Makes Sense
"C'mon, Steve, you've gotta be kidding," Jesse said. He was on the floor, lacking the energy to get up.
"Jess, did you land on back?" Mark asked, having a rough idea of how much it would have hurt if he did.
"No," Jesse said. "I landed on my side, but my back still really hurts."
Steve and Mark walked over to where he lay, and helped him to his feet. "Thanks guys," he said sheepishly.
"Next time you drop a bombshell, Steve," Mark sighed, "strap him to the couch first," he pointed to Jesse.
"Back to Frankie Pasco being dead, probably murdered," Ally reminded them.
"Yeah," Steve said. "The mailman said he hadn't been picking up his mail for a couple of days, so he knocked on the door. No one answered, so he picked the lock."
"As you do," Mark remarked. "I didn't know you had to be able to pick locks to be a mailman these days."
"He claims he did it in the interest of Pasco's health," Steve said. "Anyway, that's not the point. This guy found Pasco on the floor with a gun in his hand."
"Reverse, Lieutenant," Ally halted him. "You said murder. That picture you just drew us looks like a suicide."
"There were a lot of things that didn't add up to make it a suicide, but they made it a murder."
"Like what?" Jesse asked.
"For example, the angle that the bullet went in. If you think about it, the bullet would be virtually horizontal as it enters the side of your head. This bullet was pointing downwards, at a big angle."
"How tall was Pasco?" Mark asked.
"From what they told me over the phone, a bit taller than Jesse," Steve said.
"So the murderer would have been fairly tall, but not massive," Mark concluded. "Anything else?"
"Not for the minute, but when I go to the crime scene, I'll know a lot more. Want to join me?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
Ally was going to open her mouth to ask to join, but she kept it shut. If she aroused suspicion that she wanted to go, they would be watching her like hawks.
"Are you going now?" Jesse asked.
"We're going to be eating this lunch, which is probably burning right now, and then we'll go. And Jesse, before you ask, you are definitely not coming with us," Mark said firmly.
"Like I was planning on going anywhere," Jesse said. "It hurts to move."
"That's why you are having a week off to rest," Mark informed him.
After lunch, Mark and Steve left for the crime scene, which was located a few miles north of LA.
"So, what do you want to do?" Jesse asked.
"Well, get yourself comfortable on the couch, I'll get you a drink, and I'll find a film to watch," Ally said. Jesse propped himself up on the sofa, and Ally handed him a drink.
"There's some videos in my bag," Ally said. "I'll look through them. Here's the remote, channel-flick or something."
Jesse did so for about five minutes, and then he lightly dozed off. Twenty minutes later, at just gone two o'clock, his eyes flicked open.
"Hey, Ally?" he called unsteadily. Jesse sat up and waited for a reply. "Ally? Al, are you there?" He got up, and winced at the pain in his back. "This is what a really bad sunburn feels like," he muttered to himself.
He stumbled around the house, and looked in every room before finding no one there. He reached a nearby phone and punched in the numbers for Mark's cellphone.
"Mark?" Jesse stuttered, anxiety showing in his voice.
"Jess? What's up?"
"Ally's gone," Jesse tried to remain calm as he relayed the short story to Mark. "I could see it in her eyes before she left, she was up to something. I think she's probably going where you both are."
"Okay Jess, don't panic," Mark said. "If we see her, we'll tell you directly. If not, I'll call someone, maybe Amanda or Alex, and get them to start looking."
"I could…"
"You, my friend, are going to lay on that couch and do practically nothing else, understood?"
"By practically you mean…"
"Use your common sense for that one," Mark chuckled. "But seriously, its doctors orders."
"All right, all right," Jesse mumbled. He put the phone down, and waited impatiently for news.
Steve and Mark arrived at the scene, and were greeted by a team of officers. "There's no one upstairs right now," one of the policemen said to them. "It's all yours. We're investigating the surrounding area right now."
Steve nodded, and escorted his father to the apartment. They came to the door, and it was unlocked. "Do they usually leave these places unlocked?" Mark asked, stepping between the crime scene tape, which littered the corridor.
Steve merely grunted, and stepped into the apartment. The moment he did so, he heard a rustling noise. He pulled his gun from his holster, and motioned for his father to step back.
"Police!" Steve barked to the noise. "Come out with your hands up!"
The rustling stopped, and footsteps padded towards them. "Ally!" Mark gasped.
"Oh, hi, you took your time," Ally remarked. She turned around and walked back into the bedroom.
Steve looked at his gun and considered firing a warning shot to grab her attention, but Mark saw his son's thought processes and stepped between them. "I'll handle this," he signalled.
Mark walked after Ally into the bedroom, and crouched down beside where she was sitting. He was about to start lecturing her, but he noticed her odd behaviour. "What are you doing?"
"See these?" Ally held up some ripped and torn shreds of paper.
"What about them."
"This is the mail from the three days before Pasco was killed."
"So?"
"Well, think about it. There are bills and stuff here, and a couple from three days before the guy was found. They were all in one mass, not separately, in this trashcan. And, they were all ripped in the same places."
"Carry on," Mark said, liking the way that Ally was thinking.
"Well, how about this? The murderer kills Pasco, and then comes back a few days later to pick up the bills to make it seem that he was killed later then his actual time of death."
"But, why do that?" Mark asked.
"Obviously to go to CG and try and blow Jesse and me up," Ally told him.
It started to make sense to Mark. Someone was out to get Ally. The murderer would kill Skelley, and send Ally off on an airplane to live with someone. But, they would rig the plane so that it would crash on the way.
But, they find out that Ally never got on the plane, so they track her down and find where she lives. So, destroy Ally, and then place the blame on Pasco, who had a pretend motive anyway. Then, make out that Pasco killed himself. This plan goes well until Ally survives.
"It makes sense," Mark murmured. "Ally, you are in a lot of danger, and so is Jesse. We have got to find out who did this before they succeed, and you may be able to tell us who would want revenge against you."
"I didn't just take up a career as a psychic, Mark," Ally told him. Mark inwardly rejoiced at the fact that Ally called him by his first name. "How can I tell you?"
"I think there has to be a link between this murderer and an event that happened in your past," Mark insisted. "Oh, I've got to call Jesse to tell him that you are okay." Ally got up to leave, but Mark pulled her back. "Don't go yet," he whispered. "I came in here to give you a good talking to for running off like that, and I'd better do that before Steve finds I haven't."
"Ah, he won't care," Ally brushed the idea aside with her hand.
"You think?" Mark snorted. "This is his investigation, and if the Captain of the station sees that a twelve-year-old girl found her way into it, Steve will be in deep trouble."
Ally muttered something under her breath but Mark chose to ignore it. "Hey, Jesse?" Mark asked as someone answered the phone.
"Mark? Have you found her?"
"She's here with me, and she's safe," Mark told him.
"She won't be safe by the time I get my hands around her neck," Jesse growled.
"Jesse," Mark warned. "Learn to be a good parent. That means not throttling the child each time they do something wrong." Ally smirked as she heard this part of the conversation.
"All right, all right," Jesse muttered. "But she is still getting told off when she gets back home."
"I wouldn't be so hasty, Jess," Mark advised him. "Ally here has been investigating and has found some great evidence."
"Really?"
"Really," Mark confirmed. "Listen, I've got to go now. Ally will be back soon, escorted by yours truly. And remember, don't go anywhere. The skin on your back could split with too much movement, and that would be very messy."
"Consider me stationary," Jesse told him.
Mark put the phone down, and turned to Ally. He had lost the will to tell her off. "Just pretend I told you off," he sighed. Ally hung her head for effect.
Mark walked into the room where Steve was seeing the body being taken away. "Find anything?" Steve asked.
"We did," Mark said. He explained about the letters in the trashcan, and he gave details about the murderer's possible plan.
"And you figured all of this out?" Steve asked, pointing to Ally.
"Steve," Mark gave a warning to his son.
Steve rolled his eyes. "All right." He decided to change the subject. "One of the officers found a suicide note a few blocks away, in a trash can."
Marks eyebrows shot up. "If this guy was murdered, and the murderer figured out that Ally wasn't dead, then why not totally destroy the note, not just throw it away?"
"I'm guessing that this guy is getting careless and is beginning to panic. I mean, he's had at least two chances to kill Ally and they've both failed. I'm guessing his plan is starting to fall apart."
Mark nodded. "All right, I think that's enough for one day. Are you done here, Steve?"
"Yep," Steve told him. "Nothing more to do here, for the moment. By the way Ally, that's the last investigation you attend without my permission."
"But…"
"No buts," Steve replied.
"You wouldn't make a very good Dad," Ally told Steve. "You wouldn't let your kids have much fun." She walked off and Steve turned to Mark.
"I wouldn't take it personally," Mark said. "Her idea of a father figure is someone who lets her do whatever she wants."
"But Jesse hasn't done that, has he? I mean, she behaves for him."
"Sure he does," Mark drawled. "That's why she ran away from the house not too long ago. Is that behaving?"
"Probably not," Steve chuckled.
"C'mon, Steve, you've gotta be kidding," Jesse said. He was on the floor, lacking the energy to get up.
"Jess, did you land on back?" Mark asked, having a rough idea of how much it would have hurt if he did.
"No," Jesse said. "I landed on my side, but my back still really hurts."
Steve and Mark walked over to where he lay, and helped him to his feet. "Thanks guys," he said sheepishly.
"Next time you drop a bombshell, Steve," Mark sighed, "strap him to the couch first," he pointed to Jesse.
"Back to Frankie Pasco being dead, probably murdered," Ally reminded them.
"Yeah," Steve said. "The mailman said he hadn't been picking up his mail for a couple of days, so he knocked on the door. No one answered, so he picked the lock."
"As you do," Mark remarked. "I didn't know you had to be able to pick locks to be a mailman these days."
"He claims he did it in the interest of Pasco's health," Steve said. "Anyway, that's not the point. This guy found Pasco on the floor with a gun in his hand."
"Reverse, Lieutenant," Ally halted him. "You said murder. That picture you just drew us looks like a suicide."
"There were a lot of things that didn't add up to make it a suicide, but they made it a murder."
"Like what?" Jesse asked.
"For example, the angle that the bullet went in. If you think about it, the bullet would be virtually horizontal as it enters the side of your head. This bullet was pointing downwards, at a big angle."
"How tall was Pasco?" Mark asked.
"From what they told me over the phone, a bit taller than Jesse," Steve said.
"So the murderer would have been fairly tall, but not massive," Mark concluded. "Anything else?"
"Not for the minute, but when I go to the crime scene, I'll know a lot more. Want to join me?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
Ally was going to open her mouth to ask to join, but she kept it shut. If she aroused suspicion that she wanted to go, they would be watching her like hawks.
"Are you going now?" Jesse asked.
"We're going to be eating this lunch, which is probably burning right now, and then we'll go. And Jesse, before you ask, you are definitely not coming with us," Mark said firmly.
"Like I was planning on going anywhere," Jesse said. "It hurts to move."
"That's why you are having a week off to rest," Mark informed him.
After lunch, Mark and Steve left for the crime scene, which was located a few miles north of LA.
"So, what do you want to do?" Jesse asked.
"Well, get yourself comfortable on the couch, I'll get you a drink, and I'll find a film to watch," Ally said. Jesse propped himself up on the sofa, and Ally handed him a drink.
"There's some videos in my bag," Ally said. "I'll look through them. Here's the remote, channel-flick or something."
Jesse did so for about five minutes, and then he lightly dozed off. Twenty minutes later, at just gone two o'clock, his eyes flicked open.
"Hey, Ally?" he called unsteadily. Jesse sat up and waited for a reply. "Ally? Al, are you there?" He got up, and winced at the pain in his back. "This is what a really bad sunburn feels like," he muttered to himself.
He stumbled around the house, and looked in every room before finding no one there. He reached a nearby phone and punched in the numbers for Mark's cellphone.
"Mark?" Jesse stuttered, anxiety showing in his voice.
"Jess? What's up?"
"Ally's gone," Jesse tried to remain calm as he relayed the short story to Mark. "I could see it in her eyes before she left, she was up to something. I think she's probably going where you both are."
"Okay Jess, don't panic," Mark said. "If we see her, we'll tell you directly. If not, I'll call someone, maybe Amanda or Alex, and get them to start looking."
"I could…"
"You, my friend, are going to lay on that couch and do practically nothing else, understood?"
"By practically you mean…"
"Use your common sense for that one," Mark chuckled. "But seriously, its doctors orders."
"All right, all right," Jesse mumbled. He put the phone down, and waited impatiently for news.
Steve and Mark arrived at the scene, and were greeted by a team of officers. "There's no one upstairs right now," one of the policemen said to them. "It's all yours. We're investigating the surrounding area right now."
Steve nodded, and escorted his father to the apartment. They came to the door, and it was unlocked. "Do they usually leave these places unlocked?" Mark asked, stepping between the crime scene tape, which littered the corridor.
Steve merely grunted, and stepped into the apartment. The moment he did so, he heard a rustling noise. He pulled his gun from his holster, and motioned for his father to step back.
"Police!" Steve barked to the noise. "Come out with your hands up!"
The rustling stopped, and footsteps padded towards them. "Ally!" Mark gasped.
"Oh, hi, you took your time," Ally remarked. She turned around and walked back into the bedroom.
Steve looked at his gun and considered firing a warning shot to grab her attention, but Mark saw his son's thought processes and stepped between them. "I'll handle this," he signalled.
Mark walked after Ally into the bedroom, and crouched down beside where she was sitting. He was about to start lecturing her, but he noticed her odd behaviour. "What are you doing?"
"See these?" Ally held up some ripped and torn shreds of paper.
"What about them."
"This is the mail from the three days before Pasco was killed."
"So?"
"Well, think about it. There are bills and stuff here, and a couple from three days before the guy was found. They were all in one mass, not separately, in this trashcan. And, they were all ripped in the same places."
"Carry on," Mark said, liking the way that Ally was thinking.
"Well, how about this? The murderer kills Pasco, and then comes back a few days later to pick up the bills to make it seem that he was killed later then his actual time of death."
"But, why do that?" Mark asked.
"Obviously to go to CG and try and blow Jesse and me up," Ally told him.
It started to make sense to Mark. Someone was out to get Ally. The murderer would kill Skelley, and send Ally off on an airplane to live with someone. But, they would rig the plane so that it would crash on the way.
But, they find out that Ally never got on the plane, so they track her down and find where she lives. So, destroy Ally, and then place the blame on Pasco, who had a pretend motive anyway. Then, make out that Pasco killed himself. This plan goes well until Ally survives.
"It makes sense," Mark murmured. "Ally, you are in a lot of danger, and so is Jesse. We have got to find out who did this before they succeed, and you may be able to tell us who would want revenge against you."
"I didn't just take up a career as a psychic, Mark," Ally told him. Mark inwardly rejoiced at the fact that Ally called him by his first name. "How can I tell you?"
"I think there has to be a link between this murderer and an event that happened in your past," Mark insisted. "Oh, I've got to call Jesse to tell him that you are okay." Ally got up to leave, but Mark pulled her back. "Don't go yet," he whispered. "I came in here to give you a good talking to for running off like that, and I'd better do that before Steve finds I haven't."
"Ah, he won't care," Ally brushed the idea aside with her hand.
"You think?" Mark snorted. "This is his investigation, and if the Captain of the station sees that a twelve-year-old girl found her way into it, Steve will be in deep trouble."
Ally muttered something under her breath but Mark chose to ignore it. "Hey, Jesse?" Mark asked as someone answered the phone.
"Mark? Have you found her?"
"She's here with me, and she's safe," Mark told him.
"She won't be safe by the time I get my hands around her neck," Jesse growled.
"Jesse," Mark warned. "Learn to be a good parent. That means not throttling the child each time they do something wrong." Ally smirked as she heard this part of the conversation.
"All right, all right," Jesse muttered. "But she is still getting told off when she gets back home."
"I wouldn't be so hasty, Jess," Mark advised him. "Ally here has been investigating and has found some great evidence."
"Really?"
"Really," Mark confirmed. "Listen, I've got to go now. Ally will be back soon, escorted by yours truly. And remember, don't go anywhere. The skin on your back could split with too much movement, and that would be very messy."
"Consider me stationary," Jesse told him.
Mark put the phone down, and turned to Ally. He had lost the will to tell her off. "Just pretend I told you off," he sighed. Ally hung her head for effect.
Mark walked into the room where Steve was seeing the body being taken away. "Find anything?" Steve asked.
"We did," Mark said. He explained about the letters in the trashcan, and he gave details about the murderer's possible plan.
"And you figured all of this out?" Steve asked, pointing to Ally.
"Steve," Mark gave a warning to his son.
Steve rolled his eyes. "All right." He decided to change the subject. "One of the officers found a suicide note a few blocks away, in a trash can."
Marks eyebrows shot up. "If this guy was murdered, and the murderer figured out that Ally wasn't dead, then why not totally destroy the note, not just throw it away?"
"I'm guessing that this guy is getting careless and is beginning to panic. I mean, he's had at least two chances to kill Ally and they've both failed. I'm guessing his plan is starting to fall apart."
Mark nodded. "All right, I think that's enough for one day. Are you done here, Steve?"
"Yep," Steve told him. "Nothing more to do here, for the moment. By the way Ally, that's the last investigation you attend without my permission."
"But…"
"No buts," Steve replied.
"You wouldn't make a very good Dad," Ally told Steve. "You wouldn't let your kids have much fun." She walked off and Steve turned to Mark.
"I wouldn't take it personally," Mark said. "Her idea of a father figure is someone who lets her do whatever she wants."
"But Jesse hasn't done that, has he? I mean, she behaves for him."
"Sure he does," Mark drawled. "That's why she ran away from the house not too long ago. Is that behaving?"
"Probably not," Steve chuckled.