A/N: Forgive the long note, but I need to respond to an anonymous reviewer who commented on the previous chapter:
Firstly, thank you for putting your points across in a constructive manner. I really appreciate that. But I've made it clear in the first chapter itself that this is primarily a suspense story. We all love our E/B moments, but this isn't going to focus outright on their relationship alone. That's exactly why I haven't included 'Romance' anywhere in the genres . . . to avoid misleading anyone. I've already completed writing 90% of the story in accordance with my vision for it. The focus will remain on the murder mystery for many more chapters to come. The rest, even the E/B aspects, will revolve around the case. I hope that clears it up. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.

Alright, that's it. Now, a quick but sincere note of thanks to Pamela and Ninkita and then we can move forward with those of you who're sticking around.

CHAPTER 7

FOLLOWING THE EVIDENCE

"Sedative?"

"Yes," Dr. Banner replied as he wiped his hands. "I found traces of the drug in his blood."

I looked at Tanya, who raised an eyebrow in response. Banner noticed the exchange and held up his hand.

"Now, now, Agents. I'd already asked for Billy Black's medical records. He had complained of insomnia on and off in the past year. His doctor had been prescribing him sedatives, and I already gave him a call to confirm that Mr. Black had been taking the pills . . . not every day, but once in a while."

"So you're saying that the amount of sedative you found in the test is in accordance with the dose Mr. Black was taking?" Tanya asked.

"Yes," Banner replied, but then paused. "Well, just a tad on the higher side, but that can be explained."

"How?" I retorted.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Tolerance, of course. The more you take these pills, the more your body adjusts to them. Over a period of time, the amount of drug you need to get the desired effect rises. That's exactly what would've happened to Mr. Black. He might've been taking multiple tablets at once without having informed his doctor of the fact."

"On the day of his son's wedding? On the day he decided to inject himself with cocaine? That's too much of a coincidence, doc. How about the drug use? Did you find out if it was chronic?"

Banner folded his arms across his chest. "I tested his hair and found no traces of cocaine."

I turned to Tanya. "So we have evidence of him being sedated and the fact that he wasn't a habitual user. I think that's enough for us to treat this as murder."

"I don't think it proves anything," Banner butted in. "I've explained both the occurrences with perfectly valid scientific reasons."

"This was completely out of character for Billy Black. I believe this is a well-planned, well-executed murder, and we would be idiots to not consider that possibility," I told him. "I fail to understand why you refuse to keep an open mind about this, Doctor."

"Open mind?" he snapped. "How about you step out of your paranoid mindset before lecturing me, Agent Cullen? My job is not to investigate the case, but to give you an idea of the scientific facts. I'm doing just that. This is where the facts have led me, and if you don't like it, well, then do as you see fit. Investigate the case until your hair turns grey, Agent, but don't stand here in my lab and call me an idiot. I've heard a lot about your instincts — and seen them in action a few times — but if all they do is see a conspiracy where there might not be one, then they're not doing you any good."

Fuming, I opened my mouth to reply but Tanya stepped in between us.

"Enough," she announced, placing a hand on my chest to push me back. "Dr. Banner, I'm sorry. Edward didn't mean to insult you. We've heard your findings, and I think it's best if we leave now. If there's anything else, please give me a call."

I walked out of the room as soon as she was done talking. Outside, I braced my palm against the wall, banging my other fist against it while I heard them exchange some mutters.

Sleep had evaded me the previous night, teasing me with small reprieves from consciousness, only to jar me awake with harsh memories of the past. My mind twisted and turned Bella's words and expressions until they became just white noise. I didn't know what I was looking for or hoping for, but my thoughts were a mess as the clock ticked on toward dawn.

Tanya stepped out with a file in her hand.

She glared at me before heading down the hallway, and with a weary sigh, I followed. She pressed the button to call for the elevator before whirling around.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she snapped, keeping her voice low, but her annoyance was clear as the day.

"He's a stubborn ass," I grumbled.

"Yeah, well, so are you," she threw at me as the doors parted and we walked into the cabin. "I know he pisses you off, but come on! Calling him an idiot isn't doing anyone any good. You know that very well, and you've talked me off the ledge with this exact sentiment several times. That brings me back to, what the fuck is wrong with you today? You've been moody ever since you got here."

I kept my eyes on the flashing numbers. "I'm just stressed about the case, Tan. I'm afraid of making the wrong decision, chasing the insignificant clue, missing a vital one."

"Hey," she prodded, waiting until I met her gaze. "We've done this before. Your instincts and my genius have never let us down so far." I cracked a smile at her attempt to pull me out of my funk. "We'll get this sorted, Edward. But gnawing at Banner's patience is counter-productive. We might need his assistance later on."

"I know," I admitted. "If I see him again today, I'll apologize."

"And what if you don't see him?"

I shrugged. "Then screw it."

"Edward!"

The elevator pinged, the doors opening to our floor, so we started for our desks.

"Let's get back to the matter on hand, okay?" I suggested, and she acquiesced with an eye-roll. "We have the facts. I think the sedative just solidifies the murder theory further for me."

Tanya pursed her lips, handing Jasper the autopsy report as we reached him. He flipped it open and started reading Banner's conclusions.

"It's possible," Tanya told me. "I agree with you about the coincidence in all this — so many people in attendance, cocaine injection, sleeping pill . . . It seems like a well-made plan rather than a natural occurrence. Still, it's not impossible."

"I know," I allowed. "We already have Boss' green light to rule nothing out for now. Let's just follow the evidence."

"And where is that taking us?" Jasper chimed in. "So far, we've made no progress on the Lahote front. Prison logs are clean. That was the only angle we had. No finger prints on the syringe or on Billy's clothes, except his own."

"What about the catering staff?" Tanya asked him.

"I finished cross-checking the guest list yesterday, so I'll start with the staff list now. I've actually called in the wedding planner for an interview in half-an-hour, so I figured things might move quicker if I dive in after you speak with her."

I was surprised. "She's coming here?" Given her health issues, I'd figured that she would've wanted us to meet her at the hospital or at her place. I couldn't help but be suspicious at the turn of events.

"Yep," Jasper told me with a shrug. "I called her, and she was willing to show up. Judging by the way she was trying to get the scoop out of me with just one phone call, I could tell she's one of those nosy ones who enjoy the spotlight on them."

Shrugging, I said, "Nosiness might come in handy. She could've noticed something the others missed."

"True," Tanya agreed. "Now, since you woke up on the wrong end of your sad, lonely bed this morning, let's get you a cup of coffee. Otherwise, your demeanor might scare that poor lady into a heart attack."

I scowled at her, but had to admit that a cup of steaming hot coffee sounded like heaven.

My phone chimed with an incoming call, so I pulled it out of my pocket and stepped aside to answer it.

"Hello, Edward," a soft voice called, and I smiled automatically.

"Hi, Ma. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart. I know you must be busy, but I just wanted to remind you about the weekend."

My face fell. "The dinner? Of course I remember, Ma. You know I could never forget. I'll be there."

"I know." Her voice was subdued as always when we talked about this subject. I heard a whoosh as she sighed before infusing her tone with a kind of levity neither of us was feeling at the moment. "All right, Agent Cullen, you caught me. I just needed an excuse to check in with my son who hasn't spoken to me in a while."

I grimaced guiltily. "You're right, I've been slacking. I'm really sorry about that. Can I call you later tonight? I'm at the Bureau now, so I need to cut this short."

"I understand. We'll catch up later, alright?"

"You got it."

"Love you, Edward."

"You too, Ma. Bye."

I returned to Tanya once I ended the call.

"Everything okay?" she asked cautiously.

"Peachy. Let's get those coffees, shall we?"

We barely had time to grab our beverages before Mrs. Cope had arrived at the office.

Tanya and I walked into the room and were met with a stout old woman with wisps of silver-grey hair curling around her face. She was wearing a light blue pantsuit, and it made her cobalt eyes look amazingly striking. Her slightly-hunched back indicated her age, but her eyes were sharp and intent as Tanya and I took our seats.

"Mrs. Cope," I started. "Thank you so much for coming in. We heard about your health issues and hope that this isn't too stressful for you."

She waved my concern aside. "Please, Agent. It was such a terrible shock yesterday, looking at Mr. Black in that state, and I just lost my composure. I told those incompetent mutts at the hospital that I'll be just fine, but they wouldn't release me until I sat through a ridiculous number of tests. I got out of that place as soon as possible. Just tell me how I can help you."

We asked her the routine questions — whether she'd noticed anything unusual on the day of the wedding or prior to it, if she'd seen someone go up to the third story, and so on, but she had nothing to add to what we'd already gathered so far. She confirmed Rachel's statement about having met her at the bottom of the stairs before they both made their way outside.

"We got really busy with the final checks in the garden after that," she informed us. "I didn't make my way back into the house after that until I heard Mr. Jacob scream." She shook her head sadly. "Terrible, tragic business. I can't imagine how devastated the family is. I suppose they're just hanging on to the hope that you'll find out the truth as soon as possible."

"We'll try our best, ma'am," Tanya assured her.

She leaned forward, placing an elbow on the desk between us. Her eyes flashed between Tanya and me. "I heard some whispers about this being an accident? Mr. Black was taking drugs and happened to . . . what do you call it? Overdosing?" she pried.

"We're still in the incipient stages of the investigations," Tanya told her. "We're looking at different angles for now and will follow up on each."

"Of course," Mrs. Cope murmured, her face falling. "I suppose that's all you can share with me, eh?"

"I'm afraid so." I moved on to redirect the conversation. "We got a list of your staff members last night."

"Oh yes," she replied quickly. "My assistant informed me about that. You don't think . . . you don't think someone from my staff was involved somehow?"

I gave her a practiced, reassuring smile. "Like my partner said, we're just tracking down various possibilities." I handed her a copy of the list. "Could you tell us if anyone in particular stands out to you?"

Blue eyes flashed with irritation as they met mine. "I'm the most reputed event organizer in this state, Agent. Are you implying I wasn't thorough enough in screening my employees?"

"Not at all, ma'am," I answered calmly. "Surely a woman as sharp as you can see that no-one but the family, the guests and your staff had access to the grounds. It's standard procedure to make our way down all those lists. I'm sure you know your staff best, which is why you could make our job simpler by some elimination."

She regarded me for a moment before her face softened and she nodded. "I suppose that's fair then." She looked through the list, and Tanya and I waited.

After a couple of minutes, she shook her head. "I'm sorry. I can remember each face, but I don't see how any one of these would be capable of a crime. None of them would have a criminal record, I can assure you that. We verify that, along with an identity proof while finalizing their employment."

Tanya tried a different angle. "Maybe you could tell us about any new members on your team then. Is there someone who has only worked with you on this wedding?"

Mrs. Cope frowned. "Hmm, there are a few of those." She picked up the list again. "These months are always jam-packed with weddings, you know. The one we organized last week was a huge event, but the groom ended up catching the flu at the last moment." She grimaced. "Ridiculous. The ceremony was held nicely, of course, but the reception had to be canceled because he was puking his guts into the toilet. It spread like wildfire from then on, because the very next day, I was five people short. They were— Care to venture a guess?"

"Puking their guts out?" Tanya played along.

"Exactly," Mrs. Cope approved.

"So you had five new people in your employment yesterday?" I questioned.

"No, just three," she clarified. "The Black-Swan wedding wasn't as regal as the previous one, you see. I could manage without adding two more morons to the mix."

"Oh-kay," Tanya announced, pushing the list and a pen back toward her. "Please mark the new employees' names for us."

We were in there with her for a few more minutes, while she attempted, once again, to snag some inside information. As soon as we managed to ward her off, I handed Jasper the list, asking him to check out the three new employees.

Soon enough, we managed to locate two of them — Austin Marks and Katie Marshall. As Mrs. Cope had informed us, neither had anything suspicious in their records, but we decided to contact them for an interview just to be safe.

The third one, Joan Leaven, however was nowhere to be found in the system.

"She did say they checked some identity proof," Tanya pointed out when Jasper declared his failure to find a record of Joan's existence anywhere. "There has to be something."

"Well, they're not cops," Jasper supplied. "I doubt they would've been that thorough."

Joan Leaven.

I frowned, twisting my chair from side to side as I tried to recall why that name seemed somewhat familiar. I was pulled out of my musing by a gruff voice that I now recognized.

"Agent Cullen?"

Jacob Black walked over to me, flanked by a somber Rachel.

"Sorry to bother you. Mr. McCarty asked us to come in to sort out some paperwork, but we're not aware of where we're supposed to go," Rachel told me.

Tanya stepped forward to offer her help. "I can take you to his office."

Jacob stopped her. "Wait. Before that, I was actually hoping to speak with you two. Has there been any development? Do you have any clues?"

"So far, we don't have complete clarity, but there is one thing," I said. "Does the name Joan Leaven mean anything to you?"

I was intrigued when Rachel's eyes widened, and her mouth fell open in a gasp. The rest of us looked on, confused, as she shook her head, almost in disbelief. "Why would you ask that?" she inquired quietly.

"Because that's the one lead we have so far," Tanya explained. "This woman was new to Mrs. Cope's employment, and we've not been able to find any record of her existence. It must be a fake name, and clearly, it holds some significance to you."

Jacob frowned as he watched his sister's ashen face.

Rachel swallowed thickly before looking between Tanya and me. "I'm sure it's a coincidence," she said. "This couldn't . . . it probably doesn't mean anything. But . . ."

"But what, ma'am?" I prodded.

She bit her lip, looking unsure and fearful.

"Joan Leaven is the name of a character in this really weird movie, Cube. I only watched it once, but . . . I remember it because it was Rebecca's favorite film."

A/N: *dun, dun, dunnnn*

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FIC REC – HONEYMOON SUITE BY TwiliteAddict - We all wailed a collective 'ugh' at the fade to black scenes during Edward and Bella's honeymoon. This fic is a captivating look at the romance, emotions & imagery of Bella & Edward's honeymoon, the struggles of the pregnancy & birth, and Edward's joy when he bonds with Nessie while Bella goes through the change. Mostly EPOV. A canon story that fills in all the blanks!