Chapter 2 – Murder…with a twist
Tuesday May 7 – 1:00 PM
Linderman Mansion, Midtown NYC
"This is so exciting!" Kate exclaimed, looking across the street at the Linderman mansion. It was huge, at least 20 times the size of her one room apartment. She couldn't stop grinning. This was insane. She was living in her favorite crime drama. It was surreal.
"Alright, we might need to sweet talk the guards. Do you think you can handle it Kate?" Nathan asked.
"What?" Kate said, clearly dazed. She hadn't heard what Nathan said.
"I said, Can you sweet talk the guards?" Nathan said slowly.
"Why?" Kate asked, surprised.
"Cause, you're a woman and men like the guards will be distracted by a girl like you," Nathan explained.
"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment," Kate said, unsure if this was a good idea.
"Trust me, it'll work," Nathan said. Kate sighed. They crossed the street and shuffled in among the crowd, only to bump into a familiar face.
"Matt!" Peter said, spotting the police officer standing on the other side of the yellow lines surrounding the building.
"Hey Pete, Nathan, Kate," Matt said. Nathan nodded and Kate smiled.
"How are things going? Did you get to go inside yet?" she asked. Matt shook his head.
"Nope, just patrolling the area," he replied.
"That must suck," Peter said sympathetically.
"It does," a voice from behind Matt said. The women in the police uniform stepped forward.
"Ana! I didn't see you there," Matt said startled.
"Look behind you next time," she said in an annoyed tone.
"So, Lulu-" Nathan said casually.
"I told you not to call me that. Ever," Ana interrupted.
"Yeah, right. So, do you think we could take a look inside," Nathan asked with all his usual charm.
"Let me think about it. Wait….no," Ana said.
"Oh come on! We've got to get in and see what's happening," Nathan said impatiently.
"I see you're still living under the delusion that you guys can solve a case," Ana said with her usual deadpan tone.
"Well, maybe if we could get inside…," Nathan said.
"No," Ana replied simply.
"Ana, maybe we should just let them sneak in," Matt said turning towards her.
"And risk losing our jobs Parkman?" Ana asked incredulously.
"If we get caught, we won't tell them you guys let us in," Kate said, trying to convince Ana to change her mind.
"I still don't want to take the risk," Ana said stubbornly.
"Please Ana. We really need this," Peter said emphasizing his words. He shot her the pleading look he gave Nathan. She held strong for a minute, giving him a cold stare, but eventually she caved in.
"If you rat us out, you're dead Petrelli. You hear me, dead!" she said menacingly. Nathan and Peter both nodded. Kate grinned.
"Thanks Ana," she said.
"Don't mention it," Ana replied. She quickly lifted up the yellow tape and the three of them crawled under it.
"Good luck," Matt said as they walked towards the door.
"Thanks, we're going to need it," Peter said. Fortunately, luck was on their side today. They slipped into the building without giving too much attention to themselves. But their luck may have been the fact that they were tons of people around who were more focused on the murder then catching intruders.
"Which room do you think he's in?" Kate whispered. The brothers shrugged.
"Let's just try one," Peter suggested. Kate and Nathan nodded. The chose the closest one and opened. Inside the room what appeared to be Linderman's office, and the scene of the crime. The room was very large and it had 2 entrances. It seemed that Nathan, Peter, and Kate had entered through a more obscure door and not the usual entrance. There were so many people and so much confusion that they went unnoticed, but only for a few moments.
Linderman's body still lay on the floor in a terrible, sickening position. He had been shot in the chest, but that hadn't been the worst of it. The worst was his skull, which was split open. Blood from his head had oozed onto the carpet, leaving massive stains. But the most horrifying thing that they saw was that not only was his head open, his brain had also been removed.
"That is…that is sick," Kate said in shock, looking at the body.
"Why would someone do that?" Peter asked.
"The better question is how did someone do that?" Nathan said. The skull had a clean cut, yet there was nothing in the room that could have made the incision.
"Exactly what we are trying to figure out," said a voice from another part of the room. A blonde woman with a scowl and a man with dark, curly hair came up to them.
"Well, well, well, how did I know I'd be seeing you Petrelli," the woman said.
"Oh come now Audrey, you know I couldn't miss this," Nathan said, chuckling.
"This is not funny Nathan. This is a high profile murder case and you shouldn't be here. In fact, how the hell did you get in here?" Audrey asked, her arms crossed.
"I have my ways. You see, just because I'm not an FBI agent like you, that doesn't mean I can't get in on this case," Nathan pointed out.
"Are we really going though this again? I'm an FBI agent and you're not," Audrey snapped.
"Can I cut in?" Peter asked. Both Nathan and Audrey were seething, invisible steam coming from their ears. Peter knew they could go on for hours if he didn't stop them.
"Again, why are you here?" Audrey asked, this time directing her question to Peter.
"We just wanted to check it out," Peter said innocently. He then noticed the man standing next to Audrey.
"Hi, we haven't met. I'm Peter Petrelli," he said putting his hand out to shake.
"Sayid Jarrah," the man said. Peter noticed he didn't return the shake and he let his hand drop.
"Sayid's my new partner," Audrey explained.
"Why? Did you scare all the other ones off?" Nathan asked teasing.
"Very funny, but in case you forgot, this is a crime scene and you do not belong here," Audrey said coldly. She looked over at a group of people who seemed to be investigating the crime scene. One of them gestured for her to come.
"I think you can let yourself out," she said and she and Sayid walked towards the body. Nathan and Peter followed them, along with an unsure Kate. She didn't want to be a nuisance, but this was getting interesting. Audrey saw them follow her but she ignored them. She had work to do.
"What did you team find, Dr. Suresh?" she asked, pointing to the body.
"We haven't got much so far. No gun or whatever sawed his head opened," Suresh said. Audrey sighed.
"So you do think it's a saw that made that incision?" Nathan said, stepping forward. Audrey groaned.
"Why, yes. Did you think that as well Mr…," Suresh started.
"Petrelli," Nathan finished for him. One of Mohinder's partners stood up next to him, holding a baggie containing what seemed to be blood from the rug.
"We've got little to go by now, but we have to get the body to the lab before we can make any more conclusions," she said, her blue eyes piercing.
"This is Dr. Juliet Burke. She's one of the top forensics scientists in the country," Mohinder said. He then looked over to another man photographing the body. "And that's our photographer, Boone Carlisle."
"I see. I'll let you get back to your investigation," Audrey said and Mohinder and Juliet nodded. Suddenly, a noise that sounded like shuffling and commotion came from outside. Then, two people burst into the room. They had obviously been struggling to get in. The woman came up to Audrey and Mohinder, a small notepad in her hand and a pen behind her ear.
"Who are you?" Mohinder asked, clearly confused.
"Name's Eden McCain. I'm a reporter for the New York Post and I'm investigating this murder. So, what do you think killed him?" she said, gesturing to the body.
"Don't answer Dr. Suresh," Audrey said. "She's always following my cases."
"What can I say Audrey? You attract the best news," Eden said happily. The heard clicking sounds from behind her and noticed that her partner was taking photos of everyone and everything.
"Excuse me sir," Juliet said impatiently. The man looked up.
"Yeah," he said with a distinct accent.
"Can you please stop taking pictures? This is supposed to be closed scene," she said.
"Sorry love, it's part of my job description," he said and he began to take more photographs.
"Oh don't mind Charlie, he's my photographer. I mean, we can't have a great article without some great pictures?" Eden said.
"Jeez, someone musta been on a revenge kick," Charlie said, snapping photos of the body. "You found the killer yet?" he asked.
"Nope, but we will," Peter said. They all looked at him, stunned to see him speak out.
"You seem confident in that," Eden said, turning her notepad on him.
"You bet we are," Nathan said grinning. "You'll see, the Petrelli brothers are going to crack this case."
Lots of new characters! Tell me your favorite characters from both Lost and Heroes and I'll see if I can add them in, though I'll try to add most of them. Thanks for all the reviews. Hope to see more of them!
Background Info for Chapter 2:
Audrey Hanson 32 – FBI agent determined to solve the case.
Sayid Jarrah 30 – Audrey's partner and fellow agent.
Mohinder Suresh 30 – Head of CSI.
Juliet Burke 28 – CSI forensics scientist.
Boone Carlisle 26 – CSI photographer.
Eden McCain 27 – Reporter for the New York Post
Charlie Pace 25 – Photographer for the New York Post.