Disclaimer: Marvel Entertainment owns everything, with the exception of Cat who is my own creation. This is a work of fanfic, no copyright infringement intended.
Chapter 6 The End
Cat's hand hit the table with enough force to make everyone jump.
"Of course!" she cried. Catching sight of the confused look on Wolverine's face she continued. "The Calsburg case that's where I heard it."
Comprehension dawned on Wolverine's face.
About 3 weeks ago Carol Danvers had come to the institute in tears. After two beers and numerous cups of tea she was calm enough to tell them what was wrong
Carol, it seemed had spent the last few weeks investigating a case of mutant related violence in up town New York. However her possible victim, a Donald Calsburg, had taken in his own life, before anything could be proved.
"But he didn't! He wasn't depressed. But than Dr Stuart comes along and tell them that he'd tried suicide before and they just write it off as a depressed mutant fantasising, when it's more than likely that that bloody doctor had something to do with it."
Wolverine jumped to his feet.
"We need to get back." He said. Cat nodded.
Warren sat alone in his room. Candy had left after an hour and was now in the kitchen been comforted by Mystique. He felt sorry. He knew that she was only trying to help, but he couldn't risk it. After what had happened last time…
The door opened.
"You remember," said a low voice, "what I'd do if you ever tried to leave."
Warren backed away terrorised. From the pockets of his coat the man withdrew a surgical scalpel. He walked slowly towards the cowering boy.
Click! The sound of a gun being primed and the feeling of the pressure of a gun barrel against the side of the head made the man freeze.
"Not so fast." Growled a voice in his ear.
Hands with claw like nails reached out and pushed the alarm button.
The alarm echoed all over the institute. It made Mystique and Candy in the kitchen jump. It made Maria in the infirmary spin like a top. In his study Xavier reached out with his mind searching for the source of the alarm. And Cat and Wolverine pushed open the door and ran up the stairs. They ran to Warren's room, dreading what they might find.
Sabretooth was standing in the middle of the room; Kyle on his wrist, growling menacingly at the intruder; holding Cat's old Ludendoff, primed and ready to fire. Warren was cowering against the bed board. And Dr Stuart, recognisable from his photo in the files, was standing with a scalpel drawn.
"Dr Stuart. You're under arrest for the murder of Kathryn Worthington and Burtram Worthington and the attempted murder of Warren Worthington III" Wolverine said, pushing past Sabretooth and slapping the cuffs over the doctor's wrists.
"The autopsy" Cat said, taking a slip of tea, "showed evidence of poison in Mrs Worthington's blood stream. Looks like Dr Stuart was trying to poison Mrs Worthington, but decided that it was too risky."
"But why kill her anyway?" Maria asked. "That's what I can't understand."
"According to Nick," Cat replied, "Stuart was the one who was having the affair with Mrs Worthington. But she, starved of love from her husband, wanted to leave him for Stuart. Stuart couldn't have that. Quite apart from the scandal, he was sure that someone would pick up on Mrs Worthington's death as suspicious. If they'd picked up during her marriage, her husband would have been the prime suspect and he could have claimed his reluctance to create a scandal on the kid."
"What poison was he using?" Moria asked, interested.
Cat shrugged. "Something that affects the body's ability to process oxygen. Very rare and very hard to trace."
"Sounds a bit complicated when there's good old arsenic for a domestic." Sabretooth drawled.
"Dr Stuart could have argued the use of a hit man, and the cops found a medical text book in Worthington's house that mentioned it" Cat observed. "Probably Stuart planted it there. He also had records of some conversations between him and Mr Worthington that could be interrupted as Worthington planning to murder his wife."
"What about Burtram?"
Wolverine laughed. "Now there's an interesting story. Burtram, it seems, was using Worthington industries as a cover for a diamond smuggling ring. Best guess that the doc tried blackmailing him. They struggled and the gun goes off killing him. Stuart maintaining that his death was an accident."
"What about Mr Worthington story about seeing his son beating himself up and the suicide attempts?"
"Moira You said that the kid's body was adjusted for flight? I eventually tracked down someone from the school who was prepared to talk to me. They said that during the fire Warren was trapped in his room and, for want of a better term (their words not mind), flew down. He then apparently rescued some others who were also trapped. My best bet is that he was trying figure out the limit of his power so he could escape from Dr Stuart. Can you imagine how he felt on the night that he feels that he's mastered it; the police found a bag packed in his room; his mother and uncle are murdered?"
They lapsed into silence.
Warren and Candy sat under the sycamore tree in the grounds in the setting sun. Candy glancing at her watch got up to go. Warren reached out and grabbed her hand. She looked at him confused until she looked into his eyes and suddenly there was no need for words.