The murder case is finally solved, but not without danger for the team!
This chapter took a little longer to write than I anticipated and I'm really sorry for the delay. I hope you're all still with me on this one! Thank you all for your support and reviews so far. I hope you enjoy this chapter, all comments welcome.
Chapter 20.
The next ten minutes were chaotic to say the least. It was Ralph's voice over the comms that first alerted Cabe to the immediate problem. "Sanders and his date are heading for the exit!" He said, squinting as his eyes tried to focus on the grainy CCTV image on his laptop screen.
"Copy that," replied Cabe.
The video was still playing on the screen at the back of the stage. Kimberley squeezed Sylvester's hand tightly as the images of Charlie filled the screen behind them and he squeezed back. He understood how seeing pictures of someone you'd loved and lost to tragedy could make you both happy and sad in equal measure.
"Now Sametti's on his feet!" exclaimed Ralph.
"On it," said Toby and he nimbly made his way across the floor, skirting around the tables where the other guests were still finishing their meals.
"Herd them this way," urged Walter, running across the stage.
"Herd them?" repeated Cabe, pressing his finger against the comm in his ear. "They're not sheep!"
"But they'll act like sheep if we act like sheepdogs," replied Toby.
Happy rolled her eyes. "Woof," she said sarcastically as she ran across the room, pushing a poor unsuspecting waiter out of her way as she passed.
"Darlin', um... I'm surprisingly turned on by you barking like a dog," said Toby, momentarily distracted.
"Toby! Focus!" yelled Walter.
Sametti and Sanders suddenly found themselves unable to get away and it was obvious they were both in a state of panic. They looked at each other, then Sanders tried to sidestep Walter and Sametti did his best to get around Cabe, but they both quickly realised that they were cornered.
"I don't know who you people are, or what your game is," began Sanders. "But you're blocking my exit."
"My name is Walter O'Brien," explained Walter, in a calm, but strangely menacing tone. "And my game is justice."
"And now Walt's talking like Batman!" exclaimed Toby. "This is a very interesting development."
"Not the time, Doc!" snapped Cabe. Then he turned to Walter. "So who am I supposed to be arresting, Walt?" he asked.
"Arresting!" exclaimed Sametti. "Because of that dumb seaweed? Look, the dead guy was some kind of saint - saving the planet, I get that now - but I ain't gonna feel guilty about the seaweed."
"Fine, don't feel guilty about the seaweed," replied Paige, fighting to keep her voice calm. "But maybe feel guilty about killing a man?"
"Killing? Me?" Sametti took a step backwards as he spoke. "You don't think… wait a minute, I didn't kill anyone! I didn't even know the guy!"
"He's telling the truth," muttered Toby. "Think we already discussed this, Walt," he added, struggling to understand what Walter was trying to achieve. They knew Sametti wasn't the killer already, Toby had told Walter days ago based on their encounter at the morgue. "The only thing we have on this guy at the moment is faking the autopsy report."
"I know," agreed Walter. Then he turned to Sanders. "You seemed keen to leave just now," he said. "Something to hide?"
"Everyone's got something to hide," sneered Sanders. "Now get out of my way, before I call the cops."
"Oh, the cops are already here," grinned Cabe. "Did you forget? The Chief of Police picked up his award just before you did so don't even think about trying to run."
"I want a lawyer," replied Sanders, adopting an arrogant stance. "This is a joke."
"Don't see anyone laughing," Toby pointed out. "And you haven't been arrested… yet. You're not our killer either… but… you knew all about toxic seaweed. Oh… oh… guilt markers!" Toby waved his finger in the captain's direction.
"Guilty of what?" asked Cabe.
"Doctor Sametti was involved in chemical weapons testing for the military," Walter began. "Illegal testing," he clarified. "And it all came back to haunt you, isn't that right?" he added, glaring at the doctor.
Sametti opened and closed his mouth in disbelief, but could offer no defence.
"You were told to dispose of the evidence, or you were going to be exposed," continued Walter. "So you tried to dump it in the ocean, only Charlie Snyder found out and reported you to Sanders."
"But Sanders saw an opportunity," said Toby as the pieces started to click into place. "He agreed to help in return for… money?" He watched Sanders reaction, before correcting his guess. "No, this isn't about money is it… this is about way more than that…" Toby's face fell into a frown as he tried to figure out the details.
Paige looked from Walter to Toby with a puzzled look on her face. "Can someone please explain to us non-geniuses who killed Charlie?"
Before Walter could answer, Sametti and Sanders pointed to each other. "He did!" they said in unison.
"What!" exclaimed Sanders. "Me? You're the one who faked the autopsy report!"
"To cover your ass!" replied Sametti, indignantly. "After you strangled the guy."
Sanders turned to Walter. "You're not really gonna believe this jerk, are you? This whole thing got way outta hand when Snyder starting sniffing around. The doc here panicked and killed him. I wish I'd never agreed to cover for him."
"You've got a nerve, Captain," sneered Sametti. "After what we talked about that night…" he shook his head in disgust. "I didn't kill that lifeguard! You killed him before he could spill to the cops. No one was supposed to get killed!"
"OK, OK, enough!" yelled Cabe. "Can someone tell me what the hell is going on? Walter?"
Walter had been uncharacteristically silent while the two men had been throwing accusations at each other.
"Walter?" prompted Paige, but he said nothing.
"C'mon, Walt!" yelled Toby. "This is all getting kinda weird now. Care to share what's going through that genius head of yours with the group?"
Walter swallowed hard. "Neither of these men killed Charlie," he said, quietly.
"We already know that!" exclaimed Happy. "Although watching them accuse each other was kinda fun," she added, chuckling to herself.
"But…" began Walter. "But…"
"You're freaking me out a little now, One Ninety Seven," said Toby, suddenly concerned.
Walter pressed his finger to his ear. "Ralph, do you have eyes on Kaye Snyder and her boyfriend?"
"Who, I might add, is even more creepy-looking in person," added Paige with a shudder.
"I didn't get to speak to him yet" added Toby. "But I'll take your word on that one, Paige."
"Ralph!" Walter's voice was more urgent now.
Suddenly Paige realised her son hadn't responded. The colour drained from her face. "Ralph!" she yelled, trying to stay calm. "Ralph! Where are you?"
Without saying another word, Walter and Paige raced off towards the back office where Ralph had been monitoring the video feeds all evening. Toby and Happy followed with Sylvester and Kimberley hot on their heels.
Cabe spoke to one of the many representatives of the LAPD who had formed a crowd around the scene. "Arrest these two morons!" he ordered.
"For what?" asked a tall, skinny police officer who had earlier collected one of the bogus awards from Sylvester and who, like all the other officers in the building, had been pre-warned that the murderer would be revealed this evening.
"I'm not entirely sure," admitted Cabe. "But it has something to do with seaweed." With that he ran off after the others, leaving the police officers slightly bemused.
When Cabe arrived at the office, his worst fears were realised. The locked door had been kicked in and there was no sign of Ralph. Everyone was in a state of panic.
Kaye Snyder was lying on the floor with Toby at her side. She had clearly been knocked unconscious and was just starting to come round.
Sylvester sat at the laptop screen, frantically tapping keys.
"What happened?" yelled Cabe.
"Don't know," admitted Happy. She clenched her fists tightly at her sides, trying to resist the urge to hit something.
This wasn't supposed to happen. Ralph was supposed to be safe in here. She couldn't help the anger that coursed through her body. Then she looked at Paige and realised she must be going through ten times what she was.
"Take it easy," urged Toby as he helped Kaye to a sitting position on the floor. He shone the light from his phone into her eyes and winced as the extent of her concussion became apparent.
"Where's my son!" yelled Paige, dropping to her knees beside Toby and getting her face uncomfortably close to the injured woman. "Who did this? Where's my son?"
Toby put his hand on Paige's forearm, trying to calm her, but she shook him free and he quickly realised even his skills were no match for her incredibly strong maternal feelings. She wasn't going to calm down until Ralph was safely back in her arms.
Paige got to her feet and headed for the door.
"Paige, wait," said Cabe, but she was already out of the room.
Cabe shrugged and ran after her and Happy followed them both. They had no idea if Ralph was even still in the theatre, but, like Paige, neither of them were prepared to stand around doing nothing.
Kaye tried to speak, but all that came out was a moan.
"It's OK," Toby tried to reassure her. Then he looked up at Walter who was standing perfectly still. Toby could almost see his mind working. "Walt?" he prompted.
"This… this is my fault," said Walter, quietly.
"Not the time for that famous Walter O'Brien 'I-blame-myself' crap, pal," snapped Toby. He glanced back at Kaye with concern before looking up again at Walter. "OK, so my guess is the creepy looking guy really is our killer?"
Walter nodded.
"And now he has Ralph!" exclaimed Sylvester as sweat began to bead at his temples.
Walter nodded again. His mind was running through scenarios and for a moment he couldn't focus. He should have explained his plan to everyone… but there hadn't been time. He shouldn't have left Ralph alone… but he should have been safe in this room.
Kimberley's voice cut into his thoughts. "He could be anywhere!" she gasped Kimberley, clutching Sylvester's shoulders tightly.
Sylvester nodded his head and tried to stay calm, returning his attention to the computer screens. "Someone pulled the plug on all the feeds," he announced, hitting the keys on the keyboard harder than before as if that would somehow bring the blank screens back to life.
Then suddenly Walter's eyes widened. "We should be able to track his phone!" he said and he sat himself next to Sylvester and began working on the other computer.
Kaye grabbed Toby's arm. "Pete… Pete killed Charlie… I… I had no idea…" she gasped.
"It's alright, just breathe," urged Toby. "This isn't your fault."
Kimberley leaned in towards Sylvester. "Pete?" she whispered.
"Her creepy looking boyfriend," Sylvester explained in a low voice and Kimberley's eyes widened with recognition.
"There!" exclaimed Walter suddenly as the main screen filled with a string of numbers. "Cabe! You still with me?"
"We're in the parking lot," came Cabe's voice over the comms. "Nothing here," he added, dejectedly.
"Listen, Cabe, Ralph's phone is still in… in the building!" explained Walter, urgently. "I'm just getting a location… got it! He's up in the lighting gallery!"
"Copy that," replied Cabe.
"We'll meet you there, boss!" added Happy.
"Be careful, Hap!" Toby called out. "Pregnant! Remember?"
"Haven't forgotten, Doc," came Happy's reply.
"I'll stay here with Kaye," said Kimberley and she crouched beside the injured woman.
Toby nodded and followed Walter out of the room.
Sylvester was about to follow them, but then he looked back at Kimberley and something made him change his mind. He knew Walter and the others would do everything they could to find Ralph, but a surge of feelings coursed through him and he didn't want to leave Kimberley here alone, not with a murderer on the loose. Instead he got to his knees beside her and helped her tend to Kaye.
Walter was first up the steps to the gallery and he flung the door open as Cabe, Paige and Happy joined Toby right behind him.
Paige thought her heart was going to beat its way out of her chest. Her worst fear was that something bad would happen to Ralph. She'd tried to protect him, but she realised a long time ago that when it came to working with Scorpion she couldn't stop him using his skills to help the team solve whatever problem they had, especially now he was older. She still wished she'd insisted he stay behind this evening though.
For a moment no one could see in the dark and Walter almost tripped over some lighting cables as they all ran into the room. Then suddenly they heard a voice.
"Walter? Mom?"
Paige's heart skipped a beat. "Ralph!" she called out, just as Happy found the light switch.
Everyone squinted as their eyes got used to the sudden brightness. Ralph was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room with his arms tied to a post. Walter and Paige scrambled to get to him.
"I'm OK, Mom," he insisted as they quickly untied the electrical cord that had been loosely wrapped around his wrists.
Paige pulled him into a hug as soon as he was free, kissing his hair and stroking his back. "Are you OK?" she asked. "Are you hurt? Let Toby check you over."
Toby took a step closer, but he quickly realised that Ralph appeared to be uninjured.
"Mom, I'm fine," insisted Ralph as Paige released him from her arms. He turned to Walter. "The creepy looking guy! He's the murderer!" he said urgently.
"I know, Ralph," replied Walter. "I know… and I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms around Ralph and tried to calm himself, forcing dark thoughts from his mind.
"Walter, he's scared and confused," continued Ralph, pulling himself out of Walter's clutches. He glanced at Toby. "I was reading markers," he explained. "He doesn't have a plan."
"And a killer on the run without a plan is dangerous," said Toby. He pressed his finger to the comm in his left ear. "Sly, you there, pal?"
But he got no response. Toby exchanged a worried glance with Walter.
"Sly!" yelled Walter. "Can you hear me?"
Still no reply.
"Come on," said Cabe and he raced out of the room.
"Oh my god," said Paige under her breath as she followed them.
She couldn't believe this was happening and a part of her wanted to blame Walter. Why hadn't he just gone to the police with his suspicions? Why had he dragged them all into this ridiculous plan? She knew there would be a good reason and she would have to talk to him about it later. Right now though her only concern was Sylvester and Kimberley's safety.
She needn't have worried.
By the time they all got back to the office, Pete Mullins was pinned face down on the floor with Kimberley's knee in his back. She had his right arm pulled tightly behind him and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't free himself.
Sylvester stood behind her. The minute Mullins had burst into the room he'd picked up the nearest heavy object – Walter's laptop – ready to hit the villain with it, but he hadn't needed to do anything at all. He'd just stood there in stunned silence as Kimberley had taken him down.
"Sly? What the hell?" Happy voiced everyone's amazement as they waited for an explanation.
Cabe ran forward and helped Kimberley restrain the man, quickly producing handcuffs from his pocket and snapping them around his wrists.
Sylvester put down the laptop and dragged Kimberley to her feet and into his warm embrace. "You… you were incredible," he said and he pressed a kiss into the hair on the top of her head.
"When you lovebirds have finished," began Toby as he walked over to check on Kaye who was still on the floor looking very dazed. "Would either of you like to tell us what happened here?"
"Kimberley," began Sylvester by way of explanation. "She… she… how did you…?"
Kimberley blushed hard. "I take classes," she explained. "Self-defence. Hey, when you spend half your life in a bathing suit you get… y'know… unwanted attention. Some assholes don't get that I'm out there working. So I need to be able to handle myself."
"You can sure handle yourself," replied Cabe with an approving nod.
Paige smiled broadly at her. "I think I want to come to your classes with you," she said and Kimberley laughed and nodded. Then Paige turned to Walter. "So I guess it's case closed?" she offered.
"Yes, indeed," agreed Walter. He swallowed hard just as two uniformed police officers arrived to help Cabe with the arrest. He stood back as Mullins was taken out of the room and let out a slow breath wishing, for once, that a Scorpion case could go smoothly. "Case closed."
xXxXxXxXx
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!"
"Not now, Doc," Happy called out as her husband's voice filled the silence at the garage. "We're all exhausted."
"But I'm going to announce the winners of the inaugural Scorpion Awards," replied Toby, climbing onto a chair as he spoke. "Sponsored by Doctor Tobias M. Curtis."
Happy glanced at Cabe and they both rolled their eyes.
"No one's in the mood for your games, Toby," insisted Walter. "It's late, we all want to go home."
It was almost midnight now and the events of the evening had become a blur Walter's mind. The important thing was that Charlie Snyder's killer was in custody. Kaye was being kept in hospital overnight for observation, but other than that no one else had been hurt. Ralph was safe. Paige was safe. His family were all safe and Walter couldn't be more relieved.
"But you've won Ego of the Year, pal!" continued Toby. "Come and collect your award."
Walter just scowled at him.
"And of course the award for Wife of the Year goes to Happy, the light of my life and mother of my children," announced Toby. "You'll get your special prize later when we get home," he added with a wink.
Sylvester screwed up his nose. "Gross," he muttered under his breath.
"Where's my award, Doc?" asked Cabe.
"Oh, you mean the Lifetime Achievement award," grinned Toby. "That's what they always give to the old people, right?"
Allie leaned over to Cabe. "You kinda asked for that," she said with a smile.
Cabe laughed and shrugged. Then he kissed her. "You ready to go home?" he asked.
"Absolutely," she replied and they both got to their feet.
"And Kimberley wins the Dark Horse award," continued Toby with a grin. "For being awesome!"
"Of course she's awesome!" replied Sylvester and he proudly threw his arm around Kimberley, but she said nothing.
Toby's grin faded and he stepped off the chair and walked over the join them. "Hey," he said, gently. "It's been a long day, but it's over now. It's all over."
He watched as Kimberley nodded, clutching Sylvester's hand tightly as she did so. Her body language spoke a thousand words to him.
"I should take you home," said Sylvester. His mind was filled with the memories of kissing her. It had only been a few hours ago, but he longed to do it again. He didn't know if it would happen again tonight, but he knew it would happen soon.
"Yes, please," replied Kimberley in a quiet voice. "I just need to use the bathroom first."
Sylvester's face was etched with worry as she walked away. She'd been very withdrawn since they'd got back and he understood that they were all exhausted after everything that had happened at the gala, but she seemed particularly affected.
Toby slapped his arm affectionately. "She needs you tonight," he said. "Don't let her sleep alone."
"Huh?" replied Sylvester, his heartbeat increasing at Toby's words.
"I'm not talking about any funny business," Toby tried to explain. "She's been fighting hard to hold herself together since Charlie died, but now the whole thing's over she needs to release some of that grief and she shouldn't do that on her own."
"What… what do I need to do?" asked Sylvester.
"Just be there, let her talk," replied Toby. "Hold her, reassure her. It's perfectly normal, but it's not gonna be pretty. She's got you, now, though, so she'll be fine," he added with a smile.
"I… I… me?" replied Sylvester.
"Come on, pal," grinned Toby. "Falling in love with you these past couple weeks has been the only thing keeping her together."
"What? Falling in… what?"
Toby grinned. "And you feel the same. Can't hide it from me," he said. "You guys are great together."
From the comfort of the couch, Paige watched as everyone began leaving the garage. Ralph was asleep with his head on her lap and she tenderly stroked his hair. She couldn't believe that he was approaching his fifteenth birthday, it seemed like only yesterday that she'd brought her newborn son home from the hospital as a scared, young, soon-to-be single mom. It had been the beginning of so much hardship, but now they had a home and a family and Paige almost didn't dare to hope that it could be like this forever.
"You staying tonight?"
She looked up as Walter approached and smiled at him. "Sure. Looks like Ralph is out for the count already," she said, quietly.
"I'm… I'm sorry about what happened," said Walter. "I had a plan, but…"
"When do our plans ever work the way we expect?" asked Paige, laughing lightly.
"I honestly thought Sanders, or… or Sametti were involved in the murder," he explained.
"So did they," noted Paige dryly. "It just shows how important communication is in any kind of relationship," she noted with a wry smile.
"Agreed," nodded Walter. "Turns out Sametti was just paying Sanders to keep his mouth shut about dumping the chemical weapons and… and Sanders was trying to cover up the seaweed problem, or he would have had to have shut the beach and then his links with Sametti could have been exposed and his solid reputation would have been in tatters."
"So why did Kaye Snyder's boyfriend kill Charlie?" asked Paige. She had been struggling to piece it all together.
"He was doing research about the… the seaweed dying and found it wasn't actually dying any more, in fact it was experiencing prolific growth," replied Walter.
"Because of all the chemicals in the water," nodded Paige as she began to understand.
"And then he got in contact with Sanders about it behind Kaye's back," continued Walter. "It all had to do with that book Kaye released, the one that was panned by her peers. Mullins was trying to rescue her reputation, but… but he didn't like the fact that Charlie was poking his nose in. He was insanely jealous, so he confronted Charlie, but I… I guess things got heated and Mullins snapped."
"And strangled him," said Paige with a shudder. "Jealousy can do funny things to your head," she noted. For a moment she remembered how she had behaved a year ago when she thought Walter had been cheating on her – even though she knew he hadn't been cheating, just the thought of it had sent her crazy and she'd almost lost everything because of it.
Walter nodded. "I'll fetch a blanket," he said. "If you're OK with Ralph sleeping on the couch all night?"
"It won't be the first time," noted Paige.
Walter leaned over and kissed her tenderly. "Soon we'll have our own home," he reminded her.
Paige nodded. "This place will always be our home too," she reminded him. "It's Scorpion's home and Scorpion is our family, but I can't wait until we have our own little family home too, just you me and Ralph… plus whoever else we might be adding to our family," she added.
"Hmmm," agreed Walter and he kissed her again. "We should work on that some more… but not tonight. I… I don't think I…" he trailed off, blushing a little.
Paige giggled. "Don't worry, Walter," she said. "I definitely don't have the energy for anything more than snuggling and sleeping tonight."
Walter delicately brushed the side of her face with his fingertips. "That sounds perfect."
To be continued…