New York Chief of Detectives (11 page)

The officer was visibly shaken by having to speak in front of the three-star Chief of Detectives. “My partner and I responded to a report of a car on fire in the street on Campus Drive near the         college at about 2130. When we rounded the corner, the car was fully involved. FDNY had already arrived. The flames were tree-top high. We blocked the street and started trying to find any witnesses. It took a little while to get the fire out, but the Fire Marshal here told me that he could smell a crispy critter in there early on, whatever that means.”

Pat interrupted.  “It means that Sparky here has a lot more experience at fire investigation that you do, Officer DeBlasio.”

“Sorry, Chief, I just didn’t realize you could actually smell anything while it’s actually burning.”

“It’s kinda like having a backyard barbecue, but different.” Sparky interjected.

“I’m sorry. I think I get the message.”

Sparky shook his head.

“Forget about it!”

Pat resumed with a question. “Did you locate any witnesses?”

“Only a couple of people who heard screeching tires and then saw the car on fire.”

“Make sure that our detectives get to talk to them.”

“Yes sir, Chief.”

“Sparky, can you give us a run down from the Fire Marshal’s perspective?”

“Sure, Chief, I’ll be glad to. This was a very hot fire. I suspect that the fire had a little help. I’m certain that some type of accelerant was used, probably gasoline. I found a liquid trailer on the pavement leading up to the car. There’s no structural damage to the car, so there was no traffic collision involved. It looks like it was torched with the victim inside. The victim, who appears to be a male, was in the back seat, so he may have been dead before the fire, but we won’t know for sure until the autopsy. The victim is a crispy critter with nothing identifiable except a turquoise ring on his right ring finger that didn’t melt. This is definitely a criminal homicide, Chief.” 

“Thanks, Sparky. We want you to work this with us. It may be part of a bigger investigation and we want to treat it with meticulous detail and see if there is any connection.”

“I assume you’re talking about the Rodriguez case. I was at the funeral.”

“That’s the one. We’ve been ordered by the Queens DA not to release any information to the media to prevent our case from being compromised. It’ll apply to this case as well.”

“Why do we think that this case may be related?”

“Because our tech guys recovered a security video from near the vacant lot where Tony’s body was found. The only car that entered that parking lot, as best we can tell, was an early 1990’s Chevrolet Caprice. The picture we have only catches a corner, but it looks like it is a light colored Caprice with aluminum wheels.”

“I can tell you that the wheels match, but I don’t have a clue who owns the car. I haven’t been able to find anything left of a tag, Chief.”

“I’m sure the lab can find the VIN number and can tell us a lot more.”

Pat was convinced these cases were somehow related, but could tell that Mike Logan was upset about bringing Sparky McGregor into the investigation. After the briefing was over, Pat asked Bryan and Mike to remain. Mike’s face started to turn red.

“Mike, this is your time on the stump. What do you have against working with Sparky?”

“I didn’t say a word, Chief.”

“You didn’t have to say anything. It was written all over your sarcastic expression.”

“Okay then, we’re working a cop murder. Why do we have to clutter it up with the damn Fire Marshals?”

“Because it involves a fatal arson, and Sparky McGregor is as good as it gets.” 

“It’s just that after nine-eleven they took all the glory. We lost guys too, but it was all about them.”

“Mike, you need to recognize that we’re in the twenty-first century now, and we need each other. I’ll not put up with anything but strong teamwork and professionalism in this case. I’ll reassign you if I need to.”

“That won’t be necessary, Chief. I promise you that I’ll make it work.”

“I trust this will be the last time we talk about this.”

“Yes sir. I’m sorry.”

Bryan and Pat put together a list of things to be done, including checking for video cameras and more canvassing by the task force. They agreed that they would convene the entire task force back at 1500 hours on Thursday before they invaded Queens. Dickie dropped Pat off at his high-rise at 0200 hours.

CHAPTER 23

Thursday, April 8-Day 7

Chief of Detectives’ Residence

Borough of Manhattan, New York

1000 Hours

Pat
loved the rare chance to sleep late. He left a message for Angie Wilson letting her know that he would be out of the office until mid-afternoon when the task force was to meet, and that tonight would be the operation in Queens. He poured a cup of coffee, glanced at the Times, and decided that he would get some much needed time on his trumpet. He had built a small soundproof room in an extra bedroom where he could practice without disturbing anyone. He spent about an hour playing scales and trumpet fundamentals before putting the horn down.

The phone rang, and Pat grabbed it.

“Morning, Chief, George McBain here.”

“Good morning, George, whatcha got?”

“We recovered some DNA from Tony’s jacket. We have a profile. It isn’t his wife’s. I have entered it into CODIS, but so far we haven’t gotten a hit.”

“I appreciate the update, George, and we’ll talk more at the task force meeting.”

“See you then, Chief.”

Pat went through his mountain of email and then showered and dressed. Dickie picked him up, and they headed toward One PP.

“I think we might catch a break tonight, Dickie. I can feel it.”

“Sounds like the rabbit may surface tonight after all.”

“Don’t count on it, but we’re going to shake the damned briar patch.”

Pat and Dickie stopped for a sandwich before getting into the office about 1400 hours. He handled the paperwork in his in-tray and walked into the conference room a few minutes before 1500.

Pat took the podium.

“Good afternoon, guys and gals. I know that everyone is ready for this roller coaster ride to be over, but we’re not there yet. We now have three bodies on our hands in five days. We’re not sure that the one last night is related, but we’ve not eliminated it.”

“Chief?”

“Yes, George.”

“We might have a connection. The ME removed two slugs from the crispy critter. They look like 9 mm’s. It looks like two shots to the head, same as Curtis Gee. I dropped them off at ballistics before coming here. We should know for sure within the hour, Chief.”

One of the IAB Detectives got up to leave and Pat took immediate notice.

“Excuse me, gentlemen, but no one should leave until we are finished. You can tell Harry Doogin the latest when we’re out of the briefing.”

The IAB detective became flushed in the face and immediately sat down, staring at the floor.

“I also remind you of our orders from the Queens DA We have to play these cases close to the vest. No leaks!”

“Mary, can you give us an update on any developments since our last briefing?”

“Absolutely. Most of you know the details from the car fire over by Queens College. The car was a 1990 Chevrolet Caprice that was jacked up like the one in the photograph. There’s no identification on the victim yet. The car is registered to a George Montgomery, also from Queens. Mike and I’ll be going by his last known address to see if we can find out anything. He has no rap sheet as we can tell.”

“Thanks, Mary, and I’d like to introduce someone to you guys. Those on the scene last night have met him, but we have Fire Marshal Sparky McGregor with us today. Sparky and I have a lot of history together in Queens. He has arrested more arsonists than anyone I know. Is there anything else you can tell us about the fire?”

“Thanks Chief, it’s a pleasure to work with you guys. This was definitely a torch job. The ME says that our victim was dead from chronic lead poisoning, if you know what I mean, before he was lit up. Gasoline was the accelerant based on the fire patterns.”

“Thanks. Sparky, I appreciate your help.”

George McBain raised his hand.

“Go ahead George; do you have something for us?”

“Yes sir, Chief, it’s not a ‘maybe’ anymore. Our crispy critter was killed with Tony Rodriguez’s Glock 19. The lab made a positive match on the 9 mm slugs.”

“Well, then we’re officially working three homicides now, and I’m sure the Caprice was the one that dumped the body. The pieces are starting to fall together, but this case is becoming littered with bodies. We need to close this one fast. Does anyone else have any developments? Okay then, Captain Flannery please give us an overview of our adventures tonight over in Queens.”

“We’ll be pulling out all the stops, trying to generate leads in all these cases. We’re going to do some zero tolerance enforcement on street crime and drug sales. We want to squeeze these perps for information and let them know that the NYPD will not stop pursuing this case. At the same time, we’ll be handing out flyers. The reward is $30,000 in the Tony Rodriguez murder. If this doesn’t work, we’ll raise it to $50,000. The Detectives’ Endowment Association has agreed to kick in some money if needed. We aren’t exactly sure what our manpower will be, but if everyone comes through, we’ll have about 150 officers. We need to find Tony’s car and get this case closed. We’ll have more specific assignments tonight, but the task force will be primarily responding to debrief people arrested or any more witnesses located. We want to make sure that all three crime scene locations are heavily hit. If there are any witnesses out there who can help, we want to find them for Chief O’Connor.”

Pat was quick to respond.

“I appreciate the thought, but we aren’t hunting them for me. We are hunting them for Tony Rodriguez and for Lady Justice.”

“Thanks, Chief, for keeping us on the straight and narrow. We will meet at the National Guard Armory on 168th Street at 2000 hours for the briefing.”

CHAPTER 24

Thursday, April 8-Day 7

New York National Guard Armory

Borough of Queens, New York

1930 Hours

At
1930 hours, Dickie Davis pulled the Chrysler into the parking lot of the National Guard Armory in Jamaica, Queens. The armory was housed by a military police company that had been deployed to the Middle East. They had only a small skeleton crew there. Today it looked like it was being occupied by another army, the New York City Police Department. There were RMP’s, unmarked cars, a few Traffic Division motorcycles, prisoner transport vans, K-9 handlers with dogs  and even a couple of big white and blue Emergency Service Trucks. There was also a large group of about thirty OCCB Detectives mingling around inside the Armory.

“Well, Dickie, this makes me feel like George Patton. I always wanted to be a general.”

“In my book, being the Chief of D’s in this city is better than being a general.”

“Now that you mention it, mine too!”

Officers were continually pouring into the armory. There were as many as five to a car in some cases. Each officer signed in at a desk and Bryan Flannery assigned them to different teams. Pat approached the table.

“We’ve had one hell of a response, Chief.” Flannery observed.

“It looks like it.”

“We have two hundred and twenty officers not counting the bosses.” 

“Great, Bryan! When will we be ready to get started?”

“We should be ready by 2030. Chief, I’d like you to open it up with a few words about the mission. I’ll take care of the assignments.”

“Sure, I’ll be happy to do it.”

At 2030, Bryan Flannery gave Pat the ‘thumbs up’ sign. Pat immediately walked up to the front, where a PA system was set up.

“Okay, guys, let’s get this show on the road. I want you to listen carefully, and make sure you understand our mission. I’d like to thank the New York Army National Guard for letting us stage here tonight. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they are deployed in harm’s way. I am Patrick O’Connor, Chief of Detectives, and I’d like to introduce a few other people. The commander for this event is Captain Bryan Flannery from the Manhattan North Homicide Task Force. He’s working this case out of our office. I’d also like to recognize Chief Raymond Capese of the Organized Crime Control Bureau where Detective Rodriguez worked. Six days ago Detective Second Grade Anthony P. Rodriguez came to work in the Organized Crime Control Bureau. He was working an evening tour from four to twelve. About 2030 he got a call from a snitch by the name of Curtis Gee and left the office. About twelve hours later, his body was found in a vacant lot in Queens.”