Loose Ends Tied

 Zenobia goes to Windu Acres, hoping to speak with Rose-Grace, and is pleasantly surprised to meet Candy in the driveway. 

Zenobia: You're out of the hospital? Already? 

Candy: Oh, yeah.  My quick reflexes saved me from most major damage.  The knee's probably busted for life and I feel like a truck hit me, but otherwise... (laughs) Gee, I wonder why I feel like a truck hit me?  

Zenobia: I don't even know if I should be talking to you.  I think I'm a suspect. 

Candy: I think we're okay as long as we don't talk about the incident.  Are you looking for the boys?  Tanner's helping Mace and Finnick took the little ones to watch the parade.  They should be back soon, if you want to wait. 

Zenobia: I'm actually looking for Rose-Grace.  I need to talk to her about a project I was doing.  

Rose-Grace arrives as they're talking, on horseback.  She dismounts and starts removing the tack from Ka-Gae while they talk. 

Zenobia: I know I told you I'd put together something for Pride Week this year, but with everything going on...  

Rose-Grace: You've been working alone?  I thought you had a group working with you. 

Zenobia: Well, I don't.  I don't even get a chance to explain your definition of family-friendly before people yell about discrimination.  So I gave up looking for help and put something together on my own.

Candy: Sad to say, most of them yelling have a point.  My boys and their girlfriends get away with way more PDA than Ken and Peter do. 

Rose-Grace:  Peeta, not Peter.  (to Zenobia) Look, I know a festival for a marginalized community is best planned by that community, but use the allies you have.  You've got a lot of straight friends who totally support this.  Whole houseful of us right here. 

Candy: Hell, I'll sign up right now.  

Zenobia:  You can't.  A vehicle registered under my name ran over you, remember?  

Candy: Excuse me, young lady, but it only tried to run over me and failed miserably.

******

Across town:

Lynch: Helena was struck sometime that evening and not found until morning, and neither man can prove where they were for the entire night.  James Potter was at home with several witnesses when Charlie was hit, and with a patient when Candy was.  We have no idea where Paris Malfoy was either time.  Both mornings, he claims to have been in his office at the college, but no one saw him there.  

Carol: I think we should wait until we find the vehicle, have CSI go over it, and... 

Lynch: And get a few more of my citizens killed or injured?  No.  I'm bringing Malfoy in. 

Carol: You're going to regret it. 

Zenobia's Interview

Zenobia meets Lynch and Carol at the police station. 

Lynch: The vehicle used in the attacks is registered to Zenobia F. Malfoy, at The Tor.  

Zenobia: I had a green van.  Sorry, SUV.  When I graduated, my parents gifted me with a lot of money.  It was intended to be for college.  Mom told me that if I wasn't going to college, I should invest it in something career-related.  I used it to buy equipment for my band, including the SUV to drive to shows.

Carol: The band being Sarcastic Fringehead? 

Zenobia: It was a heavy metal group called Vagina Dentata.  We were going to be the next Metallica or Megadeth.  Anyway, Dad had a fit.  We had a huge fight and that was when I left.  I got a place of my own and the SUV was stolen shortly after that.  

Lynch: You never reported it stolen.

Zenobia: I did.  I can probably find my copy of the police report.   

Lynch: Against Agent Danvers's advice, I want to show you the video in question.  

Zenobia (horrified): You want me to watch someone being hit by a car?  The same car that killed my mother?  Oh, my god.  Someone killed Mom with my car?! 

Carol: The only reason you aren't under arrest right now is that video.  The driver is obviously not a petite blue-haired woman.  

Lynch: Will you at least look at a still from the video?  

Zenobia (tearful): Just the still, please.  

Zenobia (gasps): Is that Dad?  What is going on? 

Lynch: Is there any reason he'd want to harm these women?  And use your vehicle to do it?  

Zenobia: Oh, he's not liked me from the moment I came out of Mom without a penis.  Add bisexuality and a total lack of ambition.  Hell, he could have had the car stolen and then bribed the idiot who was mayor before Rose-Grace to make the report vanish.  Just to punish me for not being, well, Draco. 

Carol: How was your parents' marriage, Zenobia?  Did your father have problems with either of the other two victims? 

Zenobia: Everyone has wanted to run over Charlie Lake with a large vehicle.  But he probably doesn't know Candy exists.  (pause) Mom used to joke that the only way he could get out of the marriage with anything but the shirt on his back (starts crying) would be to kill her.  

After Zenobia leaves, Carol and Lynch discuss what they've learned.

Lynch: Zenobia's whole world is caving in around her and you're playing Good Cop Bad Cop?  

Carol: I'm not playing anything.  She wasn't driving, but there are so many holes in her story.  Daddy bribed the mayor?  She hasn't known where the vehicle was all this time?  

Lynch: You don't know the former mayor or Paris Malfoy.  

Carol: That's the problem with you small-town cops.  You know everyone and you let that influence your investigation.  Have you forgotten that driver could easily be James Potter?  That Zenobia could have hired someone who has a passing resemblance to her father?  Maybe she's framing him. 

****

At Lakeshore Townhomes.

 

Zenobia: Good, you're still up.  We need to talk. 

Jessie: Tris called, told me the cops were looking for you.  Was it about your mom?

Zenobia: Very about Mom.  But I don't wanna talk about that and maybe mess up the investigation.  The thing is, it's starting to look like a very real possibility that I'll have to move back to The Tor.  Or I might go to prison.  Either way, you need to know you could lose a roomie.  

Jessie: Wait, you might go to prison?  What is going on?  

The Video

 Barbieville Police Department

Lynch: Adding Candy Pike skews our victim profile.  She's only got two of these things in common, and one of them just barely. And she was nowhere near water, so we can ignore that little side note. 

Carol: She wasn't college educated or "a strong personality".  Is that code for something? 

Lynch: Absolutely.  (chuckles) Helena was a nice enough lady until you wronged her, but Charlie was a total bitch.  Candy, on the other hand, is very mellow.  She has made something of a name for herself in the photojournalism field, so she's a professional, but since she's free-lance, she doesn't really have an office or any of the trappings.  And she's a mother.  

Carol: And we have a connection between her sons and one of Helena Malfoy's daughters. They're in a band, correct? 

Midge (from across the room): Alright, ladies, the lab's sent over the go-pro footage.  Shall we see what we've got? 

Lynch: I hope we can see the tag.  Candy remembered the FCP part because that's two of her boys' initials, but she didn't get the number.  A partial is better than nothing, but still... 

Midge: A good look at the driver would be nice, too.  

Carol: Let's not get our hopes up. (Midge starts the video, then pauses before Lynch can ask.)  There's your tag.  

Lynch: FCP 409, Doll County.  Got it.  (She gestures for Midge to continue, winces as the video continues.)  Was that the windshield?  Did Candy actually look the guy in the face? 

After a few tries, Midge manages to stop the video on the split-second Carol noticed.  

Midge: Well, Agent Danvers, what were you saying about getting our hopes up? It's blurry, but who does that look like to you? 

Lynch: Paris Malfoy

Carol: James Potter

******

Later, as the crew closes Sunburst for the night

RM: Sure you don't wanna come home with us?   Daddy Jimin won't be home to poop on our party. 

Zenobia: I'm exhausted.  Everyone in the state decided to eat here!  

Tris: I have a husband. 

V: No one propositioned you, Tris.  You can have Four meet us there, if that'll...  (A sports car comes careening into the lot and the driver jumps out.) 

Zenobia:  Boo?  Boo, what's going on?

V: I don't know she had a boo.  I thought she was footloose and fancy-free. 

Tris: That's her sister.  Boudicca.  

RM: Damn.  Do all the Malfoy girls look that good? 

Boudicca: You've got to get out of town, Zen.  Take my car. 

Zenobia: Calm down.  It can't be that bad.  

Boudicca: The cops are at the house.  That van that hit Mom, they got the plate number.  It comes back to you!  

Zenobia: That's nuts.  I don't even have a car, I haven't since... (realization) ... oh, shit. 

A Lucky Break?

 Note: COVID masks are invisible to readers.  The hospital allows up to two people to be in the ER waiting room if they're with an ER patient. 

After Pike and Rose-Grace leave in a hurry, Mace gathers the kids. 

Fred: Sumpin bad happened!  Maybe somebody got dead! 

Mace: It's Candy.  That mad bastard who's running over people hit her, but she is alive. 

Stacie:  Mom?  Why would anyone want to runover Mom?

Tanner: Me and Finnick need to go.  Mom said, since we're adults now, she was going to change the paperwork so Dad's not POA any more. 

Whitney: We can't invade the ER.  That'd be bad even if there wasn't a pandemic on.  

Taylor: Yeah, if you go, everyone's gonna want to.  And don't start with how you'd stop us.  You know damn well you wouldn't argue if we managed to get into the car before you got it started. 

Finnick: She might not have done it yet, though.  You know how she procrastinates stuff like that.  

Nakoma: She's a tough woman.  I bet she's gonna be fine. 

Finnick: I just need to sit tight.

*****

At the hospital.

Pike: They've got medical students working the front desk?  

Boudicca: I help out everywhere, at least until my actual residency starts.  (Goes over the file, updating information as needed.)  This says her maiden name was Barr?  Candy Barr? 

Rose-Grace:  That's one of the reasons she kept Pike's name after they divorced.  Her parents were easily amused.  

Boudicca: All right, then.  It does say that the twins are listed as POA, but I don't think we need to contact them until Dr. Eaton makes a determination on her condition.  I'll be around if you need anything and someone will update you ASAP. 

Pike:  She'll be fine, honey.  She's survived worse.  

Rose-Grace: Are you trying to convince me or yourself? 

Pike:  I'm not sure.  This guy going after Candy makes me wonder if she was working the case.  But don't the cops have their own photographers? 

Rose-Grace: She could have been working on a story about the case.  Probably with someone from the Journal or WDLC.   I can make some calls if you want.

Pike: Maybe later.  Right now, I just need my wife.  Not the mayor. 

*****

When Gabriella and Claudia hear the news, they rush to their best friends' sides.  

Taylor: When they got the call, Mom and Grandpa were giving Dad a hard time for being racially insensitive.  He told me the exact same thing he told the twins - you know, those white boys!  I thought it was great that he treated me equal to them, but no.  They gotta ride him for his word choice.  

Gabriella: Well, it's tricky.  Maybe his word choice could be better, but his heart's definitely in the right place.  He's been such a great dad for you and Nikki.  

Taylor: Candy's been awesome, too.  Oh, Gabriella, I hope she's okay! 

Claudia: Not knowing what's going on is the worst.  

Nikki: Is it weird to be this worried about her?  I mean, she's just my... what... stepdad's ex? 

Claudia: I think of her kind of as your aunt or something.  Would it be weird to worry about Morgan? 

Whitney: I was so mad at you about Esper, and now this.  You could lose your mother. 

Tanner: Hey, Mom getting hurt has nothing to do with that.  You have every right to be mad at me. Even if you're wrong.

Nakoma: Because Esperanza is a meddling drama queen.  Sorry, Whit, I'm with the guys on this one. 

*****

Finally, after an eternity....

Marcus:  Candy's stabilized, but still unconsious.  I've called in a specialist for one of her legs - her knee took the brunt of the impact and is pretty much shattered.  Her vitals look good, all things considered.  

Rose-Grace: That's all?  This guy killed the others. 

Marcus (chuckles):  The others didn't see him coming and jump onto his hood.  By the way, I let the federal agent take Candy's go-pro.  Might be some useful footage on it.