Author's notes:
Thank you to two great writers and friends, Sue Shay and make-mine-a-kiaora, for their help and support with this story. Check out make-mine-a-kiaora's story-as-diary-entries, "Dear Diary"; and also check out Sue Shay's latest drabble addition, Chapter 15 of "Have a Care." (I favorited both in my profile for easy access.)
"Baby Blue Skies" is a sequel to "Clear Blue Morning." In "Clear Blue Morning," Cannon River Police Chief Teresa Lisbon met mysterious college professor Archie Marbray (wink, wink!) and hired him as her consultant (wink, wink again!). At the end of "Clear Blue Morning," Marbray confirmed his true identity to Lisbon, foiled a murder plot against her, and married her. "Baby Blue Skies" covers the year after their marriage. In this story, Henry, a Cannon River police officer (who appeared in episodes 6x09, "My Blue Heaven," and 6x10, "Green Thumb") observes the couple and their life in Cannon River.
I do not own the TV show The Mentalist and get no compensation from it. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes only.
Notes on the chapter title follow the end of the chapter.
Chapter 1: Blue Moon
Today in the amphitheater classroom at Deverell College, Cannon River, Washington…
Professor Archie Marbray was worried about his wife, Police Chief Teresa Lisbon, and there was little that his assistant Henry could do to help them. As the months had passed, Henry saw all levity drain away from the professor. What was left was all-consuming concern for the chief.
Henry Karson, part-time police officer and part-time graduate student, watched the professor stride around the classroom to burn off nervous energy as his undergraduate students finished a test. After turning in their test booklets, undergrads brushed past the professor as they exited. A few would speak to Marbray, but most ducked their heads down as they walked out. It was just as well; the professor's mind was far away. Concern for Lisbon's condition had deepened the crinkles around Marbray's bloodshot eyes; he confided to his assistant that it had been months since he'd gotten a whole night's sleep. While the professor paced back and forth, a bored Henry, sitting at the front desk, straightened up the stack of blue test booklets in front of him.
Henry had learned a lot about Professor Marbray during the past year, and he also learned more about Chief Lisbon. How many other people had as their two bosses a husband and wife? Not many.
Chief Lisbon and Professor Marbray made an endearing yet odd couple. Ever since the professor first started working as a police consultant, Henry observed the close rapport he had with the chief. The way they related to each other, it was as if they had known each other for years. Anyone could see the connection they had, and anyone could also see the affection they had for each other. It had warmed Henry's heart to see them draw closer. When the pair announced to the police force that they were getting married, no one took the news as a surprise. Rather, the common response around the station was "It's about time."
Working for the two of them proved to be the best career move in Henry's young life. The two of them pushed him, and he never would have gone back to school without their encouragement. Now here he was, working toward his graduate degree and getting to serve as the professor's assistant. Without their guidance, Henry would have remained the good-natured screw-up he'd always been. The good-natured single screw-up he'd always been. Who would have thought that the chief and the professor would play match-maker for him?
11 months ago…
A bank of portable floodlights lit up the scene. A gray-haired man in his fifties hunched over a lifeless body stretched out beneath a sign that said "Exit" with an arrow pointing to the left. He glanced at Henry who was looking over his shoulder. Scowling, the man barked out a warning.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Move away until I finish examining this son-of-a-bee."
Henry did as Doc Bee told him.
A sea of blue uniforms had engulfed the crime scene. The bullet-riddled body of a robber turned on by his partner-in-crime lay in a parking lot three blocks from the bank they held up. The cool breeze of the evening made Henry draw his jacket close around him as he stared at the other people milling about. Everyone was waiting for the coroner, Dr. Quince "Doc Bee" Grafner, to finish his inspection before they could move the body.
A movement to Henry's right got his attention - Chief Lisbon stepped out of the scrum of officers to kneel beside Grafner. She was the only one with the "umph" in her to challenge him. Well, only her and her husband the professor…
The chief's shadow cast across the body. That prompted Doc Bee to warn her off using the term he used for every corpse. Without looking up, he spoke in his low growl that a grizzly bear would admire.
"Chief, you and your people will just have to wait until I'm through with this son-of-a-bee lying here."
"Is there anything we can help you with, Dr. Grafner?" The chief's voice carried that subtle tone of impatience Henry had heard before - sometimes directed at him when he screwed up.
"No, there's not…" Doc Bee feel silent for a moment, then he turned to face the chief. "Yes, there is. Keep your son-of-a-bee husband away from me and my corpse. Do you hear?"
Henry laughed to himself. Ever since he joined the police force, Doc Bee had referred to each corpse with the halfway profanity "son-of-a-bee." That's where Grafner's nickname had come from. Henry had never heard him use that term with a living person until Professor Marbray started showing up at crime scenes. The coroner brought out the jokester in Marbray, and it was always up to the chief to keep peace between the two men.
"Yes, sir. I told the professor to leave you alone while you're working on this. We're all hoping we can transport the body soon."
There was a rustling noise and the professor himself emerged from the darkness. He was walking over to Doc Bee and Chief Lisbon when she looked up at him. The chief scrunched her nose as she waved back the professor. Marbray stopped but spoke to Doc Bee.
"Dr. Grafner, were we supposed to have left the other body undisturbed? I was wondering because all that's left of the other guy is the chalk outline on the pavement."
When the professor said "the other body," everyone including Doc Bee and Lisbon turned in surprise. Marbray pointed to the pavement twenty feet away. With a ghoulish interest that made Henry shudder, Doc Bee raised up to his full height to look where Marbray was pointing.
"I told Chief Lisbon not to let anyone move a body before I…" Doc Bee's words cut off mid-sentence.
Scratched out across the pavement was indeed another chalk figure - a stick figure. One with a cartoon dialogue balloon drawn next to it. Inside the balloon were scribbled the words, "I'm anorexic." Tossing a giant yellow piece of chalk up and down in his right hand, Professor Marbray now stood beside where Chief Lisbon knelt. Doc Bee glowered at Marbray, and Chief Lisbon raised up and grabbed the chalk from the professor.
"Chief, get that crazy husband of yours away from here until I'm done."
"Yes, sir. He won't cause you any more trouble." She jerked Marbray's sleeve and pulled him back. The two of them came over to stand by Henry. She whispered to the professor so that only he - and Henry - could hear her words. "Why do you persist in doing that? You know stuff like that gets under Doc Bee's skin."
"Precisely."
Chief Lisbon slapped her husband's arm, but then just as quickly she grinned at him.
"Thanks for the chalk, Teresa."
"Don't mention it. Really, don't mention it to anyone." They exchanged conspiratorial looks.
If there was any joy to be had at a crime scene, Henry decided it was watching the antics of Professor Marbray and the feigned (most times) exasperation of Chief Lisbon. The two of them could always put on an entertaining show, like they had been doing it for years. But nowadays there was something else that got Henry's attention. Someone else to be exact…
Henry cast his gaze over to the ambulance parked a few feet away. Leaning against the door was a Venus with a utility belt, her visage tinted reddish-pink by the flashing lights. EMT Annabelle Estes crossed her arms as she watched Doc Bee take his own sweet time going over every inch of the murder victim. As she inhaled a deep breath, Henry could see the blank stare of boredom etched across her face. Her auburn hair was pinned, a professional look that Chief Lisbon often used. Once he'd seen Annabelle's hair loose though, when she came inside the police station to meet up with her best friend Officer Michaela Hinks. He had tried to strike up a conversation with her that day, but the two women left before he could say anything besides "hello." The image of her in something other than her uniform, something that accented the shapely curves of her body, burned into his brain. Now whenever he saw her in the field he thought back to that vision of beauty. While he stared at her, his mind drifted off into a fantasy of the two of them together, someplace sunny and warm and corpse-free.
Henry roused himself from his daydream. Grunting to himself, Doc Bee still hunched over the body scribbling notes. Annabelle still leaned in languid repose against her ambulance waiting to move the body. Something was different though. Henry felt someone observing him. Looking to his right, he saw Professor Marbray and Chief Lisbon staring at him. The professor tapped the chief's arm, and they exchanged smiles. Moving together, they walked over to Henry. Marbray cleared his throat.
"That EMT, uh, Annabelle, uh."
Henry knew Marbray well enough to know that the uncertainty about her name was merely an act. Still, Marbray got him to supply her last name.
"Annabelle. Annabelle Estes."
"Ah, yes. Annabelle Estes. That's a pretty name, don't you think?" Marbray glanced at the chief.
"Yes, it is, Archie. Do you know her, Henry?" Chief Lisbon asked.
"I've only met her. I haven't really talked to her."
Professor Marbray got a look on his face like a wildcat ready to pounce.
"Well why the hell not, Henry?"
"What do you mean, Professor?"
"You know exactly what I mean." Marbray said.
"Doc Bee's still got at least another ten minutes of his inspecting to do, fifteen if Archie aggravates him again," the chief said.
"But, but…" Henry tried to protest but the professor and the chief had both crossed their arms. He knew he'd lost.
"Get over there, Henry," said the professor as both he and the chief made pushing movements with their hands.
Henry walked over to the ambulance, every step closer to Annabelle making his heart beat faster. It was too late to back out now, so he screwed up his courage and leaned his shoulder against the ambulance. If he had wanted to project a relaxed manner, he failed. On contact with the side of the ambulance, the fabric of his uniform snagged on a bolt that stuck out.
Rip.
Henry heard his uniform tear at the top of the shoulder.
Oh no! My new shirt. I just bought it.
Annabelle looked at him then smiled.
"I won't bite, Henry."
"You...you…you know me?" If there was a worse way to speak to a beautiful woman, he didn't know it.
She laughed.
"Of course I do. I've seen you at enough crime scenes. And I've heard you when you've been working the communications van."
"You have?" Again, that was the worst possible response that could have come out of his mouth.
Speaking of his mouth, it had completely dried up, and smacking noises punctuated the words that came out. In addition to dry mouth, he felt that he would break out shaking any moment.
"Of course I have, silly."
Looking beyond Annabelle back to where he had just come from, Henry could see Professor Marbray and Chief Lisbon smiling at him. They both gave him subtle thumbs-up signals. Like so many other times, their encouragement prompted him to push himself.
"So, do you come to crime scenes often?" A weak laugh came out of the back of his throat, but at least he made an attempt at a joke.
"'Bout as often as you do." Annabelle smiled - smiled! - at him when she said that. "So, I'm finally getting to talk to the big celebrity of the Cannon River Police Department."
"Huh?" said a bewildered Henry.
"You're the one who got the confession out of that hitman hired to take out Chief Lisbon."
"You heard about that?"
"Michaela told me about it, and I read the article in the newspaper. By the way, the photo in the paper doesn't do you justice. You're much more handsome in person."
Henry was speechless. Looking over, he saw the chief make circling motions with her hand. She was right, he needed to keep talking with Annabelle.
"I was just doing my job." Suddenly he was seized with a feeling that he could - and should - be honest with this woman standing beside him. That confidence that Professor Marbray sought to instill in him bubbled up from somewhere inside. He knew that he could be honest and talk with this woman. "Actually, Annabelle, I was scared to death. But I was motivated - I was doing it for Chief Lisbon and Professor Marbray. It made me mad that someone would come after the chief like that, and the professor has taken a personal interest in me to help me to improve myself. So, the last thing I wanted to do was fail the two of them."
"You're close to the chief and the professor."
"I'd like to think so. They've helped me out a lot. I'm starting grad school part-time this fall, and Professor Marbray's arranged for me to be his assistant."
"You're Chief Lisbon and Professor Marbray's factotum, aren't you?" Annabelle flashed a smile at Henry, and it made him melt.
"I'm their what?"
She laughed.
"Factotum. Forgive me; it's an old word. I read too many historical romances. It means you, Henry Karson, are the jack-of-all-trades for Professor Marbray and Chief Lisbon."
Despite all the fear that had welled up inside him, Henry was enjoying this conversation. And when Annabelle stated his full name - she knew his last name! - it bolstered his confidence even more.
"Well, if factotum means that I'm glad to work with two people like the chief and the professor, you've got that right."
Now they were smiling at each other.
"You're a most loyal man, Henry."
"I owe the two of them so much. They help me be a better police officer…and a better person."
Henry saw Annabelle wring her hands. She looked up at him.
"I'm just gonna come right out and say it. I've wanted to get to know you better for a long time, but we always seemed to pass by each other. Pardon me for being forward, but my shift is over in…" She looked at her watch. "…in an hour-and-a-half. Would you be interested in getting a cup-a-coffee at the Mountain View Diner? I…uhh…understand if you don't want to, but I'd really like it if you…"
"Yes!" Henry's shout not only cut her off but also got the attention of everyone at the crime scene.
"Good. I'm looking forward to it," she said.
It was just then that Doc Bee growled in their direction.
"Estes? Estes? Annabelle Estes! Snap to it. The body's ready to move. Come over here and don't dawdle."
Glancing away from Doc Bee, Annabelle patted Henry on the arm. Her touch made him light-headed.
"I'll meet you in an hour-and-a-half at the diner."
With that, Annabelle walked over to the corpse. Henry watched as her backside swished back and forth with each step. Transfixed, he froze in place. Annabelle and another EMT loaded the body on the ambulance, started the engine, and drove off in the evening traffic.
In a moment Henry walked away still in a daze - and he ran smack into Professor Marbray. He started to stumble, but Marbray and Lisbon both grabbed him to keep him upright.
"Uh, sorry, Professor. I didn't see you."
Marbray waggled his eyes.
"You got distracted, Henry."
"How did it go? Tell us." Chief Lisbon nodded her head in encouragement as she spoke, almost willing him to share good news.
"Annabelle asked me to meet her at the diner when she gets off her shift. She asked me. Can you believe it?"
The professor slapped him on the arm.
"I can believe it. Attaboy, Henry!"
"We're so proud of you, Henry," the chief said as she smiled at him. "Aren't you glad you went over to talk to her?"
Henry nodded.
Marbray turned to Lisbon.
"Our boy is growing up, Teresa."
"Indeed he is, Archie. Indeed he is."
To be continued.
Author's notes:
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart wrote "Blue Moon" in 1935, and scores of artists have recorded and performed it. Two favorite recordings are by Ella Fitzgerald on her album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book and by Frank Sinatra on his album Sinatra's Swinging Session.
Readers interested in finding out more about the songs used as chapter titles can visit this Youtube playlist: "Mentalist - Baby Blue Skies - playlist for fanfic story"
Thank you for reading the story, and I'd love to hear from you!