Episode 19: "You Can't Go Home Again"

Day Three

Scene One

Deanna Robertson sat across from Karen and Jim at the kitchen table in her Staten Island home. "You're investigating Kimmie's murder?" she asked.

"That's right," Jim affirmed. "And Richie's."

"I can't believe it – those darling children. Poor Rick, he must be out of his mind with grief." She took a deep breath. "How can I help?"

"Mr. Milner – Rick – told us you were his wife Ellen's best friend. We're looking into what was going on in her life, just before she died."

"But she had a heart attack. . . .Does her death have something to do with – what happened to Richie and Kimmie?"

"We don't know," Jim replied. "We're just looking at all the possibilities. Does anything come to mind?"

Deanna sat back, her arms folded, and thought for a minute. "You know, there was something bothering her that last week before she died. I'm not sure what it was. . . . Give me a minute." She sat back again and closed her eyes, thinking. "It had something to do with Rick's law practice. He had a big trial going. It had already lasted two months. In fact, he was in court when Richie found her. Anyway, Rick was working really long hours on this trial, and Ellen was helping out at the office. Ellen told me Rick always used to say his partner is a great lawyer but a terrible business man. So, while Rick was in this trial, Ellen was helping out with the business end of things, you know, the accounts and bookkeeping, that kind of thing. And I think she discovered something. . . ."

"What was it?" Karen prompted.

"I'm not sure. She never said specifically, but I think there was some irregularity in one of the firm's accounts, possibly some money missing. And . . . it wasn't just the money that was bothering her. I remember she said something about being betrayed, and how awful it was not to be able to trust your own family."

"She suspected a family member of taking the money?" Karen asked.

Deanna shook her head. "She never said that, in so many words. But that was my impression. That's all I can remember."

"Thank you for your time," Karen said, handing her a business card. "If you think of anything else that might help, please call us."

"Yes, of course." Deanna walked them to the door. As she opened the door, she said, "Wait a minute. There is something else. It was kind of odd. . . ."

"Yes?" Karen prompted her.

"She asked me, around that same time, what were the signs that someone was doing drugs. I told her I didn't really know. I mean, I'm probably the last person who would know something like that. That's why I thought it was so odd, her asking me about it . . ."

"She suspected someone she knew was doing drugs?" Jim asked.

Deanna shook her head. "She didn't say that – and she never mentioned the subject again."

As they turned to leave, Jim stopped short. "By the way, do you know who does the accounting for Rick's law firm?"

"Oh, I'm sure it's Rick's brother Don. He's an accountant, you know."

As they walked to the car, Jim said, "We need to look into the brother."

"Yeah."

Scene Two

Jim hung up the phone and swivelled his chair toward Karen's desk. "Karen?"

Mitch answered him instead. "She went down the hall while you were on the phone. Want me to find her for you?"

"No, thanks, I got it."

Jim stood and walked down the hallway toward the locker room, trailing a hand along the wall. As he approached the doorway, he heard Junior's voice, coaxing and flirtatious. "You know, honey, you're the prettiest thing we've had around here in a long time – "

Karen's voice was low, but Jim could tell she was annoyed. "I'm not your 'honey'."

Jim stopped in the doorway. "Karen? Am I interrupting something?"

Junior answered him. "Hey, Jimmy, no problem, I was just talking to your pretty partner here." He glanced back at Karen, then walked toward the door. As he pushed past Jim, he confided, "I thought maybe I'd get lucky, you know?"

Jim didn't respond. He spoke to Karen instead. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You want me to talk to him?"

In spite of herself, Karen gave a little laugh. "No, Jim, I can handle a guy hitting on me. You don't need to 'look out' for me."

"At least I asked this time," Jim pointed out, grinning.

"Yeah, you learn fast, I'll give you that."

"If you change your mind, let me know."

"Thanks. Let's just get this case wrapped up so we can get out of here."

Jim nodded.

"So – were you looking for me?" Karen asked.

"Yeah, I just got off the phone with Don Milner's assistant. She says he left the office a little before three o'clock on the afternoon Kimmie disappeared, and he didn't return. He didn't say where he was going, just that she could reach him on his cell."

"We need to find out if he made or received any calls and where his cell phone was at the time."

"Yeah."

Scene Three

Karen hung up the phone. "Jim?"

When Jim didn't respond, she tried again, raising her voice. "Jim?" That got his attention.

"Sorry. I guess I was thinking."

"Yeah," Karen replied. "So what's new?"

"What've you got?"

"Phone security says there was a call from Don Milner's cell to his home at about 6 p.m. on the day Kimmie disappeared. It was routed through a site at 124th and Second."

"I think it's time to have a conversation with Richie and Kimmie's Uncle Don."

"Yeah," Karen agreed.

"I'll take Hank out, then we'll go get him."

After Jim and Hank left, Mitch asked her, "Hey, Karen, does he do that a lot?"

"What?"

"Jimmy – does he zone out like that a lot?"

"Sometimes – when he's thinking. Why?"

"Just curious. I never saw him do that before. I mean, Jimmy's a hell of a smart detective – he was always coming up with ideas, you know, like out of left field. But this is different, like he's someplace else. Is it because he – uh – can't see?"

Karen shrugged. "I don't know. I never worked with him when he could see, so. . . ."

"Yeah," Mitch said. He shook his head. "It's so weird . . . He's Jimmy, but he's not Jimmy, you know what I mean?"

"I guess. . . ," Karen said doubtfully. "Like I said, I didn't know him before."

"I tell you, he was a real piece of work, when he could see."

"He still is," Karen assured him.

Scene Four

Karen and Jim escorted Don Milner into the interview room. Closing the door behind them, they went back to their desks to confer before questioning him.

"I got an idea," Jim said. "Well, it's really your idea. . . "

"Yeah?"

"Can you go through the files and pull out autopsy pictures of Ellen, Richie, and Kimmie?"

"Sure."

They returned to the interview room, Jim following Karen and trailing his hand along the table until he reached the chair opposite Milner. Karen stood by the windows, holding the pictures.

"Here's how it is, Don," Jim began as he sat down. "We already know most of what happened, but we're going to give you a chance to tell us in your own words."

Milner sat back, his arms folded. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Jim shook his head. "That's not the way to play this, Don. It's too late for that. We know you did Richie and Kimmie. All you can do now is give your brother some closure by telling the whole story."

Karen stepped forward and put the pictures on the table in front of Milner, one by one. "Ellen. Richie. Kimmie. Look at them."

Milner swallowed hard and turned his head away, but said nothing.

"I said, look at them," Karen ordered.

Milner shook his head, still looking away from the photos.

Jim spoke up. "Let's start at the very beginning, with Ellen."

"Ellen?" Milner asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, Ellen. She found out what you were up to, but you already know that. What you don't know is that she told someone."

"What?"

"We know you were embezzling money from your brother's law firm and cooking the books to hide it. And we know Ellen figured it out. Why'd you do it, huh? Was it to get money for drugs? We know about your DWI, too. You weren't drunk, you were on pills."

"What happened?" Karen asked, leaning across the table.

Milner's eyes shifted back and forth from Jim to Karen, but he said nothing.

"We know Ellen confronted you, and you argued," Karen told him. "Then you hit her. Did you know you'd killed her?"

Milner looked at her and frowned. "You can't prove anything – you're just guessing," he told her.

"Not according to the Medical Examiner," Karen replied.

Jim picked up the narrative. "You must have thought you were in the clear when they said it was a heart attack. But you weren't. Richie knew you were there when his mother died. How'd you find out he knew?"

Milner sat silently, his arms still folded. When it was clear Milner wasn't going to answer, Karen did. "He was just a kid – he must have slipped up somehow. It doesn't matter how. What matters is that you knew he was a threat – if anyone found out why Ellen had a heart attack, it would all come out – the money you took and the drugs you bought with it." She paused, glaring at him.

Jim continued where Karen left off. "So you decided he had to die," he said harshly. "You couldn't risk him telling. Then he gave you the slip, didn't he? You didn't expect him to take off like he did."

"Don't you have something to do besides making up this shit?" Milner asked scornfully.

"But you found him. You 'helped' Rick search for him and watched the shelters for street kids, right? Then you got lucky and spotted him at Sister Angie's." Jim walked around the table and stood over Milner. "And when you found him, you made damn sure he wouldn't tell anyone anything, ever again." He gestured in the general direction of the photos on the table. "Remember what he looked like with his head caved in? I do."

Jim walked back around the table, sat down opposite Milner, and took off his dark glasses. "What about Kimmie? What did she do, to be dumped under that bridge and left to die?" Milner inhaled audibly. "That's right, Don," Jim told him coldly, "she wasn't dead when you dumped her there. It took hours for her to die."

"Look at her," Karen demanded, pointing at Kimmie's picture.

"No," Milner whispered, looking away.

"Tell us – what happened."

He shook his head. "I'm not talking to you. I want a lawyer."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes."

Jim shrugged. "Your brother has given us access to his books. When the white-collar crime guys are finished going through them, it won't make any difference whether you talk or not. You can go – for now."

After escorting Milner out of the squad room, Karen returned to the interview room to collect the pictures. Jim was still there, sitting silently at the table. Karen picked up the pictures, and Jim followed her back to his desk. He sat down wearily. "Coop?" he asked.

"Right here, Jimmy."

"If he doesn't go for it, we don't have enough, do we?"

"No, I don't think so," Coop answered reluctantly.

"Son of a bitch – I know he's good for the murders."

"Yeah."

"When the financial-crime guys finish going over the records, at least we can nail him for the embezzlement," Karen pointed out.

"That's not enough," Jim told her.

"I know."

Scene Five

By late afternoon, Jim and Karen had finished their reports. McConnell came out of his office. "Karen, Jimmy," he said, "I just talked to your boss on the phone. He needs you back downtown."

"Okay," Karen replied.

"You did good work here, you two," McConnell told them. "It's not your fault the guy lawyered up." He paused for a moment, then added, "Uh, Jimmy, you know I had my doubts at first when you told me you wanted to come back on the job. I just want to say . . . well, this is one time I don't mind being proved wrong."

"I appreciate that."

"And don't be a stranger," McConnell said as he went back to his office.

Coop watched Jim and Karen pack up their belongings. When they were ready to go, he stood up, extending his hand. "Karen, it was a pleasure working with you. I hope this guy," he jerked his head in Jim's direction, "knows how lucky he is to have you as a partner."

Karen laughed as she shook Coop's hand. "He does. I remind him every day. Take care, Coop."

Coop looked at Jim for a moment, then gave him a parting hug. "Jimmy," he said, "Man, it was so good to see you. I just . . . I needed to see for myself that you're really okay. Take care of yourself, you hear?"

When Coop released him, Jim answered, "It was good to see you, too, Coop. Say good-bye to Mitch and Junior for us, okay?"

"Sure."

Jim grasped Hank's harness. "Ready?"

"Let's go."

As they walked out of the squad room and down the hall, Jim let out a breath, puffing out his cheeks. Karen looked at her partner thoughtfully, realizing he was as relieved as she was to be leaving his old squad behind.