Chapter Two: Welcome Norman!
Norman walked into the precinct around 9:00am. He was able to get a hot shower and shave before he left his hotel, but that was about it. He'd spent the majority of his time going over the case files he had uploaded on ARI. He knew he had circles under his eyes, but that couldn't be helped. Sleep came only after a lot of tossing and turning. Norman wasn't very good at sleeping in new places. He figured he'd acclimate just when this case was ending.
Heading towards the back of the station he found the secretary's desk.
"Hello, I'm Norman Jayden of the FBI. Is Captain Perry in?"
The short haired woman behind the desk looked up from her work and gave him a polite smile, "He'll be out in a moment. He's just getting ready for the press conference."
"Thanks," he said before taking a seat in the chair outside the captain's door.
After a while Norman had to fight the urge to look at his watch. The captain was taking longer than he thought. Tired of staring at the floor, he pulled out ARI and put it on. Scrolling to the games section, he chose one with a picture of a baseball on it. A glowing blue ball appeared in his hand then as a brick wall materialized ten feet in front of him. He began to throw the ball against the wall and catch it, only to repeat himself. It wasn't overly stimulating, but at least it was something to do while he waited.
One officer in a blue uniform walked by him, confused and perturbed by his seemingly odd behavior. To anyone watching, it looked as if Norman was hallucinating. VR wasn't very well-known around the working stiffs at the station.
"Does it also have Tetris?" He heard a familiar voice ask. Looking off to his right, Norman saw Sandra Ellis standing by the secretary's desk, watching him in amusement. She really wanted to tell him he looked like a total weirdo but refrained.
Norman took off his glasses then, hoping he did well with hiding his embarrassment from her. "No Tetris, but it does play a mean game of chess." He said cooly.
"Ah," she grinned, walking up to him. She couldn't have asked for a nerdier answer. "You might want to stow those for now, Agent K. You're making some of the senior officers jumpy."
Norman chuckled and put ARI in his pocket. Maybe she was right. He wanted to make a good first impression.
"How was your night?" He asked.
"Long," she sighed, crossing her arms. "But once the coroner finally arrived we were able to make some headway. The time of death was determined to be only six hours prior to when the body was found."
"Interesting," said Norman, thinking aloud. This meant the victim was alive for four days before being drowned. This seemed to match the data from the other killings as well… and more importantly, it corroborated his theory on how the killer murders his victims.
...
Lieutenant Blake walked down the row of desks that led to his. Taking off his wet coat he folded over his arm. He knew that it was going to be a shit day. Jayden was taking over a large portion of the investigation and this did not set well with him at all. He didn't see much use in involving this government suit. He doubted he had much experience working in the field.
Looking beyond the desks he saw Sandra chatting with Norman. This really irked him for some reason. He decided to interject before she started putting ideas into his head. If he was going to maintain some semblance of control, he needed to establish his position of power right off the bat. As far as he was concerned, Jayden was the new kid on the block.
"Last night was fucking awful. I hope you got some sleep, Jayden, because today isn't going to get any better." Blake said as he tossed his rain sodden coat onto the back of his office chair.
"Once I talk to Captain Perry I'm ready to get started," Norman told him.
"I've got a lot of work to do here. We can start after the meeting," Blake said dismissively. His tone gave Norman pause. It didn't go unnoticed by Sandra either. Clearly he was mad about something.
"The briefing is right after the press conference, right?" Sandra asked Norman, searching for a way out of the conversation.
"Yeah, at 11:30." He told her.
"Alright, I'll be there. If anyone needs me I'll be at my desk." She said, hiking her messenger bag up higher on her shoulder.
"While you're up, could you get me a coffee, Sandra?" Blake asked.
Sandra's eyebrows shot up. What was this, punishment for embarrassing him in front of Jayden last night?
"Did you seriously ask your female coworker to get you coffee?" She asked, her expression deadpan.
Realizing his mistake, Blake immediately started backpedaling. "I didn't mean it like that," he said, his tone defensive. "I was just asking for a favor."
"Sure," she snorted before walking away. The two men heard her mutter "asshole" under her breath as she made her way to her desk.
Great power play Blake, Norman thought sarcastically. The two of them really did not get along. He knew there had to be more to the story.
"She's pretty tough," Norman grinned.
"Yeah well, her father was a lieutenant," Blake sighed, scratching the back of his neck.
"Is he retired?" Norman asked, standing up from his chair and making his way over to Blake's desk.
"If by retired you mean he put a bullet in his skull, then yeah," Blake said gruffly, turning on his computer. The inner fan whirred as the old machine warmed up. It was a far cry from ARI.
"Why do you think he did it?" Norman asked, his gaze wandering over to Sandra who was sipping coffee out of her traveler mug as she typed up a report on her laptop.
"God only knows. Depression? It was long before my time here," Blake said dismissively. He wasn't keen on fueling Jayden's interest in his coworker. Especially Sandra.
The door to the captain's office opened then and an elder man in a brown suit walked out. He stopped by his secretary's desk and requested she cancel all his appointments for the afternoon.
"Excuse me," Norman said as he stepped away from Blake's desk. The Lieutenant was more than happy to see him go.
The agent swiftly strode over to the older man before he missed him. "Captain Perry, I'm Agent Norman Jayden of the FBI."
"Jayden! Of course. We've been expecting you. Do you mind if we talked and walked? I'm in a bit of a hurry." Perry said.
"Of course." Norman responded, following the Captain as he made his way through the office towards the front of the precinct. "I wanted to introduce myself before getting starting but perhaps there's a better time?"
"No no, this is fine. I just have to get to the press conference. We have them everyday now and believe me, it's not always easy finding something to tell them. Fortunately today we have some news." Perry explained, struggling with his tie as he walked. "Have you met Lieutenant Blake yet?"
"Yes, I met him and Detective Ellis this morning."
"Good, good." Perry nodded, the tone of his voice was uncertain at best. It seemed that the contention between Blake and Sandra was well known around the precinct. "Blake has his own methods and Ellis... well she's is pretty headstrong. But they're both good cops I'm sure you'll get along well with them. Do you know how to tie a tie?"
"I guess," Norman said, confused by the request.
Taking Perry's tie in his hands, he proceeded to make a Windsor knot. He found it strange the older man didn't know how to do this himself. Norman wondered if this was some mild form of posturing.
The next words out the captain's mouth were that he didn't want to get the FBI involved however, the Origami killings were becoming a matter of national concern. He proceeded to ramble on about the press and the poor social/political climate the Origami Killer was causing. He didn't really seem to have any sympathy for the families or victims. It was bizarre, he was acting like the whole thing was one big annoyance to him.
"This killer is exotic- leaves origami figures and orchids. Work that one out. And then the press gets onto it and suddenly we've become the center of the universe."
"I'm here to arrest a serial killer," Norman explained firmly. "With all due respect, sir, the rest of it is none of my business."
The captain paused for a moment, realizing that Norman had some bite to him. "No, of course not. All I'm asking is you make progress and fast. The press want answers and we're going to have to serve the killer up on a silver patter. You're more than welcome to sit in on the press conference. It'll give you a better idea of the climate around here."
"I may do that, sir," Norman said as he finished the knot in the tie. He had to resist the desire to make it a hair too tight.
"Not bad," Perry said, checking out Norman's work. "Charline will show you to your office. Welcome to the club, Jayden."
Perry made a few last minute adjustments to his clothes before heading into the press room. He seemed intent on putting on a good show. Most of the time, the police treated the media like children who needed to be placated. It seemed that Captain Perry believed that catering to the press was the entirety of his job.
Deciding to skip the press conference, Norman headed back to the secretary's desk. That's when he noticed a gold watch hanging over a small wicker collection basket.
"Nice watch," he commented.
Charline smiled, "Thank you. We've been giving all our new Lieutenant's this model as a promotional gift for the past 20 years. Would you like to make a donation?"
"Sure," said Norman. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a $5 bill and put it in the collection basket. "Captain Perry said you could show me to my office?"
"Yes, of course. Please follow me." She said, pushing out of her chair and heading to the back corner of the precinct. Norman followed her to a metal door with the placard "Office" on the front. It was very to-the-point.
Walking into the room, it was obvious no one had been in there in years. There was no computer, one chair and one desk at the center of the room with a bunch of old files and a non-wireless telephone from the early 90s. Frankly it was insulting.
"This is my office?" Norman asked, surprised how blatantly unwelcoming this was.
Charline shrugged, not knowing what else to do. "This is where I was told to take you."
Norman wasn't going to say anything more. It wasn't her fault.
"Can I get you anything else?"
He wanted to reply with, "yeah an office", but decided to tell her he was fine.
Once she left the room, Norman closed the door and went to work. Walking over to the desk, he pushed everything on top of it onto the floor. Then he pushed the desk all the way against the wall. Pulling up the chair, he put on ARI and went to the environment menu. Several spheres displaying different landscapes floated around him in a neat orbit. Scrolling past the underwater and fantasy scape, he pulled up the autumn forest scape. Holding the spherical icon in his hand, he smashed it down onto the desk. An entire autumn forest sprang from the place on the desk where he hit, surrounding him in a thicket of golden trees. He took a moment to appreciate the ambient soundtrack of rustling leaves and chirping birds before he began investigating the new clues found at the crime scene last evening.
Looking at the results from analyzing the tire tracks, it looked like the car was probably a Chevy Malibu 83. This was not much to go on, but at least it was something. Closing the files and taking off ARI, Norman got up to head to the meeting room. However, as he stood up his vision began to blur. Looking down at his hands, he saw they were shaking.
"Here we go again..." he said, clutching his forehead.
The pain that followed nearly made him fall back into his chair. He stumbled towards the door, his head swimming and his breathing erratic. It felt like his skull was full of razor blades. There was no resisting this time. He would faint if he didn't take the Triptocaine. Reaching into his pocket, he gripped the small vial tightly. Norman leaned his forehead against the office door and took a deep breath.
"No... I can make it," he said trying to convince himself. "I can make it."
Letting go of the tube, Norman pushed the door open and carefully made his way to the bathroom. He held his hands tightly so they wouldn't shake. He was seconds away from passing out but by some miracle he made it to the bathroom. Locking the door behind him, he went to the nearest sink and began splashing water onto his face. He stood there, slouched over the sink for a good long while. Even though he was able to resist, he knew that next time the symptoms would only be worse.
…
Ethan Mars sat in a chair in front of Sandra's desk. She had her hands folded atop her closed laptop as she looked at him intently. She was soon joined by Blake who sat on the desk next to hers, his foot propped up on the chair closest to him.
"This is Lieutenant Blake, Mr. Mars, will you please repeat to him what you just told me?" Sandra asked.
Ethan nodded, looking up at Blake. The way the Lieutenant was looming over him felt aggressive. It was very off-putting. "This afternoon, I went to the park with my son Shaun. He wanted to ride the carousel so I put him on one of the wooden horses and when I turned back, Shaun had disappeared."
Blake's brow furrowed in confusion. "How could he have disappeared? Weren't you right by the carousel?"
Ethan shifted uncomfortably in his chair, he knew the two cops were judging everything he said and did. It was crucial he give them all the right information. It wouldn't do himself any good to mention his blackout. They would immediately become suspicious of him.
"I went for a short walk, just for a few minutes," Ethan explained. "When I came back, the carousel had stopped and Shaun wasn't there."
Sandra leaned forward in her seat then, paying close attention to how Ethan would respond to her next question. "Mr. Mars, just so I understand, you said you took Shaun to the park right after school, but you didn't report him missing until 8:15. Why did you wait so long to contact the police?"
"I was looking for him for hours. I searched the whole neighborhood. I didn't think he could have gotten far."
Norman walked up to the side of Sandra's desk, having heard the conversation on his way back from the bathroom. Another kid was missing. It could very possibly be linked to their case.
"Did Shaun have any difficulties, Mr. Mars? Anything that would cause him to run away?" Norman asked.
Ethan began explaining how he and his wife had been separated for six months but he was convinced his son had not run away. Of course, he went straight to assuming it was the Origami Killer. It was every parents worst nightmare, so that was understandable. But Blake, Norman, and Sandra made sure to be careful not to confirm or deny this possibility.
"We'll call you if we find anything tonight Mr. Mars." Blake told him, pushing himself off the desk he was sitting on.
Ethan stood up and looked at his two more likely allies, Norman and Sandra. "What if he was taken... taken by the Origami Killer?"
"We shouldn't jump to conclusions. If we don't call you with more news tonight, come back tomorrow and we'll officially file a missing persons report." Sandra told him. She knew it wasn't very helpful, but it was all she could say without causing him to panic.
Ethan glumly thanked the officers for their time and made his way out of the station. He thought about the origami figure in his pocket and the recent blackouts he'd been experiencing. These were all things he knew he couldn't tell the police. But if Shaun was truly taken by the Origami Killer, he just withheld crucial evidence that could potentially save his son. This notion would eat away at his conscience.
...
Sandra, Blake, Captain Perry, and McCormick field into the dark meeting room where Norman had his ARI set up as a projector against a white screen. In the light of there being another possible abduction by the Origami Killer, the meeting took on a far more grave tone. Before they were trying to solve a murder whereas now they were potentially in a race against time to prevent another.
"The killer is white. Male between age 30-45. He doesn't act on impulse but plans his crimes in a very meticulous fashion," Norman explained, scrolling through the images in the slide show. "He has nothing personal against the victims this is why he covers their faces in mud. To make them anonymous."
"Why does he kill them if he has nothing against them?" Detective McCormick asked.
Sandra has to resist the urge to roll her eyes. She really hoped Norman didn't think all of them were that stupid.
"To him they're more of a symbol. That's probably why he gives them an origami figure and an orchid as gifts to apologize for what he's done to them." Norman explained.
"Very interesting," Blake said, his tone snarky, as he leaned back in his chair. "And where does all that get us?"
Despite everyone's attitude, Norman remained patient. "The best way to track a predator is to be familiar with his behavior."
"That maybe true in novels, but a kid's life is at stake here!" Blake sharply interjected.
"He wasn't minimizing the situation, Blake." Sandra told him.
"Of course you'd take the pretty-boy's side, Ellis," Blake snorted.
"What side? We're all supposed to be on the same team here." She argued defensively. Sandra was glad it was dark in the room because her face was beat red from embarrassment.
"That's enough, both of you!" Perry snapped. "Continue Jayden."
"One detail attracted my attention. The interval between the time the victim disappears and the time the body is found ranges between 3 to 5 days. But the rainfall is always at 6 inches give or take ten percent. "
"What on earth does that mean?" Perry asked.
"The victims are all drowned in rainwater and the killer only kills in the fall when there is plenty of rain. It could be that he puts them in some kind of well or tank that's open to the skies so it fills up with rainwater. The more it rains, the less time the victim has to live."
Norman went on to explain how using geo-profiling will help find where the killer might live by looking at where the first murders were committed and mapping out a comfort zone in which he operates. It was simple really, but Blake of course had to question it.
"And what size is this zone?"
Norman clicked to the slide that showed the geo-profiling map. "For the moment? About ten square miles."
"There must be over 10,000 people living in that sort of area. What are we going to do, question them one by one?" Asked Blake.
Norman was getting fed up at this point but tried to remain visibly calm. "The more clues we get, the more we can narrow down the zone. Crosscheck that information with our list of suspects and we can figure out who the killer is."
"So what's next?" Perry practically huffed. It seemed he was getting fed up with this presentation as well.
Norman could see Sandra take a deep breath to keep herself from mouthing off to everyone. At least there was one person willing to work with him, he thought.
"There are two suspects that fit the psychological profile and live within the comfort zone. I would like to question them." Norman answered.
"Goddamn it! We're wasting our time with this bullshit. The killer's out there somewhere. We've got to get off our asses and find him!"
"The killer is no ordinary person, he's organized, intelligent and methodical. You wont find him by patrolling the streets."
"Tell me Agent Jayden, did you get your vast experience on the job or did you just fucking read about it in some school book?" Blake snapped, testily.
"I came here to find a killer and that is exactly what I'm going to do, with or without your help."
"Fuckin' asshole!" Blake shouted, standing up and kicking over the chair in front of him.
Sandra shifted in her seat, her posture immediately changed as she got ready to act if Blake lost it and swung at Norman. Luckily, Perry stepped in.
"That's enough!" He ordered, causing Blake to stand down. "You said it took six inches of rainfall till the victim died. How much time do we have left?"
Norman looked to the screen at the picture of Shaun Mars. "If the weather forecast is right, less than 72 hours."
…
Once the meeting let out, Sandra followed Blake to his desk. She was hot on his heels and he could feel the anger radiating off of her.
"Alright, what?" He sighed, turning around to face her.
"What do you mean, what? You're acting like a complete dick, Carter. What is wrong with you?" She demanded, leaning over him as he took a seat in his chair.
"Nothing's wrong with me," he said, implying that the situation was the other way around.
"Are you mad because somebody else has the reins for once?" She asked.
"Maybe I'm just sick of you drinking the FBI agent's Kool-Aid."
"I'm not drinking his Kool-Aid... what does that even mean?" She asked, frustrated that he was trying to flip the script on her.
"You know what it means," he mumbled petulantly.
Was he jealous?
"I've spoken to the guy twice," she sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, well, I recognize those looks," Blake pointed out accusingly. "Just don't get drawn in by his high-clearance badge and fancy glasses. At the end of the day, all those FBI suits are just glorified paper pushers."
"You know, the more bullshit you talk the better you're making him look. Why don't you try getting along with one of your partners for once. Maybe you'll learn something." She said, trying her best to level with him.
"That asshole is not my partner," he told her firmly.
"God, you sound like a five year old," she sighed, knowing she was never going to win this argument.
AN: Favor, Follow, Review! I didn't think I would enjoy writing Blake's character, but he's actually really fun. When he interacts with Sandra, you get to see more of a hunan side to him. Although they butt heads often, he does actually care about her (if not begrudgingly). I plan to flesh out their backstory as well. It informs who they are as cops as well as their current relationship.