Chapter 2: Unlikely/Likely

"This is mistreatment." Leila snapped as she sauntered into the interview room in a brand new outfit. "My husband will have your jobs."

"Yeah, you already said that. Sit down." Eames told her, nodding to a chair.

"You brought your son?" Goren noticed Abby sitting outside with Matthew in her lap. She was reading a book to him. Goren noted the baby looked very content.

"You're stupid people told me I had to leave my own damn house." Leila slumped into her seat and slapped her designer handbag on the table.

"And Mrs. Alvarez?" Goren asked.

"Couldn't stop crying. Abby came in earlier so Madia could go home." Leila told him as she rummaged in her bag for something.

"See, that's what I find interesting," Eames spoke up. "You have two nannies for your son?"

"Raising kids is hard, Detective." Leila told her as she pulled a stick of lip gloss out of her bag. "My husband wants to make sure I have all the help I need."

"You're telling me." Goren said as he sorted through some papers in a file he'd received from the Walker bank account. "In the past year you've been to Sunset Spring Spa eleven times."

"They're good to me there." Leila shrugged as she reapplied her lip gloss.

"You also seem to have purchased a few department stores worth of clothes, handbags, jewellery..." Goren ran through the list. "I don't see any charges for your son..."

"They'd be on the staff credit cards." Leila told him vaguely. "Look; am I here for a reason?"

"Your butler was murdered in your house and you don't seem to care; that reason enough?" Eames cocked her head at Leila.

Leila scoffed. "I didn't kill him. He was old. Old people die."

"No, see, he was murdered. And you don't have an alibi." Eames corrected her.

"I was at the spa. Talk to them. I wasn't supposed to come home until the afternoon but then you people called." She rolled her eyes.

"Eames, that's a good idea," Goren said to his partner. "I'm gonna go call the spa." He caught his partners gaze and flicked his eyes at Abby and the baby. Eames nodded in understanding. "Can we get you anything?" he asked Mrs. Walker.

"Sparkling water." She ordered.

"We have regular water." Eames told her.

"Ugh. Then nothing." Leila said grumpily.

"Why don't you tell me about Mr. Montague?" Eames asked as Goren left the room.

xxx

"Six birdies, do you see?" Abby said to Matthew as she pointed to the book.

"Ba-uh." He replied hitting the book with his hand.

"Yeah, I know." Abby replied turning the page. "Seven horsies; you see?"

"Ba-uh!" Matthew said again with a grin as he hit the book. He gurgled and threw his head back into Abby's body; laughing.

Abby laughed with him. "You're so crazy, Mister Man." She cuddled him.

"Excuse me?" Goren said as he approached her.

Abby looked up at the handsome Detective and smiled. "Yes?"

"You're Mrs. Walker's Nanny, right?" he asked.

"Day Nanny, yeah." She extended her hand to him. "I'm Abby."

"I'm Detective Robert Goren." He replied as he shook her hand. "Your accent," he noted. "Australian?"

"Hey!" She grinned. "Thank you; you're the only one not to guess British first."

"You'll have to help me out with this because it's a little confusing," Goren laughed lightly and scratched the back of his head as he sat beside her. "What exactly is your job with the Walkers?"

Abby rolled her eyes. "Oh; I know. It's stupid, right? Day Nanny, Night Nanny...basically it just means Mrs. Walker doesn't have to take care of Matty at all."

Goren was taken aback by her blatant honesty. "That's...abrupt." He told her with a smile.

"I don't BS people; there's no point." Abby told him. "That's a very big difference between my people and your people. Americans always think over state things; over explain things and read too much into things. And you wonder why everyone's so confused? If you just said what you wanted to say you're country wouldn't be in the shape it's in."

"All Americans?" Goren asked.

"The ones I've met since I've been here." Abby smirked.

"And how long is that?" he took out his notebook.

"Ah, lemme think...Matty's eighteen months so...almost two years." She answered.

Goren furrowed his brow. "You were hired before he was born?"

Abby nodded. "Yeah. Leila was already pregnant when I went for my interview. She said her husband was always out of the country and she needed help for when the baby arrived. I assumed this meant I'd be helping her prepare for the birth, y'know? La Maze classes and stuff. But no; she didn't want to do any of that."

"How do you mean?" Goren pressed.

"I mean I went to classes alone. Preparing for the newborn apparently was my job and my job alone. She even had me decorate the nursery myself." Abby said.

"She didn't want to be involved?" Goren asked.

"No. Look, Detective...the Walkers...they're only as good as they look in photos." Abby told him. "They don't even share the same bed; they have separate rooms at each end of the third floor of that mansion. If you ask me; the reason they had Matty was because he looks good on their profile."

"So...he was planned?" Goren assumed. "I mean; they wanted to have children."

"That I don't know." Abby replied.

"What about Montague?" Goren asked. He watched her reaction carefully; seeing sadness across her eyes.

"That's just...unbelievable. He was...I just...no one would want to hurt him." She said. "In two years I don't think he ever left the house. I can't imagine he'd have any enemies."

"Was he, ah, friendly or...abrasive?" Goren asked.

"No; he was a lovely guy, really. But...I mean, he's a butler." She said. "Not exactly the kind of guy you'd see out partying."

Goren smiled "Do you work regular hours?" He asked next.

"Eight a.m. until seven p.m. every day except weekends." Abby told him. "I came in early today after I heard what happened. Poor Madia is just distraught over this."

"So you don't live at the house like Mrs. Alvarez?" Goren asked.

"No; I have my own place about ten minutes away. I didn't want to be a live-in Nanny." She explained.

"So when you're caring for Matty," Goren continued. "Do you stay at the house with him?"

"No; not usually. I take him to the park and the zoos and things like that." She told him. "Figured if I want to see the city he might like to as well."

"Mrs. Walker doesn't mind?" Goren asked.

"Detective," Abby smiled. "She's hardly ever there. She doesn't know where I am half the time. I always have my cell, I always leave numbers for where I'm going to be. She's never called. She never gets mad if I'm late. She never asks how his day was." Abby smoothed Matty's hair over his head and kissed him.

Goren smiled. "You seem very connected to him." He noted.

"Yeah; well you can't spend every waking minute with a kid and not get a little attached." She told him as Leila stormed out of the interview room.

"Call me when you have something useful to say." She was muttering to Detective Eames as she dialed on her cell phone. "Abby; let's move; the limo's waiting." She clicked her fingers at her Nanny but didn't wait for her as she headed for the elevator.

"Yes, Ma'am." Abby got to her feet and scooped up Matthew under her arm. "Sorry, Detective, I have to go."

"Thank you for talking to me." Goren told he stood up beside her. She smiled before following her boss into the elevator.

Eames sighed as she stopped beside her partner. "Well that was the longest conversation I've ever had with a suspect." She mumbled. "For what it's worth I don't make her as the killer. She wanted me to get someone in to wipe down the desk so it wouldn't dirty up her bag." Eames shook her head. "No way she could handle all the blood. What'd the Day Nanny have to say?"

"She's very attached to the baby." Goren told Eames as they headed back for their desks. "Tends to him, interacts with him...she's a dream Nanny for a couple like the Walkers; loves the kid the way the parents should."

Eames nodded. "So that the parents don't have to."

xxx

The next morning promptly at eight a.m., Abby arrived at the Walker mansion. When they'd gotten back from the NYPD the afternoon before, after all the police had finally left, Madia was already waiting for them saying she felt much better and was ready to get back to work. Leila didn't take any notice. The second they came in the door, she told them she was taking a bath and turning in for the night. Abby stayed for the rest of her shift, until seven that night, and then said goodnight to Matty and Madia before heading home. She'd had an uneasy sleep. Montague had been a sweet man. He'd never even raised his voice in all the time Abby had known him. One thing she'd learned about the Walker staff was that they stuck together. He would have told her if something was going on; if someone had been giving him trouble. But as she'd said to Detective Goren; she didn't know of any enemies he may have had.

So when she arrived at Walker Manor the next day, she was determined to just get to work and take care of Matty. She thought today she might take him back to Central Park Zoo. He seemed to have a crazy love for the penguins there. He was always so excited when he saw the pen in the distance. Abby wondered if it was just because she loved him but she did think of him as a bit of a genius.

"Morning Madia." Abby called as she let herself into the kitchen via the back door. When she didn't get a reply she took a good look around. Madia wasn't there. Usually she was feeding Matty breakfast at this time. Though when he was sick or if he had a bad night's sleep; she let him sleep in for awhile. Many times Abby had found Madia sewing or knitting by Matty's crib as she hummed a Spanish lullaby to him. Abby approached Matty's nursery quietly, careful not to wake him, and opened the door. "Madia?" she called softly. But she wasn't there. And the room was empty. "Madia?" Abby called loudly down the hallway. "Vamos, Madia." Abby called using one of the few Spanish words she knew. Then she heard Matty's faint but urgent crying from somewhere down the hall.

Relieved; Abby headed down towards the library as the cry crew louder and much more insistent. She entered the room to find Matty screaming his head off in his playpen and Madia nowhere to be seen. "Hey, Mister Man," Abby said soothingly as she reached into the crib and picked up the baby. "It's ok; I got you." She kissed his head. "Where's Madia, hm?" she asked him as she went back down the hall and heard another faint noise; water running. The second bathroom shower; to be exact. Confused; Abby headed towards it. Madia had her own bathroom; why would she use the second, first floor, guest bathroom? "Hey Madia," Abby called as she knocked on the door. "It's Abby." She knocked again. The door was unlocked and not shut properly so it just opened on it's own. "Madia?" She stepped into the bathroom. Madia was hanging limp by her neck from a rope above Abby. "Oh God!! Madia!?" she screamed, covering Matty's head so he couldn't see. Then she bolted out of the bathroom and made a beeline for the phone.

xxx