Author's Note:
This is my first "Mentalist" story.
Storyline: While at a crime scene, something happens to Jane throwing the team into disarray as they try to uncover the true state of events before it is too late…
Enjoy and review please.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters but I do love them… especially Jane.
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"What do we got?" Lisbon directed the question to her team as she and Patrick approached the scene. Redwood National Park was beautiful at this time of year. All green and lush, the majestic trees towering overhead, sunlight bright and glimmering between dark shadows on the ground.
"The victim's Sasha Martinez, aged 17, from Sacramento. Cause of death appears to be stabbing." Cho said pointing to the blood staining the victims left side. The victim lay in a small clearing.
"She was reported missing 2 days ago by her guardian from the House of Safety, a home for abused young women." Van Pelt said.
"Where's Rigsby?" Lisbon asked.
"Over there, questioning the witnesses who found the body." Van Pelt stated pointing to a place in the distance almost hidden by the Redwood trees.
"Jane?" Lisbon asked.
Patrick Jane was couched beside the body, doing his usual visual exploration of the scene.
"She was not killed here." He said and the team watched and waited knowing that he would reveal more. "She is too neatly laid out, posed to have been killed here and there isn't enough blood on the ground."
"She was bound; see the bruises on her wrists and ankles." He said, before leaning forward and sniffing the air. "She smells of raspberries and latex. No doubt her killer raped her, repeatedly and used raspberry flavoured condoms."
"Anything else?" Lisbon asked.
Van Pelt's eyebrows had shot up at the mention of raspberry flavoured condoms. Cho stood stoically listening to Jane, used to his insightful descriptions.
"Look at her nails." He said. "They're broken. She fought her attacker."
"That may give us some DNA evidence to track the bastard down." Van Pelt said.
"Boss, there are tyre tracks leading up to the tree line over there. We can use it to try to trace the vehicle." Cho said pointing in the same direction where Rigsby was.
"Good, work on that." Lisbon said looking around. "There's no murder weapon."
"No, he needs it for his rituals." Jane said. "He kidnapped, bound, raped and killed her as part of an elaborate ceremony. He then dressed her up in this flimsy red dress, left her hair in a mess and left her feet bare. He did her makeup, red lipstick and heavy dark eye shadow… What do we have here?" Jane moved to the victim's face. Her eye lids looked off to him. He reached over and lifted the left one.
"Jikes," he grimaced, pulling back and falling on his behind on the hard ground.
"Who would do such a thing?" Van Pelt gasped.
"He removed her eye, a keepsake of the ritual." Jane said, taking Lisbon's hand as he got back to his feet.
"A trophy is understandable, but why did be fill her eye socket with a shiny black pebble."
"The eyes are a window to the soul, Grace." Jane said thoughtfully. "Maybe he felt her soul was black."
Lisbon crouched down next to the victim on the opposite side to Jane and checked her other eye. It was also missing an eyeball and was stuffed with a shiny black pebble.
"Her killer is ritualistic, sadist. He wanted her to suffer and this was not a random killing." Jane said as the rest of the team moved closer to the body to take a closer look at the victim and her surroundings.
"So you think she knew her killer?" Lisbon asked.
"I have no doubt that she knew him and feared him." Jane replied.
"Van Pelt take Rigsby and go to the House of Safety. Get me everything you can on Sasha's time there and her reasons for being there. Cho put a timeline together for the last 72 hours. I want to know where she went, who she met, what she did and when exactly she went missing. Jane and I will go and speak to the witnesses and then meet you back at the office." Lisbon said, shaking her head in sadness as she stood up and team started moving.
"You coming, Jane?" She prompted when he didn't follow.
He stared at the victim and said, "In a minute."
"Okay," Lisbon said and moved to the area where Rigsby stood with several witnesses, some weeping, others annoyed.
Jane walked around the victim again, his back facing the direction the team had gone off in. Something about this girl bugged him. She seemed familiar somehow.
Why?
He didn't recognize her from her appearance or her name.
Yet…
He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to take a closer look, the density of trees and shrubs and the bright sunlight, and deep shadows on the ground making it difficult to see clearly.
It happened so quickly.
A glint of light.
A soft hiss through the air.
A force slamming into his torso, making him stagger backwards, taking his breath away.
He stood still, as if frozen, the world suddenly dead silent around him.
What the…? He bent his head forward looking down at himself, his arms outstretched for balance, as he struggled to gulp a ragged breath of air.
Oh God, this is not good. Bile rose in his throat and panic made him start to shake.
Why don't I feel any pain, he wondered a second before debilitating pain laced through his body and the sounds around him suddenly blared in his ears. He felt hot and cold simultaneously.
Help!
"Lisbon." He gasped, his head starting to spin.
"Lisbon!" he shouted this time, his world spiraling out of control into a pain filled pit of black terror.
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