Chapter Text
30 - Missed Connections
CH 1
Having a slow night once in a while was fine, Elisa grumbled to herself, but having three in a row?
That made her nervous.
It made her edgy.
It made her wonder when the other shoe would drop.
With all of their current case paperwork caught up for once, Elisa, Matt and a few other unfortunate souls were rounded up to assist in other departments until something happened that required their assistance. Most had opted to brave the elements and go out cruising the nearly empty streets.
At least the clan got to go hang out at the castle, she sighed. They went on their normal patrols, then retreated back to their high stone walls and…waited, she guessed. Playing games, watching movies, and training the young ones, most likely.
Three days.
Three days with little to no activity was almost unheard of. Even with the winter weather having one last blustery hurrah. This one storm, complete with freezing temperatures, had made the roads just icy enough to be a hazard. It was already March, and while late winter storms weren’t unheard of, this one was a little harsher than normal. According to the meteorologists on the news channels, it was supposed to begin warming again over next week.
Elisa sincerely hoped so.
It seemed that even criminals had a temperature limit, and Manhattan had found it.
It was still early yet, barely past ten according to the small digital clock on the counter, so it wasn't quite time to panic. She was leaning against the counter, chatting with Officer Green and Matt, when the door opened.
All three snapped to attention, eager for the arrival of someone who could finally give them something to do.
The man who entered was tall, slim, and very bundled up. In his hand he carried a thin black briefcase. Once inside the doors, the man drew off his stocking cap, revealing a full head of bright silver hair. Despite the color of his hair, his rounded face still held enough of a hint of the youth he'd been. Elisa had a hard time trying to peg his age, even with his nose and cheeks painted bright red from the frigid night air.
He set the briefcase down and dusted the snow from the shoulders of his long black coat before giving them all a friendly smile.
"Cold out there," he announced with the barest hint of a southern accent.
So probably not a local, Elisa guessed.
"It is that," Jackie responded with a smile of her own. "What can we do to help you?"
The man dug in his coat pocket and retrieved a small silver card case. "My name is Lawrence Keller." Opening the case, he approached the desk and presented a card. "I'm sorry to come in so late, but I just arrived a few hours ago and am anxious to get to work."
Jackie reached for the card and read it. Her eyebrows rose. "A private investigator?" She lifted her gaze to look at the man again. "Well, it just so happens that I have two of our best detectives in house tonight. Trust me," she said with a laugh, and passed the card to Matt. "They will probably be more help than I will be. This is Detective Bluestone."
"My lucky day," Lawrence said with a chuckle.
Matt looked at the card. "From Houston, Texas?" He asked in surprise. "You're a long way from home. What brings you to Manhattan?"
"Well," Lawrence began, his smile slipping away. "I’ve been hired to locate a young woman and possibly a child, last known location was here in Manhattan."
Elisa frowned a little. "You'd probably have better luck with someone in Missing Persons."
"That's the thing," Lawrence’s smile was gone now, though he wasn't unfriendly. "The woman in question appears to have passed away a few years ago. More than a few years, actually," he admitted, sheepishly. "I am the third investigator that my client has hired, and I'm afraid that it was quite a few years in between investigations. I recently discovered her death certificate, so I am no longer seeking the young woman."
"Okay," Matt gestured the man back towards his and Elisa's desks. "Why don't you come on back, and we can sit and talk."
"I'll bring you all some coffee," Jackie offered, probably sensing that it was going to be a long conversation.
"Thanks, Jackie," Elisa said. She followed Matt, more out of curiosity than anything. Matt was better at the more informal questioning of non-bad guys than she was, so she'd just let him handle the majority of it.
The man reclaimed his briefcase and followed closely behind Matt.
Matt sat in his desk chair, and Lawrence took a seat in the visitors seat next to the desk. Rather than sitting at her own desk, Elisa leaned comfortably on the edge of Matt's desk and crossed her arms.
Jackie was right behind them, offering the three of them fresh cups of coffee.
"Thank you, ma'am," Lawrence said gratefully, taking a sip of the hot beverage.
"So," Matt began, setting his own cup aside for the moment. "Tell me how we can help."
"First, thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I spent some time with a badge of my own, and am very aware how some private investigators are viewed." Lawrence reached down for his briefcase and placed it across his lap. He flipped the number dial combination quickly, opening it and retrieved a slim file from inside. "I'm afraid that my client will be disappointed to find that the woman has passed. It was a case of youthful infatuation that unfortunately ended in… let's say, an abrupt fashion. I was hired to find her, but after discovering that she’d passed away, that was almost the end of it." Lawrence slid the file across the desk to Matt. "However, there was mention of a child that my client fully believes may be his, given the time frame. He would like to find out the current location of the child."
"That's going to be tricky," Matt pointed out as he opened the file. "If the child was a minor, the files may be sealed…" Matt drifted off a moment, taking in the name and photograph of the young woman. The image held no recognition for him, but the name was one that both he and Elisa knew well.
He closed the file and slid it to Elisa, tapping it with a finger to draw her attention to it.
Elisa picked up the file with a feigned indifference and opened it slowly. She had a bad feeling that she already knew what she’d find.
"I was hoping to locate the officers who responded to the scene," Lawrence began, lifting out a notepad and leading through pages. "I have a few names here from the public records."
Elisa stiffened as she took in the name on the paperwork, her hunch confirmed in the black and white photocopies.
And she felt her world shift as in her mind she heard the distant thud as that other shoe finally dropped.
"Here it is," Lawrence said, "There are quite a few names here, but one name kept popping up…"
"You can stop looking sir," Elisa sighed heavily, closing the file and replacing it on Matt's desk. She shared a look with Matt before continuing. "My name is Elisa Maza, and I was the lead detective on site that evening."
Paloma Marie Tripp. A name she hadn't often thought about in nearly fourteen years.
Even so, it was a name she couldn't forget.
Paloma was Liam's birth mother.