Prometheus- Chapter 25
"Hey-Riz"
"Come on, get up."
"Hey... what happened?"
"Riz what the hell's happened?"
"Riz.. get the fuck up."
"Riz..."
"Oh my god...
..oh my fucking God-"
Korsak jabbed the tip of his forefinger into the bar, thick eyebrows rising almost as high as his hairline.
"Here?" He asked. "As in here right now?"
Frost shook his head. "Nono." Something caught his attention at his hip, and Maura watched him retrieve his phone from his pocket. "In the area." He said, distractedly, "Staying down the road, apparently."
Maura glanced in confusion at Korsak, who seemed visibly relieved by the news. Catching her eye he shook his head.
"Agent Gabriel Dean." Even the way he spoke the man's name was telling. "FBI's resident clown, dressed in a pompous suit."
"She's on her way." Frost interjected unknowingly, pushing his phone back into his pocket and throwing Maura a weak – but genuine – smile. "She's really excited to meet you."
In truth, Maura had been hoping for a way out. Following the news, the mood in the bar had sobered so much half the patrons had left, including the rowdy group of men by the billiards table. The bustle seemed less frenetic, more anxious – as undoubtedly people contemplated their mortality in the face of the latest horror.
As it was, pushing far enough into the evening with an impending snowfall, she was more than likely going to need to stay at the nearby motel than take the full journey home to Manhattan.
But Frost's assurance that her company was anticipated – regardless of whether it was a move driven from politeness – meant she needed to remain.
Frost and Korsak continued in conversation, but Maura found herself distanced by their relative nonchalance at what had just happened. Four people had just died – terrible, violent, tortuous deaths.
How could they be so calm about it?
A small commotion at the entrance drew Maura's attention, and she found herself craning her neck over the conversation of the two men, to see what was happening.
Her eyes immediately landed on the woman she would soon learn to be Anna Frost.
She was exactly like Maura expected. Confident, present, and with an aura which filled the room, the NYPD officer strode through the front door and directly toward them, oblivious to the attention being directed her way from all corners. Bright smile and light eyes – despite the horrors she would have just been faced with – she slipped a hand gently across Frost's shoulders, and reached out her other, warmly, for Maura to take.
"So you're the Doctor Isles I hear so much about." She said, as Maura clasped the hand in hers, compelled to strengthen her grip for no particular reason. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise." Maura said. "I have heard a lot about you, as well."
Frost leaned past Maura, dragging another seat across to form a tight semi-circle in front of the bar. Offering her husband a grin, silent 'hi' and quick peck on the lips, Anna hooked her boot onto the lower bar of the stool and hoisted herself up onto the seat. Then removing her hairband she shook out her hair, combing it roughly through her fingers several times before offering a wave to the bartender.
A glass of wine appeared in front of them both. Maura hadn't even noticed, her glass was empty.
"Fantastic-" Anna said, reaching for hers and tapping the side of Maura's new one. "Cheers. Hey-" She gave a sly look at the bartender, "-got any olives?"
"Olives?" Korsak appeared to choke on his beer, sporting a look somewhere between disbelief and disgust.
Undeterred and with a smile and a wink, the bartender disappeared for a moment, then reappeared with a bowl the same size as the peanut bowl, full – from what Maura's nose could tell – of marinated mixed olives.
"Thanks so much!" Reaching over Anna picked it up and pulled it into her lap, not before waving it around the small group. "Anyone?" She asked.
Korsak screwed up his nose. Frost shook his head.
"Suit yourselves." Anna said, then turned to Maura with a raised eyebrow. "Come on Doctor Isles, you have far more class than these donkeys."
Maura was in awe.
And it was true, she did enjoy olives. Reaching forward, she picked one of the stuffed green offerings and smiled in thanks.
"So…How does it look?" Korsak swirled the remnants of his beer high up the glass, so that a new layer of foam formed. He lifted it to his mouth.
The slightest pause, and a tiny twitch of the muscles at her jaw was the only indication Anna gave of being affected by the question.
"Ugly." She answered, taking a sip of her wine. "Really, really ugly."
Maura noticed, but said nothing.
"And they think it's-"
"Oh it's him." She cut Korsak off almost immediately. "It's him all over." Holding her mouthful, she swirled it around her palate, puffing up her cheeks. Eventually she swallowed, grimacing and staring – one eye cocked – into the glass. "This is really bad."
"Did you two graduate from the same snooty school-" Korsak muttered, and Maura caught Frost's semi-proud smile, although she didn't quite understand the sentiment. She looked up in time to receive a wink from the officer.
"Us women know our tastes." Anna shook the glass in demonstration. "So-" She said, narrowing her eyes a fraction. "-I hear you gave a shot at getting answers from that Rizzoli."
Maura was thankful she had not taken a sip of her wine, as the question might have compelled her to spit it out again. Shocked at both the forwardness and insight behind the question, her eyes darted to Korsak, who stared back at her with an expression mirroring how she felt.
'Cavenaugh.' He finally mouthed.
Seeing the exchange, Anna was quick to clarify. "The BPD and the NYPD are essentially the same thing on this." She reached for another olive. "Very interested in you." She continued. "From what Barry has told me, your relationship with her is-"
"Unique, yes I am aware." Maura interjected, seeing Korsak wince out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't put her finger on precisely why, but there was an element to the direction of the conversation that felt like betrayal.
Frost shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"I've heard some impressive things." Anna said, linking her fingers together around the stem of her wineglass, "How do you do it?"
The feeling in Maura's stomach swelled in into irritation. Again, she found herself unsure of why.
"Caring for a patient isn't exactly impressive." She answered, doing her best to hide the edge in her voice. "It's my job."
"From what I've heard it's more than that."
An uncomfortable prickle began to crawl up Dr Isles' neck. The idea of discussing Jane in this way seemed… wrong. Maura had always been taught it was impolite to ignore, or disregard a conversation mid-way through, and sure enough - her Mother's voice began to ring loudly in her ears as she battled between the desire to do the right thing and the need to be rid of the conversation entirely.
"I know you believe she is the key to the surgeon." She said, gaining only a small amount of satisfaction from the varying degrees of surprise directed at her. Maura placed her half-finished wine glass on the bar and lowered herself off her stool, reaching for her handbag. "I am aware of the transfer of her case to the FBI and the circumstances. Aware they think she was working with him. That she's protecting him."
Like foreign objects she wants to choke on her own words. Even as she spoke them a new flash of anger erupted from deep within her. They had known… they had both known the entire time, and said nothing.
"Doc wait-" Frost began, glancing worriedly at Anna. "-We didn't want to tell you."
With a sigh, Maura shook her head.
"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" She asked him, "Wouldn't work it out?"
"Maura."
The uncommon use of her first name drew her attention immediately, and she turned to find Korsak leaning forward, cradling his beer in both hands, looking down.
"It is in her file." The sergeant's voice was soft, his message almost apologetic in its simplicity. He looked up. "It's all there."
You didn't want to see it.
Maura's anger instantly dissolved, replaced by a flush of self-conscious heat that she could feel colouring her chest and cheeks. She berated herself for her foolishness.
"I see." Was all she could think of to say.
She did.
And she didn't like it.
"Hey, Maura-" Anna reached her left hand across her body, resting it on the Doctor's forearm. "I'm sorry." She said, gently. "I shouldn't have brought it up."
"It's alright-" Maura shook her head. "-I should be the one to apologise."
For letting this get to me… for letting Jane get to me.
"No," Rubbing her hand up and down Maura's arm a few times, Anna smiled. "You came here for a drink, not an interrogation." She let go and leaned back, "I get unreasonably impatient some times. Just ask Barry."
Barely missing a beat, Frost chimed in, muttering a clearly audible "No Kidding" under his break. Receiving a healthy slap on the thigh for his troubles, he winked in Maura's direction as Korsak attempted to conceal a chuckle. Slowly, the stinging sensation behind Maura's ears began to subside.
"Stay…" Anna coaxed, gesturing to her drink "-We both know a vintage of this calibre shouldn't be left behind."
Maura blinked at her in confusion. "I thought you didn't- Oh." She said, realising what she had initially missed. "My apologies. I am not always good with sarcasm."
"Forgiven." The officer's smile broadened. "If you can forgive my inappropriate line of questioning earlier. Sometimes I forget I'm off-duty."
"It's entirely understandable." Maura lifted herself back onto her barstool, hooking the strap of her handbag around her elbow. "With what is at stake, I can't imagine the pressure you are under."
With a shrug, Anna picked up Maura's glass and held it gently outward for the doctor to take.
"Spending my days and nights looking into the lives of every 30-50 year old white male medical professional on the East Coast… does get a bit monotonous." Anna lifted her own glass and took another sip, taking her time to swallow it before adding, somewhat tiredly- "Not to mention full of dead ends."
It hit Maura like a tiny itch she couldn't scratch. A detail that didn't sit quite perfectly in her over-analytical mind. Maura stared into her wine, thoughtfully, until suddenly, blinking, she looked up to Anna, pursed her lips and tilted her head.
"Why professional?"
This time, it was Anna's turn to glance at her husband, who, now visibly more relaxed, raised one eyebrow and popped a peanut into his mouth. Korsak hid his reaction behind a fresh beer. Maura looked between the three of them, twirling her wineglass on the top of her knee.
"Why do they have to be a medical professional?"
Holding Frost's gaze for a moment longer, Anna shrugged. "FBI profiler says that's the direction we go." She answered. "Therefore-" She made a sweeping gesture around her body with her hand. "-we go."
"Curious." Maura said, "I would have thought, given the precision of the murders coupled by the taunting of authority-" She reached over and picked up an olive, shrugging slightly as she went to place it into her mouth. "-the profile would be… different."
Something flashed across Anna's face. Maura recognised it instantly.
"Different how?" Anna asked.
Realising what she was doing, Maura's eyes widened and she shook her head. She had had enough embarrassment for one night.
"Forgive me." She said. "I get ahead of myself sometimes. It is purely curiosity. I am hardly qualified to-"
"No wait." Anna stopped Maura mid-sentence, "Pretend you are." The tone in her voice was not as forceful as her words might have suggested.
Frost's hand still found Anna's knee, and he squeezed it gently.
"Anna-" He warned.
She batted him off. "Please, I am interested."
"Well…" Maura swallowed her olive carefully and picked up a second. "The killer has Sociopathic tendencies."
"One thing everyone appears to agree on, yes."
The doctor glanced quickly between Korsak, Frost and Anna.
"Several studies show…" She began carefully, attempting to gauge their reactions as she spoke. "-that the most common traits of a sociopath, along with a distinct lack of empathy, is their disinterest or inability to commit to a single person, relationship or vocation. Both of which are completely at odds with being able to sustain a career in the medical profession." Maura paused, suddenly holding up one finger "-Unless they are a medical examiner, perhaps." She corrected before continuing. "But either way, even the most famous documented sociopathic serial killers – Ted Bundy, Glen Ridgeway... held a variety of different jobs, all of which allowed them flexibility in location and time. To be a doctor, you have to be registered, accredited… go through years of training… It just… doesn't seem to fit the profile."
Anna Frost leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.
"There are plenty of serial killers who are doctors."
"-Yes but they kill their patients." Maura interjected. "And in those cases, they are crimes of greed, or anger, or some self-imposed righteousness." Becoming acutely aware of the scrutiny she was under, Maura clasped the wineglass between her hands. "I'm simply saying," She continued. "-rather than looking for a current practicing professional, I would have expected the profile would have been of a person who once practiced medicine… but for whatever reason – was forced to stop."
"As in fired?" Frost asked. Neither he, nor Korsak had made a single move since Maura began speaking. Not even to drink their beer.
Maura thought on the suggestion, before finally nodding. "That would be one possibility, yes."
Anna shook her head in disbelief.
"How do you know all this?"
Maura took the last sip of her wine and returned the glass to the bar. "I studied psychology through college." She said. "I thought it might help me be a better doctor."
Anna stared at Maura for several seconds, blew out a loud breath and shook her head, turning to her husband.
"I see what you mean." She said to him. "She's good."
The compliment settled uneasily on the doctor, causing her to shift uncomfortably in her seat. She was seconds away from making the decision to leave when suddenly, Anna slapped her hand down on her thigh.
"You know what? Subject change." The woman said, her face instantly illuminated by a bright smile. "Can someone please tell me how we get a decent wine list in this place."
Frost rolled his eyes. "See?" He said to Korsak, who immediately laughed.
Right at that moment, Maura knew exactly what to suggest for their anniversary.
"She fascinates you, doesn't she?"
Anna's question - as much as the diversion of topic - caught Maura off-guard, and several glasses of wine in she took some time to assimilate what the other woman was referring to.
It was now past eleven. Anna and Maura were well into their second bottle – having found the offerings slightly better than what they could get by the glass.
In the opposite corner, Korsak was teaching Frost "house rules" billiards… though nobody was entirely sure whose 'house' these rules had been derived from, especially when empty beer glasses were added to the table as a semi-permanent obstacle course.
Apparently, house rules say that once per turn you can trap a person's ball under an upturned glass.
…Only if you down the beer in one go, first.
"I mean Rizzoli." The officer clarified, then smiled shrewdly. "-why do you think the dangerous ones keep our attention?"
Maura chuckled. "Perhaps, it is the allure of the unknown."
Anna raised an eyebrow. "What is unknown about Rizzoli? She seems a pretty cut-and-dry killer to me."
The comment grated against Maura immediately, words hovering uncomfortably around her ears. Well-aware her reasoning was now likely being at least partially influenced by the last two or three cabernets, she took care with her response.
"I have found the opposite." She said. "Jane's case tends to bring up more questions than answers."
"Like what?"
She stared at Anna for several seconds, debating whether to share the detail that had been at the forefront of her mind from the moment she realised it.
Finally, she answered.
"She doesn't remember killing those people."
Anna scoffed lightly, waving away Maura's comment with an errant hand.
"Most murderers will say they didn't do it, if they had a chance." She said. "That's prison."
But Maura shook her head. "She wants us to believe she did." She turned in time to watch Frost attempt a shot from behind his back, and fail, eliciting a crow of triumph from Korsak. "It's how I found out the FBI was involved." She continued. "I asked Lieutenant Cavenaugh for the medical records from Jane's arrest."
She saw Anna's surprised blink out of the corner of her eye.
"Why?" Anna asked. "What do you expect to find?"
"I don't know." Maura lifted her glass to her lips. "An answer maybe…" She allowed the wine to coat the inside of her mouth and bite down on her tongue like only a cabernet sauvignon could do, then swallowed slowly.
Anna's own wine was paused just below her chin. "I'm… not sure I follow." She said.
Maura contemplated for a moment.
"In medical diagnostics my job was to assess symptoms, find links between them, work out what was causing them and come up with a treatment plan." She said. "In diagnostics, all signs have to be treated as potential symptoms, and vice versa." She made a sweeping motion in the space in front of her. "Everything is on the table. Then with investigation, and elimination, and experience…" she moved her hands closer inward. "You start to narrow down potential causes, until-" She pointed to an invisible spot. "You find the right one."
Anna raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like a long process."
Maura shook her head. "Not at all. You learn to ask the right questions, and never jump to conclusions too early, despite how obvious the original situation may seem."
"But nine times out of ten, isn't the most obvious conclusion the correct one?"
"Oh- Absolutely." Maura agreed. "Actually closer to ninety nine out of one hundred. But if you get it wrong-" studying Anna's face she pressed her lips into a thin line, then shrugged. "-it could cost someone their life."
The other woman nodded slowly, looking down and chewing on her bottom lip as if she was weighing Maura's comments against her own rationale. Eventually, she narrowed her eyes, and lifted her head again.
"Do you believe Rizzoli didn't do it?"
An immediate reflex pulled tightly at Maura's throat, causing her to swallow uncomfortably and taking the doctor a full three seconds to regain her equilibrium.
"I believe…" She began, clearing her throat slightly to make room for more air. "-that is the wrong question."
It was clearly not the answer Anna was expecting. Leaning back, she folded her arms over her chest, pressing the base of her wineglass into her left bicep.
"Then what is the right one?"
"There are two." Maura answered, inspecting an imperfection in the polished wood floor. "Firstly, why would a person, who can't remember committing a crime, be so sure they did do it they would plead guilty…"
"And second?" Anna asked
Maura paused for several moments, then looked back at her. "Assuming they did do it – which all the evidence points to… why would they not remember?"
Anna nodded slowly, but said nothing.
They descended into silence. Maura watched the small handful of patrons still milling about the bar. Without the consistent hum of conversation, the mix of juke box music and late night sports television settled an eerie anxiety in the air; as if the building itself had become impatient for them to leave.
Maura closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath then opened them again.
Pool cues under-arm, Frost and Korsak were engaged in deep conversation over their beers. Neither had played a shot in fifteen minutes.
"Maura."
Anna's voice startled Maura a bit, but she turned.
"Dean, the FBI agent looking after this case…" She trailed off. "He's likely to be stopping by Bedford Hills tomorrow."
With a sigh, Maura nodded. "I suppose given the circumstances, it is to be expected," She said. "But I don't know what help I could possibly provide."
The look on Anna's face became almost apologetic, and she took the last sip of her wine, placing the glass on Frost's empty stool.
"They are aware of your… work… with Rizzoli." she clasped her hands together. "They see it as an opportunity for information."
Maura shook her head. "Jane won't talk."
"I know-" Anna said, with a small smile. Gently, the fingers of her right hand found Maura's forearm. "-I mean to be careful what you say. His only interest is in this case… and anything else, anyone else-" She emphasised her words carefully. "-nothing more than collateral damage."
Maura nodded, very slowly, as the realisation dawned on her that Anna Frost was not referring to her.
She was referring to Jane.
She was protecting... Jane.
Without thinking, Maura's hand found the one still resting on her forearm, and squeezed the fingers underneath her palm.
"Thank you." She whispered.
There was something… different, about the way Dr Isles woke the next morning.
Something had changed since her conversation with Anna the night before.
So it was with an air of confidence that she dressed; choosing a smart, deep blue suit and a freshly pressed, crisp white blouse, and the highest-heeled shoes she could stand to work in.
She ignored the second-glances from her orderlies, and wide-eyed stare from Akerman.
She postponed a meeting with Susie.
Sure enough the call came, just past ten o'clock. Someone was there to see her.
And when she stood in front of her office door, she took a moment before opening it to smooth down her skirt, adjust her blouse, tidy her fringe and straighten her shoulders.
She was ready for Agent Dean.
With a sure hand she twisted the door handle and pulled…
"Dr Isles?"
…she froze.
"My name is Frankie Rizzoli."
A/N: Huge thank you to everyone who dropped in to say hi after ch24 - especially those who have always come along for the ride! it really does keep the momentum going :) I think it's been about 8 months since I've posted two chapters within a week of each other! So thank you.
Things going along as planned still... maybe.. 2/3 of the way through?
And maybe some light at the end of the tunnel?
Thank you again, for coming on this journey with me
Tx