FicWad

“Please take these handcuffs off me, you really don’t need them,” Patrick asked politely, yet firmly.
“For the record, Detective Bramall is removing Mr Stump’s handcuffs now.”
“Thank you,” Patrick sighed as he rubbed his sore wrists.
“So, why don’t we start the easy way and get this over with? Why’d you do it, Patrick? Was it over a girl?” Stokes chuckled. “A guy?”
“Please, tell me what happened to Joe,” Patrick pleaded, finally looking up.
“Hey!” Bramall slammed his hand down on the table. “Your weepy sad face might fool your fans, but don’t pull it on us, we’re not so easily taken in.”

Patrick balled his fists in frustration; it was clear that they had no intention of listening to him. About to protest once more, Detective Stokes dealt a hammer blow.

“Well, perhaps you’ll be more willing to open up when we tell you we have an eye-witness.”
“To what?” Patrick’s brow wrinkled as he became more confused than ever.
“Yesterday, you called Ashlee Simpson-Wentz from your cell phone?”
“Yeah, I had a message for Pete.”
Stokes gave a short laugh. “Yeah, course you did. And then an hour later, you arrived at her house.”
“No, I drove to the studio, I was working.”
“Alone of course?”

Patrick’s brow creased. Why did he have to be such a workaholic, why couldn’t he have just hung out with someone?

“Yeah,” he replied miserably.
“Convenient,” Stokes commented.
“No, not really,” Patrick frowned at the comment. “Convenient would have been to have someone see me, wouldn’t it?”
“After you drove up, Mrs Wentz and her son got in the car along with another man, identified by our witness as Connor Houseman.”

Patrick’s mouth fell open at the mention of the name. If what the detective was saying was true, Ashlee must have been terrified. But why would she get in the car? Who was driving? Surely she could see it wasn’t him?

“Houseman? What’s he done? Are they okay?”
“Our witness saw you strike Mrs Wentz before driving off.”
“No! That wasn’t me!” Patrick looked from one detective to the other – neither believed him. “I wasn’t there. Are they okay? Has anyone seen them since? Pete’s been missing. Does… does he have him too?”
Stokes narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think you realise you’re here for attempted murder and kidnapping.”
“No!” Patrick shook his head, clearly in a panic but more concerned for his friends than himself. “Look, I don’t know anything! Just tell me, have you heard from Ash? Is she okay? And Bronx. Oh God! What if he’s hurt them?”

Patrick paused. Staring at the two detectives, hoping for answers, frustration and anxiety clear on his face. Finally slapping his hand down on the table, Patrick lost his temper.

“God damn it! Why won’t you tell me anything?” he shouted.
“Pausing interview.”

Stokes indicated to the door and Bramall followed him out leaving the very distraught Patrick inside.

“What do you make of that?”
“Well,” Bramall sighed. “He’s either very good, or he’s telling the truth.”
“That’s what I thought,” Stokes sighed with a brief roll of his eyes.
“What about the hairs on the tape though?”
Stokes shrugged. “It’s possible that they were placed there, I guess. I mean, Stump’s never denied being in the studio. I don’t know. If it was him, we’ll have to get something more on him quick. A few hairs on the tape and an eye-witness report from fifty feet away of a man in a hat striking Mrs Wentz aren’t going to get a conviction.”
“Stokes!” another detective called down the corridor. “You’re going to want to take this call.”
“Not now, Abbott, I’m interviewing.”
“Yeah, I know, but I got Ashlee Simpson on the phone claiming to have escaped from your suspect. She’s given details about where her husband’s being held. I got a couple of cars on the way.”
Stokes gave a thin smile of satisfaction. “Yeah, I’ll take that call! But I want to go out there myself and I want nothing moved until I get there. And I don’t care where she is; I want her here within the hour!”
“Looks like we got him!” Bramall grinned.

*

“Mrs Wentz, this is Detective Stokes, I’m heading up this case. I have a car on its way over to pick you and your son up. Is there anything…”
“Never mind us, we’re fine, but Pete’s still in there with that psycho and probably with… with Patrick too.”
“You’re saying he kidnapped you? Patrick Stump?”
“Yes, but what about Pete?” she insisted.
“Don’t worry, I have a car on its way over to secure the area and I’ll be there myself.”
“Just get him out of there!”

Stokes realised quickly enough that he wouldn’t get any information from Ashlee until Pete was safe. It wasn’t worth continuing the conversation except to explain the last few details.

“Okay, I’m on my way. I’ll have a car pick you up, but don’t worry, we have Stump in custody.”
“Already?” Ashlee replied, surprised by the speed. “How did you know?”
“He tried to kill Joe Trohman, we picked him up for that.”
“Joe? No! Is he okay? When did that happen?”
“He’s critical but stable. It happened this morning, probably just before your kidnapping. We picked him up a couple of hours ago.”
“I don’t understand… oh, no! I’m keeping you! Find Pete!”
“It’s okay ma’am, we’re doing that right now.”
“The… the car you’re sending, what is it?”

Stokes frowned at her uncertainty and fear over the possibility of getting into another car. The poor woman was terrified.

“It’ll be a police car, you have nothing to worry about and… one moment, ma’am.”
“Stokes, I just got the report from the rollers, they’ve found Wentz. He’s out cold, but it looks like he’s shot Houseman.”

Stokes drew his lips into a thin line. He wouldn’t blame him for shooting Houseman, but, he wasn’t sure why, but something didn’t feel right.

“Out cold? I want his hands tested for powder,” he replied immediately. “And check the bullets for prints.”

Something wasn’t right; he could feel it. He wanted to believe that Patrick was guilty. It was neat, it was easy, but a nagging doubt ate away at him. Perhaps it was just too easy?

“Ma’am, just got a report, your husband’s been found and he’s safe. If you’ll come to the station, we’ll look after you here.”

Replacing the handset, Stokes stared at it thoughtfully. Why was Wentz out cold? Why was she so surprised that they had Stump in custody? Stump’s reaction to the news had been unexpected. It had sounded genuine. Something definitely didn’t add up.

“Looks like we got Stump now?” Bramall interrupted his thoughts.
“Yeah,” Stokes nodded. “Except, now I don’t think he did it”
“What?” Bramall threw his arms up in despair; was this another of Stokes’ hunches? Was he expected to ride it out again?
“I know! I know!” Stokes shook his head. “But something’s telling me he didn’t do it.”