I think I took too long on this one. Sorry.


chapter seven

The next morning, the team received confirmation that their victim was indeed Cristina Foley. Cause of death was still unknown, and further testing was scheduled.

Jane and Lisbon went to question Robert Foley. Cho and Van Pelt headed over to Pizza Hut to question the employees. They both agreed taking Rigsby would be a bad idea.

The CEO's California residence was a lavish, spacious mansion not far from his company's headquarters. It was surrounded by a lot of land, and a fancy cobblestone path led to it's door. At the other end of the path was a gate, complete with buff security guard and all. The buff security guard didn't seem to believe Lisbon when she told him that she worked for the CBI. He kept making her show him her badge ("Wait, let me see your badge again?"). A few minutes of that resulted in a still-reluctant security guard, an irritated Lisbon, and one amused Patrick Jane sitting in the passenger seat.

Eventually the security guard let them through, and they drove on in. It was a long way to the house.
"You know, that security guard held us up for a reason," Jane said casually.
"Of course there was a reason. The reason was because he's a damn idiot." Lisbon was still irked.
"Nah. Reason was because he thought you were pretty."
Lisbon looked over at Jane, who was smiling so brightly he made the sun look like a black hole. "Really."
"Yup."
"Sure he did."
"He sure did, Lisbon."
"That's wonderful."
"It's very wonderful."
"..Stop reversing my sarcasm."
"I'm not reversing your sarcasm."
"Yes you are!"
"'Reversing sarcasm' makes no sense."
"Well whatever you're doing, stop it. That thing where you're.. you're.. I don't know. You know what? Just be quiet. Be quiet and you'll make everything better."
"Whatever you say."
Lisbon got to enjoy about fifteen seconds of silence.

"But seriously, that security guard is in love with you."
"Shut up!"
"He's probably going to show up at your door tonight. He seems like the stalker type."
Lisbon wanted to throw something at the man, but they were in a car and nothing heavy was around.
She improvised and pinched him on the arm.
"Ow!"
Jane tried pinching her back as they pulled up outside the front door.

Robert Foley was very tall. He had big ears, and big feet. In fact, everything about him was big.
The man had a big mouth, a big nose, a big tie, big beady eyes, and wore a big grey suit. The more Jane thought about it, the more Mr. Foley resembled an elephant. Big big big. Jane could tell, though, that the biggest part of him was his ego.
He had only exchanged four words with the CEO ("nice to meet you") when he made this inference.
It's not very nice to judge people on how they look, but Jane always got a lot of information by doing so. Shoes, eyebrows, clothing, earrings. Everything a person wore held a clue about them.

Mr. Foley's shoes were expensive and spotless. His bald head was very shiny, as Rigsby had said. He cared about his appearance, from head to toe.
The man's tie was black, a boring color. He was serious business. He didn't like distractions.
There was a bluetooth hooked onto his right ear. That pretty obviously indicated a busy man.
His suit pocket was lined with three pens. Red, blue, and black. There was also a skinny sharpie. Foley was organized and fast-paced. He liked things quick, easy, and clean. That was probably even his motto. Jane got all of this information after ten seconds of analyzing the CEO.

Judging from the way Mr. Foley walked and spoke and dressed, he was an arrogant businessman who thought he was better than everyone else, and didn't take no for an answer. A bigshot, like the team had said.
This fact disappointed Jane. Arrogant bigshot was such a cliche personality for businessmen. Why couldn't he have been a businessman who liked to cook? Or one that liked to play sports? Or a skydiving one? Narcissistic CEO was so boring.

The man sent texts to people on his Blackberry as Lisbon questioned him about his deceased daughter.

"Mr. Foley, when was the last time you saw your daughter?"
"Ex-daughter. She is estranged." He didn't take his eyes off his cell phone.
"She's still biologically your daughter, though," Jane piped in.
"Yes. But I'd prefer to refer to her as just Cristina."
"Why is that?" Lisbon asked.
"Because she is not my daughter."
Lisbon wanted to roll her eyes, but did not, for obvious reasons.
"When was the last time you saw Cristina?"
"May 23rd, 2007. The day she got emancipated. Took all her stuff, said goodbye." Mr. Foley whistled. "And left."
"Why did she get emancipated?"
"Apparently, she thought her life would be better if she was living by herself in some closet instead of being here, where she had maids who treated her like a queen."
The man seemed genuinely oblivious.
"Sorry to hear. Where is her mother?"
"Diane died of ductal carcinoma when Cristina was eleven. 2002."
"Ductal carcinoma?" Lisbon didn't know her omas.
"Oh, my apologies. Breast cancer."
Jane could tell he enjoyed the fact Lisbon didn't know what ductal carcinoma was. It made him feel smarter than her.
Lisbon just scribbled away on her little notepad.
"Have you been in contact with Cristina recently?"
"No. She sends me cards every Christmas, but I never reply to them."
"Waste of money?" Jane remarked.
"Yes, exactly." Foley was also oblivious to Jane's sarcasm. "I haven't talked to Cristina since the day she left."
"Do you know anyone who was close to Cristina?"
"Hm. Probably one of the maids. She took care of her while she was growing up, so I guess they're close."
"The maid's name?"
"Mimi. Or Melissa. Or Myra."
The CEO scrolled down a list on his Blackberry. "Oh. It's Karen Zuckerberg."
"You were close." More sarcasm from Jane.
"Karen's phone number?"
The CEO handed Lisbon the cell phone, and she wrote it down.
"Are we almost done? I need to get a presentation ready."
"This is a murder investigation, Mr. Foley. Your answers will help us catch a murderer."
"If you say so."
"Did Cristina have any allergies? Severe or mild?"
"No. I don't believe so. You should ask Carrie."
"Karen."
"Yeah, her."

It didn't look like Robert Foley was going to help them much. He didn't seem to know his daughter at all. And his texting annoyed Lisbon. A lot.

"That's all we need for now, Mr. Foley. Thank you. We'll be in touch."
Lisbon got up to leave, and Jane followed suit.

"Well, that was quick. You didn't like him, did you?" Jane asked as soon as they reached the car.
"Who the hell would?" Lisbon was irritated. Foley hadn't helped them at all. Hopefully Cho and Van Pelt would get something at the Pizza Hut.
"True, true."
"I wanted to grab his Blackberry and fling it out the window."
"You should have done that."
"Maybe next time."

"I bet you ten dollars the security guard will ask you for your phone number on the way out."
"I bet you ten dollars you can't last a car ride without shutting up."

-xxx-

Grumble grumble grumble. Van Pelt's stomach growled. It wasn't even close to lunchtime, but she was already hungry.
It wasn't much of a surprise though, seeing as she was surrounded by pizza. All types of pizza, from pepperoni to cheese to pineapple, and even strawberry dessert pizza.

Jane and Lisbon had gone off to meet with Robert Foley, and Rigsby was back at the CBI building. Someone had to be there to answer the phone. Van Pelt and Cho had been assigned the task of going to the Pizza Hut and questioning Cristina's co-workers.
Usually it was Van Pelt's job to stay behind, but lately Lisbon had been giving her a lot more field work. Grace enjoyed it most of the time, but the pizzas were torture. They were right there. And she couldn't have any.
It scared her how much she wanted to grab a slice. Van Pelt was afraid of turning into Rigsby.

Cristina had worked the night shift (like, the really late night shift), so there were only four employees who had worked with her.
They all sat in a booth located in one corner of the restaurant. Cho and Van Pelt on one side, and the four employees on the other. They introduced themselves as Bob Eller, Marian Bostian, Jim Cameron, and Holly Adams.

"What was Cristina like?" Van Pelt asked, still partially distracted by the scent of pizza.

Bob Eller was the night shift manager. He had grey hair, and a mustache, which was also grey. His voice was scruffy, but at the same time soft. Which was strange. He also kind of resembled Santa Claus. He spoke first, and not much.
"She was a good girl. Hard-working, and responsible. Never let me down." Eller looked out the window. "I hope you find whoever did this to her, and I hope you make him pay."
"We will," Van Pelt assured him.

Marian Bostian put a hand on Bob's shoulder to comfort him. She was a short girl (not shorter than Lisbon, because no one is shorter than Lisbon) with curly hair. Her hair was a dark brown, but it was so dark it almost seemed black. Her eyes were hazel, and her voice was shaky.
"C-Cristina was one of the kindest people I've ever met. She would help anybody with anything. I remember my first day on the job here, I totally screwed up the orders.. She helped me out and was totally cool about it. And she was always like that. She never got mad, she never got bothered by anything. She was always so calm and g-good-natured.. It's really hard to believe she's g-gone. She just seemed so, alive."

Van Pelt nodded, while Cho scrawled down notes and said nothing. His face showed no emotion, which was typical of Iceman Cho.

"When did Cristina start working here?" he asked.

"She started about eighteen months ago," Bob Eller was staring at the salt shakers now.

Cho scribbled some more.

"Do you know where she had been living?" Van Pelt asked.

"She lived in an apartment somewhere around here," Jim Cameron replied this time. "She had a roommate."

Jim looked about in his late 20s, give or take. He was pretty tall. His curly hair reminded Van Pelt of Jane's hair, except Jim's was brown.

"Do you know her roommate's name?"

Jim took a moment to remember. "Maggie.. Margaret. Margaret Kline. She came by here a couple times."

Cho did more scribbling.

"How did she die?" Holly Adams was the last to speak up. She spoke so softly Van Pelt could barely hear her.
"We don't know yet."
Holly nodded, looking down. She was tall and lanky, with flaxen hair and gray eyes that somehow seemed warm. She seemed about Cristina's age. Holly had an accent, but Van Pelt couldn't tell what it was because the girl was so quiet.

"Do you know if Cristina was allergic to anything?"
Lisbon had told her to ask that question, just in case it played a role in her death. Van Pelt thought it was pretty unlikely, since it was a murder. But she followed the boss' instructions.
All four employees shook their heads.
"Nope," Marian said. "I don't think she does. ..Did."

"Can you think of why anybody would want to hurt her?" Cho asked.

They all shook their heads without hesitation. "Everybody liked her," Bob Eller said. "It was hard not to."

"What did you guys know about Cristina?" Van Pelt asked. It was a pretty general question, but they didn't know enough about the victim yet to be too specific.

"She didn't talk too much about herself," said Marian. "But I knew her dad was the CEO of a company, and that she got legally emancipated from him when she was sixteen. She never said why, though. I never asked."

"Cristina was taking classes at the local college," Jim offered. "I think she was majoring in biology. She wanted to be a doctor. And she seemed pretty close to her bio professor, too. Professor Langley. She always talked about her. Maybe she'll know something useful."
"We'll make a note of that, thank you."

The employees were cooperative and kind, but they didn't really know much. Van Pelt let Cho ask them a few more questions.
At least they had another person, Van Pelt thought. Hopefully Professor Langley would give them a better lead.

After a couple more questions and some more Cho scribbling, they thanked the Pizza Hut employees and headed back to the CBI.

"I know you wanted some of that pizza," Cho said on the car ride back. It had been silent until he spoke up.
"No I didn't," Van Pelt replied too quickly.
"Yes you did."
"I did not."
"You were staring at the pizza the whole time."
"No.."
"Yes."
"No!"
"Yes you were, Mrs. Rigsby."


Not really sure about this chapter. =/ The part where they are questioning the employees+CEO is weird. But it's hard to write those parts. =P for me, anyway.

And it seems a little too short.

Hopefully I'll be prouder of the next chapter.