The Other Path

Chapter 60

Before entering Interrogation, Kate watches Nina Rafaelli through the mirror in Observation. She's lost track of how many suspects she's observed this way, and not many personality types are new to her. But Nina's a puzzle. She doesn't have the hard eyes of a controlling mother. If anything, she looks disappointed. In what? In the world? In Nico? In herself? That's something Kate can try to find out and use.

Nina startles as Kate opens the door. "I've seen you. You were at Caruso's. And you were at the New Opera fundraiser."

"Right on both counts," Kate acknowledges, putting her folder on the table. "My husband and I were working on tracking down Lou-Anne Bartlett's killer. We thought it might be your son Nico, but he didn't do it, did he, Ms. Rafaelli?"

"Of course not! Nico wouldn't hurt a fly. And he was very fond of Lou-Anne."

Kate notes that one corner of Nina's mouth curls upward, a sign of contempt, not approval. But contempt for whom? Nico? Lou-Anne? Both? "But you weren't fond of her, were you, Ms. Raffaelli?"

"She was a nice enough girl. She had talent," Nina offers.

"Yes, she did. Lou-Anne designed and made clothes. She wanted to go to Parsons to perfect her skills, and she thought Nico would pay to send her."

"She thought wrong," Nina insists. "A husband might help his wife to have a career. Nico's father helped me. But no self-respecting man lavishes the kind of money and attention Nico did on a woman unsuitable to marry."

"Why was she unsuitable? As I understand it, Lou-Anne came from a historical family. Over 200 years ago, one of her ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence."

"Two hundred years ago," Nina repeats, scorn edging her voice. "In Europe, that would be nothing. The history of Sicily dates back millennia. Nico should have picked a woman with that rich heritage. But he wanted that little seamstress."

"But you didn't. And you tried to make her go away, didn't you? The old bruises, the cracked ribs, we believed Nico caused them. But that was you," Kate accuses.

"I pushed her a little, that's all. A woman should know how to defend herself – especially a woman in New York. But she was stubborn. Lou-Anne said she'd only leave Nico if he asked her to, and he wouldn't. And then I saw that – thing! It was in the wastebasket in Nico's bathroom. Lou-Anne didn't even bother to hide it. An unmarried woman. You'd think she'd be ashamed."

"Are you talking about a pregnancy test?" Kate asks.

"Yes. She was going to have a baby, Nico's baby. He would have married her."

"And you couldn't let that happen."

Nina shrugs. "It won't happen now. The newspaper said that man, Munchhausen, killed her."

"But Munchhausen didn't even know Lou-Anne. Munchhausen is a hitman. He murders for money. He murdered Lou-Anne for your money, Ms. Raffaelli."

"You can't prove that," Nina insists.

"No?" Kate opens her folder and lays a sheet of paper in front of Nina. "These are the payments you sent to an account set up by Adolf Munchhausen. And this," Kate adds, pushing a document across the table, "is a copy of the instructions you sent to him about his target and how to find her."

Nina stares down at the pages. "I want a lawyer."

Kate nods. "You need one."


Rick points to a plastic container of gelatin as the video ends. "I wanted popcorn, and the hospital gave me this. But that was magnificent, Kate. You got Nina to hand you her motive on a silver platter. Any prosecutor would glory in relating chapter and verse about that to a jury."

"If it gets to a jury. If I were Nina's lawyer," Kate considers, "I'd tried to cut a plea deal for her to testify against Munchhausen. She's only behind one murder that we know about. He's committed a string of them. But I wonder why she didn't go to Dino Scarpelli for help. He is family."

"Family is exactly the reason," Rick figures. "That baby would have been family too. Dino wouldn't have wanted any part of killing Lou-Anne. Besides, he's got a soft spot for romance. Dino's not that bad a guy when you get to know him."

"Aside from running a crime family."

"There is that, but family is family. And how's our little family going? You and Mother and Alexis have been making a fuss about me. How are you?"

"Tired," Kate admits. "I still can't stand the smell of coffee, and I can tell when someone's been smoking tobacco or cannabis from a mile away. Good thing smoking's banned inside most places in New York. But I can still smell it outside and on people's clothes."

"Kate Beckett, human smoke detector. I can think of some poker games you'll have to stay away from for a while. But we wouldn't want smoking around the baby anyway. Anything else?"

"Not really."

"Have you told anyone yet? Do Mother and Alexis know?"

"Martha figured it out when she tried to bring me coffee. She remembers Meredith's pregnancy, too. But she said when she was pregnant with you, she loved the smell and had a tough time staying away from the caffeine."

"It must have come through the genes. Alexis?"

"She doesn't know yet, and Martha said she'd keep it to herself until we're ready to announce it."

"So now what?" Rick asks. "Any new bodies drop?"

"Not in the 12th's jurisdiction. But it will take a long time to investigate and tie up all of Munchhausen's kills. That's going to keep me busy for a while."

"Behind a desk?" Rick asks.

"Mostly."

"Maybe that's just as well, Kate. I've always had a hard time dealing with you being in the line of fire. And now with the baby…."

"Says the man who jumped in front of a gun. But I think we'll both be out of range for a while."

Rick reaches for Kate's hand. "We're in new territory now, but we're going to find our way."


At the head of a table populated by precinct captains, Commissioner Merkle throws down a file in disgust. "Jimmy Dobbins, case thrown out because of improper interrogation techniques. The DA is steaming, and I don't blame him. This is the tenth time in three months a dangerous criminal is back on the street because our people screwed up. And the Reid method cops have been taught for years is b.s. Too many cases have proved it. Almost thirty percent of confessions obtained that way are false, and defense attorneys know it.

"It's past time we did something about it. Step one, we need to revise the interrogation techniques class at the academy. But that won't help with the cops already out there stumbling over their own tongues. So, here's what we're going to do. Each of you will pick the detective or detectives from your precinct with the best interrogation techniques that produce honest results. They'll be in a rotation to teach recruits. They'll also either conduct or supervise interrogations in their own jurisdictions. I want names by tomorrow morning. If the Jimmy Dobbinses of this city commit crimes because we put them back on the street, we're all responsible. And we can't keep putting the innocent behind bars, either. So we're all going to fix this, and we're going to fix it ASAP."


"What's that?" Rick asks as Kate's phone dings a text.

"It's from Gates. She says she wants to speak to me at the precinct about a special assignment."

A muscle pops in Rick's jaw. "I hope it's not a special assignment requiring Kevlar."

"I should go. I'll call you as soon as I find out what's on her mind."

A/N I have been doing some reading about interrogation techniques as well as updates on spotting deception. The Reid Method is real and still out there. However, its purveyors admit there's no science behind it. There is science behind some newer techniques, such as the study of microexpressions. I'd already written this chapter, but after watching a recording of this weekend's John Oliver show, particularly the statistics on false confessions, I edited my text a bit. Kudos to John Oliver. He told a story that needed telling. In real life, New York State is trying to pass legislation to reform interrogations. The show's timing was a bit of serendipity.