Disclaimer: I do not own The Mentalist yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah
A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took so long to come. I've been working on it for quite a while, but my laptop (which has all my fanfictions on) broke down for about a month and I couldn't get on to finish the chapter. That and holidays. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Sorry again. Reviews and crits are encouraged as ever.
Van Pelt could hear the sound of laughter as she walked towards the bullpen. She smiled. Jane was probably pulling a ridiculous stunt again. But as she entered she saw only Rigsby and…
"Cho!" she said breaking into a smile as she strode towards him and enveloped him in a hug,
"Hey Van Pelt." he replied,
"I thought you were meant to be-"
"Resting," the Asian American cut her off, "yeah, I know. I needed to be working. I was just about ready to kill myself watching those reality TV programmes." she and Rigsby laughed,
"You're-"
"As bad as Jane." he cut her off again, "Yeah, so I've been told." at this Cho looked in the direction of his friend who smiled at him. The redhead decided now was as good a time as ever to change the subject,
"Where are Jane and Lisbon anyway?" she asked, sitting herself at her desk,
"Chasing a lead." Rigsby replied, "I think."
"You think?" he shrugged,
"They weren't in when I got here and I doubt Lisbon would have agreed with Cho staying here. They're probably chasing up Brendan Stowe. We're at a dead end with Harlow and Karen." She nodded. Lisbon would want to chase every possible lead now, otherwise the case would be dead in the water.
The grunt Jane received as a reply to his question did nothing to brighten Lisbon's mood,
"Mr Stowe. Answer my colleague's question." she told the man sat opposite her, an underlying venom in her voice. His lips curled into a smile,
"You don't take any nonsense do you?" he laughed. The special agent fixed him with a cold glare,
"I'll ask the questions here Mr Stowe."
"Yes, I do recognise the watch. It was given to me as a gift from the company. I was actually wondering where it had gotten to." he replied sighing, "Why is this of any importance?" It was the consultant's turn to smile,
"We found it in your boss' office." He said simply before being interrupted by Lisbon who was keen to keep the interview going while it had momentum,
"Care to tell us what it might have been doing there Mr Stowe?" she questioned,
"Oh," Brendan said, a look of realisation on his face, "so that's what this is all about." he laughed lightly,
"This isn't a laughing matter." the agent snapped,
"I know, I'm sorry." he replied, "I was in Joseph's office fixing his computer."
"When?"
"April 15th."
"The day of his murder?" Lisbon raised her eyebrows,
"Yes, I know how it must look, but honestly, you can ask any of the employees, I fix - fixed, sorry - Joseph's computer on a regular basis. He was always getting it clogged up with viruses and malware." Damn. Lisbon could feel her lead slipping between her fingers again. Harlow had better talk soon. God knew they were at a dead end if he didn't,
"Thank you, Mr Stowe. We'll call you if we need anything else."
"He's not telling us everything." Jane told her before getting into the passenger seat, Lisbon let out an frustrated sigh,
"For the last time Jane, we have nothing to hold him on." she said upon starting the car, "His watch may have been in Mr Walker's office but if his story checks out there's a strong possibility that it was there from one of his many computer fixing visits."
"Only a possibility Lisbon." he pointed out, "He lied to us about not having seen the watch before, he was in that office the day Joseph Walker died, what else is he lying about?"
"He has no criminal record." she retorted as they pulled off the curb and began to make their way back to the CBI building, "The man's as clean as they get Jane. Sure he's an alcoholic, but that doesn't make him a killer."
"No, it doesn't." the consultant agreed, "But just because he has had a clean record doesn't mean he's not a killer. People snap sometimes, you should know that better than anyone." At this Lisbon silenced. It wasn't a calm silence, or an agreeing silence, but an angry and hurt silence. How dare he, " I - I'm sorry…" Jane apologised tentatively, "I didn't mean-"
"Shut up Jane," she interrupted him, "before I decide to throw you out the car." Jane stopped talking immediately. It was never good to anger Lisbon.
The rest of the journey was tolerated in an awkward silence. Lisbon had no intention of talking to the consultant and Jane did not want to anger her further. He did have a point though, the agent thought, just because he had a clean record didn't mean he wasn't a killer. Realisation dawned on her and the car sped up quite suddenly. She needed to check this out. It was an angle they hadn't even considered and something in her knew it would turn up something.
"Van Pelt," Lisbon's voice echoed through the bullpen, "I want you to do a background check on Brendan Stowe." the younger agent jumped at the sound of her superior's voice,
"But boss we already did a background check on him - he came up clean."
"I know." the senior agent replied, more sharply than she had intended, "Try running his face through the criminal database. I think Brendan Stowe could be an alias."
"Yes boss." Van Pelt responded, typing away furiously at the keyboard. Lisbon turned to the rest of her team,
"Cho? What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped at the Asian agent who was resting his leg and reading another of his novels, "You're meant to be-"
"Resting? I am. I'm playing desk jockey." he looked up to find his superior fixing him with a stony glare which soon dissolved into a sigh, following this a mumble which Jane, who was now standing close behind her, made out to be 'stubborn bastard'. Rigsby watched the scene in amusement as he devoured another packet of crisps,
"Rigsby!" Lisbon shouted across the room,
"Yeph boph?" he asked, spraying crumbs all over the table,
"Let's see if we can't get Harlow to talk." she replied, "And Rigsby."
"Yeph boph?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full."