18 Grudge

-One week ago-

Derek was in his office, standing and looking out a window, angrily reminiscing over an old action figure.

"Remembrance of things past?" Ms. Wood soon entered.

"What do you want?" Derek sat down at his desk.

"I'd like to help with your problem. You see, I've noticed that no matter how hard you seem to try to stop them, Laura Reed and her incredible friend just keep finding ways to be together."

"What are you suggesting?"

"If you want to inflict pain..." She sat across from him. "then you must inflict pain. If something tragic... were to happen to Clark's wife, and if he should take the blame--"

"He'd be ruined."

"And you'd have your victory, at last."

"A trial could be very messy."

"A trial? Now, who said anything about a trial? No, once Mr. Grimm has been incarcerated, you can plant one of your lovely skeleton keys in his cell. And once he tries to leave Pixfare, well... we all know what happens to people who attempt to leave town."

Derek leaned forward. "Give me one good reason why I should trust you."

Ms. Wood stood up. "Because I always honor my agreements. Do we have a deal?"

-------

-Present day-

Jack walked out of the Diner, when Laura Reed greeted him.

"Jack, hey."

"Sorry, Laura Reed, I don't have time."

"No, I-I understand. It's Clark. How's he doing?"

"How do you think he's doing?" The two walked towards Jack's car.

"Well, I think the last time we spoke, he didn't quite get what I meant."

"Oh, you mean that you basically told him you thought he might be guilty?"

She sighed. "Look, it's this situation. It's been confusing and horrible for everyone. But, Jack, I don't think he's guilty. I need him to know that. Can I see him?"

"He doesn't want visitors."

"You mean me. He doesn't want to see me."

"Honestly, Laura Reed, I'm sure your heart's in the right place, but the last thing he needs right now is words of encouragement from you." He got into the car.

"What does he need?"

"A miracle." Jack closed the door and drove off.

-------

Clark was asleep on the cot in his cell. Suddenly, he gasped and sat up to see Derek sitting in a chair in front of the cell.

"They say only the guilty sleep in prison."

"What are you doing here? Where's Jack?"

"He hasn't arrived yet. I just wanted to stop by to offer you a chance—a chance to spare yourself and this town the messiness of a trial, the chance to confess."

Clark got up and walked over to bars. "But I didn't kill Evelyn. Why won't anyone believe me?"

"The murder weapon was found in your house. Your fingerprint was on the box containing Evelyn's heart. Shall I go on?" Derek stood up. "Why not, for once, make it easier on everyone? Because confession or not, you're leaving Pixfare."

"And you like that. Why? Why do you take such pleasure in this? What did I ever do to you to make you hate me so much?"

-------

Clark sat in the cell; Jack stood on the outside with Ms. Wood.

"A pretrial interview with the prosecution? Explain to me how that is a good idea."

"The D.A. merely wishes to ask Mr. Grimm a few questions."

"He's done answering questions. And why are we kissing up to the D.A.? Why aren't we going after Derek? He's the one setting up Clark."

"And what proof do we have of that, Sheriff? Just because you found the mayor's skeleton key in the cell doesn't mean we can prove he put it there."

"So what's your plan?"

"I believe our best chance of winning this case is to employ our most valuable asset.

"What's that?" Clark asked.

"Well, that's you, dear. A kind animal shelter volunteer. Doesn't exactly fit the prototype of a killer, now does it?"

"That's how you're going to get him acquitted? By using his personality?"

"Perception is everything, Jack-- not just in the courtroom, but in life. As such, I'm sure you can imagine how the jury would perceive Mr. Grimm if he agreed to cooperate with the District Attorney. These things engender trust. It shows the jury he's at least trying--"

"Jack?" Olga entered holding a vase full of flowers. "Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt, I just, uh, came by to drop these off. I thought they might brighten the place up."

Jack went into his office to meet her while Clark and Ms. Wood shared a look. "What did you find?"

"Nothing. I-I'm sorry, Jack. I tried. I really did. I looked into his phone records. I talked to the people at the toll bridge. But look, what can I say? Derek knows how to cover his tracks."

"What about the murder weapon? Did you find anything tying him to that?"

"From what I can tell, he never bought or owned a hunting knife."

"That's all you were able to uncover?"

"Don't worry. I'm gonna keep digging, and I won't stop until I do find something."

Jack watched suspiciously as Olga left. He then went back to Clark, who finished a whispered conversation with Ms. Wood.

"I'm gonna do it. I'm going to talk to the D.A."

"Are you sure?"

"Ms. Wood's right. I know I have nothing to hide, but no one else does. I need to let people see me for who I am."

"Excellent decision, Mr. Grimm." The three turned to see the D.A standing in the doorway, followed by Derek. "My name is Walker. I'm the District Attorney. Shall we begin?"

"Yeah." Clark nodded.

-------

Jack and Derek watched from behind a pane of glass as Clark, with Ms. Wood seated beside him, was being interrogated by Richard Walker. "After she learned about your affair, Mrs. Grimm, the deceased, came to her school to confront her, is that correct?

"She was hurt, and she felt betrayed."

"She struck her—In the face, was it?"

"Yes, but--"

"That must've made you angry."

"I wasn't angry. I was sorry for all the pain I had caused her."

"Mr. Grimm, this isn't a courtroom. I'm not here to judge you. You can be honest with me."

"I am being honest with you."

"Your wife humiliated the woman you loved in a public forum. Surely you must have felt some anger towards Evelyn."

"Yes, I was angry--"

"And did you ever think about acting upon that anger?"

"Of course not."

"I have a hard time believing that."

Clark looked back and forth from Walker to Ms. Wood. "Wh-why?"

"Because you wanted Evelyn gone."

"I never said that."

Ms. Wood stood up. "Alright. My client is answering no more questions for the day."

"Your client agreed to this interview because he claimed she had nothing to hide."

"I don't have anything to hide."

"Then what is your answer. You wanted Evelyn gone, didn't you."

"No." Clark answered, emphatically.

"Even after she tried to keep you and Laura Reed apart? After she slapped her in public? After she made her a pariah in her own town?"

"Yes, of course, I wanted her gone." Clark gave in and replied sarcastically. "She was the only thing keeping us apart, so yeah, I wanted her gone. Is that what you wanna hear?" He looked at Walker, who seemed pleased, then at Ms. Wood, who seemed disappointed. Clark himself began to look horrified. Derek smiled.

-------

Outside by the harbor, Jack sat on a bench, flipping through Hilary's storybook, specifically the Incredibles story.

Kelly came over to him. "Whatcha doin'?"

Jack closed the book and put it away. "Grasping at straws."

"Still tryin' to find a way to prove your friend's been framed?" She handed Jack a newspaper showing Clark in a front-page headline.

"Every time I go down a path I think leads somewhere it ends up being a dead end. Used to think I had these great instincts... Superpower. I don't know."

Kelly sat down next to him. "Sounds like you've got a case of writer's block, only without the whole writing part."

"Maybe."

"You know, when I get struck by a block, I usually reread what I've done rather than plow ahead blindly. Sometimes I find there'll be a little nugget of inspiration left behind."

"You mean start over?"

"I mean, when I start writing, I usually have one idea, and then in the middle, I may get another idea, and things are different."

Jack thought for a minute. "So your perspective changes."

"Exactly. When you started this investigation, what was it about?"

"A missing person."

"Then it became a murder and then a cover-up. If you knew that then, maybe you would have approached things differently." Jack got an idea and stood up. "Where are you going?"

"Scene of the crime." Jack walked away, with Kelly following.

"I'll drive."

"No, I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You haven't slept in days. And let's be honest. It was my idea."

-------

On Kelly's motorcycle, they drove across the Toll Bridge and stopped at the end.

"Michelle found the box to the heart right over here." They proceeded to the edge of the river. "Just by the shore." Kelly suddenly groaned, her arm stiffened. "What?"

"Nothing."

"It doesn't seem like nothing." He noticed the way she walked. "Here. Let me look."

"No, it's okay. Just a cramp." They arrived at the river, where yellow crime scene tape marked off an area. "Sorry. I know this must be hard on you."

"Yeah, that's an understatement." Jack kneeled beside the hole where the box was buried.

"I don't know you that well, but... seems to me that aside from Hilary, Clark's the closest thing to family you've got. It's okay to admit it."

"Kelly, look." He removed a piece of metal from the hole.

"What is it?"

"It's a shard. From a shovel. Must've broken off when it hit a rock. If we can find this shovel that it broke off of, we can prove that Clark didn't bury the heart. We can prove he's innocent."

"And I'm gonna guess you know exactly whose shovel it is."

They took turns looking at the shard, smiling.

-------

That night, Derek entered Hilary's room to check on her and then left. Hilary opened her eyes, grabbed the handheld radio, got out of bed, and peeked out the door.

"The eagle's in the nest, and the package is secure."

"Hilary. I left the codebook at home." Jack stood outside the house with Kelly.

"He's getting in the shower and the keys are under the mat."

Jack reached under the doormat and took the key, unlocking the door. He turned to Kelly. "Don't touch a thing." They entered Derek's garage and looked around using flashlights. Jack soon found a shovel with a broken tip. "Hey." He took out the shard and matched it to the broken edge of the shovel. "We got him." Both shared a look and smiled.

-------

The next day, Jack knocked on the front door of Derek's house.

"Can I help you, Sheriff Swan?

"Yes. I need you to unlock the garage for me."

"And why would I do that?"

Jack pulled out a piece of paper. "Because I have a search warrant that says that you have to."

Derek took the warrant and looked at it. He scoffed. "On what grounds?"

Jack held up the shovel shard in a plastic bag. "I found this near where the heart was buried, figured whoever buried it might've left something behind. Then I got an anonymous call from someone who said they saw you, digging, near the toll bridge the day the heart was found."

"An 'anonymous call'?"

"Yeah. Well, I can't control the fact they didn't leave a name. Guess they didn't want to risk pissing you off."

"Hmm."

"Now open the garage or I'll find a way to do it myself."

Derek smiled and led Jack to the garage. Inside, Jack headed straight to where he found the shovel, only to find it was gone. "Where is it?"

"Where is what, Sheriff?"

"You knew I was coming."

"How would I know that?"

"Clark is a good person. He doesn't deserve this."

"Mr. Grimm is a liar and a murderer. No matter what accusations you throw my way, that won't change. He's going to pay for what he's done. That man has destroyed the last life he's ever going to destroy."

-------

Jack knocked on a door at the inn and Kelly answered it.

"Hey.

"How could you do this? How could you do this to me? To Clark?"

"Woah. Slow down. Do what?"

"The shovel was gone when I got there. Derek knew I was coming for it."

"You—you think that I told him?"

"You were the only other person who knew about it."

"I would hope that you would have enough faith to know that I would never betray you."

"Why should I? How do I know you're not lying about this? About everything?"

"I'm not a liar."

"That's exactly what a liar would say." Jack turned and left.

-------

Clark sat in his cell with his head in his hands when Derek entered.

"Having a bad day?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you while I can."

"What does that mean?"

"Just that the trial starts tomorrow, and it won't be a long one. And you'll be sent out of Pixfare for good, and I will never have to see you again. Oh, I want to enjoy this while I still can." Derek had a sinister smile on his face.

"Enjoy what?"

"Justice."

"Justice? Watching an innocent suffer?"

"You've always seen yourself that way, haven't you. Innocent."

Clark angrily gripped the cell bars. "I'm innocent! I don't know what this is about! I don't know what I ever did to you, but whatever it was, Derek... I'm sorry. I really am."

"Apology not accepted."

"Please. Don't do this to me. I don't deserve this. I didn't kill Evelyn."

"Oh, I know. But you do deserve this."

-------

Derek stood by a window in his house, holding one of his old action figures. "I got you now, Mr. Incredible. I got you now."

-------

At the Sheriff's Department, two law enforcement officers handcuffed Clark and led him away as Jack and Ms. Wood watched.

Jack tried talking to Clark, but he didn't answer. He walked towards Ms. Wood. "You told me you could fix this. That's why I came to you. So that you could make sure Derek didn't win."

"Well, he hasn't, yet."

"Well, he's going to, and now my friend is going to pay for me trusting you."

"Look, Sheriff, I know this is emotional, but it's also not over. You must have faith. There's still time."

"Time for what."

"For me to work a little magic." She walked out.

Frustrated, Jack threw Olga's flowerpot against a filing cabinet. He was about to leave when he noticed among the debris there was a bug.

-------

"Hey." Jack greeted Kelly as she left the Diner. "I'm sorry."

"For what?

"For doubting you? I made a mistake." He held up the bug in a plastic bag.

"What's that?"

"Evidence. Evidence that proves I've been trusting all the wrong people? I should've listened to you. This bug? It's from Olga."

"The newspaper lady?"

"I should've seen it."

"Well, don't beat yourself up about it, Jack. Sometimes it's hard to see what's right in front of us. But I knew you would."

"I'm trying." They suddenly heard a scream from behind the Diner and hurried to investigate, only to run into Michelle. "Michelle! What's going on?"

"She's--she--she's in the alley."

"Who, Michelle? What happened?" Jack asked.

"Hey, you alright? Huh?" Kelly tried to calm down the frantic Michelle.

Jack went out to the alley and found a body lying face down. He turned the body over to see it was still alive. "Evelyn?"