LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT: MIAMI - IN PLAIN SIGHT
It was the following morning and sirens were going off on the neighborhood streets as Detectives Nate Kendall and Renee Alexander walked up to the crime scene with Crime Scene Unit Investigator Eddie McIvor who explained the crime to them. "Miami-Dade P.D. passed the buck. The victim, David Allen Wilcox was found murdered by his car, two gunshots to the chest and one in the leg. 38 millimeter rounds. He still had his watch, wallet, and cash."
"Close range shots?" Alexander asked putting on a pair of gloves.
McIvor shook his head, "No, I think it was either a stake-out or a drive by."
Nate Kendall bent down over the body and noted looking at the hood of the car which was raised, "There's a tool box on the brim here… he was fixing the car. If it's a drive by, he walked away from the car; hearing one outside the street there… then, bang."
"If it's a stake-out, someone lured him out into the open and then opened fire." Alexander said looking around from all the neighbors' homes in the cul-de-sac area.
Kendall asked CSU Investigator McIvor, "Do we have any witnesses?"
"All ear witnesses. We canvassed the neighbors, they all heard the shots; but didn't see a shooter." McIvor answered.
Alexander asked McIvor, "Do we have time of death determined?"
"For anything that actually has to do with the body, we'll gonna have to wait for the M.E." McIvor answered.
Kendall nodded and walked into the house with Alexander following.
CSU Techs were taking photos of the house. Detective Alexander walked over to Wilcox's answering machine that had a light blinking. She clicked the play button.
A young woman's voice was on the answering machine, "Dave, it's Wendy… how come you haven't come over tonight? I wore that sexy dress you wanted me to buy last month. Call me back, I love you." Then the answering machine changed to another message, "David, call your mother; I'm still alive you know!" an elder woman said before the machine said, "No new messages."
"Our boy David's got him a sweet thang." Detective Alexander commented jokingly.
Kendall nodded his head agreeing and adding, "And the second voice is one I heard a lot growing up… one of the reason's I never stuck with the dating game." Kendall walked off leaving his partner to ponder the thought.
Alexander then went upstairs to a bedroom, "Our victim apparently gets down and dirty, in a literal sense." Kendall walked by her as she pointed to some dirty clothes on the bed.
Kendall walked over to the clothes and ran his gloved hand over them before nodding his head, "It's dirt."
"I've never seen that much dirt on clothing, not even on my kids clothes; combined!" Alexander commented.
Kendall asked, "Was this guy digging holes?"
"After we're done here, maybe we should question the girlfriend; she might give us some insight on who were dealing with." Alexander suggested looking at the personal products on his dresser; soaps, colognes, etc.
Kendall acknowledged a CSU Tech, "Hey, bag these man." The tech nodded and walked off.
[Card Sound]
APARTMENT OF
WEDNY McNAMARA
ISLANDIA
TUESDAY, JULY 12
"What can I do for the Miami police?" Wendy McNamara asked leading them into her apartment. Wendy sitting in a lone chair, Alexander sitting on a couch, Kendall choosing to stand.
Alexander asked her, "How well do you know David Wilcox?"
"I know him very well; we've been dating for almost a year come August." Wendy happily answered, "Why?"
Kendall sighed before regrettably answering her, "He's been murdered."
The detectives could tell she basically shattered; she nervously asked, "W-w-what?" McNamara looked over to Detective Alexander who was just nodding her head. Immediately McNamara broke down sobbing, "What happened to him?" She screamed through sobs.
"He was killed while he was working on his car." Alexander answered softly to her.
Kendall then added, "Ms. McNamara we have to ask; where were you last night?"
"I was right here… I was waiting on David to show up for a dinner date… he never showed up!" Wendy McNamara cried.
Alexander then asked her compassionately, "Wendy, did David ever talk as if someone was bothering him, or did he have any problems?"
"D-David never said anything… but he wouldn't even if he did." Wendy answered trying to compose herself.
Kendall then asked her, "Did David have any problems at work, where did he work?"
"Daniel Construction; he never talked much about work other than building tops, street pavement, and sewer grates… he said he had a quiet co-worker who didn't bother him." Wendy answered softly. Kendall was writing that down in a notepad as Wendy bellowed painfully, "Who did this to him?"
Alexander answered her confidently, "We don't know; but we're going to find out who did it and why."
A sad Wendy McNamara saw a little hope.
The detectives were walking back to their car in the parking lot, Kendall putting on a pair of sunglasses. "We've got an answer to why Wilcox's clothes were covered in dirt and grime… he's a construction worker." Kendall said handing the car keys to his partner.
Alexander took them while checking a missed text on her cell phone, "Martinez is done with autopsy."
"Hope he's got something for us that we can run with." Kendall noted.
On a street corner downtown, Bart Anderson had a jackhammer, working a busted up drainage grate on the sidewalk. He was eyeing a beautiful woman who was going into a jewelry shop down the street. His new co-worker, Walker Santino was noticing Anderson staring off into the distance, not watching where he was hammering. Santino yelled over the noise, "Hey man, you're gonna bust up the concrete and then we'll be cementing here!" Bart then turned off the loud machinery. "You alright man?"
Softly, dryly, and coldly Anderson said back to him; "I'm fine."
Santino just looked at his new co-worker, kinda frightened.
OFFICE OF
CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER ANTONIO MARTINEZ
1851 N.W. 10TH AVENUE
TUESDAY, JULY 12
Medical Examiner Antonio Martinez asked the detectives, "What do you want to hear, the bad news or the really bad news?"
"Does it really matter?" Detective Kendall asked wryly, eyeing the pale body on the metal table.
Martinez said handing Kendall the file and Alexander walking over to him to read it with him; "I agree with CSU when it comes to determining the aim of the shots."
"What do you mean?" Alexander asked.
Martinez pointed at the gunshots on the victim's chest explaining, "The first two shots were fired here on impact, but…" he then pointed at the shot in the leg, "The shooter moved when he was shot in the leg… the bullet straying a few centimeters even after impact." Alexander and Kendall stared at the medical examiner, "The shooter was either running while shooting the victim, or he was in a vehicle."
"Drive by shooting." Kendall commented.
Martinez then said, "Wilcox's TOD is placed around seven o'clock… the bad news is that I found residue in David Wilcox's lungs as if this guy worked steel mills or the construction industry."
"He was a construction worker according to the girlfriend." Alexander answered.
Martinez continued, "Your guyed would have died in a matter of years anyway… he was obviously an avid smoker and drinker; he also had signs of early cirrhosis… he would have had began to have health problems by the time he reach 50, unless he decided to try to quit."
"Well this isn't a bright side doc, either way; an innocent man's been killed… I wanna know why." Kendall said sternly.
Martinez then responded with, "When you get the answer to that, please tell me."
Back at the precinct, the detectives were walking in the squad room with Captain Winters to her office, explaining their findings so far. Alexander was saying, "David Wilcox was murdered outside his house, he was fixing his car. The M.E. is saying he was probably killed in a drive by form of shooting."
"Go on." Winters said acknowledging she was listening.
Kendall then continued with, "The M.E. also noted that the victim could have run into poor health in a few years. He had early lung problems from his construction job and smoking; and his had early signs of cirrhosis, from heavy drinking."
"Was Wilcox involved with anyone?" Winters asked opening her officer door, but propping on the frame.
Detective Alexander answered, "We talked to a girlfriend, Wendy McNamara, she lives in Islandia; she said she and David had a date the preceding night; but he never showed up."
"Because he was murdered." Winters finished nodding her head.
Kendall then added, "Alexander played the messages on his answering machine; McNamara and his mother were the only two messages on the machine."
"Okay first things first; check out the construction job and then find out who his mother is." Winters said to them walking in her office, the detectives splitting up.
[Card Sound]
OFFICE OF MORT DANIEL
DANIEL CONSTRUCTION
DOWNTOWN
TUESDAY, JULY 12
"David Wilcox is dead?" Mr. Daniel asked confused and shocked.
Kendall nodded his head, "Yes, he is."
"I was wondering why he didn't show up to work this morning… I had to assign his co-worker to someone else." Daniel replied sitting down at his cluttered desk.
Alexander asked the business man, "How well did you know David Wilcox?"
"I don't know many of our employees that well. All I know is when they clock in and clock out and take a sandwich out of a rusty lunchbox." Daniel answered.
Nate Kendall asking, "Do you know if he had any problems on the job?"
"The only thing I've heard from him was yesterday; he said a car threatened to shoot them on a street where they were working on a sewer grate. The driver claiming debris was hitting their car." Daniel answered.
Alexander then noted, "You mentioned he had a partner, where is he?"
Daniel then turned to his computer and began typing, "You're in luck; they're here in the city working on a drainage line… South 5th Street to be precise."
Softly, dryly, and coldly Anderson said to Santino; "I'm going to take a break… I hate hearing these damn hammers all day." Anderson then walked off; Santino was looking at the elder man as if he was a lunatic.
Anderson was walking down the city streets watching the woman he saw earlier who went into the jewelry store. She walked for the longest until she got into a clear on the streets where Anderson decided to pounce. He said coldly running up behind her, "A pretty rich woman like you ought to not be traveling these streets alone eh? What do you say to taking a little ride?" He then hit her in the face and carried her body to the alleyway.
Twenty minutes later there was a gunshot and Anderson sped out of the alleyway dusting himself off.
[Fade to black]