The second chapter published in one day - whoo hoo! I got my mojo working! This is a long chapter, but things are starting to happen, so enjoy. See you next week.
Chapter Warning: For those personally sensitive to the issue, there will be violence against a woman in this chapter, but it will not be graphic. I don't need to describe every detail for you to know what is happening. Let's leave it there. Please be safe.
Dead Ringer
Chapter 10
The Beginning of the End
(15 Years Earlier)
"This is bullshit and you know it!" his best friend and cousin screamed at him, both young men facing off in their dorm room on the point of coming to blows.
"What did you expect? You cheat on every exam, fudge your reports, get other students to take your classes while you sleep off a bender...I could go on" the handsome young med student said to his buddy. "And that's not even including the assault charges most of the women at school want to bring against you. If those girls knew you were a serial abuser you'd have been out on your ass 5 years ago."
"It would be their word against mine, and no one would believe them. With my family name, who would they rather believe? I could just say they wanted me cut from the program to make way for themselves" the offended man said, unimpressed that his friend wasn't sticking up for him anymore.
"I guess it doesn't matter now does it? You're out anyway. Good work cousin...three months to go and you would have graduated with your medical degree, but now you're expelled. And that's all on you!" he shouted, so disappointed in his life-long buddy.
The young man rounded on his friend and raised at finger in his face, an accusation on his lips.
"It was you, wasn't it? Huh? You went to the Dean of Medicine and accused me of cheating on those exams. This is on you!" the outraged young man screamed at his roommate. "Convince me I'm wrong you asshole!"
"Naw naw ...this isn't my doing. You fucked up one time too many. You fooled our professors and the Dean and just about everybody for years, but guess what? You got careless and somebody hung you out to dry. Half of our class hates you for your cheating. But you blame me anyway 'cause that's the easy way out. Blame everybody else for your screw ups. Thanks for the loyalty after all these years! Just don't say I didn't warn you" he finished, turning his back on his doppelganger.
"So that's it? Kiss my ass and fuck off? Is that what I get?"
The young man turned to face his friend one last time. "When I get back after class, I want you gone, you and all your shit. So yeah, fuck off." He strode over to the door and slammed it behind him. It was too painful to look at his cousin. They both had such big dreams, such high hopes of working in medicine together, maybe overseas, maybe setting up a practice together. But that idiot couldn't keep his pecker in his pants and his brain on his studies.
Served him right. The school had to expel him. Whatever happened to him now was of no concern to anyone.
(Jane Household - early afternoon)
Kiki melted into her mother's arms as Patrick ran a bath for her, concerned by her pale complexion but highly flushed cheeks. Teresa ran a hand over Anika's forehead for the hundredth time since they picked her up at school.
"She's still warm Patrick" Teresa said with worry. Jane straightened up and got the thermometer and held it under the little girl's armpit.
Checking it after a couple of minutes, he relaxed. It was just a bit elevated.
"She'll be fine, she's just a bit warm...don't worry Teresa. This lukewarm bath will help bring her temp down. Just don't let KiKi stay in too long, we don't want her to get a chill."
Teresa, being a first time mother, was grateful for Jane's previous experience with Charlotte. While he could panic with the best of them when it came to his child, in this case, he knew that KiKi was going to be OK. She just needed time.
By the time the bath was done, and a bit of supper was eased gently into the toddler, she was almost asking to go to bed. By 7 p.m. Patrick and Teresa finished their nightly routine with Anika and kissed her goodnight.
"What about school tomorrow?" Jane asked.
"We'll see. She might do well to stay home one more day to get over whatever this was completely" Teresa suggested.
"Yup, no need to throw KiKi back into the Bacteria Festival any sooner than necessary" Jane grinned, happy to know Teresa and Kiki might be able to spend the whole day together tomorrow.
As for this evening, they tidied up and snuggled down together on the sofa to watch old movies until they both started to nod off. By 10, they too were fast asleep. Jane's phone lay ignored on his kitchen table, the composite pictures of the man who assaulted Lynn Michaels sitting in a file, waiting for Jane to open it in the morning.
(Markdale, Texas - 5 p.m.)
Meg ran out to her car with her arms full. Lynn had requested enough clothes to outfit herself for a two week vacation, plus all her makeup, ipad, laptop and assorted toiletries. It took 3 trips, but finally everything was loaded into the back seat and Meg drove towards the destination Lynn had provided. With luck and traffic on her side, Meg figured she might even be home in time to watch her favourite TV show at 7 p.m.
As the small blue car pulled out of the student apartment parking lot, another car, black and nondescript, eased out of its parking spot nearby. While Meg drove out of Markdale towards Lynn's Aunt's house, the black car kept pace, two or three car lengths behind, never losing sight of the little blue car. Meg was paying no attention to what the traffic that far behind her was doing, being preoccupied with singing along to the radio and pounding the steering wheel with her palm as she kept the beat. In no time, it seemed, she found the side street and the house that Lynn had described so accurately.
Lynn was waiting at the living room window and smiled happily when the friendly blue car pulled up at the curb. Running out to the street to help Meg bring in bag after bag of belongings, the two girls chatted about the attack and how brave Lynn had been to escape and find the police. Once the car was unloaded, Meg filled up her travel mug with coffee that Lynn had prepared, grabbed a cookie and hugged her friend tightly.
"I miss you and hope you come back to school soon. Much as I like having the dorm room to myself, it's just not the same without you Lynn!" Meg admitted as she hugged her friend goodbye.
"Soon...if the police find that bastard, then I'll come back. Just keep sending me my homework OK Meg?"
"Sure thing. Call me tomorrow" Meg shouted over her shoulder as she jogged back to her car. Lynn turned towards the house after she waved her friend goodbye. She grabbed her belongings and walked to her bedroom in the back of the house to put everything away. She had an hour to enjoy the house before her Aunt came home for the evening. Maybe she'd take a bath! A few minutes later, the radio was playing loudly while Lynn sorted through her belongings, happy to have her own stuff again.
She never heard the front door open silently as a man stealthily entered the tidy house. The carpet hid the sound of his footsteps as he eased through the living room and hallway. The man stopped outside Lynn's bedroom door, listening, planning, grinning. A gloved hand slid over the door knob and turned it slowly. He took a step into the small room to find Lynn with her back to the door, bent over, humming to herself as she folded her sweaters. A deep smile creased his face as he saw his reflection in the mirror over the bed. This was going to be fun. He stepped closer and leaned over her, grabbing Lynn by the back of her neck.
"Hello Lynn" he purred close to her ear.
Before she could scream, a heavy hand clamped over her mouth and silenced the panicked young woman.
He took his time with her. The bitch had escaped the first time he tried to take her and for that, she needed to be taught a lesson. No one bested him. No one. He intended to enjoy every moment with Lynn, every curve of her perfect body. Her panic encouraged him, excited him, made this moment special. Good thing Auntie wasn't home, he'd have to kill her too.
Thirty minutes later, Lynn's raped and beaten body was dragged to the back door and carried around to the garage, where the black car stood with the trunk open. The man lifted the slight body up and dumped it into the trunk, then pulled out, merging with suppertime traffic.
No one saw anything.
(Jane Household - 8 a.m.)
Teresa stood in the kitchen, savouring a cup of coffee while Patrick made breakfast for himself.
"Rough night all around" he said blearily, as both of them had taken turns sitting with their feverish little girl.
"Good thing she didn't throw up again, but she's tired this morning" Teresa said, happy Anika was sleeping and her temperature was back to normal.
"I'm going to keep her home today. We're both exhausted" she added, rubbing the dark circles under her eyes.
"Sorry I slept through some of it. I was awake as long as I could manage, then…" Jane apologized, knowing Teresa had stayed up longer, not wanting to wake him once he finally fell asleep.
"It's fine. No use both of us losing sleep. I'll nap today as soon as KiKi goes down for a sleep" Teresa said, happy to have a day off mid-week with her little girl.
"I'll call in a couple of hours, see how you're both doing. Maybe I can bring home something nice as a treat now that Anika can eat again" Jane suggested.
"Good idea, she'll like that."
Patrick quickly ate his breakfast and in another 20 minutes, was out of the door, on his way to pursue a hunch. Jane felt sure he'd missed something important at the Litchfield Home and there was only one way to find out what that was.
Teresa stretched out on the sofa, waiting for KiKi to descend the staircase in search of toys and cereal.
(FBI- Austin Texas - 8:30 a.m.)
Wylie slouched off his shoulder bag and dropped into his chair, almost spilling his morning coffee in his weariness. He had worked late the previous night, collating any information that might shed some light on the mystery of the three murdered people. Once his computer program had spit out every type of variation on the bearded man's appearance, Wylie had sent the composite pictures of Lynn Michaels' attacker to Jane, Lisbon, several other agents and the whole of the investigative team at the Markdale Police Department. Hopefully someone would recognize one of the possible incarnations of the perp and set Wylie's phone ringing soon.
The black and white photo that Jane had found in Susannah Moore's bedroom had been copied, blown up and analyzed for any tiny details that could possibly give the FBI some information as to the identity of both boys, where the photo had been taken and by whom. So far Wylie hadn't come up with anything yet. He was also researching Dr. David Litchfield's entire family, all of whom were now dead, except for David. His family was very well respected in and around Markdale, and it seemed an impossibility that David himself could be a Jekyll and Hyde character hiding in plain sight. If she had come in today Wylie was hoping that Lisbon would help him research the family, but Cho had messaged him that Lisbon was off today with KiKi. Sighing, Wylie switched on his laptop and hunkered down to a long day of screen time.
Across town Jane was on his way to visit the Psychiatric Home once again. His visit with the good Doctor had been unrewarding the first time. Perhaps he needed to do some snooping around without Lisbon stopping him and without the Doctor trailing his every move. With a bit of luck, maybe he'd get in, poke around and get out before anyone was the wiser. Cho had mentioned that he'd asked Dr. Litchfield himself to come to the FBI office to be interviewed, so that gave Jane a window of time to explore unimpeded. He opened his phone and saw the pdf that Wylie had forwarded to him. He didn't have time to stop and scroll through the many faces Wylie had manufactured. He'd do it after he left the Home.
(FBI - Austin)
Cho scanned the list on his desk of all of the staff currently working at the Litchfield Psychiatric Home. They had been notified that they were required to come in for questioning. The connection that each victim had to the Psychiatric Home was now undeniable, but who had a grudge so big and a secret so dangerous that murder was the only solution? A trip to the FBI offices might unnerve a staffer enough to spill some tiny piece of information that up until now, had been overlooked, or dismissed as unimportant. Perhaps someone would confess under pressure. Cho could only hope for the latter. A junior doctor and part-time nurse were due to show up at 10:30 a.m., with Dr. Litchfield himself the first to arrive at 9:15 , so Cho finished up some other case files while he waited for their arrival. Perhaps Cho would find out why everyone at the Home had been so recently hired.
(Litchfield Psychiatric Home - 9 a.m.)
Jane pulled up and parked his car outside the main building and knew if he played his cards just right, he'd get full access to the private areas he needed to see without a chaperone nipping at his heels. First, to set the plan in motion. He walked down the hallway towards the Reception Room and discovered that Mrs. Rogers was not at her desk, instead, a young woman sat in the older woman's chair.
Jane strode into the Reception Room whistling, a cheery smile on his face as he twirled his car keys around and around on his finger.
"Morning!" he beamed at the young woman.
"Good morning, Mr…." the woman began before Jane cut her off.
"Sorry, I hope I'm not too late!" Jane said with a big smile. "I'd hate to keep David waiting."
Kim, the temporary Receptionist, gazed up at this gorgeous man, who obviously knew Dr. Litchfield and had an appointment. She thought no one was scheduled to come in so early in the morning, since that bitch Receptionist Mrs. Rogers had nothing written on the appointment calendar on the computer. The man waited patiently for an answer, checking his watch. His mane of blond hair and his laser-like focus on her was most disconcerting. She had to say something to please him. Checking the schedule again, she saw nothing but blank lines for the next two hours.
"I'm sorry...but I can't find your appointment on the computer...and your name is?" the young woman stammered, overwhelmed by this golden man's closeness. Jane leaned over the woman to intimidate her just a bit more, letting his cologne work its magic and turned her screen around, as if to point out his name to her.
"Well I'll be damned, that sly bugger!" Jane said in shock, then appeared to be ashamed of his crude language.
"Oh, sorry, how rude of me! That's typical of David. We spoke on the phone just the other day and I told him he'd forget to put my name down on the list, I told him! And he did!"
The girl glanced at the blank space on her calendar again and then up into the beaming face of this friendly man.
"How can I help you then?" she asked, forgetting yet again to get his name.
"Well this is none of your doing, not your fault at all. David and I were in school together and he invited me over today to discuss an investment in the Home. But I only have two hours then I've got to catch a flight to Denver" Jane blathered on, putting pressure on the girl to do something to mitigate his disappointment.
Before she could come up with a solution, Jane did.
"I can wait in his office, if that's alright. I know where it is, been there many times. Would that work for you Miss?" He wanted to gain access to the office without being followed by anyone at the Home.
Now the girl had to make a decision. The wrong one could cost the Home a lot of investment dollars, something that her boss would be angry about should he discover she had turned his friend away when he was feeling generous. But Dr. Litchfield was out at the moment. What to do… She was pretty sure the Doctor would show up soon.
"I guess you could wait in the Doctor's office. But don't go anywhere else, it could get you into trouble" she added, standing up from her desk.
"Yes, thank you, I wouldn't. I know about the Secure Unit and the poor folks back there. Not anyplace I want to be. I can let myself into David's office. Does he still have that old leather furniture his father left him?" Jane smiled, further indicating he knew the doctor well.
The girl laughed at this comment. The furniture was heavy and out of date, even though it was so so comfortable. Obviously this man knew Dr. Litchfield's office well.
"Yes, it's still there. Not my taste but don't let the doctor know" she said with a wink.
"It's our secret" Jane winked back as he let himself out and headed to the Doctor's office. The girl watched him go and smiled at him as he closed the door to the office behind him. Then she went back to work at the desk until the real Receptionist came in.
Jane dropped his smile as soon as the door clicked shut behind him. He quickly moved around the room, examining everything. He could wander out and about later. This was his chance to snoop unattended.
The usual knick knacks filled the shelves, some dating back to the original Dr. Merle Litchfield, and books lined most shelves behind the large wooden desk. A layer of dust lay on the books, as if the good Doctor never opened them. Jane tried the desk drawers. Most of them opened and revealed nothing of any import. The large drawer in the middle of the desk was locked. Why lock a desk if there is nothing to hide? Jane ran his fingers all over the underside of the desk and found nothing, no key. Turning to the wall unit behind the desk, he checked every container and vase, still no key. Finally he turned back to the desk and took a slim letter opener from a side drawer, an antique device judging from its ornate handle, and slid it under the thin opening between the desktop and the middle drawer itself. A click a moment later told him he had tripped the switch and unlocked the drawer.
Jane stopped for a moment to listen for footsteps. He still had time on his side with David Litchfield busy at the Austin FBI office, thanks to Cho. The drawer revealed the usual paper clips, staples, notepads, some patient files and a ledger. Jane pulled the ledger out and quickly examined it, looking for anything that might indicate fraud or some other shady financial shenanigans going on at the Home. Forensic accounting was not Jane's forte, and the ledger looked legit, but he wished he could take it with him so that experts at the FBI could examine it further. Sighing at the chance to take the ledger but not daring to, he slid it back into the drawer and felt around for anything else that might tell him more about Dr. Litchfield. A hard corner stubbed Jane's finger. Nudging it forward, a small photo album revealed itself. Jane pulled it out and stood by the window to see it clearly. It was a family album, filled with black and white, then coloured photos of a family smiling into the camera at birthday parties, Christmas mornings, summer vacations, camp days. Nothing about it was out of the ordinary. A quick glance on the wall of portrait photos showed Jane that the older man in the photo was Dr. Litchfield's father in his more intimate moments with his wife and children.
Children.
Jane looked at the two kids in the photos and realized that what he mistook for a young David and a friend, was really David and another boy, possibly his brother. They were similar in build and scrawny the way adolescents are before their hormones kick in and biceps sprout in thin arms. They looked so alike, they could have been twins. David was first and foremost in almost all of the photos, with the other child trying to muscle in on the shot, jostling for position in front of the lens. Typical brotherly teasing.
Turning the page, Jane was about to close the album when a photo caught his eye. Both boys were astride new bicycles, beaming with pride. The handlebars were decorated with ribbons, as if both kids got new bikes for the summer. Lucky kids to have a wealthy father. Remembering another photo, Jane reached into his vest pocket and pulled out the tiny cardboard square and unfolded it. The old black and white photo showed two boys, one in the foreground happily sitting on a bicycle while the other boy yelled in annoyance in the background.
Not friends fooling around. Brothers.
David Litchfield had a brother.
Jane had no idea why this felt odd, like it was an unnatural surprise, but no one had ever mentioned another Litchfield progeny. What did the other son do if he wasn't involved with the work his grandfather had begun so long ago?
Reaching for his phone, he quickly called Wylie to get him onboard with doing a bit of digging into Litchfield's family.
"Jane? What's up?"
"Jason, I need you to look into David Litchfield's family life."
"Already started. Anything special you want me to look for?"
"Yes, check out his siblings or close relatives. See if there is anything that raises red flags, run-ins with the law, trouble of any kind. I have a photo to send to you. Use it for background to see just who his family really is" Jane said in a hushed voice. "Sending now…" he ended, then he took a picture of the larger photo of the boys on new bikes in the family album. Could David and a brother be murderers, hiding out in a psychiatric facility where no one would think to look? Was one covering for the other? Jane knew he could be completely misreading this evidence, such as it was. It might be evidence of nothing but a nice family. He'd leave it up to Wylie to find dirt if there was dirt to be found.