Grudge Match
Major Case Squadroom
10 am Saturday 16 December 2006
"That's the last of these files," Eames said, tossing a folder onto a stack of similar files beside her. "And I can't see anything. It's starting to look like this is a grudge match."
Goren leaned back in his chair and frowned at the ceiling. "Why would you shoot Mike Logan?" he asked the air.
Eames snorted. "Is it a day with a 'Y' in it?"
Goren smiled. "I know you don't think he's all that bad," he said.
"Okay," Eames conceded. "Well, why would you shoot Mike Logan?"
"If I thought he was going to arrest me," Goren said. "That's one reason to shoot a cop. But unless he's right next to you with handcuffs, it's a better reason to leave the city. "
"The other reason to shoot a cop is if he did arrest you," Eames said. "Or someone you care about."
"Revenge," Goren said.
"Okay, but are we sure it's about Detective Logan and not Mike Logan?" Eames said. "I mean, Mike used to have a reputation, back in the old days."
"Yeah," Goren conceded, "But he's all grown up and discreet now, right? Plus – jilted woman, cheated husband – with a sniper rifle? How often do you see that?"
"Not a lot," Eames said. "Maybe somebody hired it done."
"Two to the chest – nah," Goren said. "A professional would have considered the possibility he was wearing a vest. A professional would have gone for the head shot. A professional would have been successful."
Eames shuffled through the papers on her desk until she found the page she was looking for. "One of the DA's investigators pulled this together," she said. "Recently released, originally collared by one Michael Logan. Want to take half?"
Goren twitched the page from her fingers and scanned it. "Let's let the eager beavers at the DA's Office run these guys down. None of them are the ones we're looking for."
"How can you tell?" Eames said skeptically.
"This shooting was done by an amateur, but still, an amateur who could hit a target. You ever shoot with a rifle?"
"Some," Eames said.
"Could you hit me from the top of a building if I was walking to my car in the street?" Goren asked.
"Probably not," Eames said. "Not without a lot more practice."
"Yeah," Goren said. "And how much time on the range do you get to put in when you're in jail, huh? No, these guys – not our guy. Our guy has been on the outside for a while. Maybe our guy never went inside."
Eames rolled her eyes. "Great. So not someone from Mike's open cases, and not someone from his old cases either."
"Oh, no," Goren said, wagging his finger at her. "No, Eames, see, that's where you're wrong. It's someone from these cases. It's just not someone Mike sent to jail. It's someone close to someone Mike sent to jail. Who would you kill for, Eames?" When she shrugged, he spun his chair around and leaned over his desk toward her. "Your nephew? Your sister? Your dad? Your husband?"
"I'd kill to protect them. I wouldn't kill you if you arrested them," Eames said.
"Yeah, but you're a cop. And also, sane. But let's take a less sane person. And let's take someone who doesn't have any faith in the criminal justice system. Who would you kill to avenge? Not your second cousin twice-removed."
Eames stared at him through narrowed eyes. "Are you so sure it's vengeance?" she asked.
"No," Goren said, startled. "Why?"
"I was looking at Mike's desk diary this morning – Ross asked me to make sure his appointments were covered. And – " She leaned back and snagged the book from it's resting place. "End of January, Mike's due in court."
Goren shrugged. "We're all due in court here and there, now and then."
"Okay," Eames conceded. "But how often do you testify in a retrial of a 1999 homicide?"
Goren tilted his head and looked curiously at her. "Retrial?"
"The People v Fraser," Eames read from Logan's datebook. "Although that's not what Mike has written here. He's written 'Leonie Fraser'."
"Leonie Fraser …" Goren said. "Oh, yeah, I remember that one. Girl meets boy, right?"
"Girl meets boy, girl kills boy, girl meets new boy, boy finds murder weapon under couch cushions, boy arrests girl," Eames said.
"Wait a minute – Mike Logan was the cop in that case?"
"When he was on Staten Island," Eames said. "Where Leonie Fraser lived. If I remember correctly, the DA's Office nearly lost the case over it, too. Fraser's defense argued an illegal search."
"Because he was on a date?" Goren said, amused.
"They argued he wasn't on a date. They argued he was undercover."
"And did the argument fly?"
"Not once the judge got a look at Mike Logan," Eames said dryly. Goren grinned. "Actually, Ron Carver prosecuted that one. And he's handling the retrial."
"Do you know what the grounds are?" Goren asked.
Eames shrugged. "I doubt it's because Ron Carver made a mistake," she said. "Point being – it's not an open case, and it's not a closed case. But there's something to gain by putting Mike Logan out of action, if your name is Leonie Fraser. Can't testify on the search, can't testify on the chain of custody – calls the murder weapon into question."
"Mmmm," Goren said. "Wonder if Leonie has any close relatives who can shoot a rifle?"
.oOo.