Chapter 11

Alan's look was full of joy when he found both of his sons in the living room leading a lively discussion. He'd just arrived from Encino where he was working on a project for an old friend.

"Hello everybody," he greeted friendly.

All he got was a brief nod of Charlie in his direction and Don murmured something.

"Nice to see you, too," he sighed and took off his coat.

"Yes, I had a great day. My project is doing fine and Andrew is thinking about a partnership with me for further projects, we suggest calling us "The A-Team"," he said laughing.

No reaction.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm going outside now to drown myself in the koi pond."

Alan waited in vain for any reaction. He shook his head wondering about so much ignorance. When he passed them on his way to the kitchen, Charlie finally raised his head.

"Hi Dad, you're late. Don and I are starving. What about dinner?"

Alan stopped, turned his head and gave them a mischievous look, "you're two young healthy men. What about helping yourself?"

Charlie furrowed his brows, "dad it's Saturday. I had been at CalSci with Larry almost all day long. Don was at a crime scene, a horrible thing."

Alan shrugged, "guess what? A: I've been to Encino almost the whole day long working on a project to prevent it would become a horrible nightmare. And B: Can you please tell me when it happened that I became your personal chef? Cause I can't."

He pushed the kitchen door open and left his baffled kids behind.

Charlie swallowed and looked at Don. Before he could say a word Alan returned a bottle of beer in his hand. He looked quite satisfied went over to the telly and sat down.

"What happened to dad?" Charlie said.

"I can hear you son," came from Alan's direction, "the menu of the pizza service is on the sideboard."

Charlie took a deep breath, "what kind of pizza do you want bro?"

"Pepperoni or something like that," Don muttered and glanced over his shoulder at Alan who was watching an ice hockey match while sipping on his beer.

Don was chewing on his grin when he watched a slightly upset Charlie skimming through the menu.

"What?" the younger one hissed.

Don made a dismissive gesture, "oh, nothing. I'm fine." He almost cracked up.

The pizza arrived half an hour later. Don paid. But when he put the knife and the fork in his hand he was reminded of Erica Widdeck's disfigured face. Even when he cut into the pizza he saw the perp cutting Erica's cheeks. He made two or three bites and pushed away the plate.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked putting another piece of pizza into his mouth.

"I'm full," Don murmured.

"But you didn't even touch it," Charlie said shaking his head.

His elder brother got up, "I think I'm joining dad."

Charlie nodded briefly.

"Hey Dad," Don said and dropped into the other armchair.

Alan glanced at him, "hard day, wasn't it?"

Don took a gulp, "yep."

"You look wiped out, Donnie."

"Dad, you know how to cheer me up, thanks," he snarled.

"Wanna talk about it?" Alan offered him.

"Nope, I just came here to sit and watch TV."

--

The next day Don's cell phone rang early in the morning. He fumbled around his bedside table. Once again he hadn't slept much. This time Erica Widdeck had been haunting him and not Liz. The constant ringing echoed in his ears and drove him almost insane. Finally he managed to find his cell phone even without opening his eyes.

"Eppes," he sounded like a grizzly.

"Jesus Don, did I wake you up?" it was Jessalyn.

He answered with a growl.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to. I just have to cancel our lunch for today. Little Cindy is getting sick I think. She doesn't feel well and her temperature is rising," Jessalyn said.

At one blow he was awake and sat up straight in his bed, "shall I come? Do you need help? Did she eat something the clown gave her?"

"No, no, no. I guess she got it at the kindergarten. Few kids are sick. It's nothing serious just some cold," she calmed him.

But he wasn't really calmed, "I'll have to go to the office anyway. I'll catch up with you later if you don't mind. I'd have to ask you some more questions," he lied. He didn't want to tell her truth about the clown on the phone.

"Okay," she sounded happy, "see you later."

"Bye," he hung up and felt back onto his bed. He stared into space and gnawed at his lower lip. Charlie had told him some facts about the sniper case yesterday. The guy who did this must've been a real pro. Not just someone who did base jumping out of being bored. He ran his hand over his face. He wondered what Wright would say about the fact that his "easy going" case now turned into a serious matter. Would the AD consider him as capable or would he just call for someone else?

Two hours later Don found himself behind his desk, leaving through the file of Anthony Ruben while listening to the message Lt. Walker had left for him on his voice mail. He probably found three other victims. No clown was mentioned in connection to them. But he'd used the same modus operandi and had left clues on the wall drawn in blood, too. Walker would get back later with some results hopefully. The next guy who showed up in the office looked also worn out and tired.

"Hey Don, didn't expect you around." Colby said yawning.

"Me neither," he shot back, "but my weekend ended last night when we found a young woman staged on her bed in a wedding dress and a Chelsea grin on her face."

"Wow, a gang thing?"

"A clown thing," Don answered wearing a scowl on his face.

"What clown thing, what does that mean?" Colby wondered.

Don speeded him up.

"You can still take me up on my offer to help you. I'm really not in the mood driving Miss Jacobi," he snarled.

Don grinned, "The best thing I've heard yesterday is that Charlie and Jacobi know each other. Did you know that? Megan told me. Jacobi had even the guts to call Charlie and asked him to keep his mouth shut."

"But he didn't, did he?" Colby was curious.

"Not as much as he should I guess. He told me some very interesting details and I'd say I leave it up to you Colby. I guess we've got some leads."

"Me, too," he held up a ziplock containing the piece of paper Sadie had given to him, "I was out with Claudia last night."

Don was about to say something.

"I don't wanna hear a single word," Colby cut him short: "We were at a violin concert: Hayden's Concerto in D."

Don's jaw dropped.

"What the hell?" Colby snapped wiggling his head, "what is wrong about doing something for my social and cultural life?"

Don cracked up laughing, "Sorry Colby, but this sounds weird; can't imagine you sitting in a concert hall, dressed in a tuxedo listening to some classical music. That's more than funny that's ridiculous," he snorted.

"It isn't that funny," his friend hissed, "and I didn't wear a tuxedo stupid. The tickets were bloody expensive. I just wanted to impress Claudia. She loves classical music. But this whole idea turned out to be a fiasco. We left by the end of the first half."

Don wiped away his tears with the back of his hand still laughing, "What happened?"

"I fell asleep and snored. And Claudia was bored to death and had to deal with venomous looks. After we left she said that she's just listening to the sort of classical music played by Vanessa Mae."

"And what happened next?"

"We decided to go to Taco Bell and then drove to the lab where Claudia took a closer look at the paper," he said dryly.

Don's brain shifted back into gears, "did you find something?"

Colby nodded, "she was able to reconstruct some words." He went over to Don and put the evidence on his desk. He pointed at it, "read here. It's something about a chemo and other medical stuff. Probably our perp deals with health problems or at least someone who's close to him. Also here's the fragment of a name Finch, Binch, Lynch. I dunno. But I'll check it."

Don nodded appreciative, "Excellent work! And now just tell me what else happened in the lab last night?"

"You know what?" Colby replied a broad grin on his face, "whatever happened in the lab STAYS in the lab." tbc