The team start - unofficially - working on the homicide investigation and Paige and Walter begin their search for a new home.
(Thank you to everyone for your comments on this story so far, I hope you enjoy this chapter!)
CHAPTER 5.
"Autopsy report coming your way, Toby."
"Thanks, Walt." Toby walked over to his desk and perched on the corner. He scooted his laptop across and opened the file Walter had just emailed to him.
"I don't think I want to know how you got hold of that report do I," noted Cabe with a roll of his eyes.
"The Medical Examiner's office clearly don't know a thing about cyber security," replied Walter with a dismissive shrug.
Cabe walked across the garage to join Toby and peered over his shoulder at the screen. "The intel I got from my contact said cause of death was a single bullet wound."
Toby nodded as he scanned the report. "Yep," he agreed. "Bullet punctured the left ventricle and the pulmonary artery. Instant death."
"So he was dead before he entered the water?" Walter and queried.
"Yes," agreed Toby. "No sign of drowning, his lungs were clear. Walt, were there any photos?"
"None," replied Walter. "I presume that's unusual?"
"The ME's office don't generally meet the Walter O'Brien efficiency requirements," replied Toby. "I guess they'll show up later."
"Who shoots a lifeguard, anyway?" asked Happy, putting down the tools she'd been sharpening.
"That's the big question, Sugarplum," replied Toby.
"There!" exclaimed Sylvester triumphantly as he pressed one final button on his computer. "Everything I could find on the victim. Personnel files, financial records, outstanding parking tickets, everything. I'll ping it all to the monitor tree."
"Aren't we supposed to be investigating the suspects, not the victim?" asked Happy with a frown.
"We don't have any suspects to investigate yet," Walter pointed out.
"Maybe geniuses aren't cut out for detective work after all?" retorted Happy as she joined Walter, Toby and Cabe who had already gathered around the monitors.
"I'm pretty sure low IQ is an actual requirement, if the local cops are anything to go by," smirked Toby.
Sylvester quickly joined the others. "Started as a rookie lifeguard thirty six years ago," he began, reading from the screen. "Worked his way up through the ranks and at the time of his death he was semi-retired, only putting in a few shifts a month. Well respected, popular, reliable."
"All round perfect guy," noted Happy, dryly.
"Just like me," grinned Toby. Happy glared at him.
"I was gonna say - all round perfect guy, so he must have a dirty little secret," Happy explained, raising her eyebrows pointedly towards Toby.
"Don't be so cynical, kid," frowned Cabe.
"Happy may have a point," noted Walter. "Look." He pointed to one of the documents on display in front of them. "Six years ago he was suspended for eight months for being part of a group protesting against an undersea oil pipe."
"Eventually the environment agency forced the oil company to reroute the pipe to avoid a protected spawning ground for Cambarellus Pacifastacus Pisum," explained Sylvester. At the sea of puzzled looks from his friends he added. "The Pacific Pea crayfish, it's an endangered species."
"You think the oil company waited six years to get their revenge on one man?" queried Happy in disbelief.
"Doubt it," noted Toby. "But it shows he was passionate about environmental causes."
"Willing to jeopardise the career he loved for a bunch of prawns," added Cabe.
"A risk, not a bunch," said Walter.
Cabe looked at him with a confused frown.
"A risk of crayfish, that's the correct collective noun, the same as lobsters," explained Walter. "And crayfish are not prawns."
Before Cabe could offer a sarcastic reply about how much he didn't care about collective nouns, Paige and Allie arrived at the garage and Cabe skipped over to greet Allie with a kiss.
Walter quickly leapt to his feet and did the same for Paige, earning a knowing grin from Toby.
"Did you find what you were looking for at the mall?" asked Cabe, with a slightly worried glance towards the large number of shopping bags Allie was carrying.
"I did," replied Allie with a smile. Then she turned to Paige. "Thank you, Paige. A girly morning was just what I needed."
"Any time," Paige replied. Then she noticed the monitors and her smile faded. "Are you working on the investigation?" she asked.
"Yes," replied Walter. "B…but don't worry, I haven't forgotten our appointment with the realtor this afternoon."
"Checking out potential love nests?" asked Toby with a grin. Walter had told the rest of the team about their plans to get a place together.
"A suitable nest might be easier to find," noted Walter. "The only details the realtor has sent over so far are for entirely inadequate properties."
"We agreed to at least view some of them," Paige replied. "Just to get a feel for the kind of places that are within our budget."
"Distance to work, to Ralph's school and the availability of local amenities are important," replied Walter. "A feel – however one defines that – is not."
Walter was about to turn his attention back to the monitors when he saw Cabe's raised eyebrows and immediately realised that he'd done something wrong. Of course he shouldn't have dismissed Paige's opinions – particularly when they involved feelings. He could have kicked himself. He spun back round to face Paige. "I… I'm sorry," he mumbled. "You are correct, we should view them before making any decisions."
"Maybe we should talk some more about what we both want?" suggested Paige.
"I… I'll be happy with whatever apartment you choose," replied Walter, smiling warmly at her. To his disappointment and confusion, Paige didn't smile back.
"But this is a big step for us, Walter," she answered with a sigh. "We need to make the decision together. This is about us, not just me."
"O…o…of course, my love," nodded Walter. Beads of sweat had started to form at his temples as he felt himself getting out of his depth. He had assumed – wrongly it seemed – that allowing Paige to make all the decisions when it came to their new home was the right thing to do. "M…m…maybe we should input our preferences onto a spreadsheet for the purposes of statistical analysis? Then we can identify where our priorities correlate and concentrate our property search in those areas."
"A spreadsheet?" exclaimed Paige, but she managed to stop herself before she could say anything she might regret. A spreadsheet was the last thing on her mind, it reminded her too much of the mind numbing paperwork she did every day for Scorpion, but she realised that it was the perfect way for Walter to focus. Paige would have preferred a lively conversation over lunch in a nice restaurant, but she quickly realised that this was one of those times when she had to allow Walter to be a genius. If statistical analysis was the best way for Walter to communicate his thoughts on their search for a new home, then she was OK with it. "Walter, we'll sit down together and work on the spreadsheet this evening," she said. "Viewing these few places this afternoon might give us some ideas?"
Walter smiled and nodded emphatically. "Th…thank you," he said.
Paige stepped forward and surprised him with a kiss. "I love you," she said.
Walter deepened the kiss, before breaking away. "Paige, you know that I would never do…" he began, but Paige put a single finger on his lips to silence him.
"I know," she whispered.
"Either get a room, or get back over here, O'Brien," Happy demanded. "Sly dug up something weird."
Walter blushed hard and raced back over to join the others, almost tripping over his own feet in the process. Paige walked past on her way to the kitchen with a bag of groceries and caught Toby's eye on the way. He gave her a quick nod and she returned a smile, knowing he would understand how elated she was about the idea of putting down roots with Walter.
"What have you found?" asked Walter.
"There's an ex-wife on the scene," explained Cabe. "She's a marine biologist. They were married for eleven years, divorced six years ago, no kids."
"But according to his phone records, they've been in regular contact for the last year," added Sylvester.
"It's not unusual for couples to reunite," said Toby. "They were together for eleven years, that kind of connection doesn't just disappear. They've had six years to forgive and forget. It's human nature to focus the good times and gloss over the bad. That's one reason why abusive relationships drag on and on."
"But she's loved up with some creepy looking guy from the environment agency," noted Happy, pointing at a photo of a middle aged man on the screen.
"He does look creepy," agreed Sylvester.
"Oh well, case closed!" announced Toby. "The creepy looking guy did it. Cabe, arrest that man! Can we eat doughnuts now?"
Happy elbowed her husband and he yelped. "You've seen cop shows," she scowled. "We've gotta at least eliminate them both from our enquiries, right?"
"OK, OK," Toby conceded. "Sly, send me everything you have on the ex-wife and the creepy guy, I'll profile the heck out of the both of 'em."
"Excellent," beamed Walter. "Paige, we need to go or we'll be late for the first viewing."
"Good luck," called Happy as the two of them left the garage. "You're gonna need it," she added under her breath.
"Coffee, sweetheart?" asked Cabe as he wandered over towards the coffee machine.
"Thanks, babe," replied Toby with a huge grin.
"You can get your own, Doc," sneered Cabe and he began to pour himself a cup.
"Actually, I'd love tea," said Allie, giggling at the exchange. "Paige and I had cappuccinos at that new coffee house at the mall before we came home."
Cabe set his coffee cup down and headed for the kitchen while Toby joined Allie on the couch. "I take it you didn't talk to Cabe last night about the fostering idea," he noted.
Allie sighed. "I just didn't find a good time to bring it up," she replied.
"So yesterday you identified a void in your life and today you've filled it with a designer purse instead of a foster kid," replied Toby, pulling a small leather bag from amongst her shopping. "Quick fix, but it won't last." He glanced at the price tag and let out a whistle. "Geez, I'm so glad the love of my life isn't into these things."
"It's not like that," insisted Allie. "I will mention it to Cabe. It's just…"
"It's just you know he's perfectly happy with the way things are," Toby finished her sentence for her.
"Maybe," she conceded. "And don't get me wrong, Toby. I'm perfectly happy too."
"I know you are," he agreed. "But if you don't scratch this itch it'll never go away. Those 'what if' thoughts will always be at the back of your mind for the rest of your life and that kind of thing can be pretty destructive."
Allie nodded and smiled. "Thank you," she said. "You're right."
"Of course," winked Toby and Allie laughed. "So… you'll talk it over with him?" prompted Toby.
"Yes," she agreed. "Not here, though."
"Fishsticks!" exclaimed Sylvester suddenly. He leapt to his feet and stumbled backwards away from his desk.
"What is it?" asked Cabe, running back from the kitchen.
"I… I… I found the missing autopsy photographs," said Sylvester, pointing a shaky finger towards his computer screen. "I… I think I'm gonna barf."
"Deep breaths, pal," urged Toby as he and Cabe walked over to the younger genius' desk.
"What the hell?" asked Cabe, peering closely at the pictures on the screen. "I'm no doc, Doc, but shouldn't a guy who died from being shot through the heart have a bullet sized hole in his chest?"
Toby narrowed his eyes and looked at the photos. There was clear evidence that the autopsy had taken place, but definitely no evidence to support the official cause of death.
"I guess this explains why the photos weren't in the official report," said Sly, closing his eyes and desperately trying to erase the images from his mind.
"A cover-up," stated Toby, flatly. "Or incompetence," he added. "But I'm going with cover-up. Where did you find these, Sly?"
"In an encrypted email from the ME's office to County Lifeguard HQ," replied Sylvester. "I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep again."
"So we've gone from no suspects to four," Happy pointed out. "The ex-wife, her new squeeze and the sender and recipient of that email."
"I guess I need to pay a visit to the morgue," noted Toby. "Darlin', you with me?"
"I'd rather chew my own toenails off," replied Happy in disgust. "I'll give Kimberley a call instead, see if she can dish any dirt on her co-workers."
"Y'know, in a couple months you won't even be able to reach your own toenails," noted Toby with a wicked grin. Happy picked up the nearest oily rag and threw it at him, but Toby quickly ducked out of the way.
"The morgue is no place for a pregnant lady anyway," added Cabe.
Only Cabe could get away with statement like that and Happy was particularly willing to overlook it if it got her out of visiting the morgue.
"Sly?" asked Toby, knowing full well that he had more chance of getting his wife to accompany him than he did Sylvester.
Sylvester swallowed hard, still visibly shaken by the images he'd seen. "You and Cabe can go," he said. "You might need me to back you up from here. I assume you'll be entering under false pretences?"
"Well Cabe's Homeland I.D. should get him in," replied Toby. "But I'm gonna need my amazing wife to knock me up something. Seems only fair, after I knocked her up, right?"
"Only took you two years, Doc," sneered Happy, with just a hint of a twinkle in her eye. "But if it's I.D. you want, give me twenty minutes."
To be continued...