Who Killed Cupid?

"Everybody's got a problem spot," she said, blowing out a long breath as she saw flies buzzing around on some of the uncovered food. "Places like this are mine."

"I can do this if you want," Jake offered.

"No. I'm fine." She swallowed audibly. "I'm going to check out the bedroom."

"Okay," Jake said, flipping through the stack of mail he'd picked up. He counted at least three unopened phone bills, two on his electric, the last one with a big "Last Notice" stamped across it in red ink. "There has to be at least three months worth of unopened mail here," he called to Kate. He looked around at the mess. "I'm betting he never brought the Mayor's daughter here."

Kate walked out of the bedroom, a lacy bra hanging off a pen she held carefully. "I'm betting he brought someone here. But this isn't near big enough to fit Sarah's um..."

"Bountiful bosoms?" Jake supplied, a smile on his face.

"Funny. But true. And I don't think it belonged to Aurora either."

"No, oh, look at the tag. Cosabella, not cheap. Certainly not something Reggie bought." Jake reached over and picked up the lacy, red silk bra.

"How do you know so much about women's underwear?" Kate stared at him, seeing him turn red.

"Three sisters who leave magazines scattered all over the house." He dropped the bra back in her hands and started to go back to the kitchen. And tried to ignore the spurt of laughter he heard from Kate. "Do you have any idea what you're looking for?" he called back to her.

"I think I just found it. Our Reggie kept a diary. And he was really prolific." She walked up, the book open in her hands. "Listen to this."

"She showed up at my door. I don't even know how she knew where I lived. I never even brought Sarah here, never. I never brought any of them here. This bitch knew though. She walked in here like she owned the place, looking down that stuck up nose of hers. She said she knew my plans, knew what I had in store for the old man. And then she stripped. I couldn't believe it. Here's this tight ass bitch who wouldn't even look at me before, in my apartment dressed only in this red silk number.

Anyways, she told me to forget it. That if I didn't go through with it, she'd fuck me whenever I wanted. Like I'd give up all that money for a bitch. But I don't look a gift cow in the milk. So I fucked her."

"Pig," Kate said under her breath as she finished reading. She skimmed a few more pages. "He never gives names. Except for Sarah's."

"But you know, don't you," Jake said. They both knew. "We need to get a team in here. I bet her prints are all over this place."

Kate made the call and they waited until the CSI's showed up, leaving a uniform at the door while they did their work. "You find anything probative, anything at all, you call me," Kate told the point tech.

"Morgue?" Jake asked.

"Yeah." Kate left the apartment, her mind running. She had the scent, now all she needed was the evidence to pull her in. And that meant waiting for the crime scene guys to do their jobs.

The drive to the morgue was quick in the early morning traffic. Parking was even easier. She pulled up front and got out, locking the doors behind her and dropping the keys in the pocket of her jacket. Pulling her badge, she pulled open the lobby doors and flashed it at the guard standing inside the booth. He waved her past the metal detector and she waited for Jake.

It took a few minutes to get buzzed back to the autopsy rooms, the front desk was closed and empty. By the time they got back there, Kate was looking around nervously. All the black bags made her nervous. She wasn't some screaming ninny who jumped at every sound, but looking at those bags, she always wondered what would happen if everyone in them sat up at the same time and came back to life.

Impatient with herself, she shook off the thought.

Doc Weston greeted them at the door to the main autopsy room. Reginald Holton was center stage, his face pulled forward, his skull opened. Kate could see the Y incision cut, already made and stitched back up. She could also see just the hint of grayish white in a stainless steel bowl sitting on a tray.

"Well, your boy was in sorry shape," Doc said, walking toward the body.

Kate grabbed a mask and put it over her face as she came towards the steel table that held the body. "What do you mean, Doc? I mean, except for the obvious, he doesn't look too bad to me." She elbowed Jake when he snorted.

"If Mr. Holton here hadn't been shot, he'd have been dead in about ten more minutes anyways." He looked up at their startled faces. "He was poisoned."

"What?" Kate grabbed the report that Doc handed her. His tox screens had come back that he had ingested a high concentrate of Malathion.

"Malathion? What is that Doc?" Jake asked, reading over Kate's shoulder.

"It's an insecticide, not seen that often here in the city. It's more commonly used in larger farmer communities. It takes quite a lot of the substance ingested at one time to cause death."

"Sarah had said that Reggie felt sick, he'd asked her for a glass of water," Jake said.

"So is this overkill? Or is this two killers? Why poison someone if you're planning on shooting them anyway? Maybe the poison wasn't working fast enough as the killer decided to hurry Reggie along some?" She shook her head, staring at his body. "Poison is usually a woman's method of murder. It's cleaner, no blood. Her hands stay cleaner."

"Doc, did you dig out the slug?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, turned it over to Johnny in Ballistics at the Crime Lab. He said he'd run it for you and get back to you."

"Anything else you got?"

"Your victim recently had sex. Sperm found on the inside of his underwear and also a vaginal contribution. I took swabs and sent them to DNA." He smiled when Kate patted him on the back.

"Thanks, Doc, you're the best."

Kate hurried out the doors and was back at the car in record time. She took a deep breath of city fouled air, gratefully trading the hint of pollution for the purified circulated air inside that held the smell of chemical cleaners and death. No matter how much they perfumed it, it still smelled like death to her. "God, I hate that place," she muttered to herself.

Jake heard her and his hand itched to rest on her shoulder, to show her some support. He knew it wouldn't be welcome just as any comment made acknowledging he had heard her would be welcome. Kate hated weakness, in any form. She put up the front as tough and no nonsense and would damn anyone who thought otherwise.

He remembered coming up on her, alone, sitting in her car that long ago weekend. She'd had her head down on the steering wheel. And when he'd knocked on the window, she'd looked up at him with tears shining out of those big golden eyes. It was a case, a little girl, killed by her mother. The sight of the body, so young, had gotten to her.

Jake sat in the car, he'd talked her into a drink, then another. Kate had asked to go home with him, not wanting to be alone. She'd sleep on the couch. And then the nightmare and he'd come to the rescue again, but this time, he hadn't been a gentleman, had taken what her eyes had begged him to take. And their friendship had been damned.

"Wake up, Jake." Kate waved her hand in front of his face making him realize he was standing on the sidewalk, just staring at her. "You were a hundred miles away. I asked if you wanted some coffee before we head back to the Mayor's."

"Yeah," he said softly. "Coffee would be good."

"It'll give the CSI a chance to go and check out the gardener shack on the property," Kate said, unlocking the car. "And for them to run the DNA to see who Reggie boy was making it with."

She pulled into an all night diner that was a hangout for their precinct. At this time of the night, it was virtually deserted, a waitress sitting on a stool, resting her feet and refilling sugar shakers got up when they walked in. She brought over two mugs and a coffee pot, two menus stuffed under her arm.

"Hey, Detectives. Quiet night?" she smiled as she plunked down the mugs on the table in front of them and filled them with coffee.

"Sure is Sheryl." Kate shook her head at the offer of the menu. "Just coffee, we've only got a few minutes."

"Okay, sugar. You two want anything else, just give me a yell." She walked away with the coffee pot and went back to filling her shakers.

"So what's got you so dazed, Jake?" Kate asked, her hands cupping the warm mug before bringing it to her lips. The first sip sent warmth through her and she sighed appreciatively.

"Honestly?"

"Yeah."

"You do," he said. He twisted his mug around and then dumped a creamer into the murky liquid. "I keep trying to figure out what happened."

Kate felt her heart pick up a beat and couldn't blame it on the caffeine. "We aren't talking about that weekend, Jake. We agreed."

"When did I agree, Kate? Because I don't happen to remember agreeing to that. I want to talk about it. I want..."

"I don't care what you want. I don't know why you are so all fired determined to bring it up." Kate kept her voice low, shooting a worried glance over to see if Sheryl was looking.

"And I don't know why you don't want to talk about it," Jake retorted, pitching his voice lower also as he noted the direction of her glance. "I think we were pretty fantastic together."

Kate ruthlessly squashed the jump her pulse took at his words. "Were, Jake. It can't happen again." She took a drink of her coffee and stared at their reflections in the window. She could see the way he was looking at her, see how he was staring at her. "Jake," she turned and put her hand on his for one second. "It was fantastic, better than anything I've known before, but between departmental rules and the problems cops have with relationships anyways, anything we started would be doomed." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "It's just better we don't let it start."

"Better for who?" He stared down into his coffee, stirring it slowly. "I can't see how not finding out what can happen between us, where this thing we feel will go is better for either of us." He put down his spoon. "I've got feelings for you, Kate. A hell of a lot more than lust. I don't know if it's love because you won't give us the chance to find out. I think I deserve a better reason than departmental regs."

"Jake, we have a case. If you..." she stopped and took a deep breath. "If you don't think you can work this case with me, then maybe you should take yourself off of it."

The words that came out of his mouth were foul, strung in such a way that Kate swore the air turned blue around his head. His eyes turned hard, icy green as he stared at her. "Kate, I've sat back and let you run this case, I haven't said a thing. I've let you walk all over me, more than I've ever let any other woman do, because I thought it would be the right thing to do. I've kept away from you because I thought that was what you wanted."

"I di..." Kate began only to be interrupted by a harsh growl.

"Shut up." He snapped the words out harshly. "This is my turn and you are going to sit there and listen. I'm done doing things your way. You don't kiss a man the way you kissed me in that alley if you don't still feel something for him. And don't tell me it's lust, you and I both know there has to be something behind that lust to drive it that deep. When this case is done, you are going to dinner with me. We are going to find out what we have."

Kate's phone rang before she could reply and she snapped it open angrily. "Cambridge," she growled into the phone.

Jake looked down at the spoon he had in his hands, the spoon that was now just a twisted piece of metal. His breathing was still harsh and he could still feel the rage that she had provoked singing through his system. He took a drink of his coffee, hissing as it burned his tongue. And he blamed her for that as well.

"The daughter's prints were in Reggie's apartment. They also have semen stains on the sheets and they are looking for a vaginal contribution. The DNA came back no matches in the Combined DNA Index System. Their sending someone out to get samples from the family. The bullet wasn't in the Integrated Ballistics Identification System and they haven't found a 9mm at the Mayor's home. He isn't registered for one either." She slid her phone back into her pocket. "We should get over there, be there while they are taking those samples. And pick Stella up for questioning."

"Fine," Jake said, dropping some money on the table and standing up. "We'll work the case. But when it's done, we are going to talk this out."

Kate just glared at him as she walked past him and out into the parking lot.

~~~~

Cassie Reynolds, a tech from the crime lab was waiting for them when they pulled up in front of the Mayor's home. Most of the cars were now gone, guests questioned and released by uniformed officers. Kate already had their reports. No one saw anything. A man was shot, a gun fired five times, and no one saw who's hand pulled the trigger. She sighed in disgust as she rang the doorbell.

Mayor Rodney Strauss answered the door himself. He was dressed in a robe, slippers on his feet and a drink in his hand.

"Detectives," he said in greeting. "Have you come to tell me who committed this crime?"

"No sir," Kate said respectfully. "We have to get DNA samples from you and your family, hair samples too. And we need to get your wife and Sarah's fingerprints. Yours and Stella's are on file already."

"Can't this wait until morning? Sarah has been through hell tonight. And the doctor had to sedate her."

"I'm sorry, sir. It can't wait."

"Daddy?" Stella Strauss stood at the top of the stairs, her dark blue dressing gown held closed at her throat by one white knuckled fist. "Is everything okay?"

"Get down here Stella, these people need to get samples of your DNA," the mayor ordered his youngest daughter tersely.

"For what, Daddy?" There was a slight note of panic in Stella's voice and Kate picked it up quickly, feeling a little rush of adrenaline that her gut was right.

"We just need to be able to rule you out of the rest of the samples that we found here tonight, Miss Strauss," Cassie said professionally, opening her silver case and pulling out a handful of boxed long swabs. "We have to find out who belongs so we can find out who doesn't." She opened one box, labeling it deftly with a pen before pulling the swab out and flipping open the plastic cap that protected the sterile cotton. Catching the mayor with his mouth half opened, she quickly swabbed the inside of his cheek, pushed the swab back down into the plastic and capped it before sliding it back into it's box.

"It's that simple, Miss Strauss. If you'd be so kind as to come down here." Cassie opened another box and pulled out the swab. "This just takes a second."

"I...I don't think so." Stella looked ready to bolt.

"Stella, get your ass down here and get this done," the mayor's voice was harsh with his youngest and Kate almost felt sorry for her.

She came down the stairs reluctantly and parted her lips just the tiniest bit when the swab was held up. Cassie took her chin in her hand and professionally opened her mouth, swabbed the cheek and flipped the cap over the swab. She put it back in its labeled box and then picked up a pair of tweezers and a small brown envelope. "Just a hair sample," she said and plucked a hair out of the girl's head before she could say yes or no.

While Cassie labeled it, the mayor sent his youngest up to get his wife and Sarah.

Sarah came down the stairs, her eyes blurry, her speech slurred. Cassie hurried and took the samples and then deftly printed her also.

Amanda, the Mayor's wife, balked at the tests. "I don't understand, a crime was committed in my house and I'm being told I have to be fingerprinted and put on file?"

"Amanda!"

"No, Rod. I'm not a criminal and I won't be treated like one in my home." The curvy brunette clutched her robe closer to her throat.

"Mrs. Strauss," Jake stepped in, his hands held out in front of him. "These are just steps that we take so that we can check your prints and your DNA against all the samples that we've retrieved from your home already. We need to be able to rule you out so that we can find the samples that don't belong. We don't wish to treat you like a criminal, ma'am."

"Well, I'm sorry, but no. That's the way I feel." Amanda took another step away from the group.

"Mrs. Strauss, I can and will get a warrant for those specimens," Kate said quietly, watching the woman's eyes. A hard gleam came over them and suddenly Kate wondered if she was looking at the wrong woman. Either way, she needed those samples and she was prepared to do what was necessary to get them.

"Go ahead, Detective, but until that time, I would prefer if you and your people would leave my home."

"Your home, Mrs. Strauss, is a crime scene under my purview." Kate turned and addressed the Mayor. "And while I wish no hardship to you or your family, Mayor, I could have you escorted off the premises until I have closed this case." There was no threat in Kate's voice, she was stating facts the way she saw them. "I allowed you to stay since we have the crime scene taped off, but I will need reasonable access to the scene when I need to be here. My partner will call for that warrant, ma'am. And while we wait for it, I need to speak with your daughter."

"Can't you see she's in no shape to talk to you again tonight. Look at her, she can barely stand up," the mayor blustered as he wrapped his arm around his oldest.

"No, Mayor Strauss. Not Sarah, Stella."

"Me? What for? I barely knew Reggie."

Even though she hid it well, both Kate and Jake heard the fear in Stella's voice. Jake got on the phone, circling behind the group and standing behind Stella just in case while he waited for the Judge on call to answer his phone.

"If I might use your study once more Mayor?" Kate asked politely. She waved Stella in front of her and was followed by Jake still on his phone.

"I...I don't know what I could tell you about Reggie. I only knew him through Sarah." Stella sank down to sit on the edge of one of the leather chairs, her back ram rod straight as if she were ready to bolt at any time.

"Stella, I'm going to read you your rights, just as protection," Kate said, pulling the Miranda card out of her jacket pocket. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to be speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?"

"I'm not an idiot," Stella said, her voice hostile. "What is this about? I barely knew Reggie."

"For the record, Stella, I need you to answer my question. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?"

"Yes, I understand. Now I want to know what this is about. Reggie was Sarah's boyfriend, I barely said hello to the man."

"So you've never been to his apartment?" Kate asked, her eyes sharp.

"Why would I go there? He's Sarah's boyfriend," Stella stressed. "Her tastes in men are abysmal. They either simper around after daddy's money or they show off, trying to impress daddy."

"So in which category did Reggie belong in?" Jake asked, glancing at Kate and giving her a nod after hanging up his phone.

"The former. The man gushed continuously." Stella rolled her eyes in disgust. "He worked in daddy's real estate offices, more as a gofer than anything else. He couldn't be trusted to show the houses. Daddy kept him on for Sarah's sake because he knew she liked Reggie. Why? Well I don't know."

"You sound like you really disliked the victim, Stella. If you loathed him as much as you say you do, why were your fingerprints found all over his apartment?"