Simple Diversions
A/N: Here is the next chapter after some struggling with uploading and writing. I fear the next hapter will take a little bit longer... maybe a week :( But I wll try and finish it as soon as possible. Please let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist or any of the characters or conepts from the show.
Chapter 4
Daniel and Lisbon shared a glance at the two consultants' replies.
"I already told you Mia, Zavier didn't have a girlfriend." Daniel said as he took some papers out of the file in front of him.
"But I already know who the girlfriend is." Mia replied angrily.
"Do you now," Daniel began as he rolled his eyes. "Then please enlighten us."
"Her name is Avery Lancaster." Mia replied boldly. "She goes to the same school as Zavier and is the head of the cheerleading squad and the debate team."
"Alright," Daniel said with a sigh. "Why don't you go with Alistair and Gresham and check it out."
"Sure," Mia replied as she stood from her spot on the couch. "I'll be glad to prove you wrong."
Mia walked out of Daniel's office and down the hall.
"Why don't you go with her Jane?" Lisbon asked as she motioned for Jane to go in the same direction.
"Sure thing Lisbon." Jane replied as he stood and followed after Mia.
"You know they're just going to get into a lot of trouble right?" Daniel Reese asked sarcastically.
"I know," Lisbon replied with a sigh. "At least this way we get to split the blame fifty-fifty."
xxxxx
"Alright guys, Daniel wants us to go and catch the killer." Mia announced as she stepped into the somewhat cramped office area.
"Did Daniel really say that, or are you making things up again?" A tall black man in his early thirties asked as he sipped from a cup of coffee.
"What would make you think I would make up something so serious David?" Mia asked with a mock wounded expression. "You wound me."
"Oh please," A woman with blond hair replied. "How many times haven't you led us on a wild goose-chase?" The woman sat down at her desk with what seemed to be her lunch.
"OK, once or twice," Mia replied to which everyone snorted. "But I have always managed to solve the case."
Jane suddenly came into view as he walked up behind Mia.
"Where did blondy come from?" David Flood asked.
"Oh, this is Patrick Jane from CBI." Mia said as she turned to introduce Jane.
"Hi," David said as he came over to Jane. "I'm David flood."
"Pleasure to meet you." Jane replied as he shook the taller man's hand.
"So, the other two untrusting people over there," Mia began as she pointed to the blond woman and another man who had just walked in with some paper work. "Are Lisa Gresham and Alistair Mc Farley."
The other two detectives came over to Jane and each shook his hand.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all," Jane began. "But Mia was telling the truth about catching the killer."
The three detectives shared a glance and David asked, "OK, who was specifically requested to accompany you two?"
"Alistair and Gresham." Mia replied plainly.
The three shared another look and David replied, "Alright, see you guys later!"
The two detectives watched as David sauntered off somewhere.
"Alright, let's go." Alistair said as he grabbed his gun and badge.
The four walked out of the door and left to go and find the girlfriend.
xxxxx
They had arrived at the high that the victim and her brother had attended. They walked into the school and were met by the principle, who had been warned of their arrival by Detective Gresham.
"You must be the people investigating Stella Brand's death." The headmistress, Miss Valentino, said as she led the small group through the halls of the school.
"Yes," Alistair replied. "This is Detective Lisa Gresham, I am Detective Alistair Mc Farley and these are our two consultants."
"Um, I actually work for the CBI." Jane said politely as he walked next to Mia.
"Right well, this is the senior's home room." Miss Valentino said as she showed them towards two wooden doors.
The four stood outside the door as Jane looked through the little stained glass windows.
Miss Valentino opened the doors and they all walked through into the little classroom.
"Students, can I have your attention please," Miss Valentino began in a loud voice. "These are the detectives that are going to be investigating Stella's murder."
The detectives and consultants said good morning to the class and Jane said, "Please, finish your lesson and we'll talk to you in your lunch break."
Jane ushered everyone out of the class and turned to the two detectives.
"Why don't you two go and have tea with the principle and Mia and I will wait here until the class is finished." Jane said with his signature grin.
Gresham and Alistair shared a look before Mia gave them a semi reassuring look.
"Fine, but if you guys do anything that'll put our heads on the chopping block, we're coming after you." Lisa replied.
"We won't, Scout's Honor." Jane said as he held his hand up in oath.
With that, Lisa and Alistair turned to follow the principle, albeit regretfully.
"What do we do now?" Mia asked.
Jane simply gave a cheeky grin and grabbed Mia's hand as he pulled her back into the classroom.
"We're just sitting in on the class today." Jane said hurriedly to students and teacher as he pulled Mia towards the two open desks at the back of the classroom.
They sat down and Mia whispered to Jane, "What was that all about?"
"I'm just laying some bait for the students." Jane replied. "If they see us as friends and think we're dating, they might open up."
"What makes you think that?" Mia asked with a confused expression.
"Well, normally cops don't date each other," Jane began in a whisper. "And if they do, they aren't open about it, because it's against the rules."
"So?" Mia asked.
"So," Jane said matter-of-factly. "That would make us seem like the rebellious cops, therefore making us trustworthy."
"Oh," Mia began. "Now it makes sense."
Jane didn't realize that he was still holding Mia's hand as he listened to the bored, underpaid teacher lecture on about some ancient piece of American history. Oddly, he didn't mind though as he noted that Mia's hands were warm and soft.
They sat hand in hand, not really listening to the teacher's speech, but silently reading each and every student.
Eventually the bell rang and Jane and Mia had two likely suspects already.
All of the students picked up the books and bags and started to pile out of the class room. Everyone except for one girl with blond hair.
Jane and Mia stood, still hand in hand and went over to the girl.
"Hi, I'm Patrick Jane and this is Mia Black." Jane began as he smiled at the girl."Were you close to Stella?"
The girl sniffled and looked into their eyes. "Yeah, she was my best friend."
"What is your name?" Mia asked the girl.
"My name is Susan," The girl began as she stuck her hand out to the two of them. "Susan Hemsworth."
Both Jane and Mia shook Susan's hand.
"We were friends since pre-school." Susan continued as she stood and slung her book bag over her shoulder. "We did everything together and we knew everything about each other."
"Are you sure you knew absolutely everything?" Mia asked as she and Jane followed Susan down the now busy hallway.
"Yes, she knew things I have never told anyone else." Susan began in a quieter tone. "And vice versa."
Jane and Mia followed the girl to her locker and watched as she put some books inside. On the inside of the locker door was a picture of Stella and Susan.
"You two look very alike in this picture." Jane said as he took a closer look at the photograph.
"Yeah, sometimes we used to pretend we were long lost sisters or something." Susan said as she paused to look at the picture.
That minute the school bell rang, indicating that it was lunch time.
"That's the bell for lunch." Susan began as she shut her locker door. "You guys can come if you want."
Jane and Mia seemed to have a wordless conversation as they shared a glance.
"Unless you two want to be alone." Susan added as she motioned to their still intertwined hands.
As soon as they noticed here Susan was motioning, they dropped each other's hands and Jane quickly replied, "Uh sure, we'll join you for lunch."
"Cool," Susan replied. "Just follow me."
The two followed girl into the cafeteria and sat down at one of the round tables with her. Susan pulled a brown paper bag out of her book bag and put it on the table along with a bottle of juice. She pulled two sandwiches out of the bag and handed one of them to Jane.
"You guys can share that one." Susan said with a smile."I'm sure you both like cheese."
"Thank you very much Susan." Jane replied with his megawatt grin and handed half of the sandwich to Mia.
"We really are spoiled," Jane began. "This is our second cheese sandwich of the day."
Susan gave a shy smile as they all bit into the sandwiches.
"Hmm, your sandwich is definitely better than the first." Mia said with a kind smile.
They ate in silence for a while, just listening to the noises of the teenagers around them.
"Susan, do you know of anyone that would want to kill Stella?" Jane asked suddenly.
"Well, with this being higj school," Susan began. "I don't think so."
"Did any of the teachers seem to have a grudge against Stella?" Mia asked.
"Not that I can think of." Susan replied.
"What about Zavier," Jane asked. "Did he have any friends who didn't particularly like Stella?"
"No," Susan replied plainly.
"Did Zavier have a girlfriend?" Mia asked.
"Um," Susan seemed to think for a while. "Yeah, he was dating the captain of the cheer leading squad, but I don't know if they're still together."
Mia and Jane shared a look as their hunches were proved right.
"What is this girl's name?" Jane asked.
"Her name is Avery," Susan began. "Avery Lancaster."
Once again Mia and Jane shared a look, each with their own signature grin in place.
Please leave a review! I am so down at the moment and anything (even criticism) will make my day :)