from Chapter 3 — On the Scene

DETECTIVE MIKE STONEMAN CALLED OUT to his partner as soon as Jason ducked under the crime scene tape stretched across the sidewalk.

“Jason! Over here.” Mike waved his arm, beckoning Jason toward the center of the intersection. Since Mike lived in Manhattan, he had arrived fifteen minutes before his partner. A clot of officers and emergency services personnel milled about without much urgency.

“Nice night,” Jason said sarcastically.

Mike, dressed in a down parka and a blue-and-orange knit hat pulled down over his ears, grunted his agreement. Mike was a full five inches shorter than Jason and twenty years older. Even in their winter clothes, Jason’s style showed through, with his tailored wool overcoat, gloves, scarf, and LL Bean duck boots. Mike had long since stopped worrying about the fact that his partner was taller, better looking, in better shape, and a better dresser. Mike possessed wisdom that came from experience, which was the one thing Jason could not have. At least not until he had twenty-five years on the force like Mike. They had been partners for five years.

A uniformed officer with a plastic cover over his hat approached Mike as Jason arrived. “Detective Stoneman, the medical examiner is finished. Can we remove the body now?”

“Not yet,” Mike responded. “I want Detective Dickson to get a look at the scene first.”

The officer left to give his fellow officers the bad news – they all had to stay outside their warm squad cars.

As they walked around the intersection, Mike gave Jason the rundown. “The stiff’s name is Lou Palazzo. His wallet was in his pants pocket with a driver’s license, so the ID was pretty easy. He’s got a record from years back. Did three years in Sing Sing in the twenty-teens for conspiracy to commit murder. He was connected to the Gallata family. Since he got out, he’s had no arrests. He ran an electronics store and pawn shop over on the corner of Avenue B, a block away.” Mike pointed to the far end of the block. “He had a little cash and some credit cards in his wallet.”

Jason looked down at the remainder of the dead man’s head. “So, not a robbery, then?”

Mike didn’t laugh. “The snow and slush on the street mangled any physical evidence here, but there is blood in the snow outside his shop. It looks like he was shot inside the shop in the shoulder, tried to escape in this direction, then got caught here in the intersection and plugged once in the head. No cell phone on him. He wasn’t wearing a coat, so he left in a hurry. When we finish here, there are two more stiffs in the shop.”

“So, there’s more to see?” Jason asked.

“Oh, yeah. Plenty. We’ll get over there in a minute. The officer in the first squad car saw two figures in the middle of the street from a few blocks away and hit his lights. By the time he got here, Lou was dead on the ground and the other person had fled the scene on foot.”

Jason squatted to get a look at the body without dipping his knees into the slush. The kill shot entered the man’s head above his left ear and exited through his neck – a clean kill, likely fired by a person standing over the victim.

“Seen enough?” Mike asked.

“Sure. Thanks for doing the reconnaissance.”

“Let’s go see the shop. That’s where the action was.” Mike turned to the west. “Oh, and by the way, was that Rachel I saw over there with a cameraman?”

“Yeah,” Jason said without stopping. “She got a call from her network to come work this scene. She’s been bugging them for weeks about getting a chance to cover breaking news instead of the fluffy studio stuff. You know, the healthcare pieces and emergency services and such. She’s been on the on-call list every weekend since Halloween, hoping to get a call. Unfortunately, tonight was the night.”

“You need to be careful, Jason. You can’t spill any information to her. I know we talked about this possibly happening someday. Well, shit just got real. Sully will have your hide if he thinks you’re feeding her inside dirt on the investigation.”

“I know. I’m not telling her anything. But I can’t stop her from working. This is a big deal for her.”

“Sure. I get it,” Mike said. “But be careful.”

“You don’t need to tell me.”