New York City Morgue
Tuesday, 9:31pm
Rogers was about to head on her way out for the day when Macy’s body rolled in.
“Briscoe and Logan need this guy autopsied A.S.A.P.,” the young E.M.T. reports as he and his partner brought Macy in.
“Great...,” she growled in her usual way, “Yet another late night care of Briscoe and Logan.”
“Comes with the territory of being head M.E..”
“Feh... Don’t remind me.”
Now, about an hour and a half later, she found herself elbow-deep in Mr. Macy’s internal organs, “Delightful,” she grumbles under her breath as she cuts into his stomach.
“In a charming mood as always I see.”
Rogers turns to see Briscoe walking toward her, “Briscoe, why can’t you ever find bodies during normal business hours?”
Briscoe smirks at her comment, “Didn’t know this was a business.”
“Oh, there are a lot of things you don’t know,” she looks over his shoulder, “Where’s your ever so lovely partner?”
Just then McCoy stumbles in.
Briscoe gestures behind him to McCoy, “You mean him?”
Rogers takes one look at McCoy and wrinkles her nose, “Shesh... never thought I’d say I prefer Logan.”
“Thank you, Rogers. And may I say that you’re not exactly my ideal person to talk to as I am recovering from a hang-over,” McCoy snaps back.
“But every bit as surly as Logan. What a treat.”
“Ahem. If we could find out what you know about Mr. Macy we’ll be on our way.”
“Well, seeing as I’ve only had about an hour and half to look at our friend here I can’t tell you a whole lot. “
“Tell us what you can then.”
“Cause of death was a gun shot to the back of his head.”
“Gee, never would have guessed that,” Briscoe remarks.
“If I could continue?”
“By all means.”
“I’ve placed the time of death between 7 and 11 Monday night.”
“Right around the same time Laura Andrews died,” McCoy points out.
“He was killed not long after he went out that night,” Briscoe puts in.
“That would make sense- his stomach contents tells me his last meal was spaghetti and meat balls.”
“What his wife served for dinner that night,” Briscoe informs McCoy, “Anything else?”
“Not that I can see right now. I’ve sent the bullet I dug out of his head to ballistics for analysis. Hopefully, they ca tell you what kind of gun killed poor Mr. Macy.”
“Okay. Thanks Rogers. We’ll be in touch.”
“Anytime Lennie. But next time leave your drunken buddy at home.”
Inside Det. Lennie Briscoe’s Car
Tuesday, 9:54pm
Lennie and Jack ride along in silence. Lennie shoots Jack a side-ways glace every few seconds.
It is Jack who breaks the quiet, “So, what’s Rogers like outside work?”
“Huh?”
“‘Anytime Lennie. But next time leave your drunken buddy at home.’ What was all that about?”
“She doesn’t like drinkers- afraid that they’re gonna barf and mess up her pretty little lab.”
“No, I’m talking about the ‘Anytime Lennie.’ Since when does she call you Lennie?”
Lennie smiles sheepishly, “I’ve bugged her enough times that she finally took me up on my offer to get a cup of coffee one night about a month ago and... well...”
“She’s your type.”
“What? Devilishly handsome?”
“Not quite- she and you have got the same sense of humor.”
“We both work around bodies for a living- I find’em, she slices’em.”
Jack gives Lennie a look, “Case in point.”
Lennie chuckles, “You feeling any better?”
“Yeah, somewhat.”
“How about we get a cup of coffee and then go take a look at the crime scene?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Hudson River bank
Tuesday, 11:13pm
Agents Mulder and Scully are on the scene searching for clues when Briscoe and McCoy pull up.
“I thought you two were long gone,” Briscoe comments as he approaches them.
“We were on our way when one of your people called me and told me that you had found Arthur Macy. Wish we hadn’t been right,” Mulder replies, grimly.
Agent Scully looks up from her inspection of a broken twig and observes McCoy’s appearance before she even sees Briscoe. He looks like Hell- definitely not the same man she had met only a week ago.
“Are you feeling okay, Mr. McCoy?”
Before McCoy can answer, Briscoe cuts in, “He’s fine. What have you found so far, Agent Scully? Anything interesting?”
Mulder sighs, “Nothing your guys haven’t already found.”
“Looks like another non-starter,” Scully remarks.
Briscoe can’t hide his disappointment, “Well, it was too much to hope for a miracle.”
McCoy staggers out from behind Briscoe, “What if he was dumped in upstream of here and just floated down?”
Mulder and Scully look at each other, “We’ve already considered that,” Mulder informs him.
“Have you searched any where upstream?”
“Both the NYPD and us have looked.”
“Look again.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said look again.”
“Hey, I don’t know what you think but we do know how to do our jobs! It’d be a waste of time.”
“Humor me, Agent. Humor the hunches of a raving lunatic.”
Mulder scowls at him but does what he asks. Together the foursome trudge upstream. Scully and Briscoe wield flashlights while Mulder and McCoy explore the ground for clues. They come to a particularly muddy and grassy embankment and McCoy stops.
“If I were going to dump a body this is were I would do it.”
“Why on Earth here?” Mulder questions, incredulously.
“Someone just walking by isn’t going to see a body here because on the grass and mud. And no one is going to run down there to look for one because-”
“Because is the worst place one can find along the river?”
“Yup.”
“So someone should go down there and look, right?” Mulder uneasily inquires.
“Yup.”
“Who?”
“Well, Agent Mulder since you volunteered-”
“Hey, wait! No way! I’m not-”
Scully gives him a push and down the embankment he goes. A moment later a splash is heard below them somewhere in the grass and mud. Scully shines her light in the direction of the splash and gets to see a soggy Mulder pulling himself up out of the water.
She can’t help smiling at Mulder- the drowned rat, “How’s the water, Mulder?”
“Oh, its just great. Why don’t you come down and join me?” he snarls back.
“Haha... That’s a good one. You see anything down there?”
“Besides water, mud, and grass? No, I don’t, Scully.”
As Mulder and Scully bicker, Briscoe leans over to McCoy and whispers, “Ya know, she reminds me of someone.”
“Who?” McCoy whispers back.
“Hard-headed, witty, not very subtle, a little arrogant- ”
“Don’t even say it!”
“She’s a lot like you.”
McCoy rolls his eyes.
“She’s almost a female version of you.”
McCoy opens his mouth to reply to Briscoe’s thought when Mulder’s yelling interrupts.
“Hey! Hey, I’ve found something!”
“What is it, Mulder?” Scully asks, anxiously.
“Some clothes- a jacket!”
Briscoe grabs his radio and calls in that they have found more evidence. Mulder hands the jacket to Scully and then dives back in to look further. A few minutes later he’s back at the embankment.
“They left a calling card!”
“Huh?”
Mulder triumphantly holds up a piece of paper- a business card.
“Mulder, that could have come from anywhere.”
“Yeah, but this came from a Special Agent Craig Morgan!”
Scully looks at him in disbelief. Mulder just grins up at her.
“What the Hell is that doing down there?”
“That’s a good question,” Mulder mumbles as he make his way back up to dry land, “Let’s pay Special Agent Craig Morgan a visit and ask him ourselves.”
“We’re coming with you.”
Scully is right in the middle of helping Mulder up the bank when she hears this and jerks away so quickly that she lets go of Mulder... Well, you can guess what happened.
“SCULLY!!!”
She pays no attention to Mulder and, instead, marches toward McCoy who is bracing himself against a tree.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Who do you think you are?”
“I think that I might just be the person who helped you bust this case wide open.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, really.”
“Well, last time I checked performing an interview half in the bag was not one of the best ideas.”
Mulder drags himself up onto dry land and stands, “Before you two start spitting at each other- we can’t get much more done tonight. I’m a mess and its almost midnight.”
Briscoe walks back over, “He’s right. Forensics will be here soon to work this scene but until they get us their results there isn’t a whole lot left to do until morning when we can interview this Morgan guy.”
McCoy finally backs down, “Alright.”
“I’ll call Logan and tomorrow we’ll haul Morgan in to the 2-7 and have some fun.”
Scully nods and departs with Mulder. Briscoe and McCoy go back to the car. Once inside, “How did you know to look there, Jack?”
“I told you- the hunches of a raving lunatic.”
“Crazy like a fox is more like it,” Lennie comments as they drive off into the night.
Jack McCoy’s Apartment
Wednesday, 6:03am
Persistent knocking finally wakes Jack from his stupor. He leans over to look at his bed-side clock and nearly falls out of bed. When he regains his balance he squints to read the time.
“Who the Hell...”
The knocking continues. Jack tries to roll over and ignore the noise but it is no use. He crawls out of bed and promptly stubs his foot on a stack of law books lying next to his bed.
“Dammit! This had better be the freakn’ President or someone is gonna pay!”
He nabs his bathrobe from its hook and stomps to the front door. He rips it open to find Lennie standing on the other side casually sipping a cup of coffee.
“Morning Sunshine.”
“Lennie, is this your idea of some kind of sick joke?”
“Yeah, I get up at the crack of dawn for kicks. Com’on Jack. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”
“We do?”
“You get dressed. I’ll make some more coffee and then I can fill you in. Again.”
Jack motions Lennie into the apartment, “Better include some aspirin with my coffee,” he suggests as he stumbles back to his bedroom to change.
“I was just going to say that.”
About 20 minutes later the apartment is filled with the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Jack, now in a suit and dress shirt, is working on tying his tie as he sits down at the kitchen table. Lennie sets a mug in front of him and then takes a seat as well. Jack takes a sip and immediately pulls a face.
“I think it’d be healthier to rot my liver than rot my stomach with this stuff!”
“Oh, shut up and drink it, will ya? And here’s your aspirin. I’ve got to at least get you looking alive before the interview today,” he spreads out the case file on the table, “I had Mike, since he was the one who got the most sleep out of all of us, get up early this morning and do some research into our friend, Craig Morgan. This is what he’s found so far.”
Jack takes a gulp of coffee and studies the file’s contents, “He’s an F.B.I. special agent, is he? Says here that he has received awards for valor. And he’s a Gulf War Vet as well, huh?”
“Yeah, a regular G.I. Joe.”
“Unmarried-“
“Accept to the job. Look at all that over time.”
Jack notes this, “The guy takes ‘for God and Country’ a little too seriously.”
“No kidding.”
“So he’d probably do anything if he was ordered to do so.”
“That’s what we’re thinking.”
Jack smiles for the first time in days, “Then lets go see this patriot.”
27TH PRECINCT
Wednesday, 7:23am
The precinct is alive with action in the morning and this one is no exception. Beat cops and detectives alike are busy typing away at their computers- catching up on the happenings of the previous evening. Jack, feeling a little more awake with Lennie’s coffee in him, gazes around. He had never been here this early and he had no desire to ever again. Some of the officers wave to Lennie as they walk by. A few even nod to Jack. They are almost to the interrogation room when Logan meets up with them.
“First, off, Lennie, I’d like to thank you for the 5:00am wake-up call.”
“Anytime partner.”
“Yeah, and now you can thank me.”
Lennie stares at him, “Huh?”
“I got G.I. Joe. Turns out he’s a early riser, too.”
“When did you pick him up?”
About an hour ago. He was on his way out for a jog and so Profaci and I decided to pick him up.”
McCoy looks some what confused. Briscoe notices this and leans over.
“As soon as we found out where this guy lived I had Logan and Profaci tail him. Make sure he didn’t try to bolt on us.”
Jack nods his understanding.
Briscoe turns back to Logan, “You talked to him yet?”
“Nope. Figured I would wait until the whole circus got here. Speaking of which, I thought you said that the Agents would be here for the interview.”
“Hummm... Well, I thought they were.”
Just then there is a crash somewhere behind the three. Everyone in the squad room stops what they are doing and looks toward the door. We see Mulder who has just managed to walk into a filing cabinet and now is fighting with his tie which is caught on one of the drawers. Scully storms past him.
“Just never a dull day with the F.B.I. around,” Briscoe muses.
“Oh, yeah it’s a laugh a minute,” grumbles Scully as she approaches them.
Mulder finally frees himself and stumbles over.
“I think I ruined my tie,” he mumbles, sadly, as he checks it.
“So you have him here?” Scully asks.
Mulder continues to fool with his tie.
“Yeah, he hasn’t lawyered up yet so anytime you wanna start we can go,” Logan answered.
Mulder still fooling with his tie. Scully glares at him. He pretends not to notice. She jabs him with her elbow. He stops and Briscoe, Logan, and McCoy have to try hard not to laugh.
During all this Jamie Ross slips in, unseen, “Hey, Jack.”
Jack finds her at his side, still sporting her cast, “How did you find out about this?”
“Briscoe called me. Why? Is there a reason why I shouldn’t be here?”
“No, no. I just didn’t want to having to come out here at this Un-Godly time of the morning.”
“Well, I appreciate your concern but, like I’ve said before, I don’t need to be babied.”
Jack smiles at her. Jamie might not always be the most delightful person to work with but she was willing to do what it took to win and he admired that.
“So how are we going to conduct this interrogation?” Briscoe breaks in.
“I think that detectives Briscoe and Logan should start things off. If he gets a pair of A.D.A.’s or, worse yet, a pair of fellow agents talking to him it could make him nervous,” suggests Mulder.
“He’s right... As strange as that feels to say,” Ross concurs.
McCoy finally manages to get his tie on correctly, “Okay, then, lets go.”
Briscoe and Logan take their cue and enter the interrogation room. The man we know as Agent Craig Morgan looks up at them with a sneer.
“Wow, Lennie, he seems awful happy for a man facing a charge of murder,” Logan dead-pans as he sits down across from Morgan.
“Boy, you guys and your jokes get better and better,” Morgan, contemptuously, shoots back.
Briscoe cuts to the point, “What were you doing between the hours of 7pm and 11pm Monday night?”
“I was at home.”
“Alone?”
“Of course.”
“Of course. Why did I even ask?”
Logan rolls his eyes, “Did you kill Arthur Macy?”
“No.”
“Then explain how we came to find one of your business cards in at the place where the body was dumped."
"Maybe he was witness to another crime I investigated."
"So, when we test your firearm it won’t match the gun that killed Mr. Macy?”
“Sometimes strange things happen.”
“So, it could be the murder weapon?”
“I didn’t say one way or the other.”
“Do you want a lawyer?”
“I don’t see why I should.”
Briscoe is getting frustrated, “Listen, if those results come back positive no one, not even the Bureau, will be able to save your sorry ass.”
“What’s your point, Detective?”
“My point is that maybe you should talk to us before we get those results and we can help you.”
“I don’t need the kind of help you are offering.”
“I see.”
Briscoe leaves the room with a look of disgust on his face. Outside he finds the rest of the crew watching the progress.
“Isn’t there a law against being a smart ass?” he growls.
“If there was the entire city of New York would be in jail,” chuckles McCoy.
Briscoe smiles briefly- Jack seems to be his old self again.
Back in the interrogation room, Logan is trying his luck once more.
“Did you have anything to do with the murder of Richard Cummings?”
Outside, Ross whispers, “God, I’d almost forgotten what started this whole fiasco.”
Back inside, Morgan starts to laugh, “Tell me something, Detective, do I look like I could throw a man through a fire escape?”
“Sometimes strange things happen.”
Morgan doesn’t like his own words being used to make fun of him, “I said strange not impossible.”
“Okay, lets try this one- did you have anything to do with the death of Laura Andrews?”
“Unless I am now able to possess the bodies of district attorneys, no I didn’t.”
Outside McCoy crings slightly. Briscoe is about to say something to reassure him when a voice from behind interrupts.
It is a runner, "Results from the ballistics lab, Lieutenant."
Van Buren takes them, "Thank you."
"And the winner is," Briscoe dead-pans.
"Agent Craig Morgan's weapon is the same gun that killed Arthur Macy."
"First the card, now the gun- I love it when they're stupid."
Meanwhile, Logan, back in the room, gets up and leans in so that his face is only inches from Morgan’s, “You’re a smug son-of-a-bitch,” he hisses.
Van Buren enters, “A smug son-of-a-bitch who’s gun is our murder weapon.”
Logan backs away expecting to see a look of shock on the agent’s face but only sees another sneer.
Van Buren doesn’t notice, “Cuff him, Mike.”
“With pleasure... You know the drill, Agent, so sing along- Craig Morgan, you are under arrest for the murder of Arthur Macy. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can not afford an attorney one will be provided to you free of charge.”