Chapter Four
"Listen, Maura, it doesn't matter how many times you say it, I still have no idea what the hell you're trying to tell me."
Jane was feeling frustrated with her lack of understanding and even more with her new friend's inability to put all of the medical jargon into layman's terms. They had spent 45 minutes going over the Wallace files, and Jane didn't feel as though she had gotten any answers to her questions.
"Jane, I'm not going to dumb down my reports. It's important that they are accurate and that can only be done if the appropriate terminology is used."
"I get that, Maura, but… wait a minute. Did you just call me dumb?" Jane looked at the doctor incredulously and chuckled a bit.
"That's not what I meant, Jane. Of course you're unfamiliar with the medical terminology used, but that does not mean you're dumb, or more importantly, incapable of learning what the terms mean. I've tried hard to learn your phrases, like perp, vic, and what did you say to Frost the other day?"
Maura looked up at the ceiling for a moment as if that was where the answer lay. "You said, 'I'm going to kick your ass so hard your grandchildren are going to feel it'. Really! Now that's something that doesn't make sense. Frost doesn't have grandchildren, let alone children of his own, and it is impossible to pass on physical pain inflicted on one individual to another. Though there are studies that show that when one sympathizes with another who is in pain that our own remorse can have physical implications, even painful ones."
"It's a figure of speech, Maura." Jane groaned. "Listen; tell me again without using any medical terminology or pathological terminology or scientific terminology what happened to the Wallaces." Jane was peering pleadingly into Maura's eyes and holding her hands in her own.
"OK." Maura was experiencing a brief moment of absent-mindedness. She shook her head and thought a moment longer and then spoke slowly and deliberately.
"There is DNA under Stephan's fingers that belongs to someone we have not identified, but who is male, and when you take that into account with the fact that a couple of his nails are broken, it appears as though he fought back before being shot in the stomach at close range. Even though the gun shot to John Wallace's head was also inflicted at close range, his body does not exhibit any signs of defensive actions."
"OK. OK. So Stephan fought back, but his dad, John, didn't?" Jane asked.
"Yes."
"THANK YOU! Oh my god. Thank you, Maura. That's perfect. Just what I needed to know." Jane hugged and quickly released her.
Maura had suddenly regained some confidence even though she was speaking about something clinical in informal terms.
"Also, Jane, Stephan had multiple fractures throughout his young life. The findings are congruent with abuse."
"So Stephan's dad was an asshole and beat the hell out of his son?" Jane's face suddenly became hard.
"That's conjecture Jane. I have no way of knowing definitively how Stephan received those injuries or if they resulted directly from his father. I can only analyze and disseminate the facts as they present themselves."
Jane entered deep thought for a moment. This allowed Maura to study her more closely. Maura quickly catalogued Jane's actions: chewing on her right thumb when thinking hard about something, starting to pace when she had a thought that could send her in a conclusive direction.
"OK – so let's assume…"
"I don't like to assume, Jane. It's the same thing as conjecture …"
"I know. I'm really just thinking out loud. Aren't you the one who said you wanted to know how I do my job?" Jane winked at Maura, and suddenly she didn't seem to mind the assumption tactic.
"Anyway, the neighbors said that they heard some arguing the night of the murder. I'll bet they know if John was abusing Stephan. But why did they not hear gun shots? … I know it's a sleepy neighborhood and all but I have a hard time imagining that they could hear arguing and sleep through gun fire. A silencer must have been used. Hmmm…. I guess that could explain the father and son not trying to defend each other… Orrrr…" Jane broke off and started pacing again. Jane shook her head and mumbled something to herself. "We need to go back and ask some more questions of the neighbors. They're nosier than they let on."
Jane looked at her watch. "C'mon. I'm hungry. How about I tell Frost to go back to the scene and interview the closest neighbors again. I'll bet after thinking about it for a day or two they'll have more dirt that they want to share. I'll meet you in the garage. I'm taking you somewhere a little farther for lunch today. Do you want me to drive?"
"I don't mind driving Jane. I'll clear things up here and meet you in the garage near the exit in my car."
"OK, see you in a few." Jane trotted out of Maura's office and through the morgue, and Maura caught herself getting up out of the chair to watch her go - again.