Chapter Text
“Oy, this is going to be another long one, innit?” Edwin glimpses over to Lee as they’re studying case files, waiting for something to jump at them, waiting for anything to come over the phone that’d net them an arrest in the murder of Lindell.
It took time, but through different phone calls, they did get confirmation from a delivery service of something being delivered to the building shortly before Lindell’s murder that wasn’t among the chaos.
Pissed off the tenants when they learnt that they weren’t able to retrieve their packages and mail until the detectives verified them all, but with Lee, he knew well enough that he’s destined to piss someone off on any given case.
Truly, it’s a miracle he lived this long, with the different attempts on his life, but it came with the job.
It helps he received benefits for helping here and there, that it made it worth getting shot in the ass over.
Some may think of it as a bribe, maybe they’re right, but Lee took it as a pragmatic decision since that fateful day.
Not like he had any choice in the matter, anyhow, so he might as well make use of it for the time being.
“Delivery people got cleared,” Edwin hangs up the phone while he looks over to Lee. “Okay, what’re the chances the killer came through the back and ran out?”
Thinking about the possibility, Lee responds with, “Could easily slip past without anyone noticing.”
Wracking their heads with ideas on how their killer avoided being spotted by a witness, the detectives work through the day, until eventually they have no choice but to stop for the time, as their stomachs grow hungrier, and their bodies starting to reject their coffee intake for the day.
Switching to water for Lee, tea for Edwin, the detectives consume what little was available in the break room before their lieutenant cut them off.
Forced to turn to conventional means of getting food, the detectives talk it out as they flip through more papers, and as they did, Lee receives a text from Rainbow asking how he was doing.
Seeing the time and realizing he is supposed to be on break, Lee shoots a reply explaining how he was dealing with a “long one” before getting another text from Rainbow asking if he ate anything beyond stale bagels and bear claws.
Admitting that he and Edwin were about to flip a coin for something, Lee sees Rainbow asking if he wanted her to bring him anything.
In a city like New York City, there’s not just “anything”; it’s an entire smorgasbord of excess and culture intertwined into one entity, that it would be difficult for Lee to narrow it down on a good day.
Sure, Las Vegas has it in the excess department, but nothing compares to the real deal.
“Hey Ed, what’re you in the mood for?” Lee gets his opinion as he thinks about his options.
Scratching the side of his slicked-back hair, Edwin responds with, “Well, how about some Greek?”
They’ve already paid tribute to their ancestors times over with the coffee and baked goods; time for some Greek to break things up.
Making a snark comment, Lee sends the request with a cutesy message to Rainbow, topping it off he’ll gladly pay her a sizable tip for the delivery.
Cheekily, Rainbow makes a comment, but before Lee can read it, he notices Edwin looking over his shoulder.
“Hey! You need a warrant, pal!” Lee calls him out on it.
Chuckling, Edwin teases Lee with, “Aw, she hasn’t been repulsed by your tough outer shell, yet?”
Pointing at himself, Lee dryly states, “I take showers, dick!”
Once Rainbow sent a text telling him she was on her way with the food, Lee went back to working on the case with Edwin, and they hadn’t found a break.
“The fingerprints are a mess, no cameras, everyone in the building checks out, who killed him, Houdini?” Edwin grew increasingly frustrated.
Agreeing with him, Lee tries to keep his spirits up by saying how Houdini’s wife wanted to prove he lived beyond death.
“Houdini turned into a hitman in death, Lee?” Edwin raises his fine brow.
Shrugging his wide shoulders, Lee expresses, “Hey, you don’t know, maybe even in death he had to work!”
Rolling his tired eyes, Lee goes back to work.
In half an hour, Lee receives a text from Rainbow telling him she’s at the precinct with the food, and happily he gets up from the desk to retrieve it while reaching into his wallet.
Humming a song that popped up in his head, Lee also thinks about what he’ll say if he wanted to dip his toes into the Fusco playbook, something.
The moment he turned the corner; everything went up in smoke.
Metaphorically, speaking of course.
What should’ve been a dazzling display of human genes quickly fades with disguised Finch waiting for him.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Lee grits his teeth in agitation.
Frowning, Finch explains how there’s been a break in a case he and Edith are working on before they stopped to help Lee and Edwin with theirs, but the findings aren’t something Lee wanted to hear openly.
Sensing the urgency, Lee goes with him somewhere private.
His large hands in his pockets, Lee listens as Finch informs him how their case is much more connected to his and Edwin’s than they thought.
“We have the belief the Chicago Mob is working under the consent of the Five Family,” Finch began as his blue eyes kept watch for anything out of the ordinary. “A cleaner was dispatched to deal with a witness who could be a threat to their operation, and it’s believed the Five Family are helping them.”
With the threat of Bruce and his gang looming over them, the Five Family want every bit of an alliance they can get, but Finch fears Bruce will retaliate in response.
“How come you can’t just let it slip that Dominic’s been in the ground and Bruce’s running the show?” Lee angrily gestures towards him.
Warily looking down at his feet, Finch expresses how he considered the idea multiple times, but hastily concludes a strong possibility of an all-out war breaking out.
“And you don’t think Bruce has fingers in this pie?” Lee points at him.
Admitting he considered that possibility as well, Finch muses how it was too intricate that chances of failure were high if pursued wrongly.
“You’re making him out to be Lex Luthor!” Lee accuses him.
Slowly nodding, Finch further admits how Bruce spent his life working out the revenge, and unlike his counterparts that fail, Bruce aims to see his revenge through.
“But that’s not why I am here, detective,” Finch changes the topic. “The cleaner has a recent photo of the witness. The next thing I will tell you, do not panic, everything’s been taken care of…”
TO BE CONTINUED... Reese and the Boar