August 1999
Rating: G
Law
& Order belongs to Dick Wolf and various associated corporate
entities. This was written before Jesse
L Martin’s appearance on L&O, as
an answer to M&Ms challenge to write about Lennie’s
“new partner”.
By Sängerin
Van Buren put down the phone
and stared at it for a moment or two.
Eventually, she got up and called Briscoe into her office.
‘Your new partner isn’t coming,
Lennie.’
‘Sorry?’
‘Eddie Green was wounded in a
shoot-out. He’ll probably end up on a
desk job.’
‘The last day
of his old assignment?
What a deal.’ Briscoe paused for
a moment, and then got down to brass tacks.
‘So what happens now - I go partnerless and get chained to a desk myself?’
‘Nope. Another detective was in line for a transfer
somewhere in this area - Les Summers. Starts tomorrow.
You’ve only got one more day to get your paperwork up to date, Lennie,’ Van Buren finished with a smile.
‘No problem.’
The boat sped under the bridge,
churning up the water. Les looked out
over the bow as the boat passed the Opera House, scanning the water for any
sign of the body that had been reported.
‘They said it
was up by Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, Les.
There’s no need to start looking around here,’ Mick called from behind
the wheel.
‘Never hurt to
try,’ Les replied.
The boat rounded the point, and Les
saw the body in the water. ‘It’s caught
in the rocks below the Chair, Mick.’
‘Copy!’
He steered the boat in as close as he could.
Les leaned
over to look at the body. ‘Oh, God.’
‘Les?’
‘Get the
Homicide unit down here. The victim’s
name is Jennifer Summers. It’s my
sister.’
At the start of shift the next
morning, Lennie was back at the 27 and raring to
go. Partnerless for weeks, he had been
farmed out to other pairs to do legwork they were all too willing to pass on to
him. Frustrated, he had complained to
Van Buren, and had been told to catch up on reports for his trouble. Finally he would be back on the streets,
working his own cases. As soon as this
new partner of his showed up. He poured
himself a cup of coffee and surveyed the squad-room. No - he knew everyone here. And in with Van Buren he could see the back
of some woman’s head. Probably a victim
L.T. was trying to calm down. Van
Buren’s office door opened, and the woman came out, heading straight for him.
She stuck out a hand. ‘Leonard Briscoe?’ she had an accent he
couldn’t quite place, ‘Leslie Summers.’
His new
partner? She looked
young enough to be his daughter, and far too fragile to be a cop. He shook her hand. ‘Lennie. Pleased to meet you.’
‘Les. No, you’re not.’
The shocks were coming thick
and fast today. ‘Sorry?’
‘You’re not that pleased to
meet me. Never mind, you’ll get over
it.’
‘So, where’d you transfer
from?’
‘The Bronx. Before that, water police.’ She was sounding open, but being cagey. He was about to probe further, when Van Buren
appeared at his side.
‘Introductions
over? Good. We’ve got a homicide call at the park. Welcome to the 27, Les.’
‘Thanks.’ Les grabbed the call slip from Van Buren and headed
out the door. Lennie
had no choice but to put down his coffee cup and follow.
After the trial was over, Les had
moved in with her brother and sister-in-law.
In the Bronx.
United States of America. She’d
had enough and to spare of Sydney, and her family
understood that. But
New York City? After everything
they’d been through, New York didn’t seem the place to go for a break from it
all.
But Les didn’t want a break from it
all. She wanted to get back into work, and the NYPD let her out on the beat after minimal
refresher courses at the academy.
With her experience with the Water
Police, the Bronx precinct captain soon had her working with the homicide
detectives. Strangely, she found it
easier to handle doing the investigations than finding and reporting the
bodies.
Her brother and sister-in-law stopped
worrying about her, and she found a place on her own. She got a promotion to Detective, and joined
the Bronx homicide unit full-time. And
then she heard about a couple of openings in the Manhattan precincts.
‘Thanks,
mate.’ Les finished talking to the scene
examiner and headed back to where Briscoe stood,
nursing a cup of coffee he’d bought from a vendor. She’d swear the man was a caffeine addict.
‘I’ve worked it out.’ he
greeted her.
‘What?’
‘Your accent. Irish, right?’
‘Not even close.’ But a common mistake. She’d keep him guessing. ‘So, what does this look like to you?’
‘A homicide.’
‘Funny.’
‘Standard New
York park mugging gone wrong. Guy threatens the Vic with a knife, and finds
that he’s got to actually use it to get anything.’
‘Or she.’
Lennie
just looked at her. Poor bloke was
probably overwhelmed. Just like the guys
over in the Bronx. Why did she stay with
these Yanks? ‘You’re assuming that the perp is a bloke.
Could just as easily be a woman.’
‘Great, an
opinionated ultra-feminist for a partner.’
‘Nothing wrong
with that. Who knows,
if you’re a chauvinist, we’ll balance out nicely.’
‘Stranger things have
happened.’ That’s why she stayed
here. Because stranger
things had happened, and she never wanted to be back on the Harbour chasing
drunks and bagging corpses again.
‘So, you’ve got a theory on
this.’ She tried desperately to keep her
mind on the case - keep it from slipping back to Sydney. ‘Any leads?’
‘Two. Firstly, I know your accent.’
‘Let’s hear it.’
‘You’re an Aussie.’
‘Took you long
enough. Second
lead?’
‘Actually, it’s not much
yet. The M.E. has some forensics, and
we’ll have to wait for some lab results.
I think it’s back to the squad-room for now.’
‘Sounds good. I haven’t organised my desk yet.’
‘I suppose it is your desk
now.’
‘You got that right.’ As they got into the car, Les on the driver’s
side, Lennie looked over at her.
‘You said Water Police. Hudson?’
‘No, Harbour.’ Why let the guy have it easy?
‘Sydney Harbour?’ Damn, he was quick, on this at least. ‘So, why the USA?’
‘Don’t you lot keep telling us
that this is the land of the free? I
thought I’d check out the freedom.’
‘Don’t believe everything you
see on TV.’
‘I’ve been here for over ten years,
Briscoe. Even I’ve figured that out by
now.’
‘Something
wrong with this grand old land of ours?’
‘Not so as you could notice,
except for the racial, social and gender inequality, the idiocy of some of your
laws, the hypocrisy of your justice system…’
‘Hey - I’ll bet that
Australia’s got a lot wrong with it, too.’
‘Sure does - but you asked
about the States. I’m just giving you
what you wanted.’
Lennie
laughed. ‘Les, you’re domineering,
opinionated, a woman, and Australian to boot.
But I think we’ll actually get along alright.’
‘Lennie,
I don’t have the time for this touchy-feeley
philosophical stuff. We’ve got a murder
to investigate.’