Chapter 17:
Saturday 11th February 2012
12th Precinct, Lower Manhattan
Manhattan, New York
0930 Hours
At the 12th Precinct, Detective Ryan and Esposito were arriving, they sat down at their desks joined by Kimberly Dempsey who had said, "Heya fellas!"
"How's it goin' Dempsey?" Esposito asked. Kimberly nodded, "Good, so far… Adam's still pissed off."
Esposito nodded, he had been best friends with Adam Zelinski in the Army Special Forces, they had both served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. It had been safe to say that they were close like family.
When Adam was accused of letting weapons get out on the streets of New York, Esposito, Ryan, Beckett and a few other cops had stood by Adam Zelinski who looked to be going through the ringer of Internal Affairs.
"Adam still keeping hope that things are goin' to get better?" Ryan asked. Kim nodded, "He's hanging on, but if they don't clear him, Adam might have to resign."
"Ridiculous that IA's dragging a good man who served and protected this country and city to his absolute best. Still think somebody set 'im up just to put knives in his back." Esposito said in a growling voice.
Ryan nodded, "We've all got jobs to do, let's do right by him and put some perps away."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
0945 Hours
Kimberly's desk phone rang as she answered, "Detective Dempsey speaking…"
After 2 minutes, she said, "We're on our way." She put the phone down as she put her coat on, "Crime scene's on 42nd Street, Hell's Kitchen, woman found dead in her car."
The three gathered their coats, they headed out to the scene of the crime which was occupied by CSU and patrol officers that had set up a barrier all around.
There were several officers directing traffic to ensure there were no delays.
Once at 42nd Street, Kimberly went to see the dead body as Lanie looked up, "Hey. Thought you were having a day off."
"Well duty calls. Besides Adam's lookin' after Hope. They wanted to spend a little father-daughter time which is worrying for me." Kimberly said. Lanie then asked, "Let me guess… you're worried they'll blow up the house?"
"They might blow themselves up, they might blow up the whole island. They better not come to me when I find out…" Kimberly said.
The pair laughed as Lanie said, "How's Adam?" "Wants this whole thing to be over… it's bad enough IA's accusin' him of putting weapons on the street, but he wants it all over, know what I mean?"
"I hear ya, it's the way things are… things are gonna be okay, just have some faith." Lanie said.
Kimberly nodded, "What do we know?"
"Body's been here for a few hours, TOD's probably between 1-3 am. I'll know more when I do the autopsy."
"Bruising around her face, could be from the truck that rear-ended her." Kimberly said. Lanie nodded, "I agree. I'll have more when the autopsy's done."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kimberly took notes of everything, she noticed the purse on the ground as she fished through it, there was nothing to indicate a robbery gone wrong. It just looked as if somebody killed the girl and ran.
The identity of the woman was Sofia Lorenza, who had family in the FDNY. She walked to Kate Beckett and Richard Castle as she said, "Vic's name is Sofia Lorenza, you'll probably know the name…"
"Granddaughter of the former FDNY Chief and current Chief of EMS. Didn't her father used to be a firefighter?" Castle asked.
Beckett nodded, "Used to be a firefighter in Jersey City, he was a Captain, died in '04 after suffering from the aftermath of the 9/11 disaster." "Mother left her family after his death; she was found a few years later dead in Chicago." Kimberly said.
Beckett and Castle nodded as Kimberly walked away, "Do you think this is an attack on the hierarchy's families of the FDNY?" Castle asked. Beckett shook her head, "No, I don't think so, if it was the case, the Capelli family woulda been informed."
"Somethin' worries me, Consulate General of the Republic of China is up ahead, car was parked outside, doesn't it concern you that there might have been a bomb underneath?" Castle theorised.
Beckett nodded, "CSU and bomb-squad went through it, no trace of a bomb was found."
"Thought I'd just theorise. But still, why here though, looks as if it was nothing more than a hit and run driver." Castle said. Beckett nods, "Certainly looks like it, but somethin' tells me more."
"Beckett, Castle!" Ryan said as he ran to them, he then said, "Found somethin', Sofia had an airport ticket, she was on her way to Rome, for what reason we don't know."
"Alright, go talk to the family, see if they knew anything about it. Did Sofia have any siblings?" Beckett asked.
Esposito nodded as he walked up to them, "She has a brother, Angelo Lorenza, he's a Corpsman in the Marines. But's he overseas at the moment in Afghanistan, found a letter in her handbag…"
"She has an apartment in Bensonhurst, 65th Street. I'll see about getting a warrant for her place." Kimberly said.
"Let's head back and compile what we've got." Beckett said. The team nodded as they took their leave.
Castle then said, "See about who the black pickup belongs to, maybe it coulda been her killer." "Good idea, maybe there's somethin' we can find from it."
She spoke to one of the tech members about the black pickup and cleaning it for fingerprints.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
1145 Hours
By the time they got back to the precinct, Captain Gates was waiting for them who had said, "Sofia Lorenza, our victim?"
"Yes sir, looks like a hit and run, Castle theorised about the possibility of a car bomb against the consulate general of the Republic of China. But we had the car checked to be safe." Beckett said.
Gates nodded, "Good theory on that, unfortunately, I talked to a contact at the consulate general… there had been no threats against them." "Back to square one, then. Captain about that bomb theory, I apologize." Castle said.
"No apology needed, either way we check every bit of evidence. I've been getting phone calls from FDNY and 1PP, pressure's on to investigate this… more importantly, this was a smoke eater's daughter killed, leave no stone unturned, keep me apprised..." Gates said walking away.
"Yes Sir." everyone echoed.
After Gates left, the team went through subsequent evidence trying to find something that stuck, they came with something from Ryan who had said, "So I spoke with the workplace manager, Sofia had been seen by a fashion designer owner from Italy a few weeks ago, she was to fly out to run a new shop in a few days."
"Did her family know?" Castle asked. Esposito nodded, "Spoke with the family of the deceased, they knew about it. They voiced their opinion about the opportunity, she was gonna follow her heart about it."
Kimberly then said, "Went through her apartment, she mostly kept to herself, hard-working, no public spats, not even any arguments with her neighbours."
"Boyfriends, ex-boyfriends?" Beckett asked.
Kimberly shook her head, "Nothing serious, merely a few dates. Although she had one significant date with Joe Capelli just before Christmas."
"Since then, they were not at all close." Ryan said.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The phone rang on Beckett's desk as she picked it up, "Beckett." She spoke to the voice on the other end as she nodded a few times, she then put the phone down as she said, "Call from another detective. Apparently, a gun range store owner in Ridgewood, Queens mentioned something about the same black pickup that was found at Sofia Lorenza's murder."
"Sergeant Santiago." Esposito said. Beckett nodded, "Exactly, Espo see what you can find out about the black pickup."
"Right away." Esposito nodded and took leave.
Ryan was on the phone as he said, "CSU went over that black pickup with a tooth-pick. Bad news, that pickup had finger prints belonging to one Joseph Capelli III."
Castle and Beckett's eyes widened in horror as Beckett said, "Tell me… you didn't say what I think you said?"
"Beckett, the prints belonged to Joe Capelli. Which means, he was either at the scene last night, or his truck was stolen and used at a scene of the crime." Ryan said.
Beckett looked towards Gates's office as she said, "You do realise if we accuse the Capelli family of murdering Sofia Lorenza, this whole thing will put us and Gates on the Capelli family warpath."
"I'll have evidence take a look at everything. I'm headed to see Lanie at the ME's office. I'll gather whatever info there is on Sofia Lorenza." Ryan said.
Beckett nodded as Ryan and Kimberly headed off for the ME's office as Castle said, "What just turned into a murder investigation, it's now a hell-storm." "You're right on that one." Beckett said.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Seneca Sporting Range, Ridgewood
Queens, New York City
1220 Hours
Esposito arrived at the gun range, he had been updated on the new information, he didn't believe Joe was capable of murdering someone. Joe had been a close war-buddy of his from the Iraq War, there was no way in hell that someone he trusted closely would ever kill a civilian in cold blood.
By the time he got inside, Sergeant Santiago then said, "Javi. Good to see you."
"You too, Santiago. Said you had some info about the black pickup truck?" Esposito asked. Santiago nodded, "Yeah, I did. Truck belonged to Joe Capelli; I know you served alongside the kid."
"I did." Esposito said. Santiago then said, "Joe was here last night, himself, his brothers and cousins. Couple other fellas too, Donarelli's, Jameson Bacciarelli and there was also Dempsey, Thompson, Cole and that Daniele Rossi too."
"12 men at a gun range, what's that about?" Esposito asked.
Santiago then said, "Birthday party for Tommy Donarelli, it was a big-shindig for those men, they brought their own weapons and just shot targets all night. Closed shop by 2300, they left an hour early."
"Said somethin' 'bout Joe Capelli's truck, what do you know?" Esposito asked. Santiago at that point said, "Well 'bout 10 minutes before they left, heard some glass break, thought I'd go check it out just to be safe… thought one of the warehouses had been broken into… it wasn't."
"I usually kept the license plates of the cars that park here as an insurance policy, you know…?" Santiago said. Esposito nodded as Santiago continued, "I headed back inside and 20 minutes later, Bobby Thompson and Robert Cole come in, they ask to see the security tapes, the truck got broken into. You guess what happened next."
"Thanks for the help, man." Esposito said. Santiago nodded.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Outside the gun range, Esposito looked around the parking spot that Joe's truck once inhabited, he saw broken glass on the ground, he thought to himself as he took a picture of it.
He tried to picture the scene in his head, he knew that a blunt object would have knocked the glass onto the seat. A gunshot would have somewhat had the same effect.
He went back over the security tape to see something hit the window. It looked to have been a bullet.
He looked around the perimeter and saw 2 expended bullet shells on the ground, he pulled out his phone and called Beckett as he said, "Yeah Beckett, I'm in Ridgewood at the gun range, looks like Joe's truck was stolen, got visual on a figured all dressed in black, it doesn't look like Joe, his height's about 5ft 10ins, our driver's a few inches shorter than that."
"We might have bigger problems, Joe Capelli's fingerprints were found on Sofia Lorenza's body. She was killed by a broken neck, strangulation cause of death." Kate Beckett said.
Javier Esposito began shaking his head wildly, "Don't say it Kate, Joe's innocent, he wouldn't do this, ever. He respects women, he wouldn't do this." "Espo, I'm sorry, but we need to consider the possibility that he did this." Kate said.
Esposito looked shocked, "Kate, you've known Joe longer than I have. He wouldn't do it. We do this, it's our heads right on a block."
"I know, but we've got a job to do. I need you to go and arrest Joe Capelli, I'll have the warrant ready for you to pick up." Kate said with reluctance.
Esposito ended the call as he let the phone slip from his grasp, it fell to the floor leaving a crack on it.
He picked it right up and he headed for the car, he then sat there for a few minutes as he smacked the steering wheel a few times, he then drove off to pick up the arrest warrant.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Capelli Household, 63rd Street, Bensonhurst
Brooklyn, New York
1330 Hours
He parked right outside the Capelli house on 63rd Street in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He got out of the car so reluctantly and he walked to the front door, he knocked three times on the door as he stood waiting, the door opened and Joe was dressed in a white dress shirt and a pair of blue jeans.
Joe then said, "Javi Esposito, what brings you by?"
"Heya Joe, how are you?" Esposito acknowledged. Joe nodded, "I'm good, how's you?"
Javier nodded as he remembered that he was here to do his job as a police officer, "I'm well, Joe, I'm afraid I'm not here for pleasure. More like business."
"This is about Sofia Lorenza?" Joe asked. Esposito nodded, "I'm afraid so, I'm afraid you're under arrest for the murder of Sofia Lorenza. Hands behind your back please."
Joe nodded, he then turned around putting his hands on his head as Esposito then put the cuffs on Joe, he then said, "Joseph Capelli, you're under arrest for the murder of Sofia Lorenza…"
Joe blacked out the remainder of the Esposito's reading of the Miranda rights, he then nodded hearing the question about the rights being read to him.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
They drove through to Manhattan arriving at the 12th, everyone was in shock and dismay.
When they got to the floor of the interrogation room, everyone saw Joe walking through, everybody looked in shock. John was in Gates's office yelling about there had been insufficient evidence.
All of Joe's war buddies stood in dismay as Thomas said, "Don't worry Joe, we're gonna get you outta this, you hang tight, Master Guns."
"Hang tight, lil' brother. We got you." Marco said.
Giuseppe then said, "They ain't got nothin' Joe. Don't give 'em a damn thing."
In the interrogation room, Joe was sat down as he remained quiet, he saw a bit of paper in his back pocket as he just sat in the chair, the door soon opened.
Captain Victoria Gates had stepped in as she said, "Let's talk, Joe Capelli."