Goren, Eames and Hannah looked at their suspect through the one way glass of Observation Room 5. Mayford sat calmly in the Interrogation Room appraising his manicure and picking dirt from beneath a nail or two.

"You've got yourself a cool customer there." Hannah rumbled.

"That's either because he's a lawyer or a psychopath, or both. Can you have one without the other?" Eames cracked.

Hannah huffed out a laugh "That was tailor made." He looked at Eames with respect. Bobby's couldn't suppress an exasperated sigh. Hannah's 'respect' for Eames was a little thick wasn't it? In the back of his mind knew that the irrational jealousy was back. But he couldn't stop himself from facing his superior officer and giving him a slicing look. Gratefully, infuriatingly Hannah's gaze was still fixed on Eames.

Alex assessed Bobby. She took the sigh as annoyance and disdain. Even at the very worst of times she amused him. It seemed those days were over.

"I'll go in with him." she said trying to get into the right headspace again. Bobby wanted to grab her and say he would do it. But she was a better choice. Mayford might enjoy trying to manipulate her. After all her complexion was only about 2 shades off his type. And her blonde locks gleamed like a halo. Or, Bobby thought, maybe she was just perfect in his eyes. I should tell her things like this. But she was already gone.

"Detective Eames." Tyler Mayford stood with all the fine breeding of an heir, extending a hand.

Alex immediately felt violated. This wasn't a job interview and she wasn't a contestant on the Mayford show. She ignored him and sat. She straightened her sheaf of papers.

"Do you know why you're here Mr. Mayford?" She played it as straight as she could.

"I'm caught in a misunderstanding."

"No a murder." her voice was stone cold sober.

"Who did I murder?" his lips twitched.

"Jane Walston." Alex laid out images "A wife, a mother."

"How sad." The words left his lips but no accompanying emotion spread across his face.

"Yes very." You psycho.

"I'm the victim of unfortunate coincidence."he gestured to his core.

"Coincidence?"

"Meeting a lovely person then finding they've been killed. What else could it be?" He was all wrong. Alex knew from years of Bobby and his psychological probing that a misplaced smile or a ill-timed tear wasn't enough to seal guilt, but this guy was doing multiple things concurrently, smiling, flirting, opening his body wide.

"Murder." she repeated not giving even a little.

"I would never hurt a woman."

"Evelyn, Madison, Tina, Melanie." she ticked the woman off on the fingers of one hand. "All report being hurt by you. Strangled."

"Since they've been telling tales I'll assume they're still alive." He winked. "I'm flattered." He sounded so pleased that Alex sat back and blinked for a moment.

"Why?" she had to ask, she couldn't fathom.

"Me, the focus of all these resources. That they remembered me years later."

Alex restrained a laugh, a dark expulsion. "You don't seem worried."

"Innocent men rarely are."

"You're innocent?"

Now he did smile. "I'm not an angel. But I'm not a devil either."

"Yes or no."

"Yes. I am innocent. And you are beautiful." an inappropriate segue, Alex thought, shifting uncomfortably.

"So are you. But you know that don't you?" she returned.

He silently tsk tsked her flattery with a single waggling finger.

"Let's talk about your sexual proclivities then." She just needed to get Jane upstairs and into that apartment with him, even if there was no confession.

"Yes let's talk about sex." he leaned in and the stark white of his teeth made her feel like a flank steak about to be devoured. This was a carnivore in a suit.

"You like to grip women's throats while you have sex."

"I like a lot of things. Consensual things." he reiterated.

"Do you engage in erotic asphyxiation or not?"

"From time to time. If my partner consents."

"You only date blonde women."

He nodded "It's one of my quirks." he smiled slightly "What are your quirks Alexandra Eames?" And the hits kept on coming. Her full name felt like a body blow. In a moment he was going to slip her a piece of paper with her date of birth and social security number.

"How did you meet Jane?"

"The lady with the bike?" He downplayed. "She rolled over my foot, she was trying to steer a bike and hold a bouquet of flowers."

"Really?"

"Really. She was riding a city-bike."

"What did you talk about?"

"Oh, I forget." he seemed irritable for the first time, "Some inane small talk. I don't remember."

"Try."

He sighed and leaned in again. "I believe she apologized profusely then said 'please don't sue me'.

It had a ring of truth. Alex pushed "And?"

I told her that would be like suing myself."

Alex furrowed her brow.

"Well Alex," he spoke as though she were a child. "It didn't make complete linear sense. She was pretty. I was trying to slip in my profession."

"You mean that you work for the D.O.T." she baited him. It had gotten a rise out of his sister. "Is that how you made a connection with her? By showing her how common you are?"

Suddenly his eyes were dead, flat like a shark's. "I rescued the D.O.T with their bike program fiasco. I've saved the city millions." he said defensively "I'm a great lawyer. People want to be me." It felt like an audience with Gordon Gekko. She couldn't appeal to his morality but he was drowning in pride so Alex poked at it.

"All the lawyers I've known have either been pompous or incompetent. Did Jane roll her eyes at you? Is that what got you hot?"

He laughed so loud and long that she started to worry that she'd broken him. It took everything not cross her arms defensively over her chest.

"You aren't being very kind to me right now." he smiled "but I can overlook that."

On the other side of the glass Bobby hadn't moved, hadn't breathed, he had a finger pressed deep into bloodless lips. Hannah watched him rather then Eames. His body language. He looked worried.

"Go in with her." The captain spoke in a low tone.

"No no. I'll upset the flow. It's just he's… crazy… remorseless… fixated."

"We've see a lot of crazy in that room." Hannah added softly. "I'll take my crazy in a suit anyday."

Bobby wouldn't. He'd worked a lot of cases with crazy in a suit. Bobby preferred his lunatics dirty, ranting and raving, at least it was honest.

Goren shook his head watching through the glass as Mayford stood. Stood trying to subtly intimidate and dwarf his partner. He didn't like this at all.

"He's too close." Bobby murmured.

"Relax detective I think she has him on the ropes."

Bobby wondered for a moment if his personal feelings were skewing his view of the room. Why his signs were flashing danger! danger! danger! and Hannah was unperturbed.

In an unorthodox move he watched Alex stand as well and say. "Either we both stand or we both sit Tyler."

Mayford immediately planted himself in her seat, even though she was right beside it. And said "Still warm. I really really like you Alex."

It felt like a death threat.

Eames moved slowly to the other side of the table. "About Jane."

"Yes Jane."

"Did you ask her upstairs to the apartment?"

"No."

"Are you sure? She was definitely in that Penthouse. We have forensic evidence." She stretched the truth. "Are you implicating your brother in law Stanley then?"

"Stanley was out of town with my sister. This is getting tedious Alex maybe the maid or the Property Manager or the Superintendent took her up? How about that for an alternate theory?"

They had copies from the key card reader. Staff key cards had one identifier, tenant cards another. There was no video footage. As a courtesy to the masters of the universe that paid them, there were no camera's in or around the Penthouse elevator. Plausible disability Alex thought. It wouldn't do to see a prominent figure and his horny prostitute on the way up to their sugar shack.

Alex sighed "Let's go over your schedule on those 2 days. October 21st and October 22nd."

"I'm here as a kindness. My civic duty" He looked at his watch. "But I have a meeting at 1pm."

Alex checked the clock 12:15 "It won't take long." She wondered if her hard exterior was putting him off. If she needed to compromise her values a little. She hoped there was a hint of flirtation in there somewhere.

He smiled "I do find it so hard to say no to a beautiful woman."

She smiled softly.

"I'd like to date you." he said it abruptly, without hint of a question.

"Would you?" she reeled a little. He was playing out this Don Juan persona but without humour or boundaries. She looked into his dark eyes searching for humanity beneath the slick layer of charm. But he honestly viewed himself as irresistible.

"Very much."

"Well this is a first for me, and for this room."

He grinned, those teeth, those eyes, the allure of the golden ratio. Alex had to admit she was affected even though she knew exactly what she was sitting in front of. On the street, in a bar, it would be like being hit over the head with a love stick. If you went for his type. The perfect type.

Alex shrugged "Maybe if you're helpful..." she left it open ended and the almost got wind burn at how quickly he launched into his calendar.

"I'll spare you the boring details of my work day but on the 21st I met with Stanley we had a noon hour drink at the Whistle and Hound pub. He suggested I take the penthouse for a few days. I didn't need it, strictly speaking, but a luxury mini vacation?" he shrugged "I went to the apartment. Everything was in order. I met your Jane Walston on my way to an early dinner, 6? Maybe 6:30? After our unfortunate collision we spoke, as I told you, I saw her wedding ring and didn't push it. I went to dinner.

"Alone?"

"Alone. Sushi, at the Dragon Roll. Check please."

"We will. And on Saturday the 22nd?"

"Slept in, went into the office at about 12pm for a few hours, had an appointment to have my car detailed which took over an hour." he smiled at the lift of her brows "A standing appointment. Got groceries. Got back to the apartment that night around 7pm and ate in." He said it all like a script, no pauses.

She made copious notes at that point in personal shorthand. Even with the recordings nothing beat impressions formed in the moment.

He interrupted her scrawl. "You have my timeline, can I have your number?"

"Mr..."

"Tyler." he cut her off.

"Tyler. The card reader on the dedicated penthouse elevator records every time the key card is inserted. Two cards were issued to Stanley Tilton. The second card was used shortly after the first." She ruffled through her sheets finding the stats she sought "8:07pm October 21st. Who used the second card?"

"I…" he faltered and it was like music to her ears.

"Was it Jane?"

"No"

"Was it Jane?"

"Repeating it doesn't make it so."

She glared. "You're lying to me about Jane." she said standing as if his lie deal breaker, not the fact that he was a murderer.

"Okay sit." She fed his ego by obeying without comment, slowly lowering back into the chair. He extended his arms across the table and flexed his fingers. As if gesturing for her. She edged back. He moved forward pushing his hands even closer to her. And her insides bucked at her the prospect. Holding hands with a killer. Everything in her life up to this moment screamed walk away. And yet she found herself clasping them letting his large pale palms envelope hers. A tremor went through her.

"It was just sex. She came up of her own will. She left unharmed."

"Jane?"

"Yes Jane."

Alex felt his admission of culpability was just a breath, a nudge, maybe a slimy caress away. She just wasn't sure what more she could do. There was civility in interrogation even though the subjects were suspected of heinous crimes still they were human. If the perp wanted a snack they got a snack. If they were thirsty they got a drink. Well all this particular deviant seemed to want was her and there weren't any other petite blonde officers on the 11th floor of 1 Police Plaza that she could feed to the beast.

"Did you put your hands around her throat?" she tilted her head back a little exposing her neck and herself to the worst kind of harm. He reached up tentatively to touch what she offered. But she stayed him. "Only if you tell me." she drew a firm line.

"She wanted it, she was about to climax she begged for me to squeeze."

"And you did?"

"Yes." he reached up for his prize but she was already stumbling back, knocking the chair over in her haste to be away from this maniac. Mirandizing someone had never felt so satisfying.

Outside the room Bobby was there pacing and rubbing his neck. When he saw her he turned away. And she knew instinctively that he was about to explode. Hannah was there too but by contrast his reaction was effusive.

"Great job detective. Now go loofah those hands." he smiled.

"Bobby I…" she said tentatively when it was just the two of them, needing his feedback maybe a warm glance or touch. Her hands were trembling. For years she'd watched him with perps in interrogation sitting beside them, get in their face, pulling them around the room, hugging them, dancing with them. But she never had. It had always turned her stomach a little his intimacy with evil. In contrast Alex was always herself in that room stand-offish, procedural. snarky. Today she'd been Bobby Goren and she felt drained, exhilarated, still mildly terrified.

She needed him. She needed him to bring her down. To help her find normal again.

"Bobby?"

His back. Broad and closed and blank. That was all he offered.

"Not now Eames."

But she couldn't stop herself she fired. "What is your problem? We got the guy."

"Not now." he annunciated detoxing from all he'd seen and felt.

She stared at his back for a moment. Then she left the room.