Brooklyn, New York
March 28, 2010
“Grandpa! Grandpa! Read me a story,” six year oldBrooklyn Burn said as she gamboled into the familiar living room with its painted green walls, saggy couches, and worn out 1960’s style furniture.

“Easy there! I’ll read you a story, just let me get my reading glasses, okay?” Frankie Burn told his granddaughter.
“Okay Grandpa! Can you read me Nancy Drew ? Please! She reminds me of mommy! She catches the bad guys just like mama did when she was alive!”
Frankie Burn laughed as he looked at the enthusiastic smile on his granddaughter’s face, revealing her two front teeth missing from her mouth.Her smile and brown almond eyes reminded him of his daughter Aiden Burn when she was alive.Brooklyn Burn was just like her mother in so many ways, her smile, her coming of age Brooklyn accent that she was just starting to develop, and the way she held her head high and made it appoint to stand up for what she believed in. Her brown hair was long and flowing, much like the way her mother’s was. Looking past his granddaughter to his daughter’s photograph, there was not a doubt in his mind that they were mother and daughter, alike to a tea. Frankie sighed, it had been four years since his daughter Aiden had passed and it wasn’t getting any easier watching BrooklynBurn grow up to be just like her.If anything the passing years since his daughter’s death were getting harder.Giving one last glance at the photograph of his daughter and little Brooklyn he grabbed his reading glasses and put them on, scooping up Brooklyn in his arms and taking her to the sagging couch to read her, her favorite Nancy Drew novel, “The Ghost of Blackwood Hall.”

As Frankie Burn sat down with his granddaughter and started to read,Brooklyn leaned her head up against his chest while sitting on his lap.
“Hey Grandpa, you want to know something?”
“What?” Frankie asked.
“Mommy wasn’t the only hero, you are too. I love you very, very much. This much,” the child said, taking her arms wide and opening them as far as she could.
“I know you do punkie, I love you too,” he said, “I see your mother in you.”
Frankie kissed Brooklyn’s forehead tenderly and held her close, he loved her so much, he couldn’t imagine living life without his granddaughter in it. She was the only thing he had left after Aiden died.As he opened the book and started reading to Brooklyn. his thoughts reflected back on the last four years of his life since Aiden had died and how he had gone from grandfather to father over night.He had helped to raise littleBrooklyn from age two until now. However, age and time had worn on his health and he didn’t know how much longer he could hold onto his life as it was. He was getting too old to raise the little girl but there was no one else to take her and raise her. She would have to go into foster care and all he could hope for was that some nice family would raise her and love and care for her as much as he did and does.Oh well, I still have a few years on me, don’t I Frankie thought.
Noon turned into night and Frankie and Brooklyn fell asleep. Outside the wind howled beneath the trees and a prowler lurked just outside the Burn household. Creeping stealthily about the backyard area, and taking a hairpin from his pocket, he was able to pick the lock and get into the house. Dressed all in black and with black gloves and a sweeping big coat to collect his stash, he took what little valuables the Burns had, stealing what money and jewelry he could find.Then, he shot Frankie Burn and little Brooklyn. Shots kept firing and as soon as he thought both were dead, he left the scene, just as carefully and quietly as he had come.


Brooklyn. woke to find herself in a pool of her and her grandfather’s blood.Yet she was half out of it and not fully conscious. She didn’t know what was going on. As she looked down she saw her crème colored top soaked in blood and her belly hurt as if someone had ripped the stomach out of her chest and were eating her alive.Too badly injured and in pain to even cry out she wondered why she was bleeding and if her grandfather was okay.She wanted to go get help but she felt too tired and weak to even move. Her tummy felt like someone had driven a truck through it. It hurt oh so bad!She kept going in and out of consciousness. Through her half closed eyelids she saw a neighbor coming into the house and following the next door neighbor it looked like paramedics.Two of the men came over and checked for a pulse on her grandfather and on her. Brooklynrolled her head groggily to one side and moaned.

“Is anyone alive in there?” a male voice said through the door.
“Just the little girl,” the paramedic responded.“The grandfather is dead.”
“Alright, I’ll get a body bag and have the coroner come and take the body and then Detective Taylor and his team can process the scene,”Brooklyn heard the voice say.
Brooklynfelt pricks in her arm as the paramedics inserted and IV in her and she felt an oxygen mask come over her face and she could feel herself starting to breathe a little better.Strong arms lifted her onto the backboard.
“Wha, ha, pen, …” Brooklyn. tried to say while trying to sit up.
“Shsh,” the paramedics said, shushing her while gently restraining her back down to the back board.“It’s okay sweetie, you need to rest.”
Rest,Brooklyn thought, but Grandpa, grandpa’s dead. What’s gonna happen to me? What’s gonna happen? Suddenly, everything went black. ThenBrooklyn saw a flash of light and saw her mother, Aiden Burn .
“It’s okay, honey, it’s alright. I just wanna see you, even if it might be only for a few minutes.”
“Mama!”Brooklyn said, reaching up to her.Aiden swept her daughter into her arms and both hugged as if neither would let go.”
“She’s flat lining! She’s crashing! We have to revive her right here,” a sandy haired paramedic said as he started administering CPR on her and doing mouth to mouth. Brooklynlay there with no response.The paramedic tried for several minutes to revive her with CPR andmouth to mouth but to no avail.
“Charging 200!” one of the paramedics said and then administered electric shock through her body.The line on Brooklyn’s monitor remained flat.
“Charging 500!” Once again more electric shocks, but still no response.
Brooklynclung to her mother for several minutes and just held onto her tight.
“I love you momma! Stay with me! Please! I need you!”
“I can’t honey, I just wanted to tell you that you need to be a strong little girl and be prepared for whatever happens to you.Your father is who you’ll go with.”
“But I don’t know who my father is momma!”
“He’s Detective Danny Messer. His new wife and he will take care of you baby. I love you.”

“Mamma NOOOOOO!Please don’t leave me! Please don’t leave me! Please!”Brooklyn could see the white light getting fainter and fainter and letting go of her mother slowly, falling through the skies of heaven back down to earth.As she felt herself fall she waved to her mother and her mother waved back. She felt herself land flat and heard the voices of the paramedics all around her.
“I have a heartbeat!” the paramedic said. “She’s back but unconscious.”
She could feel the vibration of the ambulance as they drove to the hospital and she could hear the paramedics talking while they tried to keep her alive all the way to the hospital.

Detective Taylor was first respondent on the scene along with Danny Messer.
“What do we got?” Detective Taylor asked Detective Flack.
“Frankie Burn, 70 year old male, was reading to his six year old granddaughter Brooklyn Burnwhen they fell asleep.A neighbor saw the perp go through the back door and then heard gunshots a little while later and called 911.When she got there with the paramedics, she found Grandpa Frankie, single gunshot wound to the chest and little Brooklyn shot in the abdomen a few times. Amazing she’s still alive. They have the kid at the hospital in surgery right now but between you and me, Mac, I don’t think she’s gonna make it.”
“Stay positive Don,” Detective Taylor said.
“You be positive Mac, I’ll be realistic.”
Danny who had been quiet for a good portion of the time they were in the house started photographing the scene and collecting evidence.As he photographed Frankie Burn he realized that this man was Aiden’s father and thatBrooklyn was possibly a niece of his deceased colleague Aiden Burn. She couldn’t have had a kid, Danny thought, surely she would have told me and the rest of the team.Must be a daughter of one of her brothers, of whom she of course had about four of.Danny continued to process the scene, collecting shell casings, and lifting finger prints and shoe patterns.
As Mac Taylor looked around the room, his eyes fell on a picture of Aiden Burn and a little infant baby girl in her arms, which he assumed must be Brooklyn.His eyes fell on a picture ofBrooklyn in a school picture starting her first day of kindergarten at a local Brooklyn Public school.

“Danny, does this little girl look familiar to you? Like you’ve seen her somewhere before?”
“Nope. Never Mac, why?”
“I don’t know, something about this child looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it?”
“Hmm, can’t say, nope, nothing. Hey do you know when she’s gonna be out of surgery? Then Stella can go and start processing her.”
“The doctors said it would be a few hours and they’ll call when she’s out.”
“Mac, do you think Aiden really did have a child?”
“Possibly. Danny I’ve seen this kid before this case, I know I have. And strangely enough, I remember outside the job she used to talk about her child all the time.”
“Why didn’t you tell me Mac?”
“I don’t know. Never thought much of it.When she died and Stella and I went over to her house we saw all these toys around the apartment in this one corner of the room and I couldn’t help but think how her daughter would be affected by her death.”

Sometime in 2006…
Mac and Stella stared around the private crime lab that Aiden had set up. As Stella shined her flashlight on the various contents of Aiden’s own personal crime lab she couldn’t believe what she saw.
“Mac, Aiden was shadowing DJ Pratt by herself for the past several months.That’s why the attorney of Pratt’s thought a cop was watching DJ Pratt.”
“DJ’s attorney didn’t realize that Aiden had been fired,” Mac said as he looked around Aiden’s apartment.
“Last time I talked to Aiden she said she was getting her private investigators license. She said that she was working on a special assignment and when she was done she would give me a call. She never called though Mac. I mean none of us had any idea of what was going on in her life.”
As Mac and Stella finished photographing the various contents in the apartment, they were just getting ready to leave, when Stella stepped over the arm of a Bitty Baby Doll from American Girl, along with several starter kit items that went with the doll.Stella stepped back in surprise and looked down at the toy contents in shock.

“Mac, are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
“Yeah, little girl’s toys. A niece, maybe?”
Stella walked over to the closet and noticed a box up on the shelf.She took it down, opened it up, and looked inside at the contents.Inside there was a birth certificate with the name Brooklyn Burn born March 28, 2004.
“No Mac, not a niece, a daughter. Aiden had a daughter.”
As Mac looked closer at the walls he saw a picture of little Brooklyn celebrating her second birthday with a little cupcake that Aiden had baked for her with a little candle shaped like a two in the middle and chocolate frosting all over her mouth.The picture made him smile. The child looked just like Aiden.Another picture on the wall showedBrooklyn trying to take her first steps while Aiden was holding her hand, guiding her.In another pictureBrooklyn was eighteen months and taking a parent and me gymnastics class with Aiden at Chelsea Piers Fieldhouse.The picture made Mac smile, mainly because it showed a different side of Aiden, a side he didn’t know existed nor ever would exist.
“Mac, if Aiden had a daughter why didn’t she tell us?”
“Maybe she didn’t want us to know because she thought it would affect her work in some way. Some people often don’t like to bring theirprivate lifeinto the work place. They like to keep their home life separate.”
“Yeah Mac but surely she would have bragged about her daughter, I mean the whole team didn’t even know she had a daughter Mac.”
“Well like you said, we didn’t know very much about went on in her life.Guess shadowing DJ Pratt wasn’t the only secret she was keeping.”
“That’s for sure.”
All of a sudden they heard a sound coming from behind the closed bathroom door in Aiden’s apartment.The sound sounded like a child crying.Stella and Mac opened the bathroom door and saw a little girl with a diaper that reeked of feces.Both Mac and Stella guessed that the diaper hadn’t been changed for several days.
“Hi sweetie, I’m Stella and this is Mac.Shhh, it’s alright, it’s okay, where’s your mommy?”
The little girl shrugged her shoulders and then babbled out some unintelligible words that sounded like word salad.
“Who is your mommy?” Stella asked.
The little girl pointed to a picture of Aiden Burn and they knew from the picture that she was Brooklyn.
“Where’s your daddy?”

The little girl shrugged her shoulders and then uttered some more unintelligible words.After a few moments of silenceBrooklyn finally answered, “no daddy. Don’t have a daddy.”
“Why don’t you come back with us and we’ll contact your Grandpa okay?”
“Otay!”Aiden Jr. said excitedly.
Back at the crime lab, Brooklynsat on the chair and waited until Frankie Burn had come to the lab to claim his grandchild.When Frankie Burn came to getBrooklyn Mac and Stella both asked about the child.
“Mr. Burn, where is Brooklyn’s father?”
“I don’t know. Aiden never told me who the father ofBrooklynwas. So I assumed that he was in the wind. I just remember that one day she came home from work crying, saying she was **** but she was too scared to say who the father was.”
“Could it have been an abusive boyfriend?” Mac asked.
“Possibly, the truth is, Aiden never told me about her really private and personal life outside the job and the basic how her day went type thing in life.”
“Thanks Frankie. She’s right there. All we need you to do is sign some legal papers. Okay?”
“Alright.”
“And Mr. Burn?”
“Yeah?”
“I promise we’re gonna find the monster who did this to your daughter,” Mac said.
“I know you will, for Aiden.
“For Aiden,” Mac and Stella said together, in affectionate unison.
And right then and there Frankie had signed away for custody of Brooklyn Mac never saw the little girl after that except at Aiden’s memorial service and during burial at the grave where Frankie clung to her as his main type of security and one tie to his daughter.After that day, Mac had forgotten the whole thing.Until now.

Back in the present, 2010
Back at the crime lab in autopsy, Dr. Sid Hammerback washed Frankie Burn’s body after he had declothed him.He made the v- incision and carefully examined every organ, bone, and brain, as well as stomach contents. He sent a sample of blood to tox and then extracted the bullet from the body. When he was done with autopsy, a cause of death had been determined.As soon as autopsy was done, Mac and Stella went to autopsy to learn the cause of death.
“The cause of death may surprise you,” Sid said.“Your victim did not die of a gun shot wound to the chest from the bullet.”
“What do you mean Sid? What did he die of?” Stella asked.
“A massive heart attack. Time of death puts him dead at about a half hour before the burglary.”
“So you’re saying our mystery burglar shot at a dead body and then attempted murder on little Brooklyn.?”Mac asked.
“Precisely. Oh and before you go, I have a little parting gift, the bullet, a .38 caliber.”
“Thanks Sid,” Stella said as her phone began to ring. “It’s the hospital,Brooklyn is awake.”

At the hospitalBrooklyn opened her eyes, which were still half blurred. As she came to she looked around the hospital.There was an IV in her arm dripping from a plastic bag and on her other arm there was a blood pressure cuff on the upper part of her arm that took her blood pressure, like clock -work every hour or so.There were several machines that were monitoring her heart beat andher breathing with little flat circle cups that connected to her chest and belly.Everything looked so scary!Brooklyn wished she were back home in her own bed. She missed her grandpa and she wanted him back.She could hear the doctor talking to a woman with a police badge and in a skirt and top and even perked up a little, as she knew her father worked for the police as a detective and hoped that he was with her.
“She’s in this room right here,” the doctor said.“I was just about to go in and do an x-ray of her abdomen as well as a blood transfusion. Right now she’s on plasmatic blood because of the amount of blood that she lost, and is just getting ready to have regular blood pumped into her.”
“How is she doing overall?” Stella asked.
“Overall she’s still critical and considering where the bullet hit in her abdomen she’s at risk for internal bleeding.So she’s being monitored very carefully.”
“Well I’m glad that you were just coming in because I need assistance to process her. And the lab would like a copy of her abdominal x-ray for documentation purposes.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Stella and Dr. Ringwald, the doctor who Stella was just talking to, came in.
“Hi Brooklyn,” Dr. Ringwald said. “How are you feeling sweetheart?”
“Okay, but my belly still hurts,” Aiden Jr. said in a soft voice.
“Well we’re gonna give you another shot to help the pain, okay honey?”
“Okay,”Brooklyn replied in response. “Whose that?”
Brooklyn pointed to Stella as she asked who she was.
“I’m Stella. I’m gonna take your picture and pictures of your wound okay? So that I can help find out who hurt you and your grandpa.”
“Okay. I’m just glad you don’t have a needle to give me another shot. I hate that. I also hate having this needle in my arm and blood put in my arm. It hurts, and a lot!”

“I know it does sweetie,” Dr. Ringwald said sympathetically, “but when I give you a shot and put that blood in your arm, I’m helping to get you better, and you want to get better don’t you?”
“I do I just don’t like shots!”
Stella laughed, “I don’t like shots either when I have to get them at the doctors”
Brooklynsmiled a little after Stella said that. She found it hard to believe that a grownup could be scared of getting shots at the doctors. She always thought grownups weren’t afraid of anything.
“Alright Brooklyn, this big camera is going to take a picture of inside your tummy to see how your booboo in your belly is. So try to hold really still so that the picture comes out okay?”
“Okay,”Brooklyn said as a nurse came in the room and adjusted her body so that it faced where the x-ray camera was being lowered to her belly. Brooklynheld really still as the x-ray machine dinged several times and at different angles of her tummy.While she lay there she felt scared and insecure. She hated being here and constantly being bothered by doctors and nurses and poked at.She felt like a science experiment rather than a human being. She wished it would end soon. This x-ray seemed to be taking a million years! She felt an itch on her leg. She wanted to wiggle so bad or at least scratch the itch!Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Dr. Ringwald said, “All done. You were a brave little girl.Would you like a sticker Brooklyn?”
“Yes please,”Brooklyn said as politely as she could, even though she thought stickers were a little babyish, and considering she was going into first grade, she wasn’t a baby anymore.
The nurse gaveBrooklyn a sticker of the red car character from the movie “Cars” and affixed the sticker to the top of her hospital gown.Brooklyn smiled her thanks to her.Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dr. Ringwald fill a tube with a long needle on the end of it full of blood, tap it, and then come towards her to stick it in her arm.

Brooklynwinced and pulled back, “No Dr. Ringwald! Please! I hate this!”
“It’s okay sweetie, shsh! It’s okay, I promise I’ll be gentle okay?”
“Noooo! It hurts! NO! NO!”
Dr. Ringwald gently took Brooklyn’s arm butBrooklyn pulled back and tried to escape off the bed but the machines she was hooked to held her back.Brooklyn started crying and throwing a tantrum! She hated getting needles in her! Absolutely hated it!Two nurses and two orderlies came to Dr. Ringwald’s aid while Brooklyn kicked and screamed at the top of her lungs and was crying uncontrollably.The Nurses and orderlies pinnedBrooklyn down but she fought hard every step of the way. There was no way they were getting a needle in her!Finally after several minutes the nurse came toward her with a needle full of clear liquid to inject her with a sedative to calm her down but it just madeBrooklyn fight harder.Several minutes of struggling went by and Stella, who had been watching the whole episode in utter horror, stepped in the middle, not being able to stand the injustice being done to the little girl any longer.
“Please! Don’t hurt her! Let me spend a few minutes with her. I’ll get her to take the blood transfusion.”
Dr. Ringwald and the nurses and orderlies stepped back, “Alright, be my guest. Go on and control her. I wish you all the luck in the world.”
Dr. Ringwald and the nurses and orderlies stepped out of the room per Stella’s suggestion while she went over to the bed to comfort little Brooklyn who was still crying at the top of her lungs.
“Shshh! It’s okay sweetie,” Stella said taking the little girl in her arms and stroking her hair and kissing the top of her forehead. “Dr. Ringwald just wants to help you because your body doesn’t have a lot of blood in it and Dr. Ringwald wants to give you more blood to make you better.He cares about you and so do the nurses and everyone here. You’re very special. You remind me so much of your mom with your pretty smile and beautiful long hair all wavy and your tough New Yorker-Brooklyn personality. And I know that your mother wouldn’t want to see you cry now would she?”
“How do you know?” Brooklynsaid between sobs. “You probably have never even met my mom!”
“that’s not true! I used to work with your mommy before she died. Your mommy and I were best friends.And I also know that outside of work Detective Taylor said she talked about you a lot!She always saidthat you were very brave and that you weren’t scared of very many things and I know that if she could see you now fighting the doctors to get a blood transfusion she’d be very disappointed in you.Now what I want you to do is show the doctors, just like you showed your mommy, how brave you are.”
“I can’t! I’m too scared! Those needles hurt!”
“I know they doBrooklyn but you have to be a big brave girl and get this done.Do you know what I do when I get shots?”
Brooklynshook her head no.
“I close my eyes really tight and I imagine I am at my favorite place in the whole world with the most special person in my life.Why don’t you try it? Close your eyes.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Just try it. It’ll work, I promise.”

Brooklynclosed her eyes, and said, “I can’t see anything!”
“Well then you’re not looking hard enough. You have to look really hard, way in the back there.”
Brooklyntried harder to imagine her favorite place with the most special person in her life and soon an image of that special place and person popped into her mind.
“Now I see my favorite place and my favorite person that I am with in that place.”
“Good, where are you and who are you with?”
“I am at American Girl Place in Manhattan watching a show with my mom.We are eating sandwiches and my mom’s favorite dessert, New York cheesecake. She’s complaining to me to be more careful because I got mayonnaise on my red dress. After the show we walked around looking at American Girl dolls and my mommy bought one that looked just like me with her own starter kit and a couple outfits. Then mommy and I fell asleep on the cab ride home.”
“Well see there you go! That sounds about right! So whenever you get scared you just imagine that special place you like to go and your mommy being with you and she’ll always be there. Okay?”
“Okay. Thanks Stella! I feel a lot better!”
When Dr. Ringwald came back in and gave her the blood transfusionBrooklyn imagined being at that special place with her mommy and was able to get through the whole blood transfusion, and it didn’t even hurt!
“Wow! What a good girl you were! How would you like to pick a toy out of my grab bag for being so brave?”
“Yay! I want a Barbie toy from there!”
AfterBrooklyn had picked out her toy she allowed Stella to take several photographs of her. She held still while Stella took a case ID, full body shot, face shot, mid range of her belly with the bullet wound, and then a closeup of the bullet wound.For each photograph Stella took,Brooklyn would always have a big smile on her face that touched Stella’s heart. This sweet little girl of her former deceased colleague Aiden Burn had won her heart completely.Afterwards, Stella collected the bullet from Dr. Ringwald, to compare it to the one that was taken from Frankie Burn at autopsy.Dr. Ringwald gaveBrooklyn an injection of pain killers in her arm.
As Stella was getting ready to leave,Brooklyn grabbed onto her shirt, “Stella?”
“Yes sweetie?”
“Could you stay with me until I fall asleep?”

“Of course I will.”
It didn’t take long forBrooklyn to fall asleep with Stella sitting next to her bed and holding her hand. As soon as she had fallen asleep Stella picked up her evidence packet with the bullet in it taken from Brooklyn’s belly.
As she went to leave she asked, “Dr. Ringwald, what’s going to happen toBrooklyn when she’s out of the hospital?”
“Well she’s probably going to be going to a foster home or an orphanage in upstate New York.”
Stella thanked Dr. Ringwald and then left the hospital as quick as she could to go back to the crime lab. As she walked the streets of New York City she cried quietly to herself, tears running down her face in great streams. This little girl couldn’t go through the system! She just couldn’t! She had to do something to save this little girl! She just had to!

Back at the crime lab, Danny test fired guns to see which one matched the stria on the bullet pulled from Brooklyn and Frankie Burn. Ballistics showed that the .38 caliber came from a revolver. A pistol with a six cylinder barrel. Danny proceeded to run the bullets through NIBIS and got a case to case hit on the revolver, which had been used in another robbery on the Upper East side just a few short weeks before.
"Any information on the bullets Danny?" Mac asked.
"ballistics came back and I got a case to case hit. That same gun was used in a robbery on the upper East side about three weeks ago."
Lindsay tested the trace that Danny had found at the scene, which turned out to be a fiber from a red whool sweater. The shoe prints were also tested and found to be size seven and half with a tread pattern consistent with skater shoes.
"Mac, the trace Danny found at the scene came from a red whool sweater. When I checked out the fabric contents of the sweater there is only one place in New York City that sells this type of sweater. It belongs off the boys line at Macy's for their new winter season wear, one hundred percent whool."
"Good, and the shoes?"
"Tread pattern is consistent with Adidas skate shoe, size seven and a half."

Danny and Lindsay stood at the counter at Macy's in the boys department. A saleswoman approached them.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Yes, we would like to know who purchased your winter line whool sweaters within the past week."
"Well I don't keep a list of clients who purchase the sweaters. Although I must say that someone purchasing an all whool sweater in spring is surprising because not many people buy that line of sweater this time of year."
"Anyone purchase within the last week that stood out to you or seemed suspicious to you?"
"There was one young man who came in and purchased a red whool sweater. He had a scar on his left cheek, he was caucasian, tall, lanky, brown hair, brown eyes. He just looked out of sorts. I can't describe it."
"Would you be able to describe him to a sketch artist?"
"Yes, of course."

Back at the lab
"Mac someone matching the description of the kid the saleslady described to the sketch artist was found outside a restaurant in Queens."
"Alright lets go."
At the restaurant in Queens, the unknown male suspect tried to escape on foot when Danny and Flack IDed themselves as NYPD but Danny and Flack caught up with him and took him into custody.
"Next time you should try running without the whool on. Might make it a little easier,"Danny said.
Back in custody...
"What did I do man?"
"You know what you did. You robbed a house in Brooklyn where a six year old little girl of my former colleagues was shot and where you shot at a dead body of her Grandpa. You used a .38 caliber and shot both of them and then you robbed them, took a bunch of cash and jewelry. You know, anything you could find that was valuable, " Detective Flack said.
"No way man I didn't steal anything. Iswear."
"Yeah, and when we test that sweater that you bought at Macy's it isn't gonna come up as a fiber that was left at the crime scene?"
"Alright look I was there, but I didn't shoot anybody, I swear."
"You know what, keep entertaining me with your lies, I have all day,"Detective Flack said. "I can have your finger prints taken and Ican have your shoe print lifted.And when we find out it's you, you're looking at twenty five years maybe with possibility of parol because you just attempted murder and the fact that your other victim was already dead when you arrived to rob the place."
"Alright, alright, look I was there and yeah I took some stuff, but I didn't kill anyone."

"Oh yeah, we'll see about that."
Detective Flack took the kid, Davy Penneman's prints, and then a piece of whool from the sweater.
Danny tested the prints and Lindsay the whool. A shoe pattern of Davy Penneman's was taken also.
"What do we have Danny and Lindsay?" Mac asked.
"We have good news and bad news Mac," Lindsay said.
"The bad news first."
"The finger prints taken from Davy Pennemen did not match the prints on the gun,"Lindsay said. "Which means we're looking at a second shooter."
"And the good news?"
"The whool fiber from Davy's sweater was a match to the fiber we found at the scene in color, clothing die, and contents in the sweater. The shoe pattern that we got from Penneman, also consistent in size and pattern. And we got Davy Pennemen's finger prints on several of the stuff that he took. There was also a second set of shoe prints at the scene."
"Good, it puts him at the scene," Mac said. "Now all we need to find is the other shooter."
As Mac was getting ready to go back to his office Stella stopped him on the way in.
"Mac can I talk to you for a minute."
"Sure, what about?"
"Dr. Ringwald said that Brooklyn would go into the system and when I heard that Ijust felt so helpless. I mean how could this kid have no one. It just seems so unfair."
"There are a lot of injustices being done in the world, this is just one of the many sad cases that isn't going to have a happy ending."
"I know Ijust wish there was something Icould do to fix it."

"We can't fix it. It's not our job to fix it. All we can do is hope that things turn out okay for this little girl and that her experience in the system won't be horrible. I mean you went through the system and look how you turned out."
"Iknow Mac, I just wish I could be there for her.Imean this is Aiden's child and look what is going to happen to her?"
"Maybe you can, just keep visiting her in the hospital. And let her know it's alright."
"Thanks Mac."
Later on that day...
"hey Mac, the prints found on the gun, I ran them through AFIS and got a hit. They belong to a Jared Ricci, got aquitted on charges of armed robbery two years ago."
"Good where is Ricci now?"
"Last known address, 235 Benton Ave. in Queens."
"Jared Ricci, NYPD!"
A young guy answers the door, "What's up, this is Jared?"
"You're under arrest for armed robbery, that's what's up?"
Back in custody...
"Where were you late this evening?"
"I was at home?"
"Really? Can anyone verify that?"
"No, I was alone."
"Really? Then why did we find your fingerprints on your gun?"
"Look, I lost that gun about a week ago. That's why my prints are on it."
"That's a very entertaining story Jared, except for one problem, that gun was used in a robbery in Brooklyn and almost killed a little girl of one of my deceased colleagues," Detective flack said.
"Look it wasn't me man, I swear," Jared said.
"really?Then how can you explain the prints on your gun?"
"I don't know. I mean probably because I used that gun at the firing range. But I swear, I lost it a week ago."
"Mac, I found skin on the gun with blood," Lindsay said. "Our shooter cut themselves firing the gun."
Lindsay tested the DNA and it came back to a hit in codis.
"Got a hit in codis on the DNA. and it also came back to Jared."
"So it proves Jared fired it. What about the second shoe print?"
"the shoe print was a black worker boot consistent in the size and pattern that Jared was wearing."
"Jared, why don't we try this again. Where were you? And how do you know Davy Pennemen?"
"Who?"
"Ah so now he's an owl and not just an armed robber," Flack said. "Jerry Pennemen, your boy that helped you rob the Burn household in Brooklyn."
"You mean that kid!' "Yeah the kid."
"Did he rat on me?"
"No, as a matter of fact you rolled over on yourself."
"Oh man!Look I didn't mean to kill anyone. Things just got out of hand."
"What do you mean things got out of hand? A little girl was almost killed because of you!"
"Look I'm sorry that little kid was shot! It's just Davy saw her start to move. And I freaked. Neither one of us wanted her to ID us in a line up. So Davy robbed the place while I shot her to make sure she wouldn't be a witness and then I shot the grandfather too so that he would stay silent."
"Yeah well some crimes just don't go as planned because the criminals are two huge idiots. Your shoe pattern matches the pattern found at the scene and your DNA, found on the gun along with your prints. No one was supposed to get hurt. That wasn't the plan."
"No, that's never the plan, it's supposed to be easy and no one's supposed to get hurt. Like I said the worst crimes are ones committed by two morons. Would you get this one out of my face please?" Flack asked.

Danny's cell phone rang shortly after Jared Ricci and Davy Pennemen were taken into booking, it was his mom calling to say that Lucy, Lindsay's and his one year old daughter, had a fever. Worried about his daughter he hung up the phone and went straight to his parents house in Staten Island. When he got there LIndsay called him.
"Hey Lindsay."
"Danny what's up, you sounded worried on the message you left me onmy phone?"
"Lucy's sick, she has a fever."
"Oh my God! How high is it?"
"It's 104 degrees and she has to go to the hospital.That's where I'm taking her right now."
"Oh my God Danny!Which hospital!Is she gonna be okay?"
"I hope so. Look she'll be at Trinity General Hospital. The same hospital Brooklyn was taken to."
"okay, I'm just finishing up some paper work here. I'll be over in a few minutes. As a matter of fact no, the paper work can wait. I'm coming with you. I wanna be with her."
Lindsay hurried from the crime lab to Trinity General Hospital where Danny was outside in the waiting room while Lucy was in the ER.
"Danny, how's Lucy?" Lindsay asked, panic in her voice.
"She's in the ER and is in critical condition. They'll let us know if anything changes."
"Oh my God! I can't believe this happened!"
"Well Lucy's been sick the past few days it could've been from that."
"I knew Ishould have stayed home with her instead of going into work today. Maybe if Ihad I could've taken her to the doctor's and prevented this."
"Look it's not your fault. Complications from the flu happen, especially in infants like Lucy.Look I wanna do something about this to to make her better but I can't. Right now we just have to sit tight and wait and see what happens."
"Iknow, I just feel so helpless as a parent. I feel like I should be able to do something."
A few hours later...
Dr. Ringwald, the same doctor as Brooklyn had came out to talk to the Messers.
"Mr. and Mrs. Messer, Lucy's doing better. She's in stable condition. Her fever's still a little high, about 101 degrees but other than that she's going to be fine. She's being treated with antibiotics.She's in room 202. You can see her now."