Author: Sirius
Disclaimer: See Part I
Author's Note: This picks up right where Part IV left off, and don't worry… there will be more. Also, I know next to nothing about police procedure, so I hope I'm not messing it up too much. As always, feedback is welcome.
In seconds, the captain's voice was audible to the entire room. Leo made a quick introduction of sorts, having everyone speak as he introduced him or her, so that DiMenna would know precisely who was on the other end of the line.
"Captain." Bartlet spoke first. "Tell us what you know. None of us have seen Charlie since you came into the building a little after nine this morning, and he's not answering his phone. I want to know what happened, and I want to know now. The latest word we've had on this is that it was gang-related."
"All due respect, Mr. President," Tony responded. "Where did you hear that? Deena's death had nothing to do with area gangs. That's one of the few things that we're certain of at this point."
"Go through it step by step for us, please, Captain, if you would. Tell us exactly what you told Charlie, but first, do you have any idea where he might be?"
"Unfortunately, no. The last time I saw Charlie was just before noon today. I offered to give him a lift home or back to work to get his car, but he said he needed to walk for a bit and clear his head."
"What happened, Captain?"
"Sir, from what I've been able to get together, it looks as though Deena and her date left for the Prom around 7:30pm last night, went to the dance, had a good time. Charlie called the date's cell phone at 1am, just to let the two of them know that he was heading home. The date had planned to drop Deena off at a friend's house for a "girls only" post-Prom party, but when the car was found, it was only a couple miles away from Charlie's place, so it looks like they were actually headed back to the apartment. Maybe Deena wasn't feeling well or didn't want a party. We don't know."
"Anyway," he continued, "the car was found at 4:12am by a black-and-white on a routine patrol. There were no plates on the car and no ID on the kids. The two cops called it in, the scene was secured… standard at that point, really."
Toby heard something in that last statement that he didn't like. "At that point, Captain? At what point was it not standard?"
"There's not much that I can pinpoint for you, Mr. Ziegler, aside from the fact that Deena should have been fingerprinted along with her date. He was, but she wasn't. More than likely, it was just the end result of timing mixed with a long shift for our night coroner and the investigating officer, but I'm checking it out anyway. I don't want to take the chance that anything might be slipping through the cracks on this."
"Your dedication is commendable, Captain," Leo said as he glanced around the room at the other members of the Senior Staff. "Why are you so determined to double-check all the details on this case personally, when you're responsible for the oversight of all the Homicide cases in the precinct? You can't possibly have enough off-time to completely devote yourself to this case without running yourself into the ground. Something has you on edge about this, Captain DiMenna, and I'd like to know what it is."
"Mr. McGarry, Marissa Young was my partner and my friend; I watched her die, gave the news to her son, and just today had to tell that same son that his younger sister was killed in a manner that will mean I am never getting another sound night's sleep. I will pursue this case until the day I die if I have to. This entire situation is what has me on edge, Mr. McGarry, and Deena's death is only part of it. They didn't kill her quickly, and after they had, they left a sick little message for Charlie. This was personal. That is also bothering me a great deal. Take your pick of what's making me edgy."
"Message? What message?"
"It wasn't pretty, Mr. Lyman. The message made it sickeningly clear that they killed Deena to get to Charlie… said that he should remember his "place," that Deena was the first and that Charlie would watch his world fall apart."
"Oh, God," Donna whispered, remembering how much Charlie had already been through, the overwhelming and undeserved guilt that he had carried after Rosslyn. She spoke so softly that only Josh and Sam, sitting one on each side, heard her. "I hope he doesn't do anything…"
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
Silence fell over the room for a moment, before President Bartlet spoke again. "Please keep me updated, Captain. We're going to try and find Charlie from our end."
"Wait, sir," Ron interrupted, before Tony or Bartlet could hang up. "Captain, you said that there was no ID with either Deena or her date, correct?"
"Correct."
"Did Deena have her keys?"
"I'm not sure. Let me check the list of personal effects. No, no cash, no purse, no keys on him or her."
"Shit."
"Ron?" The President watched in amazement as Ron ordered two agents to go to Charlie's apartment. If he showed up, they were not to let him in the apartment under any circumstances.
"Ron, what the hell?"
"My apologies, sir, Captain," he responded. "But Deena's murderers have her keys, and, as this was planned and personal, I don't feel that it's too much of a leap to think that they have Charlie's address, as well, and probably had it before they took Deena's ID. If he goes back to the apartment with no warning of what could be waiting for him, he could very well be walking into a deathtrap."
