Disclaimer: I have no intellectual rights over Fringe.
Coram Nobis
Chapter 1:
Olivia Dunham found herself actually humming as she came to work that sunny Boston morning. It was a song that had been playing in John's car last night; she didn't know the name.
She stopped humming and tempered her smile as she entered the office and went to her desk.
A minute later, a cup of hot coffee appeared in the middle of her paperwork. She looked up at her boss, Agent Charlie Francis, and smiled. "You getting my coffee now? What's the occasion?"
"The great work you did on the Stafford case. Without that trick you and Agent Scott pulled to get that confession yesterday, it would've taken weeks if not months to unravel his operation."
She shrugged. "John did most of it."
"But it was your plan. And it was brilliant."
She smiled again and waved off the praise. When Francis walked away, she caught John Scott looking at her from his desk across the room. The both smiled quick, shy smiles before looking away.
She expected today would mostly consist of writing reports and wrapping up the Stafford case, which meant if they were lucky she and John could get off early.
That thought brought yet another private smile to her lips.
It felt like this would be a good day.
At about ten, a young woman Olivia had never seen before walked through the doors. She seemed uncertain, and yet determined. She wore a visitor's badge.
She noticed Olivia looking in her direction and walked up to her. "Excuse me," her voice seemed even younger than her face, and was shaking with nervousness. She was a strikingly beautiful girl, with large dark eyes, thick lips, and short black hair in tight spiral curls. "I'm looking for Charles Francis?"
Olivia pointed the way to his office.
Charlie opened his door as the young woman approached. "Miss Farnsworth? Nice to meet you." The office door closed behind them both.
Olivia had finished one report and was thinking of a way to discreetly invite John to an early lunch when Charlie emerged from his office.
"Agent Scott, Agent Dunham, can I see you for a minute?"
It sounded like a case. She and John exchanged slightly regretful glances, then stood simultaneously and entered their boss's office.
The young woman was sitting far forward in her chair, legs crossed at the ankles and hands folded in her lap. She was wearing a navy blue pantsuit that looked about a half size too big for her.
"Agent Dunham, Agent Scott, this is Junior Agent Astrid Farnsworth. Agent Farnsworth, John Scott and Olivia Dunham."
"Pleased to meet you." She shook hands with both of them.
"She's going to be assisting you on an investigation. I know you're just wrapping up a big case, but this one shouldn't take long." He handed them both a folder.
John flipped it open. "What's the case?"
Charlie nodded to Agent Farnsworth.
"January 30th, 2005, a body was found in the woods near the Ravenna Hotel, just outside Albany, New York," she began, sounding like she was reciting a memorized line. "The victim was Vinson Gardner, 46-year-old real estate appraiser from Boston. He was killed by blunt force trauma to the head. Lividity indicated it was a body dump. The crime scene photo of the body is on page two."
John and Olivia turned to it.
"Tracks in the woods showed the body had been dragged from the hotel's parking lot," the young woman continued. "There was snow covering the body, none under it. The last time it had snowed in the area was between one and three a.m. the night of January 27th. Gardner was last reported seen alive when he left his office at about six that afternoon. He had no reason for being in New York. Police went over the list of guests at the Ravenna, and found one man who was, like the victim, from Boston. Robert Kohlhepp, an insurance salesman attending a conference at the hotel on the 28th. Turned out, Kohlhepp knew the victim. Mr. Kohlhepp was Mr. Gardner's insurance agent. That was enough for a warrant. They found hair follicles and bodily fluids from the victim in the trunk of Kohlhepp's car. He was convicted of the murder four months later."
Charlie took over. "His case is up for appeal soon. We're going to take a second look at it."
"Appeal on what grounds?" Olivia inquired.
"There's some concern about how the case was handled, procedurally," Charlie said. "Because Gardner was most likely murdered in Boston..."
"Body transported across state lines. It could have been FBI jurisdiction," Olivia realized. "And it wasn't?"
"No; it was handed off by New York state investigators to Boston PD. Other than that, everything was by the book."
"I can see why this won't take long," John commented.
"Still, we want to make sure we do this right. Take a look at the case file, keep an open mind. You'll get started on this tomorrow." He dismissed John and Olivia with a nod. "Miss Farnsworth, I'll show you to your desk."