Chapter 1 - The Case
I walked into the penthouse, not sure what I was doing there, domestic calls weren't really my thing. Looking around the place there were a lot more officers than I would have expected, even for a place with this much expensive-looking art and decor in it.
There was no shortage of high-end furniture, marble statues, and I was pretty sure that was a Picasso on the wall in the living room.
"Randal! Over here." Captain Tully called out and waved over at me. He was getting ready to retire in a few months, I doubt that whatever this was, he would get a smooth sail till then.
I walked over and arrived to him speaking on the phone, "Yes Sir, I understand Sir. No... no problem, I understand that discretion is key. Thank you Sir, I will Sir." Tully spoke into his phone and I could imagine the other side of the conversation without much effort.
"The Mayor?" I asked, only out of courtesy.
Tully huffed and nodded, "Yeah, this has all the higher-up's attention." he replied gruffly as was his way.
"I presume that's why you called me at 2 am?"
He nodded again, "You're on this case..." he said with a glare and a pointed finger, "...don't give me any hassle Randal."
I raised an eyebrow, "I don't know Captain... domestic isn't my beat... nor the best use of my time, don't you think? I've got the Handler case on the front burner and..."
Tully put up his hand to stop me, "They're all on the back burner now. This is priority one. No questions. Just get on it and get it solved."
I was about to try and protest more but was suddenly interrupted by a commotion coming from the direction of the bedroom. I turned to look to see three uniformed officers desperately trying to escort a woman covered in a blanket to the front door.
"Come on baby... just let me suck it a little! *giggle*" the woman exclaimed in a high-pitched voice that made it sound like she was whining.
The blanket slipped from her shoulders as she reached down towards one of the officer's crotch and a giant set of over-inflated breasts swung loose. The nipples were impossibly thick and hard, her waist looked like it should snap in two if she actually bent over, and she was completely naked.
That's when it clicked, "Mrs. Harrington." I said half under my breath and Tully huffed again.
"And that's why you're on the case. It took a half an hour for her husband to figure out who she was, he called it in as a home invasion. Said there was a crazy bimbo trying to rape him in the house."
I scrunched my forehead and took a second look at the once matronly head of the Harrington family. They were well known for their philanthropic enterprises throughout the city. The last time I'd seen a photo of her was on the front page of the newspaper after attending the children's hospital fundraiser and donating $30 million to it.
Her weather face, nearly snow-white hair, and wrinkled skin were well covered by an expensive designer dress and makeup, but there was no denying that she was in her seventies at least. The woman being escorted out couldn't be any older than 24... tops.
I turned back to Tully with a questioning look, "Don't ask me..." he said holding up his hands, "That's what you're here for." he finished with a smirk.
I let out a sigh and nodded, my reputation in the department was... mixed. Yes, I closed my cases, in fact I closed *all* of my cases. But I also tended towards more unorthodox methods to do so, that often made my fellow officers and superiors... nervous.
"You can interview her later if you want, but I doubt you'll get anything out of her. We've been trying for two hours and, well, you can see how she's responded. Her husband is having her taken to a private clinic... for discretion. If they have any luck with her they'll let us know."
I nodded and wondered what could possibly have caused such a change.
"Oh, and discretion is the word. This can't get to the press, so everything is need to know only."
"Got it Captain. Who was the first responder?" I asked.
"Wilson was first on scene." Tully said and pointed over to one of the uniformed officers.
I turned and started to walk over to him, but Tully called out after me.
"Oh, one more thing... you're going to want to talk to Vasquez first thing in the morning. She's got the other cases."
I turned my head back to Tully with a raised eyebrow, "Other cases?"
He just nodded and I continued over to Wilson, a heavy sigh slipping from me as other cases meant a pattern... which meant a serial attacker of some kind.
The fact that Vasquez had the other cases and hadn't been called into this one had me a little curious as well.
* * *
I looked out over the city as the sun rose from the Harrington master bedroom, it was larger than my apartment and I suspect cost more than my apartment building.
I looked down at my watch, 6:43 am, just enough time to get home and have a shower before heading to the station and tracking down Vasquez.
After talking to Mr. Harrington, along with the uniformed officers and everyone else that had come trampling into the scene since then, I knew little more than when I'd finished my talk with Tully.
Mr. Harrington had come home, expecting to find his wife doing, well, whatever she did all day, and instead found a "crazy bimbo trying to rape me", as he put it.
He managed to dodge her advances for a while, before locking himself in the bedroom, and calling 911.
It was during his wait for the police to arrive that he'd realized it was in fact his wife, though even now he still only half believed it. She'd started begging him to fuck her when he locked the door, just basic stuff at first, but slowly she had started adding in details to things that they had done in the past, places they had gone, etc, that finally made it impossible for him to deny.
A visit to the concierge's desk to retrieve the video from the lobby was unenlightening as there had been some kind of issue with the system and there was no footage for the last 12 hours.
The uniformed officers would be canvasing the neighbourhood for any other footage they could find when more of the businesses opened up, and the techs back at the station would be doing the same when they arrived for any of the traffic cameras.
In the meantime, home and a shower was the only other thing I could do at the moment.
I turned from the window and walked to the doorway, pausing for just a moment, there was one other thing I could do. I pulled my phone from my pocket, scrolled through my contacts until I found Benny.
"Hey, dig up any dirt on the Harrington's you can find."
I hit send on the message and walked out of the penthouse.
Chapter 2 - The Station
I watched the video on my computer, a man on a bicycle rolling up to the front of the Harrington's building, leaning it up against the wall, and walking in.
It was the best view we had from the cameras so far, and it looked like he was in his mid-thirties at the most, brown hair, and average build and height.
Aka, bubkus.
My only hope was that some other camera caught a better angle.
I let out a sigh just as my phone rang, "Warrant" I answered.
"It's Vasquez, Tully said you wanted to talk?"
"Yeah, I'll be right down."
"I'll be here."
Then we both hung up and my uneasiness around Vasquez only heightened. It was the way she'd said "I'll be here", not in a confident tone, but a resigned one.
The fact her office was in the basement, when the rest of the detectives were up here on the 16th floor near the top of the building, was just another red flag.
* * *
"So Captain Tully tells me you have two cases that are related to mine." I said, tossing down the manila folder that contained what little I had so far onto her desk.
Vasquez was younger than I expected, couldn't be over thirty, with curly brown hair and a darker complexion. Probably from a South American descent if I'd had to guess. She picked up the folder and flipped it open.
"Oh... another one of these." she said and then reached around behind her, shuffled through a stack of folders on the credenza, picked out two, and turned back around, tossing them in my direction.
"You don't seem surprised..." I asked curiously as I opened the first folder to see a rap sheet for a brunette woman named Natalie, who looked thin and tired, and much older than the 28 the bio indicated.
"Not really. Only surprised that they gave it to you. But I guess when they're rich they get the VIP treatment." she spat out.
I quickly read the rap sheet, it was long and filled with drug and prostitution charges. I flipped to the next sheet and was unsurprising to see a new mug shot, she still had her brunette hair, but she looked completely different otherwise.
Gone were the bags under her eyes, the stringy hair, the hollow cheeks, the marks up and down her arms. Replaced by what appeared to be a young woman who was in the porn industry. Thick luscious lips, huge obviously fake breasts, heavy makeup, and perfect hair that formed a halo around her head.
I closed the file and flipped over to the second one.
The first page wasn't a rap sheet, but instead just a 8x10 photo of a family. Mother and father, along with two children. The parents looked to be in their forties, the kids in their early teens at most.
I flipped to the next page and the booking sheet was mostly what I expected. Public indecency, assault, and a few related misdemeanours.
The mug shot attached of Sarah Acorn was similarly different. It was the wife, though a good twenty years younger. Gone was the short dirty blonde hair, replaced with long platinum blonde locks down to her waist. Her lips dominated her face and her huge breasts sat unnaturally high on her chest.
I looked up at Vasquez with a frown, there was nothing else in the folders, "Is this it?" I said, flipping the page back and forth.
She rolled her eyes at me and nodded, "Yeah, what did you expect?"
I looked at the booking sheet again, "This was... three weeks ago... and this was almost seven... and you have *nothing*?"
Vasquez let out a sigh and then leaned back in her chair, "Tell me Warrant... how many cases do you have currently open?"
I raised an eyebrow and paused for a moment, "Seven, with that one." I replied pointing to the folder I'd tossed on her desk.
She pushed her chair to the side and turned it, then waved at the stack of folders on her credenza, "These are my active cases... 37 at the moment." she replied.
Then she stood up and walked over to the large filing cabinet on the side wall of her office, opening the top drawer, "These are my active but paused cases... 28 at last count, that are technically still active but I don't have time to work on them."
She closed the drawer and slapped the next two under it, "These contain my inactive cases, which means I haven't worked on them in at least three months... 73 at the moment."
