Chapter 27
"I really appreciate you guys doing this," Detective Klass said to Bruno and her boyfriend, Detective Scott Gonzales. She was cleaning up the pizza boxes and dishes in the kitchen while the two men moved her furniture and scrubbed the paint off the wall that Caitlin had left. Klass had been bopping around during the investigation and admittedly had not spent much time at her place.
"Your landlord said that we could paint it so I figure we do it while we wait," Bruno smiled.
"That would be great as well. That red that Caitlin used really messed up the white," Klass shook her head.
"So, Caitlin admitted to being in your apartment?" Rollins asked from her seat at the kitchen table. She'd left Dominick home with his father and a supply of full baby bottles. The girls were spending the night with Sonny's mother.
"No. She really had no beef with me but if she wanted to make it look like Dylan did…" Klass trailed off.
"The message would need to be clear," the blonde nodded.
"She's way crazier than I gave her credit for. Still all of this seems like…" Klass started.
"Overkill? Sally, her aunt, said that Caitlin had a habit of overdoing it," Bruno spoke up from the landlord's borrowed ladder. He was carefully using a roller. Ordinarily, he wouldn't be doing this but he figured that the detective shouldn't have to stare at this all night.
"If she went this far after Akiko broke off their friendship, I don't want to know what happens when someone cuts her off in the line at the bodega," Scott shook his head.
"Right? I wouldn't be surprised if her attorney tries to go for an insanity defense, even though she's planned this all out," Rollins said without turning around. She was watching the camera feed from the hallway. A few neighbors had passed them earlier but there was no sign of anyone now. Given how quiet the hallway was, the blonde figured it would be a quiet evening or easy to spot someone who did not belong.
"TARU put cameras on the fire escape too, right?" Klass suddenly asked.
"Yeah. Your window locks have been checked as well and a silent alarm was added. The alarm goes to the local precinct and the Captain's phone. Tonight, it goes to my phone," Rollins said. They had opened the windows to get the smell of paint out, which was fine as Rollins had entered the disarm code into the app on her phone.
"You think he'll try to come in that way?" Scott moved toward her, concerned at her tone of voice. Betty sensed something was up with her and moved from her spot near her food dish.
"I honestly don't know. We were just talking about people holding onto grudges. I put the man away a long time ago and yet here we are, dealing with him again," Klass admitted. Scott pulled her into a hug.
"He's going to get a rude awakening if he tries to bust in here, given there are three armed officers here. Scott can whack him with the baseball bat," Bruno told her as he focused on the painting.
"I think Jared would like that. It's his bat," Klass said.
"All the better then," Bruno chuckled. He was almost done with the first coat but he wasn't sure it would be enough. It would have to dry to find out.
"We'll leave the windows ajar for another hour and then we'll close them. You have any fans?" Rollins asked, hoping the change of subject helped.
"There's one in the storage closet. The rest are in my storage cubby in the basement. I only bought them when the AC went down last summer," Klass told them.
"The one will do. No one is travelling outside the apartment tonight," Bruno nixed the idea of a basement trip as he came down off the ladder and closed the paint can. Scott went looking for the fan.
"Given that Dylan knows I have a dog, you really think he'll try and come in?" Klass asked as she took a seat at the table next to Rollins.
"Where does Betty sleep?" The blonde wanted to know.
"Normally, on the foot of my bed. She must have slept there with Jared so I didn't break her of that habit," the brunette explained.
"He'd have his work cut out for him then. I'm not thinking that he is brain now. Huang said that he figured it was all south of the border thinking," Rollins said. Bruno's phone rang and that broke up the conversation. Scott had found the fan and plugged it in. Moving the air around in the room would help get that smell out and he quickly turned it on.
"Forensics matched the serial numbers on the gun to Sally's registered weapon. Notably, the only fingerprints on the gun were Caitlin's. They're both going down. Sally was booked on a weapons charge and as an accessory. I suspect that she'll want a deal with Carisi in the morning though," Bruno shook his head.
"That ties up almost everything right?" Scott wondered.
"Almost everything. It would seem that we might tie up the rest in a minute or two. Close the windows and get the lights," Rollins told them. They quietly scurried about the apartment. Once the windows were shut, the blonde reactivated the alarm. The light of the laptop screen showed someone out in the hall, wearing a hoodie with the hood up. The person reached for the doorknob and tried it.
To Be Continued…