Thank you to tinkbooklover for her help 3 !
The door of the suite number 325 opened and a dark-haired woman with a tanned complexion appeared. She seemed to be about forty years old and she was wearing a pencil skirt and a black blazer, certainly very expensive. Without saying a word, the woman stared pointedly at the two agent Blake's then turned her face toward Abby, who had deliberately remained slightly back.
"I am Doctor Lorelei Tsing. I work at the Mount Weather Company. You must be the agents of the F.B.I, " she said, holding her hand toward the criminologist.
Abby hesitated for a moment, both surprised and uncomfortable. If her presence alongside the two agents was official, she wasn't entitled to question witnesses. In truth, she was there as an observer, nothing more.
"Doctor Abigail Griffin. I'm a consultant on this case, but indeed, the agents Bellamy Blake and Octavia Blake are members of the behavioral analysis unit," she explained, shaking hands with the woman, not without casting a furtive look at her two partners.
"I guess, it was you on the phone, " declared Doctor Tsing, this time by looking at Bellamy.
" Yes, "he confirmed by holding his hand to greet her.
"I didn't expect agents so…, so young," she said disdainfully, without bothering to answer the handshake offered by Bellamy.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Octavia asked suddenly, in a tone which didn't call for a wrong answer.
"No. Of course not. I'm just…, I'm just surprised that's all. ", replied Lorelei Tsing with a hypocritical smile.
"We're here to talk to Mr. Cage Wallace," Bellamy hastened to say, to dispel the unease which was clearly beginning to settle.
"Yes, he is waiting for you. If you'll come this way, " declared the woman before shifting to let them in.
Without bothering to wait for Octavia to close the door behind them, Doctor Tsing crossed the huge living room and headed for a sliding door at the back of the room.
"We're in the wrong business, bro, " whispered Octavia by giving a slight nudge to her brother, as she was looking around the room.
"Wait a minute, please," the Doctor Tsing asked coldly before disappearing into the adjacent room.
"I hope she killed him! Nothing would make me happier than handcuffing this bitch, "Octavia grumbled quietly.
Bellamy and Abby exchanged an amused look, but none of them bothered to reply.
"Mr. Wallace, F.B.I agents are there, " Doctor Tsing's voice echoed behind the half-opened door.
" Good. Show them right in, " replied a male voice.
Doctor Tsing opened the door wider and invited them to enter with a wave of her hand.
"My condolences Mr. Wallace. I'm agent Bellamy Blake, this is agent Octavia Blake and Doctor Griffin," Bellamy declared by walking towards the victim's son to shake his hand.
Octavia and Abby offered him a slight nod. Their host was sitting on a wide leather chair, his elbows on his knees. Despite his suit and his impeccable hairstyle, the criminologist couldn't help but notice that his face looked like if he hadn't slept for several days.
"Please have a seat," he offered them, pointing at the couch in front of him.
Bellamy and Abby sat down, but Octavia remained standing.
"You have to find out who did it," exclaimed the business man after a few seconds of silence before burying his head in his hands.
"That's why we're here sir," Bellamy assured him seriously.
"We have to ask you some questions," the young agent added, pulling out a small notebook from his inside pocket.
Cage Wallace nodded.
"Where were you the weekend of your father's death? " Bellamy started to question him.
"I was in Boston. I was invited to the inauguration of a friend's nightclub. I arrived at the airport on Friday afternoon around four p.m and I came back immediately after the call from the police on Monday. This is his contact details, he can confirm that. "he said, putting a business card on the table.
"How was your relationship with your father? " Bellamy spoke again with a perfectly neutral tone by putting the card in his pocket.
"Well, we didn't agree with everything, but it was often irrelevant. "Cage Wallace asserted, shrugging.
"One of the employees of the MWC told the police that he heard an argument between you and your father about three months ago. According to him, Mr. Wallace had threatened to not let you head the company after his departure," Octavia declared abruptly.
The man looked up at her, clearly surprised. For a split second, Abby saw a shade of anger passed across his face, but he quickly recovered.
" This is true ! We argued, " he conceded, looking at Bellamy again.
"He may have said something like that but it was only empty words," he explained with a straight face.
Bellamy slightly nodded and scribbled a few words in his notebook.
"My father is–" he began to add before stopping and wincing.
"Was," he corrected himself by closing his eyes for a moment as if using the past form to talk about his father was painful to him.
"A demanding man. He thought I wasn't invested enough to the MWC. I haven't always been the perfect son, far from it, but I worked very hard and things have settled. " he went on, this time looking at Abby.
"Did your father have any enemies? " the criminologist asked.
"More than you can imagine," he answered before letting out a slight joyless laugh as if the question was almost absurd.
"He received threats? " inquired Bellamy.
"Not directly, but if you type his name on the internet, you'll find a lot of articles inciting more or less explicitly to lash out at the MWC or at my father, " he explained with a hint of anger which made his voice shake.
"Do you think this is related to the scandal of the Lexotop?" asked the criminologist.
"Among other things. The pharmaceutical industry may not be very reputable, you know. Most people think that we are responsible for all the ills of the world. Our medicines save lives every day, but it's rarely what they retain. " he declared bitterly.
"And in his personal life? Any problems that you're aware of?" Octavia questioned.
" Not to my knowledge. My father never had many friends and in terms of his love life, I know absolutely nothing," he replied, shaking his head.
"Have you ever heard about a sect called the City of Light, Mr. Wallace? " Abby asked carefully, scrutinizing his reaction.
Cage Wallace seemed to think a few seconds.
"Just what the news said when their leader had been arrested a few years ago," he finally said .
"Thelonius Jaha," Abby said, still staring at him.
Wallace nodded.
"Do you know him? " Bellamy asked.
" No. I might have passed him at some reception in Washington, but I don't remember him, " he said with a shrug.
" Why all these questions? " he asked, frowning.
"Their symbol was drawn with blood on the forehead of your father, " Octavia explained without any precautions.
" On his…Oh my god, " Wallace exclaimed, visibly shocked before burying his head in his hands.
Bellamy took the opportunity to give a slightly reproving look at his sister, who merely shrugged.
"Was your father or the MWC working on a particular project? A new drug, a new treatment? "the young agent asked in a softer tone to offset the lack of tact of his sister.
"That information is confidential" Doctor Tsing who had previously remained near the door, said abruptly.
"We don't have to write it in the file, we only need to know if the COL could have a reason to kill Mr. Wallace," Bellamy explained while the woman was walking into the room and stopped next to Cage Wallace.
The latter looked up at her with a questioning gaze. Doctor Tsing just shook her head.
"I'm sorry," she declared firmly with one hand on Cage's shoulder.
"Mr. Wallace, we really need that information," Bellamy pleaded, seeking to get his attention.
"Then find a judge who will issue a warrant," retorted Doctor Tsing, raising a challenging eyebrow.
"It would be a waste of time," objected the young agent.
"It's still a no, " reaffirmed categorically the woman.
Bellamy sighed.
"And you, where were you doctor Tsing?"Abby questioned her with a falsely innocent tone.
A sardonic smile stretched on the woman's face.
"I spent the weekend at a pharmaceutical conference in the Boston Habor Hotel. Hundreds of people can confirm. I even made an intervention. It was filmed if you are interested!" Doctor Tsing replied sarcastically.
"Perfect, we'll check it out," Abby stated, weighing her up.
Bellamy asked some other questions for another ten minutes, but none of the answers given by Cage Wallace or Doctor Ching were satisfying. Obviously, they were hiding things related to the MWC, but, as Octavia rightly pointed out when they get into the car, no judge would agree to issue a warrant without a shred of evidence.
"Do you think he was sincere?" Abby inquired while Bellamy was starting the engine.
"Hard to say. He didn't expect us to know about the argument," said the young officer.
"He was annoyed even though he tried to not show it," Octavia pointed out.
"Well, nobody likes to be suspected, that doesn't mean he is guilty," retorted Bellamy, giving her a quick glance in the rearview mirror.
Octavia merely shrugged.
"We have to check out if Dante Wallace changed his will. If that's the case, his lawyer will know. He just might have talked about it without having had time to make it happen. "Abby declared, starting to leaf through the folder again.
"I'll tell Gina to take care of this once she's done with the alibis check," Octavia said, pulling out her phone from her pocket.
"If we must question Cage Wallace again, we have to see him alone. Without Doctor Tsing, he would probably have said more,"added Abby, looking at the only page of the file about the woman.
Loreilei Tsing had worked at the MWC for many years and had probably moved up the ladder in record time. She started to work as a simple researcher and became the principal collaborator of the victim section in just seven years.
"Do you think they are sleeping together?" Octavia asked, while typing on her phone.
"I can't say, but she has an influence on him, for sure," Abby stated.
When they finally arrived at the office of the BAU, shortly after noon, Abby spent the rest of the day exploring the sites and internet forums mentioned by Cage. She was looking for some posts a little too virulent against the MWC or Dante Wallace. The list of suspects was particularly long and she had to make a first selecting. With the F.B.I database, she focused her research on family members of victims and activists who had already been violent in the past. Though most of them had no criminal record, a small number had accumulated several sentences of all kinds: theft, assault, damage to property. However, nothing that could suggest that one of them might have committed a murder as violent as of Dante Wallace. The victim had been tortured. Probably for long hours, considering the number of superficial wounds which covered his body. If everyone was able to commit a murder one, few people were actually able to torture. For doing this it was necessary to handle the cries, the supplications and the moans of pain. You had to have a taste for blood and a coldness on the brink of the pathology.
When the members of the team decided it was time to go home, Abby decided to do the same. Agent Kane hadn't left his office all day and she didn't want to risk running into him.
As they were all walking toward the parking lot, Raven offered to get a drink in town but the criminologist declined her invitation. She had something else to do before going to her hotel room.
Around ten minutes later, Abby was walking in a long and dark corridor of the F.B.I academy. She had already been here once, last September and her memories were still fresh enough for her to find the door she was looking for.
"Aren't you sick of it guys? Jasper put that damn book away, it's getting late, "exclaimed a voice which Abby would have recognized among thousands.
"And she is even hotter in person, buddy," said a male voice.
"Do you think she will still be there tomorrow?" inquired another boy, with excitement.
Abby raised her arm to knock against the half-opened door, but she changed her mind when she recognized the young man she had met earlier in the day. She could see him through the partially open door. He was sitting on a bed, next to another young man she didn't know.
"Seriously guys, she could be your mother," said a girl with an exasperated voice.
"Mother I'd like to fuck," whispered one of the boys.
"Enough! Now, give me that book Jasper," exclaimed Clarke as she tried to slip the book out from the boy's hand.
Abby couldn't help but wince as she realized that the boys were probably speaking about her.
"Hey no! Clarke! Give it to me," the boy cried in a vain.
"What's your problem?" asked the other man with a suspicious frown.
Abby heard her daughter sighed and she wondered if she should leave and come back later.
"The problem is that it's my mother you're talking about!" the young woman finally answered, throwing the book to the other side of the room.
" Noooo ! You can't be serious," exclaimed Jasper before starting to laugh.
"You mean that… You mean that Abigail Griffin, Doctor Abigail Griffin…The woman who shut down the COL is your mother?" asked the other boy with wide eyes.
"I don't want to talk about it okay ! So now hurry up, Maya is already waiting for us,"Clarke said dryly before opening suddenly the door.
The both women froze instantly.
"Mom, " Clarke breathed, stunned.
"Hi honey," Abby said back with an embarrassed smile.
Behind Clarke, the boys seemed to petrify and their faces turned red.
"Go ahead, I'll join you later," Clarke ordered them without stopping to stare at her mother.
The boys nodded, and left the room by staring at the floor. Abby shifted a little to let them pass and she heard them mumble some greeting. She offered them a nod while a slight smirk stretched her lips.
"What are you doing here?" Clarke asked her coldly.
"Can I come in?" Abby asked with a shy smile.
The girl nodded briefly and then took a step back.
"It's good to see you," Abby whispered tenderly, putting a hand on her daughter's cheek.
Abby hadn't seen her in nearly three months, in fact not since Christmas. Clarke had always been an independent child, she was able to spend a week with friends without thinking to call once, but over the years Abby felt like her own daughter had become a stranger.
"Why are you here?" Clarke asked again, pushing her mother's hand away.
Abby felt her heart break in her chest, but she tried to not show it.
"I was asked to come and help the BAU on a case," she confessed with shifty eyes.
"A case?" Clarke inquired with a suspicious tone.
Abby swallowed hard and cleared her throat.
"The sign of the COL has been found at a crime scene," she explained, looking up at her daughter.
A wince passed across Clarke's face.
"I see. And of course, you said yes," declaring the latter with a bitter smile.
"Clarke," Abby whispered, laying her hand on her daughter's forearm.
"I thought we were done with all of that," said Clarke in a reproachful tone, taking several steps backward.
"The COL, Jaha, all this shit! They shouldn't have called you! Not after…Anyway, I don't even know why I'm surprised," she added before passing a weary hand over her face.
Abby swallowed hard. She knew exactly what her daughter was speaking about. If the physical stigmata had disappeared over the years, the scars of her mind were still there…
Abby hardly opened her eyes. Her throat was dry and her body seemed paralyzed. Her head was so heavy that she couldn't even move it. Her memories were confused, inaccurate, totally disorientated. She was hot, so hot that it felt like her blood was boiling in her veins. Where was she? How did she end up here? She tried to speak, but the words were stuck in her throat. She blinked to accustom to the darkness which was saturating the room, in vain. She couldn't see anything, not even her own hands. Hands which, she realized at that moment, were tied together like her ankles. Her breathing was becoming more labored as panic crept into her. She wanted to scream. To call for help. Scream with all her strength, but her vocal cords no longer responded her. The beating of her heart was accelerated frantically in her chest and she could hear it in her ears, it started to drive her crazy. She had to calm down. She had to find a way to regain control of herself if she wanted to find a way to escape. "Think about something good," she told herself inwardly. It was what she always said to Clarke when the little girl awoke from a nightmare when the loss of her father became too unbearable when her own comforting words were not enough to appease her irrepressible tears. "Think about something good," she repeated quietly. "Think about Clarke ! Think about her smile! Think about her little body snuggled against yours! Think about your daughter,". Gradually, Abby felt her muscles relax and her heart started to beat less frantically. Her thoughts became more clear, more logic in her mind.
"I never wanted any of this," said suddenly a voice as a blinding light lit up the entire room.
"We still don't know if this murder is linked to the COL, but if that is the case, they will really need my help," Abby argued as she tried to push away those horrible memories from her mind.
"Please stop! We both know why you said yes," Clarke exclaimed, exasperated.
"What…..?" Abby asked, frowning.
"You promised me to leave all of this behind us! You promised me that once your book was published, you would draw a line under all of this! And yet, you're here," said Clarke before shaking her head as if she was blaming herself for having trusted her.
"Clarke," Abby whispered, taking a step toward her daughter.
"I'm not stupid! I know where you were six years ago! I know who you were working with! Do you really think I don't know what you're hiding in that box under your bed? You know, the one where you keep you and dad's wedding rings," spat the girl, looking at her mother right in the eyes.
The criminologist remained speechless for some seconds.
"I–," she began but failed to find a satisfactory answer.
"No! Forget about it! It's not my business! I shouldn't have said that. Anyway, I don't have time for this, I have to go! "Clarke said, turning around to grab her bag.
"Clarke wait, "Abby pleaded by catching her daughter's wrist.
"Can we eat together tomorrow?" she asked softly.
Clarke stared at her a moment and then shook her head.
"I can't tomorrow," the girl replied coldly.
"When you get a free moment," Abby insisted with a sad smile.
"I'll call you. Please close the door behind you, "Clarke whispered before leaving the room.
Abby watched her walking away with a heavy heart. She remained motionless, her eyes suddenly filled with tears, until the girl disappeared around the corner. In one day, she had managed to reopen wounds which had never really been healed. Marcus, Clarke … Two of the most important people in her life hated her and she couldn't even blame them for it. They had every reason to hate her.