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Berenski, Dickie

First appears in Immortal in Death (Tuesday, June 30, 2058)

Introduction[]

Descriptions[]

  • He is described as a man with a whiny voice and "flappy" lips, eyes big and bold as an owl's, and fussy "spider" fingers.[2]
  • Berenski's head was shaped like an egg covered with slick black hair and his personality was oilier than a tin of sardines. He has 'spider-leg' fingers.[3]
  • He has an egg-shaped head plastered with thin black hair; clever, if creepy, spider fingers.[4]
  • In Desperation in Death he'd shaved the molting caterpillar off his top lip.[5]

Personality[]

  • Dickie is a meticulous man, as well as a monster pain in the ass. Though notoriously slow in testing, his batting average in court was high enough to make him the MVP of the police and security lab.[6]
  • He was slippery, sleazy, and expected bribes. But despite being a dickhead, he ran a top-flight lab and knew his business.[3]
  • About him, Eve would say, "He's a fuck, but he's the best."[7]

Bribes[]

Chief Tech Berenski is continually being bribed by Eve Dallas to get his work done faster. The bribes include the following:

Immortal in Death[]

Rapture in Death[]

Holiday in Death[]

  • Two cases of Irish beer and an invitation to Roarke and Eve's Christmas party.[12]

Loyalty in Death[]

  • Eve tells McNab to get lab results. "Threaten him [Dickhead], and if that doesn't work, bribe him. Arena ball tickets should work. I can scope two VIP box seats for next weekend." No follow-up on whether or not the bribe was necessary.[13]

Judgment in Death[]

  • Two tickets, in the orchestra, to see Mavis Freestone in concert; includes backstage passes.[14]

Betrayal in Death[]

  • A bottle of Jamaican rum.[15]

Portrait in Death[]

  • Eve began by offering two seats, owner's box, for the Yankees; they settled on four tickets for results within two hours.[16]

Missing in Death[]

  • When Roarke and Eve come to collect Dana Buckley's data, he mentions that after quick work he likes to relax with a good bottle or two of wine, but Eve doesn’t bite.[17]

Kindred in Death[]

  • Eve offered him two box seats, third base side, Yankees, first game in July.[18]

Chaos in Death[]

  • Two tickets, skybox, first game of the World Series, with locker-room passes. Since it was playoff season, Roarke added transpo included to wherever it is. Eve also had to add a bottle of single malt scotch for the game.[19]

Calculated in Death[]

Festive in Death[]

  • At Roarke's suggestion, Eve brings him a bottle of unblended scotch as a holiday token. When Dickie tells her to get in line for analysis, that "we'll get to it when we get to it," she taps the drawer where he'd hidden the scotch. "That was a gift," he tells her, radiating insult. She tells him if he ever wants another gift, he'll analyze the evidence. He says he's doing her a favor and quickly finds the Rohypnol-bremelanotide compound ("Erotica with a twist") in the tea blend Trey Ziegler used to relax women before raping them.[21]

Vendetta in Death[]

  • Two box seats to a Mets game if Eve gets the results in the next 60 seconds, which he provided because he already had the results but was "getting 'em refined" when Eve came in.[22]

Forgotten in Death[]

  • Six sticky buns from Jacko's to get her the full and detailed analysis of the building material that was used to wall in Johara Murr's pregnant body after death.[23]

Desperation in Death[]

  • Eve had a bribe ready of a couple of box seats, but Dickhead bumped her results up - "Vic's a kid, vic goes to the front of the line."[5]

Encore in Death[]

  • No bribe necessary to test the cyanide Eve found in Sylvie Bowen's granddaughter's room, planted by Eliza Lane: Eve tells Peabody, "Tell him where we found it - the kid. It's a kid, he won't need the bribe."[24] Eve later calls him to get the test results and when he gives her grief, "Christ's sake, Dallas, it's been five fucking minutes," she comes back with, "Kid who could've found that bottle, downed it like soda pop? Her name's Clara." Dickie replies, "Shit. I hate getting my heartstrings plucked. Yeah, it's cyanide." When Eve asks him "Why didn't you just say so?" he replies, "You pluck my heartstrings to get me to push everything aside and do this, I yank your chain."[25]

Interesting Facts[]

  • Berenski was the senior tech who did the skin and hair for The Groom's first four New York victims (nine years ago). He worked under Harte and, though Harte got the credit, Berenski identified the brand names of the soap, and the shampoo The Groom used.[26]
  • In Rapture in Death he mentions that his father quit tobacco using a subliminal program fifty years ago.[27]
  • In Indulgence in Death, he has a girlfriend and is preternaturally cheerful and helpful, freaking Eve out with his smile and helpfulness.[28]
  • In Chaos in Death, he's back to being mean, and Harpo says everybody in the lab thinks his girlfriend dumped him.[19]

Item of Interest[]

  • Dickie's name went from Dickie or Dick Berenski (with two e's), throughout the series, to Dick Berinski (with two i's), by Kindred in Death.[7]

References[]

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