Ana and Jane chat
Jane's viewpoint
The morning had started early and I could already tell it was going to end late.
Ballistics had confirmed that the sniper was using a Barrett 50 Cal AMR, so I was stuck calling gun shops that may have sold the weapon.
A call to the manufacturer had determined that there were no more than 100-120 shops in America who sold them, so I spent hours on the phone chasing them down. Mostly they were happy to cooperate, sending lists of purchasers through, although a few had required a bit of incentive, which the Bureau's Agent Romanov had been happy to provide, the FBI provided a whole different level of leverage, opening otherwise immovable doors.
I was pleased to find working with the Bureau here was a much easier experience than back in Boston. Mind you, at least half of that had been that ass Special Agent Gabriel. The only thing special about him was how completely useless he turned out to be. Anastasia Romanov was turning out to be a whole different level of helpful, for which I was profoundly grateful.
The sales lists were coming in, but only very slowly. Once I got them, I was entering them into a database which cross-referenced them against the list of military-trained snipers in California from the Defence Department.
Sanchez was compiling that list but so far there were very few hits turning up. We'd had two hits, both National Guard members but both of them had been able to account for their whereabouts on Tuesday morning.
I leaned back, easing a crick in my back and desperately waiting for Sanchez, who was off on the morning coffee run, I needed that caffeine to function. Looking up at movement I saw Anastasia walking my way, neatly turned out in a dark jacket and pants suit over a burgundy top.
"Hey Jane" I smiled back.
"Hey Anastasia, how's it going?"
"I came up to ask you. Any luck on cross matches?" I sighed and sat back in the seat.
"Nothing's panned out yet, but the list's pretty incomplete. We've got half the squad out at Marine bases interviewing snipers, Army's turn tomorrow and then the Navy guys on Friday. Turns out the Coast Guard and Air Force don't have anyone rated sniper whose AMR qualified based in California" She nodded slowly.
"Well that's a small blessing; it's still a significant number of serving personnel to get through"
"Yeah, Chief Johnson leaned on the Defence Department to assign some help in conducting the interviews, so there's an MP or military investigator assigned to each of our guys; it's making it go faster"
"A few years ago that would have been me helping out" I raised an eyebrow at her then remembered something she mentioned back at the vic's apartment.
"That's right; you were in the Army over in Afghanistan and Iraq"
"Yep, did two tours, which is where I saw the effect of AMRs" She settled in a vacant seat and looked at me. "Most of the snipers I met were quiet and detached, tending to sit back from the action and doing their job dispassionately, more like chess players than footballers"
"What do you mean?"
"Well the average AMR shooter was part of a two person team, shooter and spotter, often up to a mile from the action, shooting methodically with the spotter finding targets and calling corrections to the shots. They weren't caught up in the action and the first sign the target had that they were being engaged was when the bullet arrived. Even then the target would more than likely have no idea where the shot came from"
I thought about that, having been under fire a few times, I could sympathise with the targets, at least you normally knew where the shooter was and could take cover. Having no idea where it was coming from and not able to find cover would scare the hell out of me.
"So they don't get caught up in the action in the same way normal soldiers do" She nodded.
"Yeah, they were normally very disciplined, used to being in control of their emotions. You can't shoot straight over really long distances if you let your emotions rule, the slightest tremble can throw your shot off" I sat back and thought about it. So the person we were after was either shooting completely dispassionately, which was bad enough, or was good enough that it didn't matter.
"I hope they're not being completely emotionless about it, because they're less likely to make mistakes that way. People who are angry make mistakes, take chances. If the shooter was that dispassionate about shooting a woman in cold blood over a mile away, man that's someone I don't want to meet" She looked pensive.
"I thought those sort of emotionless killers only existed in movies" I shook my head.
"Oh they exist all right, a couple of the mob enforcers in Boston's old time mob wars had reps as stone killers, have a nice meal, go out and torture someone to death and then head off to the bar for a drink afterwards" She shivered.
"Definitely someone I don't ever want to meet. I prefer ordinary criminals; most of them aren't real smart, which makes our job easier"
"There are smart ones out there; they're the ones with the string of vic's left behind them and still out there, especially the serial killers"
"True, but all of them do things to a pattern, only they might understand it, but it makes sense to them. We simply have to unravel the pattern, get inside the mind of the perp and learn why they are doing it, once you understand why and find the pattern, you'll find them" She paused for a moment, staring off into the distance.
"The Bureau has a special unit whose job is to try and understand criminal minds, the Behavioural Analysis Unit, some nice people there but their job's way too creepy for me. I'll stick to run of the mill crims, like kidnappers, and drug pushers and counterfeiters"
"And snipers"
"Well, yeah, snipers, but it's not really my case, I just work to help you guys close it" I spotted Sanchez walking in with coffee's in hand.
"Ah thank god Sanchez! What the hell took you so long?" I reached out a hand for my coffee.
"Hey, if you want it faster Rizzoli, you could always go and get it yourself"
"Nah, I did that yesterday and I'm not on the roster till next week" He passed the cup to me and I took a quick swig. Meanwhile he was eyeing Anastasia.
"Hello Agent Romanov". She smiled at him, while I smiled at the title, every time I hear it I think of the Black Widow character from the movies, Shield Agent Natasha Romanoff.
"It's Ana remember Julio, how are you this morning?" He smiled, obviously enjoying Ana's company.
"Fine thanks Ana, if I'd known you were coming I would have got you a coffee. I'm sure you'd be more appreciative than Rizzoli here" She laughed.
"I'm sure that Jane's being appreciative, in her own way" He grinned at her, obviously he found her attractive, which she was. I'd spent enough time hiding myself under the same slacks and jacket sets to know quite well what you could conceal and she was hiding quite a bit.
"Her idea of appreciative doesn't extend to thank you apparently" I rolled my eyes at him.
"Thank you Sanchez" I said in a sing-song voice, which made him smirk.
"See, that wasn't that hard, now was it" I shook my head and turned back to Ana, who was looking over at the Murder Board, reading what little we had there.
"I take it nothing turned up on Ms Chiarino's personal life?"
I shook my head as Sanchez jumped in.
"No family here, quite a few friends who have no idea why anyone would want her dead. A boyfriend whose still in shock, but he has an alibi. Her agent says that she was working on the pilot for a Spanish language series, but it hadn't been approved yet by the network. So nothing yet" She sighed.
"But someone wanted her dead badly enough to shoot her from a mile away" I thought it out and nodded slowly as the thoughts came to me.
"It's not a crime of passion, that'd be personal and whoever did it would have done it up close, a handgun or knife or something, so they knew our vic well enough to call her, but not well enough to make it personal" Ana looked back at me.
"They called her?" Sanchez nodded.
"Telephone records show she received a phone call at 1.10 that rang out. Then another at 1.15 that also rang out. They must have woken her up because she answered a third call at 1.20, figure she was on the phone when she was shot, so the shooter knew her well enough to have her number" I thought about it for a second, considering the situation.
"Smart play, you get a couple of phone calls in short succession at that time of the night which wake you up, you immediately think something's wrong. So when the phone rings again you immediately grab it. Which means you're standing in one place" Ana nodded.
"Tell them that you're calling from a hospital or something and to hold the line, which gives them enough time to take the shot while the target's not moving"
"The call came from a pre-paid cell, bought a week ago. Naturally the ID was a fake" Sanchez added. Ana pulled a face.
"Easy to do, you can pick those up anywhere"
"The store clerk doesn't even remember the buyer, they paid cash and they made sure to buy it at a store that didn't have video surveillance" I shook my head at that.
"You mean there are places that still don't, in this day and age?" He nodded.
"I know, but it's amazing how many places still don't" I sat there drinking and letting my brain work it over.
"So someone knew her well enough to have her home number, which was unlisted, so it had to be someone she knew well enough to give it to?"
"Don't get too excited Rizzoli, this is LA. She's an actress, they give their cards out to everyone; studios, agents, producers, publicists, this town runs on contacts and networks"
"Damn" He took a sip of his coffee and shrugged.
"Not a lot of actresses in Boston I take it?"
"Nope, just the way we like it. We send all the crazies to California for you to deal with" Sanchez smirked at me.
"That explains why you're here now?" I groaned.
"Don't remind me" I looked up to see Anastasia trying not to laugh.
"I wouldn't laugh too fast if I were you, you're stuck here in the loony bin with the rest of us" She smiled.
"Well you got me there, and I volunteered. Should have remembered the Army's first rule, never volunteer for anything" I smiled back, thinking that rule applied to just about everything, particularly if you're a cop. Just then her cell rang.
"Agent Romanov" I couldn't help it, I had to grin again. "Hi Nat, sure, lunch is free, I'm on my way" She closed her cell.
"Sorry guys, much as I love chatting, I have a better offer. Ciao"
"Bye Ana"
"See you soon Anastasia" I looked up to find Sanchez watching her walk out with an appreciative look in his eye. Uh oh, looks like someone hasn't got the word. I waited until she was out of earshot before speaking.
"Ah Sanchez, you do know she's taken" He looked at me, raising both eyebrows. "You know the new media person" His eyes widened.
"That amazing blonde; you mean the one from the other night?" He mimicked an exaggerated set of woman's curves with his hands" She and her, their…" I smiled, a little nastily.
"Yep, you might have noticed the matching rings, or the fact that they arrived together, or that Ana hung around until the blonde was finished talking to the media before they left together or who just rang her for lunch or…" He hastily interrupted.
"I get it, I get it. I just didn't know" I snorted derisively.
"Some detective"
"Go to hell Rizzoli" I smiled. Rizzoli 1, Sanchez 0.