I came, I saw, and I wrote…this new chapter. Yep here's a good ole helping of update for yeah, on the house. Thanks to those who have reviewed, hugs to all of you.
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Part 2
AN:I know it might be a bit boring in the beginning since they're finding evidence and all but please stick around…I think you'll be VERY shocked at the end of this chapter. Evil smirk.
The drive to the Hannigans (well one Hannigan now) was silent. The busy traffic noise outside the moving SUV was almost deafening as it sliced through the thick silence inside. Amazing how the usual joking, fun atmosphere of the interior of the car was drastically changed, while outside everything continued to go on as if nothing happened.
Geoff, who deep down was still the fun-loving party guy, found the stillness awkward, and tried to start up a conversation with an unusually quiet Bridgette, who was busy looking out her passenger seat window, forehead pressed against the glass. He desperately wanted them to start talking, about anything really, even an argument a debate he corrected himself, about the environmental effects of FBI issued SUVs would be nice.
"So…"Geoff began, already mentally hitting himself for starting like that. Honestly, he didn't know what to say.
It was a good thing that wasn't the case with Bridgette, "what are we going to do Geoff, go up to Gwen and say, 'hey Gwen, remember us, it's Geoff and Bridgette from TDI. Listen, we just found Trent's body. Turns out he was murdered brutally'?" Her fake sarcastic cheeriness in saying it scared Geoff a bit. Still she had posed an important question, what were they going to say? Usually, according to protocol, they would just gently tell them what has happened along with a 'we're very deeply sorry' and 'don't worry, we're doing the best we can to find out his murderer.' But he highly doubted that over-used Hallmark sympathies would do the trick here.
"Listen, I know Gwen was your friend on the island, if you don't feel right saying it, I could do it myself," Geoff hated seeing Bridgette all down like this, it just wasn't her.
"No, no, it's fine," she heaved a sigh, "I say we should just gently but bluntly tell her, no use beating around the bush, right?" She was uncertain, that's for sure.
--
"Let's see, loft number 2B. Bridge, you sure you want to go through with this, you could go back to the car…"
"No it's fine Geoff, let's just ring the doorbell and get it over with."
"Are you sure? Cause…"
"Geoff, just ring the doorbell already!" She hadn't meant to be so snappy but Geoff chose to ignore it and did what she had (rudely) asked him to do. The duo spent a few moments standing in a hallway. Soon the door opened revealing a woman who looked like she could use a couple of good nights' sleep.
"Do I know you?" She asked, a hint of recognition in her voice. Her skin was less pale now, though her hair was still the same black and bluish green. Her eyes however had lost its witty look and screamed out a few adjectives such as tired, worried, and apprehensive.
"Gwen, it's us…Geoff and Bridgette…from TDI," Bridgette started calmly. On any other occasion, Geoff would've already flashed his FBI badge, but this was no ordinary occasion.
"Bridgette? Geoff? Wow, I don't believe…, I haven't seen you guys in years. Uh, come on in," Gwen said shaking her head slightly to relieve the fatigue and surprise slightly. "You want me to get anything, a drink or something?"
"No thanks Gwen, let's just have a seat," Geoff said. Looking around, the loft was pretty fancy, complete with a grand piano on a slightly raised platform, a large window wall, lots of bright colours reflected via the bright sunshine. Ironic, Geoff grimly thought. Off to a corner were a few sculptures and paintings, as well as art supplies.
"So I guess you're a professional artist, huh?" Bridgette said surveying her work.
"Yeah, I have a gallery opening in a few weeks, I've also started sculpting. Expand my repertoire, you know?" Sadness washed over her features, "It was supposed to start earlier, but I postponed it, after, you know, with…Trent." Tears were started to well in her eyes.
Now came the hard part. Bridgette's and Geoff's eyes shifted to look at each other, and then back to Gwen. "That's kind of what we're here for," Geoff took out his FBI badge, "I work for the FBI and Bridgette here is a forensic anthropologist…"
"The FBI and a Forensic…oh my god, you mean…" Gwen's eyes were like dams just bursting to break.
Not sure what to say, Geoff used an old fallback statement, "we're deeply sorry." He mentally slapped himself for the second time of that morning.
"A government worker found his…body, at Johnson's Field late last night, and we have reason to believe he was…murdered," Bridgette continued, having an odd thought that butchering the sentence into smaller parts might make it easier to digest.
The crime-solving duo could've sworn time stopped for a moment before Gwen replied, "Murdered? But why, would anyone…"
"We don't know, that's why we're here," Geoff said, but quickly added, "that and because we just wanted to let you know what happened and to say, we're sorry." There was a very long awkward pause again.
"Tissue?" asked Geoff helplessly to a sobering Gwen. Bridgette, who was debating in her mind whether or not to hit Geoff for saying that spoke up again.
"Listen, I know this is a hard time for you. We know you guys were close and trust me, I'll find out who did this Gwen. Umm, would you like to stay a few days with me, during this case, you know for company and…stuff," for once the usually well-educated Bridgette was at a lost for words. Great, I'm using words from a six-year-old's vocab list when dealing with my grieving friend.
Gwen heaved a sigh, calming herself down, and looked towards her unfinished sculpture, but seemingly staring at some place beyond it, "I guess you're right; I don't think I can concentrate on my work right now. It might be good to clear my head." The words came out slow, monotone even.
Geoff cleared his throat loudly, "well, then it's settled. Um, Gwen I know this is rough time, but I have to ask, is there anyone you know that was with Trent during his, ah, final hours?"
Her face hardened, her mind reeling back to a time and place that seemed so long ago, so unreal, a mirage in a flat barren wasteland. Suddenly, as if it were a sign, the strumming of an electric guitar ran through the halls.
"That's Jacqueline Ryalls, she lives in the loft across from us. She participates in the Checker Box Bar and Grill's weekly Open Mike Night, so does Trent. That was the night he went…missing."
"Then obviously we're going to have to give Miss Ryalls a visit. Why don't you start packing and I'll drive you over to Bridge's place tonight, maybe we can grab dinner together." Geoff suggested.
"Sure," the two investigators proceeded to move towards the door, until Bridgette remembered something.
"Gwen, did Trent have a cold before he went missing?"
"Uh yes, nothing serious, just a bit of a sore throat. And guys…thanks, for…everything," Gwen silently went into a nearby room, presumably to pack. Geoff and Bridgette smiled (despite the situation) and let themselves out.
"Now when you meant dinner together you meant Gwen, you and me right?" Bridgette asked her partner as soon as they were outside.
"Of course…what? You think I was asking her on a date, even I'm not that cold Bridge," his slightly offended attitude changed though as something clicked in his head, with a smirk he continued, "you were jealous, weren't you?"
"I don't think now's a good time to be talking about this," Bridgette replied, about to ring the doorbell, but Geoff interrupted her.
"Ah! You're avoiding the subject, which means you were jealous…"he replied, giddy as a child with his first crush.
"I admit, when we were sixteen and I saw you with Gwen in that handcuffs challenge while I was at the resort, I was a bit jealous but we are friends now, so use your observation skills to help solve a friend's murder alright."
The door opened Thank God, thought Bridgette, as Jacqueline Ryalls looked at them curiously.
"Can I help you?"
Geoff flipped open his badge, "Special Agent Geoff Murdock, FBI, this here is my partner Dr. Bridgette Dodson from the Jeffersonian, can we come in?" It was game time, when fun went out the window and was replaced by seriousness.
Jacqueline stared at them for a while before allowing some room for them to enter.
"Ms. Ryalls, do you happen to know a Trent Hannigan?"
"Yes, he's my next door neighbor, a good friend, went missing a few weeks ago, real tragic. I brought cookies to his wife Gwen, you know cheer her up, try to get the creative juices flowing for her gallery opening. Why? Did you find him?"
"If by him you mean his body then yes. Trent was murdered, Ms Ryalls, and according to his wife, you're the most likely candidate for the last person to see him before he went missing."
The woman was silent for a moment, whether to let the news sink in or to contemplate what to say next, they weren't sure.
"Wow, Trent's dead? Just…wow, though I do get why you people think I saw him last. I'm sure Gwen told you all about the Open Mike Night at the Checker Box…"
"Everything but the details, Ms. Ryalls, so would you care to tell them to us?" Geoff said, leaning forward on his seat at the couch.
Jacqueline readjusted her position in her chair, and leaned backwards, "Okay, don't tell Gwen this, cause it just might break her heart even more…"
Both Bridgette and Geoff cocked an eyebrow, and leaned forward even more, almost to the point of falling off their chairs.
"Trent had a lot of, let's say, rivals at the club. I mean, overall he's a great guy, he certainly doesn't complain when I play my guitar here. But you know that saying, "hunger for fame and fortune can change a guy" or something like that? Well, occasionally there are talent scouts at the club and that's when things get really nasty. The night Trent disappeared, he 'stole' this song another guy was going to sing." She even used air quotes for the word stole, "Real piece of work that guy, Eddie West, gets my vote for Creep of the Year. So anyways, after Trent finished singing Eddie comes along and ruffs him up a bit, course, I was going up next so I shushed them. Those two were staring daggers at each others eyes during my entire performance. Afterwards they start pushing each other and the manager tells them to take it outside. My God…you don't think…"
Geoff knit his eyebrows together in confusion, "so you think that Eddie killed Trent because he sang a song that he was gonna sing? Kinda a weak motive, don't ya think?"
"Not really," Bridgette said, "human behavior is highly influenced by society around us, and like it or not, people who are extremely talented, or have great looks are elevated by society, leaving human beings with a need to be able to come up on top. While not really rational, it's completely understandable that Mr. West saw Trent as a threat to him."
"Thank you Dr. Phil, but killing some guy over a song? That's just ridiculous."
It looked as if Bridgette was about to give another speech in response to his comment but Jacqueline decided to continue, "Well, there was this incident with Eddie's girlfriend."
Geoff perked his head up, "wait, girlfriend?"
Jacqueline hesitated, "You see, Eddie had this girlfriend, blonde gal by the name of Tracy. While I know Trent would never cheat on Gwen and that he loves her very much, even the most dedicated guys get a little flirtatious you know? So Trent and Tracy talk sometimes, admittedly during people's performances which is pretty annoying…but I digress. Anyways so like I said, Trent might flirt with Tracy sometimes but no real harm, until that night of the disappearance of course," she paused, a look of unease etched in her face, "okay, this part you really can't tell Gwen, after what I saw in those TDI reruns…I don't think she can take it."
"Don't worry, we have a bit of a case confidentiality rule at the FBI.'
"Okay then, well I guess Tracy didn't know Trent was married and well…after my performance, she planted one on him, okay?"
That was defiantly not something the two were expecting, "wait, so Trent kissed another woman? That jerk!"
"Talking about a dead friend here, Bridge, don't curse him from beyond the grave," Geoff said, a little surprised at the outburst, "so Trent kissed Tracy?"
"Oh no, no, no, Tracy kissed Trent, I mean, I don't blame you I first thought Trent was the one who kissed the girl when I first saw them, but later I heard from the backstage sound crew that Tracy started it. Either way Eddie saw it and was just fuming, since that night I haven't seen Trent since and Eddie didn't come back to the club until a week after." She stopped obviously with no more to say.
"Well thanks for the help Miss. Ryalls," Geoff, stood up, quickly followed by Bridgette, "if you remember anything else just call the bureau and ask for me okay?"
"Sure thing, and I hope you catch the bastard who did this, Gwen already has enough trouble in her life."
--
Meanwhile back at the Jeffersonian, Sarah and Peyton were looking over the remains, magnifying certain parts to see if there were any evidence, it was a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
"Hey Sarah, check this out," Peyton said as he held up the detached part of the spine around the throat area, "there seems to be a wafer thin shaving of bone on the C-5 vertebrae."
"What, like cheese having gone through a slicer? So the Mr. Hannigan's throat was slit."
Peyton beamed, "precisely, though I don't think a cheese slicer was the weapon, it had to be very thin in order to create such a minute shave."
Maurecia walked by, phone in hand, "great you guys found the cause of death."
Peyton scowled, "what with this you guys? I'm the one who found it out, Sarah was too busy comparing possible murder weapons to cheese cutlery."
"Whatever, since you figured it out then you tell the Doc, I'm calling her to give an update on this Eddie West guy, turns out he runs the butcher shop between Main and Oak."
"A butcher? Now there's someone who isn't afraid of handling raw flesh," Sarah remarked.
"Great, now you've just turned me off meat for the next week or so," Peyton said, followed by a mumble that sound like, "first the circus, now this."
"At least Dr. Dodson will be happen you won't be eating cute little animals."
--
"Ugh, I hate the smell of a butcher shop," Bridgette said, entering West's Meat Emporium, a small ting coming from the little bell attached near the door.
"You deal with rotting corpses all day and the smell of a butcher shop is what gets to you?" Geoff asked incredulously, moving up to the counter and ringing the service bell.
Bridgett gave off an undignified stare, "there's a fine line between handling dead animals and chopping them up with no remorse, that's why I became a vegetarian." Seeing as no one had come to the counter yet she too rang the service bell, "You should consider becoming a vegetarian, it's a healthy and environmentally friendly life choice."
"What? And lose all these muscles from iron deficiency? I don't think so," Geoff struck a pose, exaggeratingly showing off his muscles. Bridgette had to laugh at how silly he looked, this is what she liked about him, no matter how serious things got he still found a way to make her smile.
Geoff stopped posing, and smiled back, suddenly a scruffy young man with ruffled hair appears, Eddie West.
"Can I help you?"
"You Eddie West?" asked Geoff.
"Yeah"
Geoff flashed his badge, "I'm Special Agent Geoff Murdock and this is my partner Dr. Bridgette Dodson, Mr. West we'll like you to come with us to answer a few questions about the murder of a Trent Hannigan."
Eddie's eyes turned to the size of saucers, "wait, Hannigan? Murdered? You suspect me of murder?"
"Yeah, murder," Bridgette replied, resting an arm on the counter and leaning slightly onto it, like one of those old fashioned movie detectives.
--
"So where do you want these boxes?" Gwen asked as she moved some of her stuff into Bridgette's condo, she looked around, taking in the paintings, surfing trophies and strange looking artifacts.
Bridgette threw her overcoat onto a nearby couch, revealing her black pants and black sweater which covered her white shirt. She pointed to am empty corner of the room, "if its art supplies you can put it over there, you can work on your paintings and sculptures there. I myself never
found much use for that area. Your clothes and personal stuff can go in the guest room, down the hall, first door on the right."
The dinner had been an interesting one…if interesting was a new synonym for awkward, while Trent's death was not spoken about, a suffocating unease hung around for the entire evening. Geoff was supposed to help move some things, but had to go back to the Bureau to complete some paperwork on the case. So now, it was just the two women, and the atmosphere was a bit more lighthearted.
Now that all the boxes were inside the condo Bridgette poured some drinks for her and Gwen.
"We're getting really close to finding out who did it Gwen," Bridgette said, not being able to hold it all in anymore.
"I'll just be glad when we can finally have a proper funeral for him. I'm sure you'll be able to finally give Trent and everyone some peace of mind. You and Geoff are the best homicide investigators there are, I'm surprised you guys aren't dating." Bridgette nearly choked on her drink. We're talking abut murder and people still find a way to link it back to our relationship.
"Things change, Gwen." Oh like you haven't used that line before Bridge, great comeback.
Gwen was silent for a minute, looking around the place from where she was sitting; she spotted something resting on a shelf: a heart shaped change bowl.
"He talked about you, you know."
Bridgette paused, her glass stopping mid way to her lips, "what?"
Gwen continued, "Geoff, he talked about you…during the handcuff challenge on TDI. The editors cut it out so it never was shown to the public, but he loved talking about you. Said you were the sweetest, most determined and gentle girl he'd ever met. And I know that he still thinks so to this day, by the way he looks at you, just like how Trent used to look at me." Her eyes glistened, tears almost on the verge of coming again.
For once, Bridgette was speechless, "I…"
Gwen smiled, something Bridgette hadn't seen her do for a while, 'And I think you still love him too, I still the way 'talk' to each other through your eyes, and how your face seems to brighten up every time he looks at you. Don't try and deny it Bridgette, and treasure what time you two have together, take it from me, I know..." With that, she finished her drink and stood up, "I'm going to take a shower. Bathroom's on the left right?" Bridgette merely nodded.
As Gwen left, Bridgette drank the rest of her drink, pondering about what her friend had said. She tapped her fingers on the table, staccato tapping on polished wood, ringing throughout the
condo. The distant sound of running water from the bathroom was the only other sound. That and the drops of water coming from the sink Gwen used to rinse her glass.
Drip drop. Drip drop. You still. Love him.
Great, you know you're crazy when you think your leaky faucet is talking to you, Bridgette thought. A sudden shrill ringing snapped her out of her thoughts, and the glass in a surprised Bridgette's hand nearly had a first hand flying lesson. Luckily her clumsiness didn't go into full throttle and she managed to catch it before it crashed on the table. Heaving a sigh of relief, she went over to her phone, the source of said ringing.
"Dodson."
"Figured out who punched Trent's ticket yet, Doc?"
"Beth, I'm surprised you didn't break into my office to find all the details yourself."
"I've been busy."
"Family matters, or your usual illegal investigations?"
"Ha ha, you're a real clown, Bridgette. So, are you going to tell me about what you found out or am I going to have to do a little extra work?"
Bridgette relented, "Fine, we did have a suspect, Eddie West. Motive was pretty clear: jealousy and the fact that his girlfriend kissed Trent. We took him in for questioning, but turns out he and his girlfriend 'mutually' agreed to break up."
"Because of the kiss?"
"That, as well as, and I quote 'irreconcilable interests." Also he told us that after the manager shooed him and Trent out they went their separate ways, according to him, he visited his friends, arriving a little sooner than ten o'clock. His alibi checked out unfortunately for us."
"What about the girlfriend? Got to have been fuming about the fact that she was chasing after a married man."
"Tracy Daniels, we're questioning her tomorrow. We found her, but she said that no words will be coming out of her lips without a lawyer present."
"And they say blondes are dumb…"
"Hey, I'm a blonde and I have multiple PhDs," Bridgette said. Suddenly she realized something. "Wait, how do you know that Tracy's a blonde?"
"Let's just say I had a nice viewing of Trent's last kiss."
"You know I could take you in for questioning because you were I witness, Beth," Bridgette said, no traces of joking in her voice.
"Actually you can't. You're just a scientist, Geoff's the one who can legally single handedly arrest me."
"Is that why you always visit me and not Geoff?"
"Maybe, also I just like your apartment better overall. Bit more cozy, nice décor, and great ambience. Just don't like the walls though."
"Well I hate to brag but my condo is a bit more expensi- what is wrong with my walls?" Bridgette asked.
Beth shrugged, though Bridgette couldn't see her, "Eh, it's the colour, I don't like it. I mean it's not red but it's not orange either..." she paused, the conversation was now bordering on ridiculous. "You know what? Just forget about it, what's Trent COD?"
"His throat was slit by a very fine instrument." Bridgette answered. Suddenly she noticed something in Gwen's art supplies box. Taking out a tissue, she walked over and picked up the thing that had caught her interest.
"Beth?" Bridgette asked, almost not daring to breath.
"Yeah?"
"Am I a terrible person for suspecting one of my oldest friends of murdering her husband?"
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Dun Dun Dun! Yes, I know, you must all want to throw things at me now. I TOLD YOU THINGS WOULD GET MORE DRAMATIC!
I'll try not to leave you guys hanging over a cliff too long but school's coming so you never know.
Speaking of school help this poor dunce learn math by reviewing, and said dunce will learn how to count via how many reviews are received!
