Part Seven
Unspecified Location, CA, Wednesday, 04.07am PST
Craig O'Laughlin rubbed his sweaty hands down his pants. He was nervous and justifiably so. If there was one thing he understood, it was Red John's temper and he knew that the serial killer would be distinctly unimpressed by what he had to tell him. Firstly, there was the matter of the killing in England. O'Laughlin knew Red John's plans; that was why he had been instigated into the CBI. In order to organise a private meeting between his shady superior and Patrick Jane. Red John wanted to retire quietly and this copycat had made it appear that he was being more bombastic than ever. Then, there was the fact the CBI had lost the Red John case. Over time, they would grow more distanced from it and eventually, have nothing to do with it all. That meant it threw a spanner into the works.
Then, on a more personal level, it was at odds with his own professional career. O'Laughlin had always been in a strange position. He'd almost been born into his role. Both of them, that was. His father had been a cop and his grandfather before him. His Mom would always say that the name O'Laughlin meant something. Or that if an O'Laughlin was on the case, it was going to be solved right. As he went through the ranks, it became obvious that he had potential to exceed the expectations of his parents. When the FBI had head-hunted him, his mother almost exploded with pride. He couldn't reject it, not when he saw just how much it meant to her.
Then, there was Red John. It felt like the serial killer had been an innate part of his life since he was very small. He can remember the man, younger, more energetic, more fun, being his babysitter for a while. Somehow, he had never shook him loose. When O'Laughlin was still a student in the academy, he received a harassed telephone call. Red John, though he wasn't called that, back then, had just made his first killing. He needed help, disposing of the evidence. For some reason, it never even crossed his mind to sell his friend to the cops. Red John was like the big brother he never had. In doing so, it would have been like perp-walking his own family.
So instead, he had always blotted out the favours Red John had asked of him at work.
In his darker moments, O'Laughlin considered the fact that he had practically been groomed by Red John since birth. Like the serial killer had known that some day, he would require a cop on the inside to work for him. But for some reason, he didn't mind. O'Laughlin never had done and never would. However, if the FBI was to be lumbered with the Red John case, that meant his two worlds would collide. They would be at odds with one another, for the first time and neither goal would be clear. He had sworn to protect his state and he had vital knowledge on Red John. Yet equally, he had made a private pact to never let his friend down. Silently, he hoped that a solution would jump out at them. As far as he was concerned, he couldn't see a way out of this one. The case was out of the CBI jurisdiction and the only way they could have a remote chance of getting it back would be if it was proven that the English killer was a mere copycat.
O'Laughlin needed to get rid of the case, somehow. He couldn't live like this, so torn between his two responsibilities. How would he choose between being a cop and making his family proud or supporting a life-long friend? If he were unsuccessful, that was what he'd have to do. And in a way, it was Red John's fault that this had happened at all. The only reason he'd been specifically given jurisdiction of the Red John case was simply because he had ties with the CBI. His relationship with Grace Van Pelt supposedly meant they would be less hostile towards him.
He jumped when he heard the door swing ominously open. Instinctively, his hand rested on his holster and slowly, he began to unclip his firearm. Although he was due to meet with a known criminal, some habits died hard.
"You're nervous, Craig," Red John spoke softly, moving out of the shadows as he did so. "Why?"
Almost as instantaneously as he had jumped to attention, O'Laughlin relaxed. He knew he had nothing to be afraid of; Red John wouldn't kill him. They had known each other for far too long and their friendship had lasted longer than Red John's 'career' of sorts. However, he equally knew he wasn't out of the woods yet. There was a reason he had organised this private meeting, after all.
"There's been a copycat killer in England. Bristol, to be precise," O'Laughlin muttered and handed over copies of the case files immediately. "The case has been pulled from CBI jurisdiction and handed to the FBI. My unit, to be precise."
"That's too bad," he muttered, in an all too familiar soft tone. "Stay close to the CBI. I'll fix this."
Bristol, UK, Wednesday, 02.43pm GMT
"Should we really be doing this?" Grace muttered nervously to Rich as they sauntered into the library.
"What do you mean?" he replied quietly, keen not to let anyone else overhear.
Silently, he was thrilled that Grace was having second thoughts. He hated lying to her, but really, felt as though he had little choice. If she were to find out that Alo was responsible for Liv's death, she'd be devastated. He didn't even want to imagine how she'd feel if she discovered the revelation that her boyfriend had helped his mate cover it up as well. Only a few months ago, he'd almost wedded her. She still wore the engagement ring, occasionally. Rich knew he had pretty deep feelings for her, despite how different they appeared to be on the surface. Then again, maybe those differences went deeper than that? He was ninety nine percent certain that she wouldn't hide something of this magnitude from him. However, she hadn't told any of them that she was the daughter of David Blood until she really had to. She had lied to them about her identity for months and they only discovered shortly before the not-wedding. But equally, that wasn't a criminal offence, nor did it have anything to do with something as serious as murder.
"The police are good at their jobs, it's what they're trained to do," she answered.
"But what about the fuck ups we always hear in the news?"
"What about all the good they do we never hear about?" she shot back, leaving him momentarily stunned. "Besides, we should be at college."
He bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. Only Grace could spend half the day skiving off college and then start worrying about the fact they weren't there. Then again, she was the only one seriously considering going to university. The only one with prospects. She had sent off her UCAS application at the earliest possible moment. When she had told Rich, he had half suspected that had something to do with being Blood's daughter. Rich knew that Nick would have probably applied too, if he hadn't lost it all because of Matty's reappearance in his life. It was a shame, just when he appeared to have been getting it all back together, he seemed to have gone completely off the rails again.
The others, with the exception of Nick, who had gone home to sleep off some of the alcohol induced stupor, had already taken to the library's computers. Rich immediately took to the last one, with Grace positioning herself on his knee. It felt uncomfortable, even more so than it should have. He knew exactly what she was going to search for and exactly what it was going to bring up. Years ago, he had typed 'smiley faces' into Google for a school project, only to come across Red John's MO. That was how he'd gotten hooked on the serial killer. It wasn't because he was a metal head or subversive or into crap like that. It was simply because something about Red John's story and the police force after him that had intrigued him.
Quickly, he thought back through his old collection. Said collection was now a pile of ash in the back garden. Kevin would not be impressed, but was probably used to this sort of behaviour by now. But that was besides the point, he wanted to recall the detail. Had Red John ever shot victims before? As Grace loaded up the internet, he racked his brains. Only limited information was leaked to the media and only one known photo of a victim had made it online. There weren't any examples of Red John shooting victims that he personally knew of. However, the most recent Red John case came to mind. Two teenagers, murdered by the serial killer for emulating him. For treating him like some kind of cultish demigod.
"So," Grace said, gently grazing her hand across his cheek. "Should I type in 'smiley face, murder'?"
"Uh, yeah."
He shuddered slightly and Grace looked at him quizzically. What had he done? Would Red John himself find out? Did he have the means to get over to England? Would he be able to trace it to Bristol, to him and Alo?
Would they end up being next?
Sacramento, CA, Wednesday, 09.48am PST
Cho stared at the case file for the Hayes murder. He'd been momentarily stunned when Lisbon had informed him and the others of the fact they'd lost the Red John case to the FBI. He was angry, but no doubt not as much as she and Jane were. Lisbon had come straight out with it; there wasn't an easy way to break the news. It had been bad enough when they had lost the Red John case in-house, but then, at least the CBI was still working it. Now, it was just additional fuel for the rivalry between the CBI and FBI. And possibly, more importantly in his eyes, it made the Serious Crimes Unit look incompetent.
Still, that wasn't his main concern right now. He had been given the responsibility of leading the Hayes case. It wasn't the first time Cho had been in charge of a case; he always provided cover for Lisbon's rare holiday dates and even more scarce sicknesses. And of course, there was also the time when she had been suspended through Jane's negligence. That was experience that would prove handy. Besides, she wasn't gone; just focussing on working the Red John case with the FBI. He could report back to her and ask for advice at any time he wanted to. Not that he would, except to give her updates as and when she required them. But still, it was a safety net if things went disastrously wrong. Or rather, if Jane became completely uncontrollable. Then again, Jane was hardly going to pay interest in the murder of an actor, however famous, when there were intriguing developments on the Red John front.
Quickly, he called together Rigsby and Van Pelt. Before Jane had rattled Schaber, he had mentioned something interesting about Hayes' wife. She had apparently been touring with the company, as the director. However, she had taken a significant amount of leave, starting just before the Merced dates and disappeared home, in Nevada, for a while. He knew that Mrs Hayes had been informed of her husband's death. Lisbon had resorted to breaking the news over the telephone, though that had been the last option available to her. However, he couldn't help but wonder if she had something more to say. According to his boss, the woman had taken the news surprisingly well and rushed her off the phone as quickly as possible. Therefore, it was highly likely she was hiding something. Not the murder; she was out of state and had a cast-iron alibi, courtesy of her doctor. Just something related. Eventually, he asked Rigsby and Van Pelt to question Schaber again. He wanted to know the real reason the man hadn't been at the theatre for rehearsals, especially considering Hayes' obvious absence.
That left him to travel to Nevada to question the absent, and apparently unconcerned, wife. This was just another reason to be annoyed at the latest developments. If they hadn't lost the Red John case, then Lisbon would be making the long distance journey instead.
Lisbon, meanwhile, was pacing around her office, waiting for O'Laughlin to turn up. She hated this whole situation. Still, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, a potential way out of the mess. She had heard from Bertram again that morning. The Red John case could be returned to them if they found conclusive evidence that the case in England was a copycat. And preferably, find the real killer despite being over five thousand miles away from where the crime had been committed. Lisbon's team had plenty of experience when it came to tough cases, but this was completely outside of her comfort zone. She knew that she had been over reliant on Jane of late, but even he needed more contact than just a few photographs to solve a case.
But that wasn't the worst of it. Having to deal with the FBI, however, was. Craig O'Laughlin seemed like a nice enough guy and Van Pelt was certainly happy with him, but he was still one of the Feebs. And they all seemed to have superiority complexes. She snorted briefly; this was probably how local Sheriffs felt whenever they rolled up to a crime scene and took over. Unsurprisingly, she didn't like it with the proverbial shoe on the other foot.
She glanced nervously at Jane. He had made himself comfortable on the couch in her office. It didn't surprise her that he had decided to hang back with her, instead of helping Cho out with the Hayes murder. At least he seemed calm. Then again, it was Jane. He was a master of manipulation. Therefore, he was probably just masking his feelings. Lisbon felt like this was the calm before the storm; Jane always lost it whenever they dealt with Red John. This was highly unlikely to be any different.
O'Laughlin eventually knocked on her office door, an hour later than she had expected him. He looked shattered and unsurprisingly so. If he had spent the night in a way anything like her, then the case would never have been far from his mind. Quickly, she offered him a seat and coffee, and he accepted both gratefully. Lisbon took the time to observe him and realised just how little she knew about Van Pelt's boyfriend. He was young, younger even than she was. Did he really have what it took to deal with the Red John case, where many older and far more experienced agents had failed?
He seemed eager. That was a good thing. And he already seemed to have a good grounding. Knew important facts, key moments in the development of the case.
She froze slightly, remembering the meeting from last night. It seemed like he almost knew too much.
No, not almost. He did.
"How did you know about the Salinger Mill case?" she asked quickly. "Those details were never made public."
TBC…
