Chapter 4

Jane and Lisbon pulled up out the front of a small, rundown house, completely contrasting to the one they'd visited earlier that day. The garden was so overgrown that the path leading to the front entrance was barely visible, covered almost completely with weeds, grass and drying shrubs.

The house itself was in dire need of painting, and a number of the wooden boards nailed to the front were hanging forlornly. Lisbon wondered how it was still standing.

"Well, this is lovely" Jane commented, without any sarcasm in his voice. Lisbon chuckled silently to herself as they made their way across the path to the peeling wooden door.

Lisbon knocked, half afraid the door would collapse on contact, but it remained intact. They heard footstep, and the door was swung open by a man of average height, with scruffy dark hair, who bore an obvious resemblance to the man they had seen lying dead on his own couch that morning.

"Nathaniel Hanson?" Lisbon asked, "I'm Agent Lisbon, and this is Patrick Jane, we're with the CBI. We've come to ask you a few questions about your brother, Charles".

"What about Charles?" Nathaniel asked, though he showed no real interest. He was dressed in a pair of shabby, faded track pants and a plain t-shirt, fraying at the seams. It was clear he wasn't anywhere near as well-off as his late brother.

"He's dead" Jane said unsympathetically. Lisbon rolled her eyes, but didn't bother to apologise. It was clear Nathaniel and his brother were not close, and she doubted he would be very upset by the news of his death.

"Really?" he questioned, his expression of complete shock seemed genuine. "What happened to him?"

"He was murdered. Do you have any idea who might have killed him?" Lisbon asked, taking Jane's direct approach of questioning.

"Look, I know why you're here. No, my brother and I did not get along, but I didn't kill him. What would I gain? He wouldn't have left anything to me, his bitch of a wife would have got it all" Nathaniel said, the hatred he felt for his late brother and sister in law was clear in his voice.

"Ok, well even if that's true, we still need to ask you a couple of questions. Can we come in please?" Lisbon asked, politely but with an air of authority.

Nathaniel stepped aside and held the door for them obediently, though reluctantly.

The hallway was lit only by a dull lamp at the far end, and was cluttered with assorted objects from beer bottles and CDs to cutlery and unopened envelopes. The smell of alcohol and dirty clothes overwhelmed them as they followed Nathaniel through one of the adjoining doorways into a small living room.

"Sit down" Nathaniel practically ordered, pointing to a stained, run down sofa that looked older than the house itself.

Lisbon sat on the very edge of the sofa to avoid as much of the grime as possible. Jane, however, remained standing. He paced the room, looking for anything that might give him insight into Nathaniel's life. There were no photos, nothing personal at all in the room. The TV was a small grey box, nothing like Charles' huge flat screen. There was a wooden coffee table in the centre of the room, but the room had no other furniture, apart from the sofa. Instead, like the hallway leading to it, clutter was piled everywhere. This room, too, smelt strongly of beer. Nathaniel obviously hadn't sorted out his drinking problems, and Jane suspected the same was true for his drug and gambling issues.

Nathaniel watched Jane sum up his living quarters, then turned back to Lisbon, seating himself on the coffee table facing her.

"What did you want to know?" he asked, eager to answer their questions so they could leave as soon as possible.

"Do you know anyone who would want to kill your brother?" Lisbon queried.

"Who wouldn't? He was a stuck-up, rich bastard who didn't care about anyone but himself" Nathaniel snarled aggressively. Jane, standing behind him, raised his eyebrows.

"Anyone in particular?" Lisbon asked, annoyance beginning to show in her voice at Nathaniel's avoidance of her questions.

"He was a lawyer. Maybe he locked someone up and they wanted to get back at him. Or maybe his wife finally got sick of him. I wouldn't be surprised. The only person who really liked Charles is his son".

"Charles had a son? It wasn't on his record" Lisbon was more surprised that Nathaniel had told them something they didn't already know than she was by the actual information.

"It wouldn't be. He didn't know himself 'til about three years ago. The mom was some chick he had a fling with in college, and she must've had a couple 'cause she didn't know who the father was. The kid got in contact with Charles and they hit it off. Saw each other quite a bit. If anyone knows who killed Charles it would probably be him" Nathaniel told them.

"What's his name?" Lisbon asked.

"I think its Erik. Yeah, Erik Garza" Nathaniel said, hoping they would finally leave him in peace.

"Thank you for your time" Lisbon said hurriedly as she stood up. She didn't want to stay in the horribly messy and smelly house any longer.

"Did Charles' wife know about Erik?" Jane asked on his way to the hall.

"Yep, she didn't seem to care too much about it, but I don't really know. I spoke to them as little as I could".

Lisbon wondered how he knew so much about their lives if he never spoke to them, but she let it pass. She could tell Jane didn't think he was their murderer, and she didn't want to spend a second longer in his disgusting house.

Jane breathed in deeply as the front door closed behind them.

"Ah, fresh air. It's beautiful" he exclaimed, drinking it in before he sat down next to her in the passenger seat.

"A second longer in that dump and I think I would have passed out. How can anyone live in a place like that?" Lisbon questioned as they drove off.

Van Pelt was typing away on her computer when they arrived back, and she greeted them cheerfully.

"Turns out Charles had a son he met only three years ago. His brother says they were close, so he might have some idea who killed him" Lisbon told her. "His name is Erik Garza".

Van Pelt typed his name into her computer, and within seconds his face appeared on the screen.

"Looks like his son is much better behaved than his brother" she remarked, "he's worse offence is a parking ticket, and that was years ago".

"We should go and talk to him, see if he knows anything useful" Lisbon said.

"Can I come with you? Rigsby and Cho have both gone for lunch, and I've found everything I can about Hanson" Van Pelt asked hopefully.

"Okay, sure. Let's go" Lisbon agreed and went to leave, when her mobile rang.

She groaned inwardly, and reluctantly pulled it from her pocket. Looking down at the caller ID, she saw it was Rigsby.

"Hey, what is it?" she asked.

"Mrs Hanson's disappeared. They think it might be a kidnapping".

"Really? We'll meet you at the house as soon as we can" she replied quickly, then hung up.

"Hanson's wife's vanished" she informed Jane and Van Pelt.

"Oooh, a kidnapping! Exciting!" Jane said excitedly.

Van Pelt glared at him, slightly shocked. "She could be killed, Jane!"

"Then we'd better hurry" he smiled, and left the room.