Chapter Two:

The car journey through London was a pleasant one; now that the women were dry and warm they became remarkably less cranky. Jane was pleased with himself with his choice of outfits for the two female agents. Granted there was a lack of choice at the shops in the airport; but nonetheless he had done well. He had got them both the same form-fitting sweater dress but in different colours; for Van Pelt he had selected a gorgeous deep red that went perfectly with her hair, which she had spent a bloody long time styling into a plat in the airport bathroom when they were getting changed.

For Lisbon however, he had gone in a different direction; there had been a beautiful forest green coloured sweater dress, which he almost selected, but that would have been far too obvious. It's true that green was a great colour on her but instead he chose a deep blue one, just knowing that it would go perfectly with her features. He wasn't wrong, the colour complimented her raven hair, now styled into a bun courtesy of Van-Pelt; it also seemed to bring out the colour of her eyes, make them shine a deeper shade of green than he had previously noticed as well as making her lips appear to be a darker shade of red than normal. He sat, transfixed and slightly worried about why he was getting so much pleasure out of staring at Lisbon's face, which was currently buried in a case-file.

'Thanks ever so much for the clothes Jane,' Van Pelt said sweetly, snapping Jane out of his weird, little trance centred on Lisbon. Boy, that was a weird moment, he thought to himself.

'You're very welcome Grace.' He replied with a wide grin. Van Pelt was such a lovely, polite girl and he loved to see her smile that he almost felt bad about constantly teasing her about having such a naive view of the world. 'You feel warm now, am I right?'

'Soooooo toasty!', she exclaimed and stroked the tights that Jane had purchased to team up with the dresses. 'These tights are amazing!'

'They're thermal tights, specially designed to keep you warm without being too bulky. I'm glad you like them.'

They continued their conversation until Lisbon, who had remained virtually silent up until that point, switched the boss mode on again. 'Van Pelt can you please do that research that I asked you to carry out and Jane you need to listen carefully while I brief you on the case... again.'

Once Van Pelt began typing away on the tiny laptop that she pulled out from her bag, Lisbon started running down the case that had brought them to the other side of the Atlantic, 'Right yesterday the metropolitan police were called to investigate the murder of some rich aristocrat; Lord Farnley. He was found dead in his Mayfair home, strapped to his chair with a single bullet to the head. And get this,' he loved in when she got all serious and business like, 'ballistics have found that the weapon used to kill Farnley was the same gun that killed Senator Hartley.'

Suddenly the penny dropped and Patrick understood why they had to be here. They had investigated the murder of Senator Hartley just over a month ago but had not succeeded in finding the killer. No trace of DNA evidence anywhere and weeks of questioning had unearthed no viable suspects. It was frustrating to say the least for the team who usually closed every case that came their way. They had almost given up hope until evidence emerged linking Hartley to Red John.

It had been almost two years since Jane killed Red John, but he was by no means out of his life. Red John had numerous friends in high places and the CBI were determined to track down his network of allies who had managed to keep him from justice all these years.

'A United States senator and an English Lord? Man he really was connected; would love to see his address book someday.' He said with as much humour as he could muster.

'You and me both.' She retorted. 'Van Pelt, any news on who we will be working with on this investigation?'

'Well I've generated a list of names but the internet is acting up so I can't get photo's or background checks. We'll be working with the CID; that's the criminal investigation department so basically the English version of us, led by DCI Harry Grimshaw. Other members of the team are DI Colin Dashwood, DS Samantha Jones and DC Nicola Green.'

'Ugh I'll never remember that,' Lisbon yawned, closed her eyes and slumped back now that there was nothing to do but sit in traffick and wait for the hard work to start.

This plan of hers to rest was short-lived as Jane prodded her arm like a toddler vying for the attention of his mother; and much to her surprise Van Pelt joined in.

'Look boss, look.' The young agent pointed out of the window towards Big Ben and the houses of parliament. Teresa couldn't help but gawp at the magnificent buildings she was now driving past. She had seen them numerous times of the news but they really were quite a remarkable sight up-close. 'Oh and Westminster Abbey where William and Kate got married,' Grace continued to squeal like a teenager.

Jane smiled to himself at the effect this historic city was having on these two women. He could tell that Grace had always wanted to come here ever since she was a child and was probably hoping to live out her little fairytale whilst here. And hell, she deserved to be swept off her feet ever since that ugly business with O'Laughlin.

Teresa remained speechless, which fascinated him. She had obviously never been out of the country before; she was an all-American girl through and through. Even though this trip was for work, and on a very serious case, he was determined to give her a fun vacation for the first time in her life; take her to the sights and open her eyes to all of the wonderful things that London had to offer. After all, the city held some great memories for him.

'You've been here before haven't you?' Lisbon asked, recognising the look of fondness that he would get in his eyes when recalling a pleasant memory from his past.

'Just once, not long after charlotte was born,' he rarely spoke of his wife and daughter, but now that he had avenged their deaths he found it easier to talk about them, 'we took a family trip here and I was asked to do a psychic reading for a member of the Royal Family.'

He looked over at the girls whose collective jaws had dropped. He loved dropping in those little shockers every now and then; just when they thought that they knew everything about him.

'Oh my god,' Grace gasped, 'did you get to go to Buckingham Palace?'

'Never mind that, which member of the family did you con into thinking you could speak to dead people? Please don't say it was the Queen.' Lisbon interjected.

'Lisbon, I couldn't possibly say even if I wanted to- they made me sign the official secrets act. But yes it was at Buckingham Palace. Ever wondered how an American man such as me became such a lover of tea?'

'No way! You had tea at Buckingham palace?' Van Pelt was clearly picturing her friend and colleague hob nobing with royalty; loving every minute of it.

'Indeed, and served to me by a butler. Before that, I had hated tea but you can't exactly turn around to a member of the royal family and ask for a coffee instead. And let's just say that the tea was so good that I've been addicted ever since.'

'I bet your wife and daughter loved it.' Lisbon added with a warm smile now planted on her face. She loved it when he talked about the good times in his life; before all the hurt and sorrow.

'Well Charlotte was barely six months old but Angela LOVED it. She kept curtseying to everybody, and I mean everybody; even the staff, it was so funny.'

The three of them sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, drinking in their surroundings until curiosity got the better of Van Pelt.

'Please tell us who it was Jane, pretty please? We're sworn officers of the law you can trust us.'

Just at that moment, the car pulled up outside Scotland Yard. They were all set for their London adventure.