“The cup you tested was Mike Ricci’s cup from yesterday morning.”
Cross looks into Garcia’s eyes with her mouth hung slightly open. “Are you telling me you think this is Ricci’s DNA?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. I felt sick about it when you told me it matched, that’s why I had to get off the phone.”
“Juan,” Cross cautions as she speaks slowly, “You better be sure about this.”
“Oh, I know Cindy, believe me, I know. Unless someone picked that cup out of his trash and licked the entire rim of the cup, it has to be his DNA.”
“Technically it is still unknown DNA, so we need a known sample from Ricci himself to confirm the identification,” advises Cross.
“Yes, that’s what we need to talk to Sarge about.”
Garcia and Cross enter Sgt. Pennington’s office.
“Hello Juan, Cindy. I’m anxious to hear your critical news,” says Pennington.
Garcia hands her the DNA report. The report contains the chart of the DNA sequencing, often referred to as alleles or genetic markers that are used to compare the two DNA samples. There are a total of 20 genetic markers used for comparison.
“We have two really good samples of DNA to work with,” explains Cross. “One from the blood at our last scene, and one from saliva.” She points to numbers on the report. “If you look at these two columns, you will see the number sequences match at each marker. That tells us the DNA from both samples are from the same person.”
“This IS critical news,” an excited Pennington exclaims. “Whose saliva did we test?”
Garcia hesitates, “It came from Mike Ricci’s paper coffee cup from yesterday.”
Pennington lifts her head from the report and leans back in her chair, eyes darting between Garcia and Cross. She takes a deep breath and then exhales. “Are you trying to tell me our Detective Ricci is the killer?”
“Yes, I believe he is,” answers Garcia. “And the DNA confirms it, at least for the most recent murder. I don’t know what other explanation there could be.”
“This is hard to believe Juan, what drove you to test Mike’s DNA?”
Garcia then proceeds to explain to Pennington the coincidences he’s observed, Ricci’s attitude toward dealers, and how he began to have suspicions. He also tells her how he had approached Commander Marshall with his concerns and was reprimanded. He ignored the Commander's direction and secretly obtained a sample of Ricci’s DNA. Therefore, he has come to her for advice.
“We still need to get a sample from Ricci directly to confirm the results,” advises Cross. “If he will not voluntarily submit to a swab, we will have to get a court order.”
Pennington thinks for a few moments. “Okay, here’s what we are going to do. Juan, I will go with you to tell the Commander. Let’s pull Jackson in as well so he knows what’s going on. Cindy, if needed, are you ready to take a sample from Ricci?”
“Yes, I have my kit with me.”
“Alright, I’m not sure how the Commander will want to proceed, but several things need to be done. Get the DNA sample, and start on search warrants for Ricci’s home and car. Has Ricci left yet?”
“No,” says Garcia, “but it’s getting late, and he may leave soon.”
“I’ll go tell him not to leave due to some important new developments in the case,” says Pennington. “That will buy us some time to talk to Marshall. Juan, you go find Jackson and meet me at Marshall’s office in fifteen minutes.”
When Garcia tells Jackson the news, he is stunned. “You’re screwing with me!”
“Sorry Trevon, but I’m not.”
Fifteen minutes later, Pennington, Garcia, Jackson, and Cross are ready to meet with Commander Marshall. “Come on in,” invites the Commander. “Must be something important. Where is Ricci?”
“He’s busy right now,” responds Pennington. “We have something to tell you. Our lab has matched the suspect DNA in the Candy Man Killer case to DNA taken from Detective Ricci’s coffee cup. We believe he may be our serial killer.”
“What the hell is going on here!?” yells Marshall. “Juan, are you behind this nonsense? What did I tell you?”
“Yes, I am sir. I’m sorry, but my suspicions never went away, so I had the lab test his paper coffee cup for DNA.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to do that?”
“Commander,” says Pennington, “what’s important now is that we have critical evidence pointing to one of our own detectives. It can’t be ignored. You want us to just walk away and pretend this didn’t happen?”
Marshall leans forward, puts his elbows on his desk, places his hands on both sides of his face, and runs his fingers across the sides of his head as he looks down. He holds the position for several seconds.
“No,” he finally says, and then pauses again. “It’s simply hard to believe Mike could be involved like this. I’ve known Mike for 16 years. He’s been one of the finest detectives to work with.”
“Commander,” says Juan, “I believe the death of his daughter and then his wife filled him with rage against all drug dealers. I think it finally just consumed him.”
Marshall does not respond for a few seconds. Finally, he looks at Pennington, “what do you recommend we do Gloria?”
“Some of it is up to Mike. If he agrees to voluntarily submit to a DNA swab we won’t have to get a warrant. We will probably need to get search warrants for his car and home. We should first sit him down and present what we have and see how he reacts. In the meantime, I can have patrol impound his vehicle and guard his home until we can get the warrants.”
“Alright then,” Marshall says. “Gloria, you get officers to secure the car and home, then I want you to be lead on interviewing Mike. Juan, are you up to being in on the interview?”
“Yes, I’d like to be involved.”
“Trevon, I need you to coordinate securing search warrants for both the car and home.”
“Yes sir.”
“Cindy, you stand by for potential DNA swabbing.
