Paul F. Baker

Randy just rolled her eyes a bit, wondering for the first time what John's emotional maturity was. For a man that claimed to have no emotions, he certainly was all over the place with them. About the only things she'd determined thus far was his absolute possessiveness and the rest was fairly immature. It was such a contradiction within him, one that was utterly fascinating about the man... although she did hope it didn't happen too often. Keying people's cars really was a bit... high school-ish.

When John greeted the other man, Randy found her eyes widening. That face. She knew that face, even though it had been years. God, the years hadn't been good on the man. He looked like he'd been run over by a tank and left in the desert for too long. Her body tensed, and for a moment, she wasn't in Boston anymore. Looking him over in his present condition though, she remembered he was Royal Navy, and this wasn't Afghanistan. "...Commander? What're you...?" Her eyes widened a bit, recalling the name they'd been provided with at the office. "Wait. Baker. From Homicide? Sonic, you're... a Boston copper now?"

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John frowned at Randy's recognition of the other man, moving behind her to resume his previous stance of wrapping his arms around her shoulders, tucking her solidly back against his chest to rest his chin on her head while he took the other man in with a glance, only half-listening as Randy gaped at him.

Military, Commander...Royal Navy, British, based on Randy...formerly stationed overseas, Afghanistan...single, no, widowed, grooming indicates previous feminine influence, attire indicates not recent, too intimate for girlfriend...jogger or swimmer, prefers Irish breakfast tea...signs of stimulation, dilated pupils and altered respiration...

John followed Baker's gaze to where his sister stood, noting some of the same traits in her...

"Jane, please tell me you're not actively trying to have sex with this man." John huffed. "It would look really bad if I had to break his hand like I broke Bob's."

Jane shut her eyes, and tried to will herself to just...vanish from the room, cheeks flaring pink with frustration and embarrassment.

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Paul just stood there for a long while, stunned that two people from two very different times of his life both literally just walked right back into it. Suddenly, he was very much awake, his eyes looking between the two.

His eyes widened a bit at the man's declaration, his eyes shooting at Jane, who looked mortified, then at Randy, who looked just as mortified for them both. He watched as Randy looked up at the man with a frown, untangling herself from him before looking back at him and saluting him. "Sir."

A chuckle left him then and he shook his head, returning the salute perfectly before motioning for her to stand at ease. "Retired now, Doctor, but thank you, I appreciate it. And yes, I'm States-side now. You Yanks won me over with your clever sense of humor," he deadpanned, recalling how he'd earned the nickname she'd just uttered. "It's good to see you, Doctor. Really. I... well, we shall not speak of such things here." He looked over at Jane then and found himself smiling softly. "Sorry I haven't contacted you again. The case turned out a bit more complex than anticipated, and then this came up, and well..." He shrugged a bit, letting the thought drift off.

Last but not least, he turned his attention over to the last man. Jane's brother, from the similar hair, eyes and skin tone, and general possessiveness over her. He was also far taller than he, and far younger. Paul was in no mood to be walked all over on, and as he straightened his posture, he looked the man dead on. "You must be John. No offense to you, Sir, and I could be wrong, but I think that's none of your business."

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little_leaf

"I'll just chalk it up to Fate, Sonic." Jane drawled with a warm smile of her own...Jesus, he made the whole military thing really hot. "And, of course, tack another pint on to the one you already owe me."

"I don't like him, Janie. Bob was blonde."

Jane knew that meant he probably did like Paul, John respected strength and he usually did what he was told when one was harsh with him...except for Randy, who made bargaining an art form and had sex to use as a weapon (sort of).

"Randy? Can you like, kiss him or something to shut him up?" Jane sighed.

"Way!"

"Bizui!" Jane snapped at him sharply, earning her a scowl as John simply tangled himself back around Randy again. She could tell he felt threatened already, being that Randy seemed to know the guy.

Forcing herself to ignore John being petulant and focus on Detective Baker instead (which was easy, that was for sure), she offered him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, that's...John, my brother." she sighed. "He's kind of an ass--"

"I am not!"

"--but he's the best pair of eyes you're gonna see for the rest of your life. If this is your case, I can promise you three things: he won't actually hurt your evidence, he'll share information, and he'll solve this thing for you before you can spit." Or so Jane hoped...Paul really did look beat, and it kind of tugged at her heartstrings a little.

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Randy gave John a soft smile at his decision to not speak of such things here. They'd catch up later; there was a lot of that to do. As if knowing she needed it, John slipped his arms around her again, although she knew it had more to do with territoriality than anything else.

When Jane finished explaining about John, Randy nodded. "Remember how you used to call them 'psychic tricks'? John here puts my 'tricks' to shame. We do, however, need to see the body, first."

Paul raised a brow at that bit, glancing over at John. "Robertson told me. Sang the praises of your lot. I wasn't expecting two familiar faces though. Rather a small world, that." He motioned towards the bag on the table. "All yours. Please, no touching unless you're her though," he said, motioning towards Randy.

Randy grinned softly. "No worries, Paul, they've done this before." She drew away from John then, moving to the counter to slip on some rubber gloves before turning towards the body. "Where's the report?"

She saw John motion to the counter right by Jane. "Back there. I can make you a copy later, if you'd like."

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"But I have to touch the body!" John protested, slowly releasing Randy.

"You know what he means, Johnathan Riley." Jane warned, folding her arms.

John glared, then made a show of silently mimicking his sister before he turned to tug out a pair of gloves for himself from the box on the counter, handing Randy the pair she was moving for. Tugging his on, he moved to the body bag and unzipped it with one swift, precise motion.

From that point on, he was a different man.

Loose, liquid, and yet strangely frenzied, he moved over the body inch by inch. He really didn't touch much, in truth, save to lift a hand or spread toes, and at one point to inspect the dead man's thumb. When he'd finally finished examining a spot on the man's receding hairline with his magnifying glass, John finally straightened and glanced at the other occupants of the room, as if only just remembering they were there.

Clearing his throat, he turned to Randy and gestured magnanimously for her to have a look at the body.

Meanwhile Jane slid over to Paul's side, peering up at him. "You look...horrible." she murmured, but the words were gentle, concerned, not teasing or mocking. "How much sleep and/or coffee have you had?"

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Paul just watched the two for a few moments, observing John as he worked, looking over the body with utter seriousness. It was a refreshing change, and Paul was relieved to see that the other man had gotten to work rather than continue to think him some sort of threat.

As John motioned for Randy to begin, Jane slid over to his side. Her initial comment caused a scoffing snort to escape him, and he brought his hand up to his stubbled chin. He knew from her tone that she meant well, but it didn't make it any easier to hear. He looked over at her, finding her nearly eye to eye with him. Not surprising, really. So many women were taller than he was. He took a moment to really look at her though, surprised by just how much of her beauty he'd missed mere days ago. She really was a pretty girl, and he was utterly floored that she had any sort of interest in him.

"Sleep. Lessee. Two hours last night, about three the day before that. I didn't sleep at all the day we first met." At her look, he chuckled softly. "One of those cases. Ended about as well as could be expected, considering. As for the coffee, endless amounts. Copious, really. I might soon have an IV put in with the stuff." He was joking, really, but not by much.

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little_leaf

John would have gone to check up on Jane, but Randy was going over the body shortly, and he wanted to watch her more. Obviously, he'd already figured out the cause of death, would solve the case shortly after...but he wanted to see how far Randy could get. The notion she might be able to solve it, too...

That dark, clawing feeling only got worse when he thought about it, and he wondered if maybe Jane was right about him wanting Randy...that way.

Jane flashed Paul a playful pout of sympathy, her own fingers itching to run over that oddly adorable stubble, feel it scrape against her palm. She wanted to touch that cheek and maybe kiss those bags under his eyes, rub those lean, broad shoulders...

"My poor frazzled hedgehog." she crooned teasingly, her smile warming as she laughed. "Seriously, though? John...needs this case. And you probably need John." She grew slightly more serious as she let herself lay a hand on his shoulder, giving it a warm squeeze...yeah, definitely rock solid, all strength and sinew.

"Go back to the station and hit the crib if you won't go home." she suggested, making it more of a command than a request. After all, with a brother like John, she was used to taking care of people.

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"Trust me, sleep is very high on my list at the moment. It's just that this case is a the top of the list." He looked sideways at her, his eyes a bit narrow as her nickname usage clicked. "Don't you start with that 'hedgehog' thing, too. I don't care how much my hair might seem like one." Dammit, Randy. He'd finally escaped the name, only to have the cute girl he was chatting up starting to use it, too. He turned his attention to the doctor, seeing where they stood.

Randy moved to the body, looking at the mans eyes for a few moments. "Pupils are dilated. He was a cigarette smoker, I can smell it on his breath. Slightly overweight, but not morbidly so. He's of the age group for a heart attack, yet he showed none of the other risk factors." She reached for his hands looking at his fingers and frowned slightly. "He wasn't a diabetic, I see no signs of needle pricks on his fingers." Moving to his feet, she looked over his ankles. "No inflammation of the ankles, so fairly active." Something caught her eye then, and she looked at his right foot's toes. "Evidence of a rash of some sort." She looked at the toes carefully, spreading two of them. "A shot of some kind was administered here. Looked like several, actually. Embolism of some kind perhaps, if drug results come back clean." Randy looked over at John then. "But you know the answer already, don't you?"

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"What? Hedgehogs are ridiculously sexy, you know." Jane replied with a grin. "Cute and cuddly, all those badass spines...I don't know a woman alive that doesn't get all weak-kneed at that, right, Randy?...Randy?..."

Randy, however, was unable to answer. John had waited to see if she'd spot the needle mark through the rash...and when she did, couldn't stop himself from catching her chin and tipping her head so he could kiss her, slow, hard, and lingering.

When they finally parted for air, the corner of his mouth twitched up in a flick of a smile, which was more common when he was truly pleased.

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Paul gave her a dubious look, furrowing his brows at her. Cute, maybe. Sexy, no. “I don’t know about that, Jane,” he said simply. She looked for support from the other woman in the room, only to find no response incoming. When he looked over to see why, he caught sight of Randy, captured in a kiss, the two of them leaning over the body on the slab.

He’d seen a lot in his lifetime; he’d never seen that. He looked sideways at Jane, as if to get confirmation that this was normal or not, but Randy drew away from John quickly. “John, bit not right,” she remarked, clearing her throat and straightening up, nervously looking over her shoulder at the other two. Paul gave her a shrug, before moving up to the pair.

“So, what did you find?” John seemed happy about whatever it was, so they’d found something, surely.

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little_leaf

Jane sighed and rolled her eyes, shooting Paul a look to assure him John was capable of far weirder.

“Give me time, Sonic. I’ll prove my point.” she assured him, emphasizing it with a friendly shoulder bump and a wink as she joined him in edging closer to the table, where John was frowning at Randy in confusion.

“Not right? Why not?” he complained quietly.

“Swaet Moother Maerie.” Jane sighed as she rubbed her face, duplicating her mother’s Irish brogue the way all the triplets did when the utterance was made.

John glowered at her, then stuck out his tongue and fished for his cell phone to start searching the internet as he spoke.

“Needle mark on the foot, rash hid it...probably poison sumac, could be a reaction to whatever he was given.” he rattled off. “Whoever administered that injection knew what they were doing, and knew how to hide it: medical professional. That could mean we’re looking for a drug that won’t show up on a tox screen, if it’s not an embolism like Dr. Adler suggested.”

“Long story.” Jane muttered for Paul’s benefit at the use of the alien nickname.

“I’m no medical expert,” John drawled smugly, making it clear he didn’t mean a word, “but I’m going to wager that his test results come back positive for anemia and high creatinine levels.”

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She reached out and patted his arm lightly, motioning that she would tell him later and to move on. Jane seemed to agree, and the phrase calmed John down. More importantly, the desire to explain overruled any desire to kiss her again.

Randy saw the wince on Paul’s face rise as she mentioned the name Marie, and was relieved no one else caught it. Mostly because John was too busy typing into his phone to notice. She watched as the man took out a pad of paper, jotting down everything John said. She looked at Jane gratefully, then scoffed at John’s comment about not being a medical expert.

“Hm. And perfectly healthy kidneys, eh Holmes?” Paul was a bit confused once again at the nickname, but could see why this ‘John’ had earned such a moniker. He didn’t see where she was going with the kidneys comment, though. “Nurse, maybe? Did he have help on the premises?” She asked aloud, to which Paul shook his head.

“Negative. He had a nephew that is a medical intern, though.”

“Was he in the will?”

Paul nodded. “The good uncle here thought very highly of him. Was his pride and joy. While I know medical school is expensive, I cannot see the sole medical person in the family being dumb enough to paint himself into a corner like that. He would have to know he was our primary suspect if we found even a hint of that.”

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John looked down at Randy as the corner of his mouth twitched again. That was even better than quoting Scandal, and strangely enough, a lot easier to understand.

“Not good to kiss you now? Because I want to. A lot.” he murmured for Randy’s ears alone, stooping a little to speak closer to her ear.

Then he caught sight of the screen on his phone again and straightened, his attention diverted. He stared for a long moment, then sighed with a thoughtful frown.

“Janie? Can we let this go if it’s not murder?” John asked slowly, showing the phone to Randy and zooming in on the word erythropoietin.

Jane regarded John thoughtfully, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean, Johnnycake?”

John glared at Paul, but there was no real anger in his gaze, only something akin to resignation. Instead of answering, he turned to Randy.

“I counted four other needle scars.” he hissed, bending to whisper in her ear. “Erythropoietin can induce fatal heart attacks in large doses...kidney cancer patient in the care of his most beloved nephew, even I can see where this was going.”

“John, what?” Jane prodded, sharing a confused and concerned look with Paul. “What do you see, what’s going on?”

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Paul was just confused, looking at the two talk to one another. If he didn't know Randy at all, he would be highly suspicious of what was going on. His sleeplessness made him irritable though and when he spoke up, it was somewhat snappish. "Will someone please explain already? In English?"

Randy looked over at John for a moment, then returned to the body, pointing to the man's elbow, the veins visible along the fold of the arm. "Multiple injections. He wasn't healthy. He probably had daily injections for problems with his kidneys. Probably cancer. My guess? He injected himself whenever he didn't have help." She motioned to some rather bad cuts on the other arm. "He wasn't as good at it. In my medical opinion? He misdiagnosed himself, and gave himself an overdose of enthropoietin, causing a heart attack." Randy looked over at John, then back at Paul. "I don't see anything that implies murder."

Paul didn't know whether to be relieved, or frustrated. Dammit, he could be sleeping right now. "Right. Well, that's good. Murder is nasty business. But what's all this about a niece coming to you to find a will? Wouldn't she have a reason to want him dead? Not that I don't believe you, Doctor, I just want to cover all bases here."

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little_leaf

Unable to help herself, Jane reflexively laid a hand against the center of Paul's back, letting the warm weight just sit there to steady his frayed nerves. It was instinct, she couldn't help it...she was used to John on the edge, and in a worse state than Paul was. Soothing him came naturally.

"Just take your evidence to the ADA." she assured him, glancing between John and Randy. She had a hunch, but unlike her brother she couldn't put it all together as quickly as he did. "Fraud case covers the rest of your bases...evidence against the nephew is circumstantial, but we can help prove the intent to defraud against the niece. Nephew was caring for his uncle, will left him well off? Destroying the will implicates him if she's caught, leaves her to inherit. Forgery passes, same thing, there's no way solving her case doesn't negate yours. If the ADA wants to cover their ass, they can charge him with negligence and plead him out...he'll still inherit, and they don't look too bad."

"And if they don't plead him out, tell Jane. She'll tell me." John ordered, scowling darkly into the middle distance. "I'll do worse than key his bollocking car..."

"Down boy." Jane huffed softly, flashing John a lopsided smile as she absently ran her hand up and down Paul's back soothingly.

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Randy could easily see that Paul was not a happy man. She knew that Jane had intended on calming the man, but instead he seemed tenser, like he was concerned he was being manipulated. The Commander had always been a bright man; after all, he was being manipulated.

"Paul, considering the guy was rich, I'm guessing he had a copy of his will with his lawyers. She wouldn't have thought of that, or thought of some reason why this forgery was the newest edition. But she didn't kill him. Send it off to Burglary and go get some rest, alright?"

Paul looked at her for a few moments before sighing, reaching up to rub his eyes. "Right. Burglary. I'll do that. If you'll excuse me, I need to speak with the coroner." He drew away, nodding to them each in turn. "A pleasure meeting you." Once he disappeared past the doors, Randy turned to them and sighed.

"I don't like lying to him, John. Let's not make this a habit, please? He's a good man."

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"You can tell him everything after the trial, double jeopardy will protect him." John assured her, staring after Paul with a cold look that was strangely filled with emotion at the same time. He paused to glance at Jane with a nod. "Thanks, Janie."

She smiled, nodding. "The plea bargain will go to trial...double jeopardy will protect him." she confirmed.

John turned back to Randy as Jane ducked out to try and follow Paul, hoping to ease his mind some. The same strange look was in his eyes as he gathered Randy's hands in his, hoping to make her understand.

"His nephew was helping him, Adler. He loved his uncle, and he was suffering...do you understand? His sister tried to hurt him. For helping."

John didn't like lying, either, not when truth was so elegant, so clear. He knew, however, that not many people would understand that kind of love...doing anything, even horrible things, because they cared. People who were hurt by that kind of thing, people not like John.

It was important to protect the people who actually had the capacity to be sorry for the bad things they did in the name of love.

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Paul didn't like this at all. He trusted Randy though, otherwise he'd have a screaming fit at all of them. No proper person injected himself, or was injected, through the toes. And the toes was something that implied someone wanted something to remain hidden.

Yet the scars on the arms could not be denied. A mistake it was. He had nothing to prove otherwise. Yet, anyway. Folder in hand, he moved swiftly, his stride surprisingly long for such a short frame.

He exited into the parking lot when he heard the door open up again behind him, and he looked over his shoulder, spotting Jane moving after him. He stopped, turned, and greeted her with a frown. "I don't appreciate being manipulated."

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little_leaf

"And contrary to what you may have heard about my brother, John doesn't like to lie." Jane replied as she jogged just a bit to catch up to him...man could move for his size. Sighing, she raked a hand back through her loose hair and let her arm drop in a helpless gesture.

"I used to work for the ADA, so I know the evidence holds up, so long as Randy and the coroner back John's evaluation. Look, I'm not exactly sure what the two of them found? But if his creatinine is elevated? That usually means kidney trouble. Sick man, loving nephew with medical training..."

She tipped her head, better catching Paul's gaze. "Do you see it yet? What's going on? He's not manipulating you, Paul, he's protecting you. From perjury."

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"He's lying. And by default, he's making her lie. She's never lied to me before, Jane. If I can't trust the people I'm supposed to work with, what's the damn point? I'm sorry if that doesn't endear me to your brother right now." He shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just... shut up. I don't want to hear another God damn word. I don't want to know."

He let out an exasperated breath, looking off past her shoulder at the door. He didn't like this, he didn't like this at all. The woman pretty much told him they were lying to him. It was increasingly clear why they were lying. In theory, they had the right idea.

So why did he feel the need to prove them all wrong? He shook his head and turned away, picking up a brisk pace once again as he moved to his car.

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little_leaf

Jane sighed herself and followed, skipping a little to keep pace with him.

"I worked both sides, Paul, and I can tell you right now: work the homicide. Do your diligence. We'll even help...but you'll still lose. As a public defender, I could have destroyed you in my sleep, and as an ADA I'd have gotten creamed by Joe's Law Firm and Chicken Shack, you can't win."

Noting that he hadn't liked when she touched him before, Jane broke into a jog to get ahead of him and stopped in front of him so he'd have to run her down to pass by.

"Do your job. Fight the truth. All you're going to do is rake a grieving young man over the coals who doesn't deserve it." she pointed out. "And for the record: that does not make you the bad guy. It's your job, I get it, I've been there. Hell, my brother's ex-BPD. Just...will you go home and get some sleep before you decide to do your job? Your nerves are clearly shot, and you're angry. I get it. If you still feel the same way after eight hours..."

She trailed off, feeling strangely torn. She understood how Paul felt, she'd grown up with the bastard. But, at the same time...it was John.

"Well...then I'm in a spot, aren't I?" she snorted with minimal humor. Because she didn't really want to fight with either one of them. Not her brother...and not the cute detective she barely knew who looked at her and made her feel...special.

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Dammit. Why did he have to be a sucker for a pretty face? She was upset, and completely stuck in the middle. He brought a hand up to rub it over his weary face, taking a few moments to just think.

"I'm dropping this off on Robertson's desk, telling him to call you, and going home. He trusts your recommendations, evidently. I, however, am going home after that." He nodded curtly, and moved around her, opening the driver's side of the car and tossing the folder into the passenger seat. "Have a good one, Jane."

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little_leaf

Jane hurried forward to catch his arm for a second, torn between relief and guilt. She wanted to apologize, to thank him...and he didn't like being touched, but she just couldn't walk off like it was nothing...

Leaning forward, Jane pressed her lips to his cheek in a firm but chaste kiss before drawing back to meet his gaze with a wan smile, finally turning to walk back into the building.

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