The Witness

Chapter 7

Mike and Connie arrived at the 2-7 and were directed to one of the interrogation rooms. Now they stood behind a two-way mirror while Lupo and Bernard were questioning a witness by the name is Larry Grover. He looked like a frightened weasel, with his beady eyes and scrawny frame. A feather falling would probably scare him.

"So what is it you wanted to tell us, Mr. Grover?" Lupo asked.

"I think I can help you find the Central Park Stranger," he told them as he sat at the table. He looked decisively at each of the detectives, "there is a reward if I help you, right? I heard it was $250,000."

"All in due time, Mr. Grover," Bernard informed me, "first, what about this information you want to give us?"

Grover looked around, as if he were expecting others to arrive, "You mean, I have to tell my story to the two of you? Anyone else available?"

"Why would you say that?" Lupo demanded to know, "don't we meet your expectations?"

Bernard got up closer to Grover's face, "Take a second look at me, Mr. Grover. Some people have told me that I have a pretty face,"he said dryly.

Grover looked nervous. Then keeping his voice purposely low as if it were a secret, he responded, "Hey, nothing personal, guys, it's just...you know, in all the cop shows, there's always...a, um... good looking woman to interrogate the important witness. Makes the interrogation more interesting, so to speak.."

Lupo and Bernard exchanged annoyed glances. Lupo was the first one to get up.

"This interview is over," he stated, as if he were leaving.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Grover," Bernard added with disdain in his voice, as he, too, stood up and headed out.

Grover's eyes widened, "No, NO! Wait! You didn't hear what I had to say! I saw him! The Central Park Strangler! He was running in the park...with the shoe! The left running shoe!"

Both detectives paused. It had never been released to the public that it was the left shoe. Bernard gave Grover a hard look.

"That's all you've got, Mr. Grover?" Bernard feigned disinterest, "because for $250,000, I can find thousands of people who could luckily guess the correct shoe."

"No! I've got more... much more!" Grover insistently promised, "Listen! I can give you a description of the Strangler, the kind of vehicle he drove, AND almost the entire license plate number!"

Lupo and Bernard looked at one another as if considering their options. They went back to Grover.

"We're listening," Bernard told him forcibly, "but we don't want any more nonsense, understand?"

Grover looked relieved, "Yeah, sure, sure...but it's not nonsense to want to talk to a looker of the female persuasion, right? I mean, I would much rather talk with Christine Cagney than Thomas Magnum, you know?"

Bernard looked totally confused, "Who?" he scowled.

Lupo explained, "He means he'd rather talk with Jane Rizzoli than Rick Castle."

Bernard nodded accordingly.

From outside the two-way mirror, Mike snickered.

"I'd wished the detectives would arrest Grover for disorderly conduct," he randomly stated.

Connie looked at him questionably, "Grover hasn't been disorderly..."

"But his mind is!" Mike commented as she smiled.

Connie turned her head back towards the interrogation. The more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that she could make a difference.

"it looks like Lupo and Bernard may need help," she stated matter-of-factly to Mike, " I'm going in there."

Her comment took Mike by surprise.

"What? No, Connie, you don't need to do that."

"Didn't you hear why Gruber is reluctant to talk?" Connie pointedly asked, "it's because of the overabundance of testosterone in there!"

Mike couldn't believe it. Hadn't she previously raked him over the coals when she thought he was using her looks as a way to manipulate a juror? Observing his expression, it seemed as if she could read his thoughts.

"I know what you're thinking, Mike," she analyzed, "But this is different. I'm not exploiting myself. I'll just be in there to listen, to encourage a witness to speak out, not try to influence someone's decision."

"Funny how when I tried to explain it that way, it didn't work for me," Mike announced.

"So what's your point?" she responded with a half grin.

He rubbed the back of his neck. He knew that when Connie was determined, it was useless to argue with her.

"I guess your mind is made up then."

Connie put her hand on the door knob, "it is," she told him.

Back in the interrogation room, Grover was pleading.

"Please..." Grover's eyes were large, "I'm a simple man. All I'm asking for is to talk to a woman investigator, one that smells pretty."

"Sorry," said Bernard sardonically, "the remaining ones we have all smell mediocre."

Lupo half-snorted.

"You gotta understand..." Grover was explaining, "a person like me don't get much opportunities to talk to a real lady, right? So just let me..." he paused as the sound of the door opening could be heard, "wellll, will ya lookie here..."

All three men watched as Connie entered.

Grover immediately sat up, "hellooooo there, Beautiful!"

"Connie-" Lupo was ready to protest until Connie put her hand up to stop him.

Grover was almost salivating, "Now THIS is more like it! Sit down! Sit down, little lady!"

Connie took a seat opposite him, while Lupo and Bernard remained standing.

"Mr. Grover. I'm ADA Connie Rubirosa," she introduced herself and then got immediately down to business, "why don't you start from the beginning as to how you first saw the alleged Central Park Strangler."

Grover looked very excited and cooperative, "Okay, yeah, sure, Honey...you'll love this story!" he licked his lips, obviously ready to impress her, "You see, I was passing by the Conservatory Garden in Central Park, admiring the daffodils and crabapples, when I saw this guy running across the garden, like he was in a rush or something. Luckily he didn't see me. Anyway, he was clutching this left running shoe so tight to his chest, you would've thought it was made of gold..."

"What did he look like?" Bernard interjected

Grove looked at Bernard with disdain, "Hey, I'm talking to the lady here!" He turned back and gave Connie what he hoped was an enticing smile.

Connie forced a pleasant expression, "Please continue, Mr. Grover. You were going to describe this man?"

"Oh yeah, he was this big burly guy... but not burly up here," he pointed to his chest, "but burly down there," Grover indicated his stomach. He was the only one grinning at his own joke.

"Go on," Connie encouraged.

"So as I was saying, I'd figured the guy was in his mid-thirties with greasy brown hair and medium height..." he paused, soaking in all the attention, "By the way, lawyer lady, you single?"

"Down, boy," Lupo warned him, "or I may shove a biscuit in your mouth."

Grover continued, "Anyway, the guy then gets into his beat-up blue Mustang. It had a left rear broken taillight and a dent on his bumper..." he paused again and leaned in more to Connie," You do realize, don't you, that once I get the reward money, I'm going to buy myself a Porsche, and YOU could be my first passenger!"

Connie ignored the last remark, "You had mentioned earlier, Mr. Grover, that you had a good look at the man's license plate number?"

Grover sat up, a proud look on his face, "Yes..at least most of it!"

Bernard questioned, "How were you able to remember the plate numbers after all this time?"

"It was easy," Grover maintained, "the last letter and numbers matched my dad's birthday...let's see...it was N-9-67...November 9, 1967."

Lupo jotted it down in his pad.

"And, Oh!" Grover continued, " The car was probably a 2001 model or near enough to that."

"And is that everything you remembered about last Saturday?" Connie asked, winding down the interview.

He grinned at her, "Sure, Sweet Lips. And now that we're done with the talking..." his smile was lascivious, "You want to step out with me sometime? Once I get the reward money, I can show you a real good time," he gave her an obvious wink.

BAM!

Everyone looked over at the two way mirror. It sounded as though someone had banged on it with his fist. HARD. Which is what actually had occurred. From outside the interrogation room, Lieutenant Van Buren had been walking by just at that moment and witnessed Mike striking the glass with his fist.

"Looking for a way to relieve some stress, Counsellor?" she asked calmly.

Mike's eyes were blazing, "That Grover is a sleazebag!"

She calmly peered at him, "That is no excuse for attempting to break my window, Mr. Cutter."

Mike looked contrite, "Sorry," he murmured, calming down.

Anita looked into the interrogation room. She did not know what had gone on in the interrogation but she could see everyone was getting up. She wondered why Connie was in the room. It didn't matter; it was obvious the interview was over.

"I don't know why you're so upset anyway," Anita told him, "the way I understand it, Mr. Grover is merely a witness, not a suspect."

Before she could say more, the door to the interview room opened and Lupo gave a contrived thanks to Grover for his help.

"Yeah, sure," Grover looked proud of himself, "I'd do anything for a pretty face...anything," and gave Connie a satisfied smile.

Mike made a forward movement, but Anita touched his arm lightly. It didn't escape Connie's notice; she was secretly pleased. They watched Grover walk down the hallway until he disappeared.

"So, Detectives, did you get enough information from Mr. Grover?" Anita asked them.

"We found out the guy was a slimebucket," Bernard said.

"What did I tell you?" Mike said petulantly to no one in particular.

"Well, he definitely knew some pertinent facts about the Strangler," Lupo stated, "for instance, Grover mentioned the left shoe. No one knew that but us."

"And," Bernard added, "he saw the supposed Strangler near the Conservatory Park area. The specific location where the body was found wasn't released, either."

"But he's still a jerk," Mike insisted.

Anita turned to him, "You've had that type of witness before, Counsellor. Don't let the man's sliminess affect your opinion of his veracity."

"No, I agree with Mike," Connie defended him, "Grover is a jerk because he's a liar."

Anita looked at her, "Oh?"

"Yes," Connie said, as she went on to explain, "he said he was there admiring the daffodils and the crabapples, but those two plants are grown in the springtime, not winter."

Lupo then injected, "And not only that, I know for a fact that he lied about something else."

"More lies?" Anita inquired, "I'm beginning to think Mr. Grover has more holes in his story than Swiss cheese. What did you notice, detective?"

"Grover looked to be in his mid-30's," Lupo observed, "and he said the last part of the license plate matched his father's birthday, 1967. If that's true, that would mean the father was maybe 12 years old when Grover was born."

"Good point," Mike admitted," so now he's a scummy liar."

Bernard then spoke out.

""Why don't we start out by checking out Scummy Liar's story," he suggested, "I'll run the plates on that Mustang he mentioned to see what comes up."

"Not so fast, Detective," Anita said, "I know this case is important, but with the holiday season upon us, the rate of murders doesn't slow down just because Santa makes an appearance. We're low on staff here, so I need you and Lupo to investigate another homicide over on 7th and 38th."

"Lieu, with all due respect, I would think this Central Park Strangler case would take precedence over everything else," Bernard commented.

"Yeah," agreed Lupo, "Can't you send Officers Jackson and Gilroy out on that call?"

"Not really," Anita's face looked strained, "because this time the victim is one of those officers. Officer Gilroy."

Her words of a fallen officer caused everyone to look stunned. After getting some further information Lupo and Bernard left immediately for the crime scene while Van Buren went back to her office, leaving Mike and Connie alone outside the hallway of the interrogation room.

"Looks like it'll be a long night for them," Connie commented.

"I'll say," Mike said.

Connie watched him, "Will you be heading back to the office?"

"Definitely," Mike told her, "with all this new information, I want to see what else can be done regarding this case. I suppose you'll be heading home?"

He held his breath. She looked at her watch. In three hours, she would be sitting at the Lincoln Center, taking in a performance of The Nutcracker with Greg. Three hours. It wouldn't take THAT long to get ready, she convinced herself.

"I have a little time to spare, Mike."

He let out his breath and relaxed.

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