Chapter Seven

Whistle-blower

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office

One Hogan Place

Centre Street

Manhattan, NY

Wednesday, March 24

Mike and Connie were sitting side-by-side at the table in Mike's office, a phone book unable to fit in the space between them.

While Connie had been drafting a motion, Mike had read over his rough draft of his opening argument for one of their cases that was going to trial the following Monday. When he'd finished reading it, he'd ask Connie if she would please look it over in case he'd missed anything. She was really good at spotting things he'd accidentally overlooked.

Just one of several reasons he thought she was his other half…

"You have a split infinitive in the second paragraph," Connie pointed out kindly after she was finished reading.

She could feel her heart racing. That always happened when she and Mike were that close to each other. When Mike looked up from the rough draft, and his eyes met hers, she could feel herself blushing.

He always looked nice, but she thought that today, he looked particularly nice. The blue of his shirt brought out his eyes, and was that new cologne he was wearing? The scent of it made him all the more enticing.

"You—you have 'to not believe' written here," Connie said, pointing out the mistake.

"Oh—yeah, I do, don't I?" Mike said, looking down at his error. "Yeah, it should be 'not to believe'. I'll re-word that sentence, then," he added, making a note to do so on the rough draft. "I've probably said this a million times, but I'm grateful that you don't mind proofreading for me. Thank you."

He was gazing at her.

"You're welcome," Connie said, looking in his eyes.

Whenever they sat that close, Connie found it more difficult than usual to fight the urge to reach for him and completely close the gap between them.

For a moment, the two of them just sat there, making eye contact.

Just then, there came a knock on Mike's door.

Mike and Connie snapped out of it, and Mike got up and answered the door.

"Hi, detectives. Come on in," he said, opening the door wide enough for them to do so.

"Hi," Connie greeted Lupo and Bernard. "What's up?"

"Hey," said Bernard. "We're here about the Dennehy case. We just got done updating Van Buren, and because it's a long story, we figured it would just be easier to talk face-to-face about it."

Mike and Connie exchanged glances, silently communicating.

"Sure," said Connie. "Shoot."

At that go-ahead, Lupo and Bernard launched into an entire explanation of everything they'd gathered on the case so far.

After they were finished—

"Wow…" Connie said grimly. "Poor Derek Poston…"

"So," Mike said scathingly, "Conrad Dennehy—devoted clergyman, devout Catholic, and sexual deviant who can't keep his hands to himself."

"Yeah," said Lupo.

"I agree with Richard Crane's suggestion. You guys really should talk to the Postons," said Connie.

"We will," said Bernard. "Hopefully tomorrow."

"I think it's safe to say we've now got our motive," said Lupo.

"Yeah," Mike agreed.

"What about Crane's alibi?" asked Connie.

"We checked it out as soon as we got back to the precinct after speaking with him," said Lupo. "He's clear."

Mike nodded as he listened.

"And Crane didn't tell you what Brumley meant when Brumley said the archbishop 'made an example' of him?" said Connie.

"No, he didn't," said Bernard. "But we plan to find out. We'll be paying him another visit."

"Did he know who Brumley was referring to when he mentioned someone who doesn't like law enforcement?" asked Mike.

"That's definitely on our list of questions, but our guess is Dennehy," said Lupo. "I mean, if you liked little boys too much, would you want law enforcement hanging around?"

"Good point," said Mike. "And about Crane's whistle-blower comment…you said he told you he was a whistle-blower after you complimented him on his nice apartment," Mike said pensively. "That says 'settlement' to me. I think Crane sued someone. Doesn't mean that has anything to do with Dennehy, though…"

He went over to his desk and picked up his favorite, care-worn baseball. He tossed it absentmindedly as he paced.

"And both Brumley and Crane don't seem to think highly of this Archbishop Dugan—but that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Dennehy, either…" he said.

"We may as well check about Crane and a lawsuit," said Connie. "I mean, we don't have much evidence, and we don't have any suspects. I say it wouldn't hurt."

"I think you're right," said Mike.

Connie smiled at the compliment and then got on her laptop.

"Okay…" she said, once she'd pulled up the database of court records. "Richard Crane…" she muttered as she typed his name into the 'search' bar.

A few moments later—

"Oh my…" she said.

"What?" Mike, Lupo, and Bernard said at the same time.

"Crane sued the Archdiocese of New York for defamation in 2007. His lawyer claimed that they, quote, 'took measures to discredit him' after he reported suspected sexual abuse of a minor to the archdiocese," Connie replied. "The suit was settled in 2008."

"That's when Dennehy 'left'," said Lupo. "Actually, that's when Dennehy had to choose between resigning and getting kicked out—and chose to resign."

"How much was Crane awarded?" asked Bernard.

"Two hundred thousand dollars," Connie replied.

"So Crane tells the archdiocese they've got a pedophile in their midst, so to thank him, they try to ruin him," Mike said dryly. "How considerate…Getting vilified for telling the truth—I can relate…"

"I think trying to smear Richard Crane is what Father Brumley meant when he said the archdiocese—well, Archbishop Dugan—'made an example' of Crane," said Connie. "All because Crane thought Dennehy was sexually abusive," she added bleakly, shaking her head.

"I think Archbishop Dugan was afraid Crane was right about Dennehy—but he cared more about protecting the reputation of the archdiocese and thus his own reputation, more than doing the right thing," said Mike. "So instead of investigating, he decides to make Crane out to be a liar."

"That's just unbelievable," Connie said, shaking her head again.

"That's what these guys do, Connie," said Mike. "They don't care about anyone but themselves, so they'll do whatever they have to do to cover their asses. All they care about is staying in power."

"That makes sense—Archbishop Dugan wanting to sweep everything under the rug," said Lupo. "It explains why Brumley was so afraid and said his boss wouldn't want him talking to us."

Connie sighed.

"Well…I feel terrible for Crane, but the main point here is who murdered Conrad Dennehy," she said.

"Yeah," said Lupo. "The sooner we speak with the Postons, the better. This is just a mess."

***DOINK!DOINK!***