Chapter 13
The following morning, Jane told Korsak and Frankie about her and Maura's uncomfortable meeting with Cavanaugh.
"I have to admit, it took balls to accuse a fellow officer without a shred of evidence," Korsak said. "But Cavanaugh's right. You shouldn't be focusing on Hawthorne. Have you looked into any of the cops who were invited to your wedding, but didn't go?"
"Of course," said Jane. "But if they were going to harass me, why not start when they got the wedding invitation? Why wait until now? This whole thing started not long after that day Haley Hawthorne came to interview me, when I told her dad I was married to Maura. He was new here, so he didn't know."
"She's got a point," said Frankie. "Whoever is doing this probably would have started when they found out about Jane and Maura, and everyone besides Hawthorne knew about them ages ago."
"So let's talk to him," said Korsak.
"I want to," said Jane, feeling her phone buzz. "But we have to figure out the best way to approach him. We can't just run after him with torches and pitchforks, because we don't have any proof, and we don't know what he'll do." She looked at her phone and saw a text from Maura.
"I think we should also show pictures of the murder victims around that LGBT center," Frankie said. "The killer had to know both families from somewhere."
"I'm gonna go check on Maura," said Jane, standing up. "She says she's not feeling well."
She went out to the hallway and pushed the down button for the elevator. Maura had been feeling just fine at breakfast. Her phone buzzed with another text from Maura:
Also, thank you for the flower. Where did you get it from?
Jane frowned. What flower? she typed. She pushed the down button four more times, gave up, and sprinted down the stairs to Maura's office. She found Maura sitting at her desk, typing on her laptop, a striped carnation beside the computer.
"Hey," she said, trying to calm her breath so it didn't sound like she'd just run down three flights of stairs. "I didn't give you a flower."
"Oh." Maura stood unsteadily and stepped towards Jane. Jane instinctively put a protective arm around her, pulling her close, although she regretted that a little when she caught a whiff of Maura's breath.
"Honey, what'd you do, eat an entire garlic clove?"
Maura frowned. "I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."
"When did you start feeling sick?"
Without warning, Maura violently wrenched herself away from Jane, stepping back quickly. "Jane," she said urgently. "Don't touch me. Don't touch anything. I need an ambulance."
Jane pulled out her phone. "Why? What's going on?"
Maura wordlessly fell to her knees and threw up on the floor.
"Maura!" Jane stepped towards her, but Maura held up a warning hand.
"I mean it, Jane, get back. Call 911. Don't touch me." She looked up at Jane, her eyes wild with fear. "Don't touch me. Don't touch anything."