Red Cross

by Mizar31

One morning, a letter arrives at the CBI-Headquarter. At first, no one thinks, that this is the start of a new case; but as soon as Patrick Jane gets it in his hands, he insists, that there is something strange about it...

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Something is clearly wrong

It was Van Pelt who spoke first. She really wondered herself about that fact, because she had expected to be Cho or Rigsby the first ones to make a statement: »Oh yes, no doubt. I got so used to that cross… I never thought of seeing it once without her. There are only a few things that could prove us so clearly that something bad happened to her.«

Cho decided: »We´re going to her house, immediately.« Once, not so long ago, J.J. La Roche had made him the boss of the unit for a while, he didn't like that very much, but following the orders, he had done it. »I´ll go and explain it to the director. Rigsby, would you please get us a car? Van Pelt, check it, recheck it and check it again – we have to know with one-hundred percent certainty, that this is really Lisbon´s necklace, and, what´s even more serious, if those are her blood traces. You are the right person to do this and don't let the case be taken to another unit, while we are away. The director will say that we are too close to that, but who cares. We´re working this one out.«

Rigsby nodded grimly and left the laboratory. Cho seldom spoke so long; most times he just added a sharp and accurate comment, but this time everything seemed to be different. Wayne hurried downstairs to organize a car, whilst Cho went upstairs to the boss.

Van Pelt hastened to the wardrobe and took a clean, white cloak, plastic shoe protectors and a hairnet; in addition to that rubber gloves. Then she entered the clean room and took the three pieces of evidence material from Jane. He had not moved or tried do take another, closer look at the things in his hands, because he was fully aware that everything was important now. He must not touch any more parts of the evidence material with his bare hand. Van Pelt took a marker pen and circled all the areas of the papers that Jane had touched and where they would find his fingerprints for sure. At last she took the bloody cross with a pair of tweezers and placed it on a small glass plate.

»The chain is broken.« Jane said. »Therefore you need no microscope.«

Van Pelt nodded: »I´m worried about this, but I expected it to be so.« she sighed. »If anyone gets so close to Lisbon that he can take this tiny thing by force… what happened to her? Why couldn´t she hold her attacker back?«

Jane reassured her: »As I know Lisbon, she had been a strong opponent. There is no real prove, that she´s not all right. We´re gonna find her. I´ll call you as soon as we are at her home. Meanwhile, let them check everything.«

»I´ll do my best here.« Grace said, while he opened the glass door. Then she turned to the scientists: »Please work as fast as you can. Fingerprints, chemicals, blood analysis... Send it over to my desk immediately. Nothing is more important than that now. I´ll be waiting to compare the results with our data, and the archive of the police and FBI.«

The two lab scientists nodded unison: »Yes, we´ll hang on that, Ma´am.«

It was exactly, as Cho had foreseen. The director of the CBI decided, that Lisbon's unit was too close to the case. He did not want them to lead the investigation, but he also knew that he had no chance in forbidding them to take part in this. It was crystal clear that he would face mutiny if he tried to block Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt from this case. And Jane? He never would be able to stop Jane. That man could be more annoying than pestilence.

In addition to that, the director wished only the best for Lisbon, and if anything could help to bring more light in this strange case, he would do it.

»Ok, Cho. As long as Lisbon is missing, you are in charge for your people. You perfectly know that everyone of your team is too much involved. I have to engage another unit to do the official part. You all - especially Jane - have the strict orders to work together with them as partners. You are not allowed to do any investigation alone. Understood? At least one member of the other team has to accompany you, wherever you go. It will be Special Agent Donnaly´s team. So… now, when you go to Lisbon's home, take Agent Gray Carter with you. I´ll inform the local police department, they will assist you when needed.«

That moment, as if it was some strange kind of fate, the telephone on his desk rang out. »Yes it´s me.« he answered, and listened to the voice at the other end of the line.

His face grew weary and he nodded for himself, then they hung up. »Agent Cho, this was the Chief of the police department that cares for the district Lisbon is living in. He called, because one of her neighbors made a report. This neighbor was uncertain, but he thought, that he heard two gunshots at Lisbon's, at about four in the morning, today. They sent a patrol there half an hour ago. A few minutes ere he called me, they reported him a slightly open and damaged front door. They haven´t entered the place yet. They wait for you. It doesn't look too good. Hurry on. And don't forget Agent Carter.«

Cho nodded, and hastened downstairs, to get Agent Carter. The younger man with the black hair was a little bit surprised, but as soon as Kimball told him what happened, he was eager to go too. It had an impact on all agents, when someone of them was missing.

Rigsby had the car ready, waiting directly in front of the exit, and Jane was there too. While Wayne seemed to be nervous, Patrick was astonishingly calm, somewhat in thoughts.

Cho told them about the phone call and the director´s decisions, the rest of the time they were driving, they were silent, but felt like bowstrings. Once Jane tried to call Lisbon at her cell-phone, once at home, but there was no answer. To be honest, no one in that car had expected to get an answer. It was nerve-racking, and somewhere in the back of their minds a big clock seemed to be ticking. If Lisbon was attacked at four in the morning, she was in the hands of her kidnapper for over six hours now.

Van Pelt got the phone call twenty minutes after she left the laboratory. It was, as if a heavy black blanket was falling down and wrapping her… the little, last stripe of hope was gone. At first she had found a picture of Lisbon showing clearly that cross; it was exactly the same shape, size and fabric as she had it on the evidence-photo.

All the blood was definitely Lisbon´s, without any trace of doubt. It was the only type of blood that could be found on the cross, in little spots and scratches on the paper of the letter, and inside the envelope. The laboratory had done good work, but there was no other evidence. There were no fingerprints except those of Jane in the marked spaces, no hair, no traces of saliva on the envelope, no skin cells. Nothing. A few seconds she stared down at her laptop. She had been ready to feed the computer with fingerprints or part of fingerprints, was up to search the DNA-Data, but what could she do now, without any spot to start from? Van Pelt sighed. Surely her colleagues would find something at Lisbon's house. At least she hoped that. She longed for the telephone and called Cho. It was a short call. There was nothing to say but bad news, and she hung up only thirty seconds later. They were still driving and could tell nothing new. Grace hated it to be the one to tell her friends, that she was not able to give them a clue or a tip to help.

In the moment that she hung up, Special Agent Donnaly entered her office. He was a tall man, even taller than Rigsby, wearing a brown suit and black-framed glasses. »Agent Van Pelt, the big boss told me what happened. You are too close to that case, you know that. Please tell and show me everything that you´ve got right now. My team will lead the investigation. Please remember, that we don't want you out of that case. But it is for the officials. We will inform you about everything we get to know and hope that you will do the same. Okay? We are going to work together, but unofficially.«

Van Pelt nodded and informed him quickly. Donnaly sighed: »That's not much. I hope that they find more traces at her home. Otherwise we cannot do proper work. We need at least one little hint.«

It was close to eleven a.m. Two police cars were in front of Lisbon's house, when the CBI-Agents arrived, but the Crime Scene Investigation Unit was not there, although Rigsby had called them only minutes after they left the CBI-Headquarter.

»I´ll call them again, they should be here by now. But they can´t be far away, I suppose they´ll arrive in a short time.« Wayne tried to reassure himself and the others, and longed for his telephone. No one wanted to lose any more time.

Together they walked to the door. It was easy to see, that the door had been manipulated, there were marks of a crowbar on the frame and the door next to the lock. It was not closed entirely, because the wood was damaged, and Cho touched it with his pen, to open it fully and allow them to enter Lisbon´s home.

At first they noticed nothing. Everything seemed to be all right, except maybe a strange smell that still hung in the air. Something was clearly wrong here. There was no obvious sign of a fight; nothing was turned over or broken. It was, as if nothing had happened, with one exception, that broken door. All of them knew Teresa Lisbon, a tough woman. She would never let someone take her easy. Of course she would fight for her life. What´s wrong here? Why didn´t she try to defend herself? Had she had no chance?

Jane used his phone and called Lisbon again. Her cell-phone rang out clearly from somewhere nearby. He found it in her suit pocket, at the wardrobe. It was clear now that it made no sense to try to call her. He closed his phone just in that moment, as Lisbon´s voice mail box started to speak to him. It was somewhat strange to hear her voice right now.

»Cartridge case!« Agent Carter suddenly claimed out, and everybody was aware within the same moment. Everyone knew that this was not a good sign.

One second later, there was Chos voice: »Weapon on the floor. It´s Lisbon´s.«

Rigsby looked round in the living room. »Two bullets in the wall – right here next to the cupboard, and one beneath that painting. It looks like as if they were coming from the right side of the room, next to the stairs.«

Carter nodded: »That fits, a second cartridge case is here.«

Patrick Jane looked around, listened to the others, but he said nothing. Suddenly he bowed and stared at one particular spot on the floor. Cho saw his movement, stepped closer, and realized: »That's some kind of sand, small gravel or shingle, maybe it was carried in by the attacker. Could be important... I´ll mark it for the CSI-Team.« He put a small white card, number six, next to the little sand heap.

Jane did not answer, he looked upstairs, where Lisbon´s bedroom was, then took a deep breath and went on. She must have been sleeping, when she heard her intruder coming. The bed was used, but definitely not as confused as if a fight had taken place here. She must have left the room in a hurry, her house cloak was still on the edge of the bed, and the house shoes at the floor. Although it was a warm and sunny day, the night had been cool, and if these warm gowns were in a ready to use position like this, she would have taken them, if she´d had time. Somehow Jane felt like an intruder himself, here in her private room, but he had to look around. No, here was no sign of an intruder. The kidnapper had never been upstairs. She must have heard him break her door, and was ready to fight before he could get on her, but why didn´t she catch her attacker then?

Carter came running up the stairs and said: »We found an empty gas grenade downstairs. This is probably the reason, why she wasn´t able to fight for long. Please come and have a look.«

Jane gave him a short nod and followed him downstairs. The grenade hull was under the TV cupboard. Next to the empty grenade, the furniture and the floor were damaged; for sure the specialists could find out what substance it had been. Patrick slowly put his hands into his suit pockets, turned around a last time, checking everything. It must have been a fast fight. There were no blood traces here, but that didn't count anything. The only thing that really mattered was the blood on the cross.

He turned away, without any word, and went to the door.

That was enough! Rigsby, who in this moment was closest to him, demanded with a loud voice: »Say something, Jane. Please!« He did not like the silence.

Patrick didn't turn, but he answered: »Tell the investigation unit to bring a corpse tracker dog over here.« and then he left.

Cho growled: »And now we all wish, that he´d remained silent.«

Three hours later, the crime scene was completely investigated; but even at this hot spot there was not much to be found. The gun was Lisbon´s, the two cartridge cases and the bullets fitted those that were still in the magazine, and were definitely fired of with that gun. The grenade´s content was analyzed; it was a kind of anesthetic gas, not killing, but hlghly effective. The serial number of that grenade had been removed, and there were no fingerprints. The only thing the investigators could find was one line of words: Made in China; nothing else. Everyone in the CBI gave the very best to bring results. The police of Sacramento was in alert, everyone had a photo of Lisbon and whenever something suspicious was reported, they started to investigate that trace.

But the most part of these hints just led into dry sand. At least, and that was maybe the only thing that was some kind of good news, the corpse tracker dog did not smell a dead body in Lisbon´s home. It could have been a relief, but it wasn't, really. This fact told nothing more, than that she did not die in her home, or maybe she died there while fighting and the intruder took her body with him before it could leave a trace for the dog.

It was like being caught between high, smooth walls without any chance to get past them. Whatever direction they tried to search, there was a new dead end.

Special Agent Donnaly decided: »Ok, as long we can´t get hold on something new, we´ll start with everybody who was ever involved with Lisbon. That's not much of a trace, but what else can we do? As long as there is nothing to do outdoors, we´ll focus on that. If you want, Agent Cho, your team can help. We´ll need every available pair of eyes. And we´ll get all the secretaries and Agent Vince´s team too. I´ll engage the whole bureau, if needed, and if that is not enough, we call in someone from the police to help. The director will be ok with that. We have to demonstrate the kidnapper and the public, that we won´t accept, that someone takes one of us as a hostage. As soon as we have some results, we will inform the public. I don´t think that it is useful if there are some rumors or lies out there.«

Van Pelt murmured: »I am starting to get really worried. It´s not a good sign that there is no demand until now, no phone call, no e-mail, no second blackmail letter. If she has been taken hostage, why isn't there anyone who offers us a deal? Over ten hours have passed since she's gone…« her uneasy gaze flickered to Patrick Jane for a second.

He was stretched out on his couch, with his eyes closed, and a plain face without any expression. For the flash of a moment Van Pelts heart ached, she knew very well how much Lisbon meant to Jane, and Jane to Lisbon, and seeing him there was… hard.

Special Agent Donnaly passed on his thoughts: »What if she´d not been taken, because the unknown person or group wants something? Why should it be exactly her? In fact, she is not really a person of value. Uh, don´t misunderstand me now, of course I think she is the most precious person to all of us, but, ah, she´s not the one with the big money, eh? Maybe she has been kidnapped because it is her personally, that they want. Revenge, maybe? See, If some terrorist group or a gang, or a single person wants to use a hostage to get something; maybe money or the pardon for an imprisoned friend… this criminal could have taken anyone; a rich man´s child, a public transport bus, a state lawyer… someone wo is a VIP and known to the public. Surely we all would work together to save this person´s life too. So why Lisbon? Because they wanted especially her. I am convinced that this is the reason. And we should focus on that. Any other statements?«

Jane said at low voice: »Why not Lisbon? As you said, they might have taken anyone. Let us assume for a while, that Lisbon is just someone from out of a great pool of possible hostages to them. Maybe they chose her because they found out her address first.«

Donnaly replied at hard voice: »And what if Lisbon was the target?«

Jane sat up abruptly and looked at the other man with an icy glance: »Then it is something personal; hatred, revenge, rage, wrath… against her, or someone close to her. To hurt her or her friends, and… Agent Donnaly, this would be the worst case scenario.«

He was right. No one could say a word. Yes, it was the worst case scenario. If someone had a personal motivation, there was almost no chance to find her unscathed.

At last it was the phone on Van Pelts desk that broke the uncertain silence with its high, nerve racking noise. A scientist was on the line, and Grace pressed the speaker button, so that all could hear at once, what the man had to say: »Maybe this is important, maybe not.« he began. »We have analyzed the sand parts that were found in Agent Lisbon´s home. They do not match any plant pot in her house, nor the earth outside. In fact, these sand bits are real "aliens" in Sacramento. The sand is out of the Mojave Desert.«

»Mojave Desert?« Jane asked. »Are you sure?«

»Yes, we are. We will recheck it of course; and there is still the possibility that we can get a hint, out of which part of the desert they are. If we have luck, there´s something special on that sand, something unique. As soon as we got it, we inform you.« they hung up.

Donnaly was excited: »This is a hint! We can use that information. Maybe there is something in Lisbon´s case files that correlates with something in the Mojave Desert. Maybe some criminal has or had a refuge there, or a family member… whatever.«

Two of his team members entered the office, pushing two heavy loaded wagons. »This is a part of the cases that Agent Lisbon was involved during her career. We go back to the storage room and get the others.«

Cho said: »She worked with Sam Bosco for a while. Don´t forget that.«

»Thanks…« Agent Gray sighed. »That means, even more boxes and files. Come on, Cook, let's go down again…« he waved his hand to his younger, female colleague.

Agent Donnaly looked at the mass of files and file boxes; then he cracked his fingers. »Ok, let´s go. We might have got something. Let´s pick out everything that has to do with the Mojave Desert – or with someone who tried to threaten her during the investigation or the process, or out of prison. That's not much, but it is a beginning.« He started to hand out the files to everyone in the room.

When he arrived at Jane´s couch, he stopped and looked disturbed. The CBI-Consultant did not seem to be interested in this work. »Everyone here will help us, that's an order.« Donnaly demanded. »This includes you. Don't you want to find her?«

Jane answered: »Oh, you can´t imagine, how much I´d like to get her back, but I see no reason in this. Looking into old files won´t help, it only costs time. There is something that doesn´t fit, and I´m going to check that out first. I will help you here when I am ready.«

Donnaly protested: »The director said that we have to work together, but I am responsible, when we get a bad end here. If you know an important detail, tell it. No secrets.« he sighed, and tried it more suggestive: »Jane, we all know that you solve cases, but maybe this one is too big for you. You are in too deep. And I know why! You think that this might have happened because of you, don´t you? Maybe one of your enemies is behind that kidnapping. This is what you fear. That this is your guilt.«

Jane answered: »Brilliant, Donnaly, brilliant, but… you would need more to convince me to stay here.« he smiled and left the bureau.

Donnaly sighed: »Agent Rigsby, keep an eye on him, will you?«

»Eh, Sir.« Wayne protested. »I think he´ll be perfectly well. I´ll stay and help you with that.« He looked at Cho and Van Pelt. They nodded slightly, because they understood. Wayne was playing on time, he was offering Jane the chance to slip away. The longer they discussed, who must accompany Jane, the longer their friend had time to get out of sight.

Of course Donnaly protested: »Agent Rigsby, don´t forget that this is my case and you have been advised to follow my orders. If you don´t do that, I have to report this to the director. But I accept your decision. Agent Dryer, you go after Jane, quick.« he sent one of his own team, but the trick had already worked. A few minutes later Dryer came back, and said, that he had no clue where Jane had disappeared to.