Hit and Run
Chapter 12
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The crime scene detectives were in the police impound garage going over every inch of the car from the hit and run cases. Every piece was removed, labeled, checked for fingerprints or any other identifying marks, and laid out on the floor in an orderly fashion. In other separated piles were pieces of evidence recovered from the scenes of all three attacks. They were systematically being compared and either retained or discarded, depending on the outcome of their inspection.
Lieutenant Swersky was with the detectives in the office of the impound garage. "Maybe you don't understand, Detective Grady. I have one officer dead with a kid on the way who'll never get to meet his father, two officers finally upgraded to serious condition, one out with a broken leg, one medic still hospitalized, and countless other medics, firefighters, and civilians injured. I've got the Mayor of New York, the Chief of Police, the Assistant Chief of Police, the Precinct Commander, the Captain, the Civil Rights people, the police and fire unions and a host of others - not to mention my WIFE - crawling up my ass everyday for answers!" he yelled, getting louder and more red in the face with each word. Sgt. Christopher had been worried that the Lieutenant was going to have a heart attack - he'd been trying to field the phone calls, but after a while it was impossible. They wanted to speak to his boss - NOW!
"Lieu. I know you need answers. I need answers. Because, believe me, when all those people get off the phone with you, they're dialing up my number! We're doing everything that we know how to do. It takes time to run down leads. Believe me, every man, woman and rookie in this impound wants to find the bastard responsible for this just as much as you do. When I have answers, you'll have answers!" finished the Detective, just as tense as the Lieutenant.
The Lieutenant took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he raked his fingers through his hair. "I know you're working as hard as you can Joe. I'm sorry. It's just that - how did my wife get your number?" he asked, cracking the first smile of the day. The men all laughed. The Lieutenant knew they were doing their best and Detective Grady knew that the Lieutenant was just blowing off steam. Hell, he'd just done the same thing not an hour before to one of his men, who in turn did it to one of his men, and so on down the line. After a moment of watching the technicians work meticulously on the car, the Lieutenant turned to Detective Grady, remembering something the Detective had said earlier. "What do you mean 'running down leads'? What leads do you have?"
The Detective let out a heavy sigh. "We don't have much. We ran down the VIN [vehicle identification number] off the dashboard and traced the car as far as a Mr. William Burton in Queens. He's a 75-year-old retired plumber. Says he junked the car about six months ago. My partner's on the way out to the junkyard. If the car was taken out of the junkyard, hopefully it was bought for parts or something and they have a record of it - or if the Gods are smiling on us, a name and address. If it was stolen out of the yard, then who knows how long ago that was," he finished, giving the Lieutenant a doubtful look.
A grease-covered technician walked into the office with a piece of metal in his hand and a wry smile on his face. "Detective, Lieutenant - I think I may have something here," he said smugly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The doctor was just finishing up with Faith's examination, having already completed his check of Bosco's condition. "Well, you two. You're both coming along nicely. We're going to move you each to a regular room tomorrow and get you started on some physical therapy," he said, looking at each officer to see if they had any questions.
"Great," said Bosco, although he didn't like the idea of being separated from Faith again. He didn't like it when Fred came in because he could feel the tension between him and Faith. And Fred didn't hesitate to take a jab at Bosco any chance he could seeing as Bosco wasn't able to get up and kick his ass.
But, he did like it when Charlie and Emily were there. Faith was worried that they were too noisy or rambunctious around Bosco, but he assured Faith that he didn't mind at all. He liked listening to the stories from school and he tried not to listen when Faith was giving Emily advice about her school crush, but couldn't help chuckling to himself about it. Charlie would climb up into the bed with him to watch whatever game happened to be on and occasionally Bosco would help him finish some of his homework.
"Yeah, great," repeated Faith. She didn't like the idea of being separated from Bosco either. She had almost lost him in the ER and she really didn't think she could stand to lose him now that they were getting so close. They had to take it slow, both because of the kids and because they were both afraid of screwing up. After all, Bosco didn't have the best record and Faith had been brainwashed by Fred that she was to blame for all their problems. Bosco was so good with the kids and they really loved him. She wondered how they would handle it if things got more serious - would they be resentful, thinking that Bosco was trying to replace their father?
The two officers were brought out of their thoughts by the sound of someone entering the room. It was Jimmy Doherty. He was pushing Kim in a wheelchair. She was on her way back from x-ray and therapy and wanted to stop in and see how her two friends were doing.
"Hey Kim," said Faith with a smile. "How's it goin'?" asked Bosco, smiling and nodding his head in acknowledgement of Jimmy.
"She's doing great," answered Jimmy because Kim still had her jaw wired. She had a dry-erase board that she carried with her so that she could relay information if she needed and she was busily writing on the board. She held the board up and Faith read, 'Doing a lot better. Thanks Faith for helping out that night and you too Bos for your help."
"Aw Kim. I'm just glad that you made it. You really gave us a scare I gotta tell you," said Faith. Kim had erased the message and was writing more. She held up the board.
'Glad I don't really remember it - the actual accident. Only remember seeing the car coming at me too late. Glad you guys are okay too.'
"You're not the only one that didn't see it. I was sitting right there and didn't see it until it was too late," said Bosco, again feeling guilty for not warning Kim faster. He saw Kim flying through the air and landing with a sickening thud on the ground alongside his patrol car every night in his sleep. He had woken Faith up more than once with that dream. Faith tried to convince him that there was no way anyone could have seen it any sooner.
Jimmy looked down and saw that Kim was getting tired. It was only her first therapy session and they gave her a pretty good workout. "Well, I better get her highness back so she can take her 'Happy Nappy," said Jimmy teasingly. Kim smacked him with the board and waved goodbye to Faith and Bosco.
"I'm glad they seem to be working things out," said Faith watching as they went by the window of their room.
"Yeah, its about time Doherty smartened up," added Bosco.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco and Faith had both dozed off while watching the soap opera Faith had badgered Bosco into turning on. A light rapping on the door woke them up and they looked over to see Doc and Carlos in the doorway.
"Hey Doc, Carlos. How's it going?" asked Bosco, pushing the button to raise the bed slightly.
"Hey. How are you guys doing?" asked Doc. "The nurses in the ER are hearing through the grapevine that you two are being impossible."
"Uh, make that ONE of us is being impossible. I swear he's not happy unless he has something to complain about. I'm surprised they haven't tried to wire HIS jaw shut," said Faith teasingly.
"So you guys don't look like you need the ICU anymore," commented Carlos. "When are they moving you to a regular room?"
"Sometime tomorrow supposedly," answered Bosco. "At least they won't be waking us up at all hours during the night to see if we're sleeping," he continued, anger in his voice.
"Yeah, and I'm sure they enjoy listening to you mouth off all night too, Bos," said Faith.
"Hey Doc. Do you know who brought in the guy - what's his name Faith, the one in your old room?" asked Bosco.
"Ummm, Crisafulli, I think. Yeah - Simon Crisafulli," she answered.
"That's the guy from the abandoned building. The one with the metal piece sticking out of his ankle. Yuck!" Carlos reminded Doc, shuddering at the thought of that sight again.
"Oh yeah, that was us. Why?" asked Doc.
"He just looks really familiar to us and we can't remember from where," explained Bosco. "I know it was something recent, but I can't remember," he finished, Faith nodding her agreement.
"Not much to tell. He said he was homeless and living in an abandoned building. Said it was dark and he stepped on a rotten piece of floor and down he went," Doc recalled.
"And he seemed on the level to you?" asked Bosco, still not convinced that there wasn't more to the story.
"Seemed to be," Doc said. "But I didn't really get too talkative with the guy. He was really quiet. Kept looking around the ambulance, almost like he really didn't want to be there."
"Well, I don't know many people that have to ride in an ambulance that enjoy being there," said Faith. "That's true," agreed Carlos.
"Well, we just wanted to check in on you guys. We better get back out there. Take care guys - glad you're doing better," said Doc as Carlos waved his good-bye.
"Yeah - thanks guys," said Faith as she looked over at her partner and saw that he had a frown on his face.
"Bos? What's wrong?" she asked him, concerned that maybe he was hurting.
"What? Oh, nothing. It's just bugging me about that guy," he said. "My gut is just telling me that there's more to him," he finished.
"Maybe your gut is just telling you that it wants more than clear broth," said Faith as their dinner trays were brought in. Bosco sat up and tried to change the subject.
"So, do you think they'll put us in separate rooms tomorrow?" he asked Faith.
"I don't know Bos. I hope not. But, if they do, we can always yell across the hall to each other again. Maybe they'll give in and put us together again," and they both laughed.
"Well, if they put us apart, make sure that the kids stop in and say hello to me," Bosco said, immediately realizing that there was no way that Fred would bring them to see him.
"I'll make sure Emily and Charlie insist on it," Faith assured him, knowing what he was thinking. "Emily can throw one wicked tantrum when given the proper motivation," she added with a smile.
"Yeah, I think I remember you telling me about those," Bosco replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, what have you got Johnson?" asked Detective Grady as the technician stood before him with what looked to be part of a car in his hand.
"Well, Sir. This is a portion of the brake pedal. As you can see, the pedal is intact, with the exception of the rubber pad that covers the pedal. You see this rod that comes off the pedal and runs up under the dash and connects to the brake?" he asked without waiting for an answer. "Well, you can see that the pedal was sheared off during the collision, probably a weak spot in the metal. There were a few substances on the sheared-off end of this shaft; one of which appeared to be blood. I took samples and ran them through the lab. I just got the results," Johnson finished.
A moment went by and both the Lieutenant and Detective Grady, as well as Sgt. Christopher, all said, "AND???"
"Oh, yeah. Well, it is indeed blood. Additionally, there were traces of bone fragments, muscle and tissue, as well as fibers - probably from pants or socks that the guy was wearing. So, it looks like whoever was driving this car sustained a pretty significant injury to either his foot or ankle. I've gone through everything in the car and the other half of the metal shaft is nowhere to be found," he said proudly, knowing that he had come up with the only possible lead so far in the case. He could see the wheels of promotion turning in his head.
Just then, Detective Grady's pager went off, startling everyone in the room. He glanced down at the number and recognized it as his partner's cell phone number. "That'll be Gibbons over that the junkyard," he said, excusing himself to call his partner back and telling Johnson not to say another word until he returned.
Detective Grady finished talking to his partner and returned to the group. "There's no record of the car being sold off out of the yard, but the owner swears he saw the car there as late as the end of last week. So that makes it stolen recently. He remembered some guy hanging around and asking if any of the cars he had actually ran. He showed the guy a couple, the stolen one included, and says the guy left without buying one of them," he finished.
"So, back to what you were saying, Johnson," he said, shifting the attention back to this newest piece of evidence.
"Well, Sir," Johnson began. "I took samples of the blood and tissue and had them run for DNA properties. That way if we ever find the guy, we'll be able to prove that he was in the car. I also took samples of the fibers so that we have them on file as well," he finished up.
"Okay, Johnson. Great job. Thanks. Keep us posted if you find out anything else," said Grady.
"Sure thing. Oh and, Detective. The piece of this pedal that's missing is a pretty good size. This guy must have needed some medical attention. If he didn't get it initially, chances are he has one hell of an infection brewing - if it didn't kill him already," said Johnson as he left the room.
"I guess I'll head over to the hospitals to let them know to be on the lookout for this guy coming in for treatment," Detective Gibbons said, a little more hope in his voice.
Lieutenant Swersky said, "I'll take care of getting the information out to all the burroughs at briefing."
The Lieutenant reached out to shake Grady's hand as the Detective's pager went off again. "Jesus! I'm getting a new number," he said rolling his eyes. He looked again and saw that it was the secretary in his office. "Hang on in case this is about our case," he said, holding up a finger to the Lieutenant.
Detective Grady hung up the phone and with a big smile said, "Another lucky break. Apparently the guy that was driving the car has fingerprints on file because he had some top secret government job at one time. His name is Samuel Benson and they're faxing over his prints and file."
"Great. Can you fax me over a copy also please, Joe?" asked the Lieutenant, this time shaking hands with the Detective. "You got it Lieu," he answered.
As the Lieutenant and Christopher got into the RMP to head back to the stationhouse, the Lieutenant said, "Finally, some good news."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC... Hmmm, the plot thickens. Hope you liked it. More to come.
Chapter 12
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The crime scene detectives were in the police impound garage going over every inch of the car from the hit and run cases. Every piece was removed, labeled, checked for fingerprints or any other identifying marks, and laid out on the floor in an orderly fashion. In other separated piles were pieces of evidence recovered from the scenes of all three attacks. They were systematically being compared and either retained or discarded, depending on the outcome of their inspection.
Lieutenant Swersky was with the detectives in the office of the impound garage. "Maybe you don't understand, Detective Grady. I have one officer dead with a kid on the way who'll never get to meet his father, two officers finally upgraded to serious condition, one out with a broken leg, one medic still hospitalized, and countless other medics, firefighters, and civilians injured. I've got the Mayor of New York, the Chief of Police, the Assistant Chief of Police, the Precinct Commander, the Captain, the Civil Rights people, the police and fire unions and a host of others - not to mention my WIFE - crawling up my ass everyday for answers!" he yelled, getting louder and more red in the face with each word. Sgt. Christopher had been worried that the Lieutenant was going to have a heart attack - he'd been trying to field the phone calls, but after a while it was impossible. They wanted to speak to his boss - NOW!
"Lieu. I know you need answers. I need answers. Because, believe me, when all those people get off the phone with you, they're dialing up my number! We're doing everything that we know how to do. It takes time to run down leads. Believe me, every man, woman and rookie in this impound wants to find the bastard responsible for this just as much as you do. When I have answers, you'll have answers!" finished the Detective, just as tense as the Lieutenant.
The Lieutenant took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he raked his fingers through his hair. "I know you're working as hard as you can Joe. I'm sorry. It's just that - how did my wife get your number?" he asked, cracking the first smile of the day. The men all laughed. The Lieutenant knew they were doing their best and Detective Grady knew that the Lieutenant was just blowing off steam. Hell, he'd just done the same thing not an hour before to one of his men, who in turn did it to one of his men, and so on down the line. After a moment of watching the technicians work meticulously on the car, the Lieutenant turned to Detective Grady, remembering something the Detective had said earlier. "What do you mean 'running down leads'? What leads do you have?"
The Detective let out a heavy sigh. "We don't have much. We ran down the VIN [vehicle identification number] off the dashboard and traced the car as far as a Mr. William Burton in Queens. He's a 75-year-old retired plumber. Says he junked the car about six months ago. My partner's on the way out to the junkyard. If the car was taken out of the junkyard, hopefully it was bought for parts or something and they have a record of it - or if the Gods are smiling on us, a name and address. If it was stolen out of the yard, then who knows how long ago that was," he finished, giving the Lieutenant a doubtful look.
A grease-covered technician walked into the office with a piece of metal in his hand and a wry smile on his face. "Detective, Lieutenant - I think I may have something here," he said smugly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The doctor was just finishing up with Faith's examination, having already completed his check of Bosco's condition. "Well, you two. You're both coming along nicely. We're going to move you each to a regular room tomorrow and get you started on some physical therapy," he said, looking at each officer to see if they had any questions.
"Great," said Bosco, although he didn't like the idea of being separated from Faith again. He didn't like it when Fred came in because he could feel the tension between him and Faith. And Fred didn't hesitate to take a jab at Bosco any chance he could seeing as Bosco wasn't able to get up and kick his ass.
But, he did like it when Charlie and Emily were there. Faith was worried that they were too noisy or rambunctious around Bosco, but he assured Faith that he didn't mind at all. He liked listening to the stories from school and he tried not to listen when Faith was giving Emily advice about her school crush, but couldn't help chuckling to himself about it. Charlie would climb up into the bed with him to watch whatever game happened to be on and occasionally Bosco would help him finish some of his homework.
"Yeah, great," repeated Faith. She didn't like the idea of being separated from Bosco either. She had almost lost him in the ER and she really didn't think she could stand to lose him now that they were getting so close. They had to take it slow, both because of the kids and because they were both afraid of screwing up. After all, Bosco didn't have the best record and Faith had been brainwashed by Fred that she was to blame for all their problems. Bosco was so good with the kids and they really loved him. She wondered how they would handle it if things got more serious - would they be resentful, thinking that Bosco was trying to replace their father?
The two officers were brought out of their thoughts by the sound of someone entering the room. It was Jimmy Doherty. He was pushing Kim in a wheelchair. She was on her way back from x-ray and therapy and wanted to stop in and see how her two friends were doing.
"Hey Kim," said Faith with a smile. "How's it goin'?" asked Bosco, smiling and nodding his head in acknowledgement of Jimmy.
"She's doing great," answered Jimmy because Kim still had her jaw wired. She had a dry-erase board that she carried with her so that she could relay information if she needed and she was busily writing on the board. She held the board up and Faith read, 'Doing a lot better. Thanks Faith for helping out that night and you too Bos for your help."
"Aw Kim. I'm just glad that you made it. You really gave us a scare I gotta tell you," said Faith. Kim had erased the message and was writing more. She held up the board.
'Glad I don't really remember it - the actual accident. Only remember seeing the car coming at me too late. Glad you guys are okay too.'
"You're not the only one that didn't see it. I was sitting right there and didn't see it until it was too late," said Bosco, again feeling guilty for not warning Kim faster. He saw Kim flying through the air and landing with a sickening thud on the ground alongside his patrol car every night in his sleep. He had woken Faith up more than once with that dream. Faith tried to convince him that there was no way anyone could have seen it any sooner.
Jimmy looked down and saw that Kim was getting tired. It was only her first therapy session and they gave her a pretty good workout. "Well, I better get her highness back so she can take her 'Happy Nappy," said Jimmy teasingly. Kim smacked him with the board and waved goodbye to Faith and Bosco.
"I'm glad they seem to be working things out," said Faith watching as they went by the window of their room.
"Yeah, its about time Doherty smartened up," added Bosco.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco and Faith had both dozed off while watching the soap opera Faith had badgered Bosco into turning on. A light rapping on the door woke them up and they looked over to see Doc and Carlos in the doorway.
"Hey Doc, Carlos. How's it going?" asked Bosco, pushing the button to raise the bed slightly.
"Hey. How are you guys doing?" asked Doc. "The nurses in the ER are hearing through the grapevine that you two are being impossible."
"Uh, make that ONE of us is being impossible. I swear he's not happy unless he has something to complain about. I'm surprised they haven't tried to wire HIS jaw shut," said Faith teasingly.
"So you guys don't look like you need the ICU anymore," commented Carlos. "When are they moving you to a regular room?"
"Sometime tomorrow supposedly," answered Bosco. "At least they won't be waking us up at all hours during the night to see if we're sleeping," he continued, anger in his voice.
"Yeah, and I'm sure they enjoy listening to you mouth off all night too, Bos," said Faith.
"Hey Doc. Do you know who brought in the guy - what's his name Faith, the one in your old room?" asked Bosco.
"Ummm, Crisafulli, I think. Yeah - Simon Crisafulli," she answered.
"That's the guy from the abandoned building. The one with the metal piece sticking out of his ankle. Yuck!" Carlos reminded Doc, shuddering at the thought of that sight again.
"Oh yeah, that was us. Why?" asked Doc.
"He just looks really familiar to us and we can't remember from where," explained Bosco. "I know it was something recent, but I can't remember," he finished, Faith nodding her agreement.
"Not much to tell. He said he was homeless and living in an abandoned building. Said it was dark and he stepped on a rotten piece of floor and down he went," Doc recalled.
"And he seemed on the level to you?" asked Bosco, still not convinced that there wasn't more to the story.
"Seemed to be," Doc said. "But I didn't really get too talkative with the guy. He was really quiet. Kept looking around the ambulance, almost like he really didn't want to be there."
"Well, I don't know many people that have to ride in an ambulance that enjoy being there," said Faith. "That's true," agreed Carlos.
"Well, we just wanted to check in on you guys. We better get back out there. Take care guys - glad you're doing better," said Doc as Carlos waved his good-bye.
"Yeah - thanks guys," said Faith as she looked over at her partner and saw that he had a frown on his face.
"Bos? What's wrong?" she asked him, concerned that maybe he was hurting.
"What? Oh, nothing. It's just bugging me about that guy," he said. "My gut is just telling me that there's more to him," he finished.
"Maybe your gut is just telling you that it wants more than clear broth," said Faith as their dinner trays were brought in. Bosco sat up and tried to change the subject.
"So, do you think they'll put us in separate rooms tomorrow?" he asked Faith.
"I don't know Bos. I hope not. But, if they do, we can always yell across the hall to each other again. Maybe they'll give in and put us together again," and they both laughed.
"Well, if they put us apart, make sure that the kids stop in and say hello to me," Bosco said, immediately realizing that there was no way that Fred would bring them to see him.
"I'll make sure Emily and Charlie insist on it," Faith assured him, knowing what he was thinking. "Emily can throw one wicked tantrum when given the proper motivation," she added with a smile.
"Yeah, I think I remember you telling me about those," Bosco replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, what have you got Johnson?" asked Detective Grady as the technician stood before him with what looked to be part of a car in his hand.
"Well, Sir. This is a portion of the brake pedal. As you can see, the pedal is intact, with the exception of the rubber pad that covers the pedal. You see this rod that comes off the pedal and runs up under the dash and connects to the brake?" he asked without waiting for an answer. "Well, you can see that the pedal was sheared off during the collision, probably a weak spot in the metal. There were a few substances on the sheared-off end of this shaft; one of which appeared to be blood. I took samples and ran them through the lab. I just got the results," Johnson finished.
A moment went by and both the Lieutenant and Detective Grady, as well as Sgt. Christopher, all said, "AND???"
"Oh, yeah. Well, it is indeed blood. Additionally, there were traces of bone fragments, muscle and tissue, as well as fibers - probably from pants or socks that the guy was wearing. So, it looks like whoever was driving this car sustained a pretty significant injury to either his foot or ankle. I've gone through everything in the car and the other half of the metal shaft is nowhere to be found," he said proudly, knowing that he had come up with the only possible lead so far in the case. He could see the wheels of promotion turning in his head.
Just then, Detective Grady's pager went off, startling everyone in the room. He glanced down at the number and recognized it as his partner's cell phone number. "That'll be Gibbons over that the junkyard," he said, excusing himself to call his partner back and telling Johnson not to say another word until he returned.
Detective Grady finished talking to his partner and returned to the group. "There's no record of the car being sold off out of the yard, but the owner swears he saw the car there as late as the end of last week. So that makes it stolen recently. He remembered some guy hanging around and asking if any of the cars he had actually ran. He showed the guy a couple, the stolen one included, and says the guy left without buying one of them," he finished.
"So, back to what you were saying, Johnson," he said, shifting the attention back to this newest piece of evidence.
"Well, Sir," Johnson began. "I took samples of the blood and tissue and had them run for DNA properties. That way if we ever find the guy, we'll be able to prove that he was in the car. I also took samples of the fibers so that we have them on file as well," he finished up.
"Okay, Johnson. Great job. Thanks. Keep us posted if you find out anything else," said Grady.
"Sure thing. Oh and, Detective. The piece of this pedal that's missing is a pretty good size. This guy must have needed some medical attention. If he didn't get it initially, chances are he has one hell of an infection brewing - if it didn't kill him already," said Johnson as he left the room.
"I guess I'll head over to the hospitals to let them know to be on the lookout for this guy coming in for treatment," Detective Gibbons said, a little more hope in his voice.
Lieutenant Swersky said, "I'll take care of getting the information out to all the burroughs at briefing."
The Lieutenant reached out to shake Grady's hand as the Detective's pager went off again. "Jesus! I'm getting a new number," he said rolling his eyes. He looked again and saw that it was the secretary in his office. "Hang on in case this is about our case," he said, holding up a finger to the Lieutenant.
Detective Grady hung up the phone and with a big smile said, "Another lucky break. Apparently the guy that was driving the car has fingerprints on file because he had some top secret government job at one time. His name is Samuel Benson and they're faxing over his prints and file."
"Great. Can you fax me over a copy also please, Joe?" asked the Lieutenant, this time shaking hands with the Detective. "You got it Lieu," he answered.
As the Lieutenant and Christopher got into the RMP to head back to the stationhouse, the Lieutenant said, "Finally, some good news."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC... Hmmm, the plot thickens. Hope you liked it. More to come.