"Morning, sir. What's the word?" Bailey inquired as Murtaugh entered the department. Everyone stopped and watched, all eager for the same answer.
"He's stable, but they won't know much 'til he wakes up," Murtaugh replied. "I'd like to have this scumbag in lockup before he does, so whadda ya got?"
Bailey inhaled and started toward the boards in the corner. "Not much, unfortunately. Ballistics has the casing, but there weren't any prints or DNA that could be gathered. Since it was a cemetery, there's no cameras or nosy neighbors. Plenty of people heard the shot, but nobody saw anything. No cars, nobody fleeing on foot, nothing."
"Nothing? How do we have nothing? We're the L-A-P-D. We gotta have something."
"We've started checking alibis for anyone with a grudge- but it's going to take a long, long time. You guys ticked off a LOT of people."
"I know, Bailey, thank you," he sniped as they stopped in front of two boards full of names. His eyes widened. "There has to be a thousand names on here."
"One thousand three hundred and sixty two to be exact," Bowman corrected from his desk.
"And this is just here. We're still waiting on the list from Texas," Bailey added.
"Pull anyone you need, I have to update the mayor and the bosses." Murtaugh headed for his office and paused. He turned around. "Bailey, don't forget to check anyone that has it in for Delgado still."
"Delgado?"
"Riggs is still family. I don't want to miss this guy simply because we got lazy."
"Right," Bailey groaned as Murtaugh disappeared into his office. "Looks like we're adding a few..."
"Hold it!" Bowman huffed as he chased the young man down the sidewalk. The man glanced back at him before veering down an alleyway. Bowman sighed and continued to chase. He turned the corner in time to see the man near the other end.
"I said stop," Bowman breathed. The man glanced back again as he turned the corner, slamming into Bailey's arm.
He fell back on his butt and immediately cowered. "I'm sorry! Don't tell my girl!"
"What now?" Bailey scowled.
"He's quick..." Bowman gasped as he caught them.
"The pot… that's why you chased me, isn't it?" the man cried.
"Actually we chased you because you ran when we asked to speak to you. Didn't see the drugs, but we'll be happy to collect those too," Bailey explained with a grin.
The man frowned. "If you weren't here to arrest me for the drugs, then why talk to me?"
"We're investigating the shooting of a police officer. Where were you yesterday afternoon?" Bowman explained, finally catching his breath.
"Shooting? I didn't shoot anybody. Definitely didn't shoot a cop. I swear. I was with my girlfriend. Her family had a big BBQ. You can ask them, they was glaring at me all day."
"Girlfriend got a name?" Bailey asked.
"Loraine. Loraine Delco."
"Delco? As in the supermarket baron?"
"Yeah. I'm trying to clean up my act, please don't tell her I slipped. Her family hates me and if she finds out I was smoking weed, she'll dump me."
Bailey rubbed her face in disbelief and frustration. "You skip town on me, and I'll sky write it. You get me?"
"Scout's honor!" He fumbled his fingers before Bailey tipped her head for him to leave.
"You let him go?" Bowman frowned.
"He wasn't that hard to catch. Besides, that's definitely not our guy."
"You let him go?" Murtaugh's eyes were wide as saucers.
"He didn't do it," Bailey answered.
"You didn't know that for sure."
"Didn't have cause to arrest him either."
"Just..." Murtaugh snorted his disgust at her logical argument. She smiled uncomfortably, waiting for him to decide the next move.
"Captain?" she dared.
He scrunched his face and breezed out of his office onto the department floor. She silently mouthed the word okay and followed him.
"So where are we at?" he demanded.
"We've eliminated thirty three possibles," Bowman chirped from his desk, a phone against his ear.
"Thirty three? That's progress."
"Yeah, arrested half of them on unrelated charges. They keep confessing to other crimes when we ask about shooting Riggs," Bowman added.
"Really," Murtaugh rolled his gaze toward Bailey. She rolled her eyes.
"We also added nearly three thousand more names to the list from Texas and Delgado's files," she replied.
Murtaugh pinched the bridge of his nose. "So we've checked off thirty three out of four thousand?"
"Yep."
"We need to figure out how to narrow this down faster. You're sure we didn't miss anything at the crime scene?"
"Positive. Bowman and I secured and oversaw every inch of that cemetery."
"What about the ballistics report on the casing? Did we get that info?"
"It wasn't much help. If we find the gun, we can match it, but it was pretty common ammo and nothing to connect it to the shooter."
"Dammit. What are we missing here?"
"I can answer that." The voice startled them both. They turned to see Scorsese standing behind them.
"You have an answer, Scorsese? Let's hear it. The SHORT version, please," Murtaugh insisted.
"I don't have the answer that way, but I do know what you missed to help narrow this list."
"We're waiting, Scorsese."
"Okay, I compared your descriptions of the scene and the medical reports. You said Riggs was positioned like this." Scorsese lay down on the floor, mimicking Riggs.
"Yeah." Murtaugh bit his tongue to let the young man get to his point.
"Just like this? No turned or twisted limbs, nothing moved out this way?" Scorsese shifted his right arm up away from his body as he asked the last question.
"No, just like that."
"Okay, so we have a straight fall, no indication of any attempt to fight or flee. No sign of any kind of defensive move."
Bailey's jaw fell slightly as she began to understand Scorsese's point.
"How does this help us narrow this list?" Murtaugh demanded as Scorsese stood back up.
"According to the medical reports, Riggs was shot straight on in the lower chest, from the front, at a very close range. This means our shooter was standing, and directly in front of him. It's a cemetery, so there isn't really much for cover when you're standing up." Scorsese used his hands to demonstrate each comment.
"I'm on zero sleep here, Scorsese, so spell it out."
"He means Riggs saw the shooter, and didn't make any attempt to defend himself when it happened," Bailey explained.
"Exactly," Scorsese grinned as he pointed both index fingers at Bailey.
"So, he knew the shooter and wasn't expecting the shot." Murtaugh finally caught on.
"Which means we can eliminate a lot of names off of this list. Anyone Riggs didn't know personally, anyone with a violent background..." Bailey looked at the boards.
"Let's get on it." Murtaugh clapped. Bailey set to work scratching off names.
Scorsese watched them all scurry. "You're welcome," he sighed.