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Location names are real places and the content is real but my insinuation that this content happened at this particular location is, as far as I am aware, purely fiction. I hope no-one is upset by this.

LET SLEEPING BLOOD LIE

Chapter 11 - Rites and rituals

Korsak cuts Jane off as she heads to interrogation

"Jane. Hamish's father, Sir Roy Jones the third, finally made contact. He said it had to be an accident. That it was his old school and they were all his old buddies and would look out for his son. He didn't seem surprised that Hamish had drugs on him and he said he had loaned his Masonic ring to Hamish hoping to help him get accepted easier."

"Sir Roy", Jane chuckles, "Did he say anything about the fraternity?"

"Nope, He was a closed book on that. Indicated he didn't know if Hamish was even in a fraternity. He was firm that he wouldn't press any charges tho. He is flying back in the next few days to take care of preparations and will stop by to discuss anything. Seems he has decided it's a closed case."

"Hmmm. Well being a Sir he must be an expert, let me just pop down and let Maura know it was an accident." She smirks

Korsak chuckles, "Ok, lets take a crack at Jared shall we?"

"Let's"

Korsak rubs his hands together in anticipation.

Jared looked small in the room, not because he was a small guy in a large room but because he was cowered down in the chair looking like he wished to be anywhere else in the world.

He was young, with short dark hair and a slightly chubby face, he looked tired, a little haggard, but his face was stern, like he was clenching his jaw to look tough. He didn't have a lawyer with him.

"Why did you run?" Jane starts off

"Heard you were looking for me. Knew I was gonna get blamed for everything" Jared shook his head side to side in frustration never making eye contact.

"Anything you did do that you want to confess?" Jane lowers her head trying to catch his eyes but he is looking only at his lap.

"Yeah" he says suddenly looking up at Jane. "Yeah, I knew Hamish was in a bad way and I did nothing to help him."

It's guilt and grief Jane and Korsak see in his face, it is not what either of them expected.

"Explain" Korsak says gently opening his notepad and hovering his pen over it.

"I tried to help him, I mean we weren't friends but we were both having a hard time. The rituals and stuff kinda forced us to keep an eye out for each other, ya know, watch each others backs. We had both been picked on, least it felt that way. Me cause i was a nerd, he said he thought it's cause of who his dad was for him. It hadn't started too bad, but after enduring for 6 weeks with only 2 weeks left it felt like a waste if you left before it was over, before you made it to the end. We stuck it out, well I did, and there was one week left to go when Hamish died."

"1 week." Jane repeats questioning

"You rush for 8 weeks and if you make it till the end you might be in if there are enough spots. And if you're in you've got a chance to be great." he puts his head down again squeezing his shut shaking his head, "It's not worth it".

"The fraternity being Phi Kappa Beta?"

"Yeah" Jared replies twiddling his thumbs

"The Principle informed us that it was shut down 2 months ago" Jane feels her annoyance start to come out and pushes it back down. Someone is lying and she really isn't impressed.

Jared looks up surprised, "Well they are still doing initiations, maybe they changed names and didn't tell us. I dunno, I pledged to Phi Kappa Beta. We all did. Maybe they were doing it in secret". Jane is sure he was being honest.

"What happened to you there?" Korsak asks preparing for the worst.

"Lots" Jared growls angrily, "It started out not too bad but then the last few weeks it got really really bad. They blindfolded us and beat us with a paddle, I couldn't walk for hours, forced us to drink until we almost passed out and dressed us in women's clothing and diapers. We were confined for nine hours in a dark basement without food, water or a bathroom, while being blasted with loud music." A tear escapes his staunch face and trickles down his cheek leaving a glistening line. "I have dreams of the basement sometimes," he said. "I hear the yelling. It sounds like they're about to attack me. Then I wake up from my nightmare."

Korsak leans into his hand on his forehead, Jane can tell he is having a hard time with this.

"Hamish wanted out, but leaving the brotherhood wasn't easy. When he missed events, members called, texted and visited his room, he reported it to campus police, but they didn't care. He told me drugs could fix it all and he knew I had contacts so came with me to get some. I thought he was gonna use em to escape the reality he was going through and I couldn't blame him. He essentially has been blackballed from any social life, ate his meals alone and was miserable. His dad went to the same fraternity as him and told him once that he was weak if he couldn't hack it, he was sure his dad would disown him if he quit and they were scaring him so much he changed his mind about leaving. That's what he told them anyway, we weren't exactly close enough for him to tell me what his plans were."

Jared looks at Korsak who isn't writing much down, concern crosses his face

"I ain't makin' it up, they might try to make it look like I killed him but I didn't, I swear," he cries out angrily.

Korsak eyeballs him for a moment, "Sorry," he says gently, "I believe you." Then writes down some notes. "Please continue", his strained voice breaking the silence.

"Well, the ceremony that night was drinking blood and saying a stupid ritual. Hamish didn't do it how they wanted it done even tho he did it exactly like the rest of us all, guess they were mad at him, and they dragged him away screaming."

"Who are they, Jared?" Jane looks at him watching his face carefully.

Jared frowns, "They wore black masks and gowns like always and it was always dark, candles and stuff. But the members that ran the recruits are Oliver, Ricci, Harris and ...um...Shawn. They had to know what happened with Hamish. I think he had the Coke on him when we went in for that ritual." Jane and Korsak exchange looks, it is beginning to feel like a game of pass the buck. Korsak writes down the names.

Jared starts to sob slightly, "I know I shouldn't have been buying stuff, I just don't wanna go down for shooting him up and killing him. That's how he died right? overdose?"

"He fell from the Howard Wright Dormitory building." Jane informs him.

Jared stared at her shocked. "Really. That's where they took us sometimes. Took us up there for the initiations. Stood us at the edge and blindfolded us. Then said to walk forward if we trusted them. Anyone that didn't move was out. They put a barrier up after we were blindfolded so we couldn't move forward much anyway, but that we had tried was acceptable to them."

"Who took you up there?" Jane tries again for a name.

"Dunno, same thing, masks and gowns."

"Did you sell any drugs to students on campus?"

"Nuh. But my locker was broken into and my stash stolen while I was hiding out"

"Did Hamish sell any drugs?"

The corner of Jared's mouth curls up slightly, "No way, The kid was scared to touch the stuff himself. Hated the stuff. He was a good kid, kinda introverted. Wouldn't know the first thing about selling em. I figured when he wanted to use it he would ask me for help."

"Thank you Jared, we are going to look into this."

Jared half smiles at them, but the hurt in his face remains. Then he looks down at his lap again. "I can't go back to the school now, I am pretty sure they will kill me for what I have said. It's all meant to be secret, that's part of the draw to it. To be part of something bigger than you, something prestigious. They made us tell them our secrets so we wouldn't tell their secrets so they would be kept secret betwen the brothers. But when someone dies it suddenly seems like a little boys game. I don't wanna be part of it. I don't wanna see anyone else getting hurt. Thats...that's is why I told you." His eyes are shining, wet but bright, unburdened, the hardness is gone.

Jane smiles at him and nods her head in understanding before leaving the room.

Korsak rubs his head, "So the father went to 'Phi Kappa Beta' but said he didn't know what fraternity Hamish had Joined. Hamish stayed being brutalized because his father might disown him if quit. And Jared's stash was conveniently stolen and distributed among some other students."

"Same drugs. Are you sure?"

"Yep, Maura tested and the the test came back a match."

Jane shrugs, "Could be coincidence."

"There is no such thing as coincidences." Korsak chuckles shaking his head like it's common knowledge. "I am worried if we pull out those four boys, we are going to be in for a wild ride. But I will talk to a judge anyway. See if we can't get us a warrant that their lawyers can't eat up and spit out."

"Sure, let me know how you get on. I have a date with a pillow."

Korsak laughs and heads toward the bullpen, Jane heads towards the elevator.

Her phone rings interrupting her much needed mid-day nap.

"Hello" she grumbles trying to sound awake

"Back-off" A gruff male voice comes through he receiver slightly crackly

She sits up and pulls the phone away from her ear, unknown number

"Who is this?"

"You heard me, back-off Phi Kappa Beta before you or someone you care about gets hurt"

"Now you listen to me you little punk, you threaten me and my-" blip blip blip the line goes dead

"Who was that Jane?" Maura is standing beside her desk surprised at Jane's sudden outburst.

"Don't know. I think it was a threat. How long was I out?"

Maura looks at her watch, "About thirty minutes. What kind of threat?"

"Back off the fraternity or someone gets hurt" Jane repeats staring at her phone. "I'll check into it" Jane quickly adds seeing the concern in Maura's face.

"I gotta go Maur. See you tonight?"

Maura smiles, the worry still etched in creased lines across her forehead.

Jane walks back into Maura's office and wraps Maura in a hug, "It's gonna be fine"

Maura hugs her back tightly and kisses Jane's temple, "Tonight" she smiles

...

...to be continued...