Electricity

By LMR

Disclaimer: Doink, doink! In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the major case squad. But when they're not pursuing the worst criminal offenders, some idiot fanfic writer is putting them into a lousy Mystery/Humor/Romance story. The detectives of the major case squad hate this. They want you to read this stupid thing as quickly as possible so they can get back to more bearable and pleasant things, like murder. Doink, doink!

A.N.: Betas (like Claire/guitar73girl) are the highest form of life on the planet.

A.N. 2: Reviewers are the second highest form of life on this planet.

A.N. 3: I am the highest form of life on my home planet.

Chapter 10: The Perfect One

xXx

Home of Audra Nicholson - Tuesday, July 3 - 10:20 a.m. Doink, doink.

They knocked insistently until the door to Audra Nicholson's home until it opened to reveal the beautiful woman they'd seen with Drake in the photograph of the team.

They edged their way into her posh apartment. The whole place was done up in black with pink trim in an art deco style, the doorway made to look like a grand, rounded arch with smaller arches falling around the sides of it. The carpet was deep and rich, and Eames couldn't quite suppress the thought that it might be fun to take off her shoes and socks and enjoy it properly. Back on task, she and her partner showed their Audra their badges. "NYPD. Detectives Goren and Eames. Ms. Nicholson, do you have some time to talk to us?"

"I work from home. I suppose I could take a coffee break." She didn't look happy about it.

"Good," Eames said authoritatively. "We need to talk to you about Iskra Kent."

The surprise was evident on her face. "Um, okay. Why would you, um?"

"We have reason to believe she might have been murdered."

Her lovely dark eyes widened. "Murdered? I don't know why anyone would want to do that."

"Did you know her well?" Goren wondered.

"No. Not really. We saw each other at practice, that's about all." Audra was squirming so subtly that most people wouldn't have noticed.

Goren and Eames were not most people.

"Then what makes you think no one would want to kill her?" Eames wondered, hoping to sound just suspicious enough to throw Audra off her game.

"Well, I guess I-"

"We can't be certain of a motive yet," Eames cut her off. "But it seems her fiancée was having an affair." She stared Audra down, daring her to deny it. 'Fess up, Slimebag.

Her smooth façade broke just for a moment. "How did you know?"

"It's our job to know," Eames informed her. "Did Iskra know about the affair?"

"I don't think so." She shrugged. "If she did, she never let on."

Goren entered the conversation. "Drake told us she'd been standoffish the last time they saw each other. Do you think that could have had something to do with the cheating?"

"If she had found out, it's news to me. I didn't see her the day she died, though, so if she'd just then heard about it I wouldn't have known. I don't how she could have, though. We hid it pretty well." Her tone changed as if something had just occurred to her. "You don't think that Drake…"

"The fiancée is the most obvious suspect, yes," Eames said casually.

"But he did love her," she said grudgingly. "He always made that clear to me. He couldn't have done this: It's just not who he is."

"You'll understand if we don't just take your word for it," Eames said, her voice dry. Audra nodded mildly. "Where were you on the night Miss Kent was killed?"

"I was eating dinner with Drake. We knew she was going for an extra practice, so I figured I could use that time to be with him. Practices don't get out till sunset; even the extra practices Iskra and Jim liked to go to."

"Iskra and Jim usually put in extra hours?" Eames inquired. Don't tell me there's another affair going on here, she mentally pleaded.

"Well, they were the only ones who always went to the extras; they were the ones who arranged them. Usually a couple others would show up, but it was anybody's guess who. I rarely did, since Iskra was there, which gave me a chance to be alone with Drake."

Goren frowned. He'd been trying to read Audra, and now he joined the conversation. "Were you and Drake alone that night? I mean, were there other diners there?"

She shrugged. "A couple, I guess. It's kind of a greasy spoon, really. I don't know why Drake likes it so much. I only put up with it because of him."

"The sacrifices we make for love," Eames said dryly on their way back to the SUV. Bobby smiled.

xXx

Back at one PP, Deakins asked them about their progress.

Eames ran down the list of suspects they had composed earlier. "And we have one more suspect," she grumbled. "Kent's fiancée was having an affair with another eggbeater. It could have been the mistress who killed them. She probably would have expected Kent's money to go to her fiancée, and with Iskra out of the way, she might have thought they could live happily ever after. Her only alibi is the fiancée, so we really can't trust it too well."

"Well," Deakins said, looking for anything good about the situation. "I'm glad you're the ones working on it."

Profoundly flattered, the detectives allowed a smile of thanks before Eames broke the moment with, "We're not."

Jimmy smiled in acknowledgement of their appreciation and headed back to his office.

Goren groaned. Another long day. "I'll get the coffee."

As soon as he was out of her line of sight, Alex took out the package that had been sitting, relatively hidden, under her desk. She set the gift bag carefully in the bottom drawer of her desk, where it would be better shielded from someone who might (hopefully) be leaning over her shoulder a few times throughout the day. She would give it to Bobby in the last chapter. Alex had been in the store when she had become aware, to her own surprise, that she'd started scanning the rows of small picture frames, and she realized what she was doing.

She was shopping for a replacement. Something more appropriate than a friendship flower, something that really captured how she felt about him; how she felt being near him. She'd smiled, pulling a small frame from the seasonal display. She'd found the perfect one

Fortunately, Bobby didn't get back from the break room until the gift was safely out of sight.

xXx

Review or I'll never give you an interrogation scene. Aw, who cares, anyway? Review or I'll never tell you what kind of frame is in the gift package!