Breaking Barriers Chapter 21
Mac
I sat back and watched as Benson, Beckett and Shaw kicked around what we had, they worked well together, proposing, considering and discarding theories, suggesting options, anything to get a handle on this case.
I hadn't worked with any of them before, though all three had impressive reputations in their various fields. I'd heard of Beckett and Benson via the office grapevine, Jo Danville knew their respective ME's, Lanie Parish and Melinda Werner and couldn't speak highly enough of their work.
They in turn were big fans of Beckett and Benson, some of their cases I'd heard about were hard to believe, but both had an array of commendations and citations to back up their impressive records.
According to my sources Shaw had her own equally impressive reputation within the Bureau and was working seamlessly with the other two so I just sat back and watched them work, they were doing fine, leaving me to enjoy the surprisingly good coffee they had here in the 12th Precinct. Shaw was the one speaking.
"So we need to run down the cell phone, it's almost certainly a burner but we have to try" Beckett nodded.
"We might get lucky" She shrugged and continued. "But you're right, we have to try" Benson was staring at the murder board.
"Did we get anything on Syme's missing vehicles, maybe there's something about those cars..." Beckett nodded.
"We've got a BOLO out for both of them; hopefully a patrol car will spot them"
At a loud noise all three looked round at where Tori had slammed down the phone on its cradle then pushed back from her computer in frustration. She looked up to find us all staring and shrugged, a little sheepishly and shook her head before speaking.
"The contact details for the administrator of the chat room at the web host are for a company called Universal Corporate Export International from guess where?"
"The Cayman Islands" It was Beckett and Shaw in perfect unison. They looked at each other in surprise for a second while I hid a smile as Tori stood, coffee cup in hand.
"Dead right; god I need a fresh cup. Anyone need one?" There was a chorus of "no thanks" and "I'm goods" as she wandered to the break room. Benson looked across at Shaw.
"Can you get Immigration to keep an eye out for unaccompanied minors arriving from Russia in the next few weeks?" Shaw nodded.
"There'll be a watch list update go out tonight, to all direct entry ports for flights from Russia" Benson frowned.
"What about connecting flights?" Shaw looked her way as she answered.
"All the previous entries were direct flights, probably doesn't want any chance of the kids doing a runner while the flights are connecting through Heathrow or Frankfurt or Paris" I nodded at that as did Benson, it made sense. Turning my attention back to the white boards I sat and thought about that for a moment, 'new merchandise' meant more kids. Lysenko had lost five of his kids in a short space of time, if he was planning to replace them, he'd need to move quickly. I suddenly had a thought; he'd also need to replace his muscle; the one's we'd taken down had all been Russian too…
"Get them to flag any single males travelling solo to the states on the same flights, particularly any who haven't been here before." At my voice they all turned to look at me, Shaw started nodding as she spoke.
"Good idea" Benson was in agreement.
"Yeah, he's lost three guys as well, he'll need replacements for them too" I took a sip of coffee then continued.
"Well, he's already lost kids because he didn't have anyone with them on flights, he can't afford to lose any more and dick his customers around"
"Yo, what's happening? Get anything from the net?" It was Esposito, he and Ryan walking in as Beckett looked up and answered for us all.
"Some, but it's pretty slim" Esposito smiled.
"We might have something more to go on. Talking to uniforms canvassing the area around the dumpster where they found Syme, they told me it's the usual haunt of a couple of winos, so I chased them up. Couldn't find one but the other turned out to have seen a black stretch Hummer with spinning rims pull up in front of the dumpster and two guys dump something in there" Benson looked up at Shaw.
"Lysenko likes flashy cars didn't you say" Shaw nodded as she answered.
"That's what his file says"
"Don't suppose your witness got a plate number" It was Beckett. "Or did we get lucky?"
"Nope, that'd be way too easy…" Esposito grinned. "Our witness doesn't remember much, but as it left he saw it had a sticker in the back window, a yellow triangle" I watched as both Benson and Beckett got thoughtful looks on their faces. Shaw however looked confused.
"And this means..." Ryan looked at her and smiled.
"Secure Parking fixes yellow triangles to the front and back windows of long-term parking permit holders in their parking garages. It makes it easier to tell when a car's not parked in the right place" Beckett nodded then jumped in.
"NYPD works with Secure all the time, chasing missing cars. Ryan, Espo, can you talk to Secure and get them to run down that car?" He smiled.
"Already on it, they'll call as soon as they have something" We all smiled, it's good working with people who know what they're doing and the initiative to do things on their own. From what I'd seen I could understand why Beckett, Esposito, Ryan and that writer, Castle, were so highly thought of here at the 12th and why their boss, Captain Gates kept them together, they were damned good at their job.
For the next two hours we worked the phones, Shaw to other Federal agencies, Benson and Beckett working leads while I kept in touch with the lab, making sure things were OK back there while I worked on this case. It's moments like this I missed being a detective out on the streets. I liked what I did, I'd back my team against any crime lab in the country, even the hot shots down in Miami and out in Vegas, but there were times when I missed the chase; when I think I've become a glorified paper pusher. It doesn't happen all that often but it does from time to time and I'd be left wondering if I'd made the right choice. That thought was interrupted as Beckett put the phone down and stood, grabbing her jacket.
"That was Ryan, Secure rang, they have a black stretch Hummer with spinning rims and yellow tags parked in one of their garages on West 45th Street" We all stood and grabbed our things before making our way out to her car.
Twenty minutes later we met up with Esposito and Ryan at the garage, located amongst a group of theatres. I looked around and commented.
"Seems a strange place to leave a car" Esposito shrugged as he answered.
"Manager says the car came in two days ago and hasn't moved since" I nodded as Benson looked around.
"Looks like they have surveillance camera's on the entrance, let's see if they can pull the footage for its arrival" Ryan nodded and headed in one direction as Esposito led us towards the stairs. Two levels up we approached the car in question, guarded by two uniforms. It sure matched our description, right down to the spinning rims.
Beckett looked over to Esposito.
"Do we have an owner?" He pulled a face then spoke, resignation in his voice.
"Registered to a business, guess where?" We all pulled faces, we didn't need to guess; Benson shook her head.
"Consistent aren't they?" We all pulled on gloves before moving up and standing next to the car. Beckett looked over at Shaw and asked.
"Can you pick the lock or should we wait for the lab guys?" Shaw shook her head.
"An old door lock's one thing, modern cars are a bit more difficult without the right tools" I smiled, I was intimately familiar with Hummers, seen way too many of them back in the Army so this trick should work, even on this one.
"Let me" I reached down and pulled the door slightly up from the bottom, while pushing in the top just so, then twisted the door hard. We were rewarded by a gentle click as the door opened. Esposito just looked at me, surprise evident on his face.
"Bro, how you do that?" I shrugged.
Too many years in the Army, you pick up tricks" He shook his head, looking me over.
"Army puke" I raised an eyebrow and looked him over. He looked fit and competent; I decided to mess with him a bit.
"Don't tell me, Air Force? His yelp was worth a grin.
"Civilians in uniform, no way" He crossed his arms and regarded me with a frown. "Marines" I smiled, it was too easy.
"Oh them" His frown changed to a scowl.
"Yeah them" I'd never met a Marine yet who wasn't proud as a peacock of being one. Messing with the Marines was practically an Army pastime.
"You do know what USMC stands for don't you? Uncle Sam's Misguided Children" He just shook his head.
"You say you learnt tricks in the Army, you sure it wasn't turning…" Beckett interrupted us, a barely hidden smile on her face.
"If you two are quite finished comparing the lengths of your… service, can we get on with this?" Esposito and I exchanged a look and a nod; civilians, they just don't get it, pissing off the other services is practically mandatory. Esposito smiled and spoke.
"Sure thing" I checked everyone had gloves on before I pulled the door open and we looked in, nothing jumped out, it all looked normal enough. Beckett leaned in and flipped the central locking and we opened the rest of the doors. The car seemed clean enough, though we'd definitely need the lab to go over it to be sure.
"Yo, back here" It was Esposito; he'd opened the rear door. "It's definitely our vehicle"
Looking in we could see blood on the carpet in the back, a pile of bloodstained clothes and an equally bloodstained baseball bat, together with that coppery smell. I looked up and spoke.
"I'll get my people to process everything ASAP" They all nodded before Beckett turned to us.
"Didn't the report say that Syme's body was found nude" Esposito and Benson both nodded. As we watched, Becket reached in and lifted a pair of trousers, then another. "There are two sets of clothes here" Shaw leaned forward, turning one pair slightly to see the tag.
"Definitely different sizes, so we have two people's clothes here. Figure some belonged to Syme; they stripped him before the beating. The others belong to someone else; maybe whoever did the beating ended up with blood all over their clothes" Nodding I stepped back, calling Jo at the crime lab, telling her I needed a full team down here urgently.
It might be a lead, it might not, but it was as good as we had going for us right now.