Rizzo's Fire

CHAPTER TEN

JOE RIZZO SAT AT HIS DESK in the Six-Two squad room, his eyes falling to the calendar. November 10: seventeen days until Thanksgiving. Carol would be home from college on the twenty-third, so he had less than two weeks to mend fences and perfect his argument, to once again try to dissuade his youngest daughter from planning a career with the NYPD.

He sighed. A major drawback of having partnered so successfully with Jennifer to raise three strong-willed, self-assured daughters now confronted Rizzo. He would attempt to push one of them along a path she herself did not wish to take. Even though it was a path that Rizzo knew to be an infinitely better one for her.

As he noticed Priscilla enter the squad room, it occurred to him that in many ways, Priscilla, allowing for cultural and environmental differences, closely mirrored his daughters. She wasn’t much older than Marie, his oldest, and she was just as confident and focused as his girls. Rizzo was not unaware of the ironic pride he took in watching his new partner navigate the unforgiving ways of the job. Priscilla seemed to confirm, in a bizarre sort of way, the hopes he harbored for his daughters, hopes unshackled or defined by traditional gender roles and antiquated societal prejudices.

But Rizzo believed the matter at hand to be entirely different. This was his Carol, sweet, innocent Carol, sheltered in so many ways from the harsh realities of the world in general, and certainly from the murky, often morally ambivalent world of police work.

With another sigh, Rizzo reached for a case folder on his desk, flipping it open, preparing to make his morning phone calls. For now, he would ease Carol from his thoughts.

He still had twelve days. Time enough, he thought. Time enough.

Later on that morning, Rizzo headed to Priscilla’s desk to discuss a case involving a series of forged medical prescriptions which had been turning up in local pharmacies. A female suspect, utilizing stolen prescription pads, was obtaining narcotics, presumably for resale on the streets. But before he could begin, Rizzo looked up to see detective squad commander Vince D’Antonio beckoning from the door of his office.

“Joe,” D’Antonio called out, “can I see you in my office, please? You, too, Priscilla.” The lieutenant turned back to his office, leaving the door open behind him.

“Looks like the principal wants us,” Rizzo said. “Get your excuses ready.”

Priscilla stood, pushing her chair back and shaking out her short hair. “Excuses for what? I’m clean, Partner. You’re probably the one needs excuses.”

Once inside, the door closed behind them, Rizzo and Jackson took seats in front of D’Antonio’s desk. The lieutenant looked across at them, his deep blue eyes twinkling under the harsh fluorescent lighting. “Ready for me to ruin your day?”

Rizzo grunted. “Hey, Vince, isn’t that what they pay you for?” he said.

D’Antonio nodded, looking from one detective to the other. “I guess so.”

“What’s up, boss?” Priscilla asked.

D’Antonio’s expression grew somber. “We got a murder to look at, guys. Over on Bay Twentieth Street.”

“What kinda murder, Vince?” Rizzo asked.

D’Antonio sighed. “The kinda murder Brooklyn South is gonna take a pass on. I just got off the phone with Jimmy Santori, the boss over there. All his guys have full dance cards, so he’s delegating this to precinct level.” He shrugged. “I can’t bitch too much, either. This’ll be our first homicide investigation in over two years. I think you handled that one, too, Joe.”

Rizzo nodded. “Yeah. Me and Morelli.”

“Yes,” D’Antonio said, his tone neutral, “Morelli.”

Rizzo shifted in his seat. “What’s the story on this one, Vince?”

“Well,” D’Antonio replied, sitting back in his chair. “From what I’ve been told, male white, forty-seven, killed in his apartment. Name was Robert Lauria. Looks like a forced entry. Probably happened over a week ago. Last night, the landlord smelled the dead body and called it in.”

“Gunshot?” Rizzo asked.

D’Antonio shook his head. “Strangled. Guy’s neck was badly lacerated, a lot of bleeding. What ever was used to kill him, it was thin, like a wire or cord.”

“You really wanna give me a case that’s already a week cold, Vince?” Rizzo asked. “I think Rossi would be better suited for wasting time on this.”

“Joe, this is a homicide, not some divorcee got her IUD stolen. Leave Rossi out of it. It’s you and Cil on this.”

“The price of greatness,” Rizzo commented to his partner. “No good deed goes unpunished.”

“Hell,” she said. “homicide sounds good to me. The real big leagues.”

“Yeah, right.” Rizzo turned to D’Antonio. “Shall we get over there now?”

D’Antonio nodded. “Yes. I’m gonna ride on it, too. Just to make sure the Brooklyn South prima donnas at the scene show you both a little respect. Let’s go.”

RIZZO SWUNG the gray Impala to the curb, blocking a fire hydrant. D’Antonio, driving his dark blue Impala, pulled in behind. Three blue-and-white radio cars stood randomly scattered in front of the detached, two-story brick home where the murder had taken place. Another police department vehicle sat parked in the driveway of the house, its front bumper nosed against the plain wooden door of the detached garage.

Rizzo, Jackson, and D’Antonio left their vehicles and climbed the porch steps. The front door stood open, guarded by a uniformed Six-Two patrol officer. The entrance to the basement apartment to the right of the front porch and down six steep, concrete steps was cordoned off with bright yellow police tape, the area secure, awaiting the arrival of the forensics team. They entered the house.

A second uniformed officer led the three Six-Two detectives to an interior staircase to the basement floor. Once there, they met with the detective from Brooklyn South homicide.

After introductions, Rizzo got straight to the point.

“Tell me,” Rizzo said.

Detective Sergeant Art Rosen glanced to his note pad, then began his narrative.

“Body was found by the patrol supervisor. The basement apartment has two entryways: the street-side front door outside-the one sealed off with the tape-leads directly into the victim’s kitchen. Then there’s the staircase you just came down. This door”-he tilted his head to his left-“leads into the bedroom of the vic’s apartment and it was deadbolt locked from the inside. Landlord only comes down the basement to get to the burner room, storage area, stuff like that. Last night, ’bout eleven, he came down here to check the oil level in the tank. He smells something, same thing you’re smellin’ now. So he knocks on the apartment door. No answer. Then it occurs to the landlord he hasn’t seen or heard his tenant in a while. The guy paid his rent in cash on October twenty-eighth, thirteen days ago. That’s the last time he was seen by the landlord or the landlord’s wife.”

“How many people live in the building?” Rizzo asked.

Rosen checked his notes. “Three, counting the vic. The two owners and the vic.”

Rizzo nodded. “Okay, go on.”

“Well, the landlord smells this, puts two and two together, calls the cops. Radio car rolls up at 2320 hours, checks things out, then calls for a supervisor. Six-Two sergeant rolls up 2350. He gets a master from the landlord, they go in through the kitchen entrance on Bay Twentieth. Body is on the kitchen floor. I been here since 0040.” He frowned. “Fuckin’ stink worked into my nose hairs. I gotta wash it out soon as I leave.”

“Well,” D’Antonio said, “according to your boss, it’s our stink now.”

Rosen nodded. “Yeah, we’re booked solid, Lieutenant, and I’m takin’ some time off. My son’s bar mitzvah’s coming up next week.”

“The M.E. here yet?” Rizzo asked.

“Yeah, he’s been with the body over an hour. Want the preliminaries?”

Rizzo shrugged. “Sure.”

Rosen read from his notes. “Body in the flaccid stage, maxed out fixed lividity. Advance putrefaction, larval stage finalized, pupae present, no adult flies emerging yet. Ballpark time of death less than twelve days ago, probably eight to ten. From the landlord, we know the guy was breathin’ on October twenty-eighth, so it checks out with the physical markers.”

Rizzo nodded. “Okay, thanks.”

“I’m gonna go out to the car, finish up these notes, then I’m going back to Brooklyn South.” Rosen turned to D’Antonio. “You got a card, boss?”

D’Antonio pulled a card from his pocket, handed it to Rosen and said, “Fax me all the notes. And your personal contact info in case we need to talk to you. You got a partner here?”

Rosen shook his head. “No, just me. Like I said, we’re stretched thin.”

“I thought homicides were down,” Priscilla said to Rosen. “Citywide in general, but I heard Brooklyn in particular.”

Rosen nodded. “Way down. So what happens? The brass cuts the overtime, doesn’t replace the attrition, and expands our caseload to include attempts, not just done murders. Go figure. We’re busier now than when the borough was doin’ four hundred a year.”

Rosen shook hands all around, then turned and climbed the stairs to the ground floor and relief from the permeating smell of death wafting into the basement from the rear door of the apartment. Rizzo turned to Priscilla.

“Point of information, Cil,” he said. “From what Rosen just told us, we know the body cycled completely through rigor mortis, going to flaccid with fixed lividity indicating the body’s been in one position since death. Lividity is maxed out, that only takes about twelve hours. It’s the advanced maggot activity that puts the approximate date of the murder around ten, twelve days ago.”

Priscilla nodded. “Will the M.E. be able to narrow that any?”

Rizzo shrugged. “Doubtful. He’ll do the autopsy for cause of death, but exact date will be tough. It ain’t a precise science, like on that television bullshit everybody watches. Maggots showing as early pupae make death around ten days, dependin’ on other environmental factors.”

“Well,” Priscilla said, her voice businesslike. “Shall we go take a look?”

Rizzo pulled two pairs of latex gloves from the pocket of his outer coat. D’Antonio produced his own. “I guess so, kiddo. Here, put these on.”

The three Six-Two cops went into the bedroom, then carefully crossed the room and entered a small foyer. From that vantage point, they could see directly into the kitchen. The body was covered, the medical examiner standing above it, a blue surgical mask covering the lower half of his ebony face. He was writing on a legal-size yellow pad, his brow furrowed.

“Hey, Doc,” Rizzo said cheerfully. “How you doin’ this morning?”

The man looked up from his notes, turning his eyes to the three detectives.

“As well as can be expected,” he said, a West Indies accent tugging at his tones. “And a damn sight better than this poor bastard.” With a dip of his head, he indicated the corpse.

“Was it definitely strangulation, Doc?” D’Antonio asked.

The man nodded, again turning to his pad and continuing his notemaking. “Most probably from behind, and with a garrote capable of deep cutting. The neck is badly lacerated. There was considerable bleeding while the heart was beating. Even afterward, some leakage continued.” He glanced from above the mask to Priscilla, then to Rizzo.

“ ’Tis quite a sight,” he said.

Rizzo stepped forward and pulled back the blue plastic morgue sheet covering the victim, dropping it away from the corpse.

The body lay facedown, its head twisted to the right, the profile swollen, eyes and tongue protruding. Decomposition fluids had drained from the nose and mouth, the skin of the distorted, bloated face was marbled in a greenish-black weblike pattern, a few plump maggots moving slowly across the surface.

Rizzo bent to the body, peering carefully at the open right eye, which stared in sightless horror at the base of the kitchen sink. The cornea appeared darkly clouded and opaque. Rizzo stood, turning to the examiner.

“Date of murder may turn out to be important here, Doc.” He added casually, “You notice that eye?”

Behind the man’s mask, it was evident he was smiling. “Relax, Detective,” he said. “I may just be a simple coconut island doctor, but I do know dead bodies. I assure you I will check the potassium levels in both eyes. Though it may not help much, other than to bolster my preliminary estimate of ten days.”

“No offense, Doc,” Rizzo said. “I’m just askin’, that’s all.”

The man nodded. “Yes, of course,” he said, glancing toward Priscilla. “I understand, and I’m sure your young colleague also understands your presumed need to ask.” He clicked his pen closed, returning it to the breast pocket of his blue Windbreaker. “And now,” he said, “I am finished here. When you are finished, release the body and I will next see it at the morgue. My initial report will be ready in a few days.”

“And the autopsy?” D’Antonio asked.

The man shrugged. “I cannot say. As soon as possible. I will have some lab results by Wednesday or Thursday that may or may not help with the date of death. But the autopsy, I cannot say.”

After they exchanged cards, the doctor left, passing a young Hispanic female morgue attendant, who stuck her head into the kitchen from the foyer.

“I’m here with the meat wagon, guys,” she said. “I’ll be outside, let me know when you’re done.”

Priscilla turned to her. “Okay,” she said with a nod.

“She’s got a long wait,” Rizzo said. “Crime Scene ain’t even here yet. We need photos, measurements, prints-all that shit.” He ran a hand through his hair and turned to D’Antonio. “Vince, you sure you can’t sell this back to Brooklyn South? Me and Cil are close to clearing a few of our cases. This homicide is gonna jam us up, time-wise. My stats are already down from workin’ without a steady partner. This is gonna kill me.”

“Sorry, Joe. Already tried. I don’t like this any more than you do, these homicide hotshots takin’ a fast look, seeing this is just some schnook nobody’s gonna be writin’ headlines about, and dumpin’ it on us. But it’s their call. You know that.”

“Yeah,” Rizzo said. “I know that.”

“Aren’t you on good terms with the boss over at Brooklyn South? Isn’t he always tryin’ to steal you outta the Six-Two?”

Rizzo understood. “Yeah, I know Santori, and no, I ain’t reachin’ out. Sometimes I feel like I owe more people than owe me, and I’m not addin’ any more to the list. If you can’t square it, fuck it, we’ll just do it.” He turned to Priscilla, who was now looking down at the putrid corpse. “Right, Cil?” he said.

Priscilla raised her eyes to meet his. “Right, we’ll just do it.” She turned back to the corpse. “Guy’s wearin’ pajama bottoms and a T-shirt, no shoes or socks.” She pointed at the countertop next to the stove. “Teapot and a box of Lipton. Looks like it was either morning or maybe late night. Guy was just gonna have some tea.”

She lowered her eyes once again to the corpse.

“Didn’t work out too good for the poor bastard, did it?”