DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, the books, or these characters. I only borrow them.

Chapter 14

The man who was introduced as Captain Ian Marks was the tall and thin one of the pair. Not that Lieutenant John Hanover was chubby, but the latter had a good amount of muscle mass while the captain seemed emaciated in comparison. As Dr. Isles went to shake his hand, she noticed that it wasn't always the case, as the captain's suit jacket seemed a bit too large for him. She stared him in the eyes while holding his hand oddly and much longer then was normal for a basic handshake. She noted his graying brown hair, almost pasty complexion, dark brown eyes that seemed to bore holes in whatever he looked at, the salt-and-pepper mustache, and that his pulse was faster then normal before he finally pulled his hand away and adverted his eyes. Maura might have seen that as a victory if she was going for a staring contest. She then briefly shook the lieutenant's hand. His blue eyes smiled down at her from his tan, clean-shaven face, and he almost could be seen as boyish with the dirty blonde hair that he seemed to have only run his fingers through...yesterday. The captain opened her office door and signaled for them to follow. He asked politely if she would mind going upstairs to one of the interview rooms. Maura knew that they would want to record her statement, and this way with time-stamped audio and visual taped evidence they couldn't twist her words around to fit their story.

It was an odd procession down the hallway by the morgue with Maura sandwiched between the two IA Investigators in black suits. It was even odder that out of the three, Maura was the least dressed up as she was still wearing green scrubs, the white lab coat she grabbed on the way out of her office, tennis shoes, and with her hair pulled into a harsh twist. She didn't seem fazed at all in a situation that would make many feel intimidated. No, she already had on what many called her "Queen of the Dead" persona. Seemingly unfeeling, and knowing that the truth and facts would always win out. She was good at giving evidence at court, and this wasn't all that different...other than involving a friend she reminded herself. And if anyone was looking at that brief moment they would have seen a small worried frown before it was quickly back to normal.

As they were riding up in the elevator, it quickly became apparent how this was going to play out. The lieutenant had the role of the good cop and he chatted to Maura and asked her if she'd like to stop for a drink on the way to the interview room. The captain as the bad cop who just glared at the pair in silence. And Maura firmly in the role of the powerless suspect to interrogate...but they had another thing coming. When the doors finally opened on the correct floor, Dr. Isles led the procession this time, past the horrible station coffee pot and to the first empty interview room. The investigators hurried to catch up with her as they didn't want to lose the advantage over her that they thought leading might create, whether over her, or the other officers in house. But they had never met Dr. Isles before. And not many had ever met this one, the pissed off powerhouse.

Korsak tried not to smirk as he watched the trio pass. Most wouldn't notice the underlying emotions that Maura was feeling, but he had learned to read her a bit more since she became friends with Rizzoli. He saw the jaw that was clenched tighter then normal, and even her quick pace sold her out as she usually walked with a more leisurely strut that Rizzoli always joked was her Paris runway walk. He almost felt sorry for the pair from IAB. He grabbed the bag of pretzels he was munching on and wandered over to the media room to get a front-row seat of the fireworks about to happen. He shook his head thinking that Maura had spent way too much time around Detective Rizzoli. He almost wished he had some popcorn as he opened the door and fell into the nearest chair, but, damn it, he was dieting. Luckily he did think to grab the small bag of pretzels. Not as good as movie theater popcorn, but he knew the show would more then make up for it.

When the trio entered the interview room, Captain Marks motioned for Maura to take the uncomfortable chair around the table while he and his partner sat across from her. Marks was on her right and farther away from the door. He flipped the switch to start the recording equipment, and the interview from hell started...but their hell or Maura's was anyone's guess.

"Please state your name and occupation for the record," Marks started.

Maura would have called the pair across from her Tweedledum and Tweedledee but that was cruel to do to characters from a book she loved growing up. Granted the captain did have a sinister smile that could almost make her think of the Cheshire Cat. But she had no qualms about the names 'Thing1' for Captain Marks and 'Thing2' for Lieutenant Hanover. In either case they created a lot of havoc. She knew that it was childish and unprofessional, but she couldn't bring herself to care as she thought the same characteristics applied to this investigation.

"Dr. Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner for the Boston Police Department"

"Can you please walk us through the day in question, especially any parts dealing with Detective Rizzoli and Detective Marino?" Thing2 asked.

She wanted to answer 'Why yes, I can.' but she knew being flippant never helped anyone in the long run. So she started retelling that horrible day. The memories flooding back, and the only good thing she could see from that was that at least in those memories she saw Frankie's loving gaze for the last time. The panic and worry that she felt in the retelling was at least slightly lessened, but the grief seemed to have increased exponentially.

She thought about starting the story when Rizzoli and Marino came into her sanctuary nearly dragging in an injured Frankie, but she decided to start all the way at the beginning. If they were going to try and place blame, Maura at least wanted on record about Cavanaugh's screw-up for sending so few people back to the station. "The first time I heard about the shooting of Detective Danny Clark was when my office was called in to come pronounce death so that the body could be moved. I was the best choice to go being that it was called in as a high priority case, and since I had just come into the office a few minutes earlier so I wasn't in the middle of a case yet." There was no pride in that statement as many would have thinking that they were the best for something.

"When I got to the scene, Lieutenant Cavanaugh personally came over to lead me to the body of Detective Clark. I pronounced death and took a vitreous humor sample from his eye in order to check the potassium level when I arrived back at the lab to determine the post-mortem interval. While I was putting the sample away, Detective Rizzoli came over to talk to the lieutenant. I'm not sure when she arrived on scene, but that was the first time I saw her. She was ordered to go interview Detective Clark's partner back at the station. I heard her trying to get permission to stay and interview Detective Marino there, but the lieutenant was adamant that she go back to the station."

Before she was able to go on, Thing1 asked, "Do you think that Detective Rizzoli might have wanted to stay in order to make sure that no evidence pointed to her or Detective Marino?"

"No, I do not. And even if I or anyone else did wonder about their thoughts, it would be conjecture and not legally relevant." She took a deep breath to push her anger back under control before going on where she was so rudely interrupted. "The lieutenant made it clear at this point that, outside of Detectives Rizzoli and Marino, he only wanted an officer left at headquarters manning the front desk. He said he wanted all available officers combing for any evidence that could be found at the warehouse where Detective Clark's body was found. At this point Detective Rizzoli walked back toward her vehicle, and asked Officer Rizzoli to come along. As the Crime Scene Technicians wanted to get evidence and pictures with the body still on scene, and my initial findings were already logged, I went along with them back to headquarters as the Medical Examiner's van was staying there until time to remove the body." Maura did not feel the need to mention how in the car ride Jane tried to keep the conversation light by joking with her brother about sticking him on the boring job of manning the front desk with whatever newer rookie was already there. But she did pause in her recollection, and, as if her thoughts also paused in the retelling, she was able to see the laughing face of Frankie as they both sat in the back seat as the two detectives were in the front. She had longed to reach out and hold hands as she knew this case was going to be hard on everyone...she just didn't know that it was going to get even worse. If she did, heck, she might have leaned over and kissed him too, even with Jane looking back in the rear-view mirror as she joked. Maura very briefly wondered if the shock of seeing her best friend and brother locking lips would have made her lose control of the car and hit something. Granted the outcome couldn't have been worse then it actually was, at least not going only 37 miles per hour.

She almost wished she had taken Thing2's suggestion to stop for a drink as she would have something to do. Granted playing with a coffee cup would clue the pair in to the fact that she wasn't as calm as she projected. "When we all arrived back at headquarters, we went our separate ways. I met up with Detective Rizzoli at the coffee machine soon after. She mentioned getting some coffee for Detective Marino and herself, but I could tell something was on her mind as she started using salt to sweeten her coffee." Maybe she should have kept that last part to herself, but she knew that anything not mentioned right away could come back and hurt them more in the end.

The captain again jumped on the perceived tell of Detective Rizzoli's guilt, "Do you think she might have been worried about not being at the crime scene to try and mitigate the damages."

"No, I offhandedly mentioned that she seemed preoccupied, and she said it was about her older brother, Tommy."

At the same time the two men interjected. Thing2 asked "Don't you think it's odd that at the time of a fellow officer's shooting, her thoughts would be on her brother?" While Thing1 went a different route to try and prove the woman's guilt, "Tommy, as in her known criminal brother, Tommy?"

She answered them in order of the question that she knew how to better answer, and where the answer would lead...the scientific one. "Not at all. The brain is a remarkable organ, capable of thought and repression of thought. The prefrontal cortex is involved in "executive control." In a sense it can break the circuit to the hippocampus which is more active during memory recall. However, the brain is also more active when a person is actually trying to avoid recalling events, and so the mind needs something to fill that void. After the death of a colleague, we all were trying to suppress those memories, or at least the emotions that those memories brought up enough so we could do our jobs without falling apart. Before the call for the deceased police officer, the last thought on Detective Rizzoli's mind was that of her older brother; for me it was wanting to check on my ill tortoise, Bass. It gave both of us a chance to push the emotions away enough to try and find out the true facts." She wondered if the men in front of her were trying to push emotions away to get to the truth here or not.

Looking over to Thing1, Maura finally got to his answer. She nodded but then thought she should verbalize her answer for the record, "Yes, that Tommy."

Thing2 still seemed dazed and confused over the scientific answer to his question, however Thing1 continued unhindered "How do you know his sister didn't take a more underhanded approach at doing actions that she knew to be illegal?"

"Because if you ever met Detective Rizzoli in the field, or even personally, you would know that she is a stickler for the law and rules." Okay, Maura knew that was stretching the truth just a bit as Jane would bend the rules in order to help out friends and family...as she showed in her reckless actions when being Marino's hostage. Maura wasn't sure if the tightness in her chest was coming from that stretched truth, or more from how those bends in the rules almost got her friend killed.

Neither called her on that half-truth, so Maura went on with her recollection of that hellish day. She quickly talked about entering the morgue and checking on Bass. How she heard two male voices and gun shots as they looked for something that she didn't know what was at the time. She went into more detail when she got to the part they were really interested in...her interactions with Detectives Rizzoli and Marino until the news crews recorded all the "proof" of a hostage situation.

"The next time I saw Detectives Rizzoli and Marino, they were helping Officer Rizzoli walk between them. Actually they might have all been helping each other stand up, because I noticed that Detective Marino was limping as hr was shot in the leg. Detective Marino volunteered to guard the door while Detective Rizzoli and I were trying to help stabilize Officer Rizzoli as he was having issues breathing." Most wouldn't notice the slight change in her demeanor which is how she got her nickname, but she was trying not to have issues breathing herself as she remembered that heart-rending situation.

"Finally we heard Detective Korsak over the walkie talkie, so we at least knew that someone on the outside knew what was happening. Through the conversation with him I mentioned the gunmen were looking for something from the evidence lockers, and Detective Rizzoli remembered the pack of cigarettes that she had forgotten to log into evidence the second she arrived back at police headquarters."

Maura looked at Thing1 expecting him to interject once again, but he seemed too busy at the moment taking off his suit jacket, placing it on the back of the fold down chair, and wiping the sweat off his forehead. She was glad to be able to continue unhindered. "The next thing I knew, another gunman came in threatening to shoot if Detective Rizzoli didn't hand over the camera that was in the cigarette pack to Detective Marino. Bobby's mannerism changed then from an injured and worried fellow police officer, to someone much more sinister. Detective Rizzoli was trying to talk to him to get his attention away from myself and Officer Rizzoli. She brought up the drug running and his killing his partner and the witness. I remembered that the walkie talkie was on the floor and hoped I was stepping on it correctly so the channel was open. Marino affirmed her suspicions, and then how he was going to be a hero as he shot the other gunman in the head. But how he regretted that it was only after the rest of us were killed first." Seeing this almost clinically, she knew that he could have gotten away too. With the times of death so close together, the autopsies wouldn't be able to paint the picture of who died first, but the survivor could. She wondered for a split second how the idea of her autopsy didn't faze her as much compared to how shook up she was that day with friends injured and guns threatening. Was it because now she knew that Frankie didn't make it?

Before she could go to far down that rabbit hole, she continued, "Bobby knew that his plans were ruined when Detective Korsak interrupted over the open channel. Before I knew it he was using Detective Rizzoli as a shield as he dragged her out of the room." She skipped over the parts about SWAT coming in as they had those reports. But she seemed to watch that part in slow motion as an outside observer. She saw herself looking at Frankie and mentally pleaded that the situation could change. Even as a viewer she could not say the words "I love you" as she was too chocked up. If she wasn't in an interview room and she didn't think that it would make the investigators question her credibility, she was sorely tempted to hit her head on the table in front of her for her cowardice.

In a quieter voice she finished the grueling recount, "I followed the pair and exited the building in time to watch them both get shot." She closed her eyes hoping that this was enough but knowing that they would still have questions. Granted, she wasn't expecting the bluntness of the first question.

"How do we know you aren't lying?" Thing1 asked.

Maura opened her eyes and gave a truly 'if looks could kill' glare at him. "Because I cannot. If I try for to long it results in vasovagal syncope." At the questioning look she tried not to roll her eyes at their ignorance before she explained, "I would lose consciousness as my heart rate and blood pressure would drop."

"So, if that is the case, just say 'Detective Rizzoli is a dirty cop.'" His eyes seemed to protrude even further out of their sockets as once again he thought he came up with the chink in the armor of events.

"No, because she is not and I would NEVER even try to spout that lie." At the please look that seemed to say he heard something valuable in that she added, "if you want to pick something else I will gladly pass out for you."

Korsak almost choked on a pretzel as he watched the computer screen. At one time he really loathed the "Queen of the Dead" and her calm demeanor and well thought out answers. But after getting to know the Doc, she wasn't all that bad. And her cross-examination with the IA guys was going better than his would have after being asked to call his old partner a dirty cop. No, he would have jumped across the table, well okay 'tried' to jump across the table, before decking the skinny guy in the nice suit. He was glad the media room wasn't too close to the interview rooms as he would swear his hearty laughter would be heard if he was just watching through a one-way mirror.

When it looked like no other lies were going to be offered for her to say, she asked, "Can we get back to the questions at hand please?"

However Thing2 couldn't help himself from wondering out loud, "Wouldn't you then be a liability for the prosecutor when cross-examined?"

"No, because I am neither for one side nor the other, but for the truth...same as here."

There was a pause as the two investigators seemed to think of what to ask next. They were used to running the show and having the upper hand in the questioning, but they weren't used to Dr. Isles and how fast her mind would jump from one thought to another. "Shouldn't you already have witness statements about what was heard over the walkie-talkie," Maura asked.

"Yes, we have sworn statements about hearing Marino's plan...but from her previous partner and her current partner. Often, with those relationships, people will protect the other, even from something they know is wrong and illegal," Thing2 answered.

"Detectives Korsak and Frost are two of the most honest police officers I have ever met. The only one I would say who was more honest would be Detective Rizzoli. And, in my profession, I can assure you I have interacted with many, many good officers. If there was some truth to your allegations, none of us would try to hide it. Truth and justice mean too much to all of us."

Korsak tried not to preen from the compliment as he continued to eat the pretzels and watch the show unfolding. The glare from the audio/visual technician for having food in the room near all the equipment didn't even faze him.

"They aren't allegations. We just need to make sure we have all the facts," Thing1 said.

"Could have fooled me," Dr. Isles replied. Then another heart-breaking thought came to her, "Who started this line of thinking? Was it her superiors? They seem to have issues when their employees think outside the box and think for themselves."

Korsak had wondered about this too, but his job security if he asked those questions would have been nixed. Dr. Isles, on the other hand, was the Boston PD's ace-in-the-hole. She had made national news before as her calm and well thought-out answers to questioning in a few capital crime cases helped secure the offender behind bars for the maximum penalty. Nearby departments had even requested her help on a few cases, and the department wouldn't want to burn any bridges with other PDs. Even worse would be if she would leave the BPD to go work for another one. So he knew BPD would never let her go for something so small...even though they might for an aging, overweight detective who they would probably like to put out to pasture anyway.

Maura knew she wouldn't get an answer to her questions, so she stated "Jane is about to bury her brother in three days because of this whole incident that you are thinking she might have had some role in." She grabbed at the anger she was feeling toward the men sitting across from her as it kept the sobs at bay when she thought of Frankie being buried soon. "One, she would never stoop that low to harm innocents. Two, she wouldn't have brought back the evidence that had proof of what Bobby Marino did if they were partners. And three, she would have made sure her brother stayed at the warehouse collecting evidence and was safe because family means everything to her."

"As you say, family means everything to her. Did you know that last year Detective Rizzoli helped to keep her father's business afloat? Maybe she would do something illegal if she needed the money to help her family?" Thing1 questioned.

She didn't think they were actually expecting an answer, and she didn't give them one. But she couldn't help but comment, "Funny that you ask if Jane might do something illegal for money when you both are sitting here in suits that no cop, or even detective with the higher pay grade, would be able to afford."

"Also, she failed to log that evidence in the minute she came back as was protocol. Maybe she was holding onto it to get a better deal for herself?" Thing2 wondered.

"You are lucky she didn't log the cigarette pack in evidence or none of us would know that Marino was a bad cop, and he would still be out on the streets playing good cop by day, and trafficking drugs by night."

"He'd probably be selling drugs by day too and covering it with 'I'm talking to informants.'"

Maura just glared at Thing2.

"Plus Detective Marino thought that being slightly injured would for sure make him look like a victim and a hero. If Detective Rizzoli was in on it too, maybe the shooters knew to not shoot Officer Rizzoli to kill?" The captain knew that he went too far in his questioning when Dr. Isles' gaze turned icy.

Maura had had way too much at that. It was bad enough that they were wasting their time investigating Detective Rizzoli, but to think that Jane would let anyone hurt her family if she could help it was ridiculous. And her anger was even greater, "but that shot DID kill him." Maybe not right away, but that was the beginning of the end.

In the other room, Korsak groaned at the horrible choice of words the IA guy used, but especially on Maura as the death hit so close to home. He hurried up and out the room to go tell them that the interview was over. He didn't really have a say in the matter, but someone had to look out for the Doc. So he missed some of the best parts, and by the time he got his hand on the door knob, Maura was already opening it from the other side and storming out.

Maura got up to leave and the captain all but demanded that she sit back down so they could finish with the questions. Her face was now back to her usual nothing can faze me manner that had people thinking she was unfeeling. "I work with police officers all the time, so I know my rights. You aren't detaining me, so I'm free to leave. You have my statement, both from today and the one I gave Detective Korsak a week ago. Get off your behinds and do your job. Nail Marino's ass to the wall, and clear Detective Rizzoli's reputation that you are dragging through the mud. She already has too much crap to deal with."

Thing2 tried to calmly plead with her to sit again, "We're sorry, but these questions need to be asked. The public is still reeling over what happened and are wanting answers."

"Don't try to placate me, and don't play good cop, bad cop. I have seen it done by some of the best, and you two don't even come close. We all want answers, but the truthful ones, not ones you conjure up that harm good people." She turned away, opened the door, and literally walked into Korsak as she exited the interview room.

Dr. Isles glanced back and stared at the captain. "By the way, you might want to see a cardiologist as soon as possible, or go to an emergency room. Let them know you have Graves' Disease with a rapid heartbeat. Tell them to check for atrial fibrillation." She tried not to feel smug seeing the scared look on his face as there was a life at stake. But there was also a reputation at stake that at least currently took precedence in her eyes. She would have loved to tell Jane about diagnosing yet another hapless bystander, but she didn't want Jane to find out about IA's investigation if she didn't need to.

Korsak hurried after Maura as she then turned and all but flew to the nearest stairwell, descended a couple floors, and then rushed down the hall to her office. Of course she would take the stairs, he mused as his breathing increased from the struggle to keep her in sight. He opened the door to her sanctuary and entered without knocking or getting permission. He gazed over at her already sitting on the couch, her arms hugging her stomach. He might have thought she had a horrible stomachache if not for the look on her face. The look of sorrow made Korsak realize that she would much prefer to be hugging a living Frankie so he could erase this nightmare. He watched as her mask finally crumbled in the safety of her office, and a few tears started streaming down her face. Man, he really hated these situations as he wasn't the greatest at comfort...hell, he was probably one of the worst he could think of. He stiffly sat down next to her, and, with stilted unsure movements, draped his arm around her shoulder in an odd half-hug. But never in a million years would he have expected Maura's reaction as she turned into the hug and started crying harder. She always wanted and tried to be so strong for others, and even though he was uncomfortable, he knew at least someone needed to reciprocate. It was a long while, but finally he heard the crying stop, felt her body stop shaking, and noticed that her breathing evened out. Korsak knew she was at the hospital often and then here, but he didn't realize how little sleep she was really getting until he could move and lower her gently to laying down on the couch without waking her up. He pulled the now folded afghan down and, after covering her, moved a stray hair that had come out of the tight twist. He was glad they were in her office so no one saw her reactions to the week...and even more so that no one saw him because he didn't do comfort.

AN: Please review- I know there are more then 3 readers lol. Was a long one but I didn't think I should break up the interview. The next bit will be the funeral and I'll probably break it into 2 chapters as it is already longer than this with only pieces I need to tie together, but will try to update the same day as it should stay together. Also already changed the story to AU as I'm sure when the show picks up all characters will be alive and already recovered.

Not sure if I summarized the suppression mechanism correctly...if curious to read for yourself...

Berlin, H.A. and Koch, C. Defense Mechanism: Neuroscience Meets Psychoanalysis. Scientific American. April 13, 2009.