The Children's Corner

Chapter 20

"We'll have to put those in travel cups. We've got another body, Bro," Esposito announces as Ryan returns from the break room with fresh coffees.

"Where?" Ryan asks.

"One of those closed-in gardens off 30th Street. Someone called in an anonymous tip. Lanie's already on her way. With the brick wall we hit with the MacIver murder, at least now we'll have something we can dig into."

Ryan turns back toward the break room. "I hope so. When I walked past Montgomery's office this morning, he gave me one of those 'What are you wasting the taxpayer's money on?' looks."

"Yeah, well, what else is new? Let's pour those brews off and get moving."

"No I.D. on this guy," Lanie reports, barely glancing toward the approaching detectives.

Ryan points as he looks down at the body. "I recognize this guy. He's the one we followed to the Russian Consulate. He's even wearing the same coat."

"You're right," Esposito agrees. "Looks like we can tell Montgomery we have something new on the MacIver murder."

"What was the C.O.D.?" Ryan inquires.

Lanie pushes up from her knees. "G.S.W. above the T6 level of the spine. It would have cut off autonomic functions like breathing, almost instantaneously."

"Any idea what the weapon was?" Ryan asks.

"I'll have to get him back to my lab to dig out the bullet. But from the size and angle of the wound, I'd say it was fired from a rifle from above."

Esposito gazes around. "Three buildings where a sniper could nest. We can search the roofs for shell casings and any other evidence."

"And we can start a canvass to see if anyone heard the shot," Ryan adds. "What was T.O.D., Lanie?"

"From the liver temperature, around four this morning, plus or minus an hour."

"Which means the shooter would have had to use a night scope. And unless someone else who was out at that hour had one, they wouldn't have seen him," Esposito asserts.

"A jogger could have heard the shot," Ryan figures. "We can have unis make the rounds and ask."

Esposito turns back to Lanie. "When will you have more on the bullet?"

Lanie's head wags in annoyance. "As if this is the only dead body in New York. Perlmutter's off today, we have a backlog of drug deaths, and I was right in the middle of a postmortem. So when I've pulled the slug out of your victim, I'll call you."

"She's a little testy today," Ryan observes, as he and Esposito back off from the M.E. "I wonder if she and Lorne had a fight."

Esposito rolls his eyes. "We got other things to worry about, like how our murders are connected. So we'd better get moving."

On the roof of the tallest building near the murder scene, Esposito holds a shell casing in his gloved hand as he gestures to Ryan. "Looks like we got lucky. We won't have to wait for Lanie. I know what kind of gun and ammo the shooter used. This is from a Russian Orsis T-5000."

"So maybe whatever our vic told the Russians, they weren't happy to hear it," Ryan speculates.

"Could be. And if we're looking for a Russian sniper in New York, that could shorten our suspect list."

Ryan sighs. "Or wipe it out entirely. If the shooter has diplomatic immunity, we could be dead in the water."

Esposito snorts. "We can't afford to worry about that political crap right now." He drops the casing in an evidence bag. "And since the sniper was stupid enough to leave this, C.S.U. might be able to get prints or D.N.A. off it. We should take it to the lab."

"You go ahead. I want to check on the canvass. I'll meet you back at the 12th."

"Yeah, see you later."

Recalling what Martha instructed, Alexis closes her eyes and calls up how she felt with her eyepatch and multiple sweaters. Then, counting to herself, she inhales and exhales deeply before beginning her slow passage through the daycare center. Several children turn at the crash as Alexis knocks a container of Legos from a shelf. I'm so clumsy," she groans to a girl who comes over to help pick them up.

"I know how you feel," the youngster confides. "I knock into things all the time. My mom took me to a lady who said I have problems with sensi …."

"Sensory-motor integration?" Alexis fills in.

"Yeah. That. Then Mom took me to a place where I was climbing nets and stuff. It was supposed to help. But I couldn't go for more than a couple of weeks. Mom said insurance wouldn't pay for it, and she couldn't afford it. But she told me that when she finishes her degree and gets a better job, I can go back."

"When will that be?" Alexis asks. "Does she graduate this year?"

"No. She can only take a few classes because of her job, so it won't be until at least next year."

"That's too bad. But I really appreciate you helping me."

A crooked smile lights the girl's face. "We spazzes have to stick together."

"Booyah!" Rick exclaims as he pushes send. "That's the final text of the Children's Corner's first book, 'Puzzles Need All Their Pieces.'"

Leaning in from behind, Kate plants a quick kiss on his cheek. "That was fast."

"Many hands make light work – except when they collide. Liz and I have our disagreements over Storm, but we didn't have many over this. Having Roselyn stick in her two cents didn't hurt either. And Bambi made some great suggestions. The illustrator will have to work on this now, but we should have it out by the Christmas shopping season, maybe even sooner."

"That's great! How about the Victoria St. Clair novels?"

"I think Liz has already started on one of those, but it's not seriously in the pipeline until we get the next Storm out. So she's just enjoying sticking in some of the things that didn't fit the Storm format. And I think I may also have some fun with those books. In romances, you can fix all the things that didn't or couldn't work out in real life. However, I'm doing that with Heat, too. In the next book, we'll find out her mother didn't really die."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Kate wonders. "Her mother's death is pretty much her whole motivation for being a cop. And bringing characters back from the dead gets kind of comic-booky after a while, doesn't it?"

"Well, I can't make her a ghost," Rick argues. "Paranormal is an entirely different genre, one Black Pawn isn't getting into. And so far, bringing back dead characters has worked out pretty well for DC and Marvel. I think the readers will relate when Nikki has to cope with finding out that a parent pulled a number on her – and her father."

"Like your father pulled a number on you and Martha?"

"I hadn't thought about it that way," Rick admits, "but maybe so. I know I have abandonment issues. So I guess I'm projecting them on Nikki. She is, after all, part you, part me. That way, she can work through both of our problems."

"I guess that's fair," Kate considers, "as long as it works for your readers."

"I guess we'll find out. But that's down the road. Right now, we should celebrate the milestone for 'Puzzles Need All Their Pieces.' Triple chocolate brownies?"

"Count me in."