What is Not Understood

By Kadi

Rated T

Disclaimer: This is not my sandbox, but it is my favorite place to play.

A/N: All Season 5 Spoiler Warnings remain in effect.

Chapter 6

"Are you telling me that Robbery Homicide," the way that Provenza spoke those words left no doubt in anyone's mind that he was using it in the most derogatory way that he could, and still get away with it, "was able to get a warrant to search the home of an LAPD Captain and Lieutenant, to arrest said Lieutenant, and all we have to go on is a gap in traffic camera footage," he waved at Tao as he spoke, "one horribly grainy security picture, that none of us can seem to figure out where it was taken," he flung his arm in Buzz's direction, "and the inventory of the house search?" This he had in his other hand and he waved it at them. "Is this a joke?"

Lieutenant Provenza was standing in the middle of the Murder Room. He turned as he spoke and looked at every member of the team, including the Captain. No one could explain it. They had been at this for hours now. They could not seem to unravel whatever case it was that Robbery Homicide believed to have built against Flynn.

Before anyone could respond, the Lieutenant continued. "I know that there is a certain birthday coming up," he said gravely, "but if anyone here thinks that this is a good idea for the usual decade changing practical joke, I swear on my crossword, I will personally take my foot and put—"

"Lieutenant." Sharon interrupted him before he could finish. "I promise you, this is no joke." She was seated in a chair between Julio and Mike's desks. "Robbery Homicide has been uncharacteristically careful with their evidence and case."

He shot a bland look at her. "You don't say." Provenza turned the inventory in his hand over and read it. "Let's see. They took from your house. One laptop computer, one shirt, one pair of pants, some male unmentionables that…" He looked up at her over the paper, "I am not going to mention, and a pair of gardening gloves with a suspicious brown stain. They have also had Flynn's car pulled into the print shed, and there is not an SID report posted anywhere on it."

"Not to mention the fact," Sharon said, "that they gave me back his phone. Which, one would think, would have some kind of evidence on it if the entire basis of their motive is the belief that Andy hooked up with the victim before he supposedly killed her." Sharon picked up the iPhone and held it aloft. "He never wipes his phone. He is always complaining that he is almost out of space. Rusty has to clear his browsing cache for him because the last time that he tried to do it himself, he deleted the browser." She held up a hand before Tao could interrupt. "I do not know how. He did. Let's leave it at that."

"What about the call log," Julio asked her. "There was nothing on that?" He leaned forward and reached for the phone.

"A couple of numbers that I do not recognize," Sharon pointed out, "but that isn't unusual. After we bought the house we both went through a period of telemarketing calls. They were finally tapering off. I did check the numbers against what Robbery Homicide has listed as Ms. Shiloh's known contact information; they don't match."

"What about this one?" Julio indicated the call that was received on Friday evening, just after nine that night. The Lieutenant would have just left the bar. He gave her a skeptical look. Julio worried if she was too close to the case.

"Dial it." Sharon shrugged at him. "It goes to a full mail box. Also, the call was clearly received and not placed. I logged in to the wireless account. Even if Andy had managed, somehow, to delete his call logs… he couldn't remove them from the account."

"Wait." Provenza's head whipped around. "You have a joint phone account now too?" His nose wrinkled. He made a face at her.

"Of course." Sharon was surprised by his response. "Don't you?" Her head inclined. "We got the family plan discount."

"Really?" His brows rose and he turned more fully toward her.

"Oh god." Tao rolled his eyes. She had said Provenza's favorite word. Discount. They would be there all night if he was given the chance to really get into it. "I checked the SID system for analysis results on any of the items that were taken from the house. Nothing."

"The clothes they took were probably what Andy was wearing Friday evening," Sharon stated. "Neither of us have had time to do a drop at the cleaners this week. The laptop is Andy's, but he only uses it to pay bills. Or check sports scores. Fantasy football… normal things." Julio snickered and she glared at him. "I am not talking about your version of normal, Detective." She continued to glare at him until he stopped laughing. Once he sobered, she turned her attention back to Lieutenant Tao. "The brown stain will be blood, but they will find that it does not match Andy or the victim." Sharon rolled her eyes. "Gardening is rarely a simple endeavor. Particularly when one's partner is a little… stubborn."

"Is that what we're calling it now?" Provenza shook his head at her. "So the blood is yours? Can you prove that?" He asked smartly, because he knew that Robbery Homicide would probably demand it.

Sharon unfolded her legs and turned sideways in her chair. She lifted the hem of her skirt just an inch. There was a two-inch bandage on the side of her thigh. "He apparently meant his left and not mine."

"He touched it with his gloves?" Provenza's face screwed up into a disgusted look again. "What kind of life are you people living?"

Julio lowered his head and snickered when the Captain's glower was turned on the Lieutenant, almost full force. Sharon's lips pursed. "No, Lieutenant, he did not. I did. I was wearing the gloves. Can we move on now?"

"Yes, yes," Provenza waved a hand at her, rather imperiously. "You are absolutely correct, let's go back to my original point. How did those troglodytes manage all of this?"

His word usage drew all of them up short. All of them but Julio. He leaned toward the Captain and said quietly, "His grandson really likes Jurassic Park, ma'am."

Her mouth made a small 'o' but she didn't fully understand what that had to do with it. Sharon decided to take the Detective's word for it. She shook her head and decided to ignore it. "I think the bigger questions, Lieutenant, are why they are being so secretive and why Judge Grove would sign off on so little evidence." She would like to ask him, but couldn't. It would be seen as taking advantage of their friendship, and she couldn't say completely that she wouldn't be.

"We have much bigger problems than that." Buzz, who had been silent through out the entire exchange, rose from his desk. "That picture is a fake." He walked over to join Tao at his desk and indicated that he should open it. "Zoom in," he told him. "Again…" Buzz had him continue doing that until it had reached almost maximum pixilation. "Here, see it?"

Tao leaned close to his monitor. "Good catch El Buzzo!" He highlighted the edges they were looking at and then zoomed the picture out until the others could see it. "The edges don't match up," he told the Captain. "This is definitely Flynn, sitting on the hood of his car, but the victim has been edited into it, and not very well."

"Well enough." Sharon leaned forward. She could barely make out what they were talking about. It was not until they fully pointed it out, and she could see where part of Andy's car was missing where the victim's leg was supposed to be resting atop it, that Sharon was convinced. "How did they miss this?"

"Again, I ask…" Provenza looked heavenward. "Does anyone hear me? Am I speaking to myself…"

Sharon ignored him. "Okay, if Andy was not with Trina Shiloh on Friday evening, who was he with, and where was he?"

"And where was Trina Shiloh," Buzz said helpfully, "because that is the outfit that she was wearing at the bar Friday evening. She was definitely somewhere if someone took a photo of her."

"Indeed." Sharon stood up and folded her arms across her chest. Her lips pursed and she thought for a moment. Finally she reached for Andy's phone and passed it to Mike. "Dump it. The whole thing. Back up any photographs or videos, but dump everything else. Trace that number, the one that he received the call from Friday evening. I want to know whose mailbox it is going to. Amy, call Doctor Morales. He may not be able to rush DNA tests, but see if he has a type match yet. Andy is AB negative."

"What about the rest of us, ma'am?" Julio looked up at her. There was a new sense of energy in the air, they could all feel it.

"I want you to take Buzz and that photograph and trace Andy's route Friday evening. See if you can figure out where that picture was taken. Maybe there were other security cameras in the area, cameras that were overlooked." As Julio and Buzz rose to do as she had asked, Sharon turned back to Lieutenant Provenza. "Feel like having a conversation with your partner?

A smile lit his face. Provenza rubbed his hands together. "I thought you would never ask."

Sharon nodded. She turned on her heel and led the way out of the Murder Room. She wouldn't go in with him, but she would see to it that he was able to speak to Andy. If they managed to record the conversation too, well, that would be even better.

Andy wasn't sleeping. He hadn't thought that he would be able to, and he wasn't. Who could sleep in a place like that? For one thing the lights, even dimmed, were still too damned bright; the mattress on the cot was too thin, and Sharon wasn't there. Those were just a few reasons, but hardly the entire list. There was also the fact that he was in that place to begin with. That was a big damned reason to not be able to sleep.

He sighed as he sat up on the edge of the cot. Andy had been up and down through out the night. He had paced the cell for a while and then he laid down for a bit. He went back and forth between the two activities. It was going to be a long night.

The last thing that he expected was to have the door opening again. Lawrence and his partner had been back in after Sharon left. Andy figured that was it for the night. The lights in his cell came back on full and he blinked against the sudden brightness. Andy frowned as the door to his cell swung open. His expression only deepened into a scowl at who stepped inside. "Remind me to talk to my lawyer about the cruel and unusual forms of punishment that are used by the LAPD," he drawled.

"Oh, you're a funny guy aren't you?" Provenza waited until the door closed behind him before he walked over and took a seat at the single chair that occupied the cell. It was bolted to the floor. "Wait until we feed you, then you'll really have something to complain about." He pointed a finger at his partner. "You are an idiot."

"Pretty sure you're not allowed to talk to me like that right now." Andy laid down on the cot and steepled his fingers against his stomach. "What do you want? I'm trying to sleep here." The last person that he wanted to deal with at the moment was Provenza. He had a feeling that this little meeting wouldn't be good for either of their blood pressure.

Provenza snorted at him. The Captain had gotten him in to see his partner by stating that he was now a suspect in another case as well. The officers in charge of watching the cell had let him in. No one from Robbery Homicide was around to question or deny her little misdirection. "I think it's time you start talking. We can't get you out of this stupidity of yours if you don't tell us what you did." He shook his finger at Flynn. "Whatever you stopped to do, no one cares. We've got bigger issues and you need to come clean. For one thing, we need to figure out who is framing a cop, why the Chief is going along with it, and who really killed Trina Shiloh."

"Or you can let my lawyer handle it and not get me into any more trouble than I already am." Andy shook his head. "Let it go, Provenza. Don't make it worse than it already is. Robbery Homicide doesn't have anything because there's nothing to have. Rothman will take care of it."

"I never thought I would hear those words." He leaned forward in his seat. "Okay, how about this, while you're waiting for your lawyer to take care of everything you're making the woman that you plan to marry look like a fool. If the fact that you're screwing around on her isn't bad enough, now people are going to wonder how much she's covered for you in the past…." He trailed off with a smile at the dark look that his partner cast on him. That got Flynn's attention. "Where did you go Friday night?"

"Home." Andy scowled darkly at him. "I already answered all of these questions for Robbery Homicide."

"Well now you're going to answer them for me," Provenza snapped. "Where did you go? We both know it wasn't home. There's a forty-five minute gap on the traffic cameras. That picture of you with the vic, we know it's fake, but the background is real enough. You stopped off somewhere. Where was it?"

"I stopped and put gas in my car. Paid cash." Andy went back to staring at the ceiling above them."

"That didn't take forty-five minutes, try again." Provenza leaned back. "I can stay here all night," he said. "I want to know why you're lying to all of us. Where did you go Friday night?"

"I told you. I stopped and put gas in the car, then I went home." Andy closed his eyes. "There's nothing else to tell."

"There's not a gas station between those two blocks," Provenza pointed out. "Try again." He stood up and paced around the cell. "You went off grid for forty-five minutes. Robbery Homicide showed up to search your house and arrest you with nothing more than a security picture and a second hand account of you meeting Trina Shiloh at Joe's. If that wasn't enough to tell me that you know exactly what is going on here, then the fact that you've gone along with all of it is. What did you do Flynn?"

"Talk to my lawyer." Andy kept his eyes closed but his teeth were grinding together. "Nice lady. Attractive blond. She's way out of your league, but if you smile real nice she'll probably tell you to take a flying leap and get your nose out of a case that has nothing to do with you."

"I think we should be more concerned about the porn collection that SID is going to find on your laptop. The fiancé thinks you're an innocent daisy. Okay, so you stopped on the way home, what? Did you have a drink? Run in to an old friend? An old flame maybe?" His lips pursed as he thought about it. Provenza rubbed his chin. "No, I don't think so. I think you talked to someone, and I think it was someone connected to this case. I think that you're in over your head and you're too stupid to realize it."

Andy sighed. He sat up on the edge of the cot. Provenza wasn't going to leave him alone. "You know as much as I do. Even if you didn't, do you think I would talk about it here?" Andy flashed a sarcastic look at him. "With those idiots listening in? Talk to my lawyer."

"Come on, Flynn!" Provenza scowled at him. "Stop screwing around. You did not spend three years of my life, that I am never going to get back, trying to find the guts to even ask that woman on a date, and then another three months trying to figure out how to ask her, and finally a year whining about the fact that she was so gun shy that you could barely get her to commit to the idea that she was in a relationship with you, only to screw it all up now when she finally, finally knows what page you're both on. You did not hook up with a prostitute, and whatever you were doing on Friday night isn't as important as what is going to happen if you don't tell us what it was."

Andy didn't say anything. He had already said the magic words. If Provenza wanted to keep going, that was up to him. For the moment, he just stared at the ceiling and counted the minutes. Sooner or later the old man would either get bored or his time would run out and he'd have to leave.

"Okay. Fine." Provenza threw his hands up. "You don't care about your relationship with the Captain. That's just great. What about your relationship with your kids? What are Nicole and Charlie going to say when they hear about this?" He saw Flynn's eyes flash and he leaned forward. "You just got Nic back, you barely have Charlie. What's he going to do when he hears that his old man was screwing up again? How hard do you think it will be to get him to return your calls then?"

"Leave my kids out of this." Andy stood up and paced away from him. "You can damn well leave Sharon out of it too," he said, lip curling. "While you're at it, get out of it completely. I don't need you in this."

The door opened before Provenza could continue. He turned, brows rising in dismay. "It hasn't even been ten minutes yet."

"The suspect invoked." Sharon stood inside the open doorway. "I'm afraid we are going to have to try to find another way of getting the information that we need." She did a half pivot and waved her arm, indicating that he should step out of the cell. She had listened until she realized that Lieutenant Provenza was only managing to make Andy angry enough to dig his heels in, not accidently spout off what he was really up to.

Provenza huffed a sigh. "Fine. If he wants to sit in here all night and stew, let him." He threw his hands up and shook his head as he followed the Captain out. The door was closed behind them. The Captain did not stop there. She kept walking. Provenza followed her, a frown drawing his brows together. He opened his mouth to comment but she held up a hand. It was not until they were in the elevator that her posture seemed to relax somewhat. "What?" He looked at her as if she had lost her mind. He was just finally getting somewhere with the idiot. Didn't she want to know what Flynn had done?

"Amy called." Sharon lifted her gaze to the digital display above the elevator doors. "There is no type match. The evidence that was found on the victim is A-positive. Lieutenant Tao traced the number that called Andy on Friday night."

He had expected Amy to get her answer right away. Morales had no reason to withhold it. He was surprised by her other news. "Already?" It usually took them a lot longer to track down unlisteds, they usually came back to burner phones that got them no where.

"Yes." That was all that she said. Sharon folded her hands in front of her. She wanted to wait until they were back on the ninth floor and within the relative sanctuary of their own offices. "I want to arrange a meeting with Linda Rothman tomorrow morning, but her office wasn't apt to return any of my calls today. I will try again tomorrow." She sighed. "I can't exactly blame her. Andy and I aren't married, nothing that he tells me is protected under privilege, and by law, there is nothing that she can reveal for the same reason."

"All of which just proves everything that I have been saying for the last three years." Provenza scowled at her. "The two of you have the worst timing of any one couple on the entire planet."

"Hm." Sharon continued to study the digital display. Her lips pursed for a moment. She slanted a sideways look at the Lieutenant. "Did it really take him three years?"

"Good god." Provenza rubbed a hand over his face. "If the two of you ever make it down an aisle it will be a miracle."

Her head tilted. Sharon's lips pursed again while she thought about that. She nodded. "There could be some truth in that statement." The elevator doors opened and she stepped through them. "I want to send everyone home tonight. I don't think we're going to get any farther. We've already accomplished more than I thought we would. Julio and Buzz are still looking for where that photograph might have been taken, but they can pick it up again in the morning."

"I won't argue with that idea." He was ready to go home. Provenza thought he might beat his head against a wall a few times, but he definitely wanted to go home. He followed her back into the murder room. "Okay," he said once they were inside. "What's the big secret?"

"The number belongs to Sergeant Staples." Sharon folded her arms across her chest. "Lieutenant Tao?"

"I found it in our own database," He reported. "Then I checked the Captain's phone records again. It was a three minute conversation. It pinged off a cell tower west of here, and based on the time and location, the Lieutenant was still sitting in traffic when the call was received."

"So that begs the even bigger question," Sharon stated. "What was a member of Internal Affairs doing calling Andy at nine o'clock on a Friday evening?" Her brow arched. "And why won't he tell us about it? Further more, why didn't Sergeant Staples mention it when I was questioned?"

Provenza said nothing. He walked toward his desk. His mind was turning over all of the possibilities. He turned around and leaned on the edge of his desk. His arms folded across his chest. "Flynn gets into it with Davidson and Mitchell at Joe's. They get a prostitute to come on to him, and probably offered to pay her." His head tilted and his eyes narrowed. "That one," he pointed at Amy, "decides to get into Davidson's face based on the things that he was saying about you and your relationship with the idiot also known as your partner, that I will not repeat because they do not bear repeating. No one really wanted to deal with an incident report, so we broke it up pretty quickly. We left the bar, and everyone went their own way."

"A bar which is frequented by many members of the LAPD," Sharon pointed out. "A location that is usually very crowded on a Friday evening. So is it possible that little altercation was witnessed by someone that none of you realized was present?" She looked around the murder room. They were all thinking about it, and nodded when they realized it was very possible. "When Andy got home on Friday evening he had no intention of telling me about what happened. He was reluctant to reveal any of the details of your evening. Something that is odd considering that he didn't actually do anything wrong. Then Julio came to see us on Sunday evening…"

"To report the messages and photo that Detective Davidson was passing around," Amy stated. "Which we had to write up and turn over to you on Monday morning."

"Exactly." Sharon walked over and sat on the edge of an empty desk. "I turned that matter over to the Detectives' division head. I did not copy Internal Affairs on it. Whatever disciplinary action was applied would have been done at that level. I was trusting their immediate supervisor to handle the situation."

"Trina Shiloh's body was found Sunday night," Tao pointed out. "She was already dead by the time that incident was reported. There was no reason for retaliation."

"No there wasn't," Sharon agreed. "She was not identified until Tuesday. By that point we had all moved well beyond the incident. We had a case of our own to work. Chief Howard, Captain Patrick, and Sergeant Staples pulled me aside after our case was wrapped. I think that we can all agree that little interrogation was a means of diverting my attention while Lieutenant Lawrence and Detective McNeil took Andy in for questioning."

"While I was in with Oderno." Provenza scowled. "They pulled you and I away, and Flynn went with them willingly. Son of a…" He pushed away from his desk but his hand landed against the surface in a moderately loud slap.

"We have a fake photograph, a gap in traffic camera footage, and an altercation." Sharon ticked them off on her fingers. "We have a call from an Internal Affairs Detective, a diversion by our Chief of Operations, the head of the division that is investigating the murder, and no SID reports on any of the evidence that was collected at my home."

"It's all a diversion." Tao stood up. "Andy knows. That's why he went with Lawrence and McNeil, and it's why all of the superficial evidence leads to him."

"While there's no actual evidence that could get him charged," Cooper said. He had chosen to be silent, observing while the detectives did their thing. "Hobbs wouldn't get anywhere near this and neither would anyone else in the DA's office."

"But the warrant was signed by a judge," Amy pointed out.

"A judge with a long history of working internal affairs cases," Sharon stated. Her arms dropped. Her head fell back. She couldn't believe that she hadn't seen it sooner. "In most cases when wrong-doing is found on the part of the LAPD termination is recommended, but when prosecution is necessary those cases almost always go before Judge Grove."

Provenza was pinching the bridge of his nose. "Now might be a good time for me to mention that Flynn was best man at Lawrence's wedding." They all looked at him and he shrugged. "What? It was about fifteen years ago. I have a hard time remembering my own weddings much less anyone else's. Besides, Flynn more or less fell out with everyone when he ditched Robbery Homicide to come and play with us."

"If I may…" Cooper interrupted them. "I would like to go on record, right now, Captain as saying that we should stop while we're so far ahead." He folded his arms across his chest. "I won't pretend to be an expert in how you all work, but I can tell you, I am an expert in this."

Sharon returned his gaze. She nodded. "You are absolutely correct. Let's pack it up people. Go home and get some rest. Lieutenant Provenza, let Detective Sanchez and Buzz know that we will discuss the situation further in the morning. For now, I would recommend that we hold off on digging any deeper into this case until I have spoken with Chief Howard."

Amy's hand went into the air. "Unpopular opinion. Are we sure?" She looked around the room. "Or do we just want to be sure?"

"I'm sure." Cooper looked down at her. He was standing beside her chair. "We're about to burn his cover."

"Okay." Amy nodded. She believed them; she just wanted to make sure that they had considered all possibilities. She began closing the files that were open on her desk.

"That is going to be the least of his problems," Provenza stated. "I'm going to kill him." He walked around his desk and took his jacket off the back of his chair. "I could have gone home hours ago!"

The Captain hummed. She was rather more interested in why she had not been informed. If they were correct, and she had a very good feeling that they were, then Andy was perfectly aware of what was going on around him. Captain Patrick and Sergeant Staples should have sought her approval before involving him in their case, if it was, in fact their case. They had no way of knowing whom exactly the investigation was geared toward or who was running it. That was why Lieutenant Cooper was correct; they had to stop. "Good night, Lieutenant. Everyone…" Her gaze swept the room. "Have a good evening, get some rest. Lieutenant Cooper, thank you for all of your help tonight. I will see you all in the morning."

They watched her go into her office and close the door. Provenza jerked his head toward the exit. He waited for them to leave before he followed her. He only gave a cursory knock before pushing the door open. The Captain was standing with her arms wrapped around her body and her gaze directed through the windows behind her desk. Provenza sighed. "If he's under orders—"

"I know." Sharon felt her shoulders tense even more. He was speaking the truth, she knew that. "We walk a fine line," she admitted quietly. "Sometimes even I have a hard time seeing which side of it that I should be on. Logically I understand that if he was ordered not to tell me, he wouldn't. Not if he believes in what he is doing. On the other hand…"

"How could he keep something like this from you if you are going to marry him." They hadn't made any announcements but all of them had seen the ring. It didn't take a genius to realize they were waiting to talk to their kids. The Captain had been talking about Ricky coming to visit for a couple of weeks. It stood to reason they would do it then.

"Yes." Sharon turned. She smiled sadly at him. "It isn't always easy," she admitted, "this little juggling act of ours, but it is worth it."

Provenza snorted quietly. He shook his head. "Now he learns to follow the rules," he said, and a rueful little grin turned one corner of his mouth up. "I knew that you would end up being a bad influence on him." He took a step closer to her desk. "Look, whatever he's doing, there's a reason for it. A good one. We are all just going to have to play our parts and ride it out."

Sharon made a face at him. "I am rather offended by the part that I have been cast in all of this. Spurned girlfriend?" She looked truly disgusted by it.

The Lieutenant spread his hands wide. "It's a fine line," he reminded her.

She groaned. Sharon looked away from him. "It's not that fine a line." She sighed. "Go home Lieutenant. Thank you."

"You should do the same." He gave her a stern look. He knew she wouldn't want to, and he understood it, but she wouldn't be helping anyone if she stayed in her office all night.

"I will." Sharon reached forward and closed her laptop. "I sent Rusty to stay with Gus, for the time being, I think that is probably the best place for him. The farther removed from this that we keep him, the better. I will explain everything when it is over." Rusty wouldn't like it, but there was nothing that she could do about that. He would just have to learn to accept it.

"Sending him away keeps him from trying to help," Provenza pointed out. "Which would be worse for all of us in the long run. It was a good move." He turned toward the door. "Good night, Captain." He paused again before leaving her office. "Go home," he reiterated, more strongly this time.

Sharon watched him go with something of a tired smile. It slowly melted away once she was alone again. As tired as she was, she didn't really want to go home alone. The house would seem much too big on a night like this. Even as she thought about that, the aching in her shoulders reminded her just how exhausted she was. Sharon packed up her belongings and turned out the lights in the office. She only hoped that this case would be wrapped up soon, so that it would be the only long night that she would experience alone.

-TBC-