Provoked (5 page)

Riley pulled up in front of the brownstone and called Adam’s number.

“Crawford Property”

“Mr. Crawford, Detective Riley; we spoke earlier.”

Riley’s words were as brief as Adam’s greeting and response.

“Third floor; apartment number three.”

He opened the front door and walked in. Riley looked at the buzzer board on his way through and turned to Kennedy.

“Guess he’s not big on security.”

Kennedy nodded. He didn’t look impressed.

Riley missed Steve. He missed the action he’d been used to in the undercover drug operations. He belonged on the streets and not at a desk in Missing Persons. His life had changed suddenly and not for the better. Kennedy irritated him with one question after another on their way over. Riley could easily tell that Kennedy had been stationed at the thirty-seventh precinct since he graduated from the academy and had never left. He didn’t have the street smarts that Riley developed over the years. He only hoped the man would keep his mouth shut and follow his line of questioning with Adam.

“Nice place,” Kennedy sarcastically mentioned, as they entered the lobby to the brownstone.

Riley took in his surroundings and nodded. “I’ve seen worse.”

“I can’t believe some people actually live like this,” Kennedy continued to ramble.

Riley walked in front of him and rolled his eyes. Riley had been to places in worse shape than this. At least this brownstone appeared to have a mopped floor. Riley remembered some places he’d want to wipe his feet on the way out. He could easily tell the old brownstone hadn’t been kept up over the years. The tenants were probably low-income and likely, drug dealers. Not the ones his team would investigate. They went for the big-time dealers; the ones who supplied the small-time dealers that would live in a place like this.

“Mr. Crawford,” Riley said to the man who opened the desperately-needed-to-be-oiled door. “Detective Briggs, and this is Detective Kennedy.”

“Come in,” Adam answered hastily and held the door open. “As I said on the phone, I already told the cops everything I know.”

“I just have a few questions, Mr. Crawford. There might be something that was missed.”

Riley figured he was probably wasting his time and Adam’s, but at least he’d been able to get away from a desk. The man’s uncompassionate tone had confirmed his thought.

“She was a tenant. I don’t get personal with tenants.”

The man not only appeared to be a creep but an inconsiderate one. Then again, Riley took notice of the way Adam maintained the building and his apartment.

“
Was
? Do you believe she’s dead or just gone?”

Riley walked toward the table near the balcony. The air smelt better near the opened door. The stench that lingered in the apartment definitely confirmed to Riley that Adam never paid attention to a regular cleaning detail.

“Is Beth dead?”

“I didn’t say that. Just curious as to why you used the past tense when you mentioned she
was
a tenant?”

Riley noticed the piled paper on the table. His eyes traveled to the title at the top of the page,
The Perfect Poison
. Intrigued, he picked up the title page and read the typed words.

“That’s private,” Adam said and grabbed the paper from Riley’s hand. He set it down with care on the pile. He snapped at Riley, “I’m a writer not a murderer.” Riley shrugged and made a mental note to check out this character. His suspicious mind wondered if Beth was dead and not missing.

“And to answer your previous question, Beth has been gone for six weeks. I assume she’s not coming back. I have rent to collect and need that apartment filled.”

Adam no longer appeared calm. Riley speculated he’d become a little furious with the recent implication.

“Is it possible for us to see Beth’s apartment?”

Riley shrugged off Adam’s defensive comments. He had a job to do. Well, it was more so his curiosity that brought him to the brownstone. His gut now told him something didn’t sit right with this woman’s disappearance.

“Sure. It’s just down the hall.”

Riley and Kennedy followed.

Adam unlocked the door. Riley stepped in. “It’s empty”.

“Like I said before, I need tenants that pay rent.”

Adam’s tone told Riley he didn’t really give a shit about Beth or any tenant. He’d met too many landlords like him through his work with rundown buildings, and the only thing that mattered was the rent. Then again, most tenants in these low-income, decrepit buildings didn’t care about the upkeep as long as the rent was cheap.

“Did someone come to claim her things?” Riley questioned Adam. He hoped perhaps there may be another lead to follow up with.

“No. I donated what little salvageable furniture there was in here to the Goodwill down the street. Personal items I boxed and the rest I tossed in the dumpster.”

Adam stood by the opened door.

Riley turned, “Where are those boxes?”

“In the boiler room; if you want them you can have them. No one has come for them,” Adam offered.

Riley nodded and followed Adam’s lead.

Adam led them downstairs to the boiler room. Riley began down the old wooden stairs and turned back to tell Kennedy to watch his footing. The old staircase cracked more than Adam’s doors. This building definitely needed to be fixed up. Riley’s eyes watered with the stench that swept in through his nostrils. He wasn’t sure what he smelled. He assumed it to be a mixture of dirt and a hint of bleach that filtered the air as soon as he hit the last step.

“For such a filthy basement, why do I smell bleach?” Riley coughed from the odor.

“Must have spilled, I don’t clean down here.”

Adam’s comment came across as a very defensive one.

              Kennedy whispered to Riley, “And he cleans upstairs?”

              Riley chuckled through a cough. He wondered why Adam’s tone in his last comment came across with such defense. Was he hiding something or just irritated because Riley mentioned filth?

Adam picked up the boxes and handed them to Riley.

“Just the two; it’s hard to determine what’s personal and what isn’t. Most of the stuff in that apartment seemed to be junk to me. But in case someone did show, I wanted to have something to give them.”

“Thanks.” Riley took the boxes from Adam and almost dropped them.

“You okay? Here, let me take one of those.”

Kennedy reached for one of the boxes. Riley worked out daily and knew he had strength but those boxes were heavy. It surprised him how easily Adam held both, as if they were empty. Riley made a mental note of Adam’s strength as he climbed the stairs.

“Is there anything else I can help you with today? I have to get back to my daily chores.” Adam turned to them when they reached the lobby. Kennedy rolled his eyes.

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Crawford. If you think of anything else, or should someone stop by for Beth’s personal items, please contact me.”

Riley handed him a business card with his name and private cell number on it.

Adam nodded and held the front door open for them.

“He’s one strange, creepy character,” Kennedy remarked after they put the boxes in the trunk.

Riley looked over at the rundown brownstone. “You got that right. I think he’s hiding something.”

“Like what?” Kennedy enquired.

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s just a creep, like you said. Something doesn’t sit well with me.” Riley shrugged and opened the driver’s door. Kennedy took a last look at the brownstone and got in the car.

Back at the thirty-seventh precinct, Kennedy searched records to see if there’d been any missing persons reported from the brownstone address before Beth. Riley checked for any crime activity at that address. He knew there had to be some connection between the drug deal gone bad the night his partner was killed and Beth’s missing person’s report. Riley always followed his gut. He knew he wouldn’t have reached for that particular file if it had no meaning. It was a clue to him and he definitely was going to figure out what that it meant.

“There have been no other missing person’s reports filed from that address in the past ten years. You need me to go back any further?” Kennedy took Riley from his recent thoughts.

Riley thought about it for a minute then nodded. “Not now. I believe the connection I’m looking for is fairly recent.”

“What can I do to help?” Kennedy offered his assistance.

Riley got the vibe from his tone that he sounded excited. Maybe the man wasn’t so dull, after all. He’d just been locked up on a desk job too long. Riley knew he had to follow protocol to get the heck back to his post on the street, but he convinced himself he was indeed working the case of a missing person and following leads. To be safe, he needed to find this connection fast; before the boss thought he wasn’t doing the task at hand. He was sure Dr. Richards would be checking in with both his lieutenants. At least Lieutenant Lis wasn’t one of them. To mention their night of passion wouldn’t help him at this point. Then again, with her cold front that morning, he figured he was safe. If he could only learn to follow protocol, then he wouldn’t end up in these predicaments. He looked up at Kennedy and smiled.

“Yeah, there is. Can you run a check on this name?”

Riley wrote it down on a piece of paper and handed it to Kennedy.

“Who’s this? How far back do you want me to go?”

Kennedy eagerly accepted the task.

“The man I shot six weeks ago; the same man that killed my partner. Just the past ten years is good. Thanks.” Riley’s response jolted Kennedy.

The expression of excitement left, replaced with shock and horror. Kennedy leaned in on Riley’s desk so no one heard him. “What’s this have to do with the missing person’s case? Is this going to get me in trouble?”

“Andrew O’Donnell was shot a block away on the same night Beth went missing. I believe there might be a connection. ” Riley didn’t want to admit it was just his gut instinct. It appeared Kennedy liked to play by the rules.

Kennedy cleared his throat and stood. “I’ll run a search on him.”

“And Kennedy,” Riley added. “Keep this between us, for now. You know, just in case there’s no connection.”

Kennedy paused for a moment as if he contemplated doing something out of the ordinary. He nodded. “Sure, Briggs.”

Riley’s focus went back to the criminal activity report on his screen. He only found domestic disputes and small-time drug possession arrests from the brownstone. His attention heightened when he searched death records at the address. Two deaths were reported in the past six months at Adam’s brownstone. The medical examiner’s report stated heart failure and respiratory failure, due to possible overdose. The report stated heroin had been found in the man’s blood, and there were syringes and heroin found in the apartment next to his body.              
Riley checked the next flagged death at the address. The medical examiner’s report stated a heart attack; but Riley’s mind drifted back to the last death report.
Didn’t it mention something about heart failure, too?
He quickly brought up the previous death report and wondered if the two deaths could be connected. Then the name on the report hit him. Peter O’Donnell. Riley scratched his head.
Andrew O’Donnell.
The man he shot that night. The man who’d killed his partner.

I wonder if there’s any relation between the two men.

Riley’s fingers moved across the keyboard. He smiled.

“They are brothers.”

Riley leaned back in his chair and thought about the two cases and what stood out besides heart failure and drugs. He went back to the domestic disputes reported at the brownstone. He found quite a few, which he assumed he would. Low-income, rundown brownstone…he expected the discoveries. Both brothers’ apartments had been visited many times with domestic dispute disturbances. There’d been no domestic-related arrests made. Riley figured the women were too scared to press charges. He’d seen it too often, and these women never got the help they so desperately needed. The charges don’t stick for long, unless they get them with something else. In the severe cases, the women never survived the abuse. He wondered, perhaps, if it was a blessing they didn’t. He never understood how a man could abuse a woman.  

“Riley, you’re going to like this find.” Kennedy grinned.

“Andrew O’Donnell’s address is listed the same as Beth’s.”

Riley’s gut had been right. There were connections. He filled Kennedy in on his findings.               “I came across his brother’s name from the death report. It appears Crawford Properties has had two deaths in the past six months, three counting Andrew’s. Besides Andrew, both men died of heart failure. I know, natural causes or drug-related. But all three men had numerous domestic dispute calls to their apartments. All calls made by the one and creepy—Adam Crawford.”