with her. There she was on our kitchen floor in a heap of self-pity going on about missing her boy, who had grown and was long gone. She was going on about her wasted life and that she needed to go back to her homeland, wherever that was.
What did you think about her fear that Sorin killed Tonya?
We didnt put any stock in her drunken mutterings. Later I talked to a cop about it. He said without evidence, witnesses or a verifiable admission of guilt, there was nothing we could do. It wouldnt bring Tonya back. Then a few weeks later the Zurrn woman killed herself.
45
Chicago
Kate drove away from the Plesivsky home excited and depleted.
The new information shed picked up on Sorin Zurrn had alarmed her.
But can I put any credence in the ramblings of a drunken, suicidal drug addict who accuses her fifteen-year-old son of murder?
These thoughts, along with those of Sorins upbringing, his intelligence, his strangeness, the bullying, along with the invoice dealing with Krasimira Zurrns burial site, spun in Kates head as she stopped at a red light.
It had been a long, exhausting day. Shed forgotten about the time difference, had missed lunch and was getting hungry. She had to get a room, recharge, assess things and plan her next steps. The closest hotels looked sketchy to her. She kept driving until she came to a Days Inn suggested by her GPS.
After checking in, she took a hot shower then called home, talked to Grace and heard about her day.
That new boy, Devon, asked me if he could kiss me.
Oh, my. What did you tell him?
I said no way! Thats gross! I could get his germs on me!
Kate laughed. The sound of her daughters voice was comforting. After the call Kate walked to the Burger King across the street to get supper. Fast food, cheap hotels, pressure, deadlines and only the fear of failure to keep you company. Such is the life of a national reporter.
After eating in her room, Kate set up her tablet and worked, first checking for any new stories out of Rampart. Her stomach began to tighten a little in anticipation of what she might find. There were a few news features, but nothing new had surfaced.
No new identifications.
Kate took a hit of her bottled water and continued. She saw Davidsons message saying that hed reached out to Viper through his sources with a request that he contact Kate.
Nothing, so far.
While Kate had gained some momentum from what shed uncovered about Sorin Zurrn, admittedly, it was a tenuous thread linking the Zurrns to the document found in Jerome Fells Denver garbage to the Alberta abduction, Vanessa and Carl Nelson.
Kate sent a message to Chuck and Reeka.
Ive found new, disturbing information on Sorin Zurrn. I believe were on the right track, but I need to keep digging, to tie it all together.
After sending the message she made notes on what she still needed to do: ask Chicago police for the reports on the deaths of Tonya Plesivsky and Krasimira Zurrn; check for coroners reports; check the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court in case Krasimira Zurrn had a will. Above all, she needed to follow the burial site document, so shed check to see if another company assumed the business of the original funeral home. Shed also go to the cemetery administration office and keep trying the Glorious Martyrs and Saints Church, pressing on all fronts for more help.