Chapter Twenty Six:
"What's with all this cloak and dagger shit detective Rodgers?" The woman inquires with a scowl as she approaches the table where Rick and Kate were seated.
He can only grin as he rises from his seat and gestures for her to sit. "Ah, Inspector Gates, a pleasure as always..."
Gates' scowl seems to grow as she arches her eyebrow in surprise at his greeting. "Why did you call me anyway?"
"Allow me to introduce you to my partner, detective Katherine Beckett... and Kate, this is Inspector Victoria Gates from Internal Affairs." Rick makes the introduction with a sly smile as the two women cautiously shake each other's hand.
"What would you like? I'm buying." Rodgers offers.
"Trying to bribe me already?" Gates counters with a sly smile of her own.
"Hardly." Rick chuckles. "I suffer from that unfortunate ailment called manners. I was taught that if you invite someone for a meal, you pay for it."
"So how is Martha?" Gates inquires. She knew that he was the son of the actress and found it amusing for some reason.
"Enjoying Disneyworld with my daughter and her son at the moment." Rick smiles and gestures to Kate as he speaks. His expression hardens as he continues to talk. "But that's not why I wanted to talk to you. There was a murder we picked up yesterday. The victim's name was Mary Ellen Robbins. She had been tortured and then shot in the back of the head."
"So what does that have to do with me?" Gates counters, not understanding where he was going.
"Do you remember the Bob Arman case? How Joe Pulgotti swore that he was being kidnapped by the group of men that had been rumored to be responsible for several mobsters being taken for ransom?" Rodgers inquires.
"How could I forget? It was my first case as an investigator in Internal Affairs. They paired me up with an old timer that was about to retire. The FBI was breathing down the Commissioner's neck wanting the case wrapped up nice and neat. The DA's office was also, wanting us to discredit Pulgotti's claims that the kidnappers were cops." Gates replies.
"What if I told you that the two detectives that were assigned to the Arman case both died in the last week? And that Ms Robbins was the personal assistant for the ADA who prosecuted the case?" Rick asks. "Would you say it was coincidence?"
Gates frowns as she processes everything she just heard. Victoria Gates did not believe in coincidence. "Someone's tying up loose ends... but for what?"
"My mother had agreed to look into Pulgotti's claims that he was railroaded into the conviction for Arman's murder. I don't know what she found, but whatever it was, she was murdered because of it. It was a professional hit. We caught the man who been hired to kill her, but he was killed while in custody before I could get him to talk." Kate offers while trying to keep her emotions in check as she recalls the painful facts.
"We suspect that there are cops involved with this. We don't know who we can trust. We can't talk to our boss..." Rodgers adds.
"Ah, yes Roy Montgomery..." Gates replies, as she considers what she wants to say in response. "You know that he was partnered with Raglan and McCallister when Arman was killed?" Both Rick and Kate nod their heads in response. "He was transferred to another precinct immediately after that and never worked the investigation. His career since has been exemplary since, but..."
Gates pauses, not sure how much she should say about a man whose career since the incident has been a standard to measure others by, but then decides to continue. "Roy was a rookie detective, green as the grass when he was first paired up with Raglan and McCallister. They took him under their wing and I'm sure that he would have done anything to please them."
"Including kidnapping mobsters and holding them for ransom." Rick finishes her thought for her.
Gates simply nods in silent agreement. "I knew that they were dirty, but I could never put together a case. The mobsters that they took wouldn't say anything out of fear or embarrassment. Who knows how long it went on before Arman's death?"
"What about a money trail?" Kate inquires.
"Banking records showed nothing. More than likely they kept it in cash, hidden somewhere. I checked to see if any of them made any big buck purchases then and found nothing at the time." Gates replies.
"So what do we do? If you're right, that whoever is pulling the strings is tying up loose ends now, then Montgomery is next,
unless..." Rick pauses mid comment as an idea forms. "Unless he has evidence that could hurt whoever is responsible."
"What's to stop them from torturing him or his family like they did Robbins?" Beckett counters and Gates nod in agreement.
"I need to talk to him." Rick comments with a frown. "Before he does something that gets us all killed."
"What do you plan on saying to him?" Gates asks, not sure if the timing was right.
"The truth. At least as we know it. That everything seems to be tied back to Bob Arman's murder and that somehow he's involved." Rodgers replies.
"Let's say he is involved, why would he suddenly break whatever silent agreement that he's had for over a decade? With you, of all people?" Gates counters.
"Because he has no choice. If the man behind all of this is after him now, who can he turn to?"
Gates agrees to secretly look back into the Arman case and identify anyone involved at that time. The three agreed to share whatever they learned with each other through meetings away from their NYPD offices. They were reasonably assured that whoever was calling the shots had ties to the force. She left first, leaving Rick and Kate alone to plot their next move and to avoid being seen with them if anyone was watching.
Still not confident in their plan, the two rode back to the precinct. As they arrived on their floor, Rick glances into Montgomery's office, confirming that he was inside. Deciding that they could no longer wait, the two detectives approach his door and knock on the frame. Roy looks up from whatever he was working on at that moment and gestures for the two to enter.
"What do you have detectives?" Roy starts the conversation with a question of his own. Montgomery points to the chairs for the two to sit.
"Yeah, about that...". Rodgers remarks as he sits down beside Beckett. "All we know for sure was that whoever worked the vic over was a pro. Someone who was familiar with getting answers from people... probably ex military... like Dick Coonan." Rick pauses to see how his boss reacts to the fact that he has tied this murder back to that case. "Everything seems to somehow tie back to Bob Arman's murder."
"That's pretty thin detective. What proof do you have?" Roy counters, trying to mask the unease that he felt at the moment.
Rick looks at Kate as they both frown, knowing that Montgomery was going to offer nothing unless confronted with the facts. He takes a calming breath before continuing. "Look, I know that you were partnered with Raglan and McCallister when you were a rookie detective and that you were transferred out of the precinct during the Arman case. Joe Pulgotti still swears that the killer was one of the men who tried to kidnap him that night. The same men who were suspected of being rogue cops who thought they were extracting justice in their own way..."
He pauses and looks at Kate seeking her silent approval to continue. "Johanna Beckett decided to look into Pulgotti's claims and ended up being murdered in the exact same alley that Arman was killed. Why? We learned that she wasn't the only one killed for looking into that case. Two assistants in her law office and a clerk in the records office also died under similar circumstances over the months after Johanna's murder. The ME never made the connection at the time, but I know a guy..."
"The ADA who prosecuted the case was William Bracken who made a name for himself from it. Bracken left the DA's office soon after that and used the notoriety as a platform for his run at the state senate. He's in the US senate now... His personal assistant was Ms Robbins, our latest victim. Someone is tying up loose ends and anyone involved with the Arman case is on the list..." Rodgers pauses to see how his boss reacts.
"Let's say this is true, two things... one, why is Pulgotti still alive? And two, why are you asking me about this?" Montgomery inquires.
"Pulgotti still has his mob ties in prison. Everyone knows that and to kill him would draw undue attention to whomever is behind this. Besides, after Johanna's death, he dropped any requests for an appeal. Pulgotti's smart enough to know that her death was a message to him also." Rick replies.
"And we know that you were partners with Raglan and McCallister at the time of Arman's death. We know that someone pulled some strings to get you transferred to another precinct." Beckett adds. "You know that they're coming after you... Help us stop them."
There was an extended silence as the two detectives looked at their boss, waiting for a response. He sighs and rises to his feet. "I'm sorry detectives, but you've been mislead by someone. I worked with Raglan and McCallister for a few weeks as a rookie. I was working at the twenty second precinct when Arman was killed. You can check the records."
"Records can be altered." Rodgers replies matter-of-factly. "We know you were with them up to the Arman case. I've got very reliable sources that can confirm that. How deep are you into this?"
"You're dismissed detectives." Roy replies, effectively ending the conversation and gestures to the door. Rick and Kate rise up from their seats and walk to the door.
Rick stops at the door and turns to face Montgomery. "I hope that whatever evidence you have that you think is keeping you safe is hidden better than what Robbins did... Will it keep Evelyn and the kids safe?" Rodgers opens the door as he and Beckett walk out of the office.
"He's scared." Beckett comments as the two walk to the bullpen.
"He should be. These people will get to him. Probably his family too." Rodgers replies.
"What about us?"
"We're in the crosshairs now, if we weren't before when Raglan contacted you. We've got to convince Montgomery that his only hope is to tell us everything." Rick replies, taking her hand into his, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Kate walks to her desk and starts to sit when she notices it. Lying there in three pieces was her mother's elephant family statue. A handwritten note lay below it explaining that it had been knocked off of her desk during an altercation with a suspect the night before. There was no signature, but Beckett recognizes the handwriting as that of Karpowski, the other female detective in homicide. Fighting back a sob, she starts to examine the broken pieces of her cherished keepsake, cursing herself for not putting it away safe. She picks up and looks at the largest piece of the now ruined figurine and once again can feel that there's something moving inside. She carefully examines the piece and can see the foreign object now.
Rick watches in silence as she opens her desk drawer and extracts a letter opener. Beckett pokes the letter opener into the fragment, working it inside until the object fall out onto her desk. She stares at the micro-cassette tape laying before her, puzzled at how it had made its way inside her mother's sculpture. She opens the bottom drawer of her desk and extracts her micro cassette player.
Kate puts the tape inside and presses the play button as Rick watches in silence. She frowns as there is nothing but tape hiss to hear for nearly a minute and the tape comes to a stop. She opens the recorder and flips the tape over, reinserting it. Pressing play again, Beckett listens intently to the tape. After several seconds of silence, sounds of a phone conversation starts. Kate gasps as she recognizes one of the voices on the tape as that of Montgomery. She stops the tape from playing and gives Rick a nudge of her head towards the elevator.
He gives her a smile in understanding and rises to his feet. "Let's call it a day partner. We've got nothing new and it's getting late." He looks over at the desk where Ryan and Esposito were sitting and calls out. "Why don't you guys head off early? We're on call tonight anyway and with the luck we've had recently, we'll get a case as soon as we get to bed."
Both Kevin and Javi smile at the thought of getting out an hour early. They had put in long hours this week working the Robbins case and knew that it would end up going cold. They quickly got to their feet, putting on their jackets and were out of bullpen before Rick could change his mind. They exchange pleasantries as they continue towards the elevator and both Rick and Kate try not to smile as they watch the two exit.
"Let's get out of here partner." Rick comments to Kate as he watches her pocket the tape recorder into her jacket. The two walk out of the bullpen and are soon in his cruiser and into the rush hour Manhattan traffic.
Kate extracts the tape recorder from her pocket and presses play. The two listen silently to hear the other voice on the tape responding to Montgomery's comment that "Johanna Beckett was poking her nose into the Arman case. What do we do?"
The other voice on the tape sounded vaguely familiar to both of them, but neither could place a name with it. Kate gasps as she listens to this man calmly explain to Montgomery how he would 'take care of' the Johanna Beckett problem once and for all. A thousand questions came to her mind as she listens to her boss and the mystery man talk about murdering her mother as if she was nothing more than a minor annoyance. A buzzing fly to be swatted.