At her partner's sharp intake of breath, Holmes studies the Constable rushing toward them. She guessed that this was Angelo Rosetta, Watson's ex and the man who didn't take finding out his ex had hooked up with a woman very kindly.

"We found this on the floor in between the gear box and the passenger seat," Angelo says, his voice slightly shaky after watching the body of his friend being removed. Despite the evidence to the contrary, he still didn't want to believe that she was dead. "It looks like it missed the worst of the flames, but the edges have still been melted some from the heat."

Holmes takes the evidence bag from him. Even with the heat damage, it was clear what the item inside the bag was. "Any idea who this belongs to?"

Jack hesitates before nodding. "It looks like Joey's."

"Are you as certain she's not involved, now?"

"There could be any number of reasons for that to be in Charlie's car, they were dating after all."

Watson takes the bag next. "Looks like it might have come off in a struggle and," she squints and looks more closely at it, "There might be blood on it."

Holmes retrieves the bag again. "You're right. We'll need forensics to take a look and see if they can get DNA from it."

Jack stayed silent. He really didn't want to believe Joey was involved, but things weren't looking good for her right now with this new piece of evidence.

"Those shoe prints you found, any chance they are the same size as Miss Collins feet?" Holmes asks Jack.

"I wouldn't have a clue what size shoe Joey wears."

"Come now Senior, you're an experienced police officer, surely you can make an estimate based on her height."

"I can't say with any certainty," he says after a moment of thought. "But Joey's feet could be a match."

"Well, when you go to talk to Miss Collins, why don't you take a closer look at her shoes and then bring her to the station. I know we still don't have official confirmation that it is Sgt Buckton, but I'd like to have a little chat with Miss Collins myself and as the Sergeant is missing, it won't seem so strange to bring her girlfriend to the station to help with our enquiries as to her whereabouts."

"You've already decided that Charlie is dead and Joey is guilty, haven't you!" Jack accuses her.

"Loved one's are often the first suspects, Senior and as much as you don't want this to be your friend's body, the chances are high that it is her."

"You think I don't know that!" He had held a brief hope that his friend might have been found alive and safe somewhere, only now he believed that she was indeed, dead, but he resented the assumptions the detective was making. "Would there be anything wrong with hoping that a friend wasn't dead, though?"

"Of course not, but it's also why Watson and I are here to take charge, because while you're being affected by your feelings, we'll be getting the investigation moving forward by going over the evidence and forming a plan of attack against potential suspects and you can't deny, that Miss Collins is looking very good as our main suspect."

Jack wanted to, but what she said made sense and right now, she was in a better position to be making these sorts of decisions.

He had noticed the way Holmes had been studying him, so now Angelo studied her while she spoke to Jack. He had never met the lead detective but he knew all about her; Det. Sgt. Susannah 'Susan' Holmes, rising star, youngest ever to be assigned to Homicide and she had a reputation for always getting the bad guys, no matter how long it took. His eyes drift to Watson. He'd known her for years and when they'd ended up at the Academy at the same time, it just seemed natural to gravitate toward each other when they knew no one else and it ended up leading to more than just friendship. He hadn't seen her for some time, not even when she was in town visiting her father and he hadn't really spoken to her since their academy days when he'd acted like a jerk when he found out she was in a relationship with a woman. He did feel bad with the way he reacted to her coming out, especially as he had no right to feel slighted; they'd been over for a month and he was with Nicole at the time, but it had dented his ego to find out she preferred pussy to his dick. He winced. Even now, that sounded as crass to him as it did back then. "Georgie," Angelo greets her finally.

"Angelo."

Holmes rolled her eyes at the awkwardness between them. She knew her partner would keep things professional, but she hoped Rosetta still didn't harbour any resentment toward Watson because they were going to have a hard enough time with these officers by taking over their turf. "As touching as this reunion is, it really is time Watson and I went to the hospital. I'll leave finishing up here and dealing with Miss Collins in your capable hands," she says to Jack, who nodded tiredly at her. "Oh, before we leave. Senior, how do you think the killer got away from here?"

"It's not that far to town from here, that's why people use it as a short cut, so they could easily have walked from here or they had their own car."

Holmes surveys the ground around the crime scene. There were too many tire tracks to be able to determine if one belonged to their killer. Holmes nods to Jack and leaving the other officers to their duties, Holmes and Watson head back to their car.

"What do you think Watson, the killer came here in the victim's car or they met here?"

"It's hard to know. There's evidence to suggest someone else was in the car, but proving when they were in the car could be difficult."

"True. You think the killer is a local?" Holmes asks

"It could just be chance they chose that short cut, but they got in and out without being seen and went prepared for the fire, so I'm thinking it was someone who knew enough of the area to be able to do it without being caught."

"Have you used that short cut before?"

"Nah. Dad's place is on the other side of town and I never really had a reason to come here."

Holmes glances back over her shoulder. "How well do you know these people?"

"Some better than others. When I stayed with my dad, I spent most my time with him or next door with Angelo and as he's best friends with Jack, I know Jack quite well, as well as his wife, Martha. The other officers I don't know."

"And those who knew the victim, the ones Jack mentioned?"

"Brax and Leah, I really don't know past casual chit chat when I've eaten at their places."

"While we're here, remind me to never order from that restaurant."

"You might want to avoid the Diner too."

"Why?"

"Leah owns it and if one table," she shrugs, leaving it unsaid.

"That is disgusting." Holmes shudders at the thought of food being served on those tables.

Watson chuckles softly. "Don't think too much about it or you'd probably never eat out if you knew half of what went on, especially in the kitchens."

"You're right, I don't want to think about it."

"Like I said, I really don't know Brax and Leah that well, but everyone in the area knows about Brax though, the ex-gang leader made good," Watson says, returning to the original question.

"Hang on, he was part of a gang and the Sergeant didn't think that was a problem when she got involved with him?"

"He quit the gang as a teen and turned his life around."

"Yeah, I've heard that before," murmurs Holmes. "Perhaps we should take a closer look at Mr Braxton. What about Collins?"

Watson didn't know Joey personally, but she'd seen her around when she visited her father and if she was honest with herself, before Joey left, she'd had a bit of a crush on her, though back then she hadn't recognised it as a crush as it was only later that she realised she was gay. "Well, she was gone for quite a few years, but I saw her around town when she did live here, not so much since she came back though and I don't think we have ever actually spoken to each other."

"And our victim?"

"I had a few run-ins with her."

"Run-ins?"

"When we were teens, Charlie was part of the It crowd and she loved being the centre of attention, at least that's how I always saw her and after being on the receiving end of a few nasty taunts from her, I tended to steer clear of her."

"So she was promiscuous and a bully as a teen, but what about as an adult?"

"I never saw much of her as an adult, which was fine by me." She felt bad for Charlie, especially about the way she died, as no one should ever have to suffer such pain, but she wasn't going to pretend that she liked the woman.

"Still avoiding her?"

"Not deliberately, but I had little interest in speaking to her, so I didn't go out of my way to walk up to her for a chat."

"And Rosetta, are you going to be ok dealing with him?"

"I'm fine but I can't speak for him." Holmes nods. "Susan, are you sure I'm the right partner for this?"

"You wouldn't be here if I didn't think you were. I've always found cases in small towns amongst the hardest to investigate, because everyone knows everyone and there's a tendency to keep silent and to mistrust outsiders, which was part of the reason why I brought you onto this case; you have ties here and if they're going to trust anyone, it will be you."

"I don't know about that," she mutters, thinking of Jack's earlier brusqueness.

"Your father's well respected and trusted, isn't he?"

"I don't know about that," Watson replies again with a wry smile. "Being the Mayor and all, I'm not sure that comes with respect and trust."

Holmes snorts softly. "Politicians, respect and trust don't seem to go together, do they?"

"Seriously though, while dad does have a good standing here, I'm still pretty much a stranger to most people. I've never lived here and only really spent part of the school holidays and odd weekend here as a teen and once I started working, my visits have gotten even more sparse."

"But you're a face that's a lot more familiar than mine, so if they're going to trust anyone, I'm guessing it won't be me and you do have a pipeline to these people through your father."

"It doesn't bother you that I know some of these people though?"

"Aside from your father and your ex, you're not really close enough to any of them to have your perspective about the case blurred, so I trust you to be able to do your job without being influenced by the past or by others and with the local knowledge you do have about these people and the town, I think that makes you a valuable asset to this investigation."

Watson still wasn't so sure about them trusting her anymore than Holmes. While the people here were nice, if you weren't born here, then it did make it hard to fit in and she was never here long enough to really try all that hard to fit in.

"I assume you know where the hospital is?" Holmes says, drawing Watson from her thoughts as they reach the car.

"Yeah, it's on the other side of town, not far from dad's place."

Holmes tosses the keys to her. "You might as well drive while we're here, seeing as you know your way around."

Pausing before she gets into the car, Watson looks back at the scene. Every cop was standing there, staring at them. Feeling as if she was being judged, Watson swallowed hard. Ties here or not, right now, she was definitely feeling on the outside with these officers. Nodding politely to them, she climbs into the car.