Chapter 3
"Explain it again?" Vince asked Jane.
Jane, Frankie and Nina all stood around the board. Jane sighed and opened her mouth to speak again when she watched Boris Martin, her bodyguard, entry the squad room.
"You again?" she asked. "I'm obviously not the target so you can go away."
"No," he told her. "I was hired by Dr. Isles to protect you, but that mission has now changed."
"Lemme guess? You need her back so she can sign the check?"
"Actually, she put me on a very large retainer. So I'm still on the clock. But that's not why I'm here. I've never lost anyone, and I'm not about to start now. She hired me for your wellbeing, and until she returns, you won't be well, so that's why I'm here." He walked over and took a seat. "It seemed like you were in the middle of something, so please, continue."
"Vince?" Jane looked to her partner. "Who is this guy?"
"Well vetted and experienced," he answered. He then turned to Boris. "Thank you, Mr. Martin. A fresh set of eyes on this situation is welcome and might help."
"I don't take my employers being kidnapped very lightly," he replied and then turned to Jane. "It's not good for business so bring me up to speed please."
Jane sighed. "I had a dream and before you say anything Mr. Martin, it's helped me in the past. You got a problem with that?"
At first he said nothing. Finally, he replied, "Not at all. I've seen many things over the years that had no believable explanation, so go on."
Happy with the answer, Jane continued. "Anyway, I gave Maura red balloons in my dream. The balloons we took out of the victim slash arsonist, Leeann Sampson, were red and one of them held my watch that my mother gave me. That's why I thought my Ma was the target. 5:26 wasn't a time at all though as you know."
"It was a biblical verse," Korsak added. "Matthew 5:26. Something like, 'you will not get out until you've paid the last penny'."
"Yes, but he..." Jane paused and her bottom lip fluttered slightly. She took a deep breath and finished, "He went after Maura. He took her instead."
"But how do the balloons tie in?" Korsak asked.
"One of Hoyte's apprentices, the prison guard Rod Mason," Jane reminded him,"... he killed Gram Randell, remember? He shanked him in the prison bathroom, but only after he had-."
Korsak snapped his fingers. "...swallowed a balloon full of teeth belonging to the Wilson family, who were victims of Hoyte," he said.
"Exactly," Jane replied. "Hoyte and Mason did it all to send a clue. Now, cut to Leeann Sampson. She swallowed multiple balloons – one with a deadly dose of cocaine and the other with the watch... to send a clue."
"It's the same M.O.," Frankie added, "and since you killed Hoyte, we've got a copycat or..."
"Another apprentice," Boris said.
Jane nodded. "The other reason I know it's Hoyte is... and stay with me on this... Maura said something in the dream that Hoyte once said to me – something that you said in the office, Korsak."
"Which is?" he asked.
"'The problem is your heart rules your head'. Maura said it in my dream and you said it when I woke up. God, the universe, whatever... it's sending me a message... It's Hoyte. The person doing this has a connection to Hoyte and that's why it's about revenge. I killed the monster they admired most and now he, or she, or they... they've taken who I treasure most. It's revenge." Jane stopped and turned to Boris. "And that's why you have to leave."
"Excuse me?" he asked while Korsak sighed, "Jane."
"It's not personal," Jane continued. "I have to let my head rule my heart now. And while I would love to have all the help we can get on this case, my head is telling me no outsiders."
"Jane," Frankie spoke up.
"No." She pointed her finger at him. "One of Hoyte's other apprentices got into our circle, remember? She won you over and nearly killed us both. It's one of his trademarks – gain confidence and then when your guard is down..."
"I hear ya," Frankie replied.
"I'm confused," Boris said.
Korsak sighed. Jane was right. He knew it. He couldn't take the risk that Boris might be involved.
"Mr. Martin, I'm sorry, but Jane is right," Vince began. "If you'd like to investigate this case, I can't stop you. And if your intentions are pure, we appreciate the help. However, until we know who we can trust, this circle needs to be smaller I'm afraid."
"You think I'm an apprentice of this Hoyte psycho? Did you forget that you folks hired me?"
"In my experience," Jane began, "Even chance meetings are staged when it comes to Hoyte. I'm not willing to take that chance. So, thank you for the offer of help, but please leave."
Boris looked around the room and noticed that no one was budging. "Alright," he said as he rose. He pulled two business cards from a holder in his coat pocket. He gave one to Korsak and one to Jane. "I have no intention of stopping. Like I said, I'm on the clock. So if I uncover anything, I'll let you know."
Korsak offered his hand and they shook before the dark haired man left the room. On his way out, he passed an older gentleman carrying a box.
"Detective Rizzoli," he said as he made his way over.
"Hey Frank," she greeted him as he put the box on the edge of Korsak's desk. She turned to Nina, "Conte," she whispered his last name. "From the video."
Although she said nothing, Nina had a flash of recognition. It was the same man that she spotted on the video surveillance who followed Jane out twice prior to her house fire.
"I'm sorry this got opened. But let me say, that's some sweet tooth you got there," he began with a chuckle. Jane wasn't smiling so he cleared his throat and continued, "The new guy in the mailroom got reprimanded for opening your delivery. Trust me when I say it won't happen again."
"I didn't order anything," Jane answered suspiciously. "Did you see what's in it?"
"Yeah. It's nothing but candy bars," he replied. "A shit load of them too. A couple of months' worth for sure."
He opened the box wider as they all looked inside.
"Like I said," Conte continued, "I thought you were working on a cavity."
"Who sent it?" Jane asked.
"No return address," he replied.
"No other box?" Frankie asked.
"No, just this one," he replied.
"Thanks, Conte," Korsak told him. "We'll let you know if we've got any other questions."
Take the cue, the man gave a nod and left the room. Vince went into his desk and pulled out a small bag of rubber gloves.
"From the kidnappers?" Nina asked.
"I'd say so, yeah," Jane muttered.
"Why candy bars?" Frankie asked.
"We'll figure it out." Korsak said as he handed out the gloves. "For now, let's start bagging and get these to the techs. Maybe they can lift a print."
"I have an idea," Nina said.
"Let's hear it," Frankie replied.
"Start counting them as you bag them. Let's see how many we have. The last clue wasn't a location; it was a bible verse. I think this one might be another verse," she suggested.
After several minutes, all four of them had their stacks of candy bars. Each detective counted twice to make sure their first count was accurate. Nina kept track and came up with the total – 120.
"So we've got 120 Baby Ruth candy bars in a box," Frankie said. "No note. No nothing. What does it mean?"
By now, Nina was already typing at Jane's keyboard.
"I got an idea," the criminologist replied. "They didn't pick just any candy bar," she added.
"Baby Ruth," Jane muttered. "The Book of Ruth."
Nina nodded and hit the enter key. After a few seconds, she sighed, "Ohh."
"Oh what?" Jane asked impatiently.
Nina read out loud, "Ruth 1: 20: "Call me no longer Naomi, call me..."
"What?" Korsak asked when she trailed off.
Nina cleared her throat and finished reluctantly, "Call me Mara..."
"Mara?" Korsak muttered.
Nina nodded and continued, "Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty..."
For three whole seconds, everything was still. That was until Jane reared back and knocked the empty box off of Korsak's desk and across the room.
"They didn't kill her cause they want to hurt her," Jane said. "They're hurting her right now. They're taunting us."
"Jane," Korsak said, "We don't know what's happening."
"Really?!" Jane challenged. "Did you hear what Nina just read, 'I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty'. What do you think it means, Vince? I'll tell you what it means. It means they're going to break her. They're going to rob her of everything that makes her... her. Or maybe they're gonna gut her like a trout – leave her empty. We're losing time here!"
"We're going to find her," he promised.
"When? Before or after she's 'empty'?" Jane shook her head and started to pace.
"We need a plan," Frankie said no one in particular. "Enough fear and worrying. We need to go on the offensive here."
"Agreed," Korsak replied. "Start by getting these bars and the box to the techs as planned. Let's see if we can get a print."
Jane started to walk from the room. "Where are you going?" her partner called out.
"Back to bed," she replied.
"Seriously?" he asked.
"Yeah. As crazy as it sounds...that's the only way we're getting any leads."
When she turned toward the door, she nearly collided with someone walking in. She automatically started to apologize for the collision when she noticed who it was.
"Hello, Jane," Agent Gabriel Dean greeted her.