Sorry Angeliena, another short piece…
Chloe paused. It had seemed so much more plausible at 2 this morning when she was putting the pieces together. She looked from Jack to Tony; they both looked so impatient, so skeptical.
Michelle nodded her encouragement, "Keep going Chloe."
"I think Chase was probably shot with a tranquilliser dart, he remembers having a shooting pain in his leg just before everything went strange. I did a computer search of possible toxins and think he could have been drugged with an animal tranquilliser. Reactions in people vary, but it usually knocks the person out for 4 - 6 hours followed by a few days of memory loss and nausea, with abrupt changes in body temperature."
"A nice tale Chloe," said Jack, "But where's your proof?"
"The blood work's still being done," she snapped impatiently. Sighing with frustration when she saw Jack's disbelief, she softened her tone. "Listen Jack, he wasn't well last night. He was confused and throwing up and he kept falling asleep. I wanted to know why so when he was asleep I pricked his thumb and took some blood. Jack, we need---"
"No Chloe, what we need is to face the truth. He shot Peters, he admitted it, you even recorded his confession. No amount of spinning the facts can alter that---"
"Jack, Goddamnit listen!" Chloe yelled. Taking a deep breath she said, "Please... just listen for two minutes, that's all. Surely you can spare two minutes for your partner?"
Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "Chase was angry with Peters, he admits that. It hurt his pride that Peters put on his file he didn't have the discipline required to be an effective marksman. He always said he'd like to make him realise he was wrong... Yes, Chase shot him. But in the heart Jack, not the lungs." Crossing her fingers she continued, "They were using paint pellets and if you check Peter's shirt you'll find paint from the pellet that Chase used, right over the heart. A good shot at 800 meters, a shot which requires discipline I would think? All he wanted to do was show Peters he was wrong to deny him a place in SWAT... But then Chase was tranquillised and placed in his Jeep to deal with later. Perhaps they used the wrong dosage or the serum was old, but he came around enough to drive himself to the diner." Her glare back in place, she added bluntly, "Where he phoned you for help… Meanwhile, they used his rifle to shoot Peters with a live round."
Tony asked, "So who are they in your---"
"Jack, it's Baker, line 3."
He picked up the phone and turned his back on the others. He didn't want them to see how important this call was to him.
"What do you have, Tom?"
He listened for a bit, nodding his head, "Great work Tom, get back here as soon as you can."
He turned around, unable to contain his smile of relief, "It's not Chase. Baker says the gunsmith couldn't pick him out from the ID photos. Also the Social Security number and driver's license used by the buyer are both fakes. There was another gun the buyer was interested in which he handled extensively, so Tom's bringing it in for fingerprinting... I can't think why SWAT didn't investigate properly when they brought in the intell. Damnit, I blame myself for not having it checked by CTU. Chase has been framed and I didn't even question any part of it." Rubbing a hand over his face, he gave Chloe a grateful smile, "So Chloe, let's get Peter's clothing examined and we need to let SWAT and LAPD know---"
Henry rushed through the door, "Taylor at SWAT has just been shot and killed by a sniper as he left Edmund's house. His girlfriend claims she saw Chase running away from the house.. SWAT were doing an exercise nearby and they have two units there already... they gave the order 'shoot on sight'."