"Okay guys, we're going to jump right into things because it seems that an audio recording is a key piece of evidence in this case with Briar." Wylie started, as he gave Trey and Brendan a quick tour of his work area and the audio forensic tools he used.

"So, I'm gonna observe, Jason, but I don't think I should actually process any of the data on this or anything. Don't I have a conflict of interest?" Brendan was truly desperate to help his maligned girlfriend, but he was also a son of FBI employees, so was familiar with the term and its implications.

"Smart, Brendan! I was going to bring that up next, actually!" Jason clapped the younger Jane's shoulder in recognition of his clear thinking. "So for this case, I'll have you both observe my processes, and I'll give you tasks from closed cases so you can practice those techniques, but in a way that won't at all taint the evidence in Briar's case. Still, if you notice something I miss, as you observe, feel free to bring it up. Any input you have will be objectively checked by me, and double-checked by at least one other tech specialist, so won't have any negative repercussions in a court case."

"Excellent. Thanks, Wylie!"

"You bet! So let's get started…"


As the audiophiles jumped into their analysis, Meghan was breaking the ice in a stark white meeting room.

"This room lacks personality." The eldest Jane sibling quipped.

"No lie. It feels like an insane asylum in here." Briar grumbled.

"Yeah." Meg chuckled, before becoming more businesslike. "Hey, I know you must be freaking out a little…"

"A little?!" Brendan's girl interrupted. "You've no idea the world war that's exploding in my head right now! This week has been a minefield already, with meeting you and your parents. I mean, you are all extremely cool, but it's an anxiety moment, you know? Wanting so badly to make a good impression and stuff? Because I truly adore your sweet brother, and all I could think about on the flight over was 'what if they hate me or what if they don't get me and tell him to stop seeing me or something.'"

Meghan reached over to rest a hand on Briar's forearm, giving a supportive squeeze. In a calm, even tone, she continued. "Well listen, there's no need to worry about that. We all think you are wonderful, and that you're wonderful for Brendan. Plus, my dad can see into people like no one else I've ever met - it's why he's with the FBI. And he is one of your staunchest defenders right now. He's certain of your innocence in this, and he always closes every case he works on, so you're in good hands."

Briar sniffled. "Thank you for saying that. It's a huge relief to hear it." She took a moment to let her emotions even out, putting her free hand on Meghan's in gratitude for her encouragement and care. "So, now what?"

"Now we chat." Meghan smiled. "I'm hoping to get a job in investigative journalism, so I volunteered to interview you today. We need to hear about your background, what you do currently in your life, and what - if any - knowledge you have about these other accused folks in the case."

"I don't have any knowledge of those creeps! Why the hell would I hang with drug dealers when my Dad was killed by a drunk driver?!" The girl's arms flew to her sides in a questioning posture. "I hate the people who feed addicts, and I certainly wouldn't knowingly hang out with them!"

"Knowingly." Meghan said, remaining calm, despite Briar's understandable outburst.

"Huh?"

"You said you wouldn't knowingly hang out with them. That word is key, and it's part of why I'm interviewing you today. We're going to walk through your day to day life and identify every little detail. Maybe you passed one of these jerks on the street one day? Or maybe they came to a gig one night? There are any number of explanations as to why you may have been incorrectly connected with them. I'm gonna help you figure that out today, okay?"

Sighing away her frustration, Briar nodded. "Sorry Meg. I know you're trying to help. I just react fast to accusations. Guess I'm used to having them thrown at me."

"Understandable. Brendan said that you tend to be misunderstood. That must be terribly frustrating. Tell me more about that?"

Standing in the observation area, Jane and Lisbon leaned into each other. Both were misting up with tears from hearing poor Briar's pain, and also at seeing the way Meghan was handling the panicked, tense words that were being hurled her way.

"My God, Jane. It's almost like watching you in there." Teresa sniffled. "She identified the keyword right away."

"Aw, Teresa… Thank you for the compliment. She is so very steady and calm, despite the agitation in the room. To me, that's all Lisbon." He sparkled at the extra squeeze that resulted from his words.

The two left their capable daughter to find the pertinent details in Briar's story, and walked to Cho's office for a briefing.


"So, it would seem that this is not actually about a sale, but something much bigger. When Boston PD raided a key supply warehouse for this drug ring last month, a firefight broke out. An undercover officer out of their division went down in the hail of bullets that had occurred. That explains why they are so motivated that they tracked their suspect down while on Spring Break - though I suppose to them it could have looked like she was fleeing arrest, if they assumed she was connected and being fed information."

"Go on." Jane said, stoically, fingers to his lips in deep though as he listened.

"Apparently, one of the top level gangbangers had a recording of that raid on his phone. No video, but crystal clear audio. Wylie's going over it today with a fine-tooth comb. At issue is the fact that during the shootout, Briar's voice can be clearly heard. It sounds, on the recording, as if she's actually giving the orders to shoot."

Lisbon and Jane shared a concerned glance.

"That sounds damning, I'll give them that," Lisbon started, "but the girl sitting in interrogation with Meghan right now doesn't seem capable of that kind of violence. She commands the stage when she's singing, but once she steps back down to the floor, she's almost fragile, despite the 'tough girl' act."

"Do we know this crystal clear audio is authentic?" Jane wondered aloud, still posed in a thoughtful posture.

"That's what Jason's working on today."

"And is this the only evidence that led to Briar Rose?" Lisbon asked.

"Apparently so. They were on their way to question her about the recording, when they received word from an APB they'd issued, saying she had just left on a flight to Austin. Thus, our involvement." Cho explained.

"I see… Well let's give Wylie time to sort the audio questions, and Lisbon and I will do some digging into those case files.

"Good plan. Keep me informed.


At Wylie's workstation, he and the two audio apprentices were listening closely to the recording that supposed to incriminate Briar Rose.

It wasn't long before Brendan had something to say.

"This is completely convoluted." He complained. "Briar would never be involved with these idiots."

"I understand that, but we need to try and maintain objectivity. It's in her best interests that we keep an open mind here."

"Oh, I am, Jason. But what I was getting at is that she would never hang with people like that, but also that I've heard this voice recording of her so-called firing orders before. Someone cut and pasted her vocal into this audio footage."

Trey was curious. "How so, Bren?"

Wylie was curious, too.

"There was a protest last semester, near Berklee's campus. Briar spoke out against the gun violence that has been getting worse in the downtown area. This recording is from Berklee's student government website. They had cameras at the protest and caught Briar's entire speech. This clip of her is from the most gripping part, where she was emotionally shouting out the 'orders to shoot,' that she had heard herself one night, as we packed up after a gig. Two dealers had guns drawn on each other a couple alleys away from us. The words she's shouting here are a mix of gang members yelling, and the orders of the Boston cops who were on the scene. The way she said it at the protest was almost like performance art, which is why it sounds so much like she's ordering shots on this mock-up."

"Wow, she must've brought the house down when she was done!" Trey smiled with respect.

"She usually does." Brendan beamed with pride.

"Okay guys, I'm gonna send one of you with a tech to find the original source audio on that student government website, and the other can stay with me to check for signs of tampering on this audio file."

"Bren, I scored highest in my class for troubleshooting audio and for editing. Why don't I stay with Wylie?" Trey offered.

"Yeah, you'll be great at that part, Trey. Plus, I know better what to look for on the website. Jason, who do I go with?"

Wylie found an analyst to accompany Brendan, then he pulled the file into a digital audio workstation for analysis so he and Trey could dig into the metadata and do some careful listening.


Meghan had just finished her interview, and joined her parents in Cho's office.

"She's right. She didn't do it."

"You seem pretty sure of yourself, Meg?" Lisbon grinned at her daughter's Jane-worthy confidence.

"I am! If the timing hadn't been so unlucky, with her flying to Austin just as they were going to question her, this would've been cleared up immediately."

"Spill, Meghan! You're killing us with the suspense!" Jane prodded.

"And who does that remind you of?" Cho deadpanned, triggering a snort from Lisbon and a defensive hurt look from Jane.

Slowly shaking her head at the scene, Meghan got to the point. "She has a rock-solid alibi. She was onstage in front of 200 people at the time of the raid and shootout."

"You have concrete proof? Or simply her word?" Cho asked.

"I have video evidence, and a written statement from the venue manager in charge that night." Meghan proceeded to hand Cho a printed pdf of the statement she had referenced, as well as a link to the YouTube video of Briar's performance that evening. "She was onstage that night from 10PM until 2AM. The shooting reportedly took place at midnight."

"Excellent work, Meghan!" Cho was uncharacteristically transparent with delight at the fastidiousness his adopted niece had shown. "I think you're gonna take to reporting quite well!"

Lisbon pulled her second-favorite blonde into a hug. "Meghan Elizabeth I am so very proud of you!"

"Aw, thanks Mom! It was fun being able to help, and the whole process was fascinating!"

Jane was so proud of his sweet girl that he couldn't speak. He simply smiled, eyes shimmering with tears, at his daughter's proud debut.

The tender scene was interrupted by an excited voice yelling from the hallway. A quick knock on Cho's door produced an out-of-breath Trey Hernandez.

"She's right! She didn't do it!" He panted, still winded from his jog across the bullpen.

"I feel like there's a theme here tonight." Jane quipped happily.

"What did you find, Trey?" Cho inquired, slipping comfortably back into his stoic self, arms crossed and stone-faced.

Jane and Lisbon's future son-in-law explained that Jason had discovered the audio of Briar Rose had indeed been spliced on top of the audio recording from the gang banger's phone intentionally.

"The recording date, as well as the bit and sample rates for her vocal, were different than that of the raid and gunfight." He explained. "Plus, on careful inspection, we could both hear artifacts and little clicks where her voice starts and stops, showing not only that those passages had been edited into place, but that they had done a remarkably sloppy job of it."

"Gotta love it when the criminals are lazy and stupid!" Jane crowed.

"Also, even before we made that discovery, Brendan identified all of those 'orders' she was yelling as parts of a speech she had given during a recent campus protest on gun violence. He found the official video of that speech on Berklee's student government site, and lined up each passage exactly - proving that the jerks had lifted the audio from that source."

"Wow! Excellent work, Trey!" Lisbon complimented.

"Agree!" Jane chimed in. "But something is still bothering me about this…"

"What's that, Jane?" Cho still had his arms crossed.

"Why Briar Rose? I can't see any reason to intentionally paste anyone's voice into this scene unless they were intentionally trying to frame her, specifically. Maybe they caught wind of her impassioned speech at the protest and wanted payback? It doesn't quite add up for me."

Looking through the case files on the desk, Meghan spoke up. "I think I might have an angle on that, Dad."

Jane sparkled at Lisbon for a moment, reacting to Meghan's use of lingo. "What angle's that, Meghan?"

"It says here that the banger who's phone they got this from was named Murphy? In her interview, Briar mentioned a run-in with an overzealous fan named Lucas Murphy. Said he had an unsavory vibe about him, and that he threatened her for turning down his offer of free goods. He didn't specify drugs, but she got that impression."

"Excellent connection, my dear!" Jane couldn't help pulling his progeny in for a proud dad-hug.

"Well, Cho, it seems like Jane and I aren't even needed here. Looks like the youth have it covered!" Lisbon glinted, tugging Jane's sleeve and guiding him down to the break room.

"So does this mean you're warming to my early retirement idea, Teresa?" Patrick grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Nice try, Jane!" She swatted at his arm playfully. "What this means is that our children continue to prove they are amazing."

"Can't argue with that, my love." He glowed with pride.


During their work, Trey had asked Wylie about job prospects on the FBI tech team - after he got more training of course. With him and Megs getting married, he hoped to put his upcoming degree to use in a more consistent career. His heart was really into his compositions and productions, but that was all gig work and short-term contracts. He didn't want to leave it to chance, his ability to give his beloved blonde the entire world, so he thought he should have one foot in a career with a steady paycheck.

"Your timing is actually perfect, Trey! They recently announced a paid internship that would let you learn on the job while getting all the necessary certifications. The program rolls out in the fall - so you could jump in after the summer."

"That's amazing! How do I apply?"

"I'll walk you through the application during our time together this week. Once I show you those forensic audio tools and techniques you're most curious about, you might have a better grip on which specialties you want to apply for. Plus, I'd be able to write a better recommendation for you." Jason winked.

"I am so grateful for this, Wylie. Thank you!"

"And the best part is this: Once you complete the year-long program, you'll be given the option to move to either part or full-time work here in Austin - or a host of other locations if you'd rather - after the requisite background checks and such."

"Nice! I might stick with part time. I still hope to get brought into a number of productions each year as a composer and editor. The flexibility would allow that."

"Smart man!" Wylie smiled. "I did the same when I started with the FBI, but my other career was in video game design."

"Cool! Someday we should team up? You can code and I'll score the music?"

"That would be a lot of fun - definitely! Plus, Annie would absolutely freak! Ten bucks says she insists on being the prime game tester!"

"Then we have to make this happen!" Trey agreed, joining in with Wylie's knowing laughter.


"Jane and Lisbon." Cho called from down the hall. "You need to see this."

The couple put down their snacks and walked quickly to the office.

"What is it?" Jane asked quickly.

"Watch." Cho turned a laptop screen toward them. "This is a live feed from Boston. We provided our colleagues there with the evidence we discovered. This is them, storming Lucas Murphy's warehouse."

"What are the kids watching out there?" Lisbon pointed to the other side of the glass entry wall, where Wylie's desk was huddled by all the twenty-somethings, Briar Rose included.

"I believe they chose to watch Briar's protest speech, in its entirety. Briar said she trusted that Boston PD could handle Murphy, and that she didn't want to waste any more time on the jerk."

Lisbon grinned wide. "Jane, I really do like this girl."

"As do I, my dear."

Patrick looked contentedly outside the glass, watching as his two living children supported each other. Looking forward to the day he would get to officially welcome Trey into the Jane family tree, and feeling pretty certain that he would eventually have a chance to do the same with Briar Rose Sullivan, who had just been excluded from the drug ring investigation, with all mentions of her having been a suspect wiped from the record, as per Cho's request - a valid favor, he thought, considering his team had solved, in a single weekend, the case that Boston had been working on for months.

"So, no early retirement just yet, then?"

"Not just yet, Jane. Life right now feels so good… so perfectly in-balance… I just don't want to change a thing. Not yet, anyway." She winked, then disappeared into the ladies room.

Well, I wonder what she meant by that? Jane thought to himself with a delighted grin. Maybe the idea was growing on his favorite cop after all? He wandered back to the break room, with endless daydreams of lazy days together with his beautiful Teresa, playing on a loop in his head.