FORGOTTEN (27 page)

“I’m sorry,
Chief.” Wilbur said.

“No apology is necessary, but apathy is unacceptable. Daniel Pellegrino is a common criminal, but he isn’t an average criminal. We’re dealing with a psychopath with a high intellect. He’s as smart as they come, but he’ll make mistakes and we have to be there to discover them. He’s the evil mastermind behind all of these deaths. Yes, Harry Pittsford drove the car and pulled the trigger, but Daniel Pellegrino conceived the crimes to cover up his own misdeeds.  We have to assume he’ll anticipate our every move. He’ll assume we’re up on the sister’s phones. He’ll know of the protection details out there for the
Butelli and Moses families. He’ll not be satisfied until every threat to his safety has been eliminated. We’re the only group in the world, except the U. S. Marshals, with an interest in him. We need to get back out to this apartment complex and canvass the entire area. If there’s anyone out there with any knowledge of Pellegrino, we need to find them. Do what it takes. Shake the damn bushes until something falls out.”

Mary McDonald spoke nervously. Her voice was occasionally cracking. “We’ve done everything we can. Our sources are clueless. We’re always one step behind him. I feel guilty for working on this case while the rest of the detectives in Manhattan North are covered up in cases handling my slack.”

Pat reacted to the comment. “We cannot forget that this man is responsible for the death of a retired member of this department and is actively wanted for being an accessory after the fact to the murder of a New York City Detective, Tony Rodriguez. The day we stop looking for a guy like this is the day we should put a closed sign on the front of One PP. I know you’re frustrated. I’m frustrated, but we have to work harder, smarter, with more determination and keep pushing. NYPD Detectives aren’t known as the finest in the world for giving up. More important than all of this is something which seems to have momentarily escaped us…….. justice! These deaths demand justice and I’m not clearing these cases until Lady Justice is satisfied. These families need to know that NYPD Detectives NEVER GIVE UP!”

Bryan Flannery spoke up with a somewhat defensive tone.  “These guys have busted their asses for you on this case, Chief. We’ve made a lot of progress, but we’re getting nowhere finding this guy.  If we knew something we could do to nail him, we’d do it. Nothing is working! It’s futile.”

“There’s one thing for sure Captain. You’re not going to catch him by sitting on your asses in the office and bitching about it. Hit the streets! Hit your sources! Check the computers! Check and recheck everything. I believe Daniel Pellegrino is in this city and he will kill again if we don’t nail him. This meeting is adjourned!”

Pat O’Connor rarely showed his anger, but the apathy and defeatist attitude was clearly unacceptable to him. Half of the game of man-hunting was attitude and determination. He knew the task force had worked hard and had produced some amazing results. He was being tough on them, but they simply had to press on until Daniel Pellegrino was behind bars.

Chapter 78

Monday, April 4 - Day 76

Chief of Detectives’ Office - One Police Plaza

Borough of Manhattan, New York

1000 Hours

P
at was frustrated about losing his temper in the meeting, but he was certain he was right about this case. You could not keep a task force together forever, but this was an important case for many reasons. As an attorney, Pellegrino was an officer of the court. He had abused his position and corrupted the very foundation of the justice system. The NYPD couldn’t back down from a guy like this. They had to prevail.

There was a soft knock at the door, although Pat’s door was open. He looked up and saw Bryan Flannery and Mary McDonald standing in the door. Bryan spoke first. “Can we talk, Chief?”

“Come on in, guys.”

Bryan closed the door and Mary and Bryan took a seat in front of the Chief’s big desk.

“Mary has something she would like to say, Chief.”

“Sure, Bryan, I’m all ears.”

Mary nervously cleared her throat before speaking. “I’m sorry for the things I said in the meeting, Chief. I’ve been catching a lot of flak from my peers in Manhattan North and I just vented at a very bad time. This is my case and I know it’s critical. I will not give up, boss. You have my word. I hope you’ll forgive me for my comments.”

“I accept your apology, Mary, but no apology is necessary. We all have to vent from time to time. I know the work you and the others have put into this case. I’ve read every report several times. We have to hone our determination and stick with it until Pellegrino’s in Riker’s Island. You’re an incredible asset to this department, and don’t think for one minute that I don’t respect your work and your abilities.”

“Thanks, Chief. I appreciate your understanding. I really am sorry. I was out of line.”

“Be safe out there, Mary.”

Mary got up and left the Chief of Detective’s Office. Bryan Flannery remained.

“I’m the one who owes you an apology, boss. I was out of line in there more than anyone. I did a lousy job of supporting you in there, and I’ll give you the opportunity of replacing me on the task force if you choose.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Bryan. We’ve all expressed our true feelings from time to time. I know this is a frustrating case.”

“I know, Chief. All of these long hours and middle of the night call-outs and we still come up empty-handed. My wife is about to scream. She’s not always the most supportive of our hours, but this case has been especially tough on everyone. We’ll do what we can to catch Pellegrino. I promise, Chief. I’ll reconvene the task force on my own, and I’ll handle the attitude adjustments, including my own.”

“Thanks Bryan. We’re good to go. I depend on you more than you know.”

Pat and Bryan shook hands and he left the office. Pat sat down at his desk and began to go through the mound of paperwork in his in-tray. His desk phone rang. It was Angela Wilson.

“Just a heads up, Chief, Commissioner Longstreet just called and is on the way down to see you.”

“Thanks, Angie.”

Chapter 79

Monday, April 4 - Day 76

Chief of Detectives’ Office - One Police Plaza

Borough of Manhattan, New York

1045 Hours

C
ommissioner Robert Longstreet walked into Patrick O’Connor’s office unannounced and shut the door. Pat wasn’t worried. When he was in trouble, the commissioner almost always called him upstairs, to his office. There was some sort of psychological power trip to summoning a subordinate to the commissioner’s office. Pat found it a little comical and quite predictable. The commissioner got straight to the point. “I hear we had some fireworks up here this morning.”

“Wow!  Bad news travels fast.”

“What’s up with this case, Patty?”

“The bad guy is winning, and the troops are getting frustrated because he is always one step ahead of them. We let off a little steam, but everyone is back on track at this point.”

“Do we have anything to work on at all?”

“He gave a guy 300 bucks this morning to drive the rented Ford Explorer back to JFK. ESU scared him half to death with a felony car stop, but the driver was just a guy trying to make a buck.”

“Are we sure it was Pellegrino?”

“Yep, the driver picked him out of a photo line-up.”

“Why are the detectives so edgy, Patty?”

“I’ve pushed them hard on this case, Commissioner. We’ve gotten results, but not anything that has gotten them very close to making the collar. We just missed him in Germany and just missed him in Queens this morning. The usual techniques aren’t working, and he leaves few bread crumbs of evidence for us to follow.”

“There will come a point when we have to put this on the back burner. I need my Chief of D’s to focus on the big picture and not become fixated on just one case.”

“When someone kills a New York City Detective, active or retired, you can rest
assured  this Chief of Detectives will be fixated on it.”

“I know, Patty, but the overtime and expense of maintaining an active task force may not be supportable without results.”

“I didn’t know we put a budgetary ceiling on cop-killer investigations.”

“We don’t!  Just be reasonable.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“By the way, Patty, Harry
Doogin from IAB came to see me today. Do you know why we’ve had some broad put up in a five star hotel for the last six weeks? The bill is over $10,000.”

“Oh my God! That would be Harry Pittsford’s girlfriend, Phyllis Duran. I had no idea she was still there. I assumed we were protecting her at her apartment. I’ll take care of it and see what I can do to get the bill lowered. I accept responsibility for it. She was put there on my orders. I just assumed it was for a few days.”

“I’ll let
Harry the Hatchet
know, and please take care of this as soon as possible.”

“Yes sir, Commissioner.” Pat said, realizing Phyllis Duran had pulled a fast one and there was nothing he could do about it.

“Good luck, Patty.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Pat called Bryan Flannery and broke the news about Phyllis Duran’s extended stay at the luxury Manhattan hotel. Bryan was speechless. Pat hung up the phone. He couldn’t help but think that Phyllis Duran might have made an excellent detective. She was definitely resourceful and had a way of coming out on top of bad situations. He hoped the task force would do the same.

Chapter 80

Wednesday, April 6 - Day 78

Chief of Detectives’ Office - One Police Plaza

Borough of Manhattan, New York

0900 Hours

P
at had heard nothing from the task force in two days, but he knew they were beating the bushes. He had thought a lot about the morale on the task force and wondered if he’d been too hard on them.  However, he knew in his gut if Daniel Pellegrino was not arrested, he would kill, or have someone else kill for him again. His thoughts were interrupted by his desk phone ringing.

“Pat O’Connor.”

“Good morning, Chief. It’s Bryan.”

“Good morning, Bryan.”

“I just got a call from Karla Adams. The Marshals have intercepted a call from our boy Pellegrino to his sister on the Title III court order. He tells her he’s made it out of the country and doesn’t know if he’ll ever see her again.”

“Could they tell where he was calling from, Bryan?”

“Karla says the Electronic Surveillance Unit guys aren’t sure. It could be from out of the country, or it could be a masked call using some kind of on-line phone service. The geeks say there are programs like that in use, and they may not be able to determine for sure.”

“Okay, I want to know exactly what was said. If they make a determination as to where the call was made, let me know as soon as possible.”

“Yes sir. We’re on it, Chief.”

“Sounds like we need to pay the sister a visit and see if she’s hiding something.”

“We can do that, but the U. S. Marshals have been watching her around the clock for several weeks. We’ll rattle her cage and see what falls out.”

“Thanks, Bryan. We’ll never know until we try. Just make sure we coordinate our efforts with the Marshals, so we aren’t tripping over each other.”

“You’ve got it, Chief. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Thanks for the call.”

Pat just sat at his desk and tried to decipher what the phone call had meant. He wondered if Pellegrino was really out of the country or if this was yet another example of his craftiness in an effort to get the NYPD to drop its guard. He couldn’t be certain, but in his gut he did not think Pellegrino would just walk away. He was far too self-confident and pure evil.

Pat worked through most of the day with little else on his mind. He knew he was consumed by this case, and this was a luxury he could not afford. He knew he had to focus on the other thousands of cases the Detective Bureau was handling.

At 1600 hours he called Karla Adams on her cell phone.

“Task Force, Adams.”

“Karla, it’s Pat O’Connor.”

“Good afternoon, Chief. I’m assuming the captain has filled you in on the call.”

“Yes he did, Karla. Have you listened to it?”

“I did, but there’s not much there. There is absolutely no background noise. He simply says; “
This is Daniel. I’ve made it out of the country. I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again. I love you Sis.”
That’s it, nothing else.”

“Do you believe he made it out of the country, Karla?”

“Maybe, but I’m just not sure, Chief. Also, I want to say something else. I’m really sorry about the task force meeting. I think we all vented a little too much. You didn’t deserve that, Chief.”