This is a work of original fiction.  The characters are the property of the author, and are not to be used without permission.  Copyright 2002 by Sabine.                                        My First Case I have been at the 33th precinct of the New York Police Department for four years now. A few days ago, I got my golden shield as I was promoted to Detective. Now I was standing in the office of my new captain, Donald McNarnara. “I‘ll assign you to Detective Chris Freedman. Don‘t be deceived by his attitude at the moment. He lost his partner three weeks ago, so give him some time, okay?“ “Yes, Sir.“ “One more thing: We‘re a little less strict than officers are, regarding names and things like that.“ I nodded. “Okay, then welcome to the Detective Squad.“ We shook hands. “You‘ll find Chris at his desk.“ “Thanks, Sir.“ I felt a little uncomfortable when walking over to the desk of my future partner. On the first sight he seemed to be not much older than I was. “Detective Freedman, I‘m Charlene Morgenstern, your new partner.“ A nice pair of eyes looked at me. A black stroke of hair hung down his forehead. “Chris Freedman.“ You could hear a sad tone in his voice. We hadn‘t much time to get used to each other, as we got a case.     *   *   * The crime scene was an apartment building at West 58th Street. A man had been found dead in his place. When Freedman and I arrived, a nauseously sweet smell hit us from the floor already. “Breathe through your mouth and it ain‘t that bad,“ an officer told me when noticing the expression on my face. I nodded at him thankfully and followed my partner into the apartment. The crime scene unit and the forensic people were already present and busy. There was a flash of light, when one of them was making photographs of the body from different angles. “What‘s up?“ I heard Freedman ask, while I glanced around at the apartment. “A white male. No obvious cause of death. Neighbours found him,“ the coroner told my partner. “Sure, this man isn‘t dead at all,“ Chris said sarcasticly. “Hey, Chris, give me a chance, will you? I can tell you more after I finished the autopsie.“ The man packed his stuff into a big silver suitcase. “Okay, you can take him now.“ My partner came to me. “Found anything yet?“ ‘No. But as matters stand, it wasn‘t neither a break-in, nor are there any signs of a struggle. I‘d suppose the victim knew the perpetrator. If it was a murder at all.“ “Very good,“ he praised me. And I saw him smiling warm and boyishly for the first time. I had passed the test. “Let‘s start questioning the neighbours.“ At first we questioned the woman who had found the corps and called the police. She was very excited, which was perfectly understandable under the circumstances. “Can you tell us when you saw Mr. Landers the last time?“ my partner asked with a calming voice. “That was about ten days ago. I came back from shopping. He used to carry my bags upstairs. I‘m not so good at taking the stairs anymore, you know.“ She smiled. A nice lady. “Did Mr. Landers help you often?“ I asked. “Oh, yes. He was very nice. That‘s why I don‘t understand this...“ “Ma‘am, why did you call us in the first place?“ She looked at us. “Well, I cook.. .cooked for him every now and then to thank him for his help. When I wanted to bring him something three days ago, he didn‘t seem to be at home. So I left the pot in front of his door. I thought he‘d come back.“ Chris looked at me. He expected me to write down the statement, which I already had. “But this evening my pot was still standing there,“ the old lady continued. “And then I recognized a strange smell and called you.“ “Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. If we have further questions, we‘ll call you.“ “Do you have somebody to keep you some company tonight?“ I asked. I had often seen people, who found dead bodies, got into psychologis troubles later. I wanted to avoid that. “My daughter‘s living some blocks away.“ “Good. Please call her.“ “That was a good idea.“ “Thanks.“ We were on our way back to the station. Chris was driving. He tried to avoid showing his feelings to me, but I anticipated, he wasn’t over the death of his partner yet. And I hoped, he would talk to me one day, because then I would know, whether he‘d accept me as his new partner or not.     *   *   * When arriving at the precinct, we checked the name of the victim for any previous convictions. Nothing. Not even a single parking ticket. So Freedman began to type the statement of the old lady, while I was supposed to inform the Captain. “The victim was a white male named Thomas Landers. 33 years old, single. No obvious cause of death, so we have to wait for the forensic report. No signs of a struggle or a break-in at the dwelling itself. No priors.“ “Is that all?“ “So far, yes. But we haven‘ t questioned all the neighbors yet. Maybe it wasn‘t even a major crime.“ “Okay, the investigation continues. Maybe the report can help us.“ I wanted to go when the Captain held me back. “How has your first day been so far?“ “Good.“ “No problems with Chris?“ “No, Sir, none.“ “Okay, then go back to your work.“ During the day we had to make a lot of phone calls to neighbors, who couldn‘t tell us much new stuff. But at least we now knew, Landers worked in a private club as a bartender. And he had a girlfriend we had to inform about his death. One hour later we sat in one of the interrogation rooms on the second floor of the precinct. We preferred this room to our squad room, as it was much quieter up there. “Miss Winters, we have to inform you that Thomas Landers has been found dead in his apartment today. We‘re very sorry for your loss.“ “When did he die... ?“ she asked crying. “He probably has been dead already for a few days before he was found,“ I explained. Chris took his notebook and turned to the woman again. “Ma‘am, I know this isn‘t easy for you, but I have to ask you some questions. Do you think, you can answer them?‘ She nodded and wiped her tears away. “Did you see Mr. Landers during the last few days?“ “Yes, I saw him last Thursday.“ “Did you fight?“ “Yes,” she answered with delay. “Do you remember what it was about?“ “I...I wanted to leave him. You know, he wasn‘t...he fooled around a lot.“ She looked at us. “Am I a suspect?“ “No, Ma‘am,“ Chris smiled. “Of course not. It‘s routine, that‘s all. Can you tell us about any enemies he had?“ “I suppose that you would end up with a list from here to Brooklyn. He had affairs with 50 per cent of the female inhabitants of the Upper West Side.“ Chris and I looked at each other. “Do you happen to know any names?“ “No, Detectives, I‘m sorry. But maybe you can find some in his address book.“ “Thank you, Miss Winters. You‘ve helped us a lot.“ She said goodbye as well. When I wanted to follow her, my partner held me back. “What do you think of her?“ he wanted to know. “I don‘t know. Why?“ “Call it Irish intuition, but I have an odd feeling about this lady.“ We went to the Captain‘s office and kept him up-to-date with the facts of the case. After that, my first day as a detective was over. “What about a beer, Detective?“ I asked my new partner hoping to get to know him better. “Look, we have to work together. This doesn‘t mean we have to be buddies, okay?“ Boy, that was a blour. But then I remembered his partner being shot just a few weeks ago, so I left him alone.     *   *   * “Boy, his address book reads like a ‘who‘s who‘ of the Upper West Side. Only that the majority is female,“ I shook my head, smiling. “I have the forensic report. Do you know what caused his death?“ „Sorry, I guess I missed the class of mind-reading.“ “Heroine has been found in his blood in large quantities.“ “Hm, he didn‘t look like a junkie to me.“ “To me neither. But there‘s more. The coroner said Landers was HIV positive. „Doesn‘t surprise me. He went through a lot of beds.“ “Is there anything about a doctor?“ I turned some pages. “Yes, a Doctor Barlow is listed here. 323I, 9th Avenue.“ “I think it‘s time for a house call...“ “Doctor Barlow, we are Detectives Morgenstern and Freedman from the 33th precinct. We‘d like to ask you a few questions about one of your patients: Thomas Landers.“ “As you might know, there ‘s something called ‘Doctor‘s vow to confidentiality‘,“ he opposed. “Ehm, I think he won‘t mind. He was found dead yesterday.“ “Oh...“ Chris stepped towards him. “So, if YOU don‘t mind answering some questions to us now..“ He asked us to follow him into his office. After he closed the door he sat down in front of his desk and looked at us. “What do you wanna know?“ “The coroner found evidence of an HIV-infection,“ I started. Dr. Barlow nodded a littie sadly. “I told him months ago he was HIV positive,“ he finally admitted. My partner looked at me. We had the same thought: He knew already while being together with his girl-friend! So maybe he infected her, too! And only God knew hew many others as well. “Dr. Barlow, did he tell you about having a girl-friend?“ Chris asked. “Yes. And I told him not to have unprotected sex, so she wouldn‘t be infected.“ „Do you know if she knew?“ “I guess so. Mr. Landers never told me about it.“ “Do you still know when you told him? And do you know the last time you saw him?“ “I told him...“ He looked it up. “In September. And he was here for the last time three weeks ago.“ “Thank you, Sir.“     *   *   * “So you don‘t think it‘s a suicide anymore?“ “No, Captain. We found a motive for murder.“ We were in Captain Mc.Namara‘ s office, telling him what we had found out. “I‘m all yours.“ Chris Freedman told him about the coroner‘s report, the statement of Dr. Barlow and the fact that Landers could have infected other wornen as well. “Wow,“ the Captain sighed afterwards. “Dc you have any suspects?“ “Captain, this man went through the beds of half  the Upper West Side. And if you think about Landers knowing of his infection since September, you could call half of this half suspicious. “Qkay, you’re still on the game. Concentrate on his girl-friends of the past six months.“ “The needle in the hay. I love that,“ Chris sighed. “Then you‘d better start right away to minimize the amount of hay, Detective.“ After two hours of intensive work through the appointment - book and the address - book of the deceased, we came up with a list of his former girl - friends with about ten names on it. “What will we do now?“ I asked my partner. “Shall we ask everyone of them for a HIV-test to see who killed this guy?“ „Maybe none of them did it..“ “Wait a second..“ “What‘s up?“ My partner looked at me, waiting or an explanation. “Landers died of an overdosis of heroine, didn‘t he?“ “So what?“ “Did he sniff it or what?“ “Heroine is injected, you should know that,“ Chris blamed me. “I know. But if he injected it, where‘s the needle?“ Freedman thought a second, then he went through the photographs made by Crime Scene Unit. „There wasn t any,“ he said finally. “I think we should look after a nurse among his former girl - friends.“ “Right. “Bingo!“ “Found something, Detective?“ “My intuition was right.“ “The Winters woman? Boy, I didn‘t expect that to happen.“ “She‘s been working at the Grarnmacy Hospital for three years now.“ “Is that enough for reasonable suspicion?“ We needed that for a warrant fo arrest. “Let‘s ask the DA!“ my partner proposed. District Attorney Thomas Malany seemed inconspicious at the first glance. I never thought of the 6 foot tall blonde man to be a DA, if I hadn‘ t see him in court several times before. “Are there any other suspects?“ he asked us, after we had explained the situation to him. “Not so far.“ “Counselor, this woman had a motive, the opportunity and she‘s a nurse,“ Chris explained. “‘Wha t does her job have to do with it?“ Malany asked a little confused. So I told him the link. “Right. Try with Judge Bancroft, your chances are the biggest there.“     *   *   * Twenty minutes later we were on our way to the place of Miss Winters with a warrant of arrest. It had been quite easy to convince the judge of our suspicion. The hard part was still ahead - the prosecution. But that was a problem the DAs office had to deal with. “Alicia Winters, you‘re under arrest for murder of Thomas Landers. You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can - and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right of an attorney present. If you can‘ t affort one, one will be provided for you. Did you understand that?“ She nodded totally dumbfounded. For us it was the old thing giving someone his rights. But if we forgot, the whole case could be blown. That was something you were taught during the training. “What is this about?“ “Miss Winters, you shouldn‘t talk to us until your attorney is present,“ Chris informed her. So she remained silent until we sat down in interrogation - room 2 and her attorney - an elderly man named Collins - had the time to consult her. After that, we could start the interrogation. “Miss Winters, where were you on Thursday, March l7th?“ “I worked. On St. Patrick‘s Day we‘re always busy.“ “Until when?“ “I6:25.“ I took notes. “What did you do afterwards?“ I asked. “I visited Tom. We argued and I left.“ “Do you know what time you left?“ “I think it was about five o‘clock. Give or take a few minutes.“ “Can you tell us if Mr. Landers had any other appointments on that day?“ Chris wanted to know. “Am I his appointment - book?“ she replied pertly. “Please, would you just tell us the facts?“ After an hour, the first interrogation was over. No clue whether she was the perpetrator or not. But it was almost impossible, that somebody told us what crimes they committed. If so, our work and the DAs office work would be muc.h easier...     *   *   * We started to check the things Miss Winters had told us. Since the coroner told us Landers had died about 5:30 pm, we tried to crack this ‘alibi‘ Winters gave us by calling Mrs. Lewis -  the old lady who found the body. She confirmed the argument Miss Winters had mentioned. „lt had been impossibie not to hear,“ she said. But when Miss Winters had left, she didn‘t know. “I played some records. My husband and I danced together once in a while when the music. was playing, you know...“ “Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. You helped us plenty.“ I put down the receiver after she said goodbye, too. My partner looked at me, curious. “Regarding the fight, Winters tells the truth.“ “So we‘ll look around at the hospital a little,“ he said.     *   *   * „Sorry, but in this case I can‘t help you.“ At first, we asked a chief resident whether he knew when Miss Winters had left the hospital. “Do you know anybody we can ask to get an answer to this question?“ Chris asked slighlty ironically. “Try Nurse Rodriguez‘, she and Nurse Winters were on duty at the same time.“ The chief resident went away, while we went to the nurses‘ roorn. “Nurse Rodriguez?“ “I‘m Detective Freedman, this is Detective Morgenstern. We ‘re assigned to murder - case. Can we ask you a few questions?“ „Go ahead. Do you INd me eating? It‘s my break.“ We said no. I took my notebook and began the qtiestioning. “You work together with Alicia Winters?“ “Yes. “On St. Patrick‘s Day, too?“ “Sure. On that day we need everyone we could get.“ “Do you still know, when Miss Winters left that day?“ Chris asked getting directly to the point. “Hmm, she left before me. . .about four, I guess.“ Freedman and I looked at each other mimediatly. I5 minutes earlier than she had told us! “Is there a way to check that?“ She thought a moment. “Yes, the nurse who had her shift behind ours could do that. If Alicia left late that day, Marie would know.“ “And where can we find her?“ “I‘ll give you her address.“     *   *   *  Nurse Marie Graham agreed on what Nurse Rodriguez had told us. Alicia Winters had left work on March, l7th at four o‘clock pm. So she had lied to us. Slowly we began to get to the point. We already knew Alicia Winters had killed Landers, but we needed more evidence for the DAs office. While my partner interviewed Miss Winters once more, it was my job to get a judicial arrangement. That was supposed to allow us to order Miss Winters to take a HIV-test. Thus we would have a proof for the motive. Even if the positive result would only be circumstantial evidence, because Miss Winters could have infected Landers and not the other way round. But this was for the DA to find out, not us. In Judge Haven I found sornebody who agreed with our point of view and gave us the paper we wanted. Alicia Winters had to take a HIV-test, whether she wanted to or not. When I returried to the precinct, the rnood was very low. I went to rny parter asking what was wrong. “She‘s gone.“ „WHAT?“ „She‘s gone. Knocked out an uniformed, while I informed the Captain.“ Anger was in his voice, which I totally understood. I had been an uniforrned only a few days before, but this mistake couldn‘t even happen to a green-horn. But it didn‘t matter anyway, we had to find the suspect...     *   *   * At first we went to the appartrnent of the suspect. lt would have been quite stupid of her, though, but you never knew. And we had a chance to find some clues about her where-abouts, too. On our way to 122, East 57th Street, my partner was mentally absent. „Are you okay?“ I asked while driving the car. “Yeah.“ „Are you sure?“ “Look, we‘re partners, but I‘d appriciate if you could take care of your own business!“ “Okay...“  This was the second time he blushed at me. The rest of the way we remained silent. As expected, appartment 1B was empty when we arrived. At first, the care-taker wouldn‘t have let us enter the dwelling, but after my partner told hirn -among other things, that he could be arrested for helping the suspect to escape, the care-taker couldn‘t let us in fast enough. “Thank you for your cooperation,“ Chris thanked him in a very friendly way. Inside of me, I had to smile. Chris Freedman was a funny guy in some ways. Inside the dwelling we found several clues for a hurried leaving. Open closets and drawers, some clothes on the floor, even a few dessous. Chris picked up one of them and showed it to me: a red negligé. “That would fit you right, Detective!“ I looked at him with raised eye-brows. “I thought, YOU wanted to show it to me.. „ “Dreamer!“ We laughed. But suddenly I got serious again. “Detective!“ “What is it?“ I held a pack of needles in front of him. “Evidence number one, I‘d say.“ Chris got a plastic bag out of his inner pocket of his jackett. I let the pack fall in. “Fortunately we have a warrant,“ I sighed. We continued searching, but found no further clues, where Miss Winters could be. And although we had found the needles we left a little disappointed. On our way back to the precinct, we got a call, that made us happier again. “Car Seven, please report in.“ “Seven,“ Chris replied as I was driving again. “Aren‘t you booking for Alicia Winters?“ “Yes, why?“ “Well, Adams and Kaschinski stopped a woman for speeding. lt came out it was your absent suspect. She‘ s at your precinct now, waiting for you. I thought you might wanna know.“ Officer Andrews was almost choked by a fit of laughter, at least so it seemed. “Thanks, over and out.“ We looked at eaoh other and started to 1augh. This was almost like in a bad movie, although sometimes it happened in real life, that escaped criminals were caught this way. This time, coincidence was on our side... “So, what have we got?“ “The motive. Landers infected her.“ “Go ahead.“ We were sitting at our desks, sorting out our information. “The fight. And the needles. Landers died of an overdose, that was given to him by force.“ “And Winters s a nurse.“ “But is that enough to give the case to the DAs office?“ I asked sceptically. “Malany can choose for himslef,“ Chris replied and gave him a buzz. Half an hour later we sat in the office of DA Thomas Malany, giving him everything we had so far. “lt‘s a little poor,“ Detoetive Freedman said almost apologizing. “Hm, I‘ve won trials with weaker circumstantial evidence.“ He glanced through the file one more time. „Good work, Detectives,“ he said finally. “ We‘ll bring her in.“ When we were back at the precinct, sitting at our desks again, Freedman‘s telephone rang. He took the receiver and listened for a few minutes. “Thank you,“ he finally said and replaced the receiver slowly. Chris folded his arms as if he was thinking ,staring at a point sornewhere behind me. “Detective, you‘re alright?“ I asked concerned. No answer. “Detective Freedman?“ He startled and knocked down his half filled cup of coffee. The coffee was all over his paper work that was lying at the right side of his desk. When Chris tried to clean up most of it  with a few Kleenex, everything fell down on the ground. “Damn!“ He tried to get them up again hectically. I went towards my partner, kneeled down beside him and held him by his shoulders. “Easy, Detective. Just take a deep breath and relax.. Slowly he calmed down again. “What about taking a walk?“ He just nodded. „Captain, if it‘spossible, Chris and I would like two hours to take off.“ „Are you alright?“ McNamara asked worried. “Well... I guess he wanna talk.“ “Okay, take all the time you need.“ “Thanks, Captain.“     *   *   * “What was wrong?“ I asked after we sat down on a bench in Columbus Park. At first, Chris didn‘t want to tell me, but finally he just said: “They got him.“ „Who?“ “The bastard who killed my partner.“ Bitterness was in his voice. “Actually the guy was supposed to kill somebody else. George just was there... He died for no reason...“ His voice was trembling. “I‘m sorry, Detec-“ “Chris,“ he interrupted me. At first, I didn‘t realize what it meant, but then I got it: Chris Freedman was done with the past and accepted me as his new partner... Alicia Winters was found guilty for intentional murder. She was convicted to an indictment between 25 years and life long prisonment... END