Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Dead Men Tell No Tales ❯ Investigation ( Chapter 4 )

Sooooo sorry about the long wait for an update! Here I am!

 

All right, this story is about to take a turn that it wasn't originally supposed to. I had a whole different plan, but I was watching the Law and Order marathon and one of the episodes gave me an idea that I like better. So this is sorta based on a Law and Order episode, I guess, but not really….it's different…. Just go with it.

 

The whole story pretty much gets revealed in this chapter, and I hate that, but I didn't know how else to do it….I'll probably end up changing it later, I dunno.

 

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Chapter 4—Investigation

 

Dee called late that night—or rather, early the next morning—from their apartment.

 

“What are you still doing there?” The black-haired man's question was spoken in an unusually quiet voice, so Ryo assumed that Bikky was asleep. “I came home and fell asleep, and when I woke up you weren't there.”

 

“Oh….sorry. I guess I got carried away….”

 

“I guess so.”

 

“Sorry….”

 

“Don't worry about it. I just don't want you overworking yourself, is all.”

 

Ryo smiled. “I'm not. I'm just trying to find us a new lead to follow.”

 

“When will you be home?”

 

The smile grew. “Why, do you want me to wake you up?”

 

There was a grin in Dee's voice now. “Depends on what you'd be waking me up for.”

 

Ryo laughed. “I'll be home soon, all right? Go back to bed, and I'll try to be quiet when I come in.”

 

“Okay, I'll do that,” Dee replied around a yawn. “Night, Ryo.”

 

“Night. Love you.”

 

“Love you, too.”

 

---

 

Dee woke with a start when his alarm began to beep annoyingly. “Shit, that's obnoxious….” he muttered, his voice thick with sleep, as he slammed his hand against the snooze button, then yelped as his still-healing wrist smacked sharply into the timepiece. “Ryo?”

 

That was when he realized that the space next to him was empty.

 

---

 

When Dee entered their office half an hour later, it was to find Ryo in front of the computer, tapping away at the keys. “Morning,” he said to Dee without looking up, his words laced with exhaustion.

 

The room was in unusual disarray (the blond usually wouldn't stand for an untidy workspace) with papers scattered over every available surface and empty coffee cups strewn in the empty spaces.

 

“….Ryo? What….happened here?”

 

“Huh?” Ryo glanced up. “Oh….sorry about this. It's just research. A bunch of dead ends I hit that turned out to be nothing. I'll get it all cleaned up, I promise.”

 

“That's not what I'm worried about. Have you been here all night?”

 

“Um….yeah,” the blond replied, turning back to the computer. “I've been trying to figure things out.”

 

“Why didn't you call me? I could have helped.”

 

“I know, but I didn't want to wake you up. You sounded tired on the phone.”

 

“No more than you do now,” Dee pointed out, his voice touched by concern. “Did you sleep at all?”

 

“Um….no, not really.”

 

“Ryo….” Dee groaned.

 

“Okay, well, I'm sorry, but with JJ in the hospital I really don't have time to take a break right now, okay? I'll have time for sleep when I get this cracked. Now be a good guy and sit down so I can tell you what I figured out.”

 

Dee sighed, but did as he was told, dropping into a free chair and picking up a sheet of paper to examine it with a bored look on his face. It was covered with little scribbles and notes in Ryo's small, neat handwriting, none of it making sense to him.

 

“Okay, now before I start, I want you to promise that you'll stay calm and won't freak out on me or anything.”

 

“….Okay….” Dee agreed uneasily.

 

“I think I'm the one our guy's after.”

 

“….What? Why would you say that?”

 

“Because I, uh….I got a call from him last night….”

 

“You what?”

 

Ryo sighed. “You promised not to freak out, remember?”

 

“Is that why you didn't come home last night?” Dee demanded, waving Ryo's comment aside.

 

“Yeah, that phone call sorta put things in perspective for me.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

The blond began to tap the computer keys again, continuing with his explanation as he did so. “When the guy called me….he wasn't making much sense. He asked me why I `appeared' to his brother and not to him. Then he said that it was him that killed me—because apparently I'm dead in this story—so why did I have to drag his brother into it? A bunch of crap like that. And after I got the call, I realized that I've been going about this all wrong. So I pulled up everything I could find about murders of 27th officers in the last couple of decades, and I found….well, see for yourself.”

 

Dee blinked, then stood and came over to the computer, leaning over Ryo's shoulder to get a proper look at the screen.

 

“….Whoa.”

 

“Pretty much my same reaction.”

 

On the screen was a picture of a smiling man in his mid-twenties. It was a black-and-white picture, but the man in it was clearly a light shade of blond. The eyes were light enough to be some sort of light blue, or maybe green, but the face and build were unmistakable.

 

“It's….you….”

 

“They say everyone has a twin somewhere in the world. Guess we found mine.”

 

“So he was a 27th cop?”

 

“Yep. His name was Jason Stockwell. Murdered ten years ago almost to the day. The anniversary of his death is in a week and a half. It says in this article that he and his partner were trying to bring down a guy who was rumored to be a drug addict and experimenting with all sorts of dangerous stuff. The guy went crazy and killed Stockwell in front of his partner. Apparently those two were really close, because after the murder, Stockwell's partner quit his job and moved out of New York.”

 

“Is he still alive?”

 

“Nope. He got a new job at the LAPD about two years ago and he got shot during a bank robbery six months later.”

 

“Sucks to be him.”

 

“You're so sensitive, Dee.”

 

Dee chuckled. “So I'm guessing Jarvis killed this guy?”

 

“And you'd be right. Turned out he wasn't a drug addict, though. He was actually an undiagnosed, high-function schizophrenic. It never interfered much with his life in the beginning, but as he got older, his mental state started to deteriorate. By the time Stockwell and his partner found him, his mind was more than half-gone.”

 

“Where is he now?”

 

“He got off on an insanity plea and was placed under the care of the friendly shrinks at Rockwell Psychiatric. He was released about three years ago and was pronounced sound of mind, which I guess he was.”

 

A few more taps on the keys, and another page came up as the article Ryo had pulled up started to print.

 

“I also found a newspaper clipping. Turns out that Stockwell and his partner, William Monroe, were actually together, though no one found out about it until well after Stockwell's death. The whole thing made the papers in a big way, and then Monroe actually did an interview with a Los Angeles newspaper about five months after he joined the LAPD force. It seems that right after Jarvis was released from the psych ward, he tracked down Monroe and tried to make things right. The two actually got really close, which surprised Monroe as much as it surprised anyone else. Monroe actually told the reporter all this and it was printed a week before he was killed. Another article says that after the robbery, Jarvis went off his meds again, apparently because he was so broken up about Monroe's death. He was arrested for the assault and attempted murder of another cop, and sent back to the same mental hospital he'd been in before. He's still there, as far as I know.”

 

“But how could he be killing off cops from a psych ward?” Dee wondered, confused. “They should be keeping pretty close tabs on him there.”

 

Ryo shrugged. “Guess we'll find out.”

 

---

 

By the time they got to Rockwell Psychiatric, Ryo was fighting to walk in a straight line and not to lean on Dee. The olive-skinned man tossed worried glances at his lover the whole time, but didn't dare suggest that the blond go home and rest.

 

“Have you called Drake today?” Dee asked conversationally, as they stood in the lobby and waited for the receptionist to finish her conversation with the man she seemed to be helping.

 

“Yeah. There's been no change. I don't think Drake's even left the hospital.”

 

“I'm gonna go visit him after our shift. Wanna come along?”

 

Ryo nodded, and then the old woman behind the desk noticed them standing there and waved them over. “What can I do for you boys?” she asked cheerfully.

 

“Hello,” Ryo greeted her as he pulled his wallet out to show his ID, sliding his trademark smile into place so easily that only Dee would notice how forced it was. “We're with the NYPD. Is there a Russell Jarvis here?”

 

Her smile grew. “Of course. Russell is one of our favorite patients.”

 

Dee raised his eyebrows, but chose to remain silent for once in his life. Of course, the sharp elbow he received in the vicinity of his ribcage might have had some impact on that decision. He glared at Ryo, silently thanking the painkillers that kept him from yelping.

 

The receptionist's smile faltered slightly. “Is something wrong, officers?”

 

“No, of course not, we just need to talk to him,” Ryo replied quickly. “Could you point us to his room?”

 

---

 

The room they were shown to was obviously a semi-permanent one, with flowers in vases placed around the room and colorful paintings on the walls. The bed was carefully made and had obviously not been touched that day, and there was a man sitting at the table by the window, pencil in hand as he sketched something in a notebook.

 

“Russell Jarvis?” Ryo inquired, walking slowly towards the man while Dee hung back by the door.

 

The man looked up, and smiled. “That's me.”

 

“I'm Randy MacLean. The guy by the door is my partner, Dee Laytner. We're with the NYPD. Can we talk to you for a minute?”

 

Jarvis shrugged. “Sure. Take a seat.”

 

Ryo sat down across from him, and smiled gently. “What are you drawing?”

 

“….A dream I had,” Jarvis replied, a little sheepishly. “I have weird dreams, but if I draw them out, they usually stop afterwards.”

 

“Oh, really?”

 

The man nodded.

 

“That's interesting. I should try it….might help get rid of my dreams about my job.”

Jarvis chuckled. “You should. It really helps. Now, what can I do for you?”

 

“Actually, my partner and I are working on a case that we thought you might be able to help with.”

 

He shrugged. “I'll….do my best, I guess.”

 

Ryo glanced over at Dee, who nodded at him, and then the blond's gaze turned back to Jarvis. “Okay, I have to be straight with you, Russell. We have some evidence connecting you to our case, and….not in the wholesome, friendly, you-might-be-able-to-help-us way that we cops love. Now, I understand that you were arrested for murder a few years back?”

 

The small, friendly, willing-to-help smile that had been touching Jarvis's mouth up to that point vanished, and after a moment of holding Ryo's gaze, he turned back to his drawing. “I don't want to talk about that.”

 

“Well, I'm sorry, but you sort of have to. We're depending on what you can tell us. You were arrested for murder, right? But you got off on an insanity plea?”

 

“That's right….I was diagnosed with schizophrenia….”

 

“And after you were released from your rehab, you went to find the partner of the man you killed?”

 

Jarvis nodded.

 

“He was killed, though, right? And you checked yourself back in here?”

 

The pencil began to move more quickly now as Jarvis nodded.

 

“….Might I ask why?”

 

Silence. The pencil stopped moving, and Jarvis's eyes slowly rose to meet Ryo's. “I was afraid of what I might do.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I think you know full well what I mean, officer.”

 

Ryo smiled slightly. “Well, you seem to be very mentally stable now. Why don't you leave?”

 

Jarvis hesitated, then went back to his drawing, more calmly this time, as though he was simply trying to give his hands something to do. “I've killed before. Because the voices told me to. I don't want to do it again. Here….it's safer. If I stay here….they'll take care of me. They make me take the pills, and the voices are quiet. I like it this way. I like it here.” His voice rang with innocence, truth, and a little fear.

 

Ryo sighed. “I understand. Okay, I just have one more question. When you've been around other people in this ward….have you seen any of them acting strangely? Saying strange things, maybe on a phone?”

 

Jarvis actually seemed to think about it, and for quite a long moment. Then he shook his head. “Not that I remember, but I'd be happy to contact you if I notice anything.”

 

“Thank you, we'd appreciate that,” Ryo replied, standing and handing Jarvis his card. “All right, that's all for now, I think. Call that number if you remember anything else, okay? Thanks for your time.”

 

“It's nothing, officers. Anything I can do to help.”

 

Ryo returned his smile and quickly left the room, pulling Dee along and shutting the door behind him.

 

Jarvis sat in his chair for a moment after they'd left, waiting for their footsteps to fade, and then pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. He pressed the 1, waited for a moment, then said, “They came. Yes….everything went exactly as I expected it to. I won't. I promise. Okay, I should call my brother and tell him to get out of town while he still can. No reason for him to get caught up in this. Yes. Yes, I understand. All right. I won't. Goodbye.”

 

---

 

“I can't believe you didn't say a word that entire time.”

 

Dee laughed. “You give me so little credit, Ryo….”

 

“Hold on a second,” Ryo said, as they reached the front lobby. Dee blinked as his partner went over to the reception desk, but he did as he was told. “Ma'am?” he heard Ryo inquire politely.

 

The receptionist looked up, smile in place. “Yes, officer?”

 

“I just have a couple of questions for you. Could I have a moment?”

 

“Of course. What can I help you with?”

 

“Russell Jarvis, actually. What's up with him?”

 

“I'm afraid I don't know what you mean.”

 

“Is he….you know….mentally stable? Because he seemed very much so when I was talking to him, but….if that were the case, wouldn't he have left here by now?”

 

The woman sighed. “You would think so, wouldn't you? But he keeps insisting that he has to stay here. So we do what we can to keep him comfortable here, and he pays well for the room. He doesn't make trouble, so we figure it's doing no harm. Why do you ask?”

 

“Just…wondered, is all. And….just one more thing. Do you have cameras in your rooms? And do you keep tabs on your patients' phone calls?”

 

“Yes to the first question, and usually, yes to the second. But since Russell has proven himself to be trustworthy, we don't keep as close a watch on him as we might have when he first came here.”

 

“But you still have a camera in his room?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Ryo smiled. “You, uh….might want to check and see that it's working properly. Thank you for your time.” Then he left the confused receptionist and went back over to Dee, pulling him out of the lobby.

 

“What was that about?” Dee asked, once they were outside, back in the bustle of the city.

 

Ryo sighed. “He's our man.”

 

“….How do you know?”

 

“I know. I can't explain how, but I know. I just….need some way to prove it. Some sort of concrete evidence.” He sighed, and leaned against Dee as he fought to keep his wits about him.

 

Dee sighed, and put an arm around the blond, pulling him close and planting a kiss on the top of his head. “C'mon, let's get you home. We've done enough work for today, and you're not gonna do anyone any good until you've had some sleep.”