Disclaimer - None of this belongs to me. I'm only borrowing the characters to get me through the summer hiatus. Thanks to SWWoman for betaing this chapter. Big hugs.

Chapter 3 - Investigating

John stepped out of the car to be greeted by the cold breeze that had been present since morning. He withheld the shiver as he began to survey the location.

He had followed Finch's instructions and drove for the better part of a few minutes before he had gotten into the more politically connected area of New York. Just on the outskirts of Brooklyn, this part of the city had its number of big name investors and expensive cars littering the street. On the sidewalk, you can see men in suits that were worth thousands of dollars debating on who you would be voting for in any election on a daily basis.

John was glad to be able to avoid such trivial manners such as this. The subject of politics was definitely not a topic that he favored, especially considering how many people have been corrupted by the power they are given when they are voted into office. It wasn't like he could be involved anyway. The world thought that he was dead and he treasured his ability to fly under the radar.

He stood in front of the lavish office of Alonzo Quinn. From what Finch had told him, the man was the political advisor to the Mayor. It would have been no surprise that someone like this would not have been publicized because of the shooting. It would have indirectly affected the Mayor as well and people would look to him for answers.

Finch's information was correct as always. The area looked to be intentionally deserted as to not draw too much unwanted attention. It looked as though the usual security was still making their rounds as he saw one man near the front door. He noted that there was still the telltale sign of the yellow police tape which would keep civilians away. He made his way off the street. He then headed towards the double doors only to have the big guy stand in his way, trying to look intimidating. Reese just responded with his own stare, showing that he wasn't affected in the slightest.

"Excuse me but no one is allowed past this point. If you know what's good for you, you'll get back in your fancy car and take off" warned in a deep voice.

John couldn't help but smirk inwardly, thinking about other options if this guy proved to be more trouble than he was worth. "I'm Detective Stills. I'm here to look over the crime scene again for my investigation. There may be vital clues inside that have been overlooked."

"You got a badge?" he asked.

Reese reached inside his coat and got the item he had acquired all those months ago when he first started this crazy job. He raised it to view, making sure to hold it up close to his face so the guy could actually read it. After an annoying wait, the guard finally accepted the identification.

"Okay cop, just go in there and hurry up. We gotta start cleaning up for when Mr. Quinn gets back from the hospital."

"Don't worry, I will be quite brief." He didn't bother thanking him. There was no point. John made his way around the human wall and went under the police tape, being sure not to dislodge it too much as it might arouse suspicion if another officer happened to show up. He walked through the narrow hallway that was furnished with quite a few expensive pieces of art against the wooden décor. John could already tell that this guy was no saint from the first five seconds of stepping inside.

He took the turn at the end where he found another police tape barrier. He slipped through it carefully and found himself in the room that he recognized from the photos. The police did quite a number on the scene. There was quite a bit of disheveled items, probably from the police's messy attempt at gathering evidence.

John took a moment to examine everything from where he was standing. He learned that sometimes you can notice things without even stepping foot into the situation. The main thing that had caught his eyes immediately was what he initially saw. He couldn't help but be suspicious since police tend to take care not to be messy inside of an active crime scene. It looked as if almost no care had been taken to preserve evidence.

He came to the conclusion and it had appeared that it had been reported as a simple attempted murder. The evidence had been collected and it should have been an open and shut case. If the evidence had been enough, then why were things like the books on the shelf and a table in the far end of the room searched thoroughly? There would have been no reason for any of it.

He took a few more steps around, being sure to widen the gaps in his pace as he wanted to get the chance to look where he was going. There were evidence markers in only five spots. Three were indicating where everyone was found at the time the police had arrived while the other two were where the guns were found after the area had been cordoned off for the investigations. He noticed that the chairs that were most likely occupied by the detective and his lawyer seemed to have stayed in place during the incident.

If someone had decided to do something like this at the spur of the moment, why wasn't anything disrupted? The scene presented a calm demeanor, not someone that suddenly pulled out a gun to take a shot at someone. He looked around the other side of the table and saw that the lone chair on the other side had been pushed back mere inches, but the chair was still upright regardless. It didn't look like a scene where someone had tried to defend himself from a shooter.

John tapped the ear piece to begin the call. "Finch I've arrived at the scene a few minutes ago. There is definitely something fishy about everything here. It just doesn't look like anything even remotely happened here excepted for a couple of chairs being moved out of place. The only other things that are out of order are the places where police were searching around."

"Do you believe that it may have been some sort of cover-up for Mr. Quinn?"

"I'm not sure yet. All I know is that this was a one sided fight and it appears that the good detective and his lawyer didn't stand a chance in the slightest." His brain began to process something as he looked at the position of the evidence markers. "Finch, the report said that Quinn was shot with a 9mm correct?"

Harold brought the report up on his screen for confirmation. "That is correct. The angle of the shot suggested that Szymanski stood up and aimed down at him."

"Well then there is a problem Finch. How does someone take an angled shot without getting up from his chair? From the looks of things, I can tell you that Szymanski never even reached for his gun. He was ambushed as was his lawyer."

"Can you prove the theory Mr. Reese?"

He scanned the area quickly. "Not physically. By the time I get back to you, this place will be cleaned up and it will be as if nothing happened." John's stomach turned a bit at the thought that he knew that something was amiss.

"So suffice it to say, you believe that Szymanski and his lawyer were ambushed? Do you believe Mr. Quinn is responsible?"

"Think about it Finch. It seems too clean…"

"Mr. Reese, I may have discovered something of interest." John's ears perked as he heard the typing in the background. "I just began to review the detective's case file and discovered that he had agreed to testify against men from the Russian mob for a drug bust."

"When was the date of the trial?"

He looked further down in the report. "It appears that it was supposed to be in a week."

"Maybe the Russians were financially helping the Mayor with his campaign and when the income got threatened, someone took action and came up with a plan to frame the main witness. Why else would they go through the trouble…" Something caught John's eye. On the wooden floor, he noticed a distinct pattern in the ground made more distinct by the dust in the air. John took out his phone and set it to take a photo.

"Finch, I think that I may have a clue on who else was in here. I'm sending you a photo of a shoe print that I found. I'm sure that it didn't come from any of the officers since the uniform uses a distinct brand."

"I will begin performing an analysis and checking the details. What will you be doing in the meantime?"

"I think that my work is done here. I don't think I will find anything else that could help. Besides, I need to get out of here before the clean-up crew stops by."

"Are you afraid to run into Detective Carter?"

John stopped in his tracks. "Finch, I told you that I didn't want to talk about her. I think I just need to keep my distance from her that's all."

"What if she is also investigating this case? That is quite the possibility since her and Detective Szymanski had been acquaintances. If we know her as well as we do, she could be bringing trouble down on her as well."

"Let's just hope that's not the case. I'll see you back at the library."

"Mr. Reese…" he disengaged the call before it went any further. He didn't want to get into another debate about her. Finch's words couldn't help but ring true to him though. Joss was a person who would never let someone's name be destroyed. It was in her nature. She was a genuinely caring person, especially when it came to others close to her.

Before his thought process could go any further, he reminded himself that now was not the time to fantasize about her. He dusted himself off and went out of the room, certain that he would not be able to find anything else. He headed out the door, never acknowledging the guard, and headed back to his car.

Hopefully Finch will have some more information by the time he got there.

A/N: I hope that you guys are still enjoying the story so far. Bear hug to SWWoman for taking the time to do this. Enjoy everyone and be sure to catch the rerun.