Chapter 26: Flying too close to the Sun
It was undeniably an exquisite setting, but the campus at Stanford was a world away from Lisbon's more utilitarian education experience. The state university she attended had served its purpose, but there had been no room for fripperies; it was all about delivering a cut price but perfectly sound education. Lisbon had to supplement her studies by waitressing part time to make ends meet, her social calendar revolved around the shifts at O'Brien's. Although her aunts and uncles had helped where they could, they had families of their own and could offer little in the way of financial support. The fact that they helped keep an eye on the boys while Lisbon went to college, was all that she could really ask of them.
A graduate of the school of hard knocks Lisbon took nothing for granted, and made the most of the opportunities presented to her. There were no gap years or road trips for the young Lisbon. Vacations were spent earning money to see her through the next year, and looking out for the boys when she wasn't working. In typical Lisbon fashion she accepted it all without rancour; it was just what life was.
Considering the circumstances of her upbringing, Lisbon thought herself lucky to have been able to better herself. There was no resentment that she had missed out on the highfalutin experiences these students enjoyed; her debating society was with the regulars at O'Brien's; their discussions may not have hit the esoteric heights of those of their Stanford counterparts, but they were based on the reality of everyday life rather than some notional hypothesis.
Lisbon just played the cards she had been dealt and got on with life, and that had pretty much summed up her attitude to work as well. For sure there had been things she didn't like, and she was never backwards in voicing her opinion, but never being prone to introspection Lisbon just did the best job she could in the circumstances, without worrying about what might have been. To Lisbon the manicured lawns and honey stoned buildings of this place of learning were like the Disney Land version of a university, it just wasn't real to her, it wasn't her world.
Jane half guessed what she was thinking, as she silently contemplated their surroundings. A gentle squeeze of her hand was rewarded by a smile and a return to a more businesslike approach.
"Do you ever regret not having a formal education Patrick?" Lisbon ventured.
"It's hard to regret what you've never experienced, and in truth I'm not sure formal education would suit someone like me, I'd be a square peg in a round hole. It's more than likely I would have dropped out, bored by having to work within the confines of narrow boundaries. I like to think I've learnt more in the University of Life than I would ever do in an establishment like this. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved Charlotte to come somewhere like this, but it's not for me." It was rare for Jane to mention Charlotte so openly; Lisbon detected a wistful look in his face as he said it, and she held on to his hand tightly as they made their way to the visitor centre.
Ignoring Jane's suggestion that they pose as prospective parents, Lisbon had contacted media relations under the guise of being freelance writers doing research. They had been granted temporary library passes to allow them access to the archives. Needless to say Lisbon had done her homework, and had already identified a couple of incidents in the relevant time line that warranted further investigation.
Jane paused for a quiet chat with the librarian, who was a veteran of forty years service. He attempted to elicit as much anecdotal information as he possibly could, leaving Lisbon to concentrate on the task of researching the basic facts. One thing that became immediately apparent was that for some reason Bertram had taken a year out before finishing his studies, and had ended up graduating a year behind Rutherford. While Rutherford had maintained a high profile throughout her tenure, there was little mention of Bertram after his early years.
Delving deeper into the societies that Bertram had been associated with, Lisbon took note of the names of fellow members for future reference. Lisbon already had a good idea what she was looking for based on her preparatory research. Following further examination of the Varsity Newsletters, she was soon able to correlate some of the names of Bertram's associates with those mentioned in the news articles, and eventually a more complete picture of events started to emerge.
A hazing tradition at the Icarus Society, of which Bertram was a prominent member, had backfired with tragic consequences. An aspirant candidate for membership had been tied up and left in a compromising position as part of his initiation, but unknown to those involved he had a rare insect sting allergy. Unable to access his adrenaline pen when he was bitten, he had gone into anaphylactic shock and was found dead by the unsuspecting girls who had been sent in to compound his embarrassment. The news articles revealed that not long after the incident, one of the committee members had apparently taken his own life in a fit of remorse.
Lisbon conveyed the bare facts to Jane over a mid morning beverage, prompting Jane to engage once more with the librarian in order to try and elicit further information, fortunately she was flattered by the attention and not averse to a spot of gossip either. Lisbon just shook her head in amusement, as she watched the old fraud lean in toward the librarian conspiratorially and work his charms on her.
The librarian was putty in his hands and was a veritable fount of information, as she remembered both incidents well. There had been rumours at the time that the hazing victim's cries for help had been ignored, but the committee members closed ranks, and with the help of some friends in high places the incident was largely glossed over. Although for the sake of appearances, the ringleaders had been told to defer for a year and keep a low profile thereafter.
The suicide had been investigated by the police as the ME had expressed doubts about the incident. The victim Gary Leach had apparently taken drugs before slitting his wrists. It was noted the cuts had been well placed and deep; exsanguination would have been swift. The ME expressed reservations whether the knife found at the scene had been capable of inflicting such clinically precise wounds. Given the high profile nature of the case, all concerned were happy to take the easy option of suicide, and sweep the scandal under the carpet.
The librarian recommended that they talk to Hugo Adler if they wanted to find out more, he had been part of the society at the time, but on completion of his course he had eschewed a lucrative private career in favour of working in probation services in San Francisco.
It didn't take long to track Adler down, and after some initial resistance, countered by a few veiled words from Jane, Adler was finally coerced into meeting them later that afternoon. The careworn appearance of the man waiting for them in the park belied his auspicious start in life. Whether it was penance for his misspent youth or a genuine calling, Adler had a world weary look about him after years of fighting the system to do the best for his charges.
"Why the sudden interest in this after all these years? I told the other guy everything I knew." Adler started wearily.
"Who exactly was the other guy?" Jane replied sharply, he hadn't expected that.
"Said he was a representing a client's interests, he had grey hair and eyes and was around 6ft tall. There was a slight New York accent if I'm not mistaken." Working in probation services Adler was used to making quick assessments of people's appearance.
"What did he want to know?" Jane persisted, not bothering to sugar coat the questions.
"Why the hell should I tell you that? I've no idea who you are and have no particular wish to revisit that time." Adler responded brusquely.
Lisbon intervened, a more subtle approach was appropriate at this time. "We appreciate you agreeing to meet us, and realise it may be wakening memories you would rather forget, but if you can help us with our enquiries we will be out of your hair. Now, what can you tell us about the Icarus Society and what happened with the hazing?"
Adler sighed heavily. "It's pretty much as reported, no-one knew about the allergy, we were just kids messing around. There was absolutely no intent to harm anyone."
"But still a young man died." Lisbon said softly. "We've heard rumours that his cries for help went unheeded, what can you tell us about that?"
Adler focused on some distant object and set his lips in a thin line, as he ruefully recalled the events of that day. "We didn't know there was a problem. You have to understand a hazing is meant to test the character, and when we heard his cries we just thought he was being a bit of a wuss. As they got a bit more desperate a few of us wanted to check up on him, but we were told to ignore it."
"Do you always do what you are told?" Jane interjected.
"Not anymore." Adler replied sadly.
Lisbon glared at Jane, and continued her gentle line of questioning. "So I guess you were all racked by guilt at what had happened?"
"Well some more than others. The hard core members were more intent on protecting themselves; they insisted we all hold the line, and deny we had heard his cries for help. A few of us were most unhappy with the situation, but it was made clear to us it was in our best interests to stick together." Adler's guilt at his part in proceedings was etched on his face.
"I assume that would be Bertram who put the pressure on?" Lisbon pressed her case.
Adler nodded slowly, reluctant to word the accusation.
Jane stepped in again adopting a more conciliatory tone. "So Leach was racked with guilt and wanted to break ranks and confess. How did that go down?"
"Not well." Adler replied, with a degree of understatement. "You have to understand these young men saw themselves as future leaders, they could not afford for that information to come out."
"Did Leach seem at all suicidal to you?" Jane was starting to get a bad feeling about this.
"I can't say he did, but he was a determined character once he had set his mind to something. He wasn't easily swayed by the arguments." Adler stared distractedly at his feet.
Being more cognisant with the case detail, Lisbon took over again. "You know the ME had doubts about the weapon at the crime scene being the one used to inflict the wounds? If you follow that train of thought through, the implication is that there was a third party involved."
Adler started to get a bit agitated. "Look it's just speculation, all I can say is that no one suggested coming clean again after that. I know nothing beyond that, but there were some very ambitious men around, who had no intention of letting their careers be wrecked. Why is all this resurfacing at this stage anyhow?"
"There are serious questions being asked at this moment, if anyone else asks you about it I would deny all knowledge. It's probably in your own interests to lie low at this stage. I'm sorry to have to bring this all back to you after all these years." Jane felt a degree of empathy with the man, he understood all too well how reckless actions could backfire, and Adler had clearly done his best to repay his debt to society.
Jane had been very quiet in the car on the return journey as he tried to make sense of the day's findings, and attempted to fathom out how they fitted in with the bigger picture. "We never found out why Haffner was attacked, I can't help wondering what he wanted to tell you. Didn't he make reference to Clyde's identity at some stage?"
"I did try to visit Ray, but the hospital said he had been discharged into a Visualise clinic, and I couldn't find out anymore than that. It did strike me from Adler's description, that the other interested party could well be Haffner." Lisbon frowned as she considered the implications of it all.
"Stiles would know about this, it would be unlike him not to have something up his sleeve in case things go awry. He was typically evasive when I met him, but I don't doubt he has all options covered." Jane wasn't too concerned about Visualise at this juncture, as their interests were presently aligned.
"What do you think we should do with this information, it doesn't prove anything other than lack of judgement? Although those findings on the suicide were interesting, especially if Leach had tried to break rank and was silenced. Maybe we should try and track down the other committee members and see if anyone breaks." Lisbon still had a week of her suspension left and could put it to good use.
"No, that's far too dangerous to do by yourself." Jane insisted, trying not to over react for fear of Lisbon digging her heels in. "But we could start by finding out about them, and decide what to do from there. If they have fulfilled their career expectations, the very rumour of misdeeds may be enough to threaten their positions; we could exert pressure by just dangling snippets of information before them. It probably wouldn't take much for one of them to turn on Bertram. There's no urgent deadline to this, let's be patient and cover all angles before we make a move."
Cho had a Zen like calm about him after an evening of uninterrupted peace and quiet, he had finally been reunited with his beloved novels. If he had pulled out his copy of Shirley in Rigsby's presence, there would have been hoots of derision. Finally he had been able to immerse himself in the trials and tribulations of the phlegmatic mill owner, without the prospect of being interrupted with the details of the latest arson scam.
Rigsby looked happy to be back at work, although he was still limited to desk duty at the moment, but that freed up Van Pelt to go back out in the field.
Jane approached Cho's desk, tapped it lightly and said "A tacit retreat in ten."
Cho's lips quirked, but he kept his eyes down on the report he was reading, contenting himself with a simple reply. "Roger."
Rigsby turned to Grace "What does all that mean?"
"It's the crossword case; they've been talking in riddles for the last few days. You explain Cho." Grace said impatiently.
"Jane just needs to talk." Cho replied without further explanation.
Rigsby was none the wiser, just assuming it was Jane being Jane. "OK, so what does Roger mean?"
"Roger." Cho smiled enigmatically.
"What sort of clue is that?" Rigsby turned to Van Pelt.
Grace just muttered, "better to get used to it Wayne, it's turning into Pseud's corner round here."
Cho made his way to the attic, wondering what was so important that it couldn't wait. Jane had long since cleared the attic of all things pertaining to Red John, but he still came up here when he needed solitude, and on the rare days when the black dog returned. Lisbon knew he occasionally needed that time to himself, and she never brought the subject up. In deference to his feelings, she rarely went in the attic giving him the space he needed to come to terms with things. The makeshift bed had been dismantled, but the chair and desk, together with tea making facilities remained. Jane had just finished scanning for bugs when Cho arrived.
"What's so top secret then?" Cho demanded.
"We found some interesting things out at the weekend, and it occurred to us that we still don't know if anyone knows Clyde's real name yet. We think it may be relevant and may explain why Haffner was attacked. I know we're officially off the heist case, but thought you might be able to find something out without involving the rest of the team." Jane knew he could trust Cho to be discrete.
"I'll see what's logged on the system, but bear in mind it's not necessarily going to be undoctored information, especially if they think we are on to them." Cho folded his arms as he considered potential ways forward.
Jane acknowledged Cho's reservations."I understand, but this is a real long shot. It's possible they don't consider we would ever make the connection, and would think they have nothing to hide. Lisbon has tried to contact Haffner herself, but Visualise have closed ranks around him and won't let anyone in."
Cho nodded. "I'll see what I can find out but we're pretty much ostracised round here – there are no favours left to call in."
"Look I know you're always careful Cho, but be very wary how you deal with this. If we are correct in our suspicions, this has the potential to bring Bertram down, and he and his cronies will try and take us down if they see the threat coming." Jane's expression conveyed the very real fears he had about moving forward on this, but he knew he couldn't stop Lisbon pursuing this, and the best he could do was manage the situation.