Sorry this took so long to get out. I was planning to write while on vacation but instead spent the time to vacationey things. Funny how that happens. Thanks for being patience and taking the time to read.
Please leave a review. It really helps the writing. (We all know that comments are the crack of fan fiction.)
I'm not going to do everyone case of the first season, I just have an arch planned involving a couple of them.
Disclaimer: I don't own Rizzoli and Isles.
The two weeks behind a desk after spiking Hoyt to the ground felt as bad as the six months he had her out last time. She couldn't stand the fact that he had removed her from her job again. Add to that her Ma's hovering and she really was reaching her wits end.
Luckily, Maura saw her fraying and helped ease the strain with movie nights, dinner, and friendship.
It was one of those movie nights Jane was enjoying right now. When she found out that Maura had not seen Lethal Weapon she brought it over her very next turn to choose the movie.
Maura picked up her glass of wine as the credits began to roll. "That was a highly unrealistic movie."
Jane just shook her head. "It was highly awesome"
Maura sighed. "The idea that an officer with such mental instability would be allowed to continue in his duties is absurd. I would think as an officer of the law, you would be offended at the portrayal of a policeman as some sort of unstable, hyper violent Neanderthal."
Jane couldn't help but laugh. Upon seeing the hurt expression on the doctor's face, she stopped. "Maur, it's just a movie. I'm touched that you are so defensive of my profession, but no one takes this seriously. It's just a mindless action movie. It's fun."
"I still don't understand it."
"Alright. No more cop action movies." Jane looked at her watch. "Well, I should go. I'm back in the rotation at midnight."
"Jane, I think you should stay. It's late and you've had several beers. You also have your bag here if we get called."
It had only taken one time for them to get called in early one morning for each of them to drop a bag at the others house. Frost and Korsak had hounded Jane all day about the hot date she must have interrupted for her to show up in the same clothes. She never told them she was just as Maura's. She figured it that would only make the teasing worse. She would rather be teased about a date that didn't exist, than a date she couldn't get.
"You win, Maur. I'll stay."
Maura clapped her hands. "Yeah! A sleepover!"
"Really?" Jane roller her eyes, but she had a smile on her face.
The call came at 5:30 AM. Jane rolled over, pulling her phone from the nightstand. "Rizzoli!" While she was still talking to dispatch she heard Maura's phone ring as well. She ran her hand through her hair. "Another dead body? I feel like I'm back in homicide."
"What? You don't like working with me?"
"You know that's …" Jane's voice trailed off as she saw the look on her friend's face. "Sarcasm? From you? At 5:30 in the morning?" Jane shook her head. "I don't know whether to be proud or annoyed."
"So I didn't it correctly?" Mara was beaming.
Jane swung her feet off the bed. "Yeah, you did it correctly. I'm a bad influence."
"I need to take a shower." Maura rose from the bed and headed for the bathroom.
As the door shut, Jane rose from the bed and made her way to the guest bath.
As Jane and Maura made their way to the muddy shore of the harbor Jane stopped suddenly. It took Maura a moment to realize her friend was no longer beside her.
She turned to her friend. "What's wrong, Jane?"
"Oh, I just wanted to watch you walk through that", Jane pointed at the muddy line along the water, "with shoes that cost more than I make in a month."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you." Maura walked over to a corner's van, pulling rubber boots out of the back. "I'm a slave to fashion, not an idiot."
Jane just laughed. After waiting for her to change shoes, both women made their way down to the beached vessel.
"Welcome to the strange." Korsak said as a way of greeting.
"How strange?" Jane asked reflexively.
"Oh, this you are going to have to see to believe." Both detectives and the M.E. climbed into the stranded boat. Jane offered Maura her arm as the stance was precarious seeing as the ship was laying on its side.
"The inside is a mess." Korsak pointed around the cabin of the ship. "But, you definitely tell that someone was attempting a spell. All the symbols are vandalized. Hard to tell what exactly was being cast."
"It looks complicated." Jane pointed to runes carved into the floor.
"Where's the body?" Maura asked.
"A little further forward." Korsak pointed. "According to the boat registry and id found aboard, the deceased is Adam Fairfield of the very rich and powerful Boston founding Fairfields."
"Fairfield?" Maura whispered the question, her voice cracking a little at the end.
The change in her friend immediately set Jane on edge. "Maur? You know the victim?"
Maura just nodded her head.
"I'm sorry, Maur."
"I knew his brother, Garrett, in college."
"Do you want someone else to come in and do…?" Korsak didn't get a chance to finish the sentence.
"No. No, I'm fine." She noticed Jane's grimace at the statement. "I can do it. Knowing the family, they will call the governor to request I do it anyway."
"Are you sure Maur?"
"Yes, Jane." Maura refrained from rolling her eyes and moved forward toward the body.
Jane looked around the boat. "Where is Frost?"
"Right here." He answered as he ducked through the opening. "This boat had a state of the art navigation system."
"Had?" Jane raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, had. It's been completely destroyed. No way to know where she was, went, or came from. I've tried every trick I know."
Korsak responded. "Damn." He turned to Jane. "The coasties said that if not for the last night's freak storm, this boat would be in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean right now."
Jane nodded in understanding. "And no one would be the wiser."
"Exactly." Korsak said.
Jane moved quietly into the next compartment. "Maur? Everything going alright?"
Maur stood as best should could in the cramped environment. "Yes. Yes, everything is going well. I can't tell much from this, but I'll be able to tell you more when I get him back to the morgue."
"Ok. I'll see you there."
The three detectives walked into the morgue as Maura was setting up the first procedure.
"Kirlian Photography? Why?" Korsak asked.
"Because Adam was not a Magi. That's why he couldn't take his mother's place on the court. The spell on that boat was either cast by him or on him. I wish to determine which."
"How are you going to do that?" Frost wondered.
"If he was casting a spell then there will be residual magic in his aura. If the spell was cast against him then it will be over his aura, not part of it." Maura stated matter-of-factly. "Of course this wouldn't work if he was a magi. It's the fact that he is not that makes this possible."
"I thought auras only appeared around the living?" Korsak asked.
"Normally, you would be right. This new imaging system is sensitive enough to pick up the residual essence on the body and enhance them so that they can be seen." Maura said setting the system up to take photographs.
Maura walked over to the screen where the images would appear. "Well that's strange."
The three detectives moved around behind Maura to see the screen as well. There on the screen was the body of Andrew Fairfield. The aura around him showed dark green, separated from the rest of his aura with light green mixed in with the rest of the colors.
"Ok. I've never seen this pattern before. I know that the overlay of green means he was casting a spell and the mix of green shows a spell was cast on him. What does the separate dark green aura mean?" Jane asked pointing at the picture.
"I've seen it in books. The separate dark green aura means that Andrew was a magi."
"But you said he didn't have powers." Jane stated.
"That's because he had been bound. He had powers but someone bound him from this powers."
"We need to go look at the boat again." Jane looked at the M.E. and the detectives.
"Can I finish the autopsy first?" Maura asked with a sly smile.
Jane exhaled heavily. "Of course."
"Alright, let's start at the beginning." Jane said standing in the now upright boat in the BPD garage.
"We know that Adam was on board the boat." Korsak started. "We know that a spell was being cast."
"We know that he couldn't cast the spell so he would need an object of power to perform it." Frost added.
"An object we didn't find." Jane growled.
Korsak looked down at the floor where a circle had been drawn and symbols that had been drawn into the floor had been destroyed. "Without the symbols, we don't know what the spell being cast was."
"Let's assume…"
"That's guessing Jane."
The detective roller her eyes. "Can I at least finish before you admonish me?"
"No."
Korsak and Frost both stifled laughter.
"There are no signs of Adam having been restrained or drugged, right?" Jane asked.
"No." Maura answered promptly.
"Then he was a willing participant in the spell casting." Jane turned wide eyes on Maura.
She narrowed her eyes at the detective but didn't' say anything.
"The big question is, was the person who caved his head in helping with the spell or not?" Korsak cut in.
"Well, time to start talking to his friends and family." Jane started making her way off the boat. "Come on Frost."
"Jane, can I talk to you for a minute. Before you leave. In my office." Maura walked past her off the boat.
Maura closed the door to her office and turned to face her friend. "Jane, I want you to be careful."
Jane just looked at the M.E. confused. "It's just interviews, Maur. We aren't kicking doors in or chasing armed suspects."
Maura just sighed. "The Fairfields are billionaires. They are part of the Magi court. They helped found Boston. They are used to getting their way. People are used to giving them their way. They don't believe that rules apply to them like they do everyone else. They have convinced others that they rules don't apply to them as well."
"I've dealt with the rich and criminal before." Jane wasn't sure where her friend was going with this.
"Just be careful, please."
"Alright. I'll be careful." Jane turned and walked out of the office.
"Oh, one last thing."
"Yes?"
"I sent pictures of the crime scene to Dr. Dillinger. I wanted to see if he could make any sense of the crime scene symbols."
"He's back? Did he say anything about, you know, us?"
"He didn't mention it and I didn't ask."
"Didn't ask? How can you not ask? I think about it all the time. How could it not occur to you to ask?" Jane could feel her temper getting the better of her. She took a deep breath. "Really Maur?"
"Yes, it occurred to me, but it's rude to rush a person doing you a favor." She said defensively setting her hand on her hips.
Jane just stared with her mouth open searching for words. "You….you are too polite." With that, Jane turned and left the room. "Will you please call him? And ask about…'the event'."
"Yes. I will." Maura did her best not to laugh at the compliment that was obviously meant to be insulting.
Frost stopped the cruiser in front of the Fairfield Mansion.
"What's bothering you Jane?" Frost asked turning off the car.
"Maura told me to be careful dealing with these people. Said they could be dangerous."
"We know that." Frost simply pointed out.
"Yeah, but it's not like Maura to say something like that, especially without a good reason." Jane shook her head and climbed out of the car. "Let's just do the interviews"
"Holy Crap!" Frost yelled.
"What?" Jane reached for her sidearm.
"This is a Pagani Zonder. This car does 214 miles per hour and cost more than I will make in a life times."
"It's a car."
"It's a work of art."
"Go knock on the door Frost."
Jane followed frost up the path to the front door. Frost hit the doorbell.
"Ten bucks says a guy in a tuxedo…" Frost didn't get to finish his sentence.
The door swung open revealing an older gentleman in a full tuxedo. "May I help you?"
"Yes. I'm Detective Rizzoli and this is Detective Frost."
"Are you expected?"
Jane cast a disbelieving look at frost. "We are investigating a crime and need to speak to the family. We are coming in one way or another."
"Let them in." A voice from further in the house commanded.
With that the gentleman took a step back and let them enter.
"Thank you." Jane growled as she brushed by him.
Both detectives were met at the end of the hall buy a well-dressed man in a suit. "Hello, I'm the Fairchild's attorney. They've requested that all questions from the Boston Police Department be done through me."
Jane could feel her patience begin to leave her. "That's not how this works Mr. …"
"Robert Colburn. I'm legal counsel for the estate."
"That's nice. We haven't even explained why we are here yet."
"You are here because Adam Fairfield's body was found aboard his boat this morning. The Fairfields will fully cooperate in the investigation, but they are not available at this time."
"Really?" Jane did her best not to growl.
"Yes. If you will leave me your card, I will be sure to get them in touch with you."
"My card? You can take it and …"
Frost cut his partner off. "This is a murder investigation. They can stall, but they will speak with us." Frost handed over his card. "Be sure they get that."
Even though Jane was seeing red, she knew that she couldn't do anything else productive right then. She turned and left without another word.
As they got in the cruiser Jane punched the dash board.
"Feel better?" Frost asked.
"No. No I don't."
Maura picked up her phone and dialed the number from memory. She let the phone ring six times and was just about to hang up when it sounded like the phone had been dropped on the floor.
"Dr. Dillinger?" All she heard was very heavy breathing.
"Mau…"
"Dr. Dillinger? Are you alright?"
"Unbound. Unbou…." The phone sounded like it fell again.
"Dr. Dillinger? Doctor!"
Jane almost didn't answer her phone when it began ringing, she was so aggravated, but she quickly realized that it was Maura's ringtone.
"Maur…" She didn't even get to finish.
"I called Dr. Dillinger. Something is wrong. There was a thud, he said unbound, and then there was another thud. I tried to call back but nothing happens."
"Calm down Maura. Where did you call?"
"His home. I called his home."
"Alright. We will check it." Jane hung up the phone. "We are headed over near Harvard. I'll give directions as we go."
Frost made a U-turn as Jane put the light up on the dash to clear traffic.
Jane killed the light as they entered the Doctor's neighborhood. "It's this house right here on the left."
Frost pulled the car to a stop. Both detectives exited the car, quietly closing the doors behind them. As they went up the steps to the front door, Jane gave a nod to Frost to knock.
"Professor Dillinger." He shouted as he pounded on the door.
Jane counted ten, drawing her gun as she nodded at Frost. "Kick it."
Frost took one step back, drew his weapon, took a deep breath, then put his foot into the door.
"Professor!" Both detectives called as they moved through the house, quickly clearing the rooms. As they made it to the office, Jane found the professor.
"Damn it!" She yelled upon seeing his motionless body on the floor. She knelt down placing two fingers on the professor's neck. "He's gone." She looked up at Frost who had just entered the room.
"The rest of the house is clear." He holstered his sidearm.
"Alright." Jane stood, looking around the room. "Call it in. I'll call Maura. She isn't going to be able to do this one since she was the last person to speak to him."
It was several hours later when Jane finally got back to the station. The first thing she did was head to the morgue to check on Maura. As she entered the M.E.'s office she immediately noticed the red eyes and smeared mascara. She walked around the desk, bending down to embrace her friend.
"I'm so sorry Maur."
"Thank you." She reached out to pull another tissue from a box.
Jane hated to see her friend cry. She would do anything to stop it, but this was one of those times when she was powerless to help.
"A detective has already been by to take my statement." Maura dabbed at her eyes.
"How did they beat Frost and I back here?" Jane walked back around to the front of the desk.
"They didn't. They had an associate already at the precinct. He came down and took my statement before leaving."
Jane was torn between what to do next. She wanted to ask about what the professor had said to Maura but also didn't want to upset her friend more than she already was.
Maura signed and threw her tissue into the waste basket. "Ask Jane."
Jane startled from her inner crisis. "What did he say to you?"
"All he said was 'unbound'."
"Unbound? Unbound." Jane started pacing the office. "Unbound." Jane turned to face Maura. "Did he know that he was talking to you?"
"Yes. He said my name…well most of my name. It was more like 'Mau…'"
"So then when he said unbound he was definitely saying it to you."
"Jane, you can't possibly know that. At that moment there is no way to ascertain what Dillinger was thinking."
"Maur, work with me here. He was talking to you. He wanted to convey one message to you. He said unbound. Why would he say that?"
"There is no way of…"
"You sent him pictures of the crime scene asking about the damaged symbols. It would make the most sense that he was trying to answer the last question you asked."
"Jane…"
"Maura!" She finally let her exasperation show. "We don't have anything else to go on. We are being stonewalled in our interviews, they are fighting the warrants…we need this clue."
"Fine. Fine. It would most likely mean that the symbols were part of an unbinding spell."
"That makes sense." Jane started nodding her head. "Adam was trying to unbind himself to give himself access to his power." Jane could tell that her last statement had set Maura's wheels in motion.
"That would make him the next in line for the council." Maura stated flatly, working things out in her mind. "But he hasn't been involved in the family business for years. His younger brother held the council seat. Why would he want it now?"
"That's something we will have to look into." Jane said as she headed toward the door. When she reached it she turned back. "Come on Maur. I want the guys to hear this first hand."
Maura rose from her desk and followed her friend.
Jane called to Korsak and Frost as she and Maura entered the bullpen. The two detectives followed Jane and Maura into a nearby conference room.
"The professor said one word to Maura before the call ended. Unbound. Based on that we…" Maura cleared her throat. Jane rolled her eyes. "Really? Fine. I have come up with a theory." She took a deep breath and pressed on. "I'm going to GUESS." She emphasized the word and glared at Maura. "That the word unbound refers to the destroyed symbols on the boat. That would mean that Adam was performing an unbound ritual to give him back his magic."
"Why would that get him killed?" Frost asked.
"For one it would make him the family's representative on the Court." Maura explained. "I understand that doesn't mean much to most people, but to the families that are members, it means quite a bit. It would give him access to an entirely new range of power and influence. It would not only help him personally but professionally."
"It would also hurt whoever is currently the family representative on the court." Jane added.
"This is all guess work Jane. There is nothing to back up any of this." Maura was almost pleading with her friend.
"That's why we need to talk to the family. Especially Garrett."
"No way." Korsak shook his head. "That lawyer and his firm are running every stall tactic in the book. We aren't going to be able to get anywhere near Garrett or any of the other Fairfields."
"That's not entirely true."
Everyone turned to look at the M.E.
Fifteen minutes later the three detectives and the medical examiner were sitting in her office. She didn't want to everyone in the bullpen to hear her idea. Give the looks on everyone's faces, it had been a good idea to lay out her plan in private.
"You have got to be kidding?" Jane was the first to respond. "What makes you think they would let us in?"
"They can't refuse a guest of a member of the court."
"I meant your parents." Jane shook her head.
"My parents aren't members of the court. I am."
The three detectives looked at Maura in different states of shock.
"You are a member of the Court, Doc?" Korsak sounded almost in awe.
Maura knew when she suggested this idea that she would have to explain why, but now that the time had arrived, she still wasn't fully comfortable. She was deathly afraid that her friends, especially Jane, would treat her differently.
"When I was twelve, my parents made me the official seat on the court for the family. They had hoped it would force me to socialize more, especially with their friends. They had also hoped it would help people see past the non-family blood I represent." Maura took a deep breath. "It didn't help in either case. Many members of the court, quite loudly, disapproved of a non-blood heir. My father took me home when Adam's mother took to the floor and loudly proclaimed me 'a half-breed magi'. Father didn't take it well. He and Mr. Fairfield had been good friends."
"Do you know for sure that the Fairfields will be there?" Jane asked.
"Yes. Garrett is taking his families seat on the Council."
"Who was in the seat?" Frost pulled out his data pad to start taking notes.
"The youngest brother took the seat when the mother died. He stepped down early this year."
"Why him? Why not Garret?" Jane was pretty sure she knew the reason but wanted to hear it anyway.
"Garrett left the country right after college. He hasn't been involved in the family's affairs for quite some time."
"Alright. All that fits with Jane's theory, but it doesn't explain the original binding." Korsak tapped his fingers against his lips in thought. "Doc, you said that Adam never showed magical abilities."
"That's right. Not even as a child."
Korsak completed his thought. "Means whoever bound him did it before the age of six when magical abilities start to show."
"That means that whatever is happening here is far older than just the bothers. It's been following Adam his whole life." Frost stated.
"Looks like I'm going to the Winter Ball." Jane stated.
A smile exploded across Maura's face. "We will have to go shopping to get you an outfit." She clapped her hand together in delight.
"Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse." Jane deadpanned.
