"Hope you've got something we can use this time," Lennie Briscoe grumped as he walked into the CSU Labs, Rey Curtis right behind.
A solid fingerprint had been found on the bullet removed from Carrera's brain. From there, the fingerprint experts had been able to identify a whole set.
Lab Tech Maria Fuentes held out a fingerprint sheet.
"We still don't have a name," she continued. "But this particular set of fingerprints has turned up before, in some very interesting cases; one of which involves your Anais Van der Hooten."
"Oh?" Lennie straightened. "Do tell…"
"It was about a year ago, and Ms. Van der Hooten called the police about it."
"What happened?" Rey Curtis spoke up.
"Apparently, someone had slipped something into her purse. When she emptied her purse for the day, she found a packet of high-grade cocaine. She immediately called the police, and not a minute too soon."
"What do you mean?"
"The Narcs turned up a few minutes after the police arrived, guns drawn, in full lock-down mode. They hand-cuffed everyone; Van der Hooten, her secretary, and the police who were already on the scene."
"Ouch…" Briscoe muttered softly. "I imagine that didn't turn out well…"
"Yeah…" Fuentes agreed. "The Narc Squad was thoroughly embarrassed; Van der Hooten was fully cleared. They never identified whom those fingerprints belonged to."
"So, somebody not in the system…" Curtis commented. "You said those prints turned up somewhere else?"
"Yeah…Three years ago. Remember the Adam Roberts Case?"
"Major movie star in LA," Briscoe nodded. "Up for an Oscar, caught with a baggie of Coke. He claimed he'd been framed, but was convicted anyway."
"I remember that," Curtis said. "The only prints found on that baggie were never identified. Last year, Roberts was acquitted, and his conviction voided. But his reputation had been irreparably tarnished, and no one would hire him. He killed himself eight months ago."
"Yep," Fuentes nodded. "And this same person tried to do the same with Van der Hooten. It was simply a fluke that she discovered the planted coke, and called the police, before the narcs got there."
…..
1 Hogan Place
"Let me get this straight…" Jack McCoy sat in his office, facing Ben Stone, Lennie Briscoe, and Rey Curtis.
"This unidentified person planted drugs on a major movie star, which resulted in a wrongful conviction, and that star's eventual suicide. He tried to do the same with Anais Van der Hooten, but she discovered the drugs and called the cops, which ended in major embarrassment for the Narcotics Division. So our Mystery Man apparently took out an insurance policy for Daniel Carrera, an employee at the complex where Van der Hooten lives, a two million insurance policy, with Van der Hooten named as the beneficiary. Then, our guy shot and killed Carrera."
"That's about the size of it," Briscoe agreed. "And we literally have no idea who this guy is. He's not in the system."
"Try the military," Ben Stone suggested. "Mystery Man used a long-range rifle to shoot Carrera."
"A sniper," Curtis nodded. "We'll get right on it. Also, someone apparently called the Narcs for both Roberts and Van der Hooten. We checked, and whoever did the calling did so with a voice synthesizer. Narcotics said they couldn't even identify the caller's gender."
"That, alone, should've told them something hinky was going on," Lennie grumped.
"I know," McCoy brought his gaze to the detectives. "We have one murder, two attempts to cause Wrongful Arrest, and there's also the Roberts Suicide to consider. Our Mystery Man's looking at the Death Penalty. That is, if we can find him…"
"We'll do what we can to find the bastard," Briscoe and Curtis both stood. "What happens afterwards is down to you, Counselor."
After they were gone, Jack McCoy looked at Ben Stone.
"Bringing back memories?" he asked.
"Yeah…" Stone nodded slowly. "It does."
"Adam tells me you asked to rejoin the DA's Office…"
"I'm not angling for your job, Jack. I only asked to join on a temporary basis so we can clear this case as soon as possible. Someone tried to frame a friend of mine. A man was killed; two, if you're counting Robert's suicide-"
"I am."
"All right, Jack. Let me help you get whatever you need so this sonofabitch can be put away."
McCoy nodded slowly.
"Yeah…" he said at last. "Let's do this."