Chapter 7
Back at CBI headquarters, Lisbon and Jane headed to the interrogation room where Garza was waiting.
"Hello Garza" Jane greeted him warmly, though the look he received in return was contrastingly cold.
Lisbon took the seat directly opposite Garza, while Jane chose to remain standing.
"Your agent told me you were the one who wrote the note, not Velma" Erik directed at Jane, though he seemed more curious than angry. "How did you know there was a secret at all?"
"What is this secret?" Lisbon asked.
"All in good time, Lisbon" Jane said, patting her on the shoulder. He then proceeded to enlighten them.
"The second I met you, I knew something was up. You seemed so grief-stricken by your fathers death, more than is normal for the situation. That was the first thing that drew my attention to you. Either you were just an unnaturally emotional person, or you were faking your reaction, and over-doing it slightly. Then, whilst in your father's study, I found his will, leaving everything to you. That gives you motive to kill him, but if you were close why not just wait until he died of natural causes. Besides, your father seemed to be helping you out a fair bit, so you didn't need to kill him for it. Also, Mrs Hanson had just been kidnapped. Why would you kidnap Mrs Hanson? She was the most likely suspect, and could easily have been convicted in your place, drawing all suspicion from you. But then, I found this". At this point, Jane pulled a small scrap of paper from his jacket pocket. It was burnt at the edges, and slightly curled.
"What's that?" Lisbon asked.
"I found it at the edge of the fireplace in Mr Hanson's study. It's the same paper his will is written on, and if you look really carefully, it's dated after the will I found".
"A new will" Lisbon gasped, finally putting the pieces together.
"Exactly. I was able to work everything out from this little scrap of paper. This will, I would guess, left all of Charles Hanson's money to his wife, leaving you out of the picture completely. You and your father had a fight the night before his death, didn't you Erik" Jane question, though it was clear he already knew the answer.
Erik confirmed this by looking down at his feet and remaining completely silent.
"You fought, and it was obviously pretty serious. You must have known your father was going to leave you everything before the fight, and you also knew he wouldn't leave you anything at all after it. So you killed him before he had a chance to change it. At least that's what you thought. Unfortunately your father was so infuriated by whatever you said that he changed it the second he got home. After you killed him, you crept into the study to find the will, which you found underneath a new one leaving everything to Velma Hanson. Thinking quickly, you through the new will in the fireplace, leaving it to burn. Now you would inherit all you father's fortune".
"I would have, too, if that stupid bitch hadn't found part of it unburned and worked out what I'd done" Erik yelled, lunging at Jane.
"Calm down Erik, don't make things worse for yourself" Lisbon ordered, drawing her weapon.
Garza returned to his seat, allowing Jane to finish his story.
"Mrs Hanson called you over, and confronted you about the will and her husband's murderer. She threatened to tell the cops what she had learned. You had no choice. You staged a kidnapping, so we would presume it was for a ransom. Then you killed her, and hid her where you thought she wouldn't be found for days. Unluckily for you she was found. And I found this tiny piece of the will that even Mrs Hanson failed to notice" Jane concluded.
"Is all of this true?" Lisbon asked Garza. "It's pointless lying now. I bet we'll find the gun that killed them both in your house, and a blue van parked in your garage".
"Yes, it's true" Erik said with a sigh.
"One final question, Erik. What was the fight about?" Jane inquired.
"I saw through Velma's charm. I knew she didn't really love him, and I told my dad so. He flipped out completely. I knew he'd never trust me again, so I did what I did" he finished simply.
"Well, unfortunately for you, a piece of paper brought you undone" Jane smirked, enjoying Erik's misfortune a little too much, in Lisbon's opinion. Even if he was a murderer.
"Oh, and the reason your father 'flipped out' was he didn't love his wife either. You caught him out. He was worried that, if you noticed, others would too. You took him by surprise, and his immediate reaction was to get mad. You probably could have made up, if you hadn't killed him" Jane concluded.
Erik rested his head in his hands, and Lisbon motioned to Jane to leave him in peace.
The serious crimes unit sat around the table, munching on their 'case-closed' pizza.
"So you really worked out the whole case from one tiny scrap of paper?" Van Pelt asked, clearly impressed.
Jane nodded, finishing his mouthful of pizza, and washing it down with a sip from his favourite teacup. He placed the cup on the table carefully, then reached inside his pocket, pulling out his pack of cards. Removing three cards, he dropped them casually on the table, shuffling them around. He then arranged them in a row, picking up the centre card and turning to Rigsby.
"Bet you ten bucks you can't find the eight of diamonds" he grinned, putting the card back before moving them around so quickly his hands became a blur.
The End
