A/N: A shout out to all of my readers. I am sorry that my updating has been so sporadic lately. My schedule has been a bit crazy and I have not had as much time to write as I would like.

Chapter 12

Fin, Bruno, and Churlish entered Casey Barreto's apartment with a few CSU techs. Carisi had gotten them a search warrant based off the unpaid child support and Ben Updike's statements. Captain Benson and Detective Lee had headed to his office while Huang stuck with Rollins – the two of them trying to sort out all they learned. The funeral director had been taken to the Tombs in the meantime.

"You really think that this Casey is our guy?" Churlish asked as she sifted through the pile of mail on the end table near the sofa. The sofa was up against the wall, near the front door. The end table was near the door and probably the spot where keys and other items were left upon entering the apartment.

"Well, he does have access to the graveyard but how or why he'd have access to that house in Queens… let's hope TARU can get him on camera," Fin said. He was looking around the kitchen looking for anything that was out of place. One of Ben's statements was that he'd noticed his boss had been carrying a knife around on him in his work bag. Not a hunting knife or even a pocketknife, but what looked like a kitchen knife. It was odd since it wasn't in his lunchbox, but Ben had only seen it once so he figured Casey was using it for his lunch; maybe it didn't fit in his lunchbox. That wouldn't have been a big deal, except that Ben had then found the knife at the crematorium two days before they found poor Makayla Powell. Of course, Ben was confused as to why, if his boss had done this, Makayla hadn't been disposed of inside the cremation chamber. Fin had then pointed out that Casey could have been waiting for another body needing to be cremated before turning the unit on. After all, turning on the large oven, when it wasn't supposed to be on, may have drawn attention he didn't want. Mr. Bernardini just happened to come up first, so he went with that.

Still given all they'd learned, Ben confessed that Casey had been jumpy for the last week and short tempered. Since Ben was the head gravedigger, he worked more with Casey than the rest of his team. Ben had figured that Casey was getting pressure from his bosses. They were supposed to be drumming up the cremation business, since they were out of room in the graveyard, unless plots had already been paid for. Ben had even heard Casey arguing with someone over the phone. Knowing that the funeral director would never do that with a client, he figured it was a boss.

"There's a knife missing from the kitchen," Fin announced.

"You guys need to see this…" Bruno's voice wafted down the hall from the bedroom. The Sergeant and Officer went down to meet him.

"Whatcha got Bruno?" Fin asked.

"Casey didn't mention that he shared the apartment with a woman, did he?" The former Bronx detective wanted to know.

"Pretty sure that would have come up," Churlish admitted.

"Then why does he have dresses, high heels, and women's lingerie in his closet and dresser?" Bruno gave them a look.

"Yeah… Hey Johnson, can you come in here?" Fin called to the CSU tech who was across the hall in the bathroom.

"You guys, I found a second toothbrush…" Josh Johnson walked into the room and paused when he saw the high heels on the floor.

"Oh boy. We're not violating someone's rights here are we?" Josh asked.

"Casey didn't tell us he had a live-in girlfriend," Bruno said. Something was bothering Churlish though and she spoke up,

"Hang on boys. Do you see what I see?" The three men looked around and then gave her a look.

"I know it might not be as much of a thing as in years past but if there was a girlfriend, wouldn't there be pictures? Especially, if she was living here?" She wondered.

"There's no pictures out here," CSU tech Sue Pipkin called to them from the living room, before saying, "you guys might want to come check this out." The four left the bedroom and went out to the living room.

"I looked under the couch, because people always manage to get stuff under there, and forget about it. Problem is, I don't know how you forget about this," Sue lifted a small case off the couch.

"Something is really not right here," Fin shook his head.

"Why carry around a kitchen knife if you have a nine-millimeter?" Bruno gave the tech a look.

"I can't answer that but the serial number is filed off. Perhaps the gun is a new acquisition?" Sue wondered.

"Could be… I'm calling Carisi. He better get down here. If someone else does live here we need to cover our backsides," Fin told them.

Meanwhile, Klass and Gonzales had swung by the former's apartment and grabbed her dog, Betty. The German Shepard needed a walk and Klass had a feeling that the dog may be helpful in case they find anything at the site. Gonzales was impressed with the large dog.

"How'd you get her to sit so still in the backseat?" The New Jersey State Trooper asked.

"I have to confess, I didn't. She learned that in Afghanistan," Klass admitted.

"You served?" Gonzales was surprised. Not that the detective couldn't have but she hadn't mentioned it.

"No. My former partner, Jared, served. Betty was his dog over there. She was injured in combat and so was he. I went to the airport to pick them up, except… when I got there, Betty was guarding his coffin," Klass swallowed hard as the car came to a stop at the red light.

"I'm sorry," Gonzales was apologetic, not realizing it would bring up some old wounds.

"His mom found out only hours before the plane was landing. She tried to reach me but I had been so crazy busy on a case that I had barely gotten to the airport in time. I mean I had talked to him the night before he was due to be sent home from Germany. He was fine. Then some time, over the night, he threw a clot… it's not uncommon…," she pressed the gas pedal after the light turned green.

"Still, it's not fair," Gonzales said.

"No, it isn't. Betty couldn't serve anymore so she was going to be discharged. Jared's commanding officer made sure that Betty got to go home with Jared's mom. He felt it was only fitting. His mom was grateful and would have kept Betty… if I hadn't needed her…" Klass heaved a sigh and swung the car into a parking spot near the location they were looking for. Gonzales felt he should ask but he was also afraid to. They had a job to do now and he didn't want to drag her more down a road that she obviously struggled with. He could not blame her, either. That was an awful situation. He'd lost a partner himself, not that way, but losing a partner to death was never a good way.

"Well let's get Betty out and see what we can see," he said.

"Betty unten!" Klass opened the car door and the dog hopped out.

"What language is that?" Gonzales thought it sounded Eastern European.

"Betty only understands German, well and her name in English. It helped to keep her and the team safe when Jared was out on patrol," the detective explained. Gonzales nodded. They got up onto the sidewalk and Klass shut the car door before locking the vehicle.

"So… what would Howey be doing here?" Gonzales wondered.

"Well, that massage parlor may have some answers but I want to call vice before we go barging around there. What else do we have?" Klass looked around.

"A couple of bodegas and a few apartment buildings," Gonzales shook his head as they moved down the block, hoping to get something else. Perhaps the massage parlor was their only lead. That's when Betty growled at the fence which surrounded a lot near the corner.

"Betty!" The German Shepard didn't listen and continued to growl.

"Better call for backup," Gonzales said. The dog was latched onto something and that could spell trouble.

"Agreed," Klass grabbed her radio off her waistband and quickly called for backup.

To Be Continued…