Chapter Nine: Too Many Questions



November 6th
"Have we got anything?" Frost questioned pacing around the discussion room
"I'm working on medical files from the Institute, any priors anything we have really" a young eager detective announced, enthused with his progress
"I want to know everything that went on in that place, I want her friends, her enemies, who she hang with, did she have any visitors, when? Who? And why? I want names, addresses, priors on friends, friends of friends, and hell friends of friends of friends, I want them all and on my desk by mid morning" Frost announce, the vain in his forehead straining for release.
The eager detective shrunk in his seat, scribbling across a pad that sat in front of him.

"Autopsy results back?" Frost questioned, directing the question to no one in particular
"John's done, he's on his way up, say's he has a few things to tell you" a bright eyed female replied with practiced calm
"Do we have all the info on the previous time she went loopy?" Frost demanded
"We got every ounce of paper that was written up" the bright eyed female replied
"Go on then Gwen" Frost nodded, the childlike sparkle returning to his eyes
"With all due respect Sir, what we saw last night was a completely different MO" Gwen announced, shuffling a stack of notes
"Why do you say that?" Frost questioned, desisting from his pacing
"I don't know about the other officers but as the Assistant Forensic Pathologist I cant help but note there was a lot of blood"
"And? Murders genuinely create a bit of a mess"
"Vic1, Male Dog, age 5 years, Died of poisoning. Vic2, Male Caucasian, 45 years old, cause of death, Affixation"
"Her priors?"
"Correct Sir. No Blood"
"The second one, if my memory serves me right he was the limo driver" Gwen nodded.
"He had a slit throat"
"Granted Sir, but not enough to kill him. Autopsy found seriously deflated lungs, we also found a mixture of chloroform in his system. She poisoned him first, then slit his throat, but he wasn't actually dead, see the cut was quite pathetic really, missed all the great arteries. If he hadn't have been shoved face down in the boot he might still have been alive when she pulled him out"
"Affixation?"
"Yes Sir, we found fibers consistent with the boot in his nasal passage and lungs, meaning when she put him in there, he was still breathing."
"Perps change MO's all the time"
"Granted, but from Cyanide to decapitation? That's a big jump"
"It happens"
"Yes Sir but-"
"But nothing, murder is murder no matter what the method"

The door to the discussion room flung open and a flustered John appeared.
"Frost we have a strange one" he said simply as he took a seat beside Gwen
"Continue" Frost said, intrigued
"First of all the blood in the foyer"
"Damn mess" someone commented
"Actually it was a well formed puddle, but it wasn't the victims blood"
"Whose?"
"A sheep actually"
There were a few gasps, and one slight chuckle.
"Sheep?"
"Precisely, it wasn't human blood, which would make logical sense because that wasn't where the victim was killed."
"Enlighten us"
"She was killed in the garage. It was cleaned up, her body placed in the car, her head upstairs, the blood was old and placed there to make it look real."
"What about the drag marks?"
"The Vic was almost 6 foot, yet the drag marks, made to look like legs were too close together, I would guess a brush or mop of some sort was used to make those tracks"
"Why?" Frost questioned, rubbing his head frantically
"Can't tell you that unfortunately"
"And the leaves?"
"Standard Oak leaf, nearest trees a couple of houses down"
"Any prints?"
"Nothing, clean as a whistle"
"Damnit" Frost declared
"The thing with the blood does that change the time of death?" Frost inquired a thought suddenly entering his mind
"Sure does, she was killed approximately 5-10 hours before you found her"
"Meaning Catherine could have known we knew"
John nodded as did each member around the table, all but Gwen.

"Something wrong?" John questioned Gwen as the group disbanded
"The MO doesn't fit John, you should tell him" she said, nodding towards the front of the room where Frost talked to another officer
"I'm not sure about it Gwen, we've got everything on her"
"But you know as well as I do, Perp's never venture from what their comfortable with, not straight off, its not normal"
"Nothing in our job is normal"
"Catherine was a passive killer, this is" she paused, "This is sadistic"
"Gwen, we'll get whose responsible"
Gwen sighed. "I just hope we don't get the wrong one"

************************************

Faith sat silently staring at the Ice Tea in front of her. She yawned subtly as she twisted the straw around the glass. Brian stood with his back to her staring out the large floor to ceiling glass doors. His hands were clasped behind his back, as he chewed delicately on his bottom lip. He'd early canceled the short trip up to LA for the MTV Awards, and had made the declaration he would not be going into the studio, doing any short of promotion or interviews till Catherine was behind bars. Faith had tried to convince him it was best to carry on a normal life, she believed that if you end up living your life in fear, then really what's the point of living at all.

"We should probably move" he said simply, his eyes scanning the deck area, where a few leaves blew across the ground
"Brian" Faith sighed
"I mean it Faith, this house is too open, there's bloody windows everywhere, it's landscaped with trees and scrubs everywhere, she obviously knows where we live, it's not safe here" he announced, walking the length of the bay doors.
"I love this house Brian, and I refuse to hide for the rest of my life" Faith announced, taking the Ice Tea with her as she walked to Brian's side
"I just" Brian sighed, "I just don't want anything to happen to you, or our son, if I could lock you up and hide the key, believe me I would" he spoke barely above a whisper
"I know you would Brian, but surely a life in fear is no life at all"

As she spoke the words the doorbell sounded through the house. Both Faith and Brian jumped at the sound.

"God it's getting to the stage we jump at every noise" Faith smiled as she walked to answer it
Brian grabbed her arm and pulled it back as a plainclothes officer appeared in the kitchen.
"I'll get that if you don't mind" he smiled simply, unclipping his Glock.

He disappeared out into the foyer and gently tapped the side of his gun. Looking through the peephole he didn't see anyone on the front step. He removed the gun and unlocked the chain link on the door. He pulled the door open, pushing the gun into blank air. There was not a soul around. He walked down each step, checking from side to side, but not a person could be seen. As he walked back up to the house he noticed for the first time, a small black matchbox car on the doormat. He could have sworn it wasn't there before. He shrugged and picked it up.

He closed the front door beside him and wandered back into the kitchen.
"No one there" he shrugged replacing his gun and placing the car on the glass table
"This yours?" he questioned, "It was on the doorstep"
"Uh, no" Brian shrugged, peering at the small palm sized car
"Old model BMW" he smiled, "I used to have one"
"Suppose I should bag it, might mean something" the officer smirked, removing a small evidence bag from his pack and placing the car in it.

Faith starred at the small car as the officer sealed the bag.
"Something wrong babe?" Brian questioned
"Were we together when you had that car?" she questioned
"Na, the late model BMW that I bought I got a long time ago, when we made it in Europe, around 98 I reckon, why?"
Faith shrugged. "It seems familiar but I cant place it"
"Well you wouldn't be thinking of my old car, it was green, not black"
Faith shook her head, "I don't know, just the creeps probably"
Brian wrapped an arm gently around her shoulder, squeezing her shoulder lovingly.



Chapter 10
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