CHAPTER THREE

"So, what do we know so far," Jimmy asked Eva.

It was a short ride from Eva's house in the neighborhood of Bushwick up to the crime scene in Williamsburg. Jimmy was driving, so they would probably get there a little quicker today.

"Three bodies found in an abandoned house," Eva replied. "It was called-in as gang-related, but there are a few things wrong with that."

"Like the fact that even gangbangers hate hipsters? I bet nobody's even seen a banger up here for at least ten years or so."

"Agreed. But, according to the lieutenant, there are three bodies that don't belong there. And you know what the neighborhood's turned into. These folks think any black male alive is probably a drug dealer, and any dead black male was probably a gangbanger."

Jimmy winced and said, "Ask me, there are more than a few people that don't belong up here. I swear, if I see one man bun today, I'm shooting first and getting offended later."

"Careful, Jimmy," Eva warned. "Some of these hipsters have some pretty rich parents, and those rich parents have friends down at the Plaza and in the Mayor's office. Besides, it could be worse. Remember what the neighborhood was like before the hipsters and the high rent?"

"My mom worked in the sugar factory here when I was a kid. I remember a decent, working class neighborhood filled with factories and immigrant bars. I also remember, after all the factories around here closed, it turned into one big war zone for the street gangs."

"Yeah, if this were twenty years ago, I'd have no problem believing a gang hit went down. But now… It's all art galleries, microbreweries, and over-priced apartments. Something is definitely wrong if this case is gang-related."

"Speaking of out of place," Jimmy said, clearly amused with himself. "What's the deal with Brian-the-date?"

"Shit, don't even start with me."

"What? I didn't say anything. He just, uh, just seems like a swell guy."

"Fuck you, Jimmy. Doesn't matter, anyway. He won't be there when I get back."

"Damn, you gave him his walking papers already?"

"No," Eva said with a sigh. "What is it with you guys that makes your balls shrink every time one of you finds out that I can take care of myself? He found out we had a call, and he actually asked if I wanted him to come along. Believe that shit?"

Jimmy erupted in laughter. "Now that would have been funny. What the hell was he going to do if actual bad guys were there waiting for us? Sell 'em a used car?"

"The problem is the same every time. Any time something comes up, some guy wants to rush in and be my hero. And, when he finds out that I can take care of myself, his ego falls on the floor and shrivels up. It's gotten to the point where I actually have to put up an effort not to hurt their little feelings."

"The real problem is, the only guys who know you're a badass are no longer able to eat without a straw, so they can't warn anyone else. Is this us, up here?"

"Looks like it," Eva replied.

"At least they taped it off already," Jimmy noticed.

Eva snorted and said, "Great. Now let's see how many footprints they tracked through our crime scene while doing it."

As the boat bobbed back and forth lazily in the water, the four men were basking in the noon day sun and finally starting to relax. Fishing lines were hanging over three sides at the rear of the boat and Martinez was at the front of the boat tending to a coal-fired grill. As Martinez lifted the lid and began to flip steaks and shrimp Ortiz strolled up and handed him a new beer.

"Hey, Gil, those steaks are starting to look great."

"Easy, Sarge," Martinez gently chided Ortiz. "Patience in all things, especially fine dining."

"Hey, brother, I'm starving here. At this point, my stomach would gladly settle for average dining."

Both men laughed.

"Hey, Gil," Ortiz said. "Tell me about that Cadillac Escalade we took from the house yesterday. I mean, I know the dealers don't need it — they're dead. But what difference did it make in getting rid of it?"

"No real difference, Sarge," Martinez replied. "Just wanted to throw another knot in the investigation for whoever catches the case. That thing is currently being shipped to Mexico in about a million pieces. And any part that had a VIN or serial number is probably on the bottom of the ocean by now."

"Nice," Ortiz said. "Guess there won't be any more questions about that."

"Nah. The only question that will come up is how did those boys get all the way over here from Baltimore. And that question won't even come up until after they ID them. Besides, we still owe Brooklyn North for that stunt with the bed-bugs at last year's softball game. Either way, the more muddled the case is, the less time they have to pull on every loose string."

"Yeah, those Brooklyn chumps definitely made a bad call when they set those things loose in our locker room. Half of our guys were already on their way home before we found out what they did to us."

Martinez chuckled and said, "Getting rid of the Escalade is nothing compared to Roman dumping those Russian cigarette butts at the back of the house. He said he collected them from an ashtray out front of some bar. We don't even know who they came from. Now that's really going to make their homicide guys crazy when they get the lab results from those."

"Gil," Ortiz said while shaking his head. "You are one devious S.O.B."

Eva and Jimmy began by walking the outside perimeter of the house, looking for any evidence or clues that would soon be affected by weather or trespassers.

"Hey, we got a window broken out from the inside here," Jimmy said. "And what appears to be a lot of smaller broken glass scattered around. Probably street traffic."

"Yeah," Eva agreed. "Anyone walking down this sidewalk was going to step on this mess. But what about that Tennis shoe? Random, but it looks kind of new."

"It'd be more interesting if it still had a foot in it. Looks new, but unless one of our guys inside is missing a shoe…"

As they methodically circled the house, checking both the house exterior and the ground around the house, they both stopped at the back door.

Eva looked down at a pile of cigarette butts. "Watch out for those," she said as she knelt down and placed a marker for the Crime Scene Unit."

Jimmy bent down and picked up one of the cigarette butts with a pair of plastic tweezers. As he looked the butt over, he said, "I don't recognize the name. And it smells kinda funny."

"Like marijuana or something," Eva asked.

"No. Just different tobacco, stronger. Darker, if that makes any sense."

Jimmy placed the cigarette butt back where he picked it up from. Looking around, he said, "I don't see anything else down here, but up there I can see that somebody broke that door. Look how the frame is split."

"Yeah," Eva said as she slowly climbed the three steps to the back porch area. "But what bothers me is no footprints, no marks on it, nothing."

"It was forced. You can see the stress points in the metal here and here. Looks like they used a tool to pry it open."

"That's not something you see very often," Eva remarked.

"Nope," Jimmy replied. "Why don't you go ahead and start the walk-through from here, since we know this is where they came in. I'll finish the perimeter and come in through the front."

"See ya there," Eva said.

As Jimmy walked around the other side of the house, he didn't notice anything worth paying attention to until he got around to the front.

Jimmy came in the front door and walked down the short hallway into the dining room, he said, "Surprise. They breached the front door, too. Looks like we have two points of entry. So, at least two suspects, now."

"And I'm betting things happened pretty quick once they were in," Eva noted. "Two of these guys were still sitting in their seats when they were shot. One through the chest for both of them, with matching exit holes in the chair backs."

"Well," Jimmy said, pointing to a body on the floor beside the table. "It looks like number three had time to stand up before losing his head."

"Jesus, Jimmy! Your humor still sucks."

"Probably a shotgun at close range. Funny thing, both of these guys in the chairs have a pistol in their waistband. At least one of those weapons probably would have been drawn if given a chance."

"It gets worse," Eva said. "Both of these guys also took one between the eyes. Somebody double-tapped these guys before they could reach their pistols or even get out of their chairs."

"Wow," Jimmy exclaimed. "This is what a well-orchestrated entry looks like." As he was beginning to study the room closer now, he said, "Whoever hit these guys has some sort of tactical training."

"Agreed. Two points of ingress, structural breaching of the doors, and an entrance that was fast enough to cover, what, ten feet from either end of the house?"

"At least," Jimmy agreed.

"So, they came in pretty loud, but they covered ten feet fast enough that it didn't matter. And then they dropped three people before they could react."

"Killed them with double-taps," Jimmy added. "Well, except for the poor guy who apparently took a face full of buckshot."

"Yeah. I can guess the motive. But it still doesn't make sense for gangbangers. What kind of bangers would leave guns behind?"

"Plus," Jimmy asked, "What bangers shoot double-taps?"

"Exactly," Eva agreed. "And how many are trained well enough to pull this off so cleanly?"

Jimmy asked, "Want to bet that when we run these guys they come back with zero records?"

"No bet," Eva replied. "These guys aren't street-level dealers. Hey, take a look at that chair. Does it seem lined up with the table? Like maybe there was someone else sitting there who isn't here now?"

"Maybe. You think everything began with someone already on the inside?"

"Well," Eva said, "That would make sense. I mean, it would explain the lack of response from these guys. Though, I still think things happened really quick. That backdoor did not look as if somebody struggled with it. That was somebody skilled and comfortable in technical entry."

"So, we're talking about at least two people with the training and the equipment to pull off an entry like this. Plus, the shooting skills for those double-taps. But what's the deal with our fourth person? If he was actually here. So far, nothing but a tipped over chair to indicate number four was even here."

"And who had the motive? Rival dealers, robbery, or inside job," Eva asked

"Maybe," Jimmy said. "But whatever the motive, it looks like two of our suspects are either ex-military or they hired some muscle with military training."

"Agreed," Eva said. "Either way, we're definitely looking for more than one person."

After their initial assessment, they continued investigating the scene. They were taking pictures and video from various angles, collecting measurements, and instructing the Crime Scene Unit on areas where they wanted fingerprints processed and chemical testing performed. This gave each of them time to process what they had learned and discussed so far. After looking around the rest of the house, they met back in the dining room.

"Anything in the living room," Eva asked.

"Nope. Nothing but a fine coat of dust. Nothing has happened there for a while. What about the kitchen?"

"Someone outside tossed a brick through the window," Eva said. "Possibly one of these guys was renting the place just for these meetings. But with no other signs of recent activity, my guess is that they broke in last night specifically for this one deal."

"Agreed. I'll run down the owner later on just to confirm. But, either way, I'm surprised to see anything vacant around here with property prices being as inflated as they are right now."

"True," Eva agreed. "Which means it would be pretty damn expensive to rent. Especially to rent it just for a drug deal or two."

"Well, I don't think we have much else going for us until we get these guys identified and get ballistics processed."

"One other thing I'm wondering about is that brick in the kitchen. It obviously came through the window."

"Sure it did," Jimmy said. "But how many bricks and broken windows do you think we have in New York City?"

"Too many," Eva replied. "But what stands out is that on both Thursday and Friday, it rained like hell for two days straight. The remnants of that tropical storm that came up the coast last week."

"Sure," Jimmy said. "What's your point?"

"Well, that window faces east. So, if that brick had been here at that time, the floor all around that window would be soaked through with rain water. But it's not even damp around the window. So, that brick came through that window at some point in the last thirty-six hours."

"Partner, are you getting enough sleep?"

"Fuck you, Jimmy!"

"Seriously," Jimmy said. "We already have enough variables and technical shit here, we don't need to add some random vandal to our chore list, do we?"

"Don't discount it, Jimmy. It still might figure in," Eva said.

"Okay, have them bag it and tag it. But I'm telling ya, it came from some drunk or a bored kid."

"And, all of our guys here seem to have their shoes, so I'm going outside to get some pictures of that glass and that shoe," Eva said.

"Jesus, Eva," Jimmy exclaimed. "Are you going to process the whole city?"

"Don't worry, Jimmy," Eva said. "You don't have to do any extra work. I'll take care of it myself. If it's nothing, then it's nothing. But I want to be sure."

"You're wasting your time, partner," Jimmy said over his shoulder as he headed toward the front door.