It was a busy morning at the precinct. "Full moon." Jane explained to Maura who looked overwhelmed by the ongoing noises and things at the reception hall of the precinct. "Full moon in Boston means a lot of crazy people." The brunette elaborated, taking Maura's hand to navigate her through a group of fighting people.
Maura stopped abruptly to look at one of them. "He has a…"
"I know. Just keep on walking or you'll never get to leave. I'm sure the paramedics are on their way."
The doc followed her to the elevators. "Up or down?" Jane asked with a smirk. Maura had recently taken over the morgue officially and mentioned that there was a lot of work with reorganizing. Jane and Frost were to interrogate the two man they had caught yesterday.
Maura seemed to hesitate. Jane was giving her an amused glance over the rim of her coffee cup. "You want to watch the interrogation?" she asked, sensing that her girlfriend was curious about that part of policework she had never gotten to witness.
"Can I?" Maura asked excitedly.
"Sure." Jane smiled and pushed the up button. "But I will have to take of the morgue afterwards." Maura seemed to feel guilty for not doing her tasks right away.
"Yeah. Sure. But your expertise in reading body language could come in handy with the interrogation." Jane tried to make her feel better. "Maybe, yes." The doc said satisfied with her new task.
R&I
Jane walked into the interrogation room with what Maura had once called her swagger. The sleeves of her shirt were rolled up and her entire body language said: I'll break you. Maura watched from the adjoining room through the famous mirror/window and just felt pure admiration for Jane.
"Mr. Jolly." The brunette addressed the man who was sitting across from her. "Or should I rather call you Mr. Benson?" The man smirked at her. "Call me whatever you want, once my lawyer is here I'm going to walk free."
"Tell me, why would that happen. We have got evidence. Including your nice walking stick filled with tiny bullets. Bullets covered in arsenic and guess what? They are just like the ones who killed at least 15 people." She paused to give him time to process. He still sat in front of her, his face showing a mischievous grin.
"Might be a coincidence." He suggested.
"I don't believe in coincidences Mr. Benson." Jane simply said.
The interrogation went on like this for about 35 minutes. Then Jane left the room because there was no chance to get anything out of him. His lawyer would come later so they were going to continue by interrogating Mr. Finn.
They just needed one of them to break down and they had the other. Meanwhile the lab was processing the marks of the bullets found in the victims and at the museum in Nairobi with the one from the stick. Frost and Korsak were working on the fraud connection and Juliet basically did the same with a partner from MI6.
"We are just warming up." Jane told Maura who wore a worried look. "This is totally normal. I'll be dammed if haven't got something by the end of the week."
"He's nervous." Maura stated slowly. "But he is convinced to walk free as well."
Jane glanced at her and then at the perpetrator in the room. "You read that from his body language?"
"Of course. But I'm not an expert. I just read a few books and went to some classes." Maura said in a concerned tone. Jane touched the docs wrist with a reassuring smile. "You are good at everything you do. I don't doubt your reading. Especially as my gut tells me the same." She winked before leaving the room.
By lunchtime both of their suspects had lawyered up and the Jane had called for meeting. She wasn't particularly concerned that they wouldn't be able to nail them for some crime. The only question was when they would be able to do so. The clock was ticking fast, and they only had 24 more hours to keep them in prison before letting them walk.
Maura had left earlier to overlook the process in the lab but returned with a tray of steaming coffee now. "Dr. Isles, you are the best!" Korsak stated with a smile and Maura looked mighty happy. From day one, even before Jane had returned from Nairobi, Frost and Korsak had welcomed her with open arms. They had even invited her to the dirty robber.
Jane who cleared her throat to make everybody focus. As if she was the sergeant and not Korsak. Everybody glanced at her curiously. "Guys, we need something. Anything! Please tell me that you found out some interesting Information about the fraud so we can link them together. Or the victims. It has got to do with the fraud."
Frost typed on his computer and then opened a page which through the beamer miraculously fell to the empty white wall at the end of the conference room. It showed a triangle reading: victims, murderers and fraud.
Jane rolled her eyes impatiently and Maura nudged her as so often to remind her to stay professional – or awake. The brunette sighed.
During the following five minutes Frost displayed all facts they had about every party. Then he gave jane an expectant glance. "We cant see the connection." Korsak stated lamely as if admitting a defeat. Juliet, who had silently followed the presentation stood to walk closer to the wall.
"There must be one. I'm with Jane, it has got to do with the fraud."
The brunette scratched her head. "Okay, lets start with the fraud again. How many people do you need to commit such a fraud. What Qualifications? What professions did our suspects have? Are there correlations between suspects and parents?"
Juliet, who had walked back to her seat took notes on her laptop. Frost meanwhile called on two lists. Parents – suspects. Everybody read through the lists. "No correlation." Maura who was the fastest stated.
"Dammit!" Jane exclaimed. "I'm going to get some fresh air and think." She informed the others and left the room.
R&I
"Do you want one now?" Juliet's voice drifted into Janes mind. The brunette shook her head. "No, thank you." She said and slightly pushed the offered pack of cigarettes away. She was glad when Maura joined them.
"Do you want one?" Juliet held the pack towards the blonde who tilted her head in no. It was cold and Jane who noticed that the doc had forgotten her jacket, got out of hers to hand it to Maura. The doc gave her a thankful smile.
R&I
Jane stood with Maura and Korsak in front of the window and glanced into the interrogation room. Mr. Bensons lawyer, a slimy guy in his mid-fifties was just joking with his client. Maura had miraculously turned up a fingerprint on the bullet which had almost hit her in Nairobi 3 hours ago. And it was a match to Mr. Benson.
It had been Janes idea to let their suspect cook for the whole 3 hours before walking into the room after shooting her girlfriend and former partner a triumphant glance.
"Oh, detective. Have you been sleeping? Haven't seen you in hours." The lawyer snarked mischievously. "Never mind. We are free to go now, right?"
"Not so fast." Jane snarked back. "Please, have a seat." Both exchanged a quick look and followed suit. "What now? Have you found something interesting?"
Jane slid the file over the table towards the men. "As I said Mr. Benson, I don't believe in coincidences. You made a tiny mistake in Nairobi. Remember when you tried to shoot Dr. Isles at the museum?" Jane grinned when the old man showed insecurity. "It wasn't me. I told you that I didn't kill anyone!"
"How come that your fingerprint is on the bullet then?" Jane watched amused how the man became pale. He swallowed hard and his lawyer opened the file in disbelief. "And while explaining it to me id also like to have an explanation about why the marks on the bullet match the marks on your weapon. I'm just curious."
"I didn't do it." The man stammered. The lawyer grabbed his arm. "You better say nothing more." He said sternly. "Well, you my friend are not going to walk out of here. At least not today. We have a search warrant for your house, your car and everything you own." Jane arrested him for attempted murder on Dr. Isles and read him his Myranda laws.
She watched in mere satisfaction how two officers put him in handcuffs and dragged him out of the room. Beforehand she had made sure that Mr. Finn saw how he got put away. "Now to you." She said with a smile, inviting him and his lawyer into the same interrogation room.
They had nothing on Mr. Finn, but she hoped to make him talk by offering a deal the DA had made. "If you talk you get less time. Have you ever been to prison Mr. Finn? I can tell you, that its not a very nice place." Jane opened.
The man shifted uncomfortably in his seat and searched for advice from his lawyer.
"We have fingerprints, we have the weapon, we have your friend. This is your chance."
"What did Mr. Benson say?" the lawyer asked.
Jane decided that it was time to bluff. "He sang like a canary after we showed him what we have."
The lawyer smirked. Jane watched him consult with his client by whispers for a minute. "Okay. What do you want to know?" Mr. Finn finally said just as Jane had expected. He was the weaker link of the group.
"Lets start with the fraud. Who else was in it?" Another bluff. Jane was aware that everything could go terribly wrong if she had pulled the wrong string. It was a wide fetch from the murders which they hadn't been able to connect to a fraud. But her gut told her that it was the right thing to do. And her gut was never wrong.
Mr. Finn paled visibly, asking for some water. Jane signed to the mirror and waited until Korsak brought a bottle into the room. She waited some more until almost the entire bottle had vanished within seconds.
"Its pretty hot in here." Mr. Finn complained suddenly. Korsak came back and signed Jane to come out. The brunette met Maura right behind the door. "I think that he s close to a heart attack." The doc whispered and Jane rolled her eyes. "Seriously. Isn't he just stressed?"
"Stress leads to heart attacks. Is it okay if I interrupt when things get too hot?" Jane glanced at the woman for a moment. "I don't want you near him. We just arrested his companion for attempted murder on you. It wouldn't look good. Let Korsak do it." The doc nodded. "Oh, and Jane?"
"Yes Maur?" the brunette smiled at her.
"Ask him how he got the scar on his hand."
"Why?"
"Just ask him." Maura said and Jane was not sure what this was all about now. But if Maura brought up the question it was probably a good lead to something incriminating.
Jane cleared her throat upon returning into the room. Mr. Finn looked more composed now. "How did you find out about the fraud?" he asked, less passive and more aggressive now. "We are not stupid Mr. Finn. We already knew in Nairobi. Although it took us some time to link it all together." She continued bluffing.
"Why don't you tell me then what happened?" Mr. Finn tried to provoke her. "This is an interrogation by the police. This means that I ask the questions and you answer. There wont be a deal if you don't cooperate. Its simple as that. We have one story, we want to hear a second one, so please focus and reply to my question. How many people were involved in the fraud?"
Mr. Finn glanced at his lawyer who nodded. "11" he finally said.
"Ah." Jane said and pushed a notebook towards him. "Could you please write down the names."
The man did with a huff. He was making it easy for Jane who flipped a few pages back to find the list with the couple's names. Boom! She thought. We have a correlation. They probably had compared the list with another list of aliases. God only knew how many aliases these people had. But if you have money you can buy everything.
"What happened to the money?" she asked.
"We split it up."
"But Mr. Grat, who was the only one who went to prison, refusing to give up all of your names got nothing?" Another guess. The pieces fell slowly into place in Janes mind.
"No, he didn't. Benson kept his part. By the time he got out his money was gone. Or at least the biggest part and Benson didn't want to share. So, he came to visit us all and ask for his share. But why should I give up my money for that stupid jerk?"
"All right. What happened next?" Jane asked.
"Benson invited us to this damn vacation in Africa. He wanted to pull us onto his side. He told us that Grat had to go. What neither of us knew was that in the meantime he had started to kill our sons and daughters. He told us that Grat had done it for revenge and that we had to get rid of him during the vacation."
Jane nodded. "You did it pretty quickly. But then you realized that it hadn't been Grat who had killed your offspring's because the murders continued right?"
"That son of a bitch betrayed us!" Mr. Finn suddenly yelled. "He killed my daughter!" Now the angry face turned into something else which Jane couldn't name. But after a few moments she realized that the man was sobbing.
"He killed my daughter and laughed me into my face. It was all Grat he said." Jane almost felt sorry for the man. But only almost.
"How did you get the scar on your hand Mr. Finn?" Jane bit her lip while waiting in anticipation.
"I followed him after realizing that he was the murderer. I took the same planes I followed him around. One day I was there in time when he wanted to kill the son of a friend." The man sobbed. "We fought. I had a knife, I wanted to kill him, but he shot me through my hand. That son of a bitch shot me!" Mr. Finn was yelling and jumping of his seat.
"I was a doctor once. I knew how to save myself. It hurt but I cut into my own flesh before the poison could spread. He made me shoot them. And then I became his companion because he threatened to give an anonymous tip to the police. What should I do? He almost killed me! I didn't want to die!"
"All right Mr. Finn. Calm down okay? Its okay. We arrested him today and if you are willing to recount the story on a witness stand and stick to what you told me today you will be okay. He is not going to hurt you."
"How do you know?" Mr. Finn sobbed again. "And I will go to prison."
"You will. But you also committed a crime and betrayed millions of people from their money. This was 20 years ago. You had a good life. A much happier life than all these victims. Don't you agree?"
Mr. Finn turned silent. The weakest link, Jane thought and sighed. Probably the only one who felt sorry or at least a bit ashamed of anything. "Mr. Finn, I have to arrest you for murder and fraud." It was the second time in a day that Jane read the Miranda rights and watched someone being handcuffed and closed away.
She stood and pulled the hand through her dark curls. Maura waited for her in the open door. "Hey." Jane mumbled placing a quick kiss on the blonde's lips. "Hi" said the doc. "I'm going upstairs to give Frost a lot of work. Finding all participants of the fraud and so and so forth. It will take us a while, but I plan to come home at 5pm at the latest."
Maura took a deep breath and sighed. "So, I'm going to reorganize the morgue and lab – finally." She chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Now that I have time for such unimportant things."
"Dr. Isles, are you being sarcastic?" Jane teased her and the doc laughed. "Well, I learned from the best."
Jane chuckled. "Okay. Then I'll come and see when its time to go home." Another quick kiss and they went separate ways.
Jane towards the bull pen where Korsak had already informed everybody that they had solved the mystery. Frost grinned at Jane who dropped the file and her notepad onto the desk to slump into her chair with a huff.
"This was really a hard one." She stated and grinned back at Frost.
"Bet we are never hearing any praise for it. But the governor will appear on TV during prime time to praise himself." Frost noted.
"You are 100 per cent right on that." Jane replied. When she glanced at Korsak he had a strange look on his face. "Can I talk to you for a sec. Jane?"
The brunette nodded and stood. To her surprise they walked into Cavanaugh's office. Her boss was making sort of the same face which began to scare Jane. "Is anything wrong? Did something happen to my family?" she felt panic rise.
"No, they are fine. At least as far as I know off." Cavanaugh stated. "Jane, remember how we talked about your job prospects?"
Jane nodded, her eyes studying Korsak who looked kind of sad but happy at the same time. "The governor said that you can have the job as soon as you took the exam."
"You are really leaving?" Jane asked her former partner. "Its time Jane. I'm over 60 and I don't want to spend the rest of my life chasing gangsters and murderers. I can leave because I know that you will do a great job. If you don't understand now, you will one day."
Jane felt the tears threatening to show. "I understand perfectly Korsak. And you are right. Enjoy life. We have it."
Korsak swallowed hard and then hugged Jane. "Its all settled then Jane. Do you think that two months will be enough to prepare?"
"She's clever, she'll do it in two weeks." Korsak winked at her. Jane bit her lip. "I'll go with the two months. I have a baby and a one-year-old now. Let's not over rush things."
They all laughed. "Okay. You can also have three months kid. That's the earliest I can leave anyways."
"We are going to miss you." Jane said and the elder man nodded. "We will keep in touch I guess."
R&I
Jane opened the door to what she presumed was Maura's office now. It turned out that her reorganization also included swapping rooms, so she had walked around in confusion for a while until she had finally been able to find the right room.
She found a couch in one corner and slumped into it after closing the door. Only to jump right off it. "Ouch! What is this? A torture instrument?"
"No, this is a real Raoul Henson couch. Isn't it beautiful?" the doc proudly padded over to the designer piece and Jane huffed. "I almost got killed by it."
"Come on Jane don't overdo this. Look its very comfortable." Maura pointed to the backrest. "Have you ever sat down on it?" Jane chuckled.
The doc said no but did only to stand from it immediately. "Probably not as comfortable as expensive." she mumbled. "I will call Raoul tomorrow and ask for another one. But I guess that you didn't come to test my couch?" Hazel eyes were studying Jane who was close to tears again.
"I just had a talk with Korsak and Cavanaugh. Korsak is going to leave in three months. If I pass the exam until then I'll become the new sergeant."
"That's great Jane! I can help you study if you need. You make it in two weeks I bet."
"It's just that I'm sad that Korsak is leaving." Jane burst into tears and let Maura pull her into a tight hug. "I know, honey. I know." Maura sighed.
"Its almost five. How about we call it a day and go home to our sunshines. I'll cook us dinner and make you a bath. We can snuggle up on the couch and talk."
Jane sighed. "Okay. Sounds good to me. I'll just text Frost that I'm out. Bet he has already found out the rest of the story two hours ago anyways."
