Cath Trilogy: Hey Jane

Jane and Rhys were in Rhys’ old bedroom to discuss the matters of the case. Jane sat in the chair that pulled away from the desk with her knees resting on the desk. Rhys lay on the bed on his back with his eyes closed.

An entire day had passed and nothing happened. Their prime chance of finding out what had happened was unwilling to cooperate, and Aubrey was disappointed. This was something that Jane had only experienced from her once when she was just starting out in the department. It was also something that she feared. The woman was scary when she wanted to be, and that was most of the time for her.

On the other hand, Rhys looked as cool as a Canadian Autumn. He just sat on the bed humming a tune to himself as he did when he was thinking. Jane could catch the melody of “Pumped up Kicks” from Foster the People. It was Gabriel’s favorite song, and he would sometimes walk around the house singing or playing it until Michael became annoyed and told him to shut it.

Jane had her hands over her eyes and to block out the light and give herself a zone to think. She knew the case very well by now, but it still made no sense. There were so many ideas that she just couldn’t connect. There was the fact that it appeared that the father’s body had just walked out of the forensics unit because that was the only way to explain how the body had disappeared. There was no sign that anyone who could be a suspect had entered the police station. That was unless...

“What if the murderer had been a cop?” Jane sat up straight in her chair and threw Rhys off balance. He sat up straight in bed and muttered something that was inaudible to Jane. He was clearly off guard, and Jane had thrown him back into the world.

“Pardon?” He asked and rubbed the back off his neck.

“What if the murderer had been a cop?” Jane repeated herself.

Rhys took a minute to ponder over the question before replying, “What would make this a better possibility than a civilian?”

Jane realized that her thoughts had not been projected like she so often wished had been done so that she wouldn’t have to use words which made things so complicated. “It would make it much easier for the killer to take away the... body.” There was a short pause between the words as she made a short noise that was almost a whimper.

“But, that wouldn’t explain any of the intentions,” Rhys pointed out to her.

“Then...” Jane thought. “They could have had someone on the inside to take away the body.”

Rhys sucked in some air before he could bring himself to ask a question that had been burning in the back of Jane’s mind. “Why would they want the body? He didn’t touch it, so there was no DNA, and the gun was stolen. Hell, there were bullets laying all around the crime scene.”

Jane didn’t want to say it. God, she really didn’t want it to be true. Under no conditions would it be okay, but they needed to take all possibilities into account. “Necrophilia.” The word was just a word, but it was so much more. It meant that a man’s body had been taken to be played with. It was a dishonor to the name the man had earned through all of his amazing actions. It meant someone could take his body and get away with it for so long. Murder was one thing, but necrophilia really got to Jane.

Rhys swallowed, “Disgusting but possible.” Rhys went through the same denial as Jane only his thoughts were about the great man he had known. He wasn’t worried about a legacy, he was worried about a father. Not only to his daughter but to him as well. This man had taught him that he didn’t need to be afraid of who he was. He had taught Rhys ancient history as well as the ability to get over the fact that Rhys wouldn’t know who his father was. He hadn’t always accepted Donor 95B, but this man had made it better. He had sown together parts of Rhys that always been loose and parts that he longed to have once more. But, the father who he had taken to be his own was dead. He had been killed, and his body could have been raped.

“This man did rape Claire,” Jane finally said the name of the mother who had given her life to save her daughter and suffered a high price. She deserved this as much as her husband. Her legacy came in the world of law. As a District Attorney, she had worked to get many a criminal off the streets. This had also been taken into account. But around the time, there had only been one criminal that she had incriminate himself out on the streets. He really wasn’t the type of person who would commit this sort of crime.

He had been arrested for selling pirated movies. Not the type of thing that would drive people to murder, and he hadn’t even served any time in prison. A fine on a rich family wasn’t the motivation detectives had been looking for. Unless... Nope, no, he wasn’t the murderer. The man they were looking for had some real background with these people.

“Okay, that is taken into account,” an awkward silence flooded over them as disturbing thoughts washed over them both.

“What were you thinking about?” Jane decided to break the silence.

“Ryan Fisher,” Rhys said.

“Why?” Jane asked more curtly than she intended.

“His last name,” Rhys ignored the general rudeness of her tone.

“Fisher?” Jane took a moment to comprehend. “You’re thinking about Adam Fisher.” This was a statement for he could mean nothing else. Adam Fisher had his heart broken by Claire when she ran out from their wedding, but he was dead. His body had washed on the shores of the Nile a few months before the murder.

The reason it had been in Egypt was most likely the fact that Adam had been an Egyptologist in the days when his lungs expanded and contrasted on a regular basis.

“What if he’s not dead?”

“That would complicate things,” Jane realized the amount of things it would complicate. It actually made her head hurt, and she contemplated slipping a pill to calm her nerves. Then, she remember the conversation she’d had with Rhys on their way to Berkeley and decided against it.

“Very much so,” Rhys nodded.

Then, Jane’s phone buzzed and gave a chirp of a ringtone.

“Is that...” Rhys stared at her with awe in his expression.

“Gabriel, yes,” Jane replied to her father’s text, and Rhys gave a disappointed look in her general direction. It was as though Fate had failed him.

The conversation with her father was something that managed to calm her nerves better than the drugs:

Gabriel: Hey hun, how’s investigating?

Jane: Not too great.

Gabriel: That sucks! Could I help?

Jane: Who killed Liam and Claire Prentice?

Gabriel: A person!

Jane: A major breakthrough, thank you.

Gabriel: I try. How’s Mr. Hottie?

Jane: Rhys?

Gabriel: Yep.

Jane: Mr. Hottie?

Gabriel: Of course.

Jane: Why?

Gabriel: Have you seen him?

As Jane was about to reply, her phone buzzed again. This time, fate was on their side. More than that, it was beckoning to them. “Rhys,” she muttered as she read the text: Please help. The next text he sent her held his address

Rhys gave a smile, and they were on their way. It would take about an hour to get to their destination, and they decided in an instant that taking the B.A.R.T. would be the fastest way there. It was already 10:30 but any amount of traffic could mean this boy would get in serious trouble. They realized that they might already be too late, and this thought caused the smile to evade Rhys’ lips.

Ryan Fisher was in serious trouble, and they were close to powerless where they stood.