Intersecting Lines Book 3
29 Canvassing Options
Brenda's viewpoint
It was Friday afternoon and we were sitting in my office, Sharon and I, going over the details of the 'organ legging case' as everyone was now calling it; 'black magic murders', the case's previous nickname being junked once the news of the investigation's new focus was explained to the teams. Everyone was actually happier with the new direction; much to Maura's barely concealed relief.
The truth was organ harvesting, despicable as it was, meant whoever was doing it had motives that were decipherable, they had criteria for their unfortunate victims and that meant there were lines of investigation to be run down, whereas chasing lunatics killing people for their organs for black magic ceremonies on the other hand was just way too much unpredictable for any of our detective's taste. I looked over at Sharon, seeing her flipping through the latest witness reports from the combined team after the most recent attack and spoke up.
"How's the canvas on hospitals and clinics going?" Looking up, Sharon put the folder to one side and opened her iPad, pulling up the document she was after, speaking out loud as she scrolled through it.
"If we discount the major transplant hospitals, based on Maura's assessment that their safeguards would catch any undocumented transplants, we've found that there are eleven private hospitals and clinics that claim to be able to do liver transplants" I frowned, eleven…damn. Something I put into words.
"Eleven's not terribly helpful, that's actually a lot more than I expected to be honest" I said as Sharon glanced up then nodded in understanding.
"Not all of them are current apparently, some may only do a few a year while others do several a week but we'll have to check them all out" she said as I nodded then continued on. "It would seem that there's lots of demand, given LA has a lot of older, richer people" she stated, drawing a snort from me; that made plenty of sense, unfortunately, as I surmised aloud.
"Meaning people who are old enough to have organ's failing and the money to pay for a transplant" Sharon smiled happily at me.
"Exactly, so we're going to have to find a way to narrow the number down" She consulted her tablet for a moment. "Just counting those eleven, we're looking at well over one hundred and sixty doctors who are listed as qualified to undertake liver transplants, though some of the names look like they're common to multiple hospitals" At that I closed my eyes in thought for a while, Sharon giving me time to think as I considered the information we'd deduced on our suspect, as sketchy as it was, then opened them.
"Maybe, if we can discount any female doctors or males over 60 that could reduce the numbers a bit" I shrugged, every little bit helped. "After that we go looking for right handers" I grimaced. "Though I'm not sure exactly how we do that without attracting suspicion"
"Well it's a stronger lead than we had before the last attack I guess" Sharon stated. "We've got nothing from the canvas of hire cars, taxis and Ubers, and nothing from the surveillance videos of local car parks" I nodded, that had been a bit of a faint hope but cases had broken for less. Traffic cameras hadn't spotted anything either, far too many vehicles in and out of the area during the time window we were looking at.
"I know, he has to be coming and going somehow, maybe an accomplice is waiting and collects him after the attack?" Before Sharon could answer there was a knock on the door, it was Jane who I waved in. Typically she didn't beat around the bush, coming straight to the point.
"Sorry to interrupt, but Khan's finished the check of all the donor databases and none of our vic's were listed" She shrugged and took another step inside. "I also went back and checked, none of them were carrying donor cards either" I frowned.
"So much for that angle" Taking in Jane's expectant expression I asked the question. "Was there something else Detective?" Jane nodded.
"Yeah, something was bothering me about the whole organ donor thing, so I went and had a chat to Maura about it and she gave me a better perspective about what we're dealing with here." She took the chair I indicated with a wave, nodding in appreciation as she did then continuing as Sharon and I gave her our attention, when someone of Jane's experience and instincts had a theory it was usually well worth hearing.
"I was thinking about the whole compatibility thing again; I mean I'm no expert but even I'd heard that you had to get a close match between the person donating and the person getting the organ" She shrugged. "Maura told me that even with all the drugs they take to stop the donor's body rejecting the new organ, it's still important to have as close a tissue match-up as possible" Both Sharon and I nodded as she pressed on. "That got me thinking about it and I started wondering how someone was getting these women in and to sit still for a test to determine their tissue compatibility to be an unwilling donor" At Jane's comment we both got far away looks for a moment before Sharon spoke slowly.
"It would have to be a medical procedure, carried out at a medical facility of some kind" Both Jane and I nodded before I took up the thread.
"One where our victim's attended for an exam" I looked to Jane, taking in her smile. "I know you; you're already looking aren't you?" Jane nodded and flashed me that cheeky grin.
"Yeah, I've got Kahn going through the vic's financials, looking for medical bills that would point us in the right direction" Sharon nodded decisively.
"Then let us go and see what Detective Kahn has turned up" A minute later we were hearing the bad news direct from him.
"I am sorry Chief, Commander, but none of the victim's has any costs associated with a medical consultation, of any kind that I can see, not in the last six months" We all pulled faces before Sharon looked to me, a light had come on in her eyes, she looked back to Kahn.
"None at all?" He shook his head.
"No Commander, none whatsoever, in fact given the financial state of all three of our victim's, none of them were in a position to afford expensive medical procedures"
As Sharon nodded at his words that got me thinking, unable to afford medical treatment but somehow a doctor got to see them, see them well enough to arrange a tissue compatibility test… I looked to Sharon and smiled, I was now thinking along the same lines she was.
"So they went somewhere free" She nodded with a smile and looked to Jane.
"Detective Rizzoli, please look into any medical facilities associated with our deceased, did their employers provide access to medical treatment" Jane shook her head.
"Maybe, though given three out of the four employers were small businesses and not big corps probably not; though we can look into that, but on the other hand all lived in roughly the same generally lower socio-economic area of Los Angeles, none of them were from affluent areas, so maybe there was a community clinic that they all visited" She'd ended up at the same place Sharon and I had as I nodded slowly, it made sense to all three of us which made it something well worth looking into, if nothing else it was a lead worth chasing.
"Please arrange a canvass of clinics and the like in the area, particularly looking at whether any of the hospitals and clinics that do liver transplants are located in the area and run free medical facilities" I got a nod.
"On it" She turned away, then turned back, "With Liv and Mikki away at the trial, we're kinda light on, can we call in some of the Robbery Homicide team?" I exchanged a glance with Sharon who nodded and reached for her phone, I'd assigned Miki and Olivia to security for Alex and Andrea for the trial, taking them off the case for something equally important; while it was unlikely their lives were in danger, I wasn't taking any chances when their lovers were prosecuting someone as ruthless as the Witsec Case's corrupt cops, after all they'd come after us when we were investigating them so better safe than sorry.
"I'll call Jefferies and Riggs up here right away" Sharon said, getting a grateful nod and a smile from Jane before she turned away and called for Flynn and Provenza as Sharon and I exchanged a smile.
It wasn't much but it was a lead and that was more than we'd had five minutes ago.
Given it was a Friday that meant our semi-regular evening drinks at O'Malley's, our local cop bar, normally in the aftermath of a big case closing, but other times too, this being one of them. In this case we'd been joined by Robbery / Homicide, in part because of Maura's undertaking to buy both teams drinks, her 'penalty' for getting her preliminary findings wrong.
Another reason many of us appreciated the chance to unwind was that this week had turned out to be horrible. The trial of those corrupt Robbery-Homicide detectives had descended into a travesty which gave every appearance of being an appalling witch hunt, the Defence in the WitSec case had already started attacking us all for being lesbians and the presiding judge was being a bigoted fossil, letting them get away with it. Alex and Andrea were coldly angry at the proceedings; despite their best efforts our names were being smeared in court and I had to say I was not looking forward to being called to testify next week; it had all the hallmarks of a court-sanctioned hit and run smear job.
Sharon and I had discussed it and come to the conclusion there was little we could do besides try and ride it out, hoping that Andrea and Alex could get the most objectionable tactics of the Defence ruled out of order. It was a faint hope but really it was all we had.
Collecting another wine from the bar for Sharon I turned and looked for her, noticing as I did that some California Highway Patrol cop was being a bit too attentive to Maura off to one side, I frowned a bit, we didn't usually see CHiPs here, this wasn't really their turf downtown, as I saw him crowding her space, a bit of a come-on smile on his face. I was about to head that way when I saw Jane making her way through the Friday night crowd like a shark through a school of fish, people getting out of her way when they saw the expression on her face. It looked like the situation was about to be sorted so I made my way back over to our table, handing over her red as I sat down.
"Thanks honey" I shared a smile with her and went to put my purse back in my bag when I I heard Sharon speak again "Uh oh"
Surprised I looked up to see her staring past me, raising an eyebrow I looked round, what had bothered her wasn't hard to see. The original CHiP that had been crowding Maura had been joined by two more, while Jane was standing between them and Maura, hands on her hips, a pissed expression on her face and a concerned one on Maura's. I wasn't the only one to see it either. Between the increasingly tense tableau and our table I saw Liv and Ana exchange a glance and rise as one, just like lions on the Serengeti spotting a meal, something I'd seen in a Discovery Channel documentary once, before making their way over there. They weren't the only one's either, Sanchez and Mendoza were following in their wake. Sharon's voice came to me, an undertone of humour evident.
"You'd better get over there honey, before we end up with an inter-agency mess and you have to explain to Commissioner Stanley why three of his officers got broken in a LAPD cop bar" I shook my head.
"Pope would just love that" I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Good point" I stood and made my way over towards the group as other cops standing around watched quietly. As I got closer I could hear the middle CHiP speaking.
"The LAPD's really gone to the dykes if they're letting a rug-muncher like you in" I felt my jaw tighten, more homophobic stupidity, even as Jane spoke.
"If that juvenile word play's the best you can come up with, I'm not surprised you ended up with the Chips, rather than a real police force" That was Jane, she was a firm believer in the concept of the best defence being a good offence, no matter who might take offence.
"Tough words dyke" I frowned, that Highway Patrol sergeant didn't know it but he was prodding a tiger with a stick, nothing good was going to come of it.
"You're about three sentences from having a 'dyke' leave you a bleeding wreck" Her voice a low growl, Jane shook her head which I noticed was lowered, she was almost looking up at the CHiP, not a good sign, at all. "Maybe you should get out of here before I teach you some manners about not hassling an engaged woman" The middle CHiP, the one wearing Sergeant's stripes, threw Maura an appraising glance.
"You worried she might wake up to what she's missing and leave you for a real man?"
"I can assure you that is not happening" Maura stated unequivocally as Jane snapped her fingers loudly and called to the three CHiP's who were rather obviously looking Maura over.
"Hey, eyes over here, I'm talking to you, learn some manners" The three cops ran their eyes over the tense woman in front of them.
"You! Maybe it's you who'll learn something, like why girlies shouldn't play at being the tough guy, leave that to the actual guys" The razor smile I saw on Jane's face was something feral, dangerous, before I saw Ana and Liv move forward to take spots each side of Jane.
"Maybe you and your friends should take a step back and calm down, maybe go back to your table, finish your drinks and go home" Liv was trying to play peacemaker
"Or not, either way suits" Ana stated, obviously happy either way, as I recalled the stories I'd heard about her and Jane sparring , apparently they were very good, good enough most officers didn't go up against them twice.
"These your girlfriends bitch?" Liv smiled, tight and controlled.
"Partners" she corrected, while Ana was a little more direct, her smirk a cool, dangerous thing.
"We don't want to hurt you, but we will" Jane nodded, her smile turning into a mocking grin.
"Three versus three boys, your choice, walk away or get hurt" The CHiP in the middle looked from one to the other of the three beautiful women in front of him then spoke.
"Don't tell me you're all lesbo's, what a fucking waste" Before Jane and the others could reply another voice was heard from off to the left.
"No we're not, some of us just have a really low tolerance for assholes" The first CHiP, I could see his name badge said Cormann, turned to find Kyra Jefferies and Amy Sykes from Sharon's team standing there, hands on hips and arms crossed respectively, neither of them looked happy. Jefferies pushed on. "Tell you what, you stop hassling our people for being gay and we'll stop hassling you for being a fucking douche bag" Mikki nodded from one side and spoke up.
"What's it gonna be boys, you demonstrate some manners or do we have to teach you some?" I could see that Cormann was belligerent, even if his partners were looking embarrassed, they'd probably stepped in to back up their friend, only to realise they may have stepped in it, deep. Cormann looked around the group.
""What, it takes a pile of you to take on some real men?"
"Sergeant…Cormann is it?" I said, he turned to the female voice over his shoulder, taking in me standing there before replying, a little truculently.
"Yeah…and who the hell are you?" I smiled politely.
"Deputy Chief Johnson of the LAPD's Major Crimes section" Cormann's face tightened as he realised he'd probably bought himself a world of trouble. He nodded as his two cohorts did the same.
"Chief Johnson" I took a step closer as I spoke.
"I understand that this is not your usual Friday night drinking establishment, but here at O'Malley's we have a few rules, one of which is don't hit on your female colleagues. That's unprofessional at the least and given we have several couples here tonight, as you've discovered, potentially hazardous to your health" I glanced from Maura to Jane, then back to him. "I have no doubt that Doctor Isles explained that she was engaged and was not interested, it appears you don't know when to leave well enough alone" I frowned. "Let alone hitting on a woman who is not interested in your attentions" Cormann's denial was instant.
"It wasn't like that, at all" I shrugged.
"I know Doctor Isles, I also know Sargent Rizzoli, and both would have made their relationship very clear to you from the outset, something you obviously ignored" I shook my head. "I therefore suggest that you return to your colleagues and enjoy your evening, undisturbed"
"I wasn't doing anything wrong…" I shook my head; he wasn't getting it, time to explain the situation.
Sergeant, you misunderstand me, the advice was for your benefit, as I have no desire to have this evening ruined by the attendance of EMT's" He shook his head as he spoke.
"Typical, you women all hang together" I smiled as I spoke.
"I assure you Sergeant, the only reason that the male members of our teams are not involved is that they are well aware that their presence is not needed, these officers are more than capable of handling the situation" He doubled down on the stupid.
"And yet you're here"
"I am here for your benefit Sergeant" I shrugged blithely. "I don't wish to have to call Commissioner Stanley to explain that one of his officers provoked a fight in a downtown LA bar and required hospitalisation, as did his friends" I smiled nicely. "That would create unnecessary paperwork and my team can attest how adverse I am to that, so you can return to your table, enjoy a pleasant, quiet and undisturbed night, or I will turn and walk away and deal with any consequences tomorrow morning" I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. "Your choice Sergeant, choose wisely"
Cormann's eyes shifted from me to the others, taking in the relaxed stances of Jane and the others then came back to me. He went to say something when his cell phone went off. He pulled it out and glanced at the number and frowned, shaking his head he cancelled the call and looked back to me.
"Look Chief, it was your people that started it, not me…" His cell rang again and he checked the number, frowning and answered it.
"Cormann, who is this?" He straightened suddenly, his eyes darting around. "Yeah…no, it wasn't anything like that…no…no that's not what happened…no." There was a few seconds silence as he listened. "Fine, fine, have it your way" He ended the call and looked to me. "That was fucking weak" I frowned.
"Sergeant, I have no idea what you are referring to, I simply want to see this unfortunate incident conclude without unnecessary disruption to the evening" Cormann snorted.
"Yeah right" He looked to Jane, Liv and Ana and shook his head before turning away. "C'mon, let's get the fuck out of here" he said to his companions as he pushed his way off through the crowd. One of the others nodded politely to me before they both turned away and followed Cormann back to their table where they collected their gear and left. I exchanged a look with Jane, getting an equally puzzled look from her.
"What just happened?" said Liv.
"That would be me" said Natalie from off to one side, I hadn't seen her there and looked her way.
"What did you do?" She smiled quietly as she brandished her cell.
"I rang my CHP counterpart and told him that three of his officers were about to cause a hell of a PR mess, harassing women and starting a bar fight in an LAPD cop bar, all of which was being filmed on cell phones" She shrugged. "Andrew agreed that wasn't a good look and told me he'd ring Cormann" I nodded, she'd dealt with it differently from me but it had done the job.
"Nicely handled Natalie" She gave me a smile.
"I didn't want Ana getting her hands all bloody, I have better things for them to do later" That set off a round of everyone teasing Ana, together with whip cracking noises and gestures, she was unmoved, shrugging, unconcerned.
"Make love, not war, that's me" I smiled at her.
"I'm just pleased that ended peacefully, thanks to Miss Dearing, I truly didn't want to explain to Pope on Monday morning why we had three broken Highway Patrol officers on our hands" Mikki nodded.
"Yeah, he would have loved that" Sanchez backed her up.
"And we all know how you love paperwork Chief" I smiled.
"Very true Sergeant Sanchez, very true" I glanced around, seeing the trio of Highway Patrol officers long gone. "With our visitors departed I am sure I can look forward to a quiet evening?" I got nods and agreement all round, making me smile. "Excellent" I headed back to my seat to find Sharon had been joined by Andrea.
"All's well that ends well" I shrugged at Andrea's words as I sat.
"Jane, Liv and Ana are all extremely protective of their partners" I reached out and collected my wine glass, taking a small sip. "Ah, that's nice" I looked across to Andrea. "I have no doubt what the outcome would have been if it had come to blows, better all-around that it did not" Sharon and Andrea both nodded before the latter spoke.
"Yes, Mikki is the same" Sharon smiled.
"My girlfriend's not likely to beat someone up to defend my honour" She looked my way with a slight smile. "More likely she'd just shoot them" I shrugged with a happy smile.
"Nothing so crass, I'd just sic Jane and the others on them"
"Ah, so you're subcontracting your jerk boyfriend, excuse me, jerk girlfriend duties these days?"
"What can I say, rank has its privileges" I got a smile that was just for me.
"I suppose they do honey, I suppose they do"
