Authors Note: Once more props to DianeM for being an amazing beta. Also, I forgot to mention that the Spanish in the last chapter was translated expertly by Malinche, so thanks for that. This is mostly casefile but there's some good stuff coming up. Enjoy!
FBI Headquarters
34.5 hours missing
"Thank you for coming in at such short notice, Mr. Fennings." Vivian walked into the interrogation room, placing a cup of coffee on the table between them before taking a seat.
Danny, who had entered the room behind her, decided to lean on the wall beside the observation mirror. It was his classic pose when he wanted to casually intimidate interviewees. When he really wanted to intimidate them he leaned on the table and got really close, but this pose meant that he was looking down on them and he could use his intense stare to make them lose their calm façade. Not that Mr. Fennings looked like he needed it; he'd been sweating long before they entered. Interrogation rooms could do that to perfectly innocent people, but it always got the young man wondering whether they had something to hide.
"Not a problem. CBS is always glad to co-operate with law enforcement," Fennings replied. Vivian's eyes narrowed slightly as she studied the man in front of her. He sounded sincere enough, but he was refusing to meet her eyes.
"Could you tell me what projects Chloe was working on?" Vivian asked, adding her own stare to Danny's potent offering. This interview was going to be all business from now on.
"Certainly," Fennings smiled, trying to reduce the tension in the room. His smile didn't meet his eyes, though, and failed completely after only a couple of seconds. "Chloe was currently contracted as a producer on two television shows and part of the development team on a third. I hope you'll excuse me if I don't go into detail, but hopefully these shows will turn into next season's ratings winners and so I'd hate for a rival network to get any hint of what we have planned."
Vivian turned and shared an amused glance with Danny. People in the industry were all the same, paranoid and egotistical, but as much as it would be amusing to make him spill all the details, it wasn't necessary to the investigation. Therefore, they would have to let that point slip.
"Any problems on any of these projects? Personality clashes, that kind of thing?" Vivian continued, preparing to take notes.
"No, not at all, nothing like that. BL Studios is small, everybody pretty much knows everybody. Chloe had worked there for five years; she was well liked and respected a great deal. There were arguments, I'm sure, but television production is a high stress environment and I'm pretty sure that they were all minor and resolved by the end of the day. Any massive spats and I would have heard about them."
"Okay, so there are no particular tensions that stick in your mind?" Vivian pressed, Danny remaining the silent partner. Fennings just shook his head. "What about money? How is BL Studios doing financially?"
Danny frowned. It could just be his imagination, but he could have sworn that Fennings looked alarmed at the mention of money for an instant before returning to his nervous attitude. Perhaps he wanted a lead so badly he was inventing one. It had just been a split second, but it was definitely something to check with Martin, though.
"Fine, I think. I don't have anything to do with that, that's the Finance Department. They haven't disappointed us, so we keep them funded. That's the basis of the relationship. I don't think that there are any irregularities. I'm sure that I would have been notified if that was the case," Fennings stopped, suddenly realizing he'd been babbling.
Forever patient, Vivian paused for a moment until the man had collected himself. "Do you know if Chloe had any friends at the studio?"
"No I don't," he replied abruptly. "BL Studios isn't the only studio that I manage. I can't possibly know personal details about each employee. Now, if that's everything, I really do have a lot of work to do."
Fennings stood up to emphasize that he really would like to leave. Vivian exchanged a look with Danny. They had barely begun to scratch the surface. According to his PA, he met with Chloe at least once every two weeks for a briefing on each project's status, so he was definitely being evasive. However, they had no choice; they had to let him go. All they had were suspicions and vague ones at that.
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Fennings." Danny shook his hand, knowing that he didn't look very grateful. "We may need to talk to you again. It would also be helpful for our investigation if you could send over all the financial details that you have for BL Studios. That won't be a problem, will it?"
"No, not at all," the producer swallowed hard, confirming Danny's earlier suspicion about the money. "I'll have my PA talk to the Finance Department and get them sent over as soon as possible." He was halfway out of the door before he'd finished the sentence. Derek was waiting outside to escort him downstairs.
FBI Headquarters
34.5 hours missing
He was so very tired. Martin stared blankly at his screen, tapping the keys and going through the menus on autopilot, pausing occasionally to take a sip of coffee. It was at times like these that he was thankful for the path his career had taken. If starting in the Bureau working in the White Collar Fraud Department had done anything for him, it had made searches like this practically second nature. It was comfortable, familiar work, which made it a relatively easy assignment so he could conserve his energy.
He hadn't been sleeping and when he had managed to fall asleep, he'd had weird dreams. The dreams seemed familiar, but he couldn't pin down how exactly, as the details were predictably hazy. Working when he was this tired wasn't safe; he himself had told Danny that a couple of days ago. Never let it be said that Danny didn't keep a promise. During the Bates case, Danny had promised to take him to a 'Gentleman's Club' to help take his mind off Sam. It had turned into a long night, as Danny hadn't wanted to leave till he felt better. In the end he'd had to fake enthusiasm to be able to go home.
As his mind was wandering, Martin nearly missed the lead. Thanking whatever deity had made him check the numbers twice, Martin printed out the relevant figures and went to find Jack.
FBI Headquarters
34.5 hours missing
"Detective Ray," Jack held out his hand for the old man to shake as Derek started to fade into the background, having delivered his charge successfully to Jack's office. "I'm Special Agent Jack Malone and this is Special Agent Alex Marks. Thanks for coming in." Steve Ray waved away the thanks good-naturedly and took a seat.
"Hey, anything that gets me away from the wife. I had thirty-five good years on the force and the golf course just isn't the same." Jack nodded, taking the seat opposite him.
It was clear that Steve Ray had meant the comment to come across as a light-hearted jibe, but the obvious sentiment behind the words made him sound miserable.
"Do you remember the case? You have been briefed, right?" Alex forged ahead, conscious of the uncomfortable silence and keeping her comments all of the business variety.
"Yes, I think every homicide cop remembers the day we heard the Clown had been killed. His murder was the first non-gang bang killing of a Mafia-made man in years before and since," Steve Ray explained, his eyes growing slightly misty as he remembered the days when he'd been at the top of the game.
"The case file was very thin and there wasn't much in Jimmy Watts' file either. All I managed to gather was that the same gun was used to commit both murders. There must have been more connecting them than that though, wasn't there?" Alex continued, her pen poised for taking notes.
"Yes, yes, of course," Steve Ray replied, dragging himself back to the present day and the task in hand. "I was the detective of record on Eddie Mercury's murder. Another detective handled Jimmy Watts. As I recall, he started with the obvious and tried to interview Jimmy's girlfriend, Michelle Bygraves, but her brother Peter kicked up a hell of a fuss. When they finally did manage to interview Michelle, they'd have to have been blind not to notice why, she'd been raped." Steve Ray paused, watching the two agents' reactions.
"Let me guess, the Clown was the rapist," Jack concluded, rolling his eyes. He understood that this guy missed being on the job, but enough of the dramatic pauses.
"Yes. DNA profiling was still in its infancy, but there was no doubt. The Clown investigation had begun first so I took over Watts as well, which is when we learned about the gun. Since both Peter and Michelle had alibis for the time that Jimmy and the Clown were killed, Chloe was the only viable suspect. I interviewed her myself. She claimed she didn't know the Clown and that Jimmy had gotten high on coke and gone crazy. Fearing for her safety, she had ran away and when she had came back, he was dead. We never recovered the gun, so we couldn't even begin to prove any differently, so the case stalled."
"You think that Chloe killed the Clown and Watts?" Jack asked, his eyes narrowing in disbelief.
Steve Ray shrugged, "Not really, but it's the only conclusion we could draw."
"Right," Jack muttered, turning in time to see Martin approach his office. Before he could knock, Jack waved him in.
"Jack, I think you should take a look at this. Guess who just bought a new Porsche?" Martin placed the printout on the table in front of his boss. Jack scanned the first few lines of numbers, not seeing what Martin had picked out.
"Mike Sanchez," Jack guessed. He'd been suspicious of Sanchez ever since he pulled the 'lost in translation' card. No self-respecting studio would hire a security guard who didn't speak and understand good English.
"No, Max Fennings."