Chapter 1 - Joe's Blues Bar
After a long tough week, Jane invited Lisbon to a new blues bar he had found. Cho said he wouldn't mind tagging along, and amazingly had asked if they minded him inviting Kim. Soon the four were sitting at a cozy table close to the band. The owner, who played one set a night, was good and the house band was good, too. It felt so nice to just go relax - away from the whole FBI office scene. Even Cho ordered an ale although Jane knew he hardly ever drank anything. Things seemed to be getting pretty chummy between Cho and Agent Fischer he thought.
Then Jane glanced covertly at Lisbon, she seemed at home here - content to lean back with her eyes closed so she could really take in the soulful instrumental the band was playing now. When he reached for his bottle of pale ale, their fingers accidentally touched. Jane felt a jolt of electricity course down his arm. She opened her eyes but didn't whisk her hand away. Did she know how very sexy she looked, jade eyes halfway open, his whole body seemed to smolder from the touch and her lingering look. Suddenly, there was a sharp jolt to the building and all of the lights went out. Confused patrons as well as band members started milling about in the dark. Figures, Jane thought. Just when I was making some headway on the Lisbon problem.
Since the backup lights hadn't kicked on, the team decided to go out the rear door which was located close to their table, just behind where the band was set up, rather than go out the front where everyone was crowding around the main door. Upon reaching the alley - you can imagine their surprise at seeing a man standing over a body. "FBI - throw down your weapon!" Lisbon yelled in her very stern 'don't make me kill you' voice. She and Cho had already drawn their weapons and Kim wasn't too far behind with hers at the ready soon after.
"Whoa there" the man said in a soft and shaky voice. The sword clattered to the ground immediately. " I, I, uh... I just came out and found this whole mess. I realize now I shouldn't have picked up the uh sword, umm, uh, murder weapon... But it was all so surreal. I couldn't fathom this man's head had actually been cut off, and, well, you see... I'm a professor of medieval history at the university and the sword appeared to be real..."
Now his words were just rushing out as he tried to make clear his point that he was completely innocent. His thin build and huge eyes made it seem unlikely he had been the person who killed the man in the alley. Agent Fischer let a small gasp escape when she saw that the victim had quite literally had his head severed from his body. What's more it appeared to have been done in one clean cut. Something Jane knew would be very hard to do. Cho and Lisbon were at the body now, examining it. Jane held back - he had no desire to see this kind of violence unless he had to. Lisbon set things in motion. She instructed Cho to call it in to the Bureau as well as the Houston police department. Now she was talking to the professor whose name was Matthew Adams. Obviously with her adrenaline pumping, she had forgotten about Agent Fischer outranking her. It didn't seem to matter though because Kim was also taking notes as well as keeping spectators away.