It is late morning at the Blue Bird Inn, Miami and Patrick Jane and Dennis Abbott are sitting at a small table in the hotel's restaurant. Abbott is casually sipping a glass of water, whilst Patrick is nursing a cup of hot tea between his hands, untouched, he clearly has his mind on other things. Abbott glances over at Jane, satisfied that Jane seems happy enough, he begins his not so subtle chastisement of him.
'So, after last night's debacle, I can assume that things went well with Lisbon?' Abbott asks.
'You could say that.' Jane replies with a knowing smile, showing he is clearly hiding more than he is letting on.
'Oh you're being secretive are you? Well, do I need to remind you of how close you came to spending more than a night in a jail cell? Those TSA guys really wanted to teach you a lesson.' Abbott replies in a mocking, humourous tone.
'I would have found a way out eventually.' Jane replies. Just then Jane notices Lisbon pacing back and forth outside on the porch. She is talking on the phone. She looks serious. He returns his gaze to Abbott briefly then stands up as if to leave. 'And on that note, enjoy your morning Abbott.' Jane walks away from him and towards the entrance of the hotel. Abbott stares after him, still clearly amused and knowing that he will get the truth eventually. He calls after Patrick.
'Don't forget Patrick, the plane to Austin leaves at 2pm sharp, I expect to see you on that plane, preferably without a security entourage.' He laughs to himself, amused by his own joke.
Lisbon is outside on the porch, pacing back and forth whilst talking on the phone.
'Good bye.' Lisbon says sadly, a final farewell. She hangs up the phone and sits on the bench outside of the hotel. Jane walks out of the hotel door and joins Lisbon on the bench. They sit close but not touching. He looks at her carefully, gauging her temperament. She ignores him, but not out of spite. She is deep in thought.
'Who was that on the phone?' Jane asks her, not to be nosy, just to make conversation. She glances over at him, a second no longer.
'Pike.' She answers matter of fact.
'Oh…?' Jane was expecting more of an answer, but is giving her time to explain. Lisbon sighs and grimaces.
'I told him … that I'm not coming to DC.' Lisbon explains. Patrick looks at her out of the corner of his eye. He does not share the same emotion as her, but is emphatic anyway. 'He was pretty upset, as expected.'
'And how are you feeling?' Jane asks.
She shrugs and her eyes flick to the left, a clear lie. 'Oh you know, I'll be fine, I just hate being the bearer of bad news.' She states in a forced non-committal voice.
Jane stands up abruptly, and holds out his hand to Lisbon, a huge smile on his face. 'Take a walk with me along the beach.' He says to her, a demand, not a question, but friendly.
Lisbon looks at him unsure, but then realizing it's Jane, someone she can be herself with, she relents and takes his hand in hers. He carefully guides her down the stairs, still holding her hand. She seems to relax instantaneously with him beside her and even allows herself a smile.
The next day at FBI Austin Headquarters. The team are in a meeting, it is mid morning. Abbott is about to brief the team, who are all seated in front of the podium, apart from Jane who is lounging on his sofa. Abbott enters the room and passes Lisbon, sitting to his left. 'Welcome back Lisbon, so glad you decided to stay with us.' He says in a moderate tone. With a quick glance at Jane, clearly making it aware he knows why she stayed. He walks to the podium.
'We just got news of a double homicide at Phoenix Enterprises. Two males, mid thirties, white, both employees of the firm. Both with a single gunshot to the head.' Abbott states.
'Do we know why?' Cho asks.
'Well an employee of Phoenix Enterprises states that she believes they were both stealing from the company, but this has not been confirmed. There are no paper trails and no large expenditures that we can see.' Abbot explains.
'Isn't this usually a case for the local PD?' Lisbon asks.
'Yes, it is, and normally we would let them deal with the case, but in this instance the owner of the company has asked specifically for Jane here to work on the case.' Abbott responds. He looks to Patrick slightly bemused.
'I'm honoured. So who is this man?' Jane asks not moving from his lounging position on the sofa. Feigning a lack of interest.
'He says his name is Walter Mashburn.' Says Abbott. Lisbon looks slightly worried and embarrassed; it goes unnoticed by all except Jane. Jane's eyes flick to her momentarily, watchful and uneasy.
Jane and Abbott walk into Phoenix Enterprises' offices. The crime scene is in a small office, two small windows, an oak desk and some shelving, quite minimal. The two dead bodies are on the ground, in the centre of the room. Blood is splattered around the bodies. Both men have a gun in their hands. Forensics are marking evidence and checking out the bodies. A receptionist is in the hall crying hysterically trying to be comforted by a policeman. Jane scans the room, taking it all in, the stark office, very tidy, not much in the way of personal effects. Only a picture of the two men on a golfing trip sits on the desk. There is a lack of obvious motive. Abbott questions the forensics team.
'What do we have here?' Asks Abbott.
'A single bullet to each head, straight through, no mess. We are sending the guns off to the labs to check for fingerprints. We don't know if they were used in the crime.' Replies the lead forensic man.
'Hmmm, doubtful. Why would there be two guns? Who shot whom? This looks planned. Someone staged the death scene to look like either a suicide pact or murder, but someone else was involved.' Jane explains.
Just then in walks Walter Mashburn. 'Patrick, just the man I wanted to see. Working for the FBI now huh?' He says. Jane slyly smiles as they shake hands.
'Walter Mashburn. It's been a while. How's life? Still driving those obscenely gaudy cars?' Jane teases.
'Would you expect anything less? You should see my newest model, it's vulgar, luminous orange, you'd love it.' Mashburn jokes smiling. Suddenly he notices Abbott standing next to Jane. 'And this must be…?'
'Agent Abbott. Good to meet you sir. I understand you would like our help with this case?' Replies Abbott.
'That's correct. You see I just acquired this company through a friend, Maxwell Lanzinger about 6 months ago, and it's been nothing but trouble since.' Answers Mashburn.
'How so?' Questions Abbott.
In a very blasé way, Mashburn replies. 'Unpaid taxes, money laundering, I assume. Half the staff I'm sure are hiding something from me.'
'Well that's what you get for taking a company from someone. Let me guess … you 'acquired' it in a bet?' Jane comments reading between the lines.
'Very astute Patrick. That would be correct, it's all perfectly legal, my lawyers took care of that for me.' Mashburn seems bemused at Jane's familiar behaviour, he is reminded of why he asked Jane to be on the case.
'I'm sure they did.'Jane says smiling to himself in a knowing way.
'So tell me what happened? The two men who were murdered were employees of yours?' Abbott asks, trying to get back on track.
'Yes, Silas Carmody and Eric Rubis were my employees. They both worked in computer programming at Phoenix Enterprises.' Says Mashburn all serious again.
'Brothers in law?' Asks Jane.
'Yes, Silas married Eric's sister Judy. They were friends before that though from what I can gather. Caroline, Eric's receptionist can give you the details. When she stops crying.' Mashburn points at the crying receptionist in the next room.
'Death does have a way of attaching itself to you. What exactly is Phoenix Enterprises?' Jane muses.
'We design high tech weaponry used by the military.'
'Ah, so when you say you won the company in a bet, really you mean you cheated your opponent, this Lanzinger out of his business because you thought with your previous knowledge of the industry that you could run it better yourself?'
'Well cheated is such a crude word. But yes you are right, what did Maxwell know about weaponry? The man's an idiot he had no idea what he was doing.' Mashburn explains.
'Why do you think they were murdered? Do you think it could have anything to do with your takeover as CEO?' Asks Abbott.
'I don't know. I hardly knew them. I am basically the silent owner in this company; I leave the general day-to-day management to other people. I really don't see how I could have been responsible for this.' Replies Mashburn.
'Do you think this Lanzinger had anything to do with the murders? Maybe out of revenge for stealing from him?'
'Well then why not just kill me? Look I just really want this sorted out, it doesn't look good to have a murder on your hands when you take over an old company. I will be happy to assist you in any way that I can.'
'We are going to need the security tapes from that night and we will need to set up meetings with any employees who knew Carmody and Rubis, any family members and friends. Can you get me their contact information?'
'Sure I'll get Caroline on it right away'.
'And we will need information on Lanzinger too. We will have to bring him in for questioning. Jane I want you and Lisbon to question the widows. See what you can find out.' Abbott says to walks away leaving Jane behind. Not waiting for an answer.
'So do you want to see my new car? I promise it's as gaudy as the last.' Mashburn asks Jane, with a smile on his face. The crime scene all but forgotten.
Patrick smiles widely and they leave the office together.
•••