Chapter 7 - What Joss and Leon Found
Joss decided that since she couldn't make progress on her case until Fusco returned, she would take a look at Tierney's notes on the murder of Jack Mercer at home. She'd never had a high opinion of Tierney's abilities as a detective, and his sloppy and substandard work on the Mercer case took him down even further in her estimation. John found a very frustrated Joss when he got home that night.
"I cannot believe this!" she huffed as soon as she saw her mate. "I knew Tierney was a lazy ass, but he hit a new low with this case!"
John strolled over to the dining room table and looked over her shoulder at the case file she had spread out over the table. He immediately saw just how bad it was. "That looks like a pretty small file for a mob hit," he observed with a frown.
Joss nodded vigorously. "You got that right. Tierney hardly did any investigation at all. He took Jason at his word that the mob was looking to move in on the trucking business, but Jason's story stinks worse than one of Cali's diapers."
His interest piqued, John pulled out the chair next hers. "Tell me about it."
Joss pulled Jason's statement from the small pile in front of her and handed it over to John. "Jason claimed it was Moretti's organization that was trying to muscle in on the business, but the trucking yard isn't in Moretti's territory; it's in Zambrano's. Moretti couldn't have gone after Mercer Trucking without causing a mob war."
"And there was no mob war until Elias went after the old Dons several months later," John finished the thought for her.
"Exactly." Joss slapped her hand on another piece of paper the John recognized as the ballistics report. "And Mercer was shot in the chest from close range with a .22 caliber handgun."
"That doesn't sound like the mob's MO, not to mention that was an awfully small caliber." John leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful look. "So it seems like the only suspects we can eliminate from the pool are the mob."
"Yup. If you want my professional opinion, I think Jason Mercer is a perp, not a victim. You and Shaw need to be careful with this one." She looked over at him with the same look she used to remind Taylor about his curfew when he was going out at night with friends.
John grinned at her concern and leaned forward to nuzzle her ear. "I'll be careful, mom." She laughed at his teasing and because he was tickling her with his nose in that sensitive spot underneath her ear.
Joss pushed him away. "John, I'm serious. The more I look at this case, the more convinced I am that Jason killed his own brother in cold blood. There is something about this case that has every one of my instincts screaming. I don't know what it is yet, but it's bad. I can feel it."
John tucked a lock of hair behind her ear with a fond smile on his face. He was still getting used to having someone worry about him. "Thanks to you we have a head's up. I promise that Shaw and I will be careful."
John stroked her cheek lovingly, but inside he was unhappy. He didn't want to admit to her that he was a bit disturbed by the fact she was so worried. He trusted her instincts, and if she was bothered, he was bothered.
At that moment, Finch was sitting down to dinner at a quiet corner table at The Grand with Leon Tao. Leon had called the software genius earlier in the day, excited to have found something in the files John had downloaded from Mercer's office computer.
"Hey Finchy, I earned my pay today!" Leon crowed in triumph when he sat down.
Finch glanced up from perusing the wine list and raised an eyebrow. "Considering I'm not paying you, that is not saying much, Mr. Tao."
Leon's cheerful mood did not diminish in the least. "Figure of speech, but I'll settle for a juicy steak and a glass of wine." Leon looked around. "Where's your attack dog?"
Finch made his decision on the wine and put the list down. "Bear is under the table, Mr. Tao. Please do not step on him."
"I was talking about the two legged one," Leon said. He looked under the table to see Bear lying quietly with his Companion Dog vest on. "Hey pooch, eat anyone's fortune lately?"
Bear gave Leon an unenthusiastic tail thump in greeting and put his head back down.
"If you are referring to Mr. Reese, he is busy working a case," Finch answered patiently.
"Naw, I was thinking of that little cutie I helped you rescue in the ambulance. She's an angry one, but she can handcuff me to the bed anytime."
Finch's left eye lid twitched. "That is too much information, Mr. Tao." The conversation paused while the waitress took their drink orders. "You indicated that you found something in those files I sent you?" Finch asked politely, before he could hear more of Leon's fantasy life.
Leon pulled out his tablet, opened a file, and handled it over to Finch. "What do you see there?"
Finch stared at the data in front of him, pausing only to place his order with the waitress when she dropped off their drinks. He frowned and looked again, unable to believe his eyes. Leon grinned at him from across the table.
Finch finally looked up at Leon, his confusion plainly written on his face. "This cannot be right. Mercer can't be making these huge profits. I thought the trucking industry mostly ran on very thin margins."
Leon nodded as he took a sip of his wine. "The average profit margin in the trucking industry is around five percent. If these books are to be believed, he's making over twenty percent per load."
Finch cocked his head to one side. "You suspect these books have been doctored?"
"I cross referenced the number of loads he claims to haul with the truck maintenance records. He doesn't have that many trucks."
The waitress dropped off their food, giving Finch a few seconds to absorb the implications of Leon's statement.
"So not only is he reporting outrageous profits on each load, but it is not possible for him to be carrying so many loads." Finch stared at the tablet as he considered what Leon was telling him.
Leon stuffed a rather large price of steak in his mouth and briefly closed his eyes in rapture as he chewed. "Oh, that is a good rib eye." He opened his eyes and looked at Finch. "As far as I can tell, Mercer Trucking is only hauling about ten percent of the loads he's claiming to haul, yet he's making money hand over fist. Do the math."
Finch had already done the math. He didn't like the numbers. "How long has this been going on?"
Leon took back the tablet from Finch and with a few swipes of his finger brought up the file showing profits from the last five years. "January, three years ago."
In a sickening instant, Finch realized that Jack Mercer had been gunned down only a few months prior to that. Suddenly he jumped up and threw a wad of bills on the table. "Thank you Mr. Tao, enjoy your dinner." And then Finch and Bear left as quickly as Finch's infirmities would allow.
"Hey wait, Finchy! Don't you want your steak?" Leon called after him. When Finch did not turn around or acknowledge Leon in any way, Leon turned to the waitress. "Could I get a doggie bag for that?" he indicated Finch's untouched meal.
A short while later, an agitated Finch arrived at the Bunker.
Cali shrieked in delight at seeing her beloved Uncle Harold and her doggie friend Bear. With a smile, Harold took over feeding Cali from Joss, and Bear stationed himself under the high chair to catch any dropped food items. Cali cheerfully flung a teething biscuit to her canine pal and giggled as she watched him snatch the treat out of mid-air. While Finch frowned at the violation of Bear's meticulously researched and carefully managed diet, Joss didn't mind because Bear cleaned up every last crumb that hit the floor.
As he spooned peas into Cali's mouth, Finch told her parents what he had learned from Leon.
Joss and John listened quietly to Harold as he explained that Mercer Trucking was making outrageous profits on very few loads. Harold told them how it started shortly after Jack Mercer was killed and Jason assumed sole control of the business.
When he was done, both Joss and John looked very grim. "That pretty much confirms your suspicions about Jack Mercer's death," John said to Joss.
Harold looked at Joss with a puzzled expression and Joss waved her hand at the file spread out on the table in front of her. "After reading Terney's notes, I'm convinced that Jason killed Jack. It was no mob hit; Jason's story is one big lie."
"So Jason is the perpetrator," Finch said as he spooned some more peas into Cali's mouth. Cali pitched another cracker toward Bear and Bear deftly caught it.
"Can you arrest Jason for the murder of his brother?" Finch asked. "We know he is guilty of fratricide."
Joss shook her head. "We don't have enough evidence. Jason's statement may be complete BS, but it's nothing a competent defense attorney can't explain away. The books only prove that Jason is doing something illegal, not that he killed his brother. We don't even know what illegal activities he's involved in yet. We got a long ways to go before I can bring Jason in."
Just then, Cali clamped her lips shut in her usual "we're done here" signal that she was finished eating, so the conversation temporarily came to halt while Joss extracted the baby from the high chair, but not before Cali sent a good deal of the leftover food on the tray tumbling to the floor with a sweep of her little arm. She clapped her hands and squealed with delight as she watched Bear vacuum it all up. Joss could swear she saw the Malinois wink at the child.
"There is one thing I can do," Joss said thought fully as she held Cali. "I can pay a visit to Mercer and let him know that we are reopening the investigation into his brother's death; maybe that will shake him up."
"If you do, be sure to keep your blouse buttoned," John growled.
Joss set Cali on the floor and the baby immediately rolled over up onto all fours. She crawled over to the coffee table and pulled herself up to a standing position. She teetered unsteadily on her feet as she looked around, trying to decide if it was a good idea to let go or not.
"How long has she been doing that?" Harold asked curiously.
John did take his eyes off his daughter as he answered. "Just a couple of days. She can't walk by herself yet, but she can take few steps if someone holds her."
Cali finally decided to let go of the coffee table and try to take a few steps. However, at her first tentative step she wobbled and went down with a grunt of frustration.
John started to get up from his chair to go rescue his baby girl when Bear stepped past him. John paused, waiting to see what would happen. Bear walked up to Cali where she sat on the floor and nuzzled her. Cali looked up at her canine companion and reached and latched her little fist into the fur on Bear's neck. Bear waited patiently while Cali got to her feet and then he carefully took Cali on a short stroll around the living room that only ended when a tired Cali let go of him and sat down. Bear shot John a look that plainly said, "Parenting, that's how it is done" and then went to lie down in his dog bed in the corner of the room.
"Finch, please tell me you got that on video," John said, stunned.
John turned to see Finch with his phone up and a smile on his face. "Every last bit of it, John."
