Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Rizzoli & Isles. The characters belong to Tess Gerritsen, Jan Nash, Janet Tamaro, and TNT. I am in no way profiting from this. It's just for fun.
So we've got a name for the victim, but what about her killer? Think we'll find the one who did it? Scroll down below to find out... ;)
I hit the big 21 today, so I'll be busy with birthday stuff for a little while but I luckily had the chapter ready to go. Thanks for reading! :D
When Dreams Become Reality Ch. 49
"We're so sorry for your loss, Mr. and Mrs. Cooke..." Jane apologizes to the victim's parents, the mother sobbing uncontrollably while the father is barely holding it together himself.
"Do you know who did it?" Ted Cooke asks through a clenched jaw, and both detectives can tell he's struggling to keep the tears at bay.
"Not yet, sir." Frankie tells him, but quickly adds "We're doing everything we can. We just need to ask you a few questions and piece together what led to this."
"Go ahead."
"Can you tell me where both of you were between the hours of 2 and 4 am this morning?"
Ted seems temporarily taken aback by the question, feeling insulted as if he was being accused. "Are you suggesting one of us did this to our own daughter?"
"No sir, we just need to cover every part of the investigation. It's routine."
"Well... Fine." Ted almost gruffly replies, but seems to be cooperative for the most part. "Martha and I had gotten back from an art gala last night around 11, and we turned in for bed at about midnight. We haven't left the house since."
"Is there anyone who can corroborate that, Mr. Cooke?"
"Ted, please." The broken hearted father politely insists, his tearful eyes and tone suggesting he didn't mean to snap at Frankie earlier. "And our maid, Nancy, can. She was cleaning the kitchen when we returned."
"We'd like to speak with her when we're done talking to you." Jane cuts in, and Ted nods his head once.
"Now..." Frankie begins, trying to word his next question as delicately as possible. "Where was Audrey supposed to be? We noticed you didn't file a missing persons report on her."
"She was at school, or so we thought." Martha Cooke suddenly speaks up, dabbing at her steady stream of tears with a tissue she had been clutching in her hands. "She goes to a boarding school in Paris. We didn't expect her here for another 2 weeks for Thanksgiving break."
"Audrey didn't call to tell you she was coming home?" Jane questions with a calm voice, making sure she doesn't upset the clearly devastated mother any more than she is.
"No, which is why I'm so shocked by this..." Martha admits with a sniffle. "I suppose it's possible she wanted to surprise us, but Audrey isn't like that. She knows we can be quite busy with our jobs and would wait for the holiday break to come home when we all have off."
"That makes sense." Jane agrees, but it doesn't explain why Audrey came back when she did. "Does she have a boyfriend or perhaps a girlfriend? Anyone you can think of that she may have wanted to visit in Boston?"
"She isn't seeing anyone that we're aware of. Audrey is... Was..." Ted stumbles over the past tense term, still in disbelief over the tragic loss. "So focused on her schoolwork. She didn't have time for dating, and we don't have any relatives left alive she would see. I'm not sure why she came back without telling us."
"Do you mind if we take a look in her room?" Frankie asks the married couple. "There's a chance we can find something in there that could help our case."
"No, of course. Go right ahead, Detective." Ted insists, gesturing his head towards the huge white staircase behind them. "Her room is the first on the right. You'll know which one is hers because of all the posters covering her door."
"Thank you."
Together, the siblings leave the weeping parents alone and go up the steps. Ted wasn't lying about the posters, every inch of the door covered in various bands and good looking teen idols.
"Reminds me of how we had our rooms back at the old house." Jane smiles sadly before opening the door and walking into the immaculately clean and spotless room. "Except this. My room was nowhere near as tidy..."
"Man, I can practically hear Ma yelling at us to pick up our things and clean up. Hell, she still does." Frankie chuckles softly at the memory of their childhood and a few times in recent years, and suddenly shifts back into detective mode. "It should be easy to find things in here. I'll start at her desk, you check the drawers, maybe she hid something somewhere."
"Yes, boss." Jane jokes, but gets right to work while Frankie does the same.
Frankie approaches the little desk in the corner, not much on it except for a laptop case, some papers, pencils and pens, and a lamp. He opens the two drawers and finds a binder in the bottom one, and pulls it out to flip through the contents.
As he does, a pamphlet falls out and onto his feet. The middle Rizzoli child picks it up to get a look, and says "Janie, come here."
"Whadaya got?"
"Could be nothing..." He mumbles as the pair inspect the folded paper together. "It's for a modeling agency on Hartford Ave. There's a form to fill out if you want to get some photo shoots done."
"You think she came back for modeling?"
"I'm not sure, but look at that registration deadline... It was last week."
"Interesting..." Jane says, taking the pamphlet from her brother to read the information herself. "The ages are from 13 to 18, so she fits that criteria. It doesn't say anything about parental consent to sign up, but we should talk to them and see if they know anything about this."
"Right."
When the Rizzoli detectives come back into the living room a few seconds later, they see Ted comforting his wife Martha as fresh tears fall from both of their eyes.
"We found something in her room we'd like to ask you about, if that's ok?" Jane inquires, and is given a quiet yes in response. She hands Ted the modeling pamphlet, and he is clearly puzzled by it. "Did you know your daughter flew back to Boston for a photoshoot this week?"
"We had no idea... I knew she was interested in modeling, but I told her that wasn't a legitimate career to have. That's why she went back to school a few months ago, to get an education then eventually graduate to become something important. Like a doctor or lawyer."
Jane and Frankie briefly exchange glances at one another when they hear the obvious dislike in Ted's voice over Audrey wanting to be a model, and turn their attention back to the man as Jane continues questioning him.
"Mr. Cooke, have you spoken to your daughter recently? Was there any indication she was unhappy at school?"
"No." He flatly replies, which strikes the detectives as odd. "She told me she was enjoying herself and was glad I kept her in line."
"Kept her in line?" Jane repeats, hiding her slowly growing frustration and dislike of what appears to be a very controlling man.
"Yes. I made sure she went back to school... She didn't like it at first, but after a few weeks, she got used to the curriculum and students there. We'd talk often over the phone about how her academics are going. She just aced one of her science finals from what I heard."
"That's great to hear, I'm sure your daughter was a very bright girl. You both must be proud." Jane says, carefully keeping the sarcasm out of her voice. Frankie knows her well enough and can tell she's on to Ted, but plays along with his sister.
"We should be going now, Jane." Frankie announces, trying to make sure Jane doesn't say the wrong thing to Ted just in case he's involved in Audrey's death. "Ted, Martha... I promise you that we will be working this case with everything we've got. We will find who did this."
"Thank you, Detective." Martha gratefully replies, standing up to shake his and Jane's hands, Ted doing the same after her. "Please find Audrey's killer and put them away for the rest of their life. I can't bear the thought of a killer ending the life of some other poor girl, too."
"We'll do our best, ma'am." Jane responds with conviction, subtly eyeing Ted who is now her prime suspect in the case.
After saying their goodbyes and promises of calling in case something came up, and also getting the maid's phone number to confirm the alibi, Jane and Frankie leave the Cooke residence and head back to their sedan.
"You noticed how Ted didn't like Audrey becoming a model, didn't you?"
"Hell yeah I did." Jane scoffs in disbelief, finally able to let some of her anger out now that Ted isn't nearby. "I was ready to knock him out when he said about keeping Audrey in line."
"Believe me, so was I... But we're gonna need more than just a dickhead personality to nail this guy."
"So you do think he's good for a suspect?" Jane asks rhetorically. "Well, you're the lead detective on this case. Tell me what you think."
"I think when Audrey came back to be a model, Ted found out and didn't like that too much. There was a reason she didn't tell him she was flying back to Boston and skipping out on school." Frankie theorizes as he takes the keys from Jane, wanting to drive back to BPD. "We should get back to the station and look into her flight information and see exactly when she came back to town."
"Good plan." Jane says as she slides into the passenger seat. "I'm picking the music."
"What?!" Her brother nearly shouts. "How is that fair? You had the radio on the way up here."
"Yeah, but I had to put up with your loud ass snoring. So deal with a little Black Sabbath for a few minutes."
"Psh... Why listen to them? Aerosmith is way better."
"Just shut up and drive." Jane orders with a laugh, and the pair continue their bickering over which band is better the whole way back to the station.
When Jane and Frankie stroll into the homicide bullpen nearly an hour later, the brunette woman is surprised to see Maura sitting at her desk.
"Hey." Jane greets her with a warm smile and peck on the cheek. "What are you doing here? I thought you were too sick to come in today."
"I couldn't stay away." Maura pulls out a small package from her purse and shows it to Jane. "I went to the pharmacy to get something to help with my morning sickness. Although it comes and goes, I think this medicine is already helping me some."
"I don't want you to overdo it, remember? You know how tired you get these days."
"I know, but I'm fine." Maura insists, smiling at Jane's worry for her. "I'm only going to sign off on a few things and catch up on paperwork in my office. And if Doctor Drake needs my assistance, I'll be nearby."
"Ok..." Jane says, still a little unsure but trusts Maura's judgement. "Just promise me if you feel a little bit sick or tired, you'll tell me and I'll take you home."
"I will." Maura nods, but doesn't have any intention of missing more work if she can help it. "Now catch me up on the case. What's going on?"
"Well, we've already got a suspect. Ted Cooke, the victim's father..." Jane begins filling her in, sitting down next to Maura. "He seemed nice at first, but then I got a really bad vibe from him."
"Like what?"
"Controlling. The way he didn't like Audrey wanting to become a model, and then he said he had to keep her in line."
"Does he have an alibi?" Maura wonders.
"Frankie is calling their maid to confirm it... But I think there's a good chance he's the killer. I won't put my money on him yet, we still have to check out this modeling agency Audrey went to."
"What else did you find out?"
"Not much. Just that Audrey secretly flew back from her boarding school in Paris. That explains why no one recognized her when we showed her photo around at a few schools... I'm gonna check her flight information now." Jane starts typing on her computer, taking a minute to pull up the information needed. "Her passport says she flew in to Boston last week at Logan International."
Maura leans over and looks at the screen as well, but it doesn't really tell them much. Just flight times.
"I'd say your best bet is to talk with the modeling agency." Maura says to her wife, who is in fierce concentration. "Maybe they can tell you something."
"Yeah, that's all we got. We can't pin anything on the dad just yet... Hey, Frankie!" Jane calls over to her brother, noticing he had just gotten off the phone. "You get anything?"
"Their maid confirms the alibi. Ted and Martha Cooke walked through the front door at 11pm while she was finishing up cleaning. She left a half an hour later."
"It's possible Ted left after she did, but we'll work on that later... Right now we gotta look into the agency."
"I can help with that." A voice suddenly announces, and all heads look up to see Korsak coming into the room on crutches.
"Korsak! Hey!" Jane grins, getting off her chair to walk over and hug her partner. "I didn't expect you to come back until next week."
"I got tired of sitting at home. I figured I'd get started on my desk duty now..." Korsak replies, hugging Jane as well as Maura, who had come over to welcome him back.
"It's great to see you back, Vince. How is your leg feeling?"
"Pretty good." The Sergeant answers. "It was sore for a little while but the more I walk, the better it feels."
"That's wonderful to hear."
"Thanks, Doc. So... How are the puppies doing? Angela told me Jo had them yesterday."
"They're doing well." The honey blonde tells him, a happy smile growing on her face at the thought of how cute they are. "They've got quite the appetite, poor Jo is so exhausted from all the nursing she's doing."
"I bet. I've had my fair share of raising dogs over the years, so I know how tiresome new mothers can get. Speaking of which..." The older of the two trails off. "How are you? You still feeling sick?"
"No, I fortunately am not. I picked up some medicine to help with my sickness earlier today, I made sure to double check with the doctor which one to take."
"That's good, we sure miss you around here. I know Jane has been miserable without you." Korsak teases his partner, who had went over to talk with Frankie and Nina.
"Hey!" Jane playfully shouts, having caught his words. "Can you really blame me for missing that?"
"Jane..." Maura blushes at her, although it still warms her heart to know Jane finds her attractive. She has been feeling badly about herself lately, what with the slight weight gain and not being able to fit into certain dresses anymore. But Jane has been so attentive and caring, constantly assuring Maura she looks beautiful.
"Don't Jane me, Maur." The brunette walks over to her, placing both hands on Maura's hips. "Everyone in this building needs to know I've got the hottest woman in the world as my wife. Make them jealous."
"Does the same go for me, then?" Maura grins back. "You're quite the looker yourself, you know."
"Yeah, yeah..." Jane tries to brush the compliment off, knowing if she gets into that talk with her, it'll never end. She lets Maura win this one. "We have an address on the modeling agency, so we're going to check the place out now. You gonna be ok here without me for a little bit?"
"Yes. Be careful, my love."
"Aren't I always?"
"Don't get me started." Maura laughs, trying to hide her disappointment when Jane removes her hands from her waist. "I'll see you when you get back."
"What can I do for you, Detectives?" Richard Dilmore, the manager of the modeling agency, asks Jane and Frankie after they introduced themselves.
"We're hoping you can help us with a case we're investigating." Frankie responds, taking out his phone to show Richard the photo of the victim. "Do you recognize this girl?"
"I don't know her face, but I know that name. She was supposed to come in for a shoot and never showed up. It's a shame, we would've refunded her money if she changed her mind. What's this about, anyway?"
"We're looking into her murder."
"Oh wow..." Richard gasps, stunned by the information. "I'm sorry to hear about that, but what does that have to do with us?"
"We discovered a pamphlet for this agency in her room, and we have reason to believe she was coming here."
"I'm sorry, but like I told you... She never showed up. We received her application and money for the shoot, but that's all the interaction we had. Neither me or any of my staff has met her in person."
It's then that Jane finally speaks up, having a question of her own.
"Do you think it's possible she did come here, perhaps when you weren't around?"
Richard shakes his head. "That's highly unlikely. I started this business myself and I rarely take a day off, and that hasn't been for a while. I'm here all day until closing."
"Do you mind if we take a look around?"
"Be my guest."
As Jane and Frankie walk around the large building, they see camera equipment everywhere. Teenagers wearing all sorts of different outfits are posing behind them as the photographers snap the shots, encouraging them enthusiastically.
"What a dog and pony show..." Frankie mumbles under his breath. "Kids shouldn't be doing this kind of thing that young."
"Yeah tell me about it. The way they're dressed is outrageous." Jane agrees as yet another teen runs by, wearing a bikini that barely covers her body. "I wonder if the parents knew what their kids signed up for."
"Either they don't care, or don't know."
"Maybe Ted found that pamphlet and looked into this place too, and definitely didn't like what his daughter would be doing. Let's go talk to the manager again, maybe he knows Audrey's father."
When they reach the front of the building again, Richard is just getting off the phone of what appears to be an angry and upsetting call.
"Sorry about that." He apologizes. "Sometimes parents don't like what we charge."
"Speaking of parents..." Frankie begins. "Do you happen to know Audrey Cooke's father, Ted? Have you seen him or talked with him on the phone?"
"I get angry calls all the time, like you saw just now. Sometimes they're anonymous... People hating on us promoting the young body. But it isn't like that. We don't sexualize underage people at all, and in fact promote a better wardrobe and style for teens to enjoy. So what if we happen to have a bathing suit line and photo op, kids go swimming don't they?"
"Yeah they do..." Jane says, noticing how they didn't get a direct answer. "So is that a no?"
"I can't say for sure. Maybe he did call anonymously, and if he did, he didn't mention any names. And I never met him in person, either. I would definitely remember an angry parent coming in to complain, we've gotten a few of those before. Not many, though, a lot of parents don't seem to mind this line of work."
"Thank you for your time, sir." Jane replies, signaling to Frankie that it's time to go and track down leads elsewhere. "We'll be in touch if we have any more questions for you."
"Anytime... Call or stop by whenever, I'll be here."
After parting ways with him, Jane and Frankie head back to their car again, and drive back to BPD. Both are frustrated that they have no leads, finding that the business and manager seems to be in the up and up.
"Jane, perfect timing." Maura says as the siblings enter the bullpen. "I found something for you. Kent had to step away for an emergency phone call, so I resumed the autopsy for him and discovered something unique in the victim's stomach contents."
"That's great, Maur. What did you find?"
"Remnants of Thai food... I don't know if that's significant or helpful, but it's something."
"That is significant..." Jane dashes over to her computer, remembering something important. "There was a small Thai food restaurant right next door to the modeling agency."
"Yeah, that's right." Frankie recalls, thinking back to him craving some as they walked by it. "I'll call the place up. They might be able to help us."
"Way ahead of you, little brother... Phone's already ringing." Jane smirks, practically on the edge of her chair with excitement at the prospect of a good lead like this. "Hi, this is Detective Rizzoli-Isles. Can I talk to the manager or owner please?"
"That's me, Yosuke. Would you like to order something? We deliver."
"No, thank you. I'm hoping you can help me with a case I'm working on. Do you happen to have working security cameras by any chance?"
"Yes ma'am, we do. Just installed them last month after a robbery we had a little while ago."
"That's great. Would you mind sending the footage to my email account so I can take a look? I'll get a warrant if I have to."
"That won't be necessary, we like to help Boston's finest when we can. Just give me a moment to get it ready..."
While Jane is placed on hold, she puts the phone to her chest and asks the group "What do you think the odds are that Audrey went to this same Thai place?"
"I'd say pretty damn good. It can't be a coincidence she had that kind of food... I mean, yeah there's plenty of Thai places in Boston but there just so happens to be one right next door to the agency she went to? I'm not buying it."
Jane agrees with Korsak's assessment and is about to reply when the Thai manager speaks to her on the phone again.
"I have the footage ready to go. There's only a month's worth of it, but I hope that can help you."
"We only need this week, thank you. Just send it to me as soon as possible." She says kindly, and gives him her email. While she waits for the footage to be sent, Jane asks him about the agency next door. "What can you tell me about Richard Dilmore?"
"I like to call him Dick... Because that's what he is." Yosuke replies with a humorless laugh, obvious hate in his accented voice.
"I take it you've had problems with him, then?"
"Oh yeah. We've gotten into a few shouting matches on occasion, but a couple days ago it got physical."
"Did you call the police?"
"It didn't escalate to that, but I threatened to call and I think that's what calmed him down."
"What was the fight about?"
"Dick was being rude to a young girl crying, and slapped her right across the face. I saw them through my window and ran outside. I had a few choice words for him, and pushed him off the girl."
"Did you get the girl's name by any chance? We'll need to talk to her about it."
"I think it was Audrey or Aubrey... I can't be sure. She was crying and I couldn't really understand her voice, the poor thing. She even apologized to me, like she had something to be embarrassed about. I took her into my restaurant and let her have a bite to eat on the house. At first she refused, but I explained the origin of the word Thai. It means free. She seemed really nice and grateful, unlike that disgraceful excuse for a human being. I'd say the girl was around 16 years old. Tall, long brown hair, bright blue eyes..."
'Shit... This is definitely our victim.' Jane thinks to herself, grateful for the big break in the case. "I just got the email. Thank you so much for your help, Yosuke. I'll call back or see you in person if I need anything else."
"No problem. Good luck, Detective."
Jane hangs up the phone as the everyone in the room eagerly watches her pull up the footage, all hopeful it would show something that could help their case. She forwards it to Frankie, Korsak, and Nina to their computers, while Maura sits next to her and watches on her screen. They each select a day to sift through, so it gets done much faster.
"Right there!" Jane points out nearly a half an hour later, spotting Audrey leaving the agency in tears, the angle perfectly capturing everything.
Just as Yosuke had said, Richard is arguing with her and after she says something that clearly angers him, he slaps her across the cheek. Seconds later, the manager of the Thai restaurant storms out and puts a stop to it.
He gets in Richard's face, shouting at him. There's no audio, but it's clear he's not saying anything nice. Behind Yosuke, Audrey watches the display while she's still trying to stop her tears and rubbing her reddened cheek.
Richard looks over Yosuke's shoulder at his client, and goes back inside the agency. Yosuke makes sure he is in the building, and goes to check on Audrey. They seem to exchange a few words, before Yosuke gestures for her to come with him into the restaurant.
Jane fast forwards the footage until she sees Audrey emerge from the Thai place 20 minutes later, going back into the agency. It's only seconds later she's back out again, with a backpack slung over her shoulder. Wiping away tears with her sleeve, Audrey goes further down the sidewalk and out of the camera's view.
The time stamp shows it was just an hour before Audrey went to BPD.
"We've got the lying son of a bitch now." The Italian woman smirks, tapping her screen with a pen as the others come over to take a look.
"Do you think that physical altercation is why Audrey came to BPD?" Maura wonders aloud. "Maybe she wanted to report him?"
"I'd bet a year's salary on it. Frankie, let's go have a talk with our buddy Richard again."
Hmm... So was it the mean agency man or possibly the father who didn't want that career for his daughter? Leave your predictions in the reviews and find out what happens next soon! :D
Side note, the origin of the word Thai actually does mean free and Yosuke's name (which is also a Japanese name as well) means helping hand. I figured that was a cool little thing to add.
Also, the final chapter for my other in progress fic "Vengeance Without Borders" will be posted soon. So if you're interested, go check it out and let me know what you think. :)
