12: THE NAME TAG

CLAIRE AND HANNA left the lab, heading toward the conference room. As Hanna reached for the door, Finn pulled it open from the other side. “What can I do for you lovely ladies?”

“Hanna wants to take another look at the case files,” Claire said.

Finn squirmed with his knees bent inward. “I would love to let you in, but I really need to use the bathroom. That iced coffee is going straight through me.”

“That’s fine. I can watch her.”

Finn tapped his finger to the card attached to his belt. “Did you get your new security card yet?”

Claire patted her empty pockets. “Nope, not yet.” She turned to Hanna. “We recently switched over to an electronic security system. Everything is done with a magnetic card. It stores electronic records to our server. So now, they know exactly who does what. I lost my card a while back, and they’re taking forever to send me a new one. I have to piggyback off whoever’s around.” She turned back to Finn. “But you already know I have clearance. I don’t mind watching her.”

Finn shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t give you access without that security card. SCB policy.”

“Seriously, Finn? It’s me. We’re fine.”

“I could get fired if I let you in. I’ll only be gone for a few minutes. When I get back, you’ll have complete access. I promise.”

Claire sighed. “You’re such a stickler for rules.”

“Rules exist for a reason.”

Hanna noticed Howard walking toward them. She waved to get his attention. “Did you find something to restrain Eileen with?”

Howard walked up with his arms crossed. “Yes. We tied her down with some high strength leather straps. There’s no way she’s getting out of that chair.”

“Perfect timing,” Finn said, shimmying in place as he spoke. “If you really can’t wait for me to get back, Howard can watch you.” He poked at the card dangling from Howard’s belt. “He has his security card.”

Howard grinned. “Yeah, I can watch you. No problem.”

“There you go,” Finn said. “We all win. I’ll be back in…five minutes.” He peeled the name tag from his shirt and slapped it onto Howard. “Until then, Howard and I are one in the same. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He trotted away with an awkward gait.

“Okay then,” Howard said, opening the door. “Let’s get those case files for you.” He approached the safe-like box on the table and held his security card to the scanner. The cover clicked open, allowing him to flip through the folders inside.

Claire and Hanna sat at the end of the table. “We saw you in there,” Claire said.

Howard raised his eyebrows. “You saw me in where?”

“In Eileen’s memories. We saw you arrest her. Arthur and Lenny were there too.”

“Yeah? That must have been weird, seeing a memory of your colleagues.”

“It was definitely strange.”

“You’re left-handed,” Hanna said. “I could tell by the way you held your gun.”

He patted the holster on his left hip. “That’s right.”

“I’m a lefty too,” she said, holding up her own left hand.

He pulled the files from the box. “It’s always nice to run into another left-hander.” He placed the folders on the table and slid them over.

“Thank you, Finn,” Claire said, pointing her eyes at the name tag on Howard’s shirt.

“He can be a real moron sometimes,” Howard said. He peeled it off and slapped it down on the table.

“But he’s our moron,” Claire said with a smile.

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t mean I can’t still hate him for it. Anyway, don’t mind me.” He sat on the opposite side of the table, leaning back in his chair. “Just pretend like I’m not even here.”

Hanna opened the first folder. “Okay. Let’s see. Is there anything we could have missed?”

“Nothing jumps out at me,” Claire said. “It’s true, all three victims were fathers. And her own father physically abused her. It’s a connection, but I wouldn’t call it hard proof against her.”

“Tony was the talkative one, right?”

“I think so. He was the one who complains about his wife.”

“Okay. So, what do we know about his wife?”

Claire shrugged. “Karen? Honestly, not much. All we know is that she had a solid alibi. She was in a different state at the time of the murder. Up in Maine working a temporary job.” She leaned in, squinting at one of the photos. “Man, Finn has some weird handwriting. Look at that i.”

Hanna picked up the photo and held it closer. There was an evidence bag with a label on the front. The label read: Eileen Warner’s Hair Sample. The vertical part of the letter i was slanted to the right, and the bottom swooped up to the left. “That is an odd way to write an i. It almost looks like a checkmark.”

“Finn’s an odd guy,” Howard said, still leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. “I’ve learned to accept his oddities. Now, I find them refreshing. As much as I tease him, he’s a good guy.”

“Who’s a good guy?” Finn asked, entering the room.

“No one,” Howard said. “They were just making fun of your handwriting.”

“I know my handwriting’s terrible. It’s probably my greatest flaw.”

“Oh, believe me,” Howard said, standing up. “There are greater ones.”

“Just admit it. You like me, and you know it.” He glanced at his name tag, which was now stuck to the table. “What, you didn’t want to roleplay as good old Finn Dooley?”

Howard walked across the room and stood in the doorway. “I may like you, but that doesn’t mean I want to be you.” He flashed a wink and stepped out of the room.

A grin stretched across Finn’s face. “It’s great, isn’t it? The way we tease each other? We’re like a modern-day Penn and Teller. He’s Penn. I’m Teller.” He tilted his head to the side. “Or maybe it’s the other way around? He’s Teller. I’m Penn.” He crossed his arms, still unsatisfied. “Hey, Claire. Do you think I’m Penn or Teller?”

Claire shrugged. “What are you even talking about?”

“Either way, Penn and Teller are a great duo. That’s what I’m getting at. We’re Finn and Howard, the power team.” He sat where Howard was sitting and leaned forward to peel his name tag off the table. As he pulled the corner back, the paper ripped and the F tore off. “Aw man, it ripped.” He tried again from the opposite corner, this time tearing off the second n in his name, leaving only the word in on the table. He flicked the ripped corner into the trash. “You know what? I don’t need the name tag. Everyone already knows who I am.”

“It was kind of useless to begin with,” Claire said. “You’re the one who insisted on wearing it.”

“It was for the benefit of Ms. Hanna Li, but she’s learned my name by now. Isn’t that right, Hanna?”

Hanna grinned. “You certainly make an impression.”

“That’s the best compliment I’ve gotten all day.”

“Can we get back to the case?” Claire said, grabbing another folder and flipping it open.

Finn raised his hands over his head. “Sorry, ladies. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Please, continue.”

Claire pointed to a photo of Tucker Wright. “All of the victims have the same hair and eye color. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. But Eileen’s father had brown hair and green eyes, like Eileen.”

“What are you saying?” Hanna asked, looking at the photo of Tucker.

“We’re assuming that Eileen’s motive is one of revenge. She has a vendetta against men who remind her of her father. All three victims were fathers themselves, but none of them match the physical features of her own father.”

Hanna slid the photo away, shaking her head. “We just don’t have enough information to make any conclusions. Her memories weren’t as helpful as I had hoped. We need to access her dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.”

“And how do we do that? I would like to avoid another monster party.”

“I’ll admit, I took a risk when I tried that out. It was one I probably shouldn’t have taken. We won’t do that again. But we did learn a valuable nugget from the experience.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“She’s afraid of the dark. In fact, I would say she’s terrified of it. We can use that to our advantage.”

Claire raised an eyebrow. “What are you suggesting?”

Hanna glanced at Finn, who was also listening intently. “We use it to scare her into helping us. Force her to bring us to her dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Force her to show us the truth.”

“That’s pretty damn ruthless,” Finn said. “Using her own fear against her like that.”

“I don’t actually intend to follow through, but the threat alone might be enough to persuade her.”

“And if she calls your bluff?”

“Then we try something else. But it’s worth a shot. Do you think Charles will approve, lying to her like that?”

Claire nodded. “Charles is incredibly enthusiastic about thought-hopping. I think he’ll approve just about anything you suggest.”

Russell popped his head through the door. “Eileen’s awake. We’ve got her strapped to the chair.”

“Perfect timing,” Hanna said. “I want to speak with her.”

“She’s pretty pissed off about the sedative.”

“She should be. But we’re going to do it again.”

Russell faked a smile. “Oh, that will be a joy.”

“And she’ll be even more pissed off when she hears what I have planned for her.”

Claire stuffed the files back in the folders and handed them to Finn. “Thanks for your help.”

Finn nodded with a salute. “Not a problem. Stop by anytime. I’ll be here.”

Claire and Hanna joined Russell, following him back to the lab. “What’s the plan?” Russell asked.

Hanna smiled. “You’ll see.”