Framed

Notes: I don't own Law & Order or Ghostbusters, only the characters Clara Hamilton, Sangeeta Prashar, Shaniqua Louis, Jason Peterson, and Andrea/Aaron Campbell. Also, I wasn't sure where to place this story, so I figured the L&O: OS section will do nicely, and gets more traffic. This story takes place in 1989.

Part One: The accident and arrest.

In the Criminal Justice System, the People are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: The Police who investigate crime, and the District Attourneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.

It was a relatively quiet evening, which was a rarity in New York, and very few cars were out on the road. Sangeeta Prashar and her friend Shaniqua Louis were walking home from the subway station, coming back from a mutual friend's party. Sangeeta was busy ranting and blowing off steam to Shaniqua about how her family still wanted to arrange her marriage, so both of them were too engrossed in their conversation to notice the little VW Beetle driving by, with Janine Melnitz in it, heading home after the day's work. It wasn't until they heard this big BANG, a few blocks down the road, that Sangeeta and Shaniqua looked back. "What was that?" Sangeeta asked.

"I don't know. Let's go look." They headed back the direction they had come from earlier, and saw the same VW stopped in the middle of the intersection. There was also another car, a black Ford Taurus, and it was heavily damaged. They ran up to the scene to see if anyone was hurt. While Sangeeta went to check on the driver of the Taurus, Shaniqua looked in on Janine in the VW. "Are you okay girl?" There was no response. Janine just sat there, hands fixed on the steering wheel, eyes looking ahead, catatonic. "Ma'am?" Shaniqua nudged Janine gently, bringing her to her senses.

"Oh, uh, I don't know. I, uh, think so." Janine replied, still slighty not with it.

"What happened?" asked Shaniqua.

"Oh, well, it happened so fast. I mean, I was just driving along and this other guy came out of nowhere, and didn't even stop. I barely had time to avoid him. And he had the red light!" Janine said, looking out the window at the black car. It was bent almost into a U, and had also hit a lampost, and knocked over a mailbox, it's contents spilled everywhere. Sangeeta carefully looked into the broken window of the black Taurus, and found the driver, a man, slumped over, but still awake. There was a massive gash on the side of his head, and it was bleeding heavily.

"The brakes, " he struggled to say, "didn't work." Finally, he closed his eyes and was unconscience.

"Shaniqua! Get some help! This guy's hurt really bad!" Sangeeta shouted. As Shaniqua ran and banged on the nearest door to get somebody to call for help, more people began to show up and survey the wreckage scene.

"Janine!" Two more people ran up to the VW. It was Clara Hamilton and Egon Spengler. "I knew I heard something!" Clara said. "Janine, what happened?"

"Are you injured?" Egon added.

"I'm fine. Just a little shaken, that's all." Janine replied. She tried to move, but felt an excruciating pain in her right leg at the knee. "Ahhhh!" She cried and winced at even the slightest movement.

"What?" Clara asked.

"My leg! It hurts to move it!" Janine tried again, but it still hurt. "Ahh! Damn it hurts!" She growled.

"I hope it's not broken." Clara got the door open so she could assist Janine somewhat. Egon went to check on her leg, but even the slightest touch to the knee made Janine cry out.

"Ow! Watch it Egon!" Janine snapped. Egon was taken aback for a moment.

"But, I-I barely touched you!" He stammered.

"Okay, okay. Let's just wait until the ambulance gets here, alright?" Clara interjected.The wait felt like an enternity, but soon enough,the police and ambulances were on the scene. A fire truck and crew also arrived to help with freeing the other driver from the damaged Ford Taurus. After they got the driver out, he was placed onto a stretcher and some EMTs got him into one of the waiting ambulances. Meanwhile very carefully, the EMTs from the second ambulancehelped Janine out of her car, onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. They had to be careful.

"You watch that leg pal. Don't bang it into anything!" Janine chided sternly.

"Relax lady, I know how to do my job." one of the EMTs responded.

"That's our Janine. Still as feisty as ever." Clara remarked.

"Come on. Let's get the guys and head up to the hospital." As Clara and Egon hurried back to the firehouse, Detectives Max Greevey and Mike Logan arrived on the scene, and were now taking statements from Sangeeta and Shaniqua, the two main witnesses.

"I don't know what we can tell you detectives. It all happened very fast." Shaniqua was saying.

"Yeah, and we were walking in the opposite direction, and the accident happened behind us. It was this huge BANG that got our attention. We saw the smaller car, the VW, was stopped in the middle of the intersection, and the black car was kind of stopped at an angle, partially on the road, partially on the sidewalk with the lampost on it and the mailbox tipped over." Sangeeta added.

"We were able to talk to the drivers, both of them. The lady who drove the bug said she had the green light while the other guy had the red, but he didn't stop." Shaniqua continued.

"But that's because his brakes didn't work." Sangeeta remembered.

"How'd you find that out?" Detective Greevey asked.

"When I went to check on him, he was still awake and he said that the brakes didn't work before he lost consciencenous." Sangeeta replied. "That's when I told Shaniqua to get help."

"Yeah. Anyways, that's all we know." Shaniqua said.

"Alright. Well thanks for your help ladies. If we need any more information from you, we'll be in contact." said Detective Greevey. Turning to Detetive Logan, he added, "Better let the guys at the Forensic Garage know to check the brakes on the Taurus, and find out if they did malfunction and why."

"Will do."

NYU Downtown Hospital, 170 William St...

Later, the detectives arrived at the hospital to find out about the condition of Janine Melnitz and the other driver. "Have you got an ID on the two accident victims?" Logan asked the attending nurse on duty at the ER.

"The second driver, Janine Melnitz, aside from being shaken up, she's going to be fine. Her only complaint was a bruised knee, so she'll be ready to go home soon. But the other driver, a Walter Peck, he wasn't so lucky." The nurse replied.

"Walter Peck? That name sounds familiar." Greevey commented.

"It should. He used to work for the EPA, but was let go after trying to stop the Ghostbusters from confronting, well, whatever it was that tried to attack the city in 1984."

"And now he's dead?"

"He was when he arrived. Massive bleeding from injury he sustained to his head, a broken skull, and a subdural hematoma. He also had some internal bleeding in his chest from a broken rib that perforrated his lungs. There was nothing we could do for him."

"But, Janine, she can talk to us, right? Because we'd like to ask her some questions before she goes home." Logan said.

"Sure. I'll take you to her." The nurse led the two detectives to where Janine was resting. Beside her were Clara, Egon and the rest of the Ghostbusters. "Miss Melnitz, these men are Detectives Logan and Greevey. They'd like to ask you some questions regarding the accident."

"Well, okay. But I'm not sure that there's much to say that's not already been said." replied Janine.

"Just tell them what you told us." Egon told her.

"Well, I remember that the light I had was green, and the other driver had the red light. But he didn't even slow down. I hit the brakes to try and avoid him, but I still ended up hitting him pretty hard." Janine still sounded scared. "I hope he's okay, is he?" She asked. Greevey sighed.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but he didn't make it. He wasn't killed on impact, but his injuries were pretty severe." He replied somberly.

"Oh no." Janine gasped. "Please, I-I didn't mean to hit him."

"We know you didn't mean to." Clara said to Janine.

"You did all you could to avoid him, Miss Melnitz. And because you had the green light and he didn't stop, you won't be charged anything." Logan said.

"Oh, okay." Janine sighed, relieved. "That's a relief. I mean, I do feel bad that he's dead, but still, I was worried it was my fault."

"Well, you don't have to worry about anything. You had the right-of-way, and he didn't." Greevey said. "Plus, you tried to stop. That means you were attentive to what was happening."

"Um, if I may ask, what was the other driver's name?" Janine asked. Logan looked at Greevey as if to ask, should I tell them? Greevey just shrugged. "Detectives, who was he?" Janine asked again. Logan sighed apprehensively.

"His name was Walter Peck." He said. Janine's jaw dropped in surprise. But no one was more shocked than Egon, Ray, Winston, and especially Peter.

(and here's where you would cue the main theme)

Forensic Garage, One Police Plaza...

At the Forensic Garage, Logan and Greevey came to check up on the technicians' progress in finding out what happened to Walter Peck's car. "You find anything?" Greevey asked one of the attendants.

"Oh yeah, we found something alright. Get a look at this." He shone his flashlight on the undercarriage of the Taurus. "See this wire here?"

"That's the brake line." replied Logan.

"Exactly. Now, take a look here." He followed the wire with his flashlight as Logan and Greevey observed. The wire was split cleanly in two.

"Looks like that brake line's been cut in half." Greevey commented. Logan snapped some pictures for evidence.

"Yep, with a pair of pliers or scissors. Whatever the tool they used, somebody wanted your guy dead, and tried to make it look like a simple accident." said the attendant.

"Well, they got thier accident, but one thing they hadn't counted on was the driver surviving long enough to tell an on-looker that the brakes didn't work." Logan remarked.

"Make sure you check for fingerprints." Greevey told the attendant. "We'll be at the precinct."

"Will do." Logan and Greevey turned to leave.

"Let's find out who Peck's enemies were."

NYPD, 27th Precinct...

"Well, when you work for the EPA, you make a lot of enemies." Captain Don Cragen told the two detectives, handing them several folders. "I got all the information dug up on all the cases Walter Peck was involved in, up until he was fired in 1984 for interfering with the Ghostbusters. Now, if I were you, that's where I'd start, is with the Ghsotbusters. It was their secretary was who was involved in the accident." Greevey and Logan divided up the file folder amoungst themselves and sat down at their desks.

"I agree with the Captain. If anything, the people who have the most to gain from Peck's death are the Ghostbusters. I mean, look how big this case-file is. Not only that, the Ghostbusters got the full support of the public, and the mayor even sided with them, and not the EPA." Logan said.

"Yeah, but check out this case from 1981. It's for PGA Industries. Remember them? Peck was investigating allegations that they were illegally dumping industrial waste in a lake used by swimmers, and he won, getting them shut down just months after beginning the investigation." Greevey replied.

"Oh yeah, I remember now. It was big news. A lot of people lost their jobs when they shut down. But that was eight years ago."

"People can hold grudges for a long time." Greevey said.

Ghostbusters Headquarters, 14 N. Moore St...

Back at GBHQ, the news of Peck's death had fully set in. Everyone was pretty quiet. Even Peter, who was always cracking jokes, he didn't have much to say. Ray and Winston were watching a hockey game, but their enthusiasm sounded subdued. Janine was working on case-file notes, and Clara went downstairs to see what Egon was up to. Sure enough, he was in the lab, his nose buried in an experiment he was working on. "Is there a problem Clara?" Egon asked when he saw her at the door.

"No, not really." She came in and sat down in an empty chair. "Egon, who was Walter Peck?" Clara asked. "It seems you all knew him. I could tell by the looks on your faces when the detective mentioned his name." Egon sighed.

"This was before you were hired. He was the agent from the EPA who tried to shut us down, ultimately leading to the biggest paranormal near-disaster since...since..." His voice trailed off. "Crumbs!" Egon pulled on his hair in frustration. "I can't think! I can't concentrate!" Egon paced back and forth. "Normally, something like this doesn't bother me. I didn't like Peck as much as the next person!"

"Things change Egon. People change." Clara said.

"No, it's not that." Egon said. "When I saw that it was Janine who had hit him, in the accident..."

"Ohh, I get it now. Egon, she's your friend. You're bothered because she could've been seriously hurt. It shook me up too, but not so much because I haven't been friends with her as long as you have, so I'm not as affected by all this as you are. And of course, it were me in Janine's place, or Ray, Winston, or Peter, you'd still feel the same way."

"Yeah, you're right. I would."

"Just remember Egon, nothing happened. And no one is going to pin it on Janine. She had the right-of-way, like the detective said." Clara sat back and sighed. "I'm sure the others feel the same way. Janine more so." Clara got up. "Well, I'm going to watch the rest of the hockey game with the guys. You can join us if you want." She offered.

"Thanks for the invite, Clara. But I'm still going to work on this experiment."

"Alright. Have fun."

After the hockey game finished up that afternoon, Ray and Winston got to work on Janine's car, which had been towed back to the firehouse when the repair shop finished it's work repairing the outer body. Ray had told them he Winston would take care of the rest of the work under the hood. Winston got the hood open and surveyed the damage on the inside. But it wasn't really that bad. "Well, this looks like it should be pretty easy." He said.

"Great. Then Janine won't have any excuse to get mad if something still doesn't work." Ray commented.

"Come on man, give Janine a little slack. She may be a bit of a pistol, but underneath that tough exterior, she's a softie at heart."

"Yeah, you're right." Ray opened up his toolbox, and saw that something was missing. "Hey, where are my pliers?"

Forensic Garage, One Police Plaza...

At the Forensic Garage, Logan and Greevey were searching Peck's car for more evidence, their main focus on the Ghosbusters. "Hey Greevey, look what I've found."

"What?"

"I think we have found the instrument used to cut the brakes, and who did it." Logan was holding up some evidence. Two very important items. One was a pair of pliers with the name "R. Stantz" inscribed on the handle, and the other was a Ghosbusters business card.

When they arrived at GBHQ, Ray and Winston were still working on Janine's car outside. "Trying to cover something up gentlemen?" Greevey asked as he and Logan approached them.

"What do you mean?" Winston was confused.

"Looking for these?" Logan held up the pliers.

"My pliers!" Ray exclaimed. "Where did you find them?"

"In the back of Peck's car, no doubt after you cut his brakes."

"What?" Ray stammered. "There has to be some mistake!"

"Yeah man, Ray's the nicest person I know. He wouldn't hurt a fly." Winston added.

"We also found this." Greevey told them, holding up the business card. Logan pulled out the handcuffs and placed them around Ray's wrists. "Raymond Stantz, you are under arrest for the murder of Walter Peck. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can, and will be used against you in a Court of Law. You have the right to an attourney..." Greevey went on, reading Ray his miranda rights.

"Don't worry Ray. This is all a mistake. I'll get Janine to call our lawyer." Winston told Ray as the detectives lead him to their car. He ran back inside the firehouse.

To be continued...