"Fee fi fo fum... I smell the blood of an Englishman..." - Jack the Giant Killer
It was Christmas time in Portland. Since Aurelia couldn't invite Juliette and Nick over for her birthday, she decided to invite them over for a Christmas dinner. She thought about inviting Monroe as well, but that would create an awkward situation for all of them.
Aurelia prepared a fully Burgundian dinner with the help from Pierre. As she was putting down the plates on the dinner table, the bell started ringing. She opened the door and saw Juliette and Nick, "Hey, guys. Come in, it's way too cold to be outside."
"Nick told me you're rich, but I didn't expect this." Juliette commented as she looked in the living room. Aurelia had put up a big Christmas tree, along with lots of fairy lights and little ornaments. Everywhere you looked, you could see it was Christmas.
Aurelia smiled at Juliette's comment, "I need to be honest, I outdid myself this year. I thought I'd make it look nice for you two. Oh, and by the way, this is Pierre, he's a family friend. He doesn't speak English."
Pierre gave a nod to Juliette and Nick as they took a seat at the dining table. Aurelia walked over to grab a wine bottle, "Do you guys want some? I can't drink yet, and otherwise it'll just go to waste."
"Sure." Juliette answered with a smile as Aurelia put the wine in their glasses. Pierre came over to put all the food on the table before leaving the room.
"Alright, so, I'm not sure what you guys like. So there's vegan and meat options." Aurelia mentioned as she gestured to the food. Juliette looked at the food in awe, "This must've taken hours to make."
Aurelia nodded as she grabbed some food to put on her plate, "Yes, I've basically been cooking the entire day. Now, go on and tell me if you like it."
They started to take their first bites, and Nick spoke up, "This is the best dinner I've ever had." Juliette nodded, "You really need to share the recipes afterwards, I would love to make this at home."
The entire evening they were talking and eating the dinner. After they were done, Juliette helped Aurelia with the dishes, "Thank you for inviting us over, Aurelia."
"Of course. I mean, that birthday dinner went down the drain because of the case last week." Aurelia explained and Juliette nodded, "Nick told me a little about that, yeah. Thank God you guys found her alive. Still a wonder she could survive for so long all alone in the woods."
Nick now joined their conversation in the kitchen as well, "Sometimes survival instinct is bigger than you think. Even if it's a child, I guess. Hey, Aurelia, what's that big box in the living room?"
"Merde." Aurelia thought as she forgot her birthday gift was still inside the room. She decided to just play it cool, "It was a birthday gift from my parents. They wrote that it originally belonged to my grandma who gave it to my mom. And now my mom gave it to me, it's like a tradition I guess."
"Aww, that's so sweet. What's inside of it?" Juliette asked and Aurelia smiled, "It's an empty trunk really. It was more about the sentiment than a simple birthday gift."
Nick nodded along to the story, obviously believing the, well, truth. It was just... hiding the truth partially?
Juliette dried off her hands and poked Nick in the shoulder, "I think it's time we should go home. It's late."
"Oh, before you go!" Aurelia quickly ran to her bedroom and grabbed two cards, "These two are for both of you. Giving out cards is kinda my thing. I also sent cards to everyone at the precinct."
"We didn't get you anything." Nick said as he accepted the card. Aurelia shrugged, "It's about the sentiment. Now go have a nice ride home, and please don't cause an accident."
They both smiled to the girl as Nick opened the door for Juliette, "Thanks for having us, Lia." He then closed the door and Aurelia watched them walk back to the car. She then spoke to herself with a smile, "Lia... Love that."
_____
After the holidays, Nick and Hank got called in for another dead body. A popular judge had been killed last night with his own gavel. Aurelia was late at the precinct and couldn't join them, she still had to adjust herself back to the working schedule.
When the guys got back, Aurelia got to dig into some research herself about the case. Renard approached her at her desk, "Any luck?"
"No, not much yet." Aurelia answered as she looked up to him, "I'm looking at recent parolees that the judge had to deal with, three have been released in the last six months. Lester Cambridge, paroled from Powder River. Scott Teller, released from Santiam six weeks ago and Jamal Shutter, he just got out of Eastern."
"Any of them back here in Portland?" Renard asked and she nodded, "All three of them. Nick and Hank are checking the alibis." The phone on Hank's desk started ringing and Aurelia grabbed to answer, "Dupont... oh of course, you can send it to Hank. I'll tell him."
"They got an I.D. on the print from the Judge's house, got a match from the Navy." Aurelia explained to Sean and he asked, "One of your parolees?" But Aurelia shook her head, "Nope, name was Vince Chilton. No record at all."
"Alright. I'll go get Hank, see what we'll encounter." Renard responded, "You're doing a good job, Aurelia."
Aurelia smiled at him, "Merci."
_____
Renard and Hank had visited the place Chilton was staying at, but they found him dead with a severed hand, holding a woman's watch. That led to Aurelia, Nick and Hank visiting Monroe; since he's a clock maker. Monroe opened the door when they arrived, "Good morning. Well, not that good if somebody died, I guess. But uh... yeah. Come on in."
"Thanks for helping us out." Hank commented as they entered the house and Monroe scoffed, "Not a problem. I like to help the... the police whenever I can." He looked at Aurelia and Nick as he said that, wanting to say something else but of course since Hank was there he couldn't.
Hank didn't seem to notice and handed over the watch to Monroe, "This is the watch we need to trace." Monroe took it from him, "Vintage Lusina, very nice! I'm gonna have to get in there and check a few details. You mind if I..?"
"Forensics cleared it. Go ahead." Nick encouraged as Monroe took the watch out of the bag and headed to his working station on the right of the hallway. Hank was confused about his enthusiasm, "Okay..."
Monroe took out his special glasses and examined the watch, "Valjoux movement. 72 C, to be exact. Triple calendar." The trio looked at each other, and all were as equally amused as confused, but Monroe continued, "Wow. Just pure beauty. Here, check it out. Triple complications. That's a day, date, month to the layman. Probably made it in the 30's."
"What about the engraving?" Nick asked, which was on the back of the watch. Monroe looked at it, "Professional. Could have been done by any engraver, anytime, anywhere."
Monroe opened the watch to look at the mechanics inside, but then sounded shocked, "Oh, this is tragic." Aurelia spoke up for their confusion, "What is?"
"Some jerk put glue in the movement! This watch is destroyed, I wanna weep." Monroe explained and Hank was still confused, "Why would somebody do that?"
"To stop it from working." Monroe said with an obvious tone, and Nick started thinking, "Maybe they wanted to stop it on a specific time and date."
Monroe scoffed at his comment, "Glue would certainly guarantee that." He took a look at the date on the watch, "10:15, March 11th."
"Any way you can tell us who the owner is?" Nick asked and Monroe shrugged, "Original movement number maybe... or a service mark. I'll make some calls, whoever serviced this will definitely remember it."
"How long will that take?" Hank wondered as Monroe stood up from the bench, "Couple minutes, if they've got the paperwork. There's coffee in the kitchen, help yourselves. Nick, Aurelia, you know where it is."
Nick and Aurelia gave Monroe a look before he realised his mistake, "...from the time you guys searched my house. Remember? I mean, if you don't remember, it's right down that hall there."
Nick played along with him, "Yeah, I think I remember." Nick and Hank went to the kitchen to get some coffee, and Aurelia stayed with Monroe. "Really?"
"I didn't realise!" Monroe argued and Aurelia just gave him a pat on the shoulder, "As long as Nick doesn't think anything of it... I'm fine with your slip up."
Aurelia walked to the kitchen, while Nick and Hank were theorising together about the date. "Maybe March 11th connects all three of them together somehow." Nick spoke up, talking about the Judge, Chilton and Mary whose name was engraved.
"Maybe all four of them, killer included." Hank said, "But March 11th of what year?" Nick shrugged, "Maybe we're looking at some kind of Zodiac killer here."
Just then, Monroe entered the kitchen, "Hey, I got something, actually. Turns out the watch was first purchased in 1933 by a Steven Armstrong. He gave it to his wife as a wedding present, she-"
"1933. Who owns it now?" Hank inquired and Monroe was confused, "Yeah... but I got the whole history." Nick smiled, "That's great, really. But we just need to know who owns it now."
Monroe seemed a little defeated, "Oh... I get it, ok. Just the facts, right? Ok, let's see... the watch was serviced last here in Portland, actually. Two months ago, for a Mary Robinson."
"Mary Robinson?" Hank asked and Aurelia looked over to him, "You know her?" Hank nodded as answer, "If it's the same Mary Robinson, I do. Assistant D.A., retired about a year ago. I worked a lot of cases with her... I got a bad feeling about this."
Hank started heading towards the door, and Nick took the watch back from Monroe, "Thanks." Aurelia smiled at Monroe, "If you ever wanna talk clock history with someone, I'll let my dad know. He's like... obsessed with those bird clocks."
"Cuckoo clock..." Monroe said to himself as she had already left.
_____
Hank drove with Aurelia and Nick to the house of Mary Robinson. When they arrived, they saw yellow tape surrounding the house and Wu standing in front of it. Hank got out of the car, "You find her?"
"Found her body." Wu answered as he guided them inside. They saw Mary lying dead on the ground, without a tongue. The tongue was put on the scale of Lady Justice. Wu continued, "Killer cut out her tongue and put it on the scale."
"What's the message this time? Scales of justice?" Nick asked and Hank answered for him, "No. She's the message. Mary Robinson herself... I know who the killer is."
Nick and Aurelia were confused, "What?" Hank nodded at Wu and left towards the car, "We need to talk to the captain."
When they arrived at the precinct, they encountered Renard after getting some background info. Hank started explaining his theory, "It was a triple homicide five years ago. Jack Lambert, his wife, and seven-year-old daughter were abducted from their home and taken to an abandoned quarry near Tigard and tortured there for two days. I'll never forget the crime scene."
Renard nodded, "Yeah, I remember the case. Oleg Stark was a contract killer. He was suspected of murders in Illinois, Kansas and Colorado." Hank continued on, "But this time, it was personal. Jack Lambert was a business associate of Stark's who knew that Stark demanded to be paid in gold. Apparently, Jack found out where Stark stashed his gold and stole it."
They had now arrived at Renard's office and got inside. Nick summarised the story for himself, "So it was a revenge killing." Hank nodded, "That's why he got sloppy, he was angry. All the other people he killed, he didn't give a damn about. Stark left a gold coin behind... that's how I knew it was him. He was trialed here in Portland but sentenced to a California ADX facility in Pelican Bay."
"How'd he get out?" Aurelia wondered and Hank answered, "24 hours ago, Stark escaped. He was on medical transfer when he got his chance. Broke the Doctor's legs and beat two guards into a coma."
Renard was confused, "Why didn't we know that Stark escaped?" Nick started to explain, "Bulletin hit California state agency first. They thought they had him trapped, so they didn't go wide with it until he was long gone. Now this is from Stark's medical records"
Aurelia took that as her sign to read from the medical report, "'Convict displays signs of Congenital Analgesia, a rare genetic disorder which deadens the nerve endings, making it difficult to process pain. In addition, Stark's bone structure appears abnormally dense'. Which basically makes this guy very unpleasant to deal with."
"So what's Stark's connection to Judge Patterson, Vince Chilton and Mary Robinson?" Renard wondered and Hank answered him, "The Judge presided over the trial. Mary Robinson prosecuted the case. Vince Chilton was the Jury Foreman who handed the verdict to the Judge. Remember the time and date on the watch? 10:15, March 11th. That was the moment Stark was sentenced to 300 hundred years in prison. I knew it was something, but I didn't put it together til I saw Mary Robinson's body."
Renard then realised something, "That would mean, as the arresting officer, he's coming after you next." Hank stood unchanged, "I'm gonna take this bastard down." Renard however, disagreed, "No, no. No, you're going into protective custody."
Hank looked pissed at the suggestion, "I'm not running." Renard sighed, "He's already killed three people, I'm not about to lose a cop."
"He's killed a lot more than that." Hank said as he raised his voice, and Renard argued back, "I'm not gonna risk it, and neither are you. I understand why you wanna get him. I'd feel the same way. But protective custody, that's my call... not yours."
Nick interrupted their argument, "Once Stark escaped, he had to move fast. We need to check for stolen vehicles, assaults and B&Es from here to the state line." Renard looked at them, but mainly Hank, "Well, get on it."
They walked towards their desks and started searching for the information. Aurelia looked at Stark's report and faced Hank, "You know this guy's been shot three times and stabbed twice, right..?"
"Yeah. I know." Hank answered with a condescending tone and Aurelia turned back to her desk silently in defeat. Nick sighed, "Hank... the captain's just doing what he thinks is right."
"What's right for him is not right for me." Hank answered bitterly and Nick looked at him, "Give us 24 hours, see if we can get it done." Wu approached all of them, "I think I got what you're looking for. 68 year old man reported his car stolen from rest stop on I-5 near the California border. Perp fitting Stark's description drove off in his blue '92 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, license plate 807 IHO. If that Caddy's in Portland, we'll find it."
They all thanked Wu and started researching further, with Nick getting some coffee for the three of them. When he came back, he saw Hank looking deep into his computer, "So... what do you know about Stark?"
"What do you mean?" Hank asked as he accepted the coffee Nick handed over. Nick started asking, "Where's he from? Does he have any family? Maybe we can get ahead of this guy."
Hank frowned as he remembered, "You know... that was one of the weird things about him. He didn't seem to be from anyplace. No record of where he was born, no record of a family. It's like this guy just fell out of the sky."
Once again, Wu walked towards their desks, "Found the Caddy. Or what's left of it. Blown up a parking lot across from a city rec facility. 20th and Belmont."
"Wait a minute..." Nick said as he looked towards Hank, "Isn't that near your old place?" Hank nodded determinantly, "I lived a block away when I worked Stark's case. I guess this is my wake-up call."
Renard quickly approached all of them as they wanted to leave, "Hank, you're not going anywhere. Neither do you, Aurelia."
"Captain!" "Sean!" Both Hank and Aurelia shouted with disagreement. But Renard didn't budge, "Right now, the safest place for you is here at the precinct. Let's go, Nick."
Nick looked towards Hank and Aurelia with a sorry look before following the captain and Wu to the scene of crime. Hank groaned in frustration, "I can protect myself, I know how Stark handles!"
"Sometimes... it's safer to stay hidden instead of facing the confrontation head on." Aurelia reassured with a small smile, and Hank looked at her, "I understand that... but this is my case, it's personal."
Aurelia nodded, "Exactly, that's why you shouldn't get involved. When it gets personal, emotions take priority in your mind over your job as a detective."
Hank sighed, "I guess..." He then looked at Aurelia confused, "Did you just call the captain by his first name?"
"What? No... no, you must've misheard." Aurelia lied and Hank sighed, "I'm gonna get some extra coffee."
_____
The whole day, Hank was just delved into the cases involving Stark. Eventually, he had told Aurelia to go home, since she couldn't do much other than rereading the same files every single time.
In the evening, Aurelia got a call and she answered as she saw it was Nick. "Hey Nick, did you find something about Stark?"
"Aurelia, please. You need to come to the hospital. Nick, he..." She heard from the other side, and it made her confused. "...Juliette? Is that you? What happened to Nick?"
"There was a man... he attacked Nick in our house. I called 911 and we're on the way to the hospital right now. He told me to call you. I really don't know what to do." Juliette rambled and Aurelia was in shock, "Okay... okay I'm heading to the hospital right now."
When she arrived, she saw a frantic looking Juliette at the entrance of the hospital. She got out of the car and sped over to her, "Juliette, where's Nick?"
"He's being examined by the doctor in his room, come on." Juliette explained and they both walked to the room Nick was staying at. Juliette looked at Aurelia, "I also called your boss, the captain? I thought he should know."
Aurelia nodded reassuringly, "You're right." She still saw that Juliette was the opposite of relaxed, "Juliette, you're alright. Nick is safe at the hospital, especially with extra security you'll get from the precinct. Trust me, you can breathe."
Juliette took a deep breath to calm herself, "I'm sorry, it's just... this has never happened before." Aurelia smiled, "I understand, it would scare me too if it had happened to me. For now, let's just wait until the doctor is done."
After a couple of minutes, Renard had arrived as well and after that the doctor came with his diagnosis. "He has three bruised ribs and a dislocated shoulder to go along with a mild concussion. Nothing broken, however. He's very lucky."
The doctor left them then and they saw Nick's beaten body laying on the bed. Aurelia gave Juliette a side hug, "He's gonna be alright." Renard added at that, "I've got units posted here at the hospital and outside your house, 'round the clock and I'll have an escort take you home. This guy won't get anywhere near you, I promise."
"You know who did this?" Juliette asked and Renard nodded, "Yeah. I've got every cop in the city looking for him. Trust me, he'll pay for what he's done."
"Juliette..." Nick groaned as he woke up. Renard left the hospital then as Juliette walked into the room. Aurelia looked from a distance to give them some space. Soon after they were done, Juliette walked out of the room. "I told him you were here... he wants to talk to you."
Aurelia nodded, "Okay... you better get some sleep now. This was a lot to go through." Juliette gave her a small smile and left the hospital too. Aurelia entered the room and saw Nick looking at her, "Hey..."
"Hey." Aurelia answered as she took a seat next to the bed, "...How the hell did he..?" Nick tried to shrug, "I don't know. I guess he did some research of his own and found out I'm Hank's partner."
Aurelia looked at him with pity, "I'm so sorry this happened to you Nick." Nick looked confused, "You're sorry? There's nothing to be sorry for, Aurelia. You weren't involved in any of this."
"Still... this shouldn't have happened at all." Aurelia argued back, and Nick nodded, "He's after Hank now, I just hope he won't go after him by himself."
Aurelia huffed, "Knowing Hank's involvement in this case, I can't promise he won't do that... Now, you're gonna get some rest and heal. I feel like you can use that."
"Really? I feel perfect, not a scratch on me." Nick replied teasingly and they both chuckled, Nick holding it back so he won't hurt himself. Aurelia stood up, "Good night, Nick."
When she walked out of the hospital, she saw a car with its light on parked on the hospital's parking lot. She walked to her car and got in the passenger's seat, "Ne conduit pas, Pierre."
She kept observing the parking lot and the car. Seeing Monroe at one point entering and leaving the hospital, and then Hank afterwards. Monroe had also come back as soon as Hank left, but the parked car Aurelia looked at left with him. She followed the cars, driving a little behind Monroe. She noticed they were driving towards the quarry Hank had mentioned earlier.
Hank had stopped driving, and so did Stark. Monroe had also stopped, and walked on a little hill to overview Hank and Stark. Aurelia got out of her car and approached Monroe, "What are you doing?"
Monroe jumped at her sudden appearance, "What the hell are you doing here?" Aurelia looked at the gun he was assembling, "How did you get that?!"
"Nick said Stark is a Siegbarste, you know the Ogres? He told me he had Siegbarste Gift in his trailer his aunt gave him, and now... I have this special gun which I can use to shoot him." Monroe explained as he once again started assembling the gun.
Aurelia sat down on the ground to hide herself from Hank's sight in the distance, "Alright... just make sure you shoot at him, and not at Hank." Monroe looked at her, "Yeah... I get that."
Both of them started lying on their stomachs as they watched Hank and Stark fight. At one point, Stark had Hank under him on the ground with no way to escape. He grabbed a huge boulder and meant to drop it on Hank, but at that moment Monroe launched the shot with an insane recoil and a loud bang. Stark got hit with the bullet and died right on the spot, leaving Hank severely confused.
Monroe and Aurelia looked shocked at the loud sound that came from the gun. Monroe whispered, "Oh wow... ok, time to go. Time to go." He started putting the gun back in the case he had taken with him and quickly walked towards his car. Aurelia whispered to him before she entered her car, "Do not tell this to Nick!"
"As if he would believe me!" Monroe whisper shouted back to her, as they both got into their respective cars. Pierre was listening to a classical radio station when Aurelia got in, "Ça va, princesse?"
Aurelia looked over to him, "Oui, ça va... pouvez-vous me reconduire à la maison?" Pierre nodded, and brought her home just like she wanted to. She just hoped that Hank didn't see any sign of her or Monroe at the top of the small hill in the quarry.