A/N: Sorry for this shortish chapter but I will endeavour to make the next one much longer.
Chapter 9 - Investigations
Jane called Lisbon after speaking with Laurie.
'So, what do you think, what sort of thing could she be involved in?' Lisbon asked.
Jane sighed. 'I don't know. I'm going to go talk to her supervisor again. See if any medication has gone missing over the past few weeks.'
'You think that's what she was involved in? Selling meds on the black market?'
'She doesn't seem the type but...it's worth a shot. Maybe someone had something on her that made her do it.'
'If that's the case why take her? Why not let her carry on with it?'
Jane puffed out a breath. 'Maybe she was having second thoughts, wanted out of it and was threatening to expose them despite what they knew about her.'
Lisbon paused before replying, 'Jane...if you're right, there's even more chance that she's already dead.'
Jane sighed and ran his hand through his hair. 'Yeah, I know. No point in letting her live to tell the tale.'
Silence engulfed them again before Jane asked, 'How are you doing with the footage?'
'Nothing so far but I'm still combing through it. There are a lot of cameras. Her posture after leaving Aisling is...stilted somehow. She's walking purposefully but the way she's holding her head shows she's tense.'
Jane smiled at Lisbon's reading of the woman. He liked to think he was responsible for her ability to interpret people's body language as well as she could now.
'Where did she go after?'
'From what I can see she went out of the north stairway exit. Cameras in the garage caught sight of her there. But she didn't leave the mall, at least not as far as I can see so far from the footage I've looked at.'
'Mmm, very deep throat. A secret meeting in a garage. Interesting. Was that the last she was seen?'
'Yeah, so far, everything I've seen doesn't show her leaving. As you know her car was still in the garage after the mall closed that night. But it's taking time to go through the footage of all the cars that left after her entering the garage after leaving Aisling. And if she was taken where no cameras were present she could have simply been shoved into the trunk so nothing's going to come of it anyway.' Lisbon sighed and rubbed her temples, draining the last of her cold coffee.
'Have you checked with Wylie? I seem to remember him telling me something the other week about a new program he had that allowed car plates to be read quickly and flag up those with traffic violations.'
Lisbon immediately perked up. 'You're right, he mentioned the same to me. Damn, I should have thought of that sooner. I'll see if he can run the plates leaving and see if he can readjust the parameters of the program to flag up those with more serious criminal activities than a few speeding tickets. Still might be a long shot and it's not like we'll be able to use what we come across as a basis for a search warrant if we do find something but it's better than nothing.'
'Get him to start with those involved in blackmail and extortion, that type of thing.'
After speaking to Hannah's supervisor Mark Jacobs again Jane got him to admit that some medication had gone missing over the last two weeks. He took a note of the names of the drugs to check on what they would be used for typically. He could have asked Jacobs but instinctively didn't trust the man. He had asked him earlier if there were any issues at work that could relate to Hannah's disappearance and had only admitted to the missing drugs after Jane had pressured him into doing so. His explanation was that the quantities were small and had been putting the loss down to an administrative issue and hadn't imagined they would have anything to do with Hannah going missing. But Jane could see that the only thing Jacob was worried about was his own job as the drugs had, after all, gone missing under his watch.
He phoned Lisbon to update her as he made his way back to the hotel.
Jane got back to the hotel at lunchtime, finding Lisbon in the same position as he left her. Except for a change of clothes and still damp hair he would have thought she hadn't moved a muscle in the hours he was gone.
'Hey' he said brightly as he closed the door behind him. He bent down and kissed her softly on the lips.
She looked up at him and smiled, kissing him back quickly. 'Hey. Wylie's working on the number plates. Said he should have a list in a few hours. But sounds like you might be onto something with the drug thing. I've checked the names and they're used mainly for severe pain. About as strong if not stronger than morphine.'
Jane nodded. 'So they could be used for post operative pain, something like that?'
'Yeah, I guess so but they could be used for anything where the patient is in pain. Why, what are you thinking?'
Jane nodded again and tapped his finger along his lips, staring into space.
'Jane' Lisbon said a little louder, making him turn around to her.
'Sorry, just thinking. Hannah's a surgical nurse, from what I've heard she's an exceptional one. She would have a good understanding of a number of surgical procedures.'
'You think that's what happened to her? Someone has kidnapped her to help with an operation?'
Jane tilted his head to the side and shrugged. 'It's better than any alternative I can think of at the moment. Means there's a chance she's still alive. She could have been dosing the person a couple of times with pain meds over the last couple of weeks before an operation became necessary.'
'So obviously a criminal then, someone on the run. Otherwise they'd be in a hospital.' Lisbon thought for a second. 'How would she even meet someone like that? She really doesn't seem the type.'
Jane raised his eyebrows. 'No she doesn't. But her husband certainly is.'
He sighed and shook his head, helping her on with her jacket before she had a chance to respond. 'I guess it's time to visit dear old dad again.'
