Killing Game

By Kadi

Rated T

Disclaimer: This is only a sandbox that I like to play in. Sadly, it is not mine.

Chapter 5

When the Internal Affairs group of the LAPD was founded in 1949 no one within the department could have foreseen that the small investigative division would grow to the size and necessity that it currently maintained. What once began as a small group of police officers with the responsibility of making sure that the city's own did not become corrupted had grown to encompass three divisions with a police force that was made up of several dozen officers. It was now called the Professional Standards Bureau and was made up of its own Special Operations Division, Force Investigation, and Internal Affairs, which had been further broken down into Criminal and Administrative Investigative groups.

The PSB had long since been removed from the offices and infrastructure of the primary LAPD, in part due to size, but primarily because of the confidentiality and oversight that the group had to maintain to efficiently perform its function. When Force Investigation was added to that department in 2001 it was moved from the old Parker Center offices to a new facility downtown. Professional Standards expanded further in the years that followed and was given its own labs and databases. Each division within that department reported to a single commanding officer, Commander Sam Michaelson, who in turn reported directly to Assistant Chief Taylor.

Michaelson had been in charge of Professional Standards since early 2001, and everyone within and outside of the bureau had known that the Commander was grooming Raydor to be his replacement… not that a lot of grooming had gone into that professional relationship, but it was known that she would be taking his place when he retired. It was a retirement that was delayed when the Captain made the move to Major Crimes.

There were not a lot of people who remembered that when Raydor had made the move from Patrol to Internal Affairs that she was originally assigned to the Special Operations section of that department. She was with that division until making the move to the Criminal Investigations group within Internal Affairs. She had come up through the ranks under Michaelson's wing, and when he was promoted to Commander, no one within Professional Standards was overly surprised that his first task had been to place the then Lieutenant within the newly formed Force Investigation Division. Her promotion to Captain was a few more years in coming, but it had only been a matter of time as long as Michaelson was pulling the strings within Professional Standards.

Even with that history behind her, and knowing all of the players as well as she did, Sharon was still surprised to find Commander Michaelson waiting for them when she and her officers entered the lobby of the Professional Standards building. "Commander." Sharon did not allow her surprise to show as she greeted him. "I was expecting Lieutenant Wheaton."

Michaelson took her hand when she offered it, but instead of the friendly handshake she was expecting, he cupped her small hand in both of his. He was a tall man, and his once sandy colored hair had long grayed. He was finding these days that his frame stooped a little more than it had in his youth, and so he didn't quite have to look so far down to speak to his old protégé as he used to. "Sharon." He offered a solemn nod and a sad smile. "I'm sorry about Matthew."

There was a time when he thought that the younger officer was too stubborn, too passionate. The Commander questioned her resolve to train him. Time had passed, though, and he began to see as she did, the potential that Elliot held for their line of work. Sharon nodded once. Her face softened into a small smile that held gratitude as well as grief. "Thank you, Sam. So am I."

She moved beyond his little kingdom, but she left him Elliot. Wheaton had not been his first choice for a replacement when the Chief told him, in no uncertain terms, that Sharon was transferring. It was no secret that he would have preferred to move Elliot into that position, but a Sergeant could not command a division, and the promotions freeze had tied his hands. Michaelson was forced to choose from his existing pool of eligible Lieutenants. The writing had been on the wall, however, when the promotions freeze was over Elliot would be promoted and Wheaton would be given the choice of stepping aside or transferring to another division. Sharon made a mental note to look into that too. She couldn't imagine any situation where professional jealousy would have driven Mark Wheaton to commit the kind of act that brought them here tonight. More heinous crimes had occurred, though, and her division had investigated those too.

Sharon gestured to the two officers that were with her. "Commander Michaelson, you know Lieutenant Provenza," she said, making the introduction.

"I do." Sam shook his head as his attention moved to the older man. He had tangled with the old man more than once in his time, and a few of those had been because of recommendations made by the Captain in front of him. "Lieutenant, my department appreciates the assistance that you had sent out to the Elliot house. I know Lisa will appreciate it too, as well as the call that you made to the Pullman police department on her behalf."

Sharon's brows rose in surprise. She turned to the Lieutenant beside her. "I was not aware…"

Provenza shrugged. It wasn't such a great feat. "I had them send a grief counselor out to sit with the family while Mrs. Elliot phoned her daughter. It's not unheard of."

No, she thought, it wasn't. She hadn't considered that, but then Sharon had to realize that she had a lot of things on her mind at present. She couldn't always think of everything; she was grateful to have people around her that she could trust to step in when it was needed. "Thank you, Lieutenant." She turned before she could allow herself to become too emotional about it and indicated the younger officer that was with them. "Detective Amy Sykes. She will be assisting the Lieutenant and I with this portion of the investigation."

"Detective," Michaelson nodded. "Under better circumstances, it would be a pleasure to meet you."

"Yes sir. I agree." Amy nodded once. She understood the sentiment, and it was one that she shared. Normally she would have enjoyed meeting her Captain's mentor and former partner, but this was far from normal. Or more sadly, it was exactly normal; this was precisely what they did, just not always for their own officers.

"Well," Michaelson let his gaze sweep over the group again before he nodded. "I know that Lieutenant Wheaton and Sergeant Davis are waiting for us upstairs. I suggest we get the reason for this visit started."

The Commander led them to the elevator bank and rode with them up to the fifth floor. It was there that the offices and labs of the Force Investigation Division had been housed since PSB had taken over the building in 2002. It was rather odd, but walking those halls, there was a part of Sharon that felt as though she had never left, while at the same time she had never felt so far removed from it all. The bullpen that FID operated out of was located at the end of a corridor. The walls were lined with glass. Commander Michaelson swiped his security badge and let them in through a pair of double doors. As they entered, Sharon had to fight the urge to smile at Provenza's quietly muttered Welcome to the fish bowl.

Sharon had to agree that it had always felt a little like that. From inside the bullpen they could watch people coming and going, all of the officers and techs assigned to that floor, and anyone else that had access to their labs. She shook her head a bit, and once inside the bullpen, Sharon stopped to look around. A few of the desks had been rearranged, but it looked more or less exactly as it had the last time that she was there, almost five years before.

The office that was once hers stood open in the far corner. Like her current office it was bracketed on two sides with glass walls. It was smaller, however, and without the attached conference room. She felt a sense of nostalgia wash over her as she stood there. She had not enjoyed feeling like an outsider around other officers, but her years spent in this division were not bad ones. She had made friends and it had allowed her to advance her career in ways that were not open to women during the time that she had been coming up through the ranks of the LAPD. She owed quite a lot to the years spent working with these people, and while she enjoyed the people that she worked with now, and the job that they did, she would always be grateful, and she would always believe in the principles and values for which Professional Standards stood.

Lieutenant Mark Wheaton moved across the bullpen to greet them. "Captain Raydor, Lieutenant." He nodded to Sykes, although he did not readily know her. "We have everything gathered for you in the conference room," He waved a hand toward the large room to their immediate left. There were boxes stacked along one wall that held the cases that they would need to review. "Anything current is still in the Sergeant's desk. We did not remove it, we thought you might need to do a full catalogue."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Sharon turned where she stood and let her gaze fall on the Sergeant's desk. It had not been moved. He sat, where he always had, at the desk just outside of the ranking officer's office. He had chosen it because of the windows along that wall. Elliot liked having a lot of light, and he liked being able to look out on the city. They didn't have the best view on the fifth floor, but it wasn't horrible either. Sharon walked over to the desk and stood there for a moment. It was as she expected to find it; the surface was cleared of everything but his desk calendar, computer and a few personal items. She smiled at the pictures of his wife and kids that were arranged around his computer monitor.

Sharon laid a hand on the back of his desk chair and sighed quietly as she pushed it back. She pulled her phone from her pocket and took pictures of the desk and how it was arranged before she sat in the chair. She reached for the drawer where she knew the Sergeant to have kept his files. Sharon pulled it open and took a picture before she placed her phone aside and began to flip through the neatly arranged file folders. They were marked by case classification and arranged by date.

While the Captain was looking through the Sergeant's case files, Lieutenant Provenza ventured closer. He stood nearby and let his gaze wander over the photos that were lining the window ledge beside the Sergeant's desk. It seemed to be an array of photos that depicted team events and occasions. There were a few with the new commanding officer, Wheaton, but most of them seemed to depict their Captain with her former team. From the looks of them they spanned several years. There were photos from a charity softball event, the same event that was held each year, and that several divisions throughout the LAPD participated in. The photo made Provenza scowl, as he recalled it, the Captain had a mean under-handed fastball. Not even Julio had ever been able to get a hit, and he was always their best hitter at those games.

Provenza shook his head and looked at the photo next to it, the one nearest the Sergeant's desk. His eyes narrowed as he bent down to get a better look at it. A low snort escaped him. Provenza picked up the framed photograph and stared at it a little bit incredulously. There on the FID white board was the nameplate that was stolen from the door leading into the Major Crimes murder room seven years before. It had been mounted on the board and the word Crimes had a broad line drawn through it in bright red marker. Arranged around the board were caricatures of the Major Crimes team, drawn in dry erase marker, and depicted rather comically. In fact, the word Clowns had been written above the name plate. Provenza turned and fixed his captain with a long look. Major Clowns?"

Sharon glanced over. Her attention fell on the picture. She smiled as she reached for it. She lifted it out of his hands with a shake of her head. "You had your little jokes, Lieutenant. We had ours. I seem to recall a rather well drawn witch, complete with broomstick and flying house."

"It was you!" Provenza shook his finger at her. "You stole our nameplate. I don't believe this. You... you... thief!"

Sharon simply arched a brow at him. She blinked. A small smile curved her lips. "As a matter of fact, Lieutenant, the plate was not stolen at all. Rather, it was gifted to us; it was even wrapped nicely with a little blue bow."

His jaw dropped open. "I don't believe it. Who would..." He stopped and his eyes widened. "Flynn. I knew it! He is going to hear about this one."

Beside them Amy was shaking her head. "Why do you think that the Lieutenant did it?" She asked. Just because the Captain and Lieutenant were dating now did not mean that he was involved in everything that she did. Amy seemed to remember a few stories that Julio and Mike had told her that described an entirely different kind of relationship. They had barely liked each other at one point. She found it hard to believe, but apparently it just made the dating thing as the guys called it more amusing to them.

"Yes," Sharon asked calmly, "why do you believe that it was Lieutenant Flynn?"

"I... I..." There was something in the way that her eyes glittered that made Provenza's eyes narrow. "Julio." If there was one other person who had a crush on the Captain before she came to work with them, it was Sanchez, who just happened to be the only member of their team who had not participated in the Witch Incident as it was now referred. Provenza huffed a sigh and shot a glare at Amy when she attempted to cover a laugh. "Did they have to draw my nose so big?"

Sergeant Davis, who had joined them, just smiled fondly at the memory. "Well, the Captain always was a pretty decent artist."

The light that had entered the Captain's eyes dimmed suddenly. Her smile faltered as she placed the photo back in its original space. She sighed quietly and shook her head. "No, that time it was Sergeant Elliot. Major Crimes was giving me a rather difficult time over the Terrell Baylor case. It was the Sergeant's attempt at cheering me up."

The small group surrounding the desk immediately sobered. "Yes, well..." Provenza lifted the files that she had already pulled from inside the drawer. "We can begin going through these first," he told Amy. "The Captain can join us after she checks the rest of the Sergeant's records."

Sharon passed the younger Detective another stack of files and watched as her two officers moved off to the conference room. Her attention moved then, back to the Sergeant that was standing in front of the desk. "Jake, I know that Matthew kept records on his family, in case of emergency. Can you access that server for me? We need to run elimination prints against those we took from Matthew's car."

"Yes ma'am." Sergeant Davis moved away. His desk was positioned nearer to the center of the room. He took a seat behind it and began going through the network drive that belonged exclusively to FID. "I can inbox it directly to Major Crimes," he told her, "or would you rather I just send the files to you?"

"No," Sharon looked up from the case file that she was paging through; it was the Sergeant's most recent assignment. "Go ahead and inbox the files to Lieutenant Tao. You can copy myself and Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza."

Wheaton, who had remained nearby, shook his head. "Your division is run by a Captain and three lieutenants, that must be convenient."

"Hm." Sharon only spared a glance. "It can be. Each of my officers is well trained and highly experienced." When she did look up, it was to peer at the Lieutenant over the rims of her glasses. "I felt the same way when I was in charge of this division. There are pending promotions for a few of the officers here. The freeze has held them where they are currently, but once it is fully released, I expect that will change."

"Sergeant Elliot was in line for one of those," Wheaton commented.

"Yes he was." From the corner of her eye Sharon was aware of Sergeant Davis looking at them. He stood up when he realized where the conversation was going and stepped into the conference room to assist her detectives. Sharon looked over at Commander Michaelson who had continued to linger with them in the FID bullpen. "I recommended the Sergeant for promotion several times while he was under my command. I fully expected that he would reach the rank of Lieutenant by the end of this year." The promotions freeze was ending at the end of their current fiscal year; the new fiscal period would begin in April. Sharon imagined that quite a few promotion ceremonies would be held over the summer months.

"I made sure his name was on the list again," Sam stated. The Commander leaned against the edge of a neighboring desk. "This department has a lot of names on that list." He wasn't going to mention that Wheaton wasn't one of them. He saw no reason to promote the Lieutenant to Captain when he was planning to replace him.

Sharon lifted the stack of files that she was paging through and stood. "Lieutenant, is there some reason that you are bringing this up now? Do you think that it may have played a role in the Sergeant's murder?"

Wheaton shrugged. "I don't think anyone in this division had anything to do with it, but a lot of people knew that Elliot was on the short list. If anyone felt slighted for not being on that list, or felt like they needed to stop him from advancing..." He trailed off and sighed. "His work was impeccable." The Lieutenant nodded to the files in her arms. "I don't have to tell you that. If someone wanted to get rid of Elliot, that was the only way to do it."

"That is exactly why we are here, Lieutenant." Sharon moved around the desk. "If you are right, we will figure it out." She nodded to Michaelson. "Commander, I will copy you on my reports to Chief Taylor."

"Thank you, Captain." Sam straightened. "Mark, I am going back up to my office. I trust that you will continue to make sure that the Captain gets everything that she and her team needs?"

"Yes sir." He nodded. It chaffed a little, it was his division now, but he was outranked where the Captain was concerned. He wondered if she knew that she had cast a very large shadow, one that he was still, five years later, trying to move out of. He was met with resistance, even outside of his own division. Wheaton could not count the number of times that he had heard someone say to him "Even Raydor wouldn't pull this crap." After a while he had gotten tired of hearing what Raydor would or would not have done. Now here she was, digging in to cases worked by his division, investigating the murder of one of his, and everyone was acting as though she was owed this right.

Wheaton shook his head as she walked away. It actually chaffed a hell of a lot when he really thought about it. This investigation should have come to him. It was one of his officers that was dead. He was not even allowed the courtesy of informing the family. Wheaton wondered if Raydor knew that this was just one more example of why people all over the LAPD still called her the Dragon Lady. He turned where he stood and walked back into his office. No one appreciated having their division investigated, and he would stay until the group from Major Crimes was finished.

Sharon was still frowning when she stepped into the conference room with the others. Her head tilted to one side. It was an odd exchange, but she supposed that she would feel the same way if it were her division that was under the microscope. Lieutenant Provenza's concerned look had her shaking her head. "Let's get through this as quickly as we can. We do not want to keep FID tied up any longer than we have to."

Provenza snorted quietly but said nothing on the matter. He quite agreed, but if the whole lot of nothing that he had seen so far was any indication, they were not getting out of there anytime soon.

-TBC-