Ethan walked away toward Voight, while Burgess followed him with her eyes for one more second. Then she lowered her gaze to her notebook, took a deep breath, and focused on the scene again.
Back at the precinct, the others headed up to the second floor. Ethan, who had fallen a little behind, turned around and walked toward the garage.
In the computer room, Jin was tinkering with a computer.
—How's it going with identifying the plates from the car at the crime scene?—
Ethan pulled over a chair and sat down.
When Jin turned his head and saw it was him, he shrugged.
—I'm still cross-checking the DMV database, and the medical examiner's preliminary analysis is already here,— he said, handing him a thin folder with barely two pages inside.
—I understand… but I'm going to need a personal favor.—
—Sure. Whatever you need.—
Ethan didn't waste time and went straight to the point.
—I need you to get me the Lonnie Rodiger case files.—
Jin looked up from the screen. His fingers, which until then had been moving quickly over the keyboard, went still for a second.
—That's not exactly a simple request.—
—Can you do it?— Ethan asked.
Jin let out a low sigh and glanced toward the entrance of the tech room, as if he expected someone to appear at any moment.
—I can do it. Once Homicide uploads the files, the preliminary reports, crime scene photos, camera records, whatever they have, I can get a copy.—
—So you can access them.—
—I can,— Jin admitted. —But one thing is being able to do it, and another is it being a good idea.—
Ethan didn't look away.
Jin leaned a little closer to him and lowered his voice.
—Halstead is suspended. Internal Affairs already has its eyes on this. If someone reviews the access logs and sees that Intelligence got into the case files before they were officially assigned to us, they're going to ask questions.—
—I understand, but you can do something to avoid that, right?—
Ethan rested one hand on the edge of the desk.
—I can handle the permissions,— Jin said, pointing upward with a worried expression. —I can make it look like an administrative query, or cross it with another open search. But if someone upstairs decides to look too closely… my neck will be on the line.—
Jin stared at the screen, his fingers still hovering over the keyboard.
Ethan watched him in silence for a second. Then he shook his head.
—I understand… then I need a slightly different favor, and you won't have anything to do with it.—
Jin frowned.
—What kind?—
Ethan reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small black USB drive. He placed it on the table, right beside the keyboard.
Jin lowered his gaze to the device as if Ethan had just set a grenade in front of him.
—You just have to plug it into the main server for a few seconds.—
Jin looked up sharply.
—Are you insane?—
Ethan didn't smile. This time, he wasn't playing.
—I'll take care of it. You're not going to search for anything, you're not going to download anything, and you're not going to open any case files. You just plug in the drive and keep doing your job.—
Jin looked toward the door, then back at the USB drive.
—And someone else handles the rest?—
—Exactly.—
—Does that "someone" have a name?—
Ethan remained silent.
Jin let out a dry laugh, without any humor.
—Right. Stupid question.—
—The less you know, the better.—
—I hate it when people say that. It always means I'm already in up to my neck.—
Ethan pushed the drive barely an inch toward him.
—Jay is alone,— Ethan said, lowering his voice. —Internal Affairs is going to try to lock him down to make an example out of him. He's one of ours, Jin. And we don't abandon our own when things get ugly.—
Jin clenched his jaw.
He wanted to tell him.
He wanted to tell Ethan that he knew perfectly well how Stillwell worked, because Stillwell already had him backed against the wall. That he was pressuring him with his father's gambling debts, forcing him to intercept Hank's conversations and look for evidence of corruption inside Intelligence.
And the worst part was that Jin hadn't known how to stop him.
That was why Ethan's answer disarmed him.
—I'd do the same for you, Jin. Are you in trouble?—
Jin swallowed.
—No, just curious.—
For the first time in a long while, Jin felt that maybe he wasn't as alone as Stillwell wanted him to believe.
Jin lowered his gaze to the USB drive. He picked it up between two fingers and took a deep breath.
—I swear, one day you're going to get me fired.—
—That day isn't today.—
—I hope not.—
Jin turned his chair toward the server, plugged in the drive with tense movements, and looked back at the screen, pretending to work on something else while his leg began bouncing nervously under the desk.
Ethan took out his phone and stepped a few paces away.
He opened an encrypted chat and wrote a brief message.
Ethan: I need a favor. Internal files. Lonnie Rodiger case. Homicide/IA. Temporary access open.
The reply came almost immediately.
Job: Are you asking me to break into a police server?
Ethan glanced sideways at Jin, who was still staring at the screen with the face of someone reconsidering every life choice he had ever made.
Ethan: Yes. A friend is in trouble.
Three seconds passed.
Job: You're a goddamn disaster with a badge.
Ethan smiled faintly.
Ethan: Can you do it?
Job: I'm already through the door. Give me two minutes and don't annoy me. I'll send it to your phone.
Ethan put the phone away and returned to Jin.
—Well?— Jin asked without looking at him.
—It's done…—
The screen flickered slightly. Jin froze, alert for any warning, any notification, any sign that the system had detected something strange.
Nothing.
Only the low hum of the equipment and the distant sound of the precinct on the other side of the door.
A minute later, Ethan's phone vibrated.
Job: Copied. Photos, preliminary reports, call logs, cameras, everything they had. And by the way, your security is embarrassing.
Ethan wrote a single word.
Ethan: Thanks.
Job: You owe me expensive whiskey.
Ethan put the phone away.
—Disconnect it.—
Jin didn't need to be told twice. He pulled the drive out immediately and tossed it to Ethan as if he wanted it as far away from him as possible.
—You were never here.—
Ethan caught the USB drive and slipped it away.
—Of course.—
Ethan spread his hands.
—If Hank asks, just tell him it was my idea.—
Jin sighed.
—Fine.—
Ethan patted him on the shoulder and stood to head upstairs.
After the investigation, it was quickly confirmed that the car abandoned by the suspect was a stolen vehicle.
The owner had reported the theft two weeks earlier and had no criminal record. After being questioned at the precinct, he was quickly cleared of any suspicion.
—Sergeant, I have the medical examiner's preliminary report.—
Jin climbed the stairs with a document in his hand, tapping it lightly against his palm as he walked. His expression was serious, though he was trying to maintain his usual calm.
When he reached Hank's office, he knocked once on the doorframe and stepped inside.
Ethan watched him hand the report to Voight. They spoke in low voices for a couple of minutes, long enough for Hank to frown, review the page, and then step out of the office with Jin behind him.
—The medical examiner found a hip prosthesis in the torso,— Hank said, looking at the team.
The comment made several of them immediately look up.
—Those prosthetics usually have serial numbers,— Antonio said, leaning against the edge of his desk. —If we trace it, we can get the patient's information. It'll be faster than a DNA test.—
Jin raised the document slightly.
—I already checked the corresponding database. I'm cross-referencing the number with medical records and manufacturers.—
He glanced at his watch before continuing.
—If there are no issues with the system, we should have a match within about an hour.—
—Good.—
Hank scanned the bullpen and gave a sharp clap to get everyone's attention.
—Then let's not waste time. While we wait for a name, check missing person reports, hospitals, nursing homes, and any hip surgeries registered in the last few years. If that torso has a prosthesis, someone can tell us who it belonged to.—
Everyone answered, though their enthusiasm wasn't exactly high.
Hank knew what they were thinking, and there was nothing he could do about it. They couldn't rush it. Since the victim's identity had not yet been confirmed, there wasn't much they could do. Then he returned to his office.
After a moment of silence in the room, Ruzek broke it.
—Does anyone know anything about Halstead?— Ruzek asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the bullpen.
Antonio and Erin, seated across from him, looked up almost at the same time.
Ruzek noticed their looks and raised one hand, as if trying to get ahead of the scolding.
—I mean, I get it. Lonnie was a sick bastard. A guy like that had more than enough enemies, and honestly, I'm not going to pretend the world lost something valuable.—
Erin narrowed her eyes.
—Ruzek…—
—I'm just saying what everyone's thinking,— he insisted, lowering his voice a little. —Jay hated him. He followed him. He lied about being home. And now Lonnie turns up dead. Is no one really going to talk about that?—
Antonio set his pen down on the desk with a sharp tap.
—No. We're not going to sit here and discuss whether one of our own could have killed someone.—
—I didn't say he did it,— Ruzek replied, exhaling in frustration. —I just said we can't act like the possibility doesn't exist.—
The atmosphere immediately tightened.
Erin placed both hands on the desk, clearly upset.
—Jay is not a murderer.—
—Nobody's saying that,— Ruzek replied.
Olinsky, who had remained silent until then, chewing on a Twizzler with a tired expression, lifted his eyes toward him.
—Alright, since you're so eager to open your mouth, why don't you enlighten us, Sherlock?—
Ruzek frowned.
—What?—
—Your theory,— Olinsky said, pointing at him with the Twizzler. —Come on, give us your brilliant deductions. What's your opinion?—
Ruzek opened his mouth, but he didn't answer immediately. His confidence faltered a little under everyone's stare.
—My opinion is that Halstead needs help,— he finally said. —And while we all pretend we can't touch the case because Internal Affairs is watching, he's out there alone, suspended, with everything pointing straight at him.—
This time, no one answered immediately.
Because, as clumsy as the way he had said it was, Ruzek wasn't completely wrong.
Ethan, sitting a little apart from the others, calmly moved the mouse.
He didn't look up.
—Ruzek is right about one thing,— he finally said.
Erin looked at him immediately.
Ethan clicked and continued with the same calm:
—Jay needs help. But if we go running after Homicide or stick our hands where IA can see us, all we're going to do is make everything worse. We have to be smarter.—
Antonio watched him closely.
—So what do you suggest?—
Ethan continued with the same calm:
—That we stop talking as if Halstead is guilty. He didn't murder Lonnie, and we all know it.—
Then he turned his head slightly toward them.
—So let's let things calm down a little and discreetly look for leads on the case. Something they can't ignore.—
Ruzek leaned forward, less defensive now.
—Then we look for who else wanted Lonnie dead.—
—Exactly,— Ethan corrected.
The comment left a brief silence in the bullpen.
—We need to review Lonnie's movements before he died. Calls, visits, nearby cameras, any recent contact.—
—Homicide has the case, and they won't let us see the file,— Erin reminded him.
—I'll handle that. For now, we keep quiet and focus on the case we have in front of us,— Ethan replied, standing from his chair.