"One thing first. The whole thing is pretty juicy! We'll have to go down some unusual paths, and I expect us to do it without making a big fuss."
Nick had sought out Elizabeth in her office just before the first official team meeting to clarify a few things with her. "We've been running your sketch of this Ishmael through all the databases so far without success."
Elizabeth pursed her lips and nodded slowly. "Of course we have. He wouldn't have shown himself to me if he thought his face would help me find him."
Nick licked his lips and was seemingly still in his chair but kept rocking his feet slightly and barely visibly. Elizabeth could infer an uncertainty from this that she had never noticed in her brother-in-law in this form before. "Do you think Ishmael might show himself to you again?"
The captain waved her off and leaned back in her desk chair. "Not by choice. Normally, it works like this with you: something unusual happens, you wonder who or what could be behind it, you make all kinds of inquiries, and in the end, you understand who you've been looking for all this time. That's what he told me."
Nick pulled the corners of his mouth down thoughtfully and nodded slowly. "So he wants to do it the other way around," he concluded. "First, you understand when you're looking, then you make all kinds of investigations."
Elizabeth took a deep breath. "I guess that's how we can understand it. So I probably won't see him again. At least not before the grand finale."
Nick frowned deeply. "If there is a final this time!"
Nick's cell phone rang almost non-stop, messages came in, and detectives knocked on Elizabeth's office door to exchange the latest investigation results. Everyone involved in homicide was aware that this case was not just about solving a cold-blooded murder. The honor of the Boston Police was at stake.
"Liz, you know I'm not the biggest fan of your latest methods," Nick finally got to the point. "You're private, secretive, and you probably don't always know exactly what's going on in your head yourself. But you work effectively, there's no doubt about that. That's why we've all decided: you're breaking out of the labyrinth."
Elizabeth frowned a little and blinked slowly. "I suppose you'd like to explain that to me more?" With that, she walked to the window to look over the city.
Nick took a deep breath. "Do you know the Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun?" he asked.
"From 1974, an excellent year," replied the captain. "James Bond has to catch the professional killer Scaramanga, who has a golden gun with which he can only fire a single shot."
"Scaramanga doesn't need more than one bullet!" the lieutenant added to his sister-in-law's comments. "Sometimes, he takes his opponent to a desert island where he has built a maze."
"In a duel, the opponent can use as many cartridges as he can fit in his weapon. Scaramanga only has one. He lets his opponent walk through the maze, where they are distracted by mirrors, lights, noises, and puppets. The opponents fire blindly at anything that moves, while Scaramanga has his victim in view the whole time via cameras."
"As soon as he falls into the trap, he fires his shot and wins the game. That's right!"
Elizabeth had only seen the movie starring Roger Moore and Christopher Lee once, many years ago. Nevertheless, she remembered the story well. "The game goes well until James Bond comes to the island," she recalled.
"Bond goes into the labyrinth and, unlike his predecessors, understands that he has no chance of surviving in it. It's his enemy's territory, and he can't defeat him on his ground and according to his own rules."
"That's why he's looking for a way out of the labyrinth. He climbs under a steel beam and then sneaks underneath the structure."
Nick grinned as he remembered the scene. The symbolism behind it had made a deep impression on him then. "There are no cameras below the labyrinth," he continued. "Scaramanga can no longer follow Bond on his monitors and gets upset."
"Because he wasn't expecting it!"
The two had understood each other.
"After all, the murderer leaves his superior post to enter his labyrinth."
"But in the meantime, James Bond waits for Scaramanga and shoots him as sneakily as he had intended." Nick leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms demonstratively in front of his chest. "Ishmael brought you to the island and led you into the labyrinth. And everything he plans to do from now on is planned and deliberate. Who knows, maybe he's watching you too?"
Elizabeth couldn't argue with that. "Whatever I do now, he's counting on it," she agreed with a sigh.
"After all, you are a detective. And detectives have fixed guidelines on how to go through mazes."
Elizabeth turned away from her gaze out of the window, turned to her brother-in-law, and looked at him closely with a furrowed brow. "All right, Nick. What have you thought about?"
"You get a free hand," the lieutenant let the cat out of the bag. "We'll go the usual route and investigate as if there were no Elizabeth Rizzoli. Everything is as it's written in the manual. This may lead to success."
"But it's also possible that the investigation will fizzle out again because Ishmael has prepared himself for our handbook."
Nick's look agreed. "And that's why you're allowed to do whatever you think is right within the bounds of legality to spoil Ishmael's game. Break out of this damned labyrinth and climb through it. Thwart his plans if you have to, without rhyme or reason. Get him upset and get on his nerves. Don't let things go according to his plan again. Enter his labyrinth from the other side and shoot him in the back!"
Elizabeth nodded slowly and licked her lips thoughtfully before clearing her throat. "Am I supposed to take that literally?"
Nick turned conspicuously in his chair as if he feared someone might overhear the conversation, even though he knew this could not be true. Only then did he answer with a confident look and a firm voice, "Maybe you'll try it figuratively first."
xxx
You can keep me waiting. You know I have time. Our game is supposed to be fun for you, too. Have you understood the rules yet? No, I don't think so. But I bet you think you've understood them. And now you're wandering the streets like a lost child, hoping to prevent what you can't prevent. And what you shouldn't control either.
You must lie awake a lot at night. Your secret still won't let you rest. How could it? You showed courage but also stupidity. You knew that it wasn't going to end there. Not for a long time yet. Time may heal many wounds, change feelings, and smooth things over. But not in this case. Not in this world.
I'm back again! And you know it. And you understand it. Everything. Except for the most important thing.
Are you happy yet? Or do you still think you have to run away from me again?
No, you're not that stupid. Not anymore ...
xxx
"We both would have preferred not to have this reunion, wouldn't we?" Elizabeth greeted her former partner Rupert Mardas without making a face.
Rupert Mardas was an impressive man. Although he had already passed sixty, neither his sporty appearance, deep hairline, nor the lively gleam in his eyes made the detective look like someone about to retire.
It wasn't often that a smile flitted across his lips, but not because he was unfriendly. Mardas, who had spent over forty years in the police force, had become a master of self-control. It was virtually impossible to look him in the face unless he wanted to.
"Somehow, we both knew that the matter wasn't closed, didn't we?" he replied to the captain with a disdainful undertone. "So, let's get this over with like grown-ups. The sooner it's done, the sooner we won't have to see each other again."
"Such a sensible idea coming from you? That I should live to see it," Elizabeth replied mockingly, adding," I'm sorry about your wife. Who did she leave you for last year?"
Mardas had only arrived at the BPD a few minutes ago, having boarded the plane in Chicago that morning. Because of him, Nick had moved the task force's first meeting to the early evening hours.
"How did you see it?" Mardas asked grumpily.
"Johanna always had you very well under control," Elizabeth now remembered Mardas' wife. "She would never have let you fly to Boston with that stubble. Especially not knowing that you and I were going to meet."
"I could have come here directly from my department," Mardas objected.
"Apart from the fact that in that case, she would have had to let you leave the house in the morning with stubble - which hasn't happened once in our entire time together - it's also unlikely that you would have happened to take your travel bag with you on duty."
"And why do you assume that she left me? She could have died?"
Elizabeth seemed almost offended by this objection. "In that case, you wouldn't be wearing the watch she gave you as an engagement present," she replied.
"Congratulations. And what told you that she left me last year?"
The captain pointed to Mardas' tie. "She gave you a new tie from the latest Karl Lagerfeld collection every year for your wedding anniversary. Yours is from the last collection."
Before Mardas had a chance to reply, Nick entered the conference room. The members of the task force were now fully assembled. "Everyone, please welcome Sergeant Detective Rupert Mardas from the Chicago Police Department," he called out to the group, which immediately fell silent. "He will compare the results of your investigation with those of the murder of Dr. Donald McMillan sixteen years ago and advise you on your work. However, we should not allow ourselves to be guided by assumptions that could lead us astray. So please always investigate as if comparable crimes did not exist back then. We have decided to divide the work as follows: Captain Rizzoli will lead the investigation. In addition, the District Attorney's Office and the BPD have authorized her to investigate independently of the rest of the team whenever necessary. Sergeant Mardas will primarily investigate the parallels and resulting leads to the death of Dr. McMillan. The rest of the team will proceed as usual to end this haunting as quickly as possible. I have no desire for ghosts from the past. The current ones are enough for me!"