Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.
Anne Bradstreet
The atmosphere in the Boston Police Department was the same as it always was when there was a case that had them gripped, both from a determination to find the person responsible and from concern for their public appearance. The press conference had been, for the most part, quite disastrous. Cavanaugh covered every point he'd compiled and written down with absolute credibility, promising results and answers within the following days, but nobody could have prepared themselves to an adequate degree for the vicious, relentless questioning that followed.
Jane hadn't even been anywhere nears the sea of reporters and she felt like she was being interrogated merely by default. As lead Detective, all eyes should have been on her, but Cavanaugh was doing his best to keep her out of the limelight as he was aware of the less than desirable attention she had received in the past from the press. However, Jane couldn't help but feel slightly guilty as she watched her Boss step down, looking pale and unsteady. She had never seen him like that before in her entire career, at least, not after dealing with the press. That was usually something he could handle with his hands tied behind his back and eyes closed. Cavanaugh was experienced in manipulating the press to their advantage, but none of them expected to be confronted with the baying crowd who seemed to want to blame their lack of information on anyone involved in the investigation as opposed to this killer simply being good at what he was doing.
The name of the man whose eyeballs had been removed was already known to them, and Mr. Jeremy Rutherford's wife had been in to make a formal identification of his mutilated body. The prints of the second deceased man were currently running through Missing Persons and a nationwide database. They weren't prepared to rule out anything, and if this man was a resident here then soon enough, it would be revealed to them. Although patience had never exactly been Jane's strong point, she had grown to realise that not all of the answers could be found immediately. She supposed Maura's methodology must be having some influence on her, though she would most likely never admit it.
She had just stepped into the office feeling frustrated and deflated after spending the morning working on her own notes down in the morgue as Maura conducted the autopsies on the deceased males. As soon as Jane saw the expression her Lieutenant was wearing she knew instantly that he was about to become the bearer of bad news. That tight lipped grimace was a little too familiar after so many years of working alongside the rather gruff Officer, and Jane could often read him as easily as she could her partners and Doctor Maura Isles.
"Rizzoli," Sean Cavanaugh said in his rough voice, raising his hand as she walked towards him, already ignoring the other Officers collecting files and paperwork from their superiors as she knew that her destination was going to be his office, "Inside," he requested gently, turning his body to allow her access. Jane walked past him and saw that her colleagues were standing in front of Cavanaugh's desk. Korsak had his arms folded across his chest and looked vaguely annoyed by the entire proceedings, but his eyes were narrowed and focused behind his thin glasses, and as her eyebrows rose in greeting Jane found it odd that he didn't even attempt a smile.
Frost, on the other hand, immediately flashed her a quick grin as she took her rightful place beside them, ready and waiting to hear whatever was about to come straight from her Superior's grim mouth. Cavanaugh didn't seem too interested with pleasantries, for as soon as he was situated on the opposite side of his desk, he launched right into it, "Our guy sent our John Doe's full set of teeth to Agent Emily Prentiss with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. I've been on the phone all morning to their Section Chief, Erin Strauss, and we've agreed that it's in the best interests of the case as a whole to unite our efforts rather than work two investigations separately," Cavanaugh paused, steeling himself for the inevitable outburst, and he was not disappointed.
"Are you kidding me?!" Detective Rizzoli snapped immediately, her face darkening as her lean body coiled with rage, "What, we're just gonna let the Feds waltz in and snatch this case right outta our hands? No way, this is ridiculous. This is our case, we've been working it for over two weeks now, there's not enough time in the day to catch them up on everything if we're still expecting to keep doing our damn jobs!"
Jane's seemingly rightful indignation was shared, at least to some extent, by Detective Frost, who chimed in with, "Sir, with all due respect, is it really necessary to complicate this investigation further by involving the FBI? With everything that's going on, the last thing we need are jurisdictional issues into the bargain," his much more level tone might have calmed Rizzoli down on any other day, but right then, all she could picture was the faces of her three victims and the agonized expressions of Anna Lewis' parents and Jeremy Rutherford's wife. The FBI had no right to swoop in and expect full co-operation on a case that was in their town, in their territory.
"This BAU, isn't it? That's what it's called right?" Jane growled, her upper lip curling back in a sneer she scarcely noticed, "They need our consent to work on an investigation, don't they? So what's the problem? We don't need their help..."
Cavanaugh was about to cut his treasured Detective off with a sharp reprimand, but as it turned out, his Sergeant got their first. Vincent Korsak pivoted slightly to face his colleague and, with as much authority as he could summon, said, "That's enough Rizzoli," his deep timbre resonating around the office, "Of course we need their help," Korsak continued as Jane gaped at him, removing his spectacles and polishing them with a hankie sourced from his upper suit pocket, "We're stretched so thin I'm not sure anyone who works in Homicide has seen their family in days. I know we sure haven't. That's unacceptable, that's when people start to make mistakes and cut corners. If our guy has gone out of his way to bring the Feds in on something like this then I say more fool him," the Sergeant shrugged, ignoring the glare his young colleague was firing at him.
"You're right Rizzoli; they do need our consent," Cavanaugh conceded quietly, attempting to draw Jane's fury back at him and away from the man she was going to have to work alongside, "And I want to give it to them. Like Vince said, we're at breaking point here. This guy's contacted a respected member of the FBI, if that doesn't show that he's escalating then I don't know what will... We're countin' bodies like sheep here Rizzoli, we need their help." Sean was aware of the fact he did not need Detective Rizzoli's approval on this matter. He was the Lieutenant and after he spoke with the Chief of the department, what he said was final, but he also knew that for this investigation to succeed, Jane had to be on board. She was the best Detective they had to offer, and if she wasn't one hundred percent committed then they might as well all pack up and go home and let the FBI muddle through on their own.
Jane brought a hand to the side of her head and tugged distractedly at a few strands of her unruly hair. This was not what she had anticipated. Her initial thoughts were more along the lines of the press wanted to interview her or they'd found another body, not that the Feds were soon to be breathing down her neck, criticizing every decision, no matter how small or significant, second guessing her ability to lead. Jane could not focus all her efforts on the investigation when she was aware that the FBI might at any point decide to assume full control and push her to one side, or take her right out of the loop as had happened one too many times before.
"How many of them are in the unit?" Rizzoli asked stiffly, not wanting to sound as if she was warming to the idea, but she was curious. She'd heard of the BAU, of course she had, everyone in the department had fantasized about joining the FBI at some point if they weren't too busy spitting on them and bemoaning their attitudes.
"Six of them are active field agents, and they also have a technical analyst who, according to their Chief, has proven invaluable," Cavanaugh quoted the rather severe, foreboding sounding woman who he had been dealing with the last few hours.
Detective Barry Frost risked a glance at his partner and saw that she was practically simmering with rage, but at the same time was torn between wanting to do right by the victims and give their families the best chance at a conviction. He wasn't sure bringing the FBI into this already complex investigation was the correct course of action, but what he did know was that they needed to make this decision, and they had to make it fast.
"They aren't going to take over the investigation Rizzoli, they'd be here at our behest, to assist us," Cavanaugh prompted gently, trying to ascertain where his youngest Detective's mind was at behind those dark eyes which were currently shooting sparks at him, "Chief Strauss has assured me that ultimately, we still call the shots." He stopped for a moment, leaning heavily against the desk, suddenly overwhelmed by the pressure leveled on his shoulders, "Jane," his use of her forename caused Rizzoli to snap to attention once more, "He sent those teeth on a goddamn piece of string to that Agent, just like he contacted you and Doctor Isles. Regardless of how you might feel about the FBI, he sought her out, he chose her for a reason. And if he wants Agent Prentiss involved then he's going to get her, I'd rather it was on our terms than his."
Jane brought her thumb to her lips and bit down on the nail, working things through in her mind. She was aware of the pressing silence from her two male colleagues. Her decision wasn't final, but it was instrumental, and eventually, Jane decided that she could not, in good conscience, turn away people who might be able to provide them with the means to catch this son of a bitch before he got the opportunity to hurt anyone else.
"Bring them in," Detective Rizzoli said, lowering her hand and letting it come to rest on her badge, which she was prepared to shove in the face of any FED who decided they could walk all over her just because they had FBI written on the backs of their jackets rather than BPD. "Let's send them as much information as we can so we spend as little time as possible bringing them up to speed when they arrive."
Cavanaugh released a barely perceptible sigh of relief. In truth, he had been expecting more fireworks than this lack luster display. Their dealings with the FBI in the past were never encouraging. Indeed, working with Agent Gabriel Dean had proven to be a huge mistake that almost cost lives and friendships and careers. He wasn't prepared to hand over control of this investigation to people he did not know merely because they were Federal Agents, but he was even less prepared to allow their killer to remain a free man just because they couldn't overcome their pride.
Cooperation is a higher moral principle than competition.
Bryant McGill