CHICAGO
Burt Taylor had just come back from the hospital cafeteria, and his wife, Angela, was next to their daughter’s hospital bed when trauma surgeon, Dr. Dennis Stern, walked into the room.
It had been ten days since the hit-and-run. Alison Taylor had suffered severe brain damage, as well as multiple broken bones, severe lacerations, and internal bleeding.
Her parents had driven in from Minnesota as soon as they’d received the news. For the first few days, neither of them had left the hospital. Now, they spent the days together with Alison and took turns spending the night by her bed.
“Have the Chicago Police come up with anything?” asked Stern as he finished his examination.
Mr. Taylor had trouble keeping his anger in check. “Not a damn thing.”
Normally, Mrs. Taylor would have called him on his cursing, but in this case she agreed with his choice of words. The police had been less than satisfactory.
“It’s like they aren’t even interested in finding the guy,” continued Taylor. “They quote stats for annual hit-and-runs as if we’re supposed to just accept what happened to Alison as a consequence of living in Chicago. It’s ridiculous.”
“I agree with you,” said Stern. “Most cops mean well, but the CPD is overworked. This city’s deficit is like a black hole. It just keeps sucking more and more into it, and it leaves the cops with less and less to work with.” He could see the anger building in Burt Taylor’s eyes. “But that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be doing everything they can to find the person who did this to your daughter.”
“You’re damn right.”
“I think you should have someone working this for you from the inside.”
“Working this from the inside?” repeated Taylor incredulously. “Isn’t that what the detectives assigned to Alison’s case are supposed to be doing?”
“Technically, yes. But like any big-city police force, the CPD has a large bureaucracy. That doesn’t excuse how your daughter’s case is or isn’t being handled. It’s just a fact. Again, the majority of cops at the CPD are good people. They’re just swamped with murders and rapes and shootings and all of it.”
Angela Taylor brought the trauma surgeon back to the matter at hand. “What do you mean by someone working for us from the inside?”
“Lots of cops moonlight,” replied Stern. “Many do security. But they also do other things. I’ve done a lot of tactical medicine with the SWAT team and have a friend who is now over in the department’s Organized Crime Division. He happens to be a lawyer and he moonlights taking cases.”
Burt Taylor looked at him. “So you’re telling me that if we want our daughter’s case to get the attention it deserves, we’ve got to pay someone off? What the hell kind of police department is your city running?”
The surgeon put up his hands. “Absolutely not. What I am suggesting is that you meet with him, talk about what happened, and share your frustration over the lack of progress by the CPD. He might be able to help you.”
“I’m afraid I’m confused as well,” added Mrs. Taylor. “Once the police find who did this, the city or district attorney will bring charges, won’t they?”
“Correct. It’ll be the state’s attorney,” said Stern. “But I want you to understand, I’m not trying to sell you anything. You’re either going to like John and want to work with him or you’re not. He wouldn’t be acting as a Chicago police officer; he’d be acting as an advocate for Alison and your family. He’d be your attorney, and his role would be to push the CPD’s investigation. He’d also launch his own investigation so that you can not only nail the person who did this and have the state’s attorney bring him up on criminal charges, but you’ll also have a person you can sue in civil court for damages.
“That’s what I mean by having someone working for you on the inside. He knows how the CPD works. Even though he’ll be wearing his lawyer hat, the fact that he’s also a cop will bring a lot of pressure to bear on the investigation.”
Burt Taylor thought about it for several moments. After looking at his wife, he turned back to Dennis Stern and said, “How do we get in touch with him?”
They met at an out-of-the-way restaurant not far from the hospital in the city’s Little Italy neighborhood along Taylor Street.
Sergeant John Vaughan was sitting at a table in the corner, his back to the wall, with a view of the front door. It was just after eleven a.m., and the restaurant was empty. He noticed Burt Taylor through the window before he even entered.
The hostess showed him to the table and John stood to shake his hand. “I’m very sorry about what happened to your daughter.”
“Thank you,” said Taylor as he released the man’s hand and took a seat. Vaughan was in his late thirties. He wore a brown suit with a green tie. His dark hair was cut short and he had eyes that moved around the room. “Are you expecting someone else?”
“I’m sorry,” said Vaughan. “I don’t come to this neighborhood a lot. It’s nothing personal.”
Taylor didn’t know what to make of him. So far, he wasn’t very impressed. “Dr. Stern thinks you may be able to help us.”
“Dennis is a good man.”
It was an odd reply. “You’re a police officer, but not a detective, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“But you are a lawyer.”
“I am,” he responded.
Taylor paused, waiting for some sort of a sales pitch as to why he should hire him, but nothing came. Whatever this man was, he was definitely no salesman. “Setting aside your relationship with Dr. Stern, why should I consider hiring you?”
“Well, it depends on what you want.”
“We want to find the driver of the taxi who ran down our daughter.”
“Good, because that’s what I want too.”
Finally, Taylor saw a spark in the man.
Vaughan continued. “Are you familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? You know, categories of needs that have to be met before a person can start focusing on achieving the needs of the next category?”
“I am.”
“Well, when it comes to cops, detectives in particular, that’s pretty much BS. There are two types of cases that will always get solved-the easy ones and the ones where there is so much pressure grinding down on the investigators that they absolutely have to climb out of the ring with a victory.”
“So which one is Alison’s?”
“Unfortunately, neither. There are more than five thousand Yellow Cabs in this city and the only witnesses to the crime were so inebriated, their testimony is worthless. So that scratches your daughter’s case from the easy category. And let’s face it, if this was an easy case, you and I wouldn’t be sitting here.
“As far as crushing the investigators with pressure, unless you have a very close relationship with the mayor, our police superintendent, or your daughter is some sort of notable personality, there’s just not going to be enough pressure to make this case a priority and get it solved.”
Taylor was confused. “Then where does that leave us?”
John Vaughan smiled. “It leaves you with me.”
“And what would you do differently?”
“For starters, I’d do the job the detectives were supposed to. I’d investigate the entire incident from front to back.”
“Then what?”
“I’d follow up on any leads and see where they take me.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s how it’s done,” said Vaughan.
“Officer, how many hit-and-run cases have you ever investigated?”
“To be honest with you, none.”
“How many violent crimes?”
There was a pause, so Taylor added, “Give or take.”
“Two or three,” responded Vaughan.
Taylor was beginning to feel that this had all been a waste of time. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-five.”
“And exactly how long have you been an attorney?”
“Six months, sir.”
“Six months? When the heck did you get out of law school, yesterday?”
“Actually, four years ago.”
Taylor was now completely convinced that he had wasted his time. “It took you that long to pass the bar?”
“No. I took a four-year leave to fight in Iraq.”
Taylor wondered if maybe he had the man. “What branch of the service?”
“The Marine Corps.”
“You’re a Marine?”
“Yes, sir. I worked in intelligence and helped shape our counterinsurgency strategy.”
After several moments of silence Taylor said, “Do you believe you can help with my daughter’s case?”
“I wouldn’t waste your time, sir, if I believed otherwise.”
Waving the waiter over, he replied, “Then let’s order some lunch and talk about what you can do for my family.”