Disclaimer: Characters you recognise belong to Dick Wolf. But Christmas is coming and I've been a *very* good girl this year….
Author's note: Welcome to my first LOCI fic. Many thanks to Tracy and Marie for beta-ing.
Casus belli: an occasion for war
Part One
The August sun inched a fraction higher in the sky over Central Park. It wasn't even 8 A.M. yet, but already Alex Eames could tell the day was going to be another scorcher. Not a happy thought for Alex, who traced many of life's little annoyances back to the soaring of the thermostat. Today was a perfect example. Alex never overslept, but this morning, after a restless night spent unable to sleep due to the sticky heat, she was woken by the incessant ringing of her phone. Her partner's voice, sounding equally unimpressed by the early hour, had then informed her they had a case.
Now, Alex reluctantly dropped the remains of her coffee in a nearby trash can before ducking under the crime-scene tape. Nothing like a dead body before breakfast, she thought sarcastically. A curt nod to the ME, and Detective Eames was down to business, crouching over the body and quickly assessing the scene. The victim was male, mid-fifties, wearing running shorts, jogging shoes, and a t-shirt with a knife-handle sticking out of the breast pocket.
A tall figure cast a shadow over Alex, and she stood up to face her partner.
"So how did he die?"
The look on Bobby Goren's face told her he considered it too early in the morning for that kind of humor.
Alex, however, had a better question. "We got an ID?"
"No wallet or car keys, so I'm guessing he lives nearby," her partner replied.
"Or the killer took them," Alex suggested.
"There are no pockets in his shorts," Bobby explained, evidently having examined the scene quite thoroughly already.
"You got a theory?" asked Alex, expecting her partner to walk through the murder as he usually did.
But Bobby just shook his head. "The body was moved," he explained, a degree of frustration in his voice as he scanned the vicinity.
Alex took a step closer, as if to calm and reassure him in some manner. "Witnesses?" she asked. This part of the park was usually buzzing with early morning joggers on nice days like this.
Goren's face brightened. "She's waiting to be interviewed."
"You gonna buy me some breakfast first?" Alex asked hopefully.
"Now why would I do that?"
"Because it's the polite thing to do when you wake a girl up."
"And what do you usually get first thing in the morning?"
"Wouldn't you like to know." She raised her eyebrows and wondered if Bobby was aware just how flirtatious he sounded. Then Alex realized she had in fact started it and was now just standing there, grinning at him like a big goof. She promptly shifted to complete-professional mode.
"Interview?"
"After you."
* * *
*
Captain Deakins met the detectives on their arrival at One Police Plaza. "We've got an ID on your vic, Dennis Ryder, lives on East 86th. His girlfriend was getting worried that he hadn't returned from his run when she heard about the body on the radio and called us. And the woman found with the body's in interview room one," he advised.
The officer at the door of the interview room handed Detective Eames a thin file. "Cassandra Stamios, 21 years old, no priors."
"Thanks." Alex followed her partner into the room where a blonde woman was seated, her pretty face marred by an angry purple bruise on her right cheek.
"Cassandra, I'm Detective Goren, this is Detective Eames. We need to ask you a few questions. First, is there anything you want to tell us?"
The woman shook her head.
"Okay, let's start with what you were doing in the park this morning," said Goren.
"I was just walking."
"You live nearby?"
"No. I stayed at a friend's place last night, I was heading home."
"What time?"
"Ah, between six thirty and seven," Cassandra guessed.
"Mmm-hmm," Bobby nodded and jotted something down in his notebook. "Tell us what happened."
"I noticed the guy in the bushes, and I went to make sure he was okay."
"That's when you moved the body?"
"Yeah, I pulled him out onto the path."
"You didn't call 911?" Eames asked.
"I didn't have my cell on me. Even if I did, I doubt I would have thought of it. I was pretty freaked. I've never seen a dead body before, and I didn't know what to do. That's when the cops showed up."
"Uh huh," Bobby vocalized.
"And that's it, end of story." The witness appeared eager to leave.
"Do you know a Dennis Ryder?" Goren asked suddenly, studying Cassandra's face carefully for any hint of a reaction.
"No." She said the word calmly and evenly, but Goren detected the tiniest of pauses before she responded. He glanced at Eames. His partner had spotted it too.
Cassandra noticed the look they shared. She knew they knew, and her eyes narrowed. "Is that the guy's name?" she asked, quickly regaining her composure and feigning innocence.
Neither Bobby nor Alex responded.
"Is that painful?" Bobby asked, gesturing to the bruise on her cheek.
Cassandra touched her face gingerly. "No."
"You should use ice to at least keep the swelling down," he offered.
"Thanks for the advice." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
"How'd you get the bruise, Cassandra?" Eames asked bluntly.
"I don't remember." The tone of her voice challenged the detectives to refute her.
"Was it Ryder?" asked Eames. "Were you having a relationship with him? He hit you, and you decided to get him back?"
"I already told you, I don't know the guy. And I don't appreciate your hostile attitude," Cassandra told Eames.
"Well if it wasn't him, was it somebody else?" Eames persisted, ignoring the personal remark. "Somebody who wants to make sure you keep quiet about a murder?"
"No one hit me."
Cassandra was beginning to look agitated, Eames noted with satisfaction.
"Okay." Goren took over in good cop mode. He leaned over the table slightly and looked at their suspect earnestly. "But if someone else is hurting or threatening you, we can help."
She stared back at him for a moment before leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. "Sorry to shatter any manly fantasies you may be harboring, but I don't need a knight in shining Armani. I don't want your help, and I can't help you. I don't know anything about the dead guy; so unless you're going to charge me with something, I'd like to be going now."
Goren and Eames exchanged glances.
Goren closed his notebook over, and threw his hands in the air. "Fine."
Eames held the door open for Cassandra. "We'll be in
touch."
* * *
*
"Cassandra, prophet of disaster," Goren said as they left the room.
"She didn't like you very much," Alex noted.
"Well, she didn't exactly warm to you either."
"My heart breaks," said Alex. "No, wait, that's my stomach. You still owe me breakfast." She prodded her partner's chest with her index finger.
"There's an apple on my desk," he offered.
"It's been there for a week!"
"So?"
"It's gross."
"There's that 'hostile attitude' again." Bobby shook his head, scolding her playfully.
"Watch it, or I might shatter another of those 'manly fantasies,'" Alex warned darkly. After a furtive glance around the room, she then snitched a donut off a nearby desk and polished it off before the owner could come back to claim it. Perez wouldn't mind, Alex told herself. Mmm… jelly center.
"Hey, who stole my donut?" Officer Perez appealed, returning to his desk with a cup of coffee in hand.
Alex, picture of innocence, pointed to Bobby.
Perez shook his head in disgust. "Uncool, man."
Alex smiled to herself and steadfastly avoided Bobby's gaze as they made their way to Deakins' office.
"Hey, Eames, you got a little…" Bobby reached over and wiped icing sugar off Alex's chin. "Evidence." He licked his fingers. "Yum."
Thrown off balance, it took Alex a minute to follow him
through the door.
* * * *
"So what do you think?" The Captain asked, referring to their interview with Cassandra.
"She seemed sincere at first," Alex offered.
"She's good," Bobby conceded.
"But?" Deakins asked.
Goren didn't respond directly. "Did you notice her watch?" he asked Alex.
Alex nodded. "Men's Rolex."
Deakins shrugged. "I have a Rolex. It cost my sister ten bucks in Thailand."
"She was overcharged," Bobby advised him.
"This one was genuine," Alex insisted.
"How do you know?" asked Deakins.
"Because she was trying to hide it."
"Was Ryder wearing a watch?"
"Yep," Eames confirmed. "Omega."
"So she didn't lift his watch."
"No. But there's something about her…" Goren trailed off, struggling to articulate a reason for his sixth sense. "She knows more than she's saying," he said finally.
"There's no obvious connection between her and the vic." Deakins read off the file. "Dennis Ryder, 55 years old, divorced, two adult children, Jennifer and Samuel. His girlfriend's Laura Matthews. She's expecting you."
* * * *
An attractive, but fragile-looking brunette opened the door, and after
introductions, she invited them inside the elegant apartment.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Bobby offered.
"Thank you," said Laura. "I know you need to question me, but I can already tell you I have no idea why anyone would want to kill Dennis."
"How long had the two of you been together?" Alex asked.
"Almost nine months."
Bobby wandered the room, pausing to examine photographs on the bookshelf. Dennis and Laura on a golf course; Dennis and Laura, dressed for a ball; Dennis and a smiling teenager, presumable his daughter, at her high school graduation. "We'd like to speak to Dennis' children," he said.
"Jenny's in California. UCLA. She's got a flight back tomorrow."
"She didn't come home for the summer?" asked Alex.
"No. She rarely does. Her boyfriend, all her friends, her whole life is over there now," Laura said.
Bobby spotted another photo, of Jenny again, this time with her fairer-haired younger brother. "What about Samuel?"
"He comes and goes. He's been upstate with friends the past couple of days. He said he'd be back this evening."
"Was Dennis close to his children?" Bobby asked.
"As close as any family, I guess. There was no animosity between them, if that's what you're asking," Laura replied, somewhat defensively.
"Was he having any problems at work then?" Alex queried. "Did he seem overly stressed lately?"
Laura shook her head. "No more than usual."
"Do you know a Cassandra Stamios?"
"No," Laura answered Bobby. "Should I?"
"Dennis never mentioned the name?"
"Not that I remember."
"Okay, thank you for your time, Ms Matthews. If you think of anything that might be helpful, please call us," Eames handed the woman a card.
"I will."
"I just have one last question," said Goren. "Did Dennis have a will?"
"I assume so."
"You assume?"
"We never talked about it. His lawyer is Edward Griffiths, ask him."
"We will, thank you."
* * * *
Deakins checked in with Goren and Eames again later in the day.
"We've come up with nothing from his business records," Eames reported.
Deakins wasn't surprised. "A wealthy man is dead, so the obvious place to look is the family. See who has the most to gain."
"I don't think the girlfriend's involved, she seemed sincere," Alex looked to Bobby who nodded in agreement. "And the children were out of town," she continued.
"Let's go back to this girl, Cassandra. I know there's something there." Bobby had a look of intense concentration on his face as he paced the room. He pivoted around to face Deakins and Eames. "I want to search her apartment."
"With a warrant based on what evidence?" Alex asked. "We have no real reason to doubt her story."
Detective Goren exhaled forcefully. "I know. What about surveillance?" he looked to Deakins.
"I can't justify authorizing that." The Captain shook his head. "Of course, I can't control what the two of you do when you're off duty…"
Bobby dropped the file on the desk, open to the sheet listing Cassandra Stamios' address. "So, Eames, you busy tonight?"
Alex made no attempt to stifle her groan.
TBC
