Working with Ghosts

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N:

Chapter 21 (Crumbling Alibi, Shattered World)

It was the first time she'd seen Freddie smoke an entire cigarette without putting it out or stopping to take a break. Their drive to Andre's hotel was a swift one, and he'd not spoken a word.

The look in his eyes was cold as it was furious, so Jade wasn't pressing him on what was said. All she knew was Andre had come under heavy suspicion. She didn't want to think Andre was the one that shot Beck, and she certainly didn't believe he would be responsible for kidnapping her daughter.

The tires screeched to a halt in the parking space in front of Andre's hotel door. Freddie and Jade exited, and she grabbed her gun when he did. Her eyes scanned the perimeter, then stopped on a familiar apartment complex just across the street. "The Vega crime scene…the hotel looks over it?"

"Jade!" Freddie was standing next to the door with his shoulder pressed against the wall. He motioned with his head and Jade mimicked his position on the other side.

They had the search warrant already, they'd become electronic these days so the judge could deal with them quickly and investigators didn't have to waste precious time when dealing with dangerous suspects.

Freddie knocked firmly on the door and spoke loud and fierce. "Police, open up." When no one responded, Freddie repeated himself with greater force. "We have a warrant." Still there was no reply.

Freddie tried the door, since it was a typical hotel where all the rooms were outside-unlike hotel buildings where everything was inside a large building rather than being fixated similarly to an apartment-the door itself was only unlocked by a key.

This door was unlocked.

As the door opened, they found a grisly scene inside that made the hair on the back of Jade's neck stand. Two young children were laying on the hotel bed, drenched in their blood. Their arms were spread over their chest as though they were lying in a coffin.

"Oh god." Jade turned her head away, wincing as the images of the Vega sisters shot through her. "Those poor girls." Freddie kept his weapon drawn and hurried inside, aiming around the room just in case the killer was still there. Jade did the same.

She approached the bathroom, but it was empty. "No sign of life," she said while holstering her weapon. She left the restroom and saw Freddie examining the girls. "Status?"

"Entry wound to the right temple, exit wounds on the left. Staging suggest nurture." Freddie glanced at the open suitcase on the opposite bed, it was full of clothes that had been folded up. Some clothes had been unpacked. "I'd say they were murdered close to the time they arrived…"

"Their mother should be here. Where is Taylor?"

"Great." He grabbed his radio and brought it to his lips, grunting just before pressing down the talk button. "Going to need units reporting to the Super 8 hotel on Grandview. We have a homicide. Two victims, possible third and a possible suspect on the run."

Once investigators were on the scene, Freddie and Jade departed to the address provided by Ross's parole officer. It was time to confirm Andre's alibi. Jade called up Robbie's prison while they were driving and was able to get ahold of him to confirm Andre's alibi for the time of Lisa's murder.

"How can I help you, Detective Oliver?" Robbie spoke with an eerily calm voice, as if he expected to hear from her. "Have you found further evidence about the Vega girls that you need my help with?"

"Maybe." She glanced out the window and sucked in a deep breath. She had already confirmed that Robbie would be willing to testify against their killer, and right now prison was the safest place for their star witness. "I need you to confirm somebody's alibi."

"Somebody used me as their alibi? Okay, but for what case is this? You know where I was the night of the Vega killing."

"It's connected. Lisa White's murder." She listened as Robbie exhaled and rolled his chair back. "I need you to confirm Andre Harris's alibi." She locked the phone between her head and shoulder and brought a pen to a notepad.

"Andre? That guy?"

"Yeah, he says he was helping you fix Rex that day."

"Rex?" Robbie let out a shallow laugh, followed by a smacking sound. "God it's been so long since I've thought about Rex. I lost that puppet about twelve years ago. The day of Lisa White's murder, Rex was in pristine condition, I had no reason to fix him up."

She pressed her lips together and glanced up from the pad. Andre lied about his alibi on that day. She needed to know why. "Andre wasn't with you?"

"No, but I can tell you something was off about him. I did see him later that day, he was huffing and panting, told me he just had sex with Cat." She jerked her head back looked at Freddie. The phone was loud enough for him to hear, but he was focused on driving. "I thought it was weird, Andre never once displayed an interest in that girl and it was the first time I ever heard anything about a connection between the two. So if he was anywhere that day, he was with Cat."

It was the first time she heard of a connection between the two as well. She doubted the truth of it, but there was always a chance the two wanted to keep it under wraps if true, so she would have to confirm this with the girl.

"Thank you Robbie. I'll let you know if new information turns up." She hung up the phone and saw Freddie shaking his head. "Well, that's one hole possibly punched from his alibi, but our next stop will be the psych ward where Cat's at."

"Yeah, poor girl if she turns out to be his alibi. I don't trust Harris as far as I can throw him."

They parked in front of Ross's new home and met the man at the door. He had on a robe and looked as though he'd just woken from a nap. "Ah detectives." He smirked slightly and motioned them inside. "I just get out of jail and you show up. Can't get enough of me, I see."

"Yeah that's right," Freddie curtly replied, "We need you to confirm somebody's alibi." Ross sat down on a dusty looking couch and gave them a skeptical look. "Andre Harris."

"Who?" Ross scrunched his nose and turned his eyes over to Jade. "That name." His chest expanded and his eyelids fell halfway. "One of those people in your inner circle? I think I remember Trina mentioning his name once. Why would you need me to confirm his alibi? I've had no reason to associate with him."

"He says he was at the Valero gas station the night of their murder." Ross coughed loudly and his eyes shot over to Freddie. "Around the time of their murder and your robbery."

"That's a bold-faced lie." Ross's voice was laced with anger. His hands clenched up and his muscles tightened. "There were only two people there: Myself, and the clerk." Jade brought her hand to her face and winced. It was bad enough that Ross was clearly angry that somebody used him as an alibi, but now he knew something more about a potential suspect in the Vega murder investigation.

"Mr. Harris says you spotted him in the back of the store." Immediately Jade was regretting the decision to ask Ross about the alibi, but it was a necessary step. Still, as dangerous as he was, they could have tried to look at the station security cameras or even have spoken with the clerk or responding officers.

"I never saw anybody there. The reason I picked those two gas stations was because they were empty-I didn't want anybody but the clerks to see me." Ross snapped his fingers and pointed at Freddie. "I'm nothing if not honest. Nobody else was there, and anyone using me as an alibi is a goddamn coward."

The man reclined slowly and locked eyes with Jade. His nostrils flared out and his eyes slanted. "Hold on. You're asking about the Vega murders. You think he killed Trina? This Andre guy?"

"We don't know that for a fact," she answered. It was best to remain calm, since she knew how dangerous he was. She didn't know if he would act out on his prior threat. "I need to make sure you do not act on impulse. He is a suspect, but we have no evidence linking him to the crime yet…and if you go after him, you'll end up right back in the pen."

"Whatever." He crossed his arms and huffed angrily. "He wasn't at the gas station that I robbed. I know that for fact."

They didn't get anything else out of Ross but an assurance that he would not look for Andre. Just in case, they had him put under surveillance.

Their next stop was an incredibly emotional one. The mental ward Cat had herself in. Jade and Freddie stopped in the doorway of the food court and she could feel an incredible heaviness come over her.

Cat was sitting at a table, slowly eating from a tray of food. The nurse said she was one of the better patients there, but when asked if she wished to stop treatment, she would always refused.

She didn't look much different. Her hair was no longer red; these places didn't permit residents to dye their hair. She had it cut around her shoulders, and it was a very light brown color. Her eyes were distant and she had lines around her eyes and mouth that made her appear much older than she actually was.

"Catherine?" Jade sat down in front of her and breathed slowly as the girl's eyes moved at an equal pace to her. There was a sign of recognition, but Cat's only response was to shrug and take another bite of her sandwich. "Cat. You do recognize me?"

"Of course."

"I'm here to talk to you."

"I'm not leaving."

"No." Her heart broke and she shook her hand once in the air. "I need you to confirm an alibi, but I understand if you don't want to discuss it. Still, it will help an investigation." Cat raised her head. Her nose wiggled and the corners of her mouth pressed further into her cheeks. "I'm reworking the Vega murders."

"Okay."

"They're connected to another murder. The murder of Lisa White. Have you heard of her?"

"The girl you and Beck fought over? Yeah. Never met her." Cat brought the sandwich to her mouth and Jade could only watch in silence as the girl chewed her food. Instinctively and without being sure why, she put her hand inside Freddie's and squeezed it. Freddie raised an eyebrow at her and applied a gentle reassuring squeeze.

Right now he was the only person she trusted, and felt like he was the only person she knew. Everyone else, Beck included, had lied to her up to this point. Now, in this sad moment she needed somebody to be there to support, and he was the only one that could be.

It was far too painful seeing Cat like this, and as much as she wanted to scream and cry, and tell Cat she needed to let herself out and live her life, she had to do everything in her power to hold that back.

"Cat. You remember Andre." Cat swallowed her bite and shrugged. "He told us on the day of Lisa's murder he was with Robbie. Robbie informed us that wasn't true, and Andre told him he was with you. Having sex."

Cat lowered the sandwich and stared into Jade's eyes with a look of contemplation. Her eyebrows moved together and her head shook from side to side. "I've never been into Andre in that way, and he was never into me. Sex did not happen."

"I'll understand if he might have f-"

"It did not happen." Her voice grew firm and she spoke each word with a slow and careful tone. So Jade repeated the date of the murder and Cat shook her head again. "I was with my older brother, he was visiting from overseas. Sex wouldn't occur with anyone, my brother wouldn't have allowed it. Sorry Jade. Can't help you. Just like the girls, just like Sam, couldn't help."

"No." She breathed out slowly and reached for Cat's hand. The girl's gaze flew to Jade's hand, and she withdrew her own before Jade could touch it. "You've helped." She placed her palm on the table and smiled through her tears as the girl turned her eyes towards Jade. "More than you know, you've helped. We're close to the killer now."

"You think Andre?"

"I don't know, we don't have evidence linking him to either murder, but you've just destroyed his last alibi." A faint smile appeared on Cat's face. It was a spark of hope for Jade, but she knew the girl had a long way to go before she was willing to take herself out of this place. "Cat, we're going to solve this murder. You deserve to move on, you deserve to live your life, and I hope…I hope one day you'll find your strength. I really do. I miss you."

The smile held on Cat's face for a moment, then faded as she returned to her sandwich. "Goodbye Jade." Cat stood from the table and lifted her tray. "It's been a pleasure." She turned and walked off, disappearing into a hallway.

Jade closed her eyes and felt Freddie pull her into a hug. It was a comfort, and one she desperately needed today. Her entire world was crumbling around her, and she didn't know what to do about it.

Well, Andre's alibi has just been destroyed. Though we've found a lot, and two children are dead-although those two don't appear to fit the MO. I wonder, could their mother have killed them? Is Andre planning on making a final stand? I wonder about Cat, could she have something more to give?