Chapter Text
After identifying Stephen Barker as the culprit in the theft of the Jane Doe’s body and his assault on Reese, the Machine went to work dissecting his life and his connections to the Jane Doe.
Compiling everything, the Machine determines Stephen was in a writing slump after some time and met the Jane Doe by chance.
Even in their messages, she never gave her name, even when Stephen kept prodding her with guilt that she knew his name and he didn’t know hers, but she did show earnest support for his next book.
Slowly, the messages became clear that the Jane Doe was in a slump of her own.
Stephen notices this over the texts and attempts helping her out of it in repayment for her helping him, but the Jane Doe didn’t want his help, at least not in the way he wanted.
She instead insists that they can both help each other out, causing Stephen to broach for more details.
Insistent, the Jane Doe tells him that she always wanted to be buried under a weeping willow, never wanting to be buried in a cemetery, not turned into a pile of ashes, either.
Becoming more apparent what she was getting at, Stephen attempts talking her out of the moment, but the Jane Doe remained adamant, and threatened to “do it” before he can even get through to a dispatcher.
Caught in a rock and a hard place, Stephen is forced to keep his concerns for the Jane Doe to himself, and they worked out a plan that would inspire Stephen to write his next book.
Calculating the timing and the information, the Machine concludes that the Jane Doe likely expedited her plans because of Stephen’s initial concerns for her, leading to Stephen being unable to retrieve the body from where it was found in time before its discovery.
Using his connections, Stephen finds where the body was taken.
What became of the body afterwards, the Machine has ideas, but as Lee pointed out, they needed evidence that this happened at all.
With Reese in the hospital with a concussion, the Machine tasks Edith and Finch to seek out Stephen in hopes he will turn himself in to authorities.
Believing Stephen wasn’t a threat and willing to talk to them, the Machine locates him via a cell tower pinging his phone in Long Island.
After the events of the night, Stephen steals himself away in his home, a home that is said to be haunted.
Arriving at the manor built some time ago, the couple look at each other with Edith showing concerns about how they’re supposed to talk to Stephen about what happened.
“The Machine has full confidence in us,” Finch pushes up his glasses as he instinctively keeps Edith closer to him. “Once he hears what we have to say, he will be more likely to listen to reason.”
Of course, fear has a nasty habit of overriding common sense, so there’s a possibility they’ll have to choose their words carefully.
Knocking on the door, Finch waits with Edith as they hear the ambiance of Halloween in Long Island.
Despite Halloween losing luster over the years, there are still plenty of people going around neighborhoods with their children dressed as their favorite characters.
Evident that this manor is subjected to ghost stories over the years, no one brave enough goes near the manor, so the couple didn’t worry about someone getting interested in seeing what they’re doing.
Trying to get Stephen’s attention proved difficult; he either couldn’t hear the doorbell or wouldn’t come near the door in fear of the police.
It led them into having to take initiative; thus, they find a way inside the manor through one of the windows leading into the basement.
Narrowly avoiding getting hurt in the ensuing climb down from the window, the couple find themselves in a fully furnished basement enshrouded in darkness.
Using a small flashlight, Finch almost gets a scare from a suit of armor left in a corner.
Patting him on the back as she comforts him, Edith goes over to the staircase.
Braving going upstairs, unsure what they’ll find, the couple ascend the staircase as it softly creaks underneath them.
Reaching the top of the staircase, Finch opens the door into the hallway cloaked in darkness.
It wasn’t supposed to storm that night, but understandably, they wished there was some lighting coming through the windows. At least they could find their way around easier, as they kept their flashlights low to the ground as not to alert Stephen.
A difficult thought process, breaking into someone’s home trying to talk to them, and bumbling around in the darkened hallway with barely any idea where they are, but getting Stephen to pick up his phone much less answer an email wasn’t working out the way the Machine hoped.
Concerned about his health, the Machine implores the couple to locate him, ready to send people if needed.
Locating a blueprint of the manor, the Machine quickly made adjustments accounting for Stephen making alterations since he purchased the manor years ago. With this, it fed the information to both Finch and Edith’s earpieces and cellphones.
With the information, it was easier to get around the darkened manor, but the history of the manor still remains, with dozens of antiques left in their place, some giving Finch a scare more than once.
Easily, he can see how Stephen Baker became enamored with the manor; the aesthetics and the rich history allow his mind to work out ideas for his works.
Finding their way to the library as the Machine believes Stephen’s inside, the couple went to work searching for him.
A lit fireplace served as their proper light source; the couple walked among bookcases that reached the ceiling. The smell of old books on top of the fire made it difficult to detect anything else.
The sound of something falling sent a jolt up their spines, Edith and Finch becoming alarmed before they found an empty bottle of whiskey rolled into the side of a bookcase.
“John!” Edith alerts him to a shadow slumped over at the desk adjacent to them.
Rushing to Stephen’s side, they were certain they would find him dead, but to their relief, he was drunk as a skunk.
He hardly registers the two of them there as his mind swirled with emotions of his guilt and anger.
So much, Stephen took to the bottle, as they saw the discarded bottles near his feet.
Worried that he gave himself alcohol poisoning, Finch implores the Machine to send paramedics to the premises, and the Machine obliges.
“Steve, stay with us, bud,” Edith tries to keep him focused. “We know you didn’t kill her.”
His words slurred, Stephen mumbles near incoherently, “She wouldn’t listen to me! What kind of person would do something like that?”
Stephen wanted something for his next book, but this was too far for even him, and the regret evident on his unwashed face.
“Mr. Baker, please stay calm,” Finch implores him not to stress himself too much.
Unable to ask where he buried the Jane Doe, the couple focuses on keeping him safe until the paramedics arrive.
In his drunken state, Stephen aimlessly talks about his guilt, how he should’ve done more to stop the Jane Doe, but he failed miserably, now she’s dead, and he helped.
All she wanted for him to do is bury her under a weeping willow, sure, but it felt like Stephen killed her all the same.
Didn’t even know her name, she wouldn’t tell him anything.
“And that guy… I got spooked, that’s all,” Stephen mumbles.
Checking her phone, Edith sees the paramedics arriving at the manor.
Encouraging her to go meet with them, Finch promises he can keep an eye on Stephen.
Nodding, Edith rushes out of the library, leaving him and Stephen alone.
Keeping Stephen from hurting himself, Finch calmly talks to him, and in his drunken state, Stephen didn’t recognize him as a person, just a wayward spirit of the manor tormenting him for his perceived sin.
This belief was so strong that it causes Finch to ask Stephen where he buried the Jane Doe.
Slurring his words even more, Stephen attempts to tell Finch where, but it didn’t come out legible enough for the Machine to transcribe, and Finch wasn’t able to ask for elaboration as Edith returns with the paramedics.
Within moments, the paramedics are quick to enter the library, pushing a gurney towards Finch and Stephen.
In seconds, the men strap Stephen to the gurney before promptly pushing him out of the library without missing a beat.
Rejoining his side, Edith shares looks with him before they go to work locating whatever they can to point them in the direction of the Jane Doe’s burial.
All they have is that she wanted to be buried under a weeping willow tree, something the Machine is working on a process of elimination.
Hopefully, in his drunken stupor, Stephen left something like an address behind that could point to where she’s buried.
“Hey… John,” Edith calls out to him.
Turning his head, Finch sees a look on her face, and when he asks her what was wrong, she broaches a question, “If we find where she’s buried, are they going to dig her up?”
As he thinks, Finch slowly nods, telling Edith that with the unusual nature of Stephen’s involvement coupled with him hitting Reese over the head with a shovel, the newly discovered evidence, and depending on where she is buried, the Jane Doe’s body will be exhumed from her makeshift grave before it will be interned in Potter’s Grave.
At most, Stephen will be charged with theft and assault, presumably another charge due to him illegally burying the Jane Doe, but that’s as much as Finch can think off the top of his head.
It’s not what Edith wants to hear, but their hands are tied in what they can do, Lee especially.
At most, they can do is get someone to represent Stephen in court, let the process run its course, and go from there.
Finding Stephen’s bedroom, they search through it. He left his cellphone on its charger next to his computer, and the Machine already wormed its way inside every electronic it can find, but shockingly, it can’t find an address where Stephen went to bury the Jane Doe.
Using everything it can, there is nothing, and even what it got from the Jane Doe had nothing for it, either.
As if her wish came true, the Jane Doe’s true identity is nonexistent, and her final burial hidden, lest Stephen sober up and confess to the detectives.
“What drove her to do it?” Edith wonders.
Without a shred of evidence or profile, it’s all Edith can do, and Finch comforts her as he notes the time.
Leaving the manor, they make their way to the hospital where they find Reese eating while watching TV.
“How are we feeling, Mr. Reese?” Finch asks him.
Chewing on his dinner, Reese responds, “Wish I can have some beer to wash it down, how’re you two?”
They reveal what they discovered on their hunt for answers, causing Reese to comment with a dismayed, “That’s it?”
Unfortunately, until Stephen is interrogated, they don’t have anything else to go off from.
“How can the Machine not find out anything?” The bemused Reese looks at them.
A question for the ages, the only thing Finch can say is that the Jane Doe did everything she could to delete her digital existence.
So far, no one matching her description had been identified as missing.
“Doesn’t feel like we did anything,” Reese grows sour about the incident.
Stealing a fry from his tray, Edith points out that not all numbers they receive lead to anything “exciting.”
While true, Reese wanted something substantial considering his concussion.
“At least you’re still lucid, Mr. Reese, that’s all we can hope for,” Finch reminds him.
Forced to agree, Reese asks about Stephen’s chances, and Finch tells him what he and Edith discussed.
“Could be a misdemeanor, could have a few years in jail, depending on how someone feels about his concussion,” Finch summarizes for him.
Miffed, Reese points to the side of his bandaged head as he retorts, “Finch, it hurt!”
Chewing on her fry, Edith mentions how the Machine made sure medical care came to Reese right then and there the moment it happened, so while Reese is sore, he isn’t worse for wear.
After all, he can relax in a hospital bed for the time being until he gets cleared.
“A little heads up would be nice, you know,” Reese eyes her.
Eying him, Finch comments on how Reese has a tendency not to watch himself better, causing him to defend himself.
“The Machine can only do so much, Mr. Reese,” Finch emphasizes before he notices the time.
Leaving the hospital with Edith, everything taking on a different sheen as the Halloween parade ended, everyone going home or going to their favorite place for celebrations, for once New York City seemed quieter.
Returning to his personal HQ with Edith, they unwind for the remainder of the night having no energy to do anything else, their initial plans a folly, the best they can do is dinner.
Lee called after they finished to tell the good news about Stephen.
He’ll recover from his bender, come morning when he has his final hair of the dog in the form of a saline bag, Lee and Edwin are going to talk to him about the Jane Doe.
“I’m afraid we didn’t find an address he went to bury her, all we know is it’s a weeping willow tree,” Finch informs Lee.
Expressing how surprised he is that Stephen didn’t drink himself to death, Lee assures Finch how he and Edwin will get the information from Stephen, one way or another.
“So, you didn’t find anything on the Jane Doe?”
“I’m afraid not, detective.”
“I figured you’d find her life like that!”
“Unfortunately, there are times where it doesn’t work like that, this would be one of those times. I’m sorry, detective, but our Jane Doe did everything to simply… disappear.”
“Well, you did a solid, sorry about your Halloween plans, but hey, at least Mr. FBI is still coherent, so there’s that.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate your concerns, detective.”
Hanging up the phone, Finch sighs as he turns towards Edith.
Suppose they should be thankful this wasn’t anything like another trafficking ring, drugs trades, what else, but a case like this that is even indescribable to the Machine, it’s nerve-wracking to tell the truth.
Regardless, they did what they can, that’s all the Machine can hope for, even if it also wishes it was more.
“Tomorrow’s another day, right?” Edith gingerly touches his shoulder.
Nodding, Finch agrees with her before they head to bed.
It was almost midnight when Finch awoke to use the bathroom.
Coming out of the bathroom momentary, he is about to return to his bed, when one of his burner phones rung out to him.
Mindful of the sleeping Edith, Finch went to answer it, and over the phone he heard no one on the other end.
He’s about to hang up the phone when he then heard a man’s voice, “Happy Halloween, John.”
Before Finch can react, the call drops, and despite his efforts, the number that called him had already disconnected, and came from a burner phone.
Left standing there with the phone up to his face, it left Finch confused.
THE NEXT EPISODE… Evermore