Flu

Chapter 108

When Rick and Kate return to the loft, Martha is in the midst of removing a sheet cake from a huge box. "What's the occasion?" Rick asks.

"We have more than one," Martha proclaims. "Alexis finished her finals, with all 'A's of course. She also turned in her project and has been officially accepted to work with that lovely Chief Osnitz again this summer."

"I wouldn't have expected anything else," Rick declares, "but any cause or causes for a celebration are more than welcome."

Martha studies her son's face. "You two have been working on the death of a child. Nothing else makes you look like that. Any progress?"

"Hopefully, yes," Kate responds. "We spotted a possible suspect on traffic cam footage and put a BOLO out for the car and driver. It could be a long time before we hear something, or he could be spotted any minute."

Rick reassembles his features into a smile. "Until we do hear something, let's try to put the case aside. It's Alexis's night. We should join in the spirit of exultation."

"Amen to that," Martha agrees. "And Alexis's study group is on the way over to join in the festivities. I have a pizza order in transit on your account."

Rick makes a mental inventory of the teenage horde about to descend on his domicile. So much for any chance of a quiet evening with Kate. "Nice to know you have things organized, Mother."


"Did you get enough pizza?" Rick asks Kate as the last of Alexis's friends departs the loft. "I barely managed to grab one slice."

"I got one slice too. I've been trying not to think about what little is left of the cake and figure out what I can scrounge from the fridge," Kate confesses.

"I've been thinking much the same, but without trying to exclude the cake," Rick confides. "I hid a container of chili that I had Chef Auchincloss pack up, behind the sauerkraut and the mayonnaise. Interested?"

"Bring it on!"


"I got a text from Sergei," Kate announces as a still-damp Rick emerges from the bathroom after his morning shower. "He sent me a go see the woman. It's about a possible sighting of a man resembling the aged composite of the suspect Berta described."

"Up in the Bronx?" Rick asks.

"Uh-huh. About two blocks from the murder scene."

"That would make sense if Chris was going through the trash in his own neighborhood. You want to go straight up there or check in at the precinct first?"

"We might as well go straight up. I'll get an alert on my cell if anything else turns up while we're gone. But it can wait a few minutes."

"You want to make sure my body is suitably covered?"

"No, I want to make sure the pancake batter you have resting doesn't go to waste."


"You know," Riva Small explains, "when you see someone like that, you do your best not to stare. I mean, everyone, no matter what they look like, is just a person, right?"

"Of course," Kate agrees. "But tell us what you did see."

"I saw him going in and out of the building across the street, but not for a while now, maybe weeks. I don't think he lives there anymore. The last time I saw him, he was loading things into one of those U-Haul trucks. He must have been moving."

"A big truck? Did he have a lot of things?" Rick queries.

Riva shakes her head. "Medium size, maybe. He didn't have a lot of stuff, and it didn't all look like normal furniture. He had equipment like you might see in a factory or something. Even using a dolly, he still was putting a lot of effort into moving it. I don't know why he didn't get family to help him or hire someone. Some of the kids around here are anxious to pick up a buck wherever they can."

"Did you see which way he drove the truck when he left?" Kate inquires.

"Sorry, I didn't," Riva apologizes. "One of my programs came on, and I went to watch it. And like I said, I didn't want to stare."

Kate digs a card out of her pocket and hands it to Riva. "You've been very helpful, and we really appreciate your time. If you think of anything else, anything at all, please let me know."

"I'll do that, Detective Beckett," Riva promises.

"Now what?" Rick asks as he and Kate take the elevator down from Riva's apartment.

"If our suspect moved out of the building across the street, the super there would know. We should be able to get a name, and maybe even a forwarding address."


Nick Lakas rolls his eyes at Kate's description of the former tenant. "Yeah, I remember him, Merlin Jasper. Who could forget a name like that? And I wish he'd never rented that apartment in the first place."

"Why? Did he have trouble with you or the other tenants?" Kate questions.

"No trouble until after he left. These apartments usually rent in about 30 seconds. But when I went up there to get it ready for a new tenant, it had a weird smell. Even with repainting the walls, I had a hell of a time getting rid of it. I had to sand the damn floors. It was in the wood."

"A smell like something died?" Rick queries.

"No, not like that. More like a butcher shop, an old one. Do you know how the blood gets into everything? It doesn't exactly rot, but you can always smell it. And there was a cooking smell too, but not like anything anyone I know cooks. I don't know what that Jasper was making, but it wasn't what anyone normal eats. I'll tell you one thing. He didn't get back his damage deposit."

"So, you have the address where you were supposed to send it?" Kate assumes.

"I don't have it, but the management company should. The tenants have to submit a 30-day notice to vacate, or they get charged an extra month's rent," Nick adds. "A forwarding address is part of the paperwork. I can give you the company's number."

Kate settles into the driver's seat of her unit before calling the number Nick gave her. She's immediately greeted by a request to leave a message.

"Not too helpful," Rick notes when she finishes.

"No," she agrees. "Who knows when someone will get back to me? And he could have just given them a P.O. box. But it shouldn't be tough to trace a Merlin Jasper. There can't be too many of those in New York."

"If he's still in the city. He could take a U-Haul almost anywhere not requiring an ocean voyage."

"He could," Kate allows. "But if as we think, he committed two crimes, decades apart, in New York, the city is probably home to him. If we can get DMV, we'll know if we were looking at the right car. If it is, we should get something on the BOLO soon."

"Unless he parked it in a garage and is taking the subway. But there are cameras there too," Rick considers, "and now we can be sure what he looks like."

"And even if Jasper did give the management company a mail drop, we could concentrate on stops nearby," Kate continues. "Babe, for Larry and Chris, we are going to catch Merlin Jasper."