Mind (the) Game

by Kelly Shade

  Ian waited his turn for a hug and after he welcomed Jane he asked with serious tone. “What happened Jane? We went to Chile, we asked CIA for assistance, but you weren’t there, neither was Morse. Everyone thinks you went crazy or something. But not us of course!” he glanced at Nick and he nodded in agreement.

  “So you came?” asked Jane with surprise.

  “Of course we came!” Nick said. “What happened?”

  “Well, it’s a long story.” Smiled Jane. “Why are you here? There’s been a murder?”

  “Yeah, but the woman won’t get deader, so talk!” Nick’s curiosity was rising.

  Ian gave him a disapproving glance but didn’t say anything. He also wanted to know. Nick offered Jane to sit at the lobby bar’s tables and tell the story. She agreed and glanced one more time at Ryan who didn’t move from his place. Jane, Nick and Ian sat down and Jane started explaining. She shared everything but she didn’t mention Erik. It looked like Lee and Valdez believed her. The whole story took her more than half an hour, which was obviously enough for Ryan to decide to join in.

  “Gray, stop being such a baby!” teased Nick when Ryan sat next to him with a frown on his face.

  “Shut up, Lee!” Ryan said “If you haven’t noticed, Blake ran to go after some fictional person, send us message which was the reason for the mess we got in with the CIA. And she came back two weeks ago without even calling her team and the worst part is that she is here investigating something. How should I be okay with that?”

  “Excuse me?! I came back yesterday! I just told Nick and Ian but you were too busy acting like a two-year-old to listen!” Jane exploded and people from other tables stared at her.

  “Then explain me why you were on a plane two weeks ago?” Ryan shouted back.

  “I was not. Believe whatever you like!” Jane said that calmly and turned to Ian “So why are you here?”

  “A woman from Texas was killed here. She was here with her boss to talk with new investors in their business.” Ian answered casually and added “We have a suspect.”

  “Let me guess, it is George Shelton’s assistant and the business is computer, video and board games.” Jane said.

  “Damn, how do you know all that?” Nick was impressed “Did you develop some psychic abilities after falling off that cliff?”

  Jane laughed and explained “No, Lee, I haven’t. When you said Texas I thought the person I was looking for was involved. It was a wild guess.”

  “What fall, why are you searching for Mr. Shelton?” Ryan snapped.

  Jane ignored him but continued to talk to Valdez and Lee. “I told you about Nancy’s mother,” they both nodded, only Ryan didn’t know what was she talking about, she continued “that’s the son in law. My sources told me he was here so I decided to visit him first before going to Texas. So what’s the story with his assistant?”

  “Amanda Reed, thirty-year-old, worked with the family for the last eight years, no criminal background, Shelton says everyone loved her. But she had a secret admirer who followed her here. We saw the security tapes, the man goes in and out of her room around the time of death. We believe they argued and then he pushed her, she fell and hit her head in the coffee table.” Ian reported. “We are going to the Station now. You can come if you want to. Bradley should be ready with the DNA Amanda had under her finger nails, and we will have a suspect.”

  “Yeah, why not.” Jane said indifferently “But we have to solve the murder of Ana Downer too.” she looked questioningly back at Ian.

  “That case is closed, Blake.” Ian said softly as if he was afraid she would start screaming at him too.

  “Nancy didn’t kill her mother, Valdez.” Jane was determined to convince him “You trust my judgement, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, all right. But you will talk to Hunt about it, okay?” Ian agreed.

  “Yep.” Jane smiled and stood up “You are the head detective, right?”

  “Yeah. And I suck at it. Our success rate is lower than ever.” Valdez admitted with a sad smile.

  Jane, Nick, Ian and Ryan went to the station. Blake looked at the place, it was the same as she remembered it. The only difference was that Connor Hunt was in the chief’s office. Blake went to the door, knocked and after she heard him saying “Come in!” she opened and went inside. Hunt’s eyes widened in surprise, mixed feelings appeared on his face, he was happy and angry at the same time.

  “Hey!” Blake said and before he could say a word, she explained everything without giving him a chance to interrupt her. Jane knew Hunt would be mad at her and she wanted to avoid him yelling, so speaking first was the best approach.

  “Okay, go investigate, but we will talk afterwards. I am so disappointed in you, Bake! I thought I could count on you.” Hunt said firmly after he listened carefully to every word she said.

  “You can.” Jane said and turned her back, reached for the door and before she opened it she said quietly “Thank you for letting me stay!”

  “Don’t make me regret it.” Answered Connor coldly.

  Blake went to the Homicide office. Her desk and chair were untouched, everything was the same except one thing – in Ian’s old desk was sitting a young woman.

  “Hi” she said and stood up, when she spotted Jane.

  “And you are?” Blake asked with uncovered suspicion in her voice.

  “Blake, this is Victoria Evans, our new colleague.” Nick hurried to explain.

  The woman was a good looking brunette with sharp facial features and nice figure. Her hair was fixed in a tight bun, her cat like light brown eyes stared at Jane behind the thin glasses she wore.

  “You are Jane Blake? The Jane Blake?” Victoria spoke with soft voice.

  “The Jane Blake?” repeated Jane and laughed “Am I famous or something?”

  “Well, here you are like a star. Everyone talk about you, everyone asks when you are coming back.” Said Evans with admiration.

  Jane smiled and didn’t say anything to the new addition of the team, but instead turned to Ian “Valdez, is Bradley ready with the DNA?”

  “Yeah, Ryan just found the address and we are going to the victim’s secret admirer - Richard Fray. You want to join in? He is in Fort Worth. Looks like this one will be a piece of cake!” said Ian happily and everyone except Victoria headed to the car.

  They drove to the location in silence. Jane was next to Ian in the front seat, Nick and Ryan on the back. The only conversation was when Nick’s phone rang and Victoria informed him that the cops in Fort Worth got the suspect and the team should go straight to them to pick him up.

  They arrived at the police station in Fort Worth. Jane persuaded the department’s chief to let them in so they could interrogate the suspect. Blake had a feeling, that this murder won’t be as easy to be solved as Ian thought.

  Blake and Ian went in the interrogation room, which was almost identical with the one they had back in LA. The metal table and chair, the camera pointed at the suspect, the greyish walls and floor, the windows with dropped blinds – she felt the familiar environment and that gave her a strong dose of confidence and determination. This was her turf.

  A man, around thirty, with short haircut and tattooed hands was waiting with handcuffs on his arms. He looked at Jane and Ian with horror written all over his face. Blake noticed his bloody eyebrow and the bruises on his left cheek.

  “Well, Richard, tell me what happened.” Jane asked softly and sat in the chair opposite his, Ian immediately sat next to her.

  “Yeah, pretend you don’t know.” said Fray angrily, but Jane showed Ian’s badge, which was LAPD and the man calmed down and explained “That cop, the fat one, hit me and pushed me against the wall.”

  “So you didn’t fight with Amanda Reed?” Ian joined in.

  “No. I loved her.” said Richard firmly.

  “But you still ran when you saw the police officers! Why would you do such a thing if you’re innocent?” Ian insisted.

  “Because I knew they’ll pin that
on me.” The man rolled his eyes and then leaned forward and looked at Jane “Did you talk to her boss? That is the bastard you should lock up!”

  “Mr. Fray, your DNA was under Amanda’s fingernails, you were the last one in her room.” Ian pointed out, “Let’s not play games. You got into a fight, you got angry and pushed her. You didn’t know she would trip and hit her head in the coffee table. You got scared and ran.” Valdez continued “If you confess the DA may be…”

  “I did not kill her!” yelled the man “We were together that night! We were seeing each other for months,” he lowered his voice “I did love her.”

  Ian was about to speak but Jane interrupted.

  “I believe you,” she said “now I want you to tell me more about her boss and you’ll be free to go.”

  Valdez kicked her shin under the table. Jane didn’t have the right to free suspects. Blake smiled, waved her hand towards Ian and added “When he says so.”

  “His boss is a jerk. Amanda told me he was offering her cash for sex but she refused. That’s why she asked me to come to LA. She wanted me to be close in case he gets physical.” said Richard. He was grieving, Jane noticed he was unsuccessfully trying to hold his tears.

  Blake glanced at Ian and they had a silent agreement to let Richard go. On the way back to the car Ian had to explain to Hunt why he released their number one suspect. Hunt was annoyed and for a good reason – this was their only lead in this investigation and without a viable suspect they were back where they started – nowhere.

  “If we mess that up, I’m blaming you, Blake!” Valdez threatened.

  “I’ll take the risk!” smiled Jane but her good mood was darkened by the sarcastic statement Ryan made “Yeah, you risk everything no matter what.”

  Awkward silence and tense atmosphere filled the car. The ride to the Shelton’s house was worse than the one from California to Texas.

  When they arrived in front a beautiful gated three story house with a manicured garden, Nick and Ian hurried ahead, hoping Jane and Ryan would talk to each other. But they didn’t, they strolled behind them without even looking at each other. They arrived in front of the ornamented door, Ian reached for the doorbell but his finger stopped an inch away from it.

  “By the way I’m getting married in three days, you’ll be there right?” Valdez asked Jane. She smiled and nodded instead of saying ‘yes’.

  Ian and Nick smiled, Ryan puffed loudly and pushed Ian’s finger. Even the melody sounded as if performed by a concert pianist.

  A few moments later a woman opened the door. Jane noticed she looked a little like Nancy but somehow colder, unwelcoming. Ian quickly showed his badge and explained who they were and why they were here. The woman didn’t seem worried and welcomed all of them inside. The team walked in and for their surprise her husband, Amanda’s boss, was already home.

  “Good evening! I already spoke with your colleagues in Los Angeles. Didn’t you catch the stocker?” George Shelton said.

  He was a chubby man in a black suit and his greyish hair perfectly combed to the side. Jane extended her hand for a handshake and when he took it in a firm grip, she noticed he was wearing a huge golden ring with a logo on it next to his wedding ring.

  “Sir, we are from the LAPD. We have some additional questions for you.” Said Ian and glanced at Jane to continue.

  “Mr. Shelton, is there a place we can sit and talk with you and your wife?” asked Jane.

  “Why my wife?” asked George with a high pitched voice.

  Nobody answered. Mrs. Shelton glanced icily at her husband and let them in their living room. Jane, Nick, Ryan and Ian made their selves comfortable on the red and gold couch in front of the fireplace, Mrs. and Mr. Shelton sat opposite them on the velvet armchairs in the same colors.

  “Mrs. Shelton, tell me about the night your mother died.” Jane asked straight away.

  “This was years ago and my sister is responsible! Why would you bring that up?” the woman almost visibly jumped in her chair.

  “Because the two crimes are done by the same person and it is not your sister.” Jane explained still as calm and the others looked at her confused. She continued “Where were you at the night when your mother was killed and where were you yesterday between four and five am?”

  “This is just outrageous! I can’t…” whispered the woman but Blake interrupted.

  “Would you please answer the questions?”

  “I was at home when my mother was killed. With my husband. We had a tough week, so we had a glass of wine and went to bed early.” Said the woman in a low voice.

  “And yesterday?” asked Nick.

  “I… well... I…” stuttered Mrs. Shelton, her cheeks reddened, her eyes fixed on her shoes.

  “You were in Los Angeles, spying on your cheating husband I presume?” Jane said instead of the woman.

  “How did you know?” asked Mrs. Shelton and for a moment glanced at Jane.

  “You did what?” Mr. Shelton shouted at his wife as if he forgot that they weren’t alone.

  The woman opened her mouth to speak but Ian stood up, reminding the couple of his presence, and spoke loudly.

  “So you have no alibi for the night your mother was killed and no alibi for the murder of Amanda Reed?”

  “You inherited everything after your mother was killed, right?” Nick said and also stood up.

  “Yes, but…” mumbled the woman.

  “Can you confirm your wife was with you the night Mrs. Downer, your mother-in-low, was killed?” Jane turned to the husband.

  George Shelton hesitated for a moment, his hands trembled, he bit his lower lip, opened his mouth and closed it several times.

  “Sir, you know you have to speak the truth.” Ryan joined in.

  “I had my sleeping pills that night but I’m sure we got to bed together. When I woke up in the morning, my wife was still sleeping next to me.” George said without looking at Mrs. Shelton.

  “So you cannot confirm, that your wife was with you during the whole night.” Ian concluded and added “And yesterday, did she come to your room, did you see her?”

  “No. I didn’t know I was being spied on by my wife.” confessed Mr. Shelton.

  “Where were you?” Lee turned to the lady who was looking at her husband with her mouth slightly opened.

  “I was in the room next to Amanda’s.” said the woman. “You can check.”

  “And you were there the whole time?” asked Jane. “How were you spying from the hotel room?”

  “I paid one of the maids to put a vase with hidden camera. I was watching from the other room. But I didn’t kill anyone!” admitted the woman and then suddenly she turned to her husband and yelled “How could you? After all these years! You fucking piece of shit! I’m killing myself over that company and you… Amanda was half your age! You discuss me!”

  Nick and Ryan got her by the forearms, stopping her from hitting her husband, and took her out and in the car, Nick went after them. Jane stood in the room with Mr. Shelton, observing.

  “Well played.” Blake said after several minutes staring at the sobbing man.

  He lifted his head.

  “What do you mean?” George said with monotonous tone.

  “I know it was you! And I’m going to prove it.” Blake smiled deviously, turned her back and headed to the door.

  “I would like to see you try, consultant!” he said, making a noise which sounded like something between a sneeze and laugh.

  Blake went out and joined her colleagues who were waiting in the car. They were now ready to go back to LA and gather all the remaining evidence against Mary Shelton and charge her with the murders of her mother and Amanda Reed.

  Chapter 5

  The wedding

  The morning was as awful for Jane as every morning since she came back from Chile. Her head was pounding due to the lack of sleep and the nightmares she got in the two-three hours she was asleep. The motel room wasn’t helping either, Jane missed her amazing home
, her pool and her usual morning routine at her house.

  After Blake drank a cup of coffee, she was ready for her first day back at work. Usually, it didn’t take her so long to decide what to wear or to put make up, or to choose a hairstyle for her long black hair, but this morning it was different. For some reason Jane wanted to look better than usual, as if she was going on a date. She put on jeans, more like leggings, a tight white tank top with a V-neck, black sandals with high heels and spend ten minutes in front of the mirror to decide if she was really going to work like that. The decision came fast enough - Jane left the clothes on but the high heels she changed with comfortable sneakers, and went out of the room.

  On the ride to the Station Jane was in a dilemma - she knew that Mrs. Shelton was innocent but she didn’t tell that to her colleagues. The problem was, that in several hours the case would be send to the DA, who had all the evidence he needed for a quick trial and conviction of Nancy’s sister. On top of that Jane had to attend Ian’s wedding, so she had to act fast. If she told the truth to the team they will be extremely mad at her but it would be easier to gather evidence against Mr. Shelton. If, however, she keeps it a secret she has to do everything on her own and they… well they will be furious either way. So there was no dilemma after all, it was better to involve the whole team and get this over with.

  Blake went straight to Hunt’s office to talk to him. Of course, he was still angry at her but he welcomed her with a smile.

  “You decided to talk about Chile?” Connor asked.

  “No. It’s about Mrs. Shelton, she is innocent.” Jane said and after seeing Hunt’s confusion she added “Mr. Shelton is the real killer. He killed Ana Downer and Amanda Reed.”

  “Do you have any evidence supporting that?” Hunt tried to keep calm.

  “Not yet.” Answered Jane and added “But I will have soon enough.”

  “Okay.” grunted Hunt “But first we will talk about Morse. Now!”

  “Hunt, the woman will be charged with a double homicide, she’ll probably get a life sentence or worse … And it’s up to me to stop that in less than ten hours!” Jane explained casually “Later. I promise, we will have this conversation, just not now.”