Radioactive Roses
A/N: I'm sorry for the delay in getting these out. I wrote my final exam today, so hopefully these shall be more frequent now.
Chapter 5
Lisbon stood behind the one way mirror and watched as Cho sat opposite Susan Shepherd. She was an attractive woman, tall with long dark hair and dark eyes. She kept crossing and uncrossing her legs under the table, and was trying hard to get Cho to look at her breasts. She reminded Lisbon of Erica Flynn, in her desperate attempts to get her way by manipulating men.
Cho opened his notebook. "Where were you three days ago at eight a.m?"
Susan smiled. "I was getting ready to go to work. Michael was already gone; they had an early start laying pipes in an uptown apartment."
Cho looked at her. "Can anyone confirm your story?"
Behind the mirror, Lisbon turned to Van Pelt. "She's telling the truth. Her maid had just arrived when she was leaving. They exchanged a few words about the maid's children."
Van Pelt nodded, and watched as Susan explained her alibi to Cho. Cho made some notes, and then looked up at her again. "The house your husband works at, do you have the address?"
Susan shook her head. "Michael never told me what it was."
Lisbon shook her head. "She's lying. She just thought the address now. It's 2137 Angel Drive." She turned to Van Pelt. "Take Rigsby; see what you can come up with."
Van Pelt nodded and left. Lisbon continued to watch the interview silently.
XxxxxxxxxxxX
Van Pelt pulled the car to a stop outside 2137 Angel Drive, and looked up at the house. It was a huge apartment with floor to ceiling glass windows and a large balcony overlooking Sacramento. Rigsby got out and led the way up the path to the door. There was the sound of machinery coming from inside the house, and Rigsby knocked on the door. The machinery stopped, and he knocked again. The sound of heavy footfalls echoed through the apparently empty hallway, and the door opened. A shorter man stood on the other side. His short dark hair and short beard were coated in redbrick dust, and his clothing was filthy.
Rigsby flashed his badge and identified both himself and Van Pelt. "We're from the CBI. Is this where Michael Shepherd has been working?"
The man nodded. "Yes, he's my boss. Is everything okay?"
Rigsby glanced past the man. "Do you mind if we ask a few questions about him?"
The man stepped back and allowed the agents to enter. "Ask away. Is he in trouble?"
Van Pelt smiled. "That is an ongoing investigation, Mr…"
The man held out his hand. "Dubery. Jarred Dubery."
Van Pelt shook it, and Rigsby followed suit. They headed through to the job site, a bathroom on the lower level of the house. The wall was partially ground away, and several yards of piping lay coiled up in the corner. Jarred washed his hands in the basin, and turned to the agents. "What would you like to know?"
Rigsby glanced down at his notebook. "Was your boss at work three days ago?"
Jarred nodded. "He was here early, but had to leave for supplies. We were out of duct tape."
Van Pelt looked up. "What time was that?"
Jarred thought for a moment. "That was at about seven thirty."
"Was he gone long?"
Jarred shook his head. "About ten minutes."
Rigsby glanced at the partially chased wall. "Have you ever met Susan?"
Jarred nodded. "Lots of times. She was always coming to the site to bring stuff for us. She's nice enough, but pretty ambitious."
"Ambitious how?"
Jarred shrugged. "I would call her a man-eater, but she knew what she wanted, and I suspected she was sleeping with at least one other guy. She was on her way to being a high level corporate secretary, or so she used to say. I wouldn't put it past her to sleep her way to the top."
Van Pelt nodded, and glanced around. "How come you're the only one at work today?"
Jarred glanced at the agent. "Mostly we don't work Saturdays, but it's overtime if we do."
Rigsby nodded. "Oh, have you ever heard the name Marisa Willows?"
Jarred nodded. "We did work for them about six months back. She and Michael were school friends. Why? What's happened?"
Van Pelt shut her notebook and put it away. "She's dead."
Jarred almost dropped the grinder he had just picked up. "Dead? And you suspect Michael?"
The agents both looked away. Jarred put the grinder down onto the tiled floor. Rigsby looked at him. "Were you and her close?"
Jarred shrugged. "We kept contact after we finished working at their house because she had been telling me about her issues with Paul. She had found out about his affair, and was planning a divorce."
Van Pelt abruptly took out her notebook. "Did she know who it was with?"
"She said it was a secretary from Paul's work…" Jarred shut his eyes and frowned. "I have a feeling you're about to tell me it was Susan."
Both agents nodded, and Jarred looked visibly shaken. "She had been trying to assure Michael she wasn't cheating on him. But he always suspected she was lying."
Van Pelt nodded. "Thank you for your time, Mr Dubery. We will let you get back to work now."
Jarred nodded and followed them to the door. "If you need anything else, you know where to find me."
Van Pelt handed him her business card. "If you think of anything else, let us know."
XxxxxxxxxxxX
Lisbon was watching the interview of Michael Shepherd through the window. So far, he hadn't been lying when he said that he was at work early that morning, and that he had left for a few minutes to buy duct tape. "Why did you and Susan run the next day?" Cho asked.
Michael shrugged. "We figured we would be the first suspects in the murder because of Susan's relationship with Paul."
Cho nodded. "Did you kill Marisa?"
Michael shook his head. "No. and I'm sure Susan didn't either. She might have cheated on me, but she's no murderer."
The team met up again in the bullpen. "Well," said Lisbon. "Neither of them did it."
Cho nodded. "Both stories checked out. The maid confirmed that Susan was there."
Van Pelt pulled out her notebook. "We spoke with a Jarred Dubery at the work site. He confirmed Michael was there all morning."
Lisbon sighed and turned to Jane. "Any insight?"
Jane didn't look up from his book. But Lisbon heard his thoughts loud and clear. 'Check how each person involved drinks their coffee. That seems to be the key.'
"Why?" asked Lisbon, forgetting the rest of the team hadn't heard Jane's thought.
Rigsby frowned, and Lisbon blushed before repeating Jane's thought. Van Pelt frowned and pulled the file off her desk. It was the report on the mug. "The coffee had lots of sugar in it. But Marisa was a type 2 diabetic. She was on insulin injections. That amount of sugar would have killed her."
Cho nodded. "So whoever has their coffee like that is obviously the person who shot her."
Jane frowned. "There were no signs of a struggle in the house, yet she has a scratch on her hand. Is it not possible that there was a minor struggle, but the person who killed her put things back to how they were?"
Lisbon nodded. "It's entirely possible."
Van Pelt sat down at her desk. "But that would mean the killer would need to know exactly where everything had been."
Rigsby had an idea. "Why not dust the things at the scene that could possibly have been displaced for fingerprints?"
Lisbon picked up Cho's desk phone and dialled the Crime Scene Investigation Unit downstairs. She put her request in, and then hung up the phone. "And now we wait."
Jane stood up. "I think Lisbon and I should go talk to Michael's employee."
Lisbon frowned. "Why?"
Jane looked at her. "It's something to do while we wait."
A/N2: Please leave me a review. I would really appreciate it. Again, sorry for the delay.