The Children's Corner

Chapter 6

Slowly relaxing, Rick glances over his laptop at Liz. "Oh, I almost forgot. Kate and I are hosting a poker game tomorrow night. It's no big deal, just a few cops we know. But it can be a fun evening. And you'll get to sample my seven-layer dip, which if I do say so myself, is famous in these parts."

For the first time since she and Rick began their exchange, Liz smiles. "As long as it isn't infamous. One of my roommates made a dip once and – never mind. I don't even want to think about it. What kind of chips?"

"Fresh tortilla chips. There's a Mexican restaurant two blocks from here that fries them up all through the day."

Liz's smile widens to a grin. You'll have to point me to it. Texas Hold'em?"

"Or five-card draw. Whatever the group decides. So are you in?"

"Sure, why not? You want me to bring anything?"

"Just your worst judgment, which, unfortunately for my ego, you have yet to show." Rick stretches in his chair. "I think I'm about rained-out with Storm for now. And the twins will be waking up any moment. So, how about starting the novella in a couple of days, after we've had time to digest each other's input?"

"Sounds good. But what time for the game tomorrow night?"

"We'll shoot for eightish." Rick extends his hand. "See you then."

After plodding into the twin's room, Rick sticks out his index finger for Jake to grab while Kate changes Reese. "Problems with Liz?" Kate asks.

Rick shakes his head. "If there's a problem, it's with me. Liz was merely making honest observations. But the truth can be brutal sometimes."

"A lot of the time," Kate agrees. "So, do you think your collaboration is going to improve your books?"

"For the Storm sagas at least. As much as I hate to admit it, I think it will. But you didn't get to tell me what happened at the 12th."

"Besides Sully requesting French crullers?"

"Consider it duly noted. But yes, besides that."

"The boys are looking for a Transylvanian priest who goes by Dragos Baciu. When I left, Ryan thought that Esposito and Sully might be closing in on him."

"And assuming Ryan was correct, you would like nothing more than to be in on the grill session."

Kate flutters her lashes. "I don't know about nothing. But I would like to be there. Ryan thought Montgomery might allow me an electronic presence."

"Not as good as skewering a suspect with the unrelenting Beckett stare, I imagine. But at least you'd be in the game."

"Uh-huh, if the boys actually bring Baciu in. But how about the poker game? After all the painful revelations, did you invite Liz?"

"I still kept one revelation to myself – trying to hook her up with Rosalyn. And Liz said she's coming. So we'll see what happens."

As Kate's phone vibrates on her hip, she hurriedly lays Reese in his crib. Rick raises a questioning eyebrow as she grabs for her cell. "I silenced the rings so they wouldn't bother Jake. Oh, it's Ryan. Yeah? Great? Thanks."

"So?" Rick inquires as Kate shoves her phone back into her pocket.

"Esposito and Sully picked up Baciu outside a Romanian Orthodox Church. Montgomery approved having me zoom in for the interview. We're going to need a Romanian interpreter. There's one who works at the U.N. He'll be coming to the precinct tomorrow morning. The church where Esposito and Sully found Baciu has a lawyer in the congregation who speaks the language. He'll be there too."

"That should be interesting."

"Maybe even more so, since I understand a lot of French and Italian, I can probably pick up on some Romanian."

Rick grins. "And Baciu will have no idea."

"The twins and I will be fine, Detective," Cindy reassures Kate. "Go ahead and do your meeting."

"Rick should be back from dropping off Lily any minute," Kate reminds her helper. "He said to make sure to call for an extra set of hands if you're getting overwhelmed." Kate glances at Jake. "Just don't call too loud."

"I'll be careful," Cindy promises.

After leaving the twins' room, Kate draws a deep breath and sinks into Rick's desk chair. She'll be using the big screen in his office for her zoom, and he already set up what he called a ring light for her. So as soon as the gang at the 12th gets its act together, she's ready to go.

For some reason, she has a picture in her mind of Max von Sydow as he appeared in the Exorcist. However, from the photo she's seen of Dragos Baciu, she knows he looks nothing like von Sydow. If anything, he resembles a slightly younger Martin Scorsese. But her mental image of a priest battling a demon persists. Perhaps that's because it's what Kate imagines Baciu thought he was doing.

When Ryan initiates the call, everyone – except Kate – involved in the interview is already gathered in Interrogation. Kate notes that Baciu isn't cuffed to the table, but then he's not yet formally under arrest.

The preliminaries take longer than usual because of the time required for translation. The interpreter introduces himself as Rica Maniu, and Baciu's lawyer is Sergio Torje. Kate jots the names down to make sure she keeps them straight.

Esposito begins by asking Baciu what he's doing in the United States, but Torje urges him not to answer. Making sure she's muted, Kate groans. If she were there, she'd pull whatever evidence she had out of her folder and shove it across the table at Baciu and Torje. At the very least, she'd get to observe Baciu's reactions to pictures of the victim dead on a bathroom floor.

But apparently, Esposito has similar ideas. She can't see what he's pushing in front of Baciu, other than the paper is thick enough and the right size to be a photograph. "Do you know this person?" the Latino detective demands.

Kate watches as Baciu's pupils dilate and his adam's apple bobs. He recognizes Jan Doe all right. He starts to open his mouth, but Torje puts a hand on his arm, shaking his head.

"We just want a name," Ryan interjects. "Nothing is incriminating about knowing someone."

Kate can tell Baciu is teetering on the edge of spilling something. Quickly she swipes the icon to allow herself to be heard. "Look, that person is dead. The family doesn't know. They should. But we can't tell them if we don't know who the victim is. So if you know, you should at least grant them that mercy."

Baciu pushes Torje's hand away. "The name given to the abomination you call a victim is Jeni Stefoniou. But that is the name the mother gave. This thing was never christened. It would have been a total desecration of the church."

Maniu whitens as he translates Baciu's words, but Kate already grasped the meaning. "So, did you cleanse the world of that abomination?"

"Demons must be vanquished," Baciu responds before Torje can stop him from saying anything else.

Torje stares up at Kate's image. "That was a statement of religious faith, not a confession."

"Close enough," Esposito declares. "Dragos Baciu, you are under arrest for the murder of Jan Doe, aka Jeni Stefoniu."

"Looks like you've still got it, even over the web," Rick observes from the doorway between his office and their bedroom.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to be very proud of my wife."