Chapter Three
A little while later, the conversation was interrupted by the bar erupting in cheers and clapping.
"Yankees must've won the game," Bernard said, a small, amused smile on his face.
"Yep—look at the screen," Allison said, nodding at the TV and smiling.
"Welcome back," Connie teased Mike.
"You wouldn't mind if I dragged you to a Yankees game with me, would you?" he asked her.
"You wouldn't be dragging me—I'd love to go," Connie said, smiling.
Mike smiled.
"This case could easily be pled out," said Allison. "Sorry—I'm a moment-killer."
"You're okay! Trevor Langan doesn't do plea bargains," said Connie. "Trust me—nothing would serve me better than to just say 'murder two, twenty to life', but it'd be a waste of time."
"You'll get a conviction, Connie," Mike said sweetly. "I know you will."
Connie smiled.
"I appreciate the vote of confidence," she said. "It means more than you know. It always has."
"I've never doubted you as a prosecutor—or as a person," Mike added.
Connie kissed him on the cheek in response.
"So I guess I'm in for an interesting first trial case here," said Allison.
"The Sullivan case?" asked Mike.
"Yeah," Allison replied.
"Who's his lawyer?"
"Trevor Langan," said Connie.
"If he makes things difficult for you, Connie, I swear to God," Mike said darkly.
Connie gently laid a hand on his arm.
"Hey," she said bracingly with a smile, "it's okay. I'm a big girl, I can take it."
"I don't mean to belittle or underestimate you," said Mike. "It's just—this is your first trial as EADA. I want it to go well for you."
Connie smiled appreciatively.
"I know that."
"So how'd you guys nail Dr. Serial Killer?" Lupo asked Allison.
"It wasn't easy," she replied. "But Amy and Jonathan, the lead detectives for the case, found that he has a brother and a sister living in Ohio. Apparently he practiced there before he moved to Pennsylvania."
"Where at in Ohio?"
"Cincinnati," said Allison. "We contacted the homicide unit there and looked at the files for their unsolved cases dating back to five years before Sandefur left Ohio. Just when all of us were thinking we'd have to drop the charges, Amy found something promising. A young woman named Marcy Cox was found dead in a park. Her body was found hidden in the bushes."
"How'd she die?"
"Well, that's the thing. The autopsy was inconclusive."
"So how'd you tie it to Sandefur?" Bernard asked.
"Amy and Jonathan interviewed Marcy Cox's parents, and guess who her doctor was?" said Allison.
"Wow," said Lupo. "Did you have any more evidence than that?"
"Yeah. We looked at the medical report, and it said she had brain damage consistent with a stroke, but there was nothing to suggest she'd been at risk for one—no blood clots, no circulatory problems…that and the fact that she was twenty-six when she died—a twenty-six-year-old young woman, no health problems. So our M.E. took a look at the report and pointed out that the three victims we'd found in our jurisdiction had the same type of brain damage Marcy Cox had."
"So how'd they all die?"
"You guys know what an air embolism is?"
"No idea," said Bernard, taking a swig of beer.
"If you take a medical needle and poke a hole in the neck in a certain spot, it causes a deadly stroke in a split second. Guess what our M.E. found when she re-examined our victims' bodies?"
"Damn," Bernard said, shaking his head.
"How'd the ex-wife not know?" asked Connie.
"She's from Scranton," said Allison. "So Sandefur didn't meet and marry her until he moved to Pennsylvania. Plus, she only mentioned three murders, not four."
"You guys find any needles stashed anywhere?" asked Lupo.
"No. This guy was too smart. After I'd found a judge who would give me another warrant to tear Sandefur's place up, we found trophies—one piece of jewelry taken from each young woman he murdered. They were in a small box, hidden under a loose floorboard in the bastard's bedroom. Victims' parents I.D.'d their daughters' jewelry. So there you have it—the most difficult case I have ever worked."
"Yeah, I remember reading about the Sandefur case. It was in the Ledger a few times," said Connie. "Maybe the fact that you worked on it was something that endeared you to Jack," she added with a smile.
"So what brought you to New York?" asked Lupo.
"Well," said Allison, taking a sip of her martini, "it's because of two of my former coworkers. First of all, the D.A. is a…not a very nice man—almost let something slip there. And the EADA was moving back home to New Hampshire. I worked with her for four years, so since she wasn't going to be in Pittsburgh anymore, I didn't want to stay there. She left because she can't stand the D.A., either. So we're at a bar, celebrating our last conviction together, and she goes, 'Pack your bags, my dear ward, you're going to New York', and I was like, 'New York?', and she said, 'Yeah, New York City—Manhattan, to be exact. I got you an interview—old law school buddy of mine has a position he's gotta fill'. Of course, I asked her who this buddy is, and she just said, 'Oh, Jack McCoy', like it was no big deal."
"How'd you react?" Lupo said, smirking.
"I stared at her for a moment and then said, 'Oh fuck me!'—really loudly…Christ, I still can't believe I said that...Half the office had to have heard me," Allison said, shaking her head.
Connie gave an amused smile, while Mike, Lupo, and Bernard snickered.
"It's hard to move away from home, I know," said Lupo. "I spent four years overseas doing intel."
"Awesome!" Allison said.
Lupo gave a shy smile and shrugged.
"They throw you a party?" asked Bernard.
"Yeah, they threw Miranda and I a joint party, it was really nice," said Allison.
"Have you spoken to Miranda recently?" asked Connie. "I can tell you two are really close."
"Yeah," said Allison with a smile. "I spoke to her yesterday, as a matter of fact."
"That's good!"
"Do you still talk to your former boss, Connie?" Mike joked, smirking.
"Oh, every once in a while," Connie joked.
"Oh, so you two used to work together?" Allison asked them.
"Yeah," said Connie, smiling.
"I transferred to Queens because I don't date coworkers, but I'm in love with Connie. I'm so glad everything worked out," Mike said sweetly. "I am very lucky."
"Me, too," Connie said warmly. "I don't do office romances, either," she added to Allison. "But I happen to love this particular gentleman very much."
Mike kissed her on the cheek, making her smile.
"Hey," she said, "speaking of leaving, you left your dark blue baseball in the desk."
"Oh—" said Mike, "yeah. I—I did that on purpose. I want you to have it. That way you have something of mine as a way of keeping me close."
Connie smiled.
"That's really sweet, Mike. I'll definitely keep it."
Mike gave her hand an affectionate squeeze.
"Hey, you know what?" said Connie. "My favorite paperweight is missing."
"The red one?" Mike asked.
"Yes, actually," Connie said with a playfully suspicious look. "Did you take it?"
"Yeah," said Mike. "I—I just wanted something of yours as a way of keeping you close."
"Okay, normally, I'd be a little miffed, but I just can't be because that's really sweet," Connie said. "Since that's the case, I want you to keep it."
Mike smiled sweetly at her.
"But you have to admit, the pictures of us from your going away party are really good," Connie added.
"I was surprised people came. There I was thinking no one would miss me," Mike joked self-deprecatingly.
Meanwhile, Allison had been conversing with Lupo and Bernard.
"So what area of law do you want to go into, Detective?" Allison asked.
"Call me Cyrus—and I'm not sure yet. Maybe Constitutional. I haven't decided."
"Connie said you're really good at your job. Why not choose criminal law as your focus?" Allison suggested.
Lupo shrugged.
"Maybe, I don't know," he said with another shrug and a bashful smile.
"You gonna go sleazebag defense attorney on me, partner?" Bernard joked.
"You know it, man," Lupo bantered back.
"Maybe you'll work in the D.A.'s office some day," said Allison.
"Heh—right," Lupo said skeptically.
"Um, excuse me—no low self-esteem allowed here!" Connie said, smiling. Turning to Mike, she added, "That means you, too, Mister Nobody-Will-Miss-Me!"
"Yes, ma'am," Mike said, smiling impishly.
"You know, my brother Eric's a cop," said Allison.
"Yeah?" said Bernard. "What area?"
"Narcotics," Allison replied. "His friends shorten our last name and call him Barc the Narc," she added, grinning.
Bernard and Lupo chuckled.
"So if I'm 'Cut-Throat' Cutter, what does that make you? 'Ruthless' Rubirosa?" Mike asked Connie, smiling.
"Uh, you're projecting," Connie joked back. "You're the shark here, not me!"
"But you were kicking my ass during the Dresner case, and after I transferred, Jack promoted you, so doesn't that make you a shark, as well?"
"No, I'm just that good."
"Well, when someone's 'just that good', people call them a beast. Sharks are pretty beastly, so…I think you are a shark, then."
Connie laughed.
"Nice, Mike," she said.
"That was nice, wasn't it?" Mike said, smiling playfully.
Just then, his alert tone for his Blackberry went off, signaling his receipt of a text message.
"Thus beeped the Blackberry," said Connie.
"It's from Doug," Mike said, taking his Blackberry out of his pocket and reading the message his new partner had just sent him. "The police found new evidence for the Goodwin case." He sighed. "Looks like I'm going to have to take off."
"Okay," Connie said understandingly with a smile. "And see? I told you something would come up."
"Yeah, you were right—as usual," Mike said warmly. "Detectives," he added cordially, acknowledging Lupo and Bernard, who nodded at him.
"It was nice meeting you, Allison," Mike said amicably.
"Nice meeting you, too," said Allison.
She and Mike shook hands, then Mike turned to Connie.
"I'll call you later tonight, okay?" he said.
"Sounds good," Connie said, smiling.
She and Mike kissed each other 'goodbye'.
"Goodbye, Connie, I love you," Mike said sweetly.
"I love you, too," Connie said with a smile. "'Bye!"
Mike smiled and kissed her on the cheek before exiting the bar.
Connie smiled to herself.
Allison fake-coughed the word 'keeper' and then cleared her throat.
Connie pretended not to hear her, though she couldn't keep her smile from broadening.
She changed the subject by having the four of them go over everything about the Sullivan case.