Nick & Nora 3/8
Nick & Nora
Author: browneyesparker
Artist: justlook3
Link to art: http://justlook3.livejournal.com/161961.html
Word Count: 12, 752
Rating: K+
Summary: AU
Disclaimer: "the Thin Man" belongs to Dashiell Hammett and W.S Van Dyke. "the Mentalist" belongs to Bruno Heller and Warner Brothers.
Notes: This story is in NO WAY related to the Kat Danning and Michael Cera movie "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist". It was actually inspired by four things, "Heroes" by David Bowie, a quote by Robin Tunney in a 2010 issue of TV Guide, the summers I spent in the Cape Cod as a kid/pre-teen (which, were murder free) and "Murder, She Wrote" with a little bit of Poirot and Wooster & Jeeves. I don't think the latter comes out TOO much, but it certainly has that feel. To justlook3, the one who encouraged me to write this in the first place and supplied me with the AMAZING art to go along with it, to my two little sisters who told me not to complain and just write, to my brother who asked how my "babies" were coming along, to my dad who said it was okay if I didn't finish it when the stress of my grandfather's death and arguments with my sister became too great, and to my beta-reader just_mosie and the couple people who read test versions and fixed mistakes/added in put. . . thank you. You all made this story possible.
“We were going run away to New York or Los Angeles and get married,” Edward Stephens told Patrick and Teresa as they sat together on the spacious front porch of the bed & breakfast, sipping on glasses of icy sweet tea. “I had just proposed to her.”
“She wasn’t wearing an engagement ring,” Patrick said.
“What?” Edward asked, looking up from his lap, shock filling his red-rimmed eyes. “But . . . but she told me that she’d never take it off-”
“Was Pricilla having trouble with anybody here at the inn, or maybe an old boyfriend?” Teresa interjected before the younger man could get worked up too much.
Edward shook his head and sniffed. “No, everybody here loved ‘Cilla, and she only had one boyfriend before me, their split was mutual. He got married this summer. We were actually guests at his wedding.”
“Are you sure she wasn’t having trouble with anybody?” Patrick pressed. “Maybe she was having trouble with her parents because they knew she wanted to leave White Sands-”
“NO!” Edward said loudly, shaking his head empathetically. “Bruce and Mildred only wanted ‘Cilla to be happy, even if it meant moving far away from them.”
“Maybe they could have changed their minds,” Patrick tried tactfully. “Decided that they wanted her to stay here, even if it was in a coffin-”
“You don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Edward replied, defending his bosses. “They loved their daughter more than anything in this whole entire world! They would have never killed her! Mildred was devastated when she found ‘Cilla on the beach, Bruce can’t even get her to stop crying long enough to talk to the policemen or plan the funeral, it wasn’t them!”
“Okay,” Patrick agreed passively. “Now I know you’re upset Edward, but I want you to think really hard for me. Is there anybody, and I mean anybody who’s been bothering Priscilla lately?”
Edward paused for a second, rubbing the perspiration off his glass and looking out at the rain. “Well. . . .”
“Just tell me the name you thought of,” Patrick stopped him.
“Shawn Jones,” Edward said. “He used to have a crush on her when we were in high school. Lately it seems like it’s come back. He asked her out at least once a week and he would always bring her gifts.”
“Gifts?” Patrick asked.
“Like flowers and her favorite candy,” Edward answered. “Sometimes he’d bring her lotion from the expensive bath store at the mall. One time he brought her a bracelet.”
“And she’d always reject his advances?”
“Always,” Edward confirmed. “She was dating me, we were going to get married. . . w-we loved each other-” he buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
“Edward, we’re done for now,” Patrick said, putting a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “If you remember anything that you’d like to tell me then you can always stop by house, I’ll leave the address with the front desk.”
Edward nodded silently, too overcome with emotion to even try and offer them the simplest of goodbyes.
.
“Did you get anything from Edward Stephens?” Cho asked as he approached Teresa and Patrick at their table in Virgil and May’s.
“A name,” Patrick answered, stealing an onion ring from Teresa’s plate and dipping it in ketchup.
“A name,” Cho repeated. “Okay, who’s?”
Patrick chewed on his onion ring and took a sip of tea. “Shawn Jones.”
Cho rolled his eyes. “What about Shawn Jones?”
“Apparently he had a thing for your victim,” Patrick replied. “He was constantly asking her out and giving her presents. Maybe he got jealous and decided to kill Pricilla.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Cho said. “Why not just kill Edward and be Pricilla’s shoulder to cry on?”
“Maybe he didn’t plan on killing her,” Patrick answered. “Maybe all he wanted to do was talk to her, make her see reason. And when she wouldn’t listen to him, when she told him that she was going to marry Edward and move away with him, something inside of him snapped Maybe he decided that if he couldn’t have her then nobody else could have her either.”
“Have you even talked to Shawn yet?” Cho asked.
“Uh, no,” Patrick replied. “And I wasn’t going to either. I proved that Edward is innocent, and that’s all I said I would do.”
“This is your lead though,” Cho said. “Don’t you want to follow up on it?”
“Sherriff, I’m sure you and your men are perfectly adequate to follow up on this lead,” Patrick responded, taking his wallet out and tossing a few bills on the table.
“That’s what you think,” the younger man muttered. “The biggest thing that my men have ever handled is teenage disturbances on the beach.”
Teresa kicked Patrick in the ankle and gave him a look that said just help him out!
Patrick sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll come with you to talk to Shawn, but that’s all. After that you’re going to be all on your own.”
“Are you busy now?” Cho asked.
Patrick looked at his watch and sighed. “Well. . . it is almost time for my afternoon surf-”
“Which you were going to have to forego because of the rain anyways,” Teresa interjected.
He shrugged. “My wife has spoken, I’m free right now. Let me just drop the dog and the little lady off at home and I’ll meet you back over at the bed & breakfast in about, oh let’s say, thirty minutes.”
“The bed & breakfast in thirty minutes,” Cho repeated. “Okay, see you then. I’m going to check in on Summer now, why she insists on still working when she’s can go into labor any day now, I will never know.”
Teresa turned to Patrick after Cho had left, her eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you mean that you’re dropping me off at home? I want to go with you-”
“You aren’t tired yet?” Patrick asked.
“What?”
“You look a little tired to me,” he answered. “Are you sure you don’t want to go home and have a nap before you make dinner?”
“I’m sure,” Teresa replied.
“And what about Asta? When was the last time he was fed?”
“Asta’s fine, he ate just a few minutes ago,” she said. “Remember? May fed him half of a hamburger and French fries. Why are you trying to make me go home? Do you think Shawn Jones is dangerous or something?”
“No, I just don’t think a nice girl like you should be running around chasing murderers.”
She scoffed. “Ha! You seem to forget what I did before my father came into all that money and I quit my job.”
“I’ll let you come with me next time,” Patrick tried to compromise.
“There probably won’t be a next time,” Teresa answered. “The sheriff said that murder doesn’t happen around here. Ever.”
ldquo;Are you bored?” Patrick asked suddenly as he linked their hands and they left the diner together.
“Bored?” Teresa repeated, looking confused. “What do you mean am I bored?”
“Living in a sleepy little town like this with barely anything to do,” he replied. “Because if you were, we could move back to Sacramento-”
She shook her head and knelt down to untie Asta from the porch rail. She looked up at him and smiled. “I like it here, yeah it’s quiet and everybody’s in your business all of the time, and yes we have to drive an hour just to get to the nearest movie theater, but I like it. I wouldn’t trade my life here with you for anything, not even a job working with the SacPD again. Now come on, drop me off at home and go do your thing. Cho will be waiting for you.”
“You’re sure?” He double-checked, a little surprised that she was giving up the fight so quickly.
“Yes,” Teresa answered, sliding into the passenger seat and buckling up.
He sighed. “Come with me.”
Teresa looked at little startled. “But you just said that-”
“I know what I said,” Patrick replied. “But I changed my mind. Do you still want to come with me?”
“Of course I do-”
“It’s settled then,” he interjected. “You’re coming with me, now I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
“Fine,” Teresa agreed, smiling to herself. “You won’t hear another single word about it.”
.
“Gone?” Cho repeated looking at Bruce Bennett incredulously. “What do you mean that Shawn Jones is gone?”
“Exactly what I said,” Bruce said like he was talking to a kindergartner. “You can’t talk to Shawn because he took his first paycheck and left early this morning.”
“You shouldn’t have let him leave!” Cho said. “He’s a suspect in your daughter’s murder!”
“Kimball,” Bruce said wearily. “I don’t think Shawn killed ‘Cilla, he liked her too much to do that. The poor boy was so distraught this morning because she had been murdered. He had to leave. Besides, he was with me getting the inn ready for the storm around the time she was murdered.”
Cho sighed and rubbed his temples, glancing at Patrick and Teresa. “Do you have any idea where he could have gone?”
“His mother just moved to three city three months ago,” Bruce answered after a moment’s pause. “Maybe he went to see her. I mean, it’s where he usually went when he was upset.”
“Did he leave an address in case you needed to get in touch with him for anything?” Patrick asked.
“No,” Bruce answered slowly. “But he did refill his emergency contact information when his mom moved. I have her new home phone number, if that’ll help you out any.”
“It might,” Cho said.
“I’ll go and get it,” Bruce replied turning around and heading for the door. He stopped for a second then looked back at the threesome standing on his porch. “You don’t really think Shawn could have done this, do you?”
“Mr. Bennett, we can’t just rule him out as a suspect just because he liked your daughter,” Patrick answered. “I’ve worked a lot of cases, and I’ve seen a lot of men who’ve killed women that they claim to be in love with.”
Bruce sighed heavily, his shoulders taking on even more of a slump than before. “I’ll go and get that phone number and name for you now.”
.
“Natalie Jones just confirmed that her son showed up this afternoon and asked her if he’d be able to stay with her for a while,” Cho said as he hung up the telephone and glanced over at Patrick, who was making a cup of tea across the room. “It’s getting late though and I don’t think that Shawn will be going anywhere anytime soon, maybe we should just call it a day and reconvene tomorrow morning. Even if we left for the city right now, it would be too late to go and question him by the time we got there. Will that work for you Jane?”
“I don’t think I have any plans,” Patrick answered, looking at Teresa. “Do we have plans tomorrow, darling?”
Teresa tossed aside the outdated Reader’s Digest she had been flipping through. “Not really.”
“Tomorrow it is then,” Patrick replied.
Cho jotted something down on an electric blue sticky note and got up from his chair to give it to Patrick. “Meet me at this address in the morning, and if you can, try to be there early as possible.”
Author: browneyesparker
Artist: justlook3
Link to art: http://justlook3.livejournal.com/161961.html
Word Count: 12, 752
Rating: K+
Summary: AU
Disclaimer: "the Thin Man" belongs to Dashiell Hammett and W.S Van Dyke. "the Mentalist" belongs to Bruno Heller and Warner Brothers.
Notes: This story is in NO WAY related to the Kat Danning and Michael Cera movie "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist". It was actually inspired by four things, "Heroes" by David Bowie, a quote by Robin Tunney in a 2010 issue of TV Guide, the summers I spent in the Cape Cod as a kid/pre-teen (which, were murder free) and "Murder, She Wrote" with a little bit of Poirot and Wooster & Jeeves. I don't think the latter comes out TOO much, but it certainly has that feel. To justlook3, the one who encouraged me to write this in the first place and supplied me with the AMAZING art to go along with it, to my two little sisters who told me not to complain and just write, to my brother who asked how my "babies" were coming along, to my dad who said it was okay if I didn't finish it when the stress of my grandfather's death and arguments with my sister became too great, and to my beta-reader just_mosie and the couple people who read test versions and fixed mistakes/added in put. . . thank you. You all made this story possible.
“We were going run away to New York or Los Angeles and get married,” Edward Stephens told Patrick and Teresa as they sat together on the spacious front porch of the bed & breakfast, sipping on glasses of icy sweet tea. “I had just proposed to her.”
“She wasn’t wearing an engagement ring,” Patrick said.
“What?” Edward asked, looking up from his lap, shock filling his red-rimmed eyes. “But . . . but she told me that she’d never take it off-”
“Was Pricilla having trouble with anybody here at the inn, or maybe an old boyfriend?” Teresa interjected before the younger man could get worked up too much.
Edward shook his head and sniffed. “No, everybody here loved ‘Cilla, and she only had one boyfriend before me, their split was mutual. He got married this summer. We were actually guests at his wedding.”
“Are you sure she wasn’t having trouble with anybody?” Patrick pressed. “Maybe she was having trouble with her parents because they knew she wanted to leave White Sands-”
“NO!” Edward said loudly, shaking his head empathetically. “Bruce and Mildred only wanted ‘Cilla to be happy, even if it meant moving far away from them.”
“Maybe they could have changed their minds,” Patrick tried tactfully. “Decided that they wanted her to stay here, even if it was in a coffin-”
“You don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Edward replied, defending his bosses. “They loved their daughter more than anything in this whole entire world! They would have never killed her! Mildred was devastated when she found ‘Cilla on the beach, Bruce can’t even get her to stop crying long enough to talk to the policemen or plan the funeral, it wasn’t them!”
“Okay,” Patrick agreed passively. “Now I know you’re upset Edward, but I want you to think really hard for me. Is there anybody, and I mean anybody who’s been bothering Priscilla lately?”
Edward paused for a second, rubbing the perspiration off his glass and looking out at the rain. “Well. . . .”
“Just tell me the name you thought of,” Patrick stopped him.
“Shawn Jones,” Edward said. “He used to have a crush on her when we were in high school. Lately it seems like it’s come back. He asked her out at least once a week and he would always bring her gifts.”
“Gifts?” Patrick asked.
“Like flowers and her favorite candy,” Edward answered. “Sometimes he’d bring her lotion from the expensive bath store at the mall. One time he brought her a bracelet.”
“And she’d always reject his advances?”
“Always,” Edward confirmed. “She was dating me, we were going to get married. . . w-we loved each other-” he buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
“Edward, we’re done for now,” Patrick said, putting a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “If you remember anything that you’d like to tell me then you can always stop by house, I’ll leave the address with the front desk.”
Edward nodded silently, too overcome with emotion to even try and offer them the simplest of goodbyes.
.
“Did you get anything from Edward Stephens?” Cho asked as he approached Teresa and Patrick at their table in Virgil and May’s.
“A name,” Patrick answered, stealing an onion ring from Teresa’s plate and dipping it in ketchup.
“A name,” Cho repeated. “Okay, who’s?”
Patrick chewed on his onion ring and took a sip of tea. “Shawn Jones.”
Cho rolled his eyes. “What about Shawn Jones?”
“Apparently he had a thing for your victim,” Patrick replied. “He was constantly asking her out and giving her presents. Maybe he got jealous and decided to kill Pricilla.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Cho said. “Why not just kill Edward and be Pricilla’s shoulder to cry on?”
“Maybe he didn’t plan on killing her,” Patrick answered. “Maybe all he wanted to do was talk to her, make her see reason. And when she wouldn’t listen to him, when she told him that she was going to marry Edward and move away with him, something inside of him snapped Maybe he decided that if he couldn’t have her then nobody else could have her either.”
“Have you even talked to Shawn yet?” Cho asked.
“Uh, no,” Patrick replied. “And I wasn’t going to either. I proved that Edward is innocent, and that’s all I said I would do.”
“This is your lead though,” Cho said. “Don’t you want to follow up on it?”
“Sherriff, I’m sure you and your men are perfectly adequate to follow up on this lead,” Patrick responded, taking his wallet out and tossing a few bills on the table.
“That’s what you think,” the younger man muttered. “The biggest thing that my men have ever handled is teenage disturbances on the beach.”
Teresa kicked Patrick in the ankle and gave him a look that said just help him out!
Patrick sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll come with you to talk to Shawn, but that’s all. After that you’re going to be all on your own.”
“Are you busy now?” Cho asked.
Patrick looked at his watch and sighed. “Well. . . it is almost time for my afternoon surf-”
“Which you were going to have to forego because of the rain anyways,” Teresa interjected.
He shrugged. “My wife has spoken, I’m free right now. Let me just drop the dog and the little lady off at home and I’ll meet you back over at the bed & breakfast in about, oh let’s say, thirty minutes.”
“The bed & breakfast in thirty minutes,” Cho repeated. “Okay, see you then. I’m going to check in on Summer now, why she insists on still working when she’s can go into labor any day now, I will never know.”
Teresa turned to Patrick after Cho had left, her eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you mean that you’re dropping me off at home? I want to go with you-”
“You aren’t tired yet?” Patrick asked.
“What?”
“You look a little tired to me,” he answered. “Are you sure you don’t want to go home and have a nap before you make dinner?”
“I’m sure,” Teresa replied.
“And what about Asta? When was the last time he was fed?”
“Asta’s fine, he ate just a few minutes ago,” she said. “Remember? May fed him half of a hamburger and French fries. Why are you trying to make me go home? Do you think Shawn Jones is dangerous or something?”
“No, I just don’t think a nice girl like you should be running around chasing murderers.”
She scoffed. “Ha! You seem to forget what I did before my father came into all that money and I quit my job.”
“I’ll let you come with me next time,” Patrick tried to compromise.
“There probably won’t be a next time,” Teresa answered. “The sheriff said that murder doesn’t happen around here. Ever.”
ldquo;Are you bored?” Patrick asked suddenly as he linked their hands and they left the diner together.
“Bored?” Teresa repeated, looking confused. “What do you mean am I bored?”
“Living in a sleepy little town like this with barely anything to do,” he replied. “Because if you were, we could move back to Sacramento-”
She shook her head and knelt down to untie Asta from the porch rail. She looked up at him and smiled. “I like it here, yeah it’s quiet and everybody’s in your business all of the time, and yes we have to drive an hour just to get to the nearest movie theater, but I like it. I wouldn’t trade my life here with you for anything, not even a job working with the SacPD again. Now come on, drop me off at home and go do your thing. Cho will be waiting for you.”
“You’re sure?” He double-checked, a little surprised that she was giving up the fight so quickly.
“Yes,” Teresa answered, sliding into the passenger seat and buckling up.
He sighed. “Come with me.”
Teresa looked at little startled. “But you just said that-”
“I know what I said,” Patrick replied. “But I changed my mind. Do you still want to come with me?”
“Of course I do-”
“It’s settled then,” he interjected. “You’re coming with me, now I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
“Fine,” Teresa agreed, smiling to herself. “You won’t hear another single word about it.”
.
“Gone?” Cho repeated looking at Bruce Bennett incredulously. “What do you mean that Shawn Jones is gone?”
“Exactly what I said,” Bruce said like he was talking to a kindergartner. “You can’t talk to Shawn because he took his first paycheck and left early this morning.”
“You shouldn’t have let him leave!” Cho said. “He’s a suspect in your daughter’s murder!”
“Kimball,” Bruce said wearily. “I don’t think Shawn killed ‘Cilla, he liked her too much to do that. The poor boy was so distraught this morning because she had been murdered. He had to leave. Besides, he was with me getting the inn ready for the storm around the time she was murdered.”
Cho sighed and rubbed his temples, glancing at Patrick and Teresa. “Do you have any idea where he could have gone?”
“His mother just moved to three city three months ago,” Bruce answered after a moment’s pause. “Maybe he went to see her. I mean, it’s where he usually went when he was upset.”
“Did he leave an address in case you needed to get in touch with him for anything?” Patrick asked.
“No,” Bruce answered slowly. “But he did refill his emergency contact information when his mom moved. I have her new home phone number, if that’ll help you out any.”
“It might,” Cho said.
“I’ll go and get it,” Bruce replied turning around and heading for the door. He stopped for a second then looked back at the threesome standing on his porch. “You don’t really think Shawn could have done this, do you?”
“Mr. Bennett, we can’t just rule him out as a suspect just because he liked your daughter,” Patrick answered. “I’ve worked a lot of cases, and I’ve seen a lot of men who’ve killed women that they claim to be in love with.”
Bruce sighed heavily, his shoulders taking on even more of a slump than before. “I’ll go and get that phone number and name for you now.”
.
“Natalie Jones just confirmed that her son showed up this afternoon and asked her if he’d be able to stay with her for a while,” Cho said as he hung up the telephone and glanced over at Patrick, who was making a cup of tea across the room. “It’s getting late though and I don’t think that Shawn will be going anywhere anytime soon, maybe we should just call it a day and reconvene tomorrow morning. Even if we left for the city right now, it would be too late to go and question him by the time we got there. Will that work for you Jane?”
“I don’t think I have any plans,” Patrick answered, looking at Teresa. “Do we have plans tomorrow, darling?”
Teresa tossed aside the outdated Reader’s Digest she had been flipping through. “Not really.”
“Tomorrow it is then,” Patrick replied.
Cho jotted something down on an electric blue sticky note and got up from his chair to give it to Patrick. “Meet me at this address in the morning, and if you can, try to be there early as possible.”