5th January 2012
Miami Metro Police Department, Homicide
9:47 AM

That morning I was in my lab, examining evidence from another case, waiting for some good news, that the LaGuerta murder case was closed and that me and Deb could finally move on with our lives...

Matthews calls everyone in the briefing room to make an important announcement.

Matthews: "Alright, people, today I've just received the coroner's report on the autopsy of Estrada and LaGuerta as well as a letter from IA. New evidence has been uncovered during the autopsy which we could not have previously been aware of."

It's comforting to know that the professionalism and, most importantly, the sincerity of my report isn't put into question... yet. After all, Masuka backed my theory.

Matthews: "The report concludes that there must have been at least one other person involved and that there is clear proof of tampering with the evidence, or as some people call it counter-forensics, to make it look like a simple shooting between two people. My guess is that Estrada had an accomplice, possibly a friend or a hired thug, who's now trying to cover up his involvement..."

An accomplice? I could handle that, plant some more evidence to incriminate one of Estrada's thugs, unless...

Matthews: "This is way above us however, due to the high profile nature of this case we will not be directly involved in this investigation any further. The Commissioner has requested the involvement of the FBI, they will be conducting the investigation under the lead of Special Agent Pelle Cophs. He has worked closely with Frank Lundy in the past on other high profile cases that have yielded successful convictions so he's no amateur. We'll be expected to cooperate with him fully."

The FBI? Again? When will this cycle end? Am I doomed to perpetually have to cover my tracks from a never-ending series of investigations? Will this man too end up on my table only to be replaced by someone else? A half an hour later we finally meet the man who would be my new adversary.

Matthews: "Everyone, meet Special Agent Pelle Cophs."

I look towards an average looking male in his early 40s, black suit with a tie, and a plain emotionless, expressionless face. I would soon realize that he is a worthy adversary.

Pelle Cophs: "Hello, I'm Special Agent Pelle Cophs of the FBI and I will be investigating the deaths of Hector Estrada and Maria LaGuerta. Now, one thing I've learned from working with Special Agent Frank Lundy, which I know most of you are familiar with, is to never take anything at face value. Many times in the past, my investigation into seemingly banal cases have uncovered much larger conspiracies. To get to the bottom of this I will be looking closely into the final days of Hector Estrada and Maria LaGuerta. This department will not be directly involved in the investigation, however you will give me your full cooperation. You will not withhold a single piece of information from me. Any questions?"
Angel: "Me!"
Pelle Cophs: "Go ahead, Sergeant Batista."
Angel: "What? You know my...? Nevermind. Were you involved with Agent Lundy in the Bay Harbor Butcher and Trinity Killer investigations?"

Again Pelle replied with that same blank expression.

Pelle Cophs: "No, I was not involved in those particular cases, but I have been involved in high profile and large-scale investigations such as the Johnson Chicago Wire Fraud in 2003, the Dearborn Quality Assurance Scam in 2001, the Hollywood Snuff Directors in 2005 and the fraudulent Jenkins Auto Bailout in 2007. Well, I hope that answers your question, I will be in the next room, alone, going over the case notes. When I'm done, there will be questions for some of you."
Matthews: "Well, you heard the man, everyone back to work."

5th January 2012
Debra's Home
8:07 PM

Debra: "Fuck, Dex, that fed and his fucking poker-face give me the creeps. He's been all over the station today interviewing several people, looking at files and even half of them seem genuinely intimidated by this guy despite their innocence, well in this case anyway. How are we going to get out of this mess?"
Dexter: "Relax. He's got nothing on us."
Debra: "Not yet, this guy is a pro, Dex." I knew he gave that impression but I just wanted to see if she knew more about Pelle than I.
Dexter: "How so?"
Debra: "Jesus Christ, Dex, aren't you familiar with some of the cases he's worked on? I looked it up. For example in 1999 he went from a simple murder of one person, committed by one person, to uncovering an entire multi-billion dollar racket. All 17 people involved were convicted with the shortest sentence being 20 years..." she paused for a moment "for fucking cooperation. This guy's relentless, maybe even more than Lundy was."
Dexter: "We'll figure it out, we've been in hot water before."
Debra: "What did they find at the crime scene? I thought you cleaned up any trace of us ever being there."
Dexter: "I have, it's not perfect, but at least there's really nothing that can be linked to us."
Debra: "So...?"
Dexter: "Look, I'll ask Matthews for the report tomorrow, stop worrying and try to get some sleep."
Debra: "Any word from Hannah? She's still at large you know."
Dexter: "Nope. Look, I gotta go, spend some time with Harrison."

Hannah, it's been almost a week since I had seen her. Was I too harsh in turning her in? Has she learned her lesson? Can I trust her to never harm Debra again?

5th January 2012
Dexter's Apartment
8:43 PM

Jamie: "I wouldn't go in that room if I were you, Harrison is all tucked into bed, sleeping."
Dexter: "Okay, so, you said you had some plans for tonight?"
Jamie: "Oh absolutely."
Dexter: "And who's the lucky guy?"
Jamie: "Detective Joey Quinn. What you didn't know? We hooked up around New Year's Eve. Ah, that's right, you weren't there. Well, I better get going."
Dexter: "Alright, have fun."

That night I had that dream again. I dreamed of growing old with Hannah. Harrison now 18 with his own car.

Harrison: "Bye, dad!"
Dexter: "Bye, Harrison!"

He got into his car and drove off. I shared a passionate kiss with my wife when... I heard a car crash. We rush to see what had just happened. It was Harrison's car. I looked in anger towards Hannah.

Dexter: "You! Did you do this to my son? Our son!?"
Hannah: "Yes." she smiled in a sinister way.
Dexter: "Why?" I was ready to just strangle her on the spot but waited to hear an answer. How could she ever do this to me?
Hannah: "Because he never turns the music down, never takes out the trash when I ask him to, never listens to me in general and..."
Hannah leaned to whisper something in my ear.
Hannah: "...because he constantly taunts me that I'm not his real mother..."

I awake pretty shook up. It was 5:30 AM.

Harry Morgan: "Dexter. Use your judgement. You know you have no future with Hannah. Two killers? It was doomed from the start. You don't need a murdering wife. You were better off with a normal companion, like Rita."
Dexter: "It was only a dream, dad."
Harry Morgan: "A dream that could very well become a reality... one way or another and maybe sooner than you think. Do you really want to trust a poisoner to cook the food of your children for the next 15 years?"
Dexter: "She's not that bad."
Harry Morgan: "She tried to kill your sister, for God's sake!"
Dexter: "Because Debra wouldn't drop the investigation on her. Maybe now that she's a murderer too she'll learn to let it go."
Harry Morgan: "My God, Dexter, listen to yourself."
Dexter: "Look, Hannah probably got the message. She wouldn't dare to pull that stunt again."
Harry Morgan: "Probably? This is just wishful thinking on your part isn't it, Dexter? I'm telling you right now that this is a mistake. You had her on your table, she met the code fully, it should have ended then and there. Just like all the others."
Dexter: "This conversation is over, dad. You're not real anyway, you're just a psychological construct, a figment of my imagination. I am in control here."
Harry Morgan: "Suit yourself, son."