Chapter Text
"Okay what do we have?" Sharon asked after returning to the office.
"Well Captain, you were right about Stroh. Apparently, Linda Rothman is no longer representing Phillip Stroh and that's why she hasn't been by to visit." Tao offered up, removing Rothman's picture from the murder board.
"Do we know if he has hired anyone to take her place?" Sharon followed up.
"It appears he hasn't. We double checked with Rios and our best guess is that he is intending to represent himself." Tao responded.
Sharon gave a surprised look to the team, "Well I guess we can deal with that news later. So to the best of our knowledge Phillip Stroh hasn't had any contact outside the prison, and no opportunity to pass along a hit?"
Provenza stood up and moved to the board, "It would seem so. As much as it pains me to say it Captain, I don't think Stroh had anything to do with this attempt on Flynn's life."
"I agree, where are we with the files?" She asked turning to Amy who was sorting through stacks of case files.
"There's a lot to go through ma'am, Flynn has put a lot of guys away over the last thirty years. Any one of these guys could have a motive." Amy said as she handed stack of files over to Sanchez.
"Alright. Amy pass out the boxes and let's see if we can narrow down our suspect pool." She said as she picked up a box and moved towards Flynn's desk.
"You know, Captain —" Provenza started.
"No Lieutenant," she immediately interjected.
"You didn't even hear what I was going to suggest," he spat back.
"I didn't need to hear it, I know what you're going to say and my answer is no. Andy is not to be contacted in regard to this case. As far as he knows this is all Stroh and I want to keep it that way for now." She commanded.
The team nodded and returned to the silent work of reviewing the mountain of case files pertaining to Andy Flynn's career. After several hours they managed to go from over 800 cases to 20 potential leads. They were cases were the team had confirmed that the suspect was convicted of murder, was actively pursuing appeals or had recently run out, and still had family members around. Buzz worked through the night checking prison records and verifying visitations and that helped them get to the final list of 20.
Sharon stood up and stretched, every muscle in her body screamed with tension and fatigue. Her neck was stiff from being hunched over her desk. She noted the equal level of exhaustion from the team, "Okay let's call it a night. We can start collecting alibis and information from our list in the morning." She paused before turning back into her office, "Good work everyone. I appreciate that everyone is tired, but your due diligence hasn't gone unnoticed."
A mumbled thanks and your welcomes came from the room as everyone gathered their things and began making their way home for the evening. Sharon heard her phone ding. She knew it would either be Rusty or Andy, both made her feel guilty. This case was taking all her focus and energy right now and she had little to spare for her son, or her well whatever Andy was. Picking up her phone and checking her messages she saw two missed calls one from Emily and another from Andy, but neither left a message. She swiped over to her texts and saw a few unread messages.
Emily: So I hear that I'm going to have a big sister! Oh and another brother, but yay a sister. I've always wanted one of those. When were you going to tell us?
Sharon shook her head, she suspected that Charlie might have mentioned something to Nicole after he walked in on her and Andy getting reacquainted the other evening. He apparently heard more than either of them realized. She wasn't entirely sure how Emily and Nicole got connected, but it didn't matter at this point the girls were going to run them over now.
The next message was from Rusty, one that she wasn't surprised to see. She knew he would quickly grow tired of having a shadow, but until they could definitively rule out Stroh it was necessary. The final message was from Andy.
Andy: Sweetheart, I know you're busy with the case don't worry about me. The nurses are keeping me company. Please try to rest and remember to EAT. I'll see you when all of this is over.
A smile came to her face when she saw his message. She knew he would understand, that even though she wanted nothing more to be at the hospital with him her job was here. She needed to find out who tried to kill him and why — is there no where safe she wondered. After a few minutes she grabbed her things and headed home. It was too late to call Emily back, she would have to deal with that situation later. For now, she could calm her other son down and hope to come back fresh in the morning.
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It took several days chasing down alibis and checking out leads but they managed to bring their list of potential candidates down from 20 to 5. It took another two days for the results of the DNA to come back and finally identify their suspect.
Sharon looked up from her desk when she heard a light knock on her open door, "Yes?"
"Morales is here with the DNA results, I think you're going to want to hear this," Amy replied.
Sharon wasted no time and followed her detective out into the bull pen, "I hear you have news for us Doctor?"
"Yes," Morales pulled out a manilla folder from his satchel, "As you guessed we had no hits off the DNA, but when we ran it through looking for a familial match we got a hit."
"Who is it?" She asked unable to hid her anticipation.
He asked the team, "Does a Martin Lawson ring a bell?"
Sharon grabbed for the five files they had left as Provenza stood up at the board, "Martin is one of our five potential candidates. He was convicted back in June of 94 for killing his mother." Provenza drew a line through the names of the other four suspects.
"Yes, well I took the liberty of checking and Mr. Lawson has four brothers, so I'm not sure how much that narrows down your suspect pool. I can't tell you which of the four is in my morgue, but I can tell you he is related to Martin Lawson." He offered as he closed the file and handed it over to Tao who was eagerly reading over his shoulder.
"Detective Sanchez, pull everything we have on Lawson's brothers." She turned to Amy, "Do we have pictures of any of the brothers on file?"
Amy looked down at the file Sharon passed, "I'll check with the DMV and see what we can get a hold of," she picked up the phone and began dialing.
"Thank you Doctor, this was a huge help." She offered and turned towards her team, "Okay, I want Mr. Lawson brought in questioning along with his remaining brothers."
Buzz looked up from his screen, "Uh I think that's going to be a problem Captain."
Sharon moved over to his desk looking over his shoulder at his computer, "Why is that?"
Buzz read from the screen, "Well according to Folsom, Lawson died last month after his last appeal was denied. Cause of death was listed as suicide."
Provenza sat in his chair, "Well I think we found our motive Captain."
"I hate to agree with you, but I think you're right Lieutenant," she shifted her weight as her feet ached in her heels.
An hour later the team had finally begun piecing everything together. Pictures of three of the four brothers were located. John was in jail serving two years on a ten year sentence for armed robbery. Richard didn't have a record, but was working a bus driver for a school in Northern California where he lived with his wife and two kids. They called his employer and confirmed that he was working at the time of the shooting and were sending over video from the bus cameras to confirm it. That left them with Luke and Greg. Greg was paroled three months earlier for drug possession. A call to his parole officer confirmed that he wasn't missing any of his community service appointments and was passing his drug tests. Meanwhile, youngest brother Luke had no DMV photo or identification anywhere. He wasn't on social media and wasn't listed on the title of any home, car, or RV. It seemed that Luke was the brother in the morgue.
"Captain, I think I might have something," Tao shouted from his desk. Sharon moved over to his desk with the rest of the team, "When Martin killed his mother the house that she lived in went into probate. Luke was only 10 at the time, but both Greg and John lived at home. With no other living relatives they took custody of their brother. Fast forward 20 years later, both brothers end up in jail and the other one moved away after his mom's murder."
"What happened to the house?" Provenza asked interrupting Tao's diatribe.
"Well," Tao gave Provenza an annoyed look, "the bank ended up seizing the house at foreclosing to pay off the debts. That was in 2007 when the market crashed. From best I can tell the house remained abandoned until last spring when a developer bought the land that included that house and several others, a Borja construction."
Sanchez offered his thoughts, "I bet you he was living in that house until it was torn down and that's why we can't find his name listed on anything."
"Maybe, but what about the last 6 months, where's he been?" Amy quickly asked.
Sharon moved back to the murder board, "Let's bring Greg in for questioning. Tell his parole officer to bring him in."
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It took three hours to track down Greg Lawson and bring him in. Sharon stood in the electronics room and stared at the man. He had dark hair and dark eyes just like the man in the morgue, their faces were similar and now Sharon realized why she had that feeling of deja vu several days earlier. She remembered seeing the man's brother projected onto the screen many years earlier when Flynn was stabbed in the parking lot of the AA meeting. She only saw him for a fleeting second before everyone began digging into Rick Zuman. "Sanchez you're with me."
She sat down across from Greg and pulled out a picture of Andy and slid it across the table, "Do you know who this is?"
"Yeah, that's the guy that put my brother away for killing ma," he replied easily leaning back in the chair.
"Do you know why we brought you in today Mr. Lawson?" She asked calmly.
"Well I assume it's because you wanna watch me give a piss test," he replied posturing in front of her.
"Knock it off," Sanchez barked.
"Tell me about your little brother Luke?" She asked.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "What about him."
Sharon smiled, knowing she struck onto something, "What's he like? Where does he live?"
"Luke's a good kid. Ain't never cause no body trouble," he spat out.
"When is the last time you saw your brother," she asked.
"Been awhile. I guess when he picked me up when I got released," he folded his arms and leaned back again.
"So three months ago? You weren't close I take it?" She asked needling him.
"We were blood, of course we were close! He's my brother." He slammed his hands on the table.
"If you were so close then why haven't you seen him in three months," Julio pushed.
"He's been up in Gilroy with Dick," he added emphasis on his older brother's name, "and he and I don't get on."
Sharon gave a nod to the camera to have the team check with Richard about this claim. "So if you didn't see your brother Luke, what about Martin or John? Visit either of them?" Sanchez pressed.
"Nah, I've had enough of prison I don't need to go visit'em. Besides I heard Martin got himself into some trouble," the man gave a chuckled grin.
Sharon pulled out another picture from the folder, "You mean this kind of trouble," she pushed the image of Martin with bedsheets tied around his neck across the table.
Greg picked up the picture, "Looks like trouble to me." He replied and pushed the picture back.
"Tell me was Luke close with your brother Martin?" She asked noting his lack of sympathy for his brother's death.
"I guess you could say that. Martin was closer in age to him, so they got on. Luke used to follow him everywhere. When ma started beating on all of us, Martin was usually the one pushing Luke out of the way." He said looking away from the pair of detectives, "But then he went and killed her, so I guess he solved that problem."
"Are you aware that when your brother was convicted he threatened Lieutenant Flynn? He said and I quote I'll have my brothers find you and beat you." She said referring to the file in front of her.
Greg smirked, "Nah, but sounds like Martin. He was always saying shit. I mean John and I are always in for a good tussle but I don't seen Richard doing anything. He always hated getting his clothes dirty," he finished with a laugh.
Sharon was quickly getting a picture of these boys and their childhood, she wasn't surprised things ended up the way they did. This was an all too familiar story. "So you wanted Lieutenant Flynn dead?" Julio followed up.
"This guy," he asked picking up Flynn's picture, "why would I go through all that hassle." He scoffed and tossed the picture back to her.
Before either could follow up, there was a tap on the door. Sharon stood up and found Tao waiting for her, "Captain," he spoke in a low tone, "I checked in to it and Luke did not visit his brother in Gilroy. I'm not sure where he was, but it wasn't with Richard. His brother says he hasn't spoke to Luke in about two years."
"Okay, thank you," she took the paper Tao handed to her and returned to the interview room. She wanted to know where Luke disappeared to for the last three months, but at the moment she had more pressing matters. It was time to notify Greg.
"Greg, do you know where your brother Luke is now? Or where we might find him?" She asked nonchalantly.
"Dunno, he could be anywhere. Guy does odd jobs. Pretty smart and good with computers." He replied with a shrug.
That could be why they couldn't find a Digital fingerprint of Luke anywhere, he knew how to cover his tracks.
"Does he have any friends in LA that he might be staying with or and apartment?" She asked still trying to figure out where he's been hiding out.
"Nah, Luke never had friends. I doubt he's got an apartment. He was living in ma's old place, but not sure now." He gave another shrug and started looking around the room, "Hey can I get a soda or something?"
"In a minute," Sharon replied trying to keep him focused, "After your mother died. Did you put her things anywhere? Sell the furniture? Put it in storage?"
"Dick took a few things and said he was gonna put everything else in storage. But I got no clue if he actually did or where that crap went. Didn't really want any of it anyway." He paused, "But hey if he sold that shit and got money for it — then some of that is mine right? I'm owed that money it's like my inheritance or some kind of shit right?" He spoke animatedly.
Sharon again looked up at the camera, the revelation of a storage unit was big. "We can get you in touch with someone that can help you with these kinds of probate questions. Why don't you stay here a little while longer." She stood up and moved out of the room without waiting for a reply.
The team reconvened in the murder room, waiting for Tao to get off the phone with Richard.
"He did put things into storage. He gave his brother a key last spring after the house got leveled by the construction company. He thought it was to borrow some of his mom's furniture until he could get some of his own - claimed to have an apartment."
"And the unit Tao? Where is the unit?" Provenza shouted.
"It's a self storage off 60 in El Monte," he spat out.
"Okay, Mike I want you to call El Monte PD and have them meet us at the storage unit. Amy call SID I want them ready to catalog whatever we find. Let's go!" She shouted as she went to her office and grabbed her gun and badge and made her way down to the motor pool with the rest of her team.
Thirty minutes later they arrived at Stack and Store in El Monte. They called for a warrant en route and were able to get the part time receptionist to agree to open up the unit. Sharon nearly fell backwards when she walked inside. The smell was overwhelming. It was clear this is where Luke had been living for the last three months, holed up inside a 10 x 10 storage unit. Curiously, he had arranged everything to look like his brother's cell. A bed on one side, a bucket in the corner, and a table against the wall. As she made her way towards the desk, they found Luke's computer. Tethered to it was his camera. Tao turned it on and began flipping through the pictures, "Captain you should see these."
She glanced over and saw pictures of Andy. As he scrolled through she saw pictures of her with Andy. Andy with Rusty. Stroh. Her blood ran cold. How could it? She couldn't see the connection. Everything felt eerily familiar to Wade Weller's basement.
"Bag it, all of it. Bring it back to the station. I have more questions for our friend Greg," she said shaking her head as she looked around the room.
When they arrived back at PAB Sharon picked up Greg's mug shot from the board, "How long was he at county Julio?"
"Uh," he flipped through his notes, "Fourteen months ma'am."
"And during that time did he have any visitors?" She followed still staring at the picture.
"Yes, his brother Luke came to see him a few times. What are you thinking?" He asked.
"I'm thinking that Stroh had a lot more freedom in county fourteen months ago. I'm thinking that maybe Greg was a bit loose lipped about his frustrations and family history with the LAPD. I'm thinking that Luke was an easy mark," she turned towards the team, "Greg said he was good with computers. I'm thinking that some how Stroh hired Luke to keep tabs on Rusty - Luke was all too happy to help when he learned about Andy. Then his brother dies and he cracks, comes after us in the elevator. I think that Stroh is still behind all of this," she bowed her head feeling frustrated at being a step behind this evil man.
"If that's all true Captain, how are we going to prove it," Provenza asked.
Sharon moved away from the board and headed back down the hall towards the interview rooms. She knew she shouldn't talk to Greg again, if Stroh was behind all this everything just became WAY too personal, but she couldn't help it she had to know.
She opened the door, shocked to find Greg was gone. "Where is he?" She shouted. She stopped an officer in the hall, "Where is Greg Lawson?!" By now the team had caught up to her.
The officer responded, "Well a woman came up and said she was hear to discuss probate issues with him, so I let her into the interview room. I was relieved for an hour to go on lunch and when I came back they were gone. I assumed you had released him," he said not realizing he did anything wrong.
"UGH! You did what?!" She shouted and threw her hands in her hair, "Buzz pull up that video now. You" she pointed to the officer, "I want that other officer up here now and your commanding officer - go wait in my office!"
She stormed into electronics beside herself that they had just let their best hope of tying all of this to Stroh walk right out the door, "Buzz?"
"Here it is," he queued the video and began to play it.
A blond woman who none of them recognized walked into the room. Greg smiled, he seemed to recognize her or at the very least was attracted to her. The woman sat down and appeared to discuss details of probate law and the complications of getting anything from the courts after this many years.
"She must be a lawyer, this doesn't sound like bull shit to me," Provenza offered up.
"I agree," Sharon said with a nod.
After a few more minutes the woman turned towards the door and told Greg to follow her to her office where she could give him some forms to fill out. And the pair left. Buzz pulled up security video from the building and found our blond walking him to the elevators and out the building. The got into a gold olsmobile but couldn't make out the plates.
"Buzz I want traffic cams, so we can see those plates. And find our blond I want to know where she came from and who she is. Tao, she appeared to be careful not to touch anything, but print the room anyways. Find me our mystery blond and Greg Lawson!" She walked out of the electronics room and headed to her office to deal with the stupidity of these other officers.
Before Sharon could finish instilling the fear of the full force of Darth Raydor on the pair of officer, Buzz walked in, "Ma'am I'm sorry to interrupt but we caught an image of the plates —"
She interrupted him. "Great, who does the car belong to?"
"Well, unfortunately the plates were stolen off another vehicle so we can't ID the car or who it belongs to. I checked the traffic cameras and we can't get a good image of the guy's face driving either."
Sharon let out a deep frustrated sigh, "Please tell me you have something," she huffed as she saw Amy walk up behind Buzz.
"Traffic just got a call, a car fire off E Washington down by the LA river. There's a body in the driver seat - male. It's charred, but I think it's Greg." Amy replied.
"Why do you say that? Is the car our Gold olsmobile?" She asked.
"No, it isn't it's a dark colored sedan, but my gut says that our mystery woman and driver took him down there and arranged to swap cars. The plates Buzz ran, the ones on our missing Gold olsmobile belong to this sedan." Amy added stepping aside as Sharon moved out of her office.
"Okay, let's get out there and confirm your theory. I hope to God you're wrong, but I feel like you're not," Sharon said as the team once again followed her to the crime scene.
The Fire Department was still on scene making sure that the car wouldn't reignite, between the foam, water, and charring it was hard to tell anything. The body was the right size and build, but they'd need Morales to run DNA or dentals to confirm. Everything in Sharon's body tingled, she knew this was Greg, she didn't need the confirmation to know. She knew it in her bones. Stroh was getting rid of loose ends. Anyone that could tie this whole hit back to him was gone. The case was technically closed. Luke shot Andy. End of Story. If only it was, she knew that Stroh wouldn't be satisfied with this. Once again he was steps in front of her and she was chasing to catch up.
The team waited until Kendall arrived and processed the scene before they returned to the murder room. They began pulling down pieces from the murder board and filling the book. The case into Andy Flynn's shooting was closed. Their best leads were gone. "I just want to say thank you to all of you for your work on this case. I know it's taken us all away from our families for a week, but really good work. When you finish up your reports, go home enjoy the weekend and I'll see you all on Monday."
They all gave a nod. She returned to her office and plopped in her chair. It was already after 9pm and she was exhausted. All she wanted to do was go home and take a hot shower. She wasn't satisfied with the conclusion of this case, but there wasn't much else she could do now, and certainly not tonight.
Her phone dinged, she knew it was Andy. She decided to call him back instead of texting, "Hey you, you're up late."
"I wanted to hear your voice. You know I'm getting outta here tomorrow —"
"So I heard, something about good behavior, although I'll believe it when I see it!" She let out her first chuckle in days.
"Hey! I'm good all the time now, when is the last time you've had to send me to sensitivity training? Oh and I hear our daughters have been plotting - so if you want to talk about whose being bad!"
She turned around in her chair and stared out of the window, nothing felt settled, but for the moment just hearing Andy's voice and knowing he was alive was enough. She leaned back and just listened to his laughable ramblings about being a "good boy" and how he should be rewarded later. There was a lot still to resolve about their relationship she thought as she pulled the ring and necklace out from beneath her blouse, but at least for right now for tonight she knew she was loved and that would be enough.
THE END