Moment in Time 3

Chapter 16

What Lies Beneath

Part 4

"The thing is," Rick considers, "that Weldon is one of the four, and he would never approve a slush fund. He likes to keep things out front and public, especially since the time when the press got wind that the N.Y.P.D. suspected him of murder."

Kate's teeth worry her bottom lip. "The N.Y.P.D. meaning me."

"And Montgomery and the boys. I admit it looked bad for him back then. Even proved innocent, his chances at running for governor were trashed. And if the city hadn't eliminated term limits, Weldon wouldn't even be mayor anymore. The last thing he needs now is even a hint of scandal. If someone in his office is working under the table, he'll want them exposed. And he'll want to do the exposing."

"I can understand that, Babe, but let's check his alibi first. Then we can put our heads together about the other possible slushers at City Hall. And considering that I was the one who led the first investigation of him, you might want to leave me out of the conversation."

"Kate, he knows you were just doing your job. But we'll see how it goes. Tomorrow, I'll call Denise. You remember she's his secretary. I'll get his schedule and take it from there. Are you ready to go home?"

Kate gives a little shiver. "The BS I hear in Interrogation is disgusting enough. But after spending time in a whole room full of liars, more than ready."

Sipping his second mug of coffee, Rick scrolls through the text on his phone. "According to the itinerary Denise sent me, Weldon was in Albany when Dwayne Johnson was shot. He went up there the day before and returned the next morning. He took a commercial puddle jumper, so it should be easy enough to check."

"When I get into the precinct, I'll have Ryspo take care of that."

"No need for your faithful sidekick today?"

"Not yet. I'll be catching up on the paperwork while the boys do their thing. Also, I want to find out if Vikram has anything else on Reed and the oxycodone. And with Gina still at the helm of Black Pawn, you should get some of your writing done. Even if she lays back more on the Heat books than she does with Storm, you don't need her invading your space any more than necessary."

"Our space. But you're right. We can both take our places at the keyboard for the nonce and perhaps enjoy some sleuthing together later. You want another coffee to go?"

"Please."

"Weldon's right here on the passenger manifests," Ryan insists. "His alibi is solid."

"Not everyone on a manifest gets on the plane," Esposito argues.

"With the antiterrorist rules, the plane won't take off until they do," Ryan counters. "At the least, they have to be accounted for. Those little planes gate-check luggage. They don't want someone loading a bomb on board and taking off."

"Still, I'm going to call my friend at the airport. If Weldon was on those planes, he'd be on the video."

"Which you'll want me to scrub."

Kate pops out of her office. "What's with you guys? First, you were so in sync it was sickening, and now half the precinct can hear you going at each other."

Esposito sends a dirty look at Ryan. "Sorry, Captain. I just wanted to make sure my partner is being thorough."

"Well, you can make sure more quietly. Just let me know when you're finished."

"Yes, Captain," Esposito agrees.

Vikram calls softly from Kate's threshold. "Captain Beckett, I have more on our special project."

"Come in and close the door."

"Oxycodone is a Schedule II controlled substance. That means that the VA medical centers and clinics have to account for every pill. And the veteran's centers don't get any. But the inventories of both the medical centers were short their allotments, to begin with. They never got the total amount they were slated to receive.

"So I traced the shipments back to their arrival at the docks. As far as I can tell, the orders received from China were complete. But the bill of lading for a truck to the medical centers was short. Another vehicle picked up the remainder of the shipment, but those pills were never received."

Kate nods. "They were diverted, probably to one of Reed's cells. What have you got on that vehicle?"

"Not much. It had New Jersey license plates. Apparently, the driver presented all the proper paperwork."

"Wouldn't he have had to sign for the cargo? What was his name?"

"The signature is illegible. But he did have to list his commercial license number as ID. So according to that, his name is Lawrence Puget. It's probably a phony. The address that went with it was. But we have the DMV picture, and I've got facial recognition running for other agencies."

"Good work! Let me know if you get a hit."

Ryan approaches Kate's door just as Vikram is leaving. "Captain, we've confirmed Mayor Weldon's alibi. He was in Albany at Johnson's TOD."

Kate blows out a sigh. "Great. And Ryan, can you and Espo work out whatever your problem is?"

"I'm on it, Captain."

Weldon waves Rick and Kate to chairs in front of his desk. "Since Rick called, I had the comptroller's office take a look at the funds allotted for working with the unions. And I also put our cyber people on it. You were right about a slush fund, but there was nothing official about it. The comptroller's assistant, Stephen Rodney, moved funds into another account to which only he had access. Some of those funds were transferred to his private bank. I've already reported that to the D.A. But another transfer is confusing. It was used to pay monies due from St. Mark's church. And the payment was attributed to a Father Arguello."

Rick pushes out of his chair. "It looks like we'll have to have a talk with the good Father."

Kate puts a hand on his arm. "I'm going to have Ryspo do it. They interviewed him the first time. So they should have the chance to pick up on anything they missed. And I want them to work out whatever is bothering them."

"The happy couple?"

"Seems like there's trouble in paradise."

"Did you see what I just saw?" Ryan asks Espo as they approach St. Marks. "Wasn't that Father Arguello stepping around that pile of dog poop?"

"Which means he was full of sh*t," Esposito responds. "Like someone else, I can think of."

"Hey, I already apologized. Let's just go find out what else Arguello was hiding."

"All right, I'm not blind," Arguello confesses. "But I had to do something to get out of Tampa. The humidity was killing me. And I found out that priests with certain disabilities have their choice of assignments. So I went blind. I grew up in New York. I like it here. But I am a priest, and I still can't tell you what Dwayne confessed – only that he was doing his best to make it right."

"By doing a little favor for you at the mayor's office?" Ryan suggests.

"Yes. I'm terrible at money management. So the church missed a payment. Dwayne said he'd take care of it. He didn't tell me what he did. But I told him that if he wanted to be right with God, he had to get right with anyone he sinned against. I suspect that might have been what he was praying for that night. That's all I can tell you."

"Sinned against," Kate repeats as Ryan and Esposito meet with her in her office.

"I brought fresh coffees," Rick announces, striding through the door. "Sinned against whom?"

"That's the question," Kate mulls. "What was the sin, and who would have been most hurt by it?"

"With Dwayne Johnson, the sin was probably a lie," Rick suggests distributing the coffees. "And those sting the most coming from someone you know and trust."

"Like a partner," Esposito mutters.

"Or a husband," Kate interjects.

Rick shoves his hand in front of his face. "Wait, I didn't do anything!"

"Not you, Babe, Dwayne. He lied to Wendy."

"But if he was planning on taking the pledge, he could have finally told her the truth," Rick realizes. "She might not have taken it well."

"Mrs. Johnson, we found shards of glass from St. Mark's window lodged in clothes in your hamper. And a gun ballistics matched to the murder weapon was in a storm drain near your building. You wiped the grip, but I'm guessing the partials on the bullets still in the gun will match your fingerprints." Kate informs the suspect. "You killed your husband."

"My husband!" Wendy spits out. "I don't even know who he was. He told me he was P.J. Moffat. But that night, he admitted that was a lie. Everything he told me was a lie! I thought I married a rich author like you did, Captain Beckett. I thought that after he finished researching his next book, we could live in luxury in the Hamptons! I could have married Lenny Shapiro, the carpet king. But I ended up with a janitor, a f***ing janitor! He had to pay for that. He had to pay."

After securing Wendy in holding, Ryan flops into the chair next to Esposito's desk. "Partner, you should have the slot for the Sergeant's exam. I lied, and I should pay for that. I'll call 1PP and tell them to give it to you."

Kate sticks her head out her office door. Is that what this is all about? Guys, I'm a captain now. I can pull a few strings. You should both take the exam. You deserve it. Just get back to normal, OK?"

Ryan and Esposito respond in sync. "Yes, Captain."

"But cut that out!"

"Yes, Captain," Esposito answers.

Ryan silently counts a beat. "Yes, Captain."