Memory Lane (Part Sixteen)...

"Why are you bringing me this information? I was under the impression that you didn't much care for me." Detective Green watched Dr. Lane's face as he answered.

"I believe the feeling was or is mutual?"

"Fair enough. But again, why are you bringing me this information then?"

"Because I think you don't like me for all the right reasons."

Detective Green raised her eyebrows at that. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, I believe that you don't like me because you think I had something to do with Jean's death. Or if not something to do with it, I bear some sort of responsibility for it. And for the death of the woman in California."

"Samantha."

Dane looked confused, "Samantha?"

"Her name. The woman in California. The California case. Her name. She has a name. She had a life. Her name was Samantha."

Dane nodded, "And that's why I'm bringing you this information."

"Okay, and now my next question. Why are you bringing it to me here?" She gestured out at the park.

"I want you to be able to look this all over. I want you to see what you think. But I don't necessarily want it to be in your office. Or to have been transmitted by email. Or by phone. I want YOU to see this. Not anyone who might be watching you."

"You think I'm being watched?"

"I don't know if you are or if you aren't. But I think I am. I think my office is. I think there is someone out there that is working to bury all of the information they can about this. I don't think you're part of that, but I'm not sure about everyone you work with. So we meet here."

Detective Green nodded. She wasn't sure if Dane Lane was paranoid, but she also wasn't sure that he wasn't right. The fact that an agency had taken over her investigation without even a courtesy call, let alone a briefing had not been sitting well with her. It wasn't the way things were done. She opened the folder and began looking through the information.

Dane watched her reading for a moment then started scanning the park. They had picked this meeting place at the last minute. He didn't think there would be anyone here listening in, but Claude had made him feel a little exposed.

"Have you contacted this boyfriend yet?"

"Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first. To see what you thought."

"I think I want to be there when you contact him. I think I want to bring him in for questioning. I think I want to know why Joanna came to you thinking she was Jean. I think I want to know why this case was dropped. And I think I want to talk to Claude."

Dane smiled then.

"What?"

"I just like to be right. Especially about people. There is a post it note on the last page in the folder with an address and a time. We will see you then."

And with that Dane got up and walked away.

Marsha opened her phone and called the precinct. "Yes, this is Detective Green, patch me through to the commander please. Thank you.... Charles? Yes, it's Marsha. I'm going to need to take a few days off to deal with some family issues....Okay...no...nothing right now. The Memory Lane case was my only responsibility and since...yeah...Federal Assholes right?... Okay....Okay...yeah...A week? ...no, it's nothing to worry about, I don't think, I just need to see to some things...You know how it is...Thanks."

She picked up the file and looked around the park. Then she took a different route back to her car from the one she took to get here. She wasn't saying she was paranoid, but she wasn't saying it wasn't the right thing to do either.