"The victim was a twenty-one year old caucasian female. 5' 3", 130 pounds. Jeanne Bonnefoy. Raped and repeatedly beat with a baseball bat. Want to know what makes her death unusual?" Scotty looked to Lilly, raising an eyebrow.

"What is that?" Lilly could only guess it had to do with one of their cold cases.

"Her cousin died the same way ten years ago..."

"And?"

"And, judging by the papers we found in her briefcase, she was looking for his murderer." Scotty replied, gesturing to the small pile of bagged evidence.

Lilly nodded; Francis had been killed amidst a slew of murders, and due to him being so tangled up in the case, no one had really gotten around to figuring out who had murdered him until the trail had gone cold. On top of that, there was simply little evidence to go on in the first place.

She flipped over what appeared to be a transcript of a telephone conversation; it seemed Jeanne had been on to someone, but none of the evidence she had really pointed any fingers. Most used codenames.

"Who's her next of kin?"

"Her parents are out of the country, so for now we'll have to break the news to her cousin." Scotty replied, heading back to the car. This was the most difficult part about being a homicide detective...

Luce had taken the news remarkably well, biting her lip and hugging her pet lemur close to her chest as the detectives explained what had happened. They left out the part about the rape, because she was younger, almost seventeen. She did not need to know about that part...

"We think she was investigating her older cousin's murder. Do you remember her ever talking to you about it?"

Luce looked down, stroking her lemur's head affectionately.

"I...I not speaking English good. Well." She corrected herself. Lilly nodded.

"That's fine. Just tell us what you know."

"She was...was always searching for answer. But I know nothing." Luce replied, looking down to the floor.

"Was there anytime anyone threatened her?"

"Well...there was one time..." Luce began. "There was man...who was pounding on door..."

Luce was working on her homework, as she glanced up as Jeanne ran to the door. The door shut behind her, as she stepped into the hallway. Luce creeped forward, pressing her ear to the door.

"-stay away from my family, do you understand?" The man's voice had a Spanish roll to it, and he sounded as if he were at the end of his rope. Jeanne, ever the fearless one, didn't seem to care.

"I need answers. If you just answered my questions, this wouldn't have to get so messy, now would it?"

"You will regret it if you keep poking around!" The mystery man snarled, and Luce's heart leapt to her throat; he sounded serious.

"I've already found your brother's dirty little secret! What else will I find out about your family before you give in and tell me?" There were heavy foot steps down the hallway as the man left, though not without a parting shot over his shoulder.

"You'll be sorry about this!"

"I tried to talk to her about it later, but she just pretended it never happened!" Luce explained, wiping at her eyes. Her lemur swished his tail against her cheek, chattering sympathetically.

Scotty nodded, glancing over at Lilly a moment, before asking his next question.

"Do you remember anything else about the man besides his accent?"

"No, I didn't see him..." She replied.

"Thank you for your time. We'll let you know if we discover anything further..."

According to the old case file, Francis had been involved in a high school gang; only one of the other known gang members was still alive, so they were headed to interview him.

Antonio had a rather comfortable apartment; when he invited the detectives in, he had been preparing his dinner, so he'd had them wait in the living room for a couple minutes while he ensured that it didn't burn. He finally took a seat in front of them, smiling.

"All right, what's all this about?"

"It seems that there was a murder that mirrored your friend Francis' murder." Scotty informed him, raising his eyebrows. He had read the court file; though the man hadn't been found guilty, the evidence had weighed rather heavily against him. Lilly leaned forward, folding her hands.

"We were wondering if you knew anything about it."

Antonio looked down, rubbing his temples lightly.

"I don't even know who killed Francis...how would I know about a similar murder if I know next to nothing about his murder?" He replied.

Lilly slid a photo across the coffee table.

"Did you ever meet his younger cousin, Jeanne?"

"Si...wait, was she the one who was murdered?" Antonio looked up, eyes widening. Lilly nodded grimly. "They found her this morning."

"...little Jeanne...? But...who would kill her?"

"That's what we're trying to discover."

"I'm afraid I haven't talked to her in years...but if you find anything I can help you with, let me know. I couldn't help Francis, but I want to help with this." He replied, green eyes serious.

Scotty stood.

"We'll let you know. And we'll be back later."

"Yes, of course."

Aaaand that's the opening chapter! Unfortunately, I couldn't get a hold of any Cold Case episodes, so I had to settle for clips. I hope, of course, that my characterization is good, but it's probably a bit off...