Chapter 9: Monday Next
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW01g7ZCiim
The next five days following the shooting was uneventful for Cassidy, and it was engineered to be so. She spent her administrative leave looking after her children and her home to the exclusion of anything to do with her job. She received unsolicited help with the housework and kids from most of her family and some of her friends. Everyone was eager to be a diversion for her during her time off from work, but their efforts had the opposite effect. Cassidy read their attentions as concern for her wellbeing and sympathy for the loss of her partner. Both of these thoughts pulled her away from the distraction she got out of housework and attending to her children. Despite these failings, she did manage to put the shooting behind her, and by Monday next, she was ready and eager to apply her mind to something that was a challenge.
Cassidy walked through the parking lot entrance of Precinct 122 shortly before 7 a.m. Her thoughts were heavily laced with trepidation about her return to work. She had no idea how she would be received by her fellow officers. Over the past week, she could not help but entertain thoughts that Alan’s death was the result of some failure on her part. At this moment, those thoughts were cascading into her mind. Within seconds of entering the building, her torrent of fear began to subside. Officer after officer welcomed her back, expressed their condolences to her about Alan and congratulated her on a job well done. A soft standing applause greeted her when she walked into the robbery/homicide squad room. Cassidy did not have the words to respond to this acceptance from her peers, so she modestly nodded and smiled in return.
Immediately after the applause began, Lt. Graham noticed Cassidy’s presence through the glass wall of his office. With a wave of his hand, he summoned her. Cassidy set a course for the Lieutenant with some hurry to escape the attention of her peers.
“How do you feel?” Lt. Graham asked after inviting Cassidy to sit.
“I’m good. I’m ready to get back to work,” Cassidy reported behind a deep breath.
“That’s good to hear,” Graham returned. “But there are a couple more steps to be completed before you can get back to working cases.”
“Yeah,” Cassidy acknowledged with a word.
“Your psych exam is scheduled for 10 a.m. today. Here’s the paperwork on that,” Lt. Graham said as he slid a form toward her. “You’ll have to pass that. When you come back, you’ll be on desk duty. The shooting review is still underway, but once you’ve been cleared, you’ll be fully reinstated.”
“Why is that taking so long?” Cassidy asked with concern.
“This is not long,” Lt. Graham returned with a slight shake of his head. “There have been reviews that have lasted for more than a month.”
“But those involved complex investigations,” Cassidy disputed. “This is simple. What are they looking for?”
They’re just crossing all their T’s. “Lt. Graham explained in a soothing voice. “An officer was killed. They’re in no hurry. Don’t agitate yourself, Detective.”
Cassidy was not eased by his assurance. Lt. Graham noticed and elected to add a little more support to his words.
“The rumor is you’re looking at a commendation and a bump up to Detective 2nd Grade when it’s over, and this is coming out of 1PP.”
Cassidy appeared encouraged by this news and visibly relaxed, then she put forth her next concern.
“Where does the Haynes investigation stand?”
“It’s been classified inactive,” Lt. Graham reported.
That answer took Cassidy by surprise. She had seen no report in the news about the details of the Greenbelt crime. That is something she would have noticed. The omission suggested to her that they were still trying to learn how the victims were killed, why they were killed and where they were killed.
“Did this just happen?” Cassidy inquired about the suspension of the investigation.
“The case has been inactive for two days now,” Lt. Graham reported.
The lieutenant’s report astonished Cassidy all the more. She knew that there were unanswered questions regarding the Greenbelt murders. Without these answers, one or more accomplices could escape arrest and justice. The fact that the department was willing to end an active investigation into Haynes and his crimes so soon did not make sense to her.
“Two days?” Cassidy repeated with surprise. “Do we know what happened? …how? …why?”
“The guy was a mystery,” Lt. Graham explained dismissively. “He had no friends, but he had several acquaintances. It looks like he was a dealer. He had a small stash of Ecstasy and more than five-thousand dollars in small bills stashed in the box spring of his bed.”
Cassidy was not dissuaded from her opinion for further investigation.
“But where did he go with his victims? Why did they get into his car? I didn’t see anything in the missing person files that suggested any of the victims were using.”
“Maybe they didn’t catch it,” Lt. Graham countered.
“No, this is not making sense,” Cassidy disputed. “There should have been some evidence of drug abuse. Something is missing.”
“Probably,” Lt. Graham agreed. “Unanswered questions are not uncommon in investigations. You know this”
“But if we knew where he took them maybe we could get the answers to these questions,” Cassidy insisted.
Lt. Graham began shaking his head in opposition before she finished speaking.
“It’s anyone’s guess where they went,” Lt. Graham returned. “The fact that no one knew they were going out is possibly why they were targeted.”
“I don’t think so,” Cassidy argued back. “I believe they were targeted before they got into Haynes’ car.”
“And what makes you think that?” Lt. Graham asked.
“It’s something about the way they all acted before they disappeared,” Cassidy quickly disclosed. “They became secretive. They didn’t tell anyone what their plans were for that day. And, according to their friends, it was unusual for them to go out alone.”
Lt. Graham considered Cassidy’s response with a look of disbelief.
“You’re over thinking this, Detective.”
“How could you just cold case this investigation without getting answers to these questions,” Cassidy rifled back. “He had to take these people somewhere before he killed them. We should at least find out where they died.”
“We tried to find answers,” Lt. Graham argued. “He could have taken them anywhere. We’ve thoroughly searched the contents of Haynes’ apartment for an answer, for a clue. We found nothing. Haynes is dead, and without him we may never know. Let it go.”
Cassidy left Lt. Graham's office with the intention of leaving the investigation behind. She could see no other option but to move on to her next assignment. After a one-hour meeting with a department’s psychologist, Cassidy returned to her workroom desk with a ‘Fit for Work’ authorization. She was promptly put to work processing, compiling and filing paperwork that other detectives needed to have done but were too short on time to do. For the remainder of the morning and part of the afternoon, Cassidy was busy with paperwork.
By 2 in the afternoon, the pace of incoming work for Cassidy subsided to a large degree. She had time to reflect on things that her mind could not let go of, and the question that bothered her the most was how the nine victims ended up in Haynes’ car. Out of curiosity, she opened the inactive case file. Her badge was still attached to the file, so she had no problem getting in. The unauthorized access block did not apply to her. She quickly noticed that nothing was learned about Haynes' Ecstasy supplier or his clientele. This missing piece of data was just another annoyance to add to this mystery. She kept thinking that this man was too much of an enigma. He was being convicted by evidence that was unsupported by an explanation. He had a criminal record that listed burglary and grand theft auto as the offenses that got him incarcerated three times in the past. The transition to drug dealing was no great leap, but it seemed like a strange change of profession for a man described as less than sociable when he was in a good mood. All the characterizations of Haynes from people who knew him concentrated around loner, sullen and habitually ill tempered. When Cassidy coupled these descriptions with the fact that there was no information in the file about where he got the Ecstasy or who he sold it to, she had cause to be suspicious of Haynes' presumed criminal enterprise. Despite her concerns, she had nothing of substance that conflicted with the conclusion of the investigating detectives’ that Haynes used his Uber car to deal drugs.
After reading the summation of the investigating detectives, Cassidy turned her attention to Haynes' telephone records. All the metadata on the calls he made and received were accrued by the detectives who investigated Albert Haynes while she was on administrative leave. Cassidy had only to go into the area of the file that contained the information that she wanted. It took her less than a minute to discover more than 2 years of Albert Haynes’ cellphone metadata in the file.
Cassidy did not expect to find anything of interesting in that list because the investigating detectives notated that Haynes' call history was almost completely related to his Uber services and that every name pulled out of the history was cleared from being an accomplice in the killings or his drug dealings. It was also noted that there were no records of phone calls from Haynes to his victims, or vice versa. Despite that, Cassidy elected to look through two years’ worth of calls to and from Haynes' cellphone. The names connected to the numbers of each incoming and outgoing call was listed, except for some prepaid cellphone calls.
Shortly into her study of Albert Haynes’ phone records, Cassidy noticed that there was a large number of prepaid cellphone calls on the list which did not produce any special interest in her. The detectives were able to find the owners of more than half of the prepaid cellphone numbers and wrote their names on the list. She was confident that those individuals were cleared of any complicity with Haynes’ criminal activities and suspected the unidentified prepaid cellphone numbers were equally innocuous until she realized that Haynes always got a call from a prepaid cellphone on the days the last three victims disappeared. The metadata did not go back far enough for the other victims. She also noticed that the numbers in all three cases were different, the caller or callers were unknown, and the cellphones stopped appearing in the metadata a short time later. That was not especially intriguing, but she did consider those numbers worthy of additional attention.
After several more minutes of study, Cassidy notice that the prepaid cellphone numbers with unknown owners made numerous appearances over the space of a month, on average, and then they stopped appearing altogether. When the prepaid numbers stopped appearing, new prepaid cellphone numbers, also with unknown owners, began appearing in their place. In addition, one of those prepaid numbers always appeared on the list on a day that one of the last three victims went missing. She speculated that one or more individuals were deliberately trying to stay concealed. She knew that switching out the prepaid cellphones every month would hamper any effort to track the owners. Realizing that the owners of the cellphones in question might be hiding their association with Haynes, Cassidy began a new search through the case file. She wanted to know if the detectives who collected the data had considered that same line of thought. She found that the metadata of each of those prepaid cellphone numbers were also subpoenaed and collected into the case file. The presence of this data told her that the numbers had been given separate attention. After a brief search into that segment of the case file, Cassidy found a notation that specified an observation and the conclusion of the detectives. The observation was that all the metadata on those numbers were entirely comprised of calls made to and from each other. The conclusion was that the numbers were likely connected to Haynes’ illegal drug business. Both the observation and the conclusion caused Cassidy to be ever more interested in the person, or persons, in possession of those cellphones. Her concerns about the validity of an illegal drug enterprise added fuel to that interest. In Cassidy’s mind, a large-scale illegal drug business did not fit Haynes’ character. Her skepticism led her thought processes to consider ways to investigate those numbers further. She shortly began to realize just how difficult it was to unmask prepaid cellphone owners.
Owners of prepaid phones were by design not listed by name in any phone company, and inactive cellphones were undetectable. She suspected this difficulty to be one of the reasons why the detectives gave no further attention to the numbers. The absence of an obvious connection, or even a less than obvious one, to the murders was likely a second reason for not making the effort. To Cassidy, both these reasons were irrelevant. The pattern of prepaid numbers appearing, and disappearing, was a mystery that Cassidy’s character could not allow to go unanswered.
Because she could think of no way to learn the names connected to the prepaid phone numbers, Cassidy turned her attention to the general location that the calls came from. This was the only information she hoped to find in this metadata. Cassidy knew from experience that cell phone companies collected cell site data on all phone calls and discarded the information about forty-five days later, so she turned her attention to the most recent calls.
“Can you get me the addresses where these calls originated?” Cassidy asked while extending a printout of the cellphone metadata to Nina Chan.
Nina Chan was the 122nd in house technical analyst. The precinct went to her for information, explanations and investigative direction on all things electronic. Her appearance did not reflect her 33 years of age and 7 years of experience in the NYPD. People who met her for the first time commonly mistook her to be in her mid-twenties. Cassidy thought of her as one of her closest friends.
“This doesn’t work like g-p-s,” Nina said after taking the data. “The best I can do is triangulate down to an area as small as a city block. In addition, I might be able to guesstimate the likely sector of that block by comparing the strength of the reception in each cell tower.”
That was more information than Cassidy needed to know. She suppressed a laugh and then responded to Nina's offer.
“Okay, let’s do that,” Cassidy encouraged.
Nina examined the nine calls and the attached cell site data. She noted that seven of the calls registered on the same four cell towers.
“Seven of these calls are probably coming from the same place,” Nina reported as she set the paper down and began typing into her computer.
It took Nina less than a minute to bring up a map with all the highlighted cell tower sites in New York City. She quickly moved in on an area and circled a location on it with her finger.
“These seven calls originated from somewhere in here,” Nina said as she circled an area in Brooklyn near Newtown Creek. “With this information, I can’t pin it down any closer than this.”
Cassidy moved closer to study the map. Her memory of the area told her that it was an industrial zone and that there were few homes in the vicinity. She immediately made plans to research all the businesses and their owners in that area of Brooklyn.
“These two calls appear to have come from an identical location as well,” Nina reported as she examined the metadata on the paper. “But they originated in Manhattan.”
“Show me,” Cassidy instructed as she moved back from the computer.
Nina began typing into the computer again. Shortly, the image of the map slid from left to right. When the image stopped, Midtown Manhattan filled the screen and five cellphone towers were highlighted. Nina studied the strength of reception from each tower and then circled an area within the midst of all five.
“The calls probably came from somewhere in here,” Nina said with a circular motion of her finger.
Cassidy was now even more intrigued than by the Brooklyn site. As she moved closer to examine the map, she fixed her stare on a single point within the area that Nina circled.
“Do you see something,” Nina inquired after noting Cassidy’s extreme interest on the site.
“Yeah,” Cassidy acknowledged as she continued to stare. “I see The Cavern.”
The Cavern was not only situated within the midst of all five cellphone towers. It was in the middle of the area that Nina singled out.
“What’s The Cavern?” Nina asked.
“I have to go,” Cassidy returned in a hurry. “Thanks Nina.”
Cassidy snatched up the paper with the list of cellphone metadata and hurried off toward Lt. Graham’s office.
"Lieutenant, I think I may have found a new lead in the Greenbelt murders," Cassidy announced as she hurried into Lt. Graham's office. "We need to reactivate the case."
Lt. Graham was reading a case file when Cassidy stormed in. He stopped to listen to what she had to say. When she finished, he paused to give her assertion a moment of thought.
"What do think you've found?" Lt. Graham asked with a hint of exasperation.
"Haynes may have been secretly conversing with an accomplice," Cassidy reported with alarm in her voice.
"How?" Lt. Graham challenged.
"The cellphone logs," Cassidy answered energetically. "I think I found a pattern."
"We went through Haynes' phone history number by number," Lt. Graham countered.
"I'm seeing a pattern of calls that I think we should look into."
Lt. Graham was not impressed by Cassidy's claim of a suspicious pattern. He personally supervised a team of four officers as they investigated Haynes' phone contacts. At the end of their effort, he was convinced that Albert Haynes had no acquaintances or connections that were close enough to make that person an accessory to any of his criminal activities. Lt. Graham was convinced that Haynes was the sole perpetrator of those crimes.
"Are you sure you're not just seeing patterns where there are none? Lt. Graham questioned delicately.
Cassidy hesitated to answer his question. She knew that the probability of her being wrong was at the least 50/50. But the idea that she could be right compelled her to push for further investigation.
"I think we need to try to find out who owned these numbers," Cassidy suggested tentatively. "I believe there may be something here."
"What do you think you're going to find?" Lt. Graham asked with a suspicion look.
“The calls that I'm looking at originated in or near a nightclub called The Cavern," Cassidy explained without conviction. "I think we should take a close look at some of the regulars at this club."
Lt. Graham already knew that Cassidy and Alan had visited that club along with many others. This was information he acquired from their daily briefings to him.
"Are you thinking of someone in particular?" Lt. Graham asked with a curious frown.
Cassidy paused to consider her answer. She had her reservations about naming specific individuals. Her reluctance was because there was a large chance that the whole idea was absurd, so she elected to be noncommittal.
"No, no one in particular."
“I’m not devoting any more time to this investigation,” Lt. Graham declared. “We have the killer, and we have no additional suspects. It’s over, Detective. Leave it alone.”
Cassidy left Lt. Graham’s office. She knew he would not budge from his position without tangible evidence of an accomplice or a credible lead toward something new to be learned. She also knew that her light duty status would prevent her from pursuing her line of reasoning while at work.
As Cassidy was walked out of Lt. Graham’s office, she considered alternate ways of researching more after work. By the end of the day that effort had failed to produce a precise strategy on how to proceed, but it did bring her to one sure conclusion, she had to investigate the staff of The Cavern and any regular patrons of the club across multiple years.
~~~~~LINE BREAK~~~~~
“Honey, what’s going on?” Margaret asked Cassidy with a concerned look.
“I need to research something, that’s all,” Cassidy explained dismissively.
Cassidy arrived at her parents’ home a few minutes before 6 p.m. She did not warn her parents of her intention to come prior to her arrival. The news that she was leaving the kids there overnight, on a Monday, took Margaret and Daniel by surprise.
“Is this about the Greenbelt?” Daniel challenged.
“No, you’re off that,” Margaret quickly asserted with surprise. “That case is closed.”
Cassidy ignored her mother’s outburst and spoke to her father’s concern.
“I’m just trying to make sense of some loose ends.”
Daniel shook his head with disapproval. Margaret looked from daughter to husband and back again with a confused expression before launching a question.
“How can they be sending you out on an investigation?”
“They’re not,” Daniel corrected with exasperation. “You’re on desk duty. What is this about, Cassidy?”
“I don’t think it’s over, Dad,” Cassidy responded with a frown and a slight shake of her head.
“It’s over when your lieutenant says it’s over,” Daniel corrected sternly.
“This is my case, Dad,” Cassidy disputed. “We still have missing pieces. There are things about Haynes that don’t make sense.”
“There’s no use in trying to make sense of these people, I told you,” Daniel grumbled at his daughter. “They’re all screwed up in the head. You’re never going to understand him. If you keep thinking about this case, you’re just going to make yourself daffy, like those so-called behavioral experts.”
“I don’t want to understand him,” Cassidy argued back. “I just want to know what happened. I want to know who killed these people, and I want to know why.”
Daniel shook his head in disbelief and turned away. He made up his mind to say nothing more on the subject and was resolved to leave his daughter to her mistakes. Margaret was not so inclined. She understood Daniel’s concern for Cassidy’s preoccupation with this investigation. What she did not understand was where she intended to go with it, and what more did she hope to find. She addressed her immediate concern to Cassidy.
“Where are you going?”
“The Cavern.”
ns216.73.216.13da2
and then Add to home screen.