The third sniper attack
Natalie's viewpoint
I'd got the call from despatch on the way in to work, so I reversed course and made my way towards the crime scene. Ana had already left for an early meeting in at the Bureau headquarters, so I didn't have to drop her off.
I put the address into the GPS and followed the directions til it led me to a nondescript apartment complex. The area was obviously getting gentrified, with older buildings either being refurbished or torn down to make way for new ones. There was a new multi-story apartment complex going up across the street from the address I'd been given with construction workers standing around, watching all the excitement.
I parked as close as I could, got out, locked the car and made my way to the scene, ignoring the usual catcalls and whistles from the construction workers watching. I wonder if they truly realise how much it made them look like fools, as if I was going to do anything more than ignore them like a bunch of chattering, howling monkeys.
The young female officer at the building entrance shook her head as I walked up.
"Idiot's, I bet most of them are single and wonder why they can't get laid" I shrugged.
"What do construction workers use for contraception?" She'd heard it before.
"Their personalities" We shared a laugh, as I fished out my ID.
"Natalie Dearing, LAPD Media" She smiled.
"Hiya Ms Dearing, I thought it might be you" I tilted my head at her, looking the question. She shrugged. "Word gets around quickly" I smiled.
"Hopefully nothing too bad" She smiled back.
"Nope, not at all. Have a good one, your vic's on the fourth floor." I noted the name on the badge.
"Thanks Officer Robinson, it's Natalie by the way. You have a good one as well" She smiled a little wider.
"It's Savannah, see you around Natalie" I nodded as I walked in. Mentally shrugging, word travels fast, or at least some of it had.
The fourth floor had another officer by the lift checking ID's, he pointed me down the hall where I found an open door and a cluster of uniforms.
They stepped back and let me in to a nicely furnished unit, lots of Japanese influence, futons and low furniture, hanging prints and paper fans on the wall, small artworks on a low table near the wall, the effect was supposed to be calming, unfortunately the scene was anything but.
A young women lay face down in a wide spread pool of blood, a quick glance up showed the expected divot in the wall, partially through a wall hanging which had been shredded by the concrete shrapnel and spattered by blood. As I looked around, I spotted Tao and Sanchez standing near the body talking, while Gabriel was talking on his mobile phone.
I grabbed the proffered protective booties and slipped them over my heels, plus the gloves on offer, not that I intended touching anything but rules were rules. I stood by the door, looking down at the body then out to through the large shattered window to the construction site across the street. Maura wouldn't need to recreate the victim's pose this time; the construction site covered the entire vista outside.
I leaned up against the wall, waiting on someone, probably Brenda, to arrive and provide me with some direction for the media. They weren't here yet, but they would be soon and would start demanding answers. I could only soft peddle them the same stuff for so long.
I looked around the room, nodding at the detectives, taking it all in.
Besides the Asian influence, the room had a number of personal touches, pictures of a strikingly pretty African American woman, in an evening gown, out with a group of girls, cuddling a cute Labrador puppy, leaning on the bonnet of a Lamborghini at a car show dressed in a promotionally-branded leotard and sitting between an older couple; probably her parents by the look of it.
I felt a wash of sadness, a life wrapped up in pictures, now gone in a single horrific moment.
A bustle of people and a cheery 'good mornin' everyone' announced the arrival of Brenda; she swept into the room, pausing to slip on the booties and gloves while her eyes scanned the room, missing nothing.
"And a very good morning to you Natalie" The smile was wide and open, Brenda being her lovely self; I just had to smile back.
"Good morning to you Chief"
"You're here early" I shrugged.
"Got the call on the way into work, it wasn't that far off the way in so it wasn't hard" She nodded, before walking over to the victim, her eyes already sweeping the building across the street.
As she chatted to the detectives, I leaned back and continued to scan the room, taking in the rest of the room. The place wasn't that large but was neat and tidy, or had been.
As Sanchez pointed out a handset for the phone lying a few feet from the victim, Brenda was already asking Tao to pull phone records, it looked like the sniper had phoned the victim to get her standing in the one place long enough to take the shot.
"What do we have on our victim Sergeant Gabriel?"
"Chief, the place is rented to Crystal Williams, Ms Williams is apparently a model, she's been a resident here for the last four years, and her neighbours say she's a nice, relatively quiet person; very few issues with noise or visitors. We're getting next of kin details; it appears her parents live in Arizona" Brenda nodded.
"And what happened here?"
"Well Chief, several people in the building heard loud noises, but the person next door heard the impact on the wall and knocked. When she got no answer, she reported it to the building supervisor, who came up and after knocking repeatedly, used his master key to open the door and look in. He saw the body and immediately saw the vic was dead, locked the door and rang 911 at 6.36. The super's an ex-cop, long retired, he secured the scene and waited for the first uniforms to arrive" Brenda nodded as David flipped a page in his notebook.
"They arrived at about 6.49; major crimes got the call at 7.10. Working back suggests the shots were taken about 6.10"
"Good, thank you Sergeant. We'll need to have a chat to the super, please make sure he's available"
"Yes Ma'am".
The Chief stood up and wandered around the room, looking out at the construction site across the road.
"When Lieutenant's Flynn and Provenza get here, please ask them to take charge of the search of the building opposite, look for anything that might help us find the shooter" Her mouth twisted in annoyance. "Speaking of which, where is everyone?" Tao handled that one.
"Not sure Chief, they got the call at the same time we did"
"It's because some idiot parked a concrete truck at the end of the street, unable to get into the building site across the road and caused a traffic jam" I smiled as Jane Rizzoli strode into the room, annoyance radiating off her. "Sorry Chief"
"Good morning Detective, I take it the problem's being fixed?" She nodded once.
"Uniform's clearing it up as we speak now Chief" Noticing me she smiled and nodded.
"Nat" I smiled back, happy to see her again, even if it had been only three days since she'd fought for me.
"Jane, lovely to see you. How was the rest of your weekend?"
"Not too bad, after we escaped that little shopping trip, we had dinner in then we went running yesterday down at the beach; you?"
"Watched movies Saturday night, got domestic on Sunday and had a quiet one" She smiled and nodded again, before moving into the room.
Over the next few minutes, the rest of the squad arrived, plus Maura and her team. Brenda started assigning tasks to each member as Maura went to work.
Examining the body, Maura formally pronounced her dead, everyone knew it but it was a formality that had to be done, before looking up at the Chief.
"The victim was shot in the face, just below the right eye, with the bullet exiting through the back of the cranium. Almost a level shot, she was facing the shooter and may have even have seen the muzzle flash, given the short distance"
On cue everyone turned to look at the half-finished building across the street. It couldn't have been more than 150 feet away, a ridiculously easy shot for someone with the level of skill the sniper had already demonstrated.
As Maura stood up, Gabriel appeared around a corner, looking for Brenda.
"Chief, you've gotta see this" He then ducked back round the corner. Curious, I made my way round the room, avoiding any chance of contaminating the evidence, to see what he'd found.
Brenda, Gabriel, Jane and Buzz were all looking at a large framed poster of the victim in a wedding dress, it was a blown up magazine cover of a bridal magazine,. Three feet wide by six feet high, probably her first magazine cover. I'm sure she would have looked lovely, but couldn't tell as a hole had blown straight through the face, the shrapnel from the wall behind having ripped up the area around the bullet hole when the 50 cal bullet hit.
Brenda and Jane looked back over their shoulder, up the corridor, past me and through the window, straight into the construction site across the road, before sharing a look.
"That looks pretty personal to me" Brenda stated as they looked back at the mutilated image
"Ya' think?" Jane mumbled, before catching Brenda looking at her. "Sorry Chief"
"Who was the first officer on the scene? Detective, would you please check to see if the light was on in this corridor when they arrived? I want to know if the shooter could see this picture or if they knew it was here" Jane nodded.
"Gotcha, I'm on it"
I stepped back out of the way to let her pass, wandering back near the door out of the way. Looking down I saw her purse, cell phone and keys on a small table, together with a couple of opened letters and bills plus some business cards.
Curious, I knelt down, picking up one of the business cards, which had her name, the word 'Model' and a cell phone number. I looked over at Brenda where she was peering out across the street.
"Chief, got a moment?" She turned to look at me, taking in my unusual position before wandering over.
"What do you have Natalie" I handed the card to her. She looked at it for a moment before I saw her eyes widen, as she realised the same thing I had. She smiled at me and nodded.
"Sure you're not looking for a change in career?" I smiled back.
"No thanks Chief; I'll leave that to the experts"
She considered the number on the card again, before looking back at me.
"Must be personal" Maura, who had told her crew to remove the body, stepped up.
"Oh?" Brenda handed her the business card.
"All of her work was done on her cell, it's the number she gave out, but the killer rang her on her home phone. That sounds like someone who knew her, don't you think"
Maura looked down at the card, then at the cell on the table, then back at us.
"Yes, it certainly does"