DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters. They belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.
A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews on this story so far. It's much appreciated. On with the next chapter...
Chapter 2
As they all walked into the examination room of the morgue, Dr. Morales was waiting beside the body. "What can you tell us Doctor?" Sharon said to him. "Well, he was definitely murdered" he started to say. "These ligature marks" he said as he pointed at the Dean's neck "are post-mortem". "This guy looks like he was in shape, a big guy like this should have put up a fight" Provenza said to them. "You're right Lieutenant, however he was incapacitated due to the fact that he had Ambien, Xanax, and Valium in his system" Dr. Morales stated. "So, he was knocked out before being murdered" Andy concluded. Dr. Morales nodded. "You will have my full report later today, Captain" Dr. Morales said and they walked out of the room.
"We need a full list of all of the Dean's associates, who he was close with on campus, and on a personal level" Sharon stated to Andy and Provenza. "We also need to go over the crime scene again. I want to look at everything that Buzz filmed" Sharon said. "I'll get things started" Provenza said to them and then walked away heading back to the office.
"You are right about something not adding up here, Andy" Sharon said to him. "So, now we are looking for a murderer" Andy said back to her as they were walking towards the elevators to head back upstairs. "Hopefully this list we generate will lead us to the right person" Sharon said to him. "I still don't like that Dean Campbell guy" Andy said as he stepped in to the elevator and held the door for Sharon. "Oh, yes, he is definitely on the top of my list" Sharon said to him as the doors closed.
It was now 8:30 in the morning and the team was breaking for some breakfast. Julio and Amy made a run out for coffee and doughnuts and were not back yet. Andy was in the break room eating a bowl of cereal while Sharon was speaking with Chief Howard out in the hallway.
"So where are you and your team at with this college murder?" Chief Howard asked Sharon. "We are still working a couple of angles Chief" Sharon said to him. "Well, I still have Chief Pope and the Mayor breathing down my neck. I do not like the politics of this position" he said as he shook his head. He then handed Sharon the papers he spoke about earlier and walked away.
They had to sign them for HR since they were now married. Sharon came in the break room with papers in her hands and she set them aside at the table Andy was sitting at and joined him. Andy just smiled at her. "We need to look these over and sign them when we get a chance" Sharon said, smiling back at Andy. "I texted the kids to let them know that we caught a case and that it was safe for them to come back to the condo" Andy said to her as he held her hand. "What did Howard say to you?" Andy asked her. "He just wanted to know where we are at in this case" Sharon said to him and she started to eat a bagel.
Julio and Amy came back into the Murder room with the goods that they went out to get. Amy was holding several cups of coffee for the team and handed them out to one another. Everyone had a cup except for Andy, and Sharon too as she was drinking her tea she made. Since he had started this heart diet, the doctor had told him to cut out caffeine completely. He missed his coffee occassionally but had gotten used to it. Buzz had set everything up for them to watch what he filmed at the crime scene and they all made their way into the room.
The team all sat down at the tables that were facing the TV screens and Sharon stood up closer to the screen to get a good look at everything. "Before we start the crime scene video, where are we with the interview of the librarian?" Sharon asked. "I spoke to her this morning and she was shaken up a little bit. She said that she knew the Dean, but they were not close. She was not working last night and was with her niece at the movies last night. Her alibi checks out" Amy says to everyone.
"How about the custodian staff?" Sharon asked. "They were cleaning the main floor of the library when the student worker found the body. They all had alibis that checked out" Mike said to Sharon. Sharon looked over at Andy. He seemed distracted but she could tell what he was thinking about. "So, so far everyone we've spoken to has an alibi?" Andy asked. "What about that student worker who found the body?" he continued to ask. "That would be Clint Douglas, sir" Julio said. "He seemed a little off when I was interviewing him at the library" Julio concluded.
"Ok, Buzz you can start the video" Sharon said to Buzz. Buzz pressed play and the crime scene popped up on the screens. It showed Buzz panning the entrance to the library. "Was there any signs of a forced entry?" Sharon asked them. "No ma'am, nothing looked broken in to" Julio answered her. The screen now showed the pathway from the front entrance to the staircase. "Buzz, pause it right there" Sharon said to him as she pointed to the screen. Buzz did as he was told and the screen stopped at what Sharon was looking at. "Who's that?" Sharon asked as she pointed to the person.
"That's Clint Douglas, ma'am" Julio said to her and everyone else. "What is he doing?" Andy asks as he points to the screen. The screen shows Clint Douglas putting something in a book and then shoving the book back into the stacks. "Rewind it Buzz" Sharon asks. "And pause it when he places the paper in the book" she continued. Buzz did this and paused it at the book. "Can you blow up the image so we can see the name of the book?" Sharon asked. "I'll try Captain, but it may be a little fuzzy" Buzz replied. The book on the screen got bigger but it was still hard to make out.
The squad looked at another screen as the tape ran and then Buzz paused it to see which stack of books Clint Douglas placed the book in. "I want Clint Douglas here and I also want that book here as well" Sharon stated to Amy and Julio and they both got up to leave. "Take some patrol officers with you" Sharon said and Amy nodded back to her as she walked out the door. "Lieutenant Provenza, I would also like to speak with our associate Dean of the college again" Sharon said to Provenza. "I will see if Dean Campbell would be willing to come down here on his own, Captain" Provenza said to her as he got up and left to go back to his desk.
"Buzz, I want to continue to watch this tape to see if we see anything else out of the ordinary" Sharon said to Buzz. "Sure Captain" Buzz stated to her as he began to play the tape from where they left off. Sharon, Andy, Mike, and Buzz continued to watch the tape go for a couple of more minutes. "Buzz, did you happen to video the electrical box in the library?" Mike asked him as he looked at the screen. "Yes, I did Lieutenant. It should be coming up soon" Buzz answered.
The tape continued to role until the electrical box was on screen. "Ok, I'm not an electrician, but that looks like a cut wire" Andy said as Buzz paused the tape. "Did SIS dust that for prints?" Sharon asked. "According to their report, they did not find any there" Mike said to her as he looked at a piece of paper in front of him. "Could be that the person or persons wore gloves" Andy said to them. "If you were going to stage a crime scene, how would you do it?" Sharon asked all of them as she turned around to face them in the room. The screens now showed the basement of the library and Dean Bryant hanging from the rafters of the ceiling. "Well, if it was supposed to look like a suicide, then where is the note?" Andy asked.
"It seems to me that the killer, or killers didn't know which murder to do, hang or stab, so they do both?" Sharon started saying. "But why?" she asked. "Was there an argument between everyone?" Andy asked. "Dean Campbell said that Dean Bryant was loved by everyone at the college" Sharon said. "What kind of background did he have?" she asked Mike. Mike looked at some papers in front of him. "He held a Doctorate of Education, and his salary was around 200,000 dollars a year, and he was single" Mike stated. "Was there any professor who was up for chair or tenure that didn't get it?" Sharon asked. "That would be a good question for our associate Dean" Provenza said as he walked back in to the room. "He will be here shortly, Captain" Provenza said. "Good, in the meantime we need to figure out why this looks staged" Sharon said to them as she pointed at the screen.
Meanwhile on the campus of the college, Amy and Julio were trying to locate Clint Douglas. They went to the Registrar's office and they were told that the student is currently in his chemistry class located at the Science Building. When they arrived at the classroom, the chemistry class is almost finished and the professor is ending his lecture. Julio spots Clint sitting towards the end of the row and starts to move towards him. Amy flashes her badge at the professor. As Julio moves closer to Clint, Clint gets up and runs out the nearest exit with Julio and Amy chasing after him. Julio catches up to Clint and tackles him to the ground. Clint doesn't struggle and Julio stands him up and places cuffs on his wrist. "Why'd you run Clint?" Julio says to him. "Do you have something to hide?" Amy asks. Clint doesn't say anything and finds himself sitting in the back of a squad car with patrol officers watching him.
Julio and Amy then walk over to where the library is, conveniently next door to the science building. They look at the print out picture of what Buzz took to see exactly where the book was that Clint placed back in the stacks. The pull out all of the books in that row and find the one they are looking for and pull out the piece of paper. They place the paper and book in an evidence bag and head back to the car. Julio takes Clint out of the patrol car and pats him down to make sure he doesn't have anything else on him. Then he places him in the back of their car and while Amy drives them back, he sits in the back with Clint.
They arrive at the PAB and bring Clint up to one of the interview rooms. Sharon comes out of her office and notices that Clint's clothing is a little ruffed up. Sharon then looks at Julio with a questioning look on her face. "He ran from us ma'am" Julio says to her and they walk past her towards the interview room. Julio placed him in the interview room and read him his rights. Provenza's desk phone rings and as he hangs up he tells the Captain that Dean Campbell is on his way up. "Meet him at the elevators and show him to interview room 3 please Lieutenant" Sharon says to him. She walks towards the interview room with Andy. "His rights have been read, ma'am" Julio says to Sharon and then walks into the electronics room.
"So Clint, do you want to tell us something?" Andy said to Clint as he and Sharon sat down across from him. "Am I under arrest?" Clint asked them. "No, you are not Clint" Sharon said. "We just have a couple of questions we would like answered by you" she continued. Clint looked at Andy and then back at Sharon. "Ok, I waive my rights" Clint said. "Ok, then do you mind telling us what this piece of paper is?" Andy asked him and he showed the paper that Clint hid in the book at the library. Clint just stared at it. "Because we have you on video, placing this paper inside of this book at the library after we showed up at the crime scene" Andy continued.
Clint didn't say anything. "Clint, you said you would answer our questions but we've asked you one question so far, and I haven't heard any answer from you yet" Sharon said to him. Clint took a deep breath and shook his head. "This wasn't supposed to be like this" Clint said. Sharon and Andy looked at each other. "Wasn't supposed to be like what, Clint?" Sharon asked him. "All I was supposed to do was place fake blood in the basement on the walls to make it look like blood splatter, cut the electrical wire in the fuse box, and then notify the police at a certain time, that's all" Clint stated to them. "And this piece of paper?" Andy asked Clint. "That's the recipe I used to make the fake blood" Clint said. "I used cocoa powder, corn syrup, and food coloring" he continued to say.
Mike looked at everyone in the electronics room and said "I knew I smelled cocoa powder down there". Provenza had met Dean Campbell and showed him to interview room 3 where 2 patrol officers were watching him. "We are very busy Dean Campbell, if you could wait here in this room with these two officers, we will be with you shortly" Provenza told him. "Sure, Lieutenant" Dean Campbell said and he took a seat in the room. Provenza then went back to the electronics room and sat down in his chair. "What did I miss?" he asked. "Fake blood and a possible staged crime scene sir" Julio answered.
"Who asked you to do that, Clint?" Sharon asked him. Clint just looked back at her and shook his head no. "I can't tell you" he said to them. "Clint, we are here to help you. If you don't tell us who asked you to do that, then we don't have a choice but to charge you with the murder" Andy said to Clint. "But I had nothing to do with that" Clint said in a pleading voice. "Then tell us who asked you!" Sharon said in a loud voice. Clint looked at them and then said "my uncle". "Who's your uncle?" Andy asked him. "Dean Campbell" Clint said in a low voice. Provenza looked up at Buzz and then looked over to the monitor that shows the Dean sitting in the room.
"Tell us what happened Clint" Sharon said to him as she looked at Andy and then back at Clint.
TBC
