The Relic: A Savvy Macavoy Story

by Amy Shannon

  Savvy laughed slightly. “We don’t do anything private in the kitchen down here,” she smiled. “I do want to show you something,” She stood up and walked over to Leonard, extending her left hand. She gently wiggled her ring finger which housed the ring that Strick made for her. “We’re engaged, and he made me this beautiful ring.”

  “Oh my, that is gorgeous,” he looked over at Strick. “I don’t wear jewelry but even I’d wear something like that. It’s beautiful.”

  Savvy slipped it off her finger to show him the details. “Look at the script and carvings,” she smiled. “It’s like he knows me or something.”

  “He certainly does,” Leonard smiled as she slipped the ring back on her finger. “Must be nice to have that kind of love.”

  “Is something wrong?” Savvy took his hand.

  “No, I’m fine,” he sighed.

  “Is it Adler?”

  “He’s doing well. They have him on some treatment and he should be home in a day or so. I heard there was an APB on Oscar.”

  “Where d’you hear that?” Strick asked.

  “The officer that was posted outside Adler’s door. Jim Jones. I know him and I’m glad that Tim posted him.”

  “Jones? Oh, right,” Savvy said. “He went to the academy with me. You dated him, right?”

  “For a day,” Leonard smiled. “And then we were just better friends, but you know me, I’m a homebody,” he stood up and kissed her cheek. “Savvy, I’m fine. I’m just a little nervous.”

  “About Adler?”

  “Yeah, I don’t want to jump into something so serious and have my heart get broken again. I’m done with heartbreak.”

  “Do you like Adler?” Strick asked.

  “Yes, of course. He’s a wonderful man, that I know of. I thought I knew Ryan and look at what he did. He took money and then he shot me,” He rubbed his arm lightly.

  Savvy put her arm around him. “Honey, I know that Adler likes you. I can tell when he looks at you. Don’t be afraid of a broken heart, because Adler may just be the guy who you want to keep.”

  “Do you think he wants to be with me? I mean, really be with me?”

  “Yes, but the only way to know for sure is to ask him,” Savvy kissed Leonard’s cheek.

  “I will, I guess,” he sighed. “I still need to figure out where the mercury was put.”

  “How is it usually administered as a poison?” Savvy asked.

  “Well, just a few little pellets of liquid poison and contact with a person would do it. It could be something he touched, ate, or drank, or something that he could be in contact with all the time.”

  “Well, it’s not his cane,” Strick said. “I cleaned that thing before I fixed it. Did you check his car?”

  “His car?” Savvy asked.

  “Yes, there was an assassination attempt in Russia of a human rights activist, there were liquid pellets put in her car and she almost died. It’s a popular poison in Russia,” Strick explained.

  “I’ll have to check that,” Leonard said. “You certainly are a wealth of knowledge, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” he smiled.

  “It was used in old thermometers,” Savvy said. “But it would take a lot of those to cause poisoning, right?”

  Leonard slapped his head. “That’s right,” he sighed. “I think I know.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Adler has this old barometer. It’s one of his items that we were packing. He usually kept it on the counter in his store room,” Leonard explained. “But, it was in his secured room. On the main counter. He thought it was strange and when he went to pack it, he noticed it had a large crack in it. Some gray liquid was leaking out of it and it was on the counter. He just wiped it up and said he’d repair it when he got settled. He packed it in a box with plastic and bubble wrap.”

  “Well, I think it was done on purpose. His contact made him sick and it wasn’t an accident. Did you touch it?” Savvy asked.

  “No, he wouldn’t let me. He thought he was being careful. He even wore gloves when he cleaned it up. Could that little exposure make him sick?”

  “Depends on the chemical compound of mercury,” Strick said. “When I heard he was sick by mercury, I looked it up. The best thing to do would be to get that box with the barometer inside it and completely seal it. Then I would tell Adler that he needs to just get rid of it but contact hazmat or something.”

  “I’ll do that. I’m seeing him later. How do I handle the box?”

  “I’ll go with you,” Strick said. “I have welding gloves downstairs we can use, and aluminum wrap we can do it to seal it before we wrap it in plastic. I’ve got what we need,” Strick said. “Savvy, we’ll be back.”

  “Please, be careful,” she sat down behind her desk as the men walked through the red doors. She glanced up as the door to the Agency opened, chiming the bell.

  34

  Savvy stood up quickly. “Jarrod, what are you doing here?”

  He put his hands up. “I wanted to thank you and to talk with you. I mean you no harm.”

  Savvy pointed to the chair in front of her desk. “Please sit, with your hands on your lap. Are you armed?”

  “No,” he sighed. “You still have my weapon.”

  “Oh, right,” she sighed. “You can have it back after our discussion,” She sat down. “Now, why are you thanking me?”

  “For one, you didn’t let me shoot Leif and two, you didn’t tell the cops about what I did,” he sighed. “I’m sorry. I heard things and I jumped to conclusions.”

  “Jarrod, I think you’re a good guy. I didn’t want you to get into trouble, but I really think you need to talk to your superiors at the museum. I don’t think you should work there anymore.”

  “I have an appointment to talk with Ms. Jerome. I’m going to resign. I just have to figure out where I can go next.”

  “I hope you figure it out,” she smiled. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course,” he said, leaning forward, his elbows pressed into his knees.

  “Do you know my brother well?”

  “Which one?”

  “Oh, sorry. Uh, Friend. He’s Oscar’s partner, or at least was.”

  “Just to see him with Oscar,” Jarrod sighed. “Leif introduced me to Oscar and Avery, when they were together as a couple. I know that Oscar was bi. We were all in a bar. Uh, a bar on 32nd. Mallory’s or something. I don’t go out often to bars. Anyway, a few months later, I saw that Oscar was with Friend and they were a couple, but then they weren’t. I was surprised to see them together last week. I don’t know much about their personal life, well, only what I heard from Leif. I did hear Oscar complain once and this was a few months ago, that his friend was doing something with his father. He hated his father, but he could never say it out loud. Not sure why.”

  “Did he say friend with a capital F or a lowercase f? I guess, I’m asking if was referring to my brother or just any friend.”

  “I don’t know,” he sighed. “He said the words my friend. But knowing Oscar and how he likes to be possessive, he could be referring to his possession of your brother.”

  “I guess,” she said. “If I were you, I’d stay away from Oscar.”

  “What about Leif?”

  “I can’t tell you what to do, but you did try to kill him earlier.”

  Jarrod stood up. “I guess,” he shrugged. “I just wish I knew what to do. I really don’t.”

  Savvy stood up and extended her hand. “I wish I could help, but only you can make that decision.”

  He shook her hand. “Thank you, Ms. Macavoy.”

  “Uh, hold on a sec,” she reached into her drawer and pulled out his gun. “Holster this and don’t try to shoot anyone again.”

  “Again, thanks,” he put the gun in his inside holster under his jacket and headed out of the Agency, nodding to Tim as he walked in.

  “What was he doing here?” Tim asked.

  “Actually, I’m not sure. He’s in a bad way, but
only he can get himself out of it. So, what brings you here?” Savvy pointed to the chair.

  “It’s kind of official business,” He took his notepad out of his pocket and sat down on the chair. He crossed his legs while he shifted his holster.

  Savvy sat down. “Well, why didn’t you send one of your detectives?”

  “You know why,” he snickered. “Everyone thinks I can handle you better.”

  “Hmm, I need to be handled, huh?”

  “You know you do,” Tim smiled. “So, just to get you up to speed, we issued an APB on Oscar Stein.”

  “I know.”

  “You know?”

  “I mean, oh, good,” she smiled. “And?”

  “We’re keeping Leif Gardner overnight and he’ll be arraigned tomorrow.”

  “Oh, what charge?” she picked up her pen and positioned it over her notepad.

  “Possession of stolen property,” he said. “We got a search warrant for his apartment and found several boxes of stolen property, most of them were collectible or antique.”

  “Oh, were you able to identify them?”

  “We’re working on that now. I did stop at the hospital to see Mr. Stein and then Mr. Gutenberg. I showed them photos of what we found. Some they were both able to identify, but not all,” He sighed. “I heard Stein was poisoned with mercury.”

  Strick and Leonard walked into the room. “Oh, good, Tim, you’re here. You need to call in hazmat or something.”

  Savvy and Tim stood up. “What is it?” Savvy asked.

  “I didn’t want to touch that box, even with gloves,” Strick said. “It needs to be removed from Stein’s new storefront and then that area needs to be cleaned.”

  “What’s this box?” Tim asked.

  “In the box is an old barometer. It’s broken and contains mercury. We believe that Oscar broke it to expose his father to the poison. We were going to secure the box, but it has a leak now, too,” Leonard explained.

  “Where’s his storefront?”

  “The next building over,” Leonard said. “He’s renting it from us, unless he decides to buy, and we decide to sell.”

  “All right. Excuse me,” he headed into the kitchen, pulling his cell phone from his pocket.

  Savvy looked at Strick. “You didn’t touch it, did you?”

  “No, we didn’t. I was going to have you call Tim, but he’s here anyway. Is everything all right?”

  “I think he has some questions for me, but he didn’t ask them yet. He was telling me about the APB on Oscar.”

  Tim walked back into the room. “I’ve got men on their way. Leonard, will you be here to let them in?”

  “Yes, I’m going to bring Adler dinner later but not for a couple of hours. I have some work to do at my desk.”

  “What work?” Savvy asked.

  “Just some research,” he quickly walked over to his desk and sat down.

  Savvy focused on Tim. “You still want to talk?”

  “Uh, yeah, uh, Sunshine, Gardner wanted to talk to you, but he can’t see anyone until after he’s arraigned. I don’t know if he’ll get bail or not. He said he was just trying to make money. He said his father left him money but it’s in a trust and he can’t touch it until he’s 30. He wanted to buy his father’s position in the company.”

  “Oh, well, maybe, I’ll think about it,” she sighed. “I guess I do have some questions for Gardner. Do you have any for me?”

  “How did you end up at Gardner’s home?”

  “I followed a lead. I told you I was concerned that some of the board members of the museum were being poisoned. I was right about Adler but, wrong about who did the poisoning and what it was.”

  “Sounds like Mr. Stein is becoming important to you.”

  “He already is. He’s important to all of us,” Savvy said. “Tim,” she put her hand on his shoulder. “I solved my case and will close it out when Adler is out of the hospital, but there are still some things going on. I don’t think he’s safe until Oscar is caught. And Friend,” she sighed.

  “I heard a lot of stories about Friend. From both Jarrod and Leif.”

  “You know Jarrod, right?”

  “Yeah, I’ve known him for years and he’s just ruined his career because he fell in love with the wrong man.”

  “He made his own choices as we all do. He just has to figure out where to go next,” she smiled. “He’ll be all right.”

  “He said something… uh, that you protected him.”

  “He made a bad choice, but it was rectified, that’s all,” she leaned up and kissed Tim’s cheek. “So, did you handle me well?”

  “I think you handled me,” Tim smiled. “I have to get back and check in. So, we’ll miss you at dinner. We liked having you all over last night.”

  “It was nice, I liked us all being there together. We’ll need to do it again, even if it’s just dinner and not a sleepover,” she smiled.

  He touched her hand and admired her ring. “Oh, wow, that’s nice. Strick, you made this?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I talked with Harry about us getting married. I asked for his blessing, well his and Leonard’s.”

  “That’s one nice ring. You do that often, woodworking, I mean?”

  “Sometimes, not as much as I’d like. It’s just a hobby,” he smiled.

  Tim kissed Savvy’s cheek and then shook Strick’s hand. “I better go. Talk to you both soon, unofficially,” He walked toward the door. “Oh, Leonard, I got a call earlier before I came.”

  Leonard looked up. “Is he taking a deal?”

  “The DA will call you officially tomorrow, but yeah. I also got word that he wants to see you. If you want, I can have him transferred to holding from Riker’s if you want to see him.”

  “I’ll let you know,” Leonard said.

  “No problem,” Tim nodded and left the Agency.

  “So, what gives?” Savvy walked over to Leonard.

  “Research,” he sighed. “On the effects of mercury poison.”

  “You know he’s going to get better,” Savvy put her hand on his. “He will. Come on. We all could use a break.”

  “I need to let the team into the storefront.”

  “You’ll be here and then later, we’ll all bring dinner to Adler’s room. Unless you want privacy.”

  “No, I think he’d like that.”

  “I think I should tell him about his property being in my safe, too.”

  “If you think that’s best,” Leonard said.

  “He’s not going to leave you. I think he loves you,” Savvy said.

  “I’ve heard that before,” Leonard sighed.

  “And you will hear it, from his lips as he’s kissing you softly. Do you want me to sing it for you?” she smirked.

  “Uh, no, honey, that’s fine,” he smiled. “I’ll just take your word for it.”

  35

  Leonard, Strick and Savvy each carried a canvas tote bag into Adler’s room. Leonard leaned over and kissed his cheek and he opened his eyes. “Oh, what’s all this?” he asked.

  “Dinner,” Leonard said. “Did we disturb you?”

  “No, I’m glad you’re all here,” he smiled. “Smells good. What is it?”

  “Well, we ordered from that new German restaurant down the street from the hospital,” Strick said. “I hope you like it.”

  “I’m sure I will,” he said. “Thank you all for coming. I feel a little better now. My stomach doesn’t hurt anymore, and I am starving. I should be able to go home tomorrow.”

  Leonard and Strick pulled out the containers of food. “Savvy wanted to tell you something, but I think I should tell you something first,” Leonard said.

  “What is it?”

  “That old barometer is what poisoned you. We had to have hazmat come in and take it to the CSU lab, so they can analyze it, process it for evidence and then, unfortunately, they must dispose of it properly. We also had to have your storefront cleaned up because of the mercury. It leaked through the box.”
>
  “Oh, did my son do this to me?” Adler sighed.

  “We assume, but we don’t know until they process and see if he left evidence,” Leonard explained. “And they are still investigating the fire.”

  “I need to see my father,” Oscar’s voice appeared from outside the door.

  “You can’t, I’m under orders,” the officer said.

  Strick smiled at Savvy. “I think we have a visitor. Shall we?”

  “Definitely. Leonard, get on the other side of the bed and sit next to Adler. We’ll handle this. Don’t forget your special app,” Savvy said.

  Leonard sat down as instructed and took his phone out of his pocket. He pressed the recording app.

  Strick walked out of the room and looked at the officer. “Mr. Stein said he’ll see his son.”

  “What’re you doing here?” Oscar raised his voice.

  “Just some business with your father. You want to see him, come on in.”

  Oscar stepped back and then walked into the room. “What’s going on here?”

  “Jim, call it in,” Strick commanded.

  “Yes, sir,” he nodded, putting his radio to his mouth.

  Strick walked into the room and put his hand on Oscar’s shoulder. “Have a seat, young man. You’re just the one we’ve been looking for.”

  “What did I do?”

  “Oh, like besides trying to kill your father?” Leonard said.

  Savvy walked over to Oscar and stood on the other side of him. “You see, Mr. Stein, we know what you’ve done.”

  Oscar studied the room. “I just wanted to talk to my father. He needs to forgive me,” He focused on his father. “Father, please.”

  Adler shook his head. “You stole from me. You treat me like garbage and you get jealous of anyone I’m friends with.”

  “Not true. I just don’t know why you had to be gay. You were fine when it was you and mother.”

  “I wasn’t fine. I hid who I was for years and yes, your mother knew, but never said it. We had an unspoken arrangement. I just had to keep my private desires hidden. After she died, I didn’t have to hide anymore and frankly I don’t want to. I care about Leonard. I thought Friend was a good man to have around, but I was wrong. He was too ruined by you.”