Vaughn waved this off as Ford slid the second cup of coffee across the table. “Gives me an excuse to visit the old neighborhood.” He, too, had lived in Wicker Park up until nine months ago, when he’d moved into his fiancée’s Gold Coast town house.
“How’s Sidney?”
“She’s good.” Vaughn smiled. “Poked her head up as I left just long enough to mumble something about bringing her coffee. Not a morning person, that woman.” He took a sip of his own. “By the way, this better not be for a story. If I see anything by you in the Trib tomorrow that quotes an ‘anonymous FBI source,’ we will have words.”
Ford chuckled. Despite the fact that he and Vaughn knew each other well enough—a by-product of the fact that his best friend, Brooke, was married to Vaughn’s best friend, Cade—there tended to be an inherent distrust between reporters and the FBI. “You’re safe. This isn’t for work. It’s a personal matter.”
“All right. Tell me more.”
Ford took a piece of paper out of his messenger bag and slid it across the table. On it, he’d written Peter Sutter Number One’s date of birth, social security number, and last known home address. “I was wondering if you could get me a copy of this man’s mug shot. He was arrested four years ago for felony battery, served a two-year sentence at Stateville. When I ran a search, the mug shot came up as unavailable.”
“He probably paid to have it unpublished.” Vaughn looked at the information, then tucked the paper into the pocket of his jeans. “Shouldn’t be a problem. I can pull it up tomorrow when I’m back in the office. I take it this Peter Sutter is someone you’re looking for?”
“Actually, it’s the opposite. I’m hoping this isn’t the Peter Sutter I’m looking for.” Without mentioning his sister or niece, Ford explained the situation and said that he was helping to track down Sutter for a friend. “I have the list narrowed down to eleven men. Hopefully, after seeing the mug shot, we’ll be able to eliminate this guy as a possibility. For the rest, I’ll have to do some legwork to get their photographs.”
“The kind of legwork you’re talking about works best for someone who lives in a single-family home or a two- or three-flat,” Vaughn said. “You stake out the home, say, in the morning before work hours, and if you’re lucky you’ll get a shot of him coming out the front door. Or, you might catch him pulling his car out of the garage, so you follow him to work and get a shot of him exiting the vehicle. But even that’s going to take time.”
“I don’t mind putting in the time on this.”
“Fair enough. But if any of your Peter Sutters live in a large condo or apartment building, it’s going to be a lot trickier to snap a photo.”
Ford had already considered this, which was precisely why he planned to tackle the men living in single-family homes and two-flats first. Still, he had a Plan B if that didn’t pan out. “I can get license plate and VIN numbers from their social security numbers.” Which, in turn, would tell him the make and model car driven by each Peter Sutter. “If I have to, I can wait outside the parking garage, wait until the right car comes out, and then follow the guy from there.”
“This must be for someone important, if you’re willing to go through all that.”
Ford said nothing, merely took a sip of his coffee.
Vaughn chuckled. “Look, all these stakeouts might work. But depending on the address, some down and dirty undercover work could be a lot more efficient.”
Ford liked the sound of anything that could save time. “Such as?”
“You get a partner. Someone who could knock on a front door for some plausible reason and ask the guy if he’s Peter Sutter. Meanwhile, you are stationed somewhere nearby where you can snap a photo. If you can, I’d recommend a female partner for this kind of thing.” Vaughn pointed with his coffee cup. “A tall, built guy like you comes around asking questions, and people get their guards up. But both men and women are inherently less suspicious when it’s a woman looking for information.” He thought about that. “Maybe Brooke could help you out.”
“I don’t want to get Brooke involved in this.” Because Brooke, naturally, would want to know why they were tracking down eleven Peter Sutters,