The Other Path
Chapter 13
"Here's the deal," Toni Gonzalez explains, pushing a document across the table in Interrogation. "The testimony of a co-conspirator isn't enough to convict. To ensure putting Snodgrass away, we have to catch him either confessing or soliciting another crime. If Mr. Salkis assists us with that, we're prepared to ask the court for the lightest possible sentence to be served in a medium-security correctional facility."
Salkis leans toward Horn. "What's she talking about? What do they want me to do?"
Horn pages through the agreement. "You have to meet with Snodgrass so his instructions to you can be recorded."
"That is correct," Toni confirms. "But Mr. Salkis can't suggest committing a crime or induce Councilman Snodgrass to propose a crime. Snodgrass has to demand it on his own. The question is, Mr. Salkis, are you willing and capable of executing your part of the agreement?"
"If I do, you won't send me to Attica?" Salkis demands.
"The DA's office will recommend against doing so," Toni responds.
"Then give me a pen," Salkis agrees. "I'll sign."
"So Liam and I will be in on the operation?" Darren asks Kate as he watches through the glass.
"You can be on-site," Kate replies. "But we don't want to take a chance of tipping Snodgrass off. We'll be making our presence as unobtrusive as possible."
"Of course," Liam concurs. "But whatever Snodgrass says may be significant evidence to all of our investigations."
"We'll have sound and video on Salkis," Kate assures the two men. "Once he makes contact, we'll arrange it from there. I can text you as soon as we're set up."
Darren and Liam look at each other before nodding simultaneously. "In the meantime, could you direct us to the best burgers around here?" Darren queries.
"Remy's," Kate and Rick respond in concert.
Rick stares after the two men as they head for the elevator. "This is getting weird. Do you suppose we sound like that to the folks around here?"
Kate bumps him with her hip. "Maybe, but when we do, we solve cases."
Rick kisses the top of her head. "So we do, but I've suddenly developed a craving for a cheeseburger."
Kate's tongue pokes at her lips. "Yeah, me too."
The police van parked at the far end of the underground garage where Salkis is meeting Snodgrass doesn't look much like a police van. If anything, the brightly painted vehicle appears more like Scooby-doo's Mystery Machine. But the great Dane's gang is nowhere to be found. Crowded inside, Kate, Rick, Liam, and Darren watch the screens as Salkis waits for Snodgrass.
A BMW pulls into a parking space, barely making it between the lines. Snodgrass' expensively shod feet gingerly meet the concrete floor as he emerges from the car. "Where have you been?" he demands of Salkis.
"You may have been right about Big Meal, Sir," Salkis explains. "My last lunch there boomeranged on me. I couldn't make our check in. I'm sorry."
"So you didn't see the cops when you were in Big Meal?" Snodgrass presses.
"In Big Meal, no Sir."
"The man can lie his head off without actually lying," Rick observes.
"Which is what he's supposed to do," Kate notes.
"Yeah, but he has a real talent for it." Rick pulls out his notepad. "I may use what he's saying in a book sometime."
"Well, you're here now, and not a moment too soon," Snodgrass declares. "I've had a problem spring up. I thought it was handled, but an uptight bastard is having a snit and filing a protest. I need building Inspector Murray Sandler taken out of the picture."
"Any preference as to the method, Sir?"
"Take him out any way you want. Just make sure he doesn't do anymore breathing."
Kate steps back from the screen. "That's it! We have him." She thumbs a button on her walkie-talkie. "Move in."
Snodgrass' cuffs rattle as he attempts to rise from his seat in the box. "This was entrapment!"
Kate regards him cooly. "No, Councilman, it was not. However, I would be glad to explain the legal meaning of the term, and I'm sure when your counsel arrives, she can confirm it. Entrapment is a situation in which a normally law-abiding individual is induced into committing a criminal act they otherwise would not have committed because of overbearing harassment, fraud, flattery, or threats made by an official police source. You, Councilman, are anything but a normally law-abiding individual. No one induced or even suggested that you do anything. You solicited a murder of your own free will. A jury will see the video and also hear the evidence about other murders you've solicited. And you will go to prison for life."
Tiny beads of perspiration appear on Snodgrass' upper lip. "Wait! I wasn't in this by myself. What if I give you someone?"
"You might want to wait for your attorney before requesting any deals, Councilman," Kate advises.
"No, I want to know now. What if I give you a Commissioner?"
Kate shrugs. "I imagine the DA might be willing to listen."
"It's Credwell! He wanted Sandler dead as much as I did. He was getting in the way of all his deals."
Liam claps his hands together. "That's my end!"
Darren gives him a congratulatory slap on the back. "Looks like we'll both be celebrating tonight. How would you feel about dinner at Lenny's? A bottle of Dom Perignon and Chateaubriand for two?"
"Sounds perfect."
Kate clinks a glass of her favorite red wine against the one Rick holds. "Those ribeyes were perfect, Babe."
"As was your salad and the rice pilaf. We make a great team, catching bad guys and in the kitchen."
"We do," Kate agrees. "We got the murderer and the guy behind him. But I'm glad I don't have to track down all the corruption tied to the case. Darren and Liam still have a lot of work ahead of them. And they might not even have been working together if they hadn't wanted coffee at the same time. Sometimes investigations can be too fragmented. They can be in the NYPD too. I mean, Espo calls his contacts. Ryan calls his. You and I chase leads all over the place. And I have to decide whether to get Tori in on them or not. We waste a lot of time and energy. If Snodgrass was smart, he could have left the jurisdiction or the country while I was waiting for his financials to come through."
"Are you thinking there might be a better way?" Rick asks. "Like Major Crimes on TV?"
"Except that's fiction. The scripts have them solving high-profile homicides. But in the NYPD, Major Crimes doesn't do homicides. Still, the Borough Homicide Units do. And they have a better handle on the resources they need than a precinct does."
Rick lays his wine on the table. "So, are you thinking you want to work with the homicide squad in Manhattan? I thought you didn't want to leave the 12th."
"I don't. But the squad works with precinct detectives. I could try to tie up with it, maybe even bring Ryan and Espo with me."
"How about me?" Rick questions.
"You're officially a consultant working with me, and the city, not the precinct, signed off on you. Where I go, you can go."
"With a plus being that we wouldn't be so dependent on approval from Gates," Rick considers.
"No, we wouldn't," Kate agrees.
"So, are you going to go for it?" Rick asks.
"I need to make a few calls, but yeah," Kate muses, "I think I am."
