'This is weird.'

'Going back to question someone where my wife works?'

'I was going to say going back to question someone at the same place I had my son a year ago.'

Ryan glanced up at the entrance to Saint Vincent's hospital. 'Oh, sure, that too.'

They walked into reception, badged the nurse on the desk who pointed them in the direction of the pediatric floor and Beckett's feeling of being weirded out grew when she saw Honey-Milk at the nurses' station typing on a computer. When she glanced up, her smile was bright for her husband and friend first, then concerned for the cop duty that most likely brought them there.

'Detective, and Detective,' she greeted them. 'What can I help you with?'

Because it was official business and she wanted everything on the up-and-up, Beckett produced her badge for Honey-Milks superfluous inspection. 'We need to speak to Kailey Sampras, Nurse Ryan.'

'Can I ask what it's about?'

'It's regarding a homicide investigation.'

Honey-Milk sighed in heavy knowledge. 'It's about the connection to Andrea and Daniel, isn't it?'

'Yes.'

'Hang on, I'll get her.'

While they waited for their favourite nurse to find their person of interest, Ryan pulled out his cellphone, texted a naughty little message to his wife - your ass looks very cute in those pink scrubs - since he couldn't give her the warm kiss he'd normally prefer to greet her with. A few minutes later, Honey-Milk returned with Kailey. She was a stick of a woman with a few inches on Honey-Milk. Her dark blonde hair was tied up in a knot at the nape of her neck and she wore silver stud earrings in the shape of Navajo suns.

'What's going on?' she asked warily.

'I'm Detective Kate Beckett, this is Detective Kevin Ryan, is there somewhere private we can speak?'

They went into an empty teaching room, the same one Beckett had done her Lamaze class in, and knew her weirdsville meter would need some recalibrating after today.

'We're conducting an investigation into the murder of Fiona Birk,' Beckett explained, 'and the threats against Andrea Hennessey and Daniel Brick related to said murder.'

'I didn't do it,' Kailey snapped, fear crystal clear in her voice.

'We just need to ask a few questions. How long have you worked with Andrea and Daniel?'

'Since they started hear about eight years ago.'

'Are you close with them?'

'Closer to Daniel, because he's worked in peds longer. Andy started out in triage before moving up here.'

'What about outside of work,' Ryan asked.

'Andy and I aren't BFFs but I wouldn't wish her dead or something.'

'What about Daniel?'

Kailey hesitated and in that moment, Beckett could see exactly what Mona had meant by masking the hurt. 'You made a play for him and he blew you off because you didn't know he was already seeing Andrea,' she inferred.

'Yeah, so?'

'So, seeing them get engaged must have made you upset.'

'A little, but I got over it by getting under the bartender at the Christmas party,' Kailey retorted. 'Nothing cures wedding bell blues like the wheelbarrow position after a few double gin and tonics.'

'Ain't it the truth,' Ryan said dryly, getting a little laugh from Kailey.

'Honestly, it was a little dent to my ego when I found out they were together, but I'm not a home-wrecker and I'm certainly not a murderer. And if you want my whereabouts for the murder, go ahead and ask.'

'Last night between nine and eleven pm,' Beckett replied without missing a beat.

'I was working. There was a fire in a boarding-school dorm on Sunday afternoon and I was treating eleven year olds for smoke inhalation. all night.'

'Okay, we'll check it out. But,' she added, using one of her husband's favourite lines, 'don't leave town.'

The moment they were back in the Crown Vic, Beckett turned to Ryan. 'She's hiding something. More, she hates Andrea.'

'No shit,' Ryan agreed. 'An ego like that, you can tell from the way she said Andrea's name. Andy isn't feminine, she's your pal that you hang out with, not the woman you fantasize about. And Andrea's definitely the kind of woman a man is going to fantasize about whether Kailey realizes it or not.'

'Kailey doesn't want to see her as a rival because she thinks she's better than her. And,' Beckett continued, 'she said 'little' twice. That means it's anything but little to her. The question is, would seeing Daniel chose Andrea over be enough to push her over the edge and commit murder?'

'All it takes is me asking Jenny if she was working Sunday night to find out if she has an alibi,' Ryan pointed out.

'We're going to keep an eye on her, in the mean time we're going to need to talk to Andrea's sisters.'

'You think one of them might know something?'

'Hard to say but I think in light of what's happened, people who put bets on the failure of their sister's relationship aren't too far away from paying for murder.'

Ryan went to put his cell on speaker phone when it chirp-chirped an incoming text. He glanced at the screen, saw it was from Riley Fontina. 'Our CSU compu-tech has something new for us and I don't think he means a new iPad.'

R&R&Enjoy