Dave was still trying to decide what he would tell the Chief and what he would conveniently leave out. There were some details that would tie very nicely to the Organized Crime Task Force and others that would probably cause some real issues with the Chief. By the time he started towards the Chief’s office he had decided to tell him what he thought about the deaths of the college students and the possible tie to the murder of Charles Loften… but he would leave out the details on sports gambling, power brokers, and the possible ties to presidential politics. The problem was, he wasn’t sure who he could trust and he didn’t want to take any chances that might put his or Berry’s life in jeopardy.
Before he could get a few steps away from his desk, one of the detectives yelled out to him … Hey Dave, you have a call from the lab on line 3. He was thinking that this might be the break he was looking for… and he was right.
Yes… you did? A Vincent Balboa huh? Yes… I know who he is… THANKS! This is a great help.
Dave decided to postpone his meeting with the Chief. He felt that he needed to get with Berry first and go over the new info before he laid anything down to the chief. He might be able to spill a little more if he was able to put it together better, and this evidence could give him the edge he was looking for…
Berry, I need to talk to you right away… can you meet me at O’Malleys in about 30 minutes? Ok, I’ll wait, but hurry as much as you can… this is really important. The excitement in Dave’s voice was telling Berry that it really was important.
Ok, Dave, I’ll get there as soon as I can.
…
All he asked for was a cup of coffee for both of them. This time there were no amenities or food to get in their way. They were both focused on the case.
The lab came up with a match. The print lifted from Loften’s hand belongs to Vincent Balboa…
Vinnie B… wasn’t he part of the old Grendandino crime family? I thought he retired after the old man died.
He happens to be one of the suspects we’re investigating through the Organized Crime Task Force. We’ve been trying to tie him to several unsolved murders that we believe were the work of the old Grendandino clan. But it appears the he may be back in business and possibly the family too. I am getting ready to go to the Chief and give him some of the details on what we have found, but I wanted to talk to you first so we can get our stories straight on how much I should tell him. I don’t want to jeopardize things and I am not really sure where he stands.
Then I would say it is best to play it safe and keep a lot of the details out. Until we’re sure how far this really goes and who exactly is tied into the entire situation, it would probably be best not to give up too much of what we have found. It could come back and bit us Dave.
I’m aware of that Berry… I had already decided not to include all the big wigs and politics we have discovered, just to be on the safe side, but with this new evidence I probably need to get into the whole gambling thing in order to tie organized crime into the situation. I'll need to bring Vinnie in for questioning, and I need to establish a motive… so what do you think I can tell the Chief without giving away the entire hand yet?
It’s gonna be hard to discuss the gambling aspect without telling him about the plot to do away with college sports programs Dave. I am thinking you can tell him that you haven’t discovered the major players yet, only the plans that included organized crime families… it might buy us some time to find some more evidence that can provide a definite tie to those involved, the power broker, and presidential politics.
Sounds like a plan to me… OK, I’ll get back to you in a little while and let you know how it went… I am hoping he will be happy with what I tell him and not upset that we haven’t put it all together yet… he can be a real pain at times!
Just be careful not to look too excited… you know how you get when you have something important … your eyes sort of light up.
I’ll try to keep them dim for a change… Dave got up and walked away with a smirk on his face. He WAS excited about the prospect of solving a MAJOR case.
…
When Dave got back to the department he stopped by the Chief’s office to talk with him, but was told he would have to make an appointment for later that afternoon. From what he was told, it appeared that the Chief was in a heated discussion with the FBI regarding a jurisdiction dispute. Dave walked away quickly after setting a time to meet. He was hoping that the Chief’s discussion had NOTHING to do with what he and Dave were working on.
He would have to deal with that later. For now he needed to find Vincent Balboa and bring him in for questioning on the Loften murder. Maybe he could get more information from Vinnie that would provide him with better support when he did finally talk to Chief Dobbins. One thing at a time… he would deal with what he had evidence on first and work on tip toeing around what information to give the Chief later.
…
I want to thank you for the great reference you gave Chief Dobbins about my work.
You weren’t supposed to know about that… how did you find out?
Well, I am a detective… it’s my job to find things out. Anyway, I really DO appreciate it. It has provided me with a good opportunity to work with the department on a fully sanctioned basis. They have put me on a 3 month retainer and I am working as a consultant with Lt. Dave Lutz.
That’s fantastic! But I am sure it wasn’t anything I said… the Chief is a smart man, and he probably decided that a good PI like you might be of some help to his department.
You’re a good judge of character. Do you think he’s an honest man… can he be trusted in your opinion? If I’m gonna work for the department I wantta know all I can so I don’t get myself into something I can’t get out of.
I believe he’s an honest man. I don’t have anything that tells me otherwise. He has always seemed to me to be pretty straight… of course that’s just my opinion… I really don’t know him that well.
Well, he apparently thinks a lot of you and your institute… I’m not sure if you knew. But he has been lobbying for your institute to help raise funds to keep you a float. I believe he thinks your institute is a good place to train his people.
I believe that it is too, but I didn’t know he was so interested in our work. I guess it goes to show you that quality is the best advertizing… so... what are you guys working on?
Oh, a few things here and there… some of it looks like it ties into my current client’s case… I can’t really talk about most of it… suffice to say we are in the middle of a serious case that we both have been working on from opposite ends… but now we are able to put the ends together and come up with some evidence and inside information we would have never gotten to by working separately.
Dianne felt a little left out… I am sure it is something important or you wouldn’t be so evasive… I wasn’t trying to be nosey… just curious.
You know I value your opinion… you always have good insight… it’s just that I want to make sure I don’t breach any department protocol… I had to sign a bunch of papers… you know…. department confidentiality and all… I am sorry I am being so secretive… it’s not that I don’t trust you… I just don’t want to get either you or me into any trouble. Berry WAS being sincere… he really did want to tell her what was going on, but he was concerned that if she knew too much she might become a target for those wanting to keep things quiet. He smiled a gentle smile
I’ll fill you in a little more as we get closer to solving the case.
Fair enough… do you have time to stay for a while and watch a movie with me? He really didn’t, but he stayed anyway… he like being with her and it seemed to sooth his mind when they were together.
…
Having put on a nurses outfit, she slipped in the emergency entrance and worked her way to the elevator trying not to be too noticeable. Her mind was on finishing what she had started and she was engrossed in thought when the elevator doors opened. It was not like her to
be distracted but she had been so deep in her thoughts that she failed to notice the guard stationed at the nurses desk.
Can I help you nurse? The guard stopped her before she could continue down the corridor.
Her mind was moving quickly and came up with an answer intended to disarm his query. Can you tell me where Maternity is located? I’m new here and still leaning to find my way around.
You’re on the wrong floor. Maternity is down on 4.
Oh, gosh, I’m sorry… like I said I get turned around easy… Thanks… she headed back to the elevator and pushed the down button… standing and waiting for the elevator to arrive she felt as if she might almost faint… this we too close… she would need to find another time to get to him… another time to finish her task… for now she would retreat and attempt to make new plans…
She wasn’t really doing this job for herself… even though the situation could reveal her darker deeds to everyone… she was doing it mostly for the one she admired so much… the one that had changed her life… the one she considered her oldest friend. Whatever it took, she would do it… in her mind she was helping him as well as advancing her own ambitions... and nothing she did would be too much.
Stepping off the elevator and starting toward the exit, she caught a glimpse of a man getting on the elevator… he didn’t see her face, but unbeknownst to her, it struck him that there was something familiar about the nurse he saw walking away as he got on. She didn’t know him, but he knew her. Luck was with her today, because if he HAD seen her face, Berry would have recognized her and realized that she wasn’t really a nurse. She disappeared out the exit unheralded.
Berry had come to speak with the doctor and check in on Lee to see if there was any change in his condition. He was feeling a little guilty… Lee wasn’t a close friend of his, mostly a friend of Muffins… but he had asked Muffin to check out the committee and Muffin got Lee involved, so in a roundabout way he felt it was sort of his fault Lee had been hurt.
When the elevator doors opened, he recognized the officer on duty at the nurses desk… Hey Riley, what you doing here?
Lutz has me doing duty and watching out for a patient he thinks may be involved in an investigation he’s workin on. You know how paranoid he gets at times… What you up too?
Well to be honest, sort of the same thing… Don’t know if they told everyone yet but I’ve been put on as a temporary consultant… I’m working with Detective Lutz on a case… and it just might involve a patient here… I came to check on his condition.
Ahhhh, sorry… hay don’t say anything to Detective Lutz about my paranoid comment … I was just being mouthy ya know…
No problem… do you know where his doctor is? I want to talk with him a minute.
I’ll see if the nurse can find him… the officer turned to the nurse sitting at the desk and began talking to her in low tones… then he motioned for Berry to come over to the desk.
She says he’ll be back up here around 6 PM… and that according to the doctor the patient is doing a little better but he’s not out of the woods yet.
Can I See him?
The nurse spoke up this time… he opened his eyes for the first time this morning, but he’s been sedated and is sleeping right now… you’ll have to come back later when he’s awake.
Turning back to the officer Berry asked about visitors. Has the patient had any visitors today? Was there anybody here to see him?
I’ve been here since early this morning, and there hasn’t been anyone in to see him with the exception of the staff doctors and nurses. It’s been pretty quite all day.
Berry was about to leave when the officer spoke up again. There was one thing that caught my attention… just before you arrived in fact… there was this nurse that got off the elevator looking for the maternity ward… said she was new and was lost… I told her it was on the 4th floor and she took off back down the elevator.
Why do you say it caught your attention Riley? Was there something about her that struck you as odd?
Not really, it’s just that it was way before shift change, and it seemed unusual that a nurse wouldn’t know where the maternity ward was… but I sort of dismissed it… I figured that could happen in a large hospital like this.
Thanks was all Berry said as he headed for the elevator… at least he knew that Lee was doing better… he had a lot more things to follow up on and he would have to check on Lee’s progress more closely some other time...
The nurse the officer mentioned made him think about the nurse he saw when he was getting on the elevator… the one that seemed a little familiar in some way… maybe there was something about her that he WAS familiar with… maybe she was someone he knew… maybe she was the person who ran over Lee. He knew it would be too late to follow her. By now she was long gone… he made a mental note to follow up on it just like he was doing on all the other puzzle pieces that were floating around in his head.
When the elevator door opened Berry stopped short in his tracks. There was a look on his face of a man who just had a epiphany. Reaching in the elevator Berry turned the run switch to the off position and flipped open his cell phone…
Dave, how much trouble would it be... and how long will it take to get someone up to the hospital to take fingerprints off of elevator buttons? … yes I believe it does… ok, I’ll make sure it is out of operation until he gets here…. Officer Riley can keep an eye on the situation… THANKS Dave… I have a hunch the person that ran over Lee Harrington was here to finish the job… maybe we can get some evidence from the elevator buttons…