As promised, today's second chapter:
The flight to New York was a long and uncomfortable one, each time Eric closed his eyes his mind came up with a new and even more horrific set of scenarios than the last. He realised that he felt hopelessly out of his depth, at times like this he would turn to his brother in law and friend for guidance. He was on his own this time, Horatio was lying in a hospital in Miami with no idea who he was or how he'd got there. To make matters worse his friend seemed to think he was a man by the name John Kelly and searches into the alias remained fruitless.
Climbing from the back of a yellow taxi cab Eric passed the driver a $20 note and told him to keep the change. Grabbing his bag from the trunk he looked up at the shabby low-rent hotel he had booked a room at, he was only planning to stay a couple of days and it was his on his dime, not the county's. He and Calleigh were carrying out their own unofficial investigation into Horatio's veiled past.
Dumping his bag in the hallway Eric walked over to the window and leant on the frame. New York was a big city, mean and unforgiving. He could see why Horatio had become the immovable force he was, a city like New York either made you or broke you. Even though he was tired he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until he had got the answers he was looking for, making himself a coffee with the paltry amenities the room offered he swallowed it down quickly and grimaced at the taste of the cheap freeze-dried coffee.
Several hours and phone calls later Eric was sure that he had finally tracked down the mysterious Andy Sipowicz, checking the address on the scrap of paper he raised his hand and knocked on the apartment door. Hearing no movement he knocked again, louder this time.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Hold your horses" a gruff voice responded from behind the door. Hearing the sound of a door chain being rattled Eric took a step back and waited. The door opened, a balding and ageing heavy set man stood there giving Eric a withering look. "If you're selling something pal, we're not interested" He gave the man one final look and began closing the door.
Eric held a hand out to stop him, "I'm not a salesman, I'm looking for Sgt Andy Sipowicz. Is that you?".
The older man's eyes narrowed, "Who's asking?" he answered in a gritty New York accent.
"Eric Delko, I'm from Miami Dade PD. I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me" he replied hopefully.
"A little out of your jurisdiction aren't you? Who you looking for?".
Eric hesitated, already unnerved by the email they had been sent yesterday. "Could we talk about this inside?". He showed the other man his badge and credentials and stood awkwardly in the hallway until the door opened fully to allow him in.
The man sat down on the couch, not offering Eric a seat or a drink. "Typical New York welcome" he thought to himself as dragged a dining chair over to the coffee table opposite the grumpy detective. He pulled out a photo and placed it on the coffee table, "Do you recognise this man?". He had shown him Horatio's ID photo for his police credentials, it was a few years old but at least he looked recognisable in it, certainly a lot better than he did at the moment.
He watched as the other man picked the photo up and took a long, hard look at it. His eyes narrowed once more as he scowled at Eric, "You think this is funny? Some sort of joke?".
Eric could see the anger build in the other man and worked quickly to keep the situation under control. "No, not at all" he was pinned by the fearful glare that reminded him so much of Horatio, "Do you know who this is?" he tried again.
He threw the picture carelessly back down on the coffee table, "I did know someone who looked like him, many years ago. Why are you asking?".
"Could you tell me his name?".
"John Kelly, used to be a cop back at the 15th precinct. He was my partner for a long time".
Feeling more confident that he was finally getting somewhere, Eric continued with his line of questioning, just as Horatio had taught him. "When was the last time you saw him?".
The eyes narrowed at him again, he could see the man's blood pressure rising as the blood rushed up from his neck to his head. "1994. Last time I saw Kelly we had our guns pointed at each other". He took another look at the photo, "This isn't John Kelly" he said as he held the picture up to Eric.
"How can you be so sure?".
He sat back on the couch and crossed his arms over his chest, "Because John Kelly is dead".
Whatever answers Eric has been expecting it certainly wasn't that. "How can you be so sure that he's dead?" he asked once he had regained his composure.
"Because they found his remains under the Brooklyn Bridge back in '96" theother man replied, his tone cold and unforgiving.
"What happened?" Eric asked, not sure that he wanted to know the answer. He had come too far now, he had made real inroads into tracing the identity of John Kelly and he knew he needed much more if he was to keep his friend safe.
Andy Sipowicz narrowed his eyes at the younger man, suspicious about the questions he had come asking. His partner had been gone for years and their friendship had died years before John did. The man sitting in front of him had stirred up memories and emotions that he thought were long forgotten, his friendship with John had ended on a sour note, he felt betrayed by his partner's actions. If he was in so much trouble why hadn't he come to him for help? John Kelly was dead and buried, along with his reputation. This kid in front of him had no idea the can of worms he was about to open. "Trust me, you don't want to know".
"Please, I have to know" Eric appealed to the older man, "I need to know everything you do about John Kelly. My friend's life may depend on it".
He lifted the photo and looked at it again, "This your friend?".
"Yes, he used to be your friend too" Eric replied, trying to appeal to the other man's good nature. "He needs your help".
"Look, kid. I told you I don't know this guy, he looks like my old partner but that's it. I'm not sure why talking about John is going to help your friend".
"Because he's lying in a hospital in Miami asking for you".
The shock registered on the retired detective's face. John Kelly was dead, he was sure of it, "No, you've got it wrong. I was there when they found the body, John Kelly is dead". He repeated the words, trying to make the younger man understand.
Seeing that his line of questioning was getting him nowhere, Eric changed tacks. "Tell me everything you remember about that day".
Flashback. New York 1996:
"Simone, Sipowicz" Lt Arthur Fancy called across the squad room, "My office, now".
The detectives turned to each other, Bobby Simone gave his partner a questioning look. Andy shrugged his shoulders and walked across the room towards the Lieutenant's door. "Something up?" the detective asked as his partner shuffled in to the room behind him and closed the door.
"Uniformed officers responded to a call about a DB under the Brooklyn Bridge this morning. I need you two to go and check it out".
"Probably another bum, drunk himself to death" Andy replied, hoisting his trousers over his large stomach. "Why are we being called?".
"Because it has all the markings of a Malucci hit. I need you to go to the scene; the ME will meet you there. ID the body and see if we can trace this back to those sons of bitches".
Sipowicz regarded his partner; both of them knew that it would probably turn out to be a wild goose chase and a waste of their time. Neither of them were a fan of paperwork, a trip down to the Bridge seemed preferable to another day spent typing and filing reports.
They knew they had found the right spot as they pulled up in a layby near the Brooklyn Bridge. A number of uniformed officers were in attendance and were in the process of taping the scene off, keeping the intrigued onlookers back. Bobby Simone flashed his badge as a uniformed officer held the tape up for them, "Hope you two haven't had your lunch yet" the burly officer smirked.
Walking over to the ME Andy crouched down as far as his protesting knees and large stomach would allow, he winced when he saw the state of the body. "What happened to the poor chump?" he asked as he chewed on a piece of gum and pulled his note pad from his jacket pocket.
The ME glanced up from his work, "The body has been badly burnt, hands and teeth removed. Whoever did this didn't want the body to be identified".
"Find any personal effects?" Bobby asked, disinterestedly. Whoever this was had obviously got himself in too deep with the Malucci brothers and had likely brought his fate on himself, "One less piece of scrum on the streets" he thought quietly to himself.
The ME patted the remnants of the corpse's clothes until he found a wallet in the pocket of what was left of the man's trousers. He opened the melted leather and found the remains of a driver's license, his face dropped when he read the name. "Well, who is it?" Andy asked impatiently.
"Ah…um…..I'm not sure how to say this….".
Losing patience, Andy swiped the wallet from the ME and nearly dropped it when he read the name, "No" he whispered.
Bobby saw the crestfallen look on his partner's face, "Andy, what is it? Do you know this guy?".
He leant back on his knees, "You could say that, ID says he's John Kelly".
He realised that he had no idea what to say to his partner, he had heard all about Kelly and his fall from grace. Even though it was common knowledge that Kelly and Andy had parted on bad terms he knew his partner still cared for the other man deeply. "Are you sure?" Bobby asked the ME, not able to quite believe it himself.
"Height and build is a match, we can't run fingerprints or use dental records to identify the body. We'll have to rely on any personal belongings we find to identify him. I'm sorry, Detective Sipowicz".
After collecting the personal effects found on the body Andy and Bobby returned to the precinct in uncomfortable silence. Handing the evidence over to the crime scene unit they returned to the squad room. Bobby glanced over to his partner and saw that he was in a state of shock, losing a friendship was always hard but finding your estranged friend's burnt and mutilated corpse had to be so much worse. He followed Andy to Fancy's office and closed the door behind him.
"What did you find?" the lieutenant asked as he sat behind his desk and smoothed his tie down.
Bobby glanced at his partner who seemed to be at a loss for words, "You were right, looks like a Malucci hit".
"Any luck with the ID?".
"Yeah, Lieutenant. About that…." Bobby started, unsure of how to continue. "Effects found on the body list the ID as John Kelly".
Arthur Fancy's head shot up, he looked dumfounded. "Are you sure?".
"ME says height and build are a match. The hands and teeth have been removed so we can't get a positive ID that way. We've passed the gun we found on to ballistics and they're running a search for the registered owner now. Andy recognised the watch on the body's left wrist, but it's looking like everything points back to Kelly".