" Well it doesn't appear to be broken, just bruised " said Morales. "May I ask how this happened?" inquired Morales.
" My face got in a fight with a dirtbag's fist" said Andy.
" I see " replied Morales. " Well, the only thing I can recommend is that you don't do that again, and maybe take something for the pain; Other than that, I see no reason why you can't continue with your day " said Morales.
" Gee, thanks doc" said Andy, somewhat sarcastically.
" Always a pleasure Lieutenant" replied Morales also with a hint of sarcasm.
Andy turned to Provenza." Well now that I've been fully cleared by our resident medical expert; why don't we go see what Mr. Phelps has to say for himself" said Andy. He and Provenza headed to the murder room.
"Lieutenants, we put Mr. Phelps in Interview 1" said Amy, as she handed them the bullet fragment and ballistics reports.
" Thanks Sykes" said Andy. Then he and Provenza turned and started for the interview room.
" Oh, and sir" said Amy.
" Yeah Sykes" Inquired Andy.
" Nail the bastard, would ya" replied Amy.
" You got it" said Andy, as they went their respective ways.
"Well, well Mr. Phelps, we meet again" said Provenza upon entering the room. Andy entered behind him. At seeing Andy, Phelps eyes widened.
" Woah, you keep him the hell away from me" he yelled, pointing at Flynn.
" Mr. Phelps, you remember Lieutenant Flynn; He's going to be sitting in with me" said Provenza.
" Hell no, the bastard broke my nose, I don't want him anywhere near me" said Phelps.
" Look asshole, the way I remember it you tried to flee and then pulled a gun on a room full of police officers; So I'd say you're pretty lucky a broken nose was all you got" said Flynn learing at him.
Provenza gave him a look that said keep it together. They sat down and began their interrogation.
" First off, Mr Phelps, let me start by reminding you of your rights" said Provenza.
"I know my rights, lets just get this over with alright" said Phelps.
" Okay; Do you know what this is Mr. Phelps?" asked Provenza, holding up the evidence bag with the bullet fragment.
" How should I know" he said.
" Oh, so that's how you're gonna play this" said Provenza. " Well Mr. Phelps, this is a Black Talon, also known as a cop killer bullet; This one is specific to a Winchester .308" he finished"
" Okay, I still don't see why you brought me in here" said Phelps.
"Oh believe me, we're getting to that" replied Provenza. " You see, we did a little digging and found out that you were in the military" Provenza started.
"So..." said Phelps.
" So, I'm sure you're familiar with the Winchester .308, seeing as how you were a sniper" said Provenza.
" So what if I am, alot of people are" said Phelps.
" True, yet not everyone was arrested for a double murder" said Provenza.
"You've got to be kidding me, you're dredging that up; I was never convicted of anything" said Phelps becoming somewhat agitated.
" We're aware of that, but it still goes to Modus Operandi" said Provenza.
"What?" asked Phelps.
" Method of Operation, Idiot" Said Flynn.
" Now, since I've explained everything to you, let's go back to my first question; Do you recognize this bullet?" he asked.
" Or maybe this one" said Flynn holing up another evidence bag with the bullet pulled from Brendas' shoulder.
" I should probably mention something before you answer; We recovered a blood sample along with a skin fragment at the scene of an attempted murder of a former police chief" said Provenza.
" And who do you suppose that led us to?" asked Flynn sarcastically.
" Now wait just a damn minute" said Phelps.
"Oh and we've also concurred that both bullets came from the same gun, the type of gun you used five years ago to shoot your wife and her lover" said Provenza.
" So to fully elaborate, we've linked you to both the attempted murder of a former police chief and the boy who was with her, and the attempted murder of a Police Captain" said Andy.
" You've got a circumstantial case, at best" said Phelps.
" Oh, no, no, no, we've got so much more than that Mr. Phelps. " We have your DNA at one of the crime scenes, and the two bullets from the same weapon; And as we speak, a group of officers are combing over your entire residence." " Once we find your rifle and match the bullets to it specifically, well you my friend are screwed" said Provenza.
" Speaking of Rifles, Phelps what happened to your hand?" inquired Andy.
" I accidentally cut it" relpied Phelps who was now grinning smugly.
"I see, did you maybe cut it while you were putting a bullet into Sharon Raydors body" asked Andy angrily.
Provenza put a hand on Andys' shoulder to calm him down before things escalated.
" Look, if your not formally charging me with anything I should like to get on with my life" said Phelps.
"Ok this is how it's gonna go asshole; we've got you, so you can either confess or..." said Andy before he was interrupted.
"Lieutenants, can I see you for a moment" said Amy, poking her head in.
They both left the room and walked over to Amy.
" I think you're gonna be very happy with this" she said handing them a report.
'' Well. well, it looks like we have a ballistics match" said Provenza. "Lieutenant Flynn why don't you go tell Mr. Phelps the Good news" said Provenza.
" Wait there's one more thing, Jessica's here to see you" said Amy. Amy motioned for Jessica to come over.
" Lieutenants, I did a little more digging to try and connect Mr. Phelps with either Brenda or Captain Raydor, and I still couldn't come up with anything conclusive; That's when I looked at it from a completely different perspective" said Jessica.
"Go on" said Provenza.
" Ok, well, I thought to myself, what if these we're just hired hits, you know maybe revenge on the part of the hiree and not neccessarily the shooter; So I crossrefrenced Major Crimes cases with Mr. Phelps Trial and came up with one name" said Jennifer. She handed Andy the file.
Looking down. he saw the one person he thought they were finally rid of. He and Provenza thanked Amy and Jessica for the good work and headed back into the interrogation room.
"Well Mr. Phelps, it looks like we have a ballistics match to the Winchester rifle we found at your residence, so if i may, stick a fork in yourself, you're done" said Provenza.
" Now the way I see it you can confess to us right now, or we can release a statement saying that you cooperated and gave us the name of the person who hired you" said Andy.
" Oh really, and who might that be?" inquired Phelps.
" Phillip Stroh" said Andy.
Phelps looked to Provenza, then back at Andy. He put his head in hands, and sighed.
" You can't do that" said Phelps indignantly.
" Oh, and why is that?" Provenza asked rather cynically.
" Do you know what he would do if he thinks that I ratted him out; That man is crazy" said Phelps.
" Yes we're quite aware of that Mr. Phelps, which is why we're so graciously giving you a choice; You can either confess now, or be left out on the streets where Stroh has direct access to you and knows that you ratted on him" said Provenza.
There was a brief moment of silence that resonated throughout the room.
" Well Phelps, what's it gonna be?" asked Andy.
"Ok, look, Stroh was my lawyer during the double murder trial; He got me off, but said that someday I would owe him a favor." "Then he calls me up out of the blue several days ago and told me he needed some people to go away and he wanted me to take care of it; He gave specific names and instructions." "He said not only would I be repaying the favor from all those years back, but that he would pay me a nice chunk of change upon completion" Phelps explained.
" So to be absolutely clear, you're copping to the attempted murders of Brenda Leigh Johnson, Rusty Beck, and Captain Sharon Raydor, at the behest of Phillip Stroh" said Provenza.
" Yes, I shot your Captain and the other woman, but I missed the boy" said Phelps.
Provenza didn't miss the look of pure hatred in Andys' eyes.
" Well that's very interesting to know; Now I'm sure your aware that 1st degree, premeditated attempted murder of an LAPD police officer carries a hefty sentence 15 to life, and I wouldn't expect parole" said Provenza." In addition, the premeditated attempted murders of both Brenda Johnson and Rusty Beck adds about another 30 to life, so you better get used to Prison food cause you're gonna be there the rest of your life" said Provenza.4
"And if Sharon Raydor dies, I'll personally make sure that your new life behind bars is a living hell, do you understand" said Flynn angrily.
Provenza and Flynn got up to leave. Just then Flynn's phone rang.
" Flynn" he answered.
" Andy, it's Fritz. Listen, Sharon took a turn for the worst, you better get back down here" said Fritz.
Andy's heart sank. He ended the Phone call and turned to run out of the building.
" Woah, Andy, what is it ?" asked Provenza.
" Sharon" he said as he disappeared around the corner.
