Authors: Gary Hastings
“It’s going well and we’re pretty sure this suicide is going to be a murder. By the way, when I talked to your friend, Dr. Cooper, today he said to give you his regards. I think he has a little bit of a thing for you, Maggie.”
“He always has. When I was in DC, he asked me out several times. He’s a nice man, but my heart was stolen years ago by you, and I don’t even think about other men any more, Pat.”
“I’m glad for that. I’ve found the prettiest girl in New York and by far, the sweetest.”
“That’s still nice to hear, honey. Although you say it a lot, I know in my heart you truly mean it.”
“I’m very happy, Gorgeous, but I wish we had more time together.
“I know, but our careers are demanding, and we do the best we can with the time we have.”
“Thanks, I treasure every minute.”
“Me, too. Have you had any more flack with the Bureau?”
“Oh no, but I’m sure they’ll keep me in the dark. I don’t know why they have to be so arrogant.”
“You know they don’t have a monopoly on arrogance. We have some bosses in the Service who are much the same. When I was on PPD, some of those guys resented having a woman on the detail. They were so ambitious and they’d do anything to get ahead. The bosses only worried about themselves, their careers, the next pay grade, and making sure every damn piece of paperwork was perfect, regardless of whether the content was meaningful or not. It encouraged people not to do anything extra. Thank goodness there weren’t a lot of investigative reports on the detail.”
“I don’t see you being like that, Maggie.”
“Of course not. I learned from someone who taught me that justice is important in completing a criminal investigation and an investigation should establish the facts of a crime. I was also taught that investigations should be evaluated on the results produced by the investigative efforts and not so much about crossing
t’s
and dotting
i’s
. I’ve learned that as long as the investigation was conducted ethically and legally, I should be pleased.”
“That doesn’t sound much like the Fed method to me.”
“Of course not, silly, I learned it from the best investigator I’ve ever met. I learned it from you, Pat!”
“I’m impressed, but it’s just plain common sense that investigations are meaningless unless they’re pursued for the obvious goal of solving the case. Sometimes this gets lost in the bureaucracy. I don’t want to sound pompous. We have NYPD guys who are just as guilty. It’s easy to spot them. They’re always reading those damn management books written by everyone except law enforcement. I don’t care what you say; you can’t run a law enforcement organization like a Fortune 500 company. Okay, Maggie, I guess I need to get off my soap box.”
“You’re right of course, Pat, but the book worms will never get it.”
“I’m a book worm, as you can see by all the books in here, but I know that what I’ve experienced and the skills I’ve developed are far more important than just reading something about it. Do you have to work tomorrow?”
“Maybe a little, but I have nothing major, how about you?”
“There’s nothing planned, but this
Butelli case is starting to heat up.”
“I know you’ll get to the bottom of everything.”
“We’re definitely making progress.”
Maggie took the left-over Chinese and put it in the refrigerator. Pat wiped down the table. Maggie grabbed her bag and retreated to the bedroom. Pat checked his e-mail and made a few notes at his desk. He clicked the light off in his study and saw Maggie standing in the hall in the most beautiful black night gown he had ever seen. He smiled and embraced her.
As Pat turned down the covers, his cell phone started to ring.
“Pat O’Connor.”
“Good evening, Chief. This is Mike O’Neil.”
“What’s up, Mike?”
“We’ve gotten into this computer. We also know that the air-card was purchased by Harry Pittsford about three weeks ago. It looks like he had created a website so someone could view the streaming video from any internet source. It’s password protected. There’s one user logged in and we’re trying to identify the IP address.”
“This sounds good, Mike. Keep trying to find out who’s watching. It might be Daniel Pellegrino.”
“Yes sir, Chief. Have a good night.”
“Good night, Mike, and thanks for the information.”
Maggie had gotten into the bed beside Pat.
“Maggie, I’m sorry about the interruption, but it was important.”
“It’s always important, Pat. Turn the light out.”
Pat turned off the lamp and then rolled over and embraced Maggie. As he kissed her, her cell phone started vibrating on the dresser. She exhaled deeply and then cut on her lamp and jumped out of the bed grabbing the phone.
“Maggie Parker.”
Maggie listened intently and started writing down some notes.
“I appreciate the notification; I’ll meet you there within the hour.”
Maggie put her phone down and looked at Pat.
“I’m so sorry, Pat, but we have a credible threat out of New York against the President and I have to go. I’ve loved our time together tonight, and I love you.”
“I love you, too, Sweetheart. You’re an incredible woman.”
“Thanks for understanding. I better grab a quick shower. I knew there was a reason I brought my clothes with me.”
“I was hoping to talk you out of them.” Pat teased.
Maggie rolled her eyes and smiled at Pat’s flirtatious remark.
“I better get rolling; duty calls.”
Chapter 34
Monday, February 7 - Day 20
Computer Crimes Lab - One Police Plaza
Borough of Manhattan, New York
1000 Hours
P
at was in his office early Monday morning and had knocked out a lot of routine paperwork. He had cleared his most recent emails and was leaving a clean desk to head to a task force briefing. He grabbed a cup of coffee and his briefcase.
The task force meeting was scheduled for 1000 hours. They were assembled in the high-tech lab of the Computer Crimes Squad. It looked like mission control with all the technology. Computer monitors were everywhere, casting a glow to the dark room. The experts had been assisting Mike O’Neil in analyzing the surveillance equipment which was focused on Margaret
Butelli’s house. Pat entered the room on time, and the entire task force was present. Bryan Flannery was in court today, so Pat would run the entire meeting, which he often did, anyway.
“So is anyone having fun yet?” Pat asked.
There was a general chuckle in the room and the predictable sarcastic New York cop responses. Wilbur Stone offered the best one. “Oh yeah, boss, this is as much fun as listening to a country music song backwards. The dude gets the broad and the mobile home back.”
Pat responded with equal sarcasm. “Happy trails, Wilbur. Let’s get this thing started. I know we’ve had some developments over the weekend in the computer department. Would you like to tell us what you’ve found, Mike?”
“We’re still working on it, Chief. Some of this stuff is over my head, but I have the guys here in computer forensics working on it. They’re amazing. I’m a hacker compared to them, and I thought I was pretty good. Essentially, someone set up a video camera across the street from Margaret Butelli’s house. It’s set up as a real time website. It broadcasts streaming video. They’ve found one person logged into it, and are trying to identify the IP address of the computer accessing it. In addition, there’s a receiver for the wireless transmitter from the phone, which apparently records each call, then compresses it and sends it to an email address which we’re trying to identify. The guys in the lab suspect it may be routed through several proxy servers to disguise its final destination. This is all pretty sophisticated stuff.”
“Do we know how long this has been in place, Mike?” Pat asked.
“The air-card was purchased by Harry Pittsford three weeks ago at an electronics store, here in Manhattan. We suspect it was put in place shortly after that. The house has been vacant for a couple of months. We’ve left it up and have added our own alarms and cameras in case someone tries to move it.”
“That’s a great idea, Mike. Please keep us posted.”
“Yes sir, Chief.”
“Is there any word on
Butelli’s car?”
Mary McDonald spoke up. “Margaret
Butelli never picked it up from the impound yard. She had it sold as part of the estate. It was purchased by a used car lot in Queens and was later wrecked. According to Motor Vehicle Registry records it is probably part of a man-hole cover somewhere. It was scrapped three years ago.”
“Too bad, Mary. Are there any other developments from your end?”
“Not really. The sheriff’s investigators from upstate are coming this afternoon to discuss the judge’s death.”
“Make sure they know to keep this thing quiet. I’ve said it before, but if the press gets wind of this, it could tip our hand.”
“Absolutely. We’ve already discussed that.”
“How about the funeral home paperwork? Are there any results from the document examiners?”
“I haven’t heard anything.” Mary answered.
Pat directed the next question to Sergeant George
McBain. “Can you check on that for us, George, and see if you can get anything related to this case established as a priority?”
“Yes sir, Boss. I do know that we’ve located some potential DNA on that receipt in
Butelli’s files, but we don’t have a profile yet. If we can’t get it identified, we may have to get some known samples, including your own, Chief.”
“Just let me know, George. I’m certain I touched it.”
“I’ll keep you posted. In fact I’ll call the lab now to check on the handwriting examination.”
“That would be great, George.”
George McBain went to a phone in the conference room and called the lab. After a short phone call he stood up and reported his findings.
“Their examination has been completed,
Chief. They have to get a second opinion, but they’re certain the funeral home signature was a forgery. Just remember, this is not official yet.”
“I don’t think anyone is surprised, George, but it does confirm our suspicions and puts more evidence in the murder pile.”
“Karla, where are you and Wilbur on finding the elusive Daniel Pellegrino?”
“He is still elusive, I’m afraid. It looks like he fell off the face of the earth last year and hasn’t been heard from since. We have everything flagged including bank accounts, credit cards and his real estate holdings. We talked to the agents over at IRS Criminal Investigations, and they say his taxes are paid through an escrow account and filed electronically. They have deduced that he must have had a lot of cash stashed and an escape plan. They know we’re interested and we’re still covering his sister’s phones in Queens. We were only doing the land-line, but now we’re up on her cell phone as well, but for records only; who she calls and who calls her, Chief.”
“Thanks, Karla. If we don’t get a break, we may spook her by asking about her brother and then seeing who she calls.”
“You know, Chief, we can rattle her cage any time you say. There’s something about the words
United States Marshal
, that just scares the shit out of people.”
“It probably comes from watching all those cowboy movies and TV shows. You know the Dodge City Marshal never lost.”
“Yes, and there are other people who don’t have a clue. We were in the Bronx once and went to talk to a fugitive’s grandmother. We knocked and said ‘U. S. Marshals,’ but she refused to open the door. I finally screamed ‘NYPD Police’ and she opened the door. I asked her why she wouldn’t open the door and she innocently replied; ‘I’ve never heard of the
Jewish Marshals.’”
Everyone in the room broke out with laughter. Pat quickly brought things to a close.
“I don’t care what it takes; we need to find this guy before someone else is killed. He apparently used old Harry Pittsford to do his dirty work. Now, Harry is out of the picture forever. He’ll either find someone else or do something stupid himself. Also, is there any word on ADA Donovan?”
“Your friend at the bar association can’t find him anywhere, Chief. There have been no requests to check on his legal credentials, so we can assume he’s not practicing law. Since we don’t have any criminal charges on him, we have fewer options. If we get charges on him, we can pull out more tools.”
“Thanks, Karla. Let me know if there’s anything you need.”
Chapter 35
Monday, February 7 - Day 20
Police Commissioner’s Office - One Police Plaza
Borough of Manhattan, New York
1145 Hours