Dickie Berenski

“He’s a fuck, but he’s the best.” - Eve Dallas, Kindred in Death

Berenski, Dickie

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

Introduction

• Chief Technician Dickie Berenski first appeared on Tuesday, June 30, 2058. Eve and Peabody got Pandora’s tox report from him.

Descriptions

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

Personality

• Dickie was 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.
• He was slippery, sleazy, and expected bribes. But despite being a dickhead, he ran a top-flight lab and knew his business.

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.
• In Rapture in Death he mentioned that his father quit tobacco using a subliminal program fifty years ago.
• In Indulgence in Death, he had a girlfriend and was preternaturally cheerful and helpful, freaking Eve (and others) out with his smile and helpfulness.
• In Chaos in Death, he was back to being mean, and Harpo said everybody in the lab thought his girlfriend dumped him.

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.

Bribes

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

Immortal in Death

• Two Yankee-Red Sox box-seat tickets and locker room passes.
  • Casto one-upped this bribe with one of his own: a case of unblended Scotch.
• Fifty-yard line seats for arena ball.

Rapture in Death

• Box seats for the Arena Ball play-offs (179).
• Might get him the new VR Goggles from Roarke Industries at cost; maybe even free.

Holiday in Death

• Two cases of Irish beer and an invitation to Roarke and Eve’s Christmas party.

Loyalty in Death

• Eve told 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.

Judgment in Death

• Two tickets, in the orchestra, to see Mavis Freestone in concert; included backstage passes.

Betrayal in Death

• A bottle of Jamaican rum.

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.

Memory in Death

• Eve was prepared to offer courtside Knicks tickets but fear brought her quicker results.

Missing in Death

• When Roarke and Eve came to collect Dana Buckley’s data, he mentioned that after quick work he liked to relax with a good bottle or two of wine, but Eve didn’t bite.

Kindred in Death

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

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.

Calculated in Death

• Two tickets to the premiere of The Icove Agenda, VIP section.

Festive in Death

• At Roarke’s suggestion, Eve brought him a bottle of unblended scotch as a holiday token. When Dickie told her to get in line for analysis, that “we’ll get to it when we get to it,” she tapped the drawer where he’d hidden the scotch. “That was a gift,” he told her, radiating insult. She told him if he ever wanted another gift, he’d analyze the evidence. He said he was doing her a favor and quickly found the Rohypnol-bremelanotide compound (“Erotica with a twist”) in the tea blend Trey Ziegler used to relax women before raping them.

Vendetta in Death

• Two box seats to a Mets game if Eve got 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.

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.

Desperation in Death

• Eve had a bribe of a couple of box seats ready, but Dickhead bumped her results up - “Vic’s a kid, vic goes to the front of the line.”

Encore in Death

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