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Chapter 54

Harper walked into Taggert's office. "I have some reports."

"Which ones?" The detective asked leaning back in his chair. Right now they had a suspect, and only circumstantial proof tying her to the crime and two verbal threats to the victim. Emily had died five days ago, and the media was having a field day with the murder. If they ever found Robin her lawyer was going to need to request a change of venue, because everyone around here knew the details of the case. In addition to that the officers were beginning to suspect that Mac knew where his niece was and wasn't speaking up. The sooner they got some answers the faster all these rumors could be put to rest.

"One is a missing person's report." Harper said taking a seat. "Stefan Cassadine called from Greece. It seems we aren't the only ones who can't reach Nikolas." They had been looking for him since they learned he had dinner with Emily the night she was poisoned. He had a voicemail from Robin shortly after Ms. Quartermaine was admitted to the hospital. Now no one could find either one of them. "I sent an officer over to the island again. Still no Nikolas, but Cassadine's housekeeper was over to clean and she said she hasn't seen her boss in a few days. The butler was questioned in Aruba where he is vacationing, he hasn't heard from Cassadine."

Taggert had worked with Harper long enough to know what was on his mind. "It is looking more and more like Nikolas is with Robin."

"My report helps that theory along." Harper told his colleague. "Cassadine was in Emily's apartment the night she got sick."

"Really?" Taggert said surprised. The report stated that the younger man's fingerprints had been found in the unit. In the bathroom and kitchen. According to the manager of the building Emily's unit had been cleaned that afternoon so his visit had to be sometime after that. Since no one was in the unit after Emily went to the hospital that narrowed the time line considerably.

"According to prelim tox reports the poison was mixed into chocolate pudding. We found two containers in the trash, they only had three sets of prints on them. Emily Quartermaine, Robin Scorpio, and an unknown female. The containers are from Kelly's." Harper told his colleague.

"When did they leave Kelly's?" Taggert was wondering if maybe they were looking at product tampering.

"Tuesday." Harper had gone over to get this information himself. "Emily placed a lunch order, and the pudding was part of that."

"There is no reason for Robin's prints to be on those containers." Taggert said shaking his head, it really wasn't looking good for Mac's niece. "Who put the order together?"

"That day Courtney and Penny were working. Ruby isn't sure which one of them put the order together. Courtney took it. Penny is currently out of town, on vacation. I left a voice mail asking her to call me. I also called the local police to confirm she is there, which they did. Courtney is out sick, but a visit to her apartment didn't get a response." Harper explained. They would need a warrant to enter.

"Do either one of them dislike Emily?" Taggert asked thinking out loud not expecting an answer. "I'll take Courtney." Both women would need to be looked at. If it wasn't one of them then they would look at the rest of the staff. "The funeral is planned for this weekend. Claire wants us in attendance."

"I figured as much." Harper said getting up. "I'll let you know if anything else comes in."

"Thanks." Taggert said getting back to his paperwork.


At the same time Harper was giving his report to Taggert, Cooper was giving his report to Francis. After hanging up the phone the older man took a second to just think. He needed to go down the hall and tell Jason. Today was his boss's first day back at work. He wasn't doing anything but sitting in his office, but it was important that he start getting his life back on its normal schedule. No one was thinking Jason was done grieving, but they understood the comfort that came from an everyday routine. Elizabeth had gone to the art center today, and Angie reported she was barely hanging on.

Feeling he was ready Francis called everyone who needed to be present and told them to meet him in Jason's office in ten minutes. He wanted to tell his friend alone first. Walking into the office he closed the door behind him. "Cooper just reported in."

"What did he say?" Jason wanted to know. He had been staring at the wall for the last half hour. In fact he was getting ready to call it a day when Francis walked in.

"There's been a break in the case." Francis started there. "The poison was in chocolate pudding that Emily got from Kelly's. She ordered a number seven sandwich and dessert. The order had one pudding, but two arrived. Both were poisoned." Francis had more information to share, and when he did Jason wasn't going to like it.

"She didn't order lunch on Wednesday." Jason said confused.

"The staff at the Art Center ordered lunch on Tuesday." Francis said watching as Jason paled. "Emily must have taken the pudding cups up to her apartment and she and Nikolas ate them after their date." He was going to ask Renaldo what Nadine remembered from that day.

"A number seven." Jason said as his heart rate increased.

There was a knock on the door and Francis let the guys' in. "What's wrong with Jason?" Johnny wanted to know.

"Who was working, the day the order was placed?" Jason asked standing up.

"What order?" Cody asked looking between his bosses. Francis explained what he had just told Jason. "Is the order significant?"

"Elizabeth almost always orders a number seven." Johnny said also making the connection.

"Emily wasn't the target. Elizabeth was." Jason said sitting down again as his legs went weak. This was not something they could have stopped, Emily's death was proof of that. If his girl hadn't forgotten to pick up her cap and gown then she would be dead now. As harsh as it sounded he was glad Elizabeth was unharmed, he loved his sister but a world without his girlfriend in it wasn't even one he wanted to think about.

"Courtney was working when the order was placed. The containers have Robin, and an unknown female's prints on them. Along with Emily's." Francis told the guys. The guys just knew those prints belonged to Sonny's sister.

"Courtney and Robin were working together?" Shawn said stunned. It had always been a possibility but not one they put a lot of stock in.

"We know why Courtney left now." Johnny said shaking his head. "We need to have her picked up and brought back."

"I don't want Elizabeth to know this." Jason said looking at his crew. "I don't want her to go through the rest of her life feeling guilty that she is alive and Emily isn't." Jason's voice cracked and he had to clear his throat.

"We can call Stan and have him hack into the crime lab. We can make it so the prints don't come back to Courtney." Shawn suggested.

"We can go through Ruby's payroll and pick a random employee." Cody added on.

"No." Francis said shaking his head. "We need the prints to come back to Courtney. I'm sure Ruby has already been questioned, which means the police know who was working. Once they match the prints they are going to start looking for Courtney. That's just too big of a link to overlook."

"With Courtney out of the country and Robin already missing it looks like they both fled." Jason said joining the conversation again. "Have Courtney picked up today and held." They would use the wrong assumption by the police to their advantage.

Francis nodded. "The police are also looking for Nikolas. Stefan called and said he couldn't reach his nephew."

"Do we want to lay a fake paper trail?" Johnny asked his boss. A few false sightings to make the police think that he was on the lam with Robin, and maybe Courtney too.

"No." Jason wasn't going to be able to stay here much longer. He needed to go home and see his girl. He just needed to make sure she was okay. "I'm going to offer a reward, Edward probably will as well. The lure of money will guarantee that people call in with sightings." He stood up. "Call me when Courtney is in custody. We will figure out how and when to bring her back. I need to go home." He said before walking out of his office.

"Why would Robin do this?" Shawn didn't know her well. He hadn't come to work for Sonny until after she was in Europe.

"I have no idea. There is no indication that she was angry or even jealous of Elizabeth. We know Courtney was jealous and wanted Jason for herself so that explains why she would go along with the plan. Maybe the second pudding was intended for Emily all along. Her love of chocolate rivaled Elizabeth's. Maybe Robin saw an opportunity and took it. It looks like Nikolas was collateral damage." Francis said trying to figure this out.

"Robin accused Jason of replacing her, with a look-a-like model." Cody told the other men. "When she ran into Jason the day Elizabeth's parents arrived. She pointed out all the similarities between her and Liz. She didn't like it when Jason pointed out all the differences. Maybe she did want him back. She was probably going to get rid of Courtney next."

"Robin's public threats and her violations of her restraining order are going to make the police believe she did this." Francis told the crew. From where he was standing Robin did indeed look guilty. Monica had figured it out first, and acted.

"I don't want to believe it." Johnny said shaking his head. "Robin wasn't a bad person, but I can't see Courtney walking into the lab and helping herself to that compound. The labs are pass coded."

"Plus how would she know about it?" Shawn brought up another point. "I'd never even heard of the stuff before this."

"So are you thinking that Robin gave the poison to Courtney and they just waited for an opening?" Cody asked Francis.

"It's the only thing that could have happened. Robin just stopping by and chatting with Courtney about killing people while she was working would have been reported by Ruby." Francis shrugged. "I will need to speak to Scott. I want to know what he is planning on doing."

"This is a high profile case, I can't see him letting it go easily." Johnny replied before everyone headed out.


Penny came in and voluntarily gave a fingerprint sample. Courtney's were lifted from her time card. It only took a few minutes to find a match to the set on the plastic container. Taggert had no choice but to go talk to Mac. "I need to talk with you." The detective said walking into the commissioner's office.

"Sure." Mac indicated his colleague should sit.

"Actually we need this conversation to be official." Taggert really hated this. "We have new evidence in the case. Call your union rep."

"That's not necessary." Mac said standing up.

"Mac, I'm advising you to call your rep." Taggert didn't want to hurt his friend.

"Let's go." Mac said walking down to the interrogation room. It didn't surprise him that Scott was waiting.

The D.A. had already been contacted by Francis. He confirmed that they intended to prosecute both women for murder. And Nikolas for aiding fugitives in a flight from justice. "Have a seat. How long until your rep arrives."

"I'm waiving representation." Mac explained.

"Alright." Scott wasn't going to argue. "Let's get on with this. I have other things to do today."

Taggert read Mac his rights. "Does Robin know Courtney Matthews?"

"Yes." Mac answered, he knew enough to not volunteer information.

"How well?" Taggert wanted to know. He wasn't going to show his hand too quickly. The longer Robin remained missing the more the detective began to also question if maybe Mac didn't know where she was. Or that maybe he called his brother and told him his daughter was in trouble. It wasn't in the realm of impossible to think that Robert helped Nikolas, Robin, and Courtney disappear. Taggert doubted that Robert or Anna would come in for questioning.

"I know Robin went to Kelly's a couple of times to see Courtney on her way to work, and that they went drinking at Jake's at least once." Mac answered the question. From his viewpoint nothing about any of those times was incriminating.

Taggert just looked at Scott. Robin going to Kelly's specifically to see Courtney first thing in the morning when the diner wasn't that busy might have been a good time to pass along the poison, and information on how to use it. At the moment neither woman's cell phones provided any help as to when they might have talked.

Scott put a photograph on the table. "Emily was poisoned with a compound from Robin's lab. It was put in two orders of chocolate pudding and delivered along with a lunch order from Kelly's. This is one of the containers. Your niece's fingerprints are on it."

Mac looked at the picture and back at the D.A. "Any number of people come into contact with these containers. I've seen them sitting on the counter while the waitresses put them away."

"The only prints on this and the other container we removed from Emily's apartment were hers, Robin's, and Courtney's." Taggert said quietly.

Mac looked at the picture again. "I can't see Robin being careless enough to leave fingerprints."

"Maybe Courtney said she was going to wipe them down, but forgot." Scott thought the blonde woman was an idiot. "The compound is not common. And the only place in Port Charles it can be found is in your niece's lab. We pulled the security records and no one else has been in that lab since she started. The only way that substance could get into the pudding was if Courtney put it there, and the only way she could get it is if Robin gave it to her." Scott would use this same argument if they made it to court, which he didn't think was going to happen. Something told him Jason was going to find everyone involved first. "Do you know where your niece is? If she turns herself in, this will be easier for her."

"I don't know where Robin is." Mac said understanding that Scott would be able to convince a jury that his niece was guilty. Her own behavior in the weeks leading up to the murder, and the weapon used would make a jury convict her. If Jason let her live that long.

"Mac, if you know you need to tell us. Otherwise you could be facing charges as well for hiding her." Taggert didn't envy the position his friend was in.

"I don't know where Robin is." Mac said shaking his head. He needed to call Robert and Anna to find out what they knew. Even if they didn't know where Robin was, they might be able to find her. If Nikolas was hiding her that might be a tall order. Money could buy a lot of silence. "Are we done?"

"Yes." Scott said sitting back in his chair. He didn't speak again until Mac left the room. "Put an officer on him. Someone good."

"You think he's lying." Taggert looked at the D.A. "You are being surprisingly professional about this." The detective didn't bother to hold his tongue. "You hate Morgan, yet you are seeking justice for his sister."

"I do hate Jason, with everything in me." Scott said being honest. But the fear was bigger than the hate, which was keeping him alive. "His sister never did anything to me, she was an innocent victim in all this. I'm good at my job, and I will get her justice." Scott said standing up. "Wasn't Cooper Barrett in the military?" He didn't even realize he was putting Jason's guy on Mac.

"Yeah, this would be a good assignment for him." Taggert said standing as well. "How long will the mayor give us?" As a small town police force they couldn't afford surveillance for a long period of time.

"I'm guessing a few weeks. Edward was a major contributor to her campaign." Scott said matter of factly. "Stay on top of this." He instructed before leaving the room.


At midnight a Morgan International freighter docked at pier fifty-one in Port Charles. The guys offloaded the cargo. They weren't particularly worried about most of the merchandise, but one box was treated with kid gloves. It was carefully taken off the ship, and just as carefully loaded into a waiting truck.

The truck drove to another warehouse where the box was again carefully unloaded. Cody used a crowbar to pry off the top and one side. With the wooden panels out of the way. Shawn was able to see Courtney. She was unconscious having been drugged for the trip. Cody took her pulse, and nodded indicating she was indeed still alive. "Take her down the hall." He instructed. She would wait here until Jason was ready to deal with her. Probably after his sister's funeral.

"All done." Cody said coming back down to where his friend was waiting. "According to the paper in the crate she'll come around some time tomorrow." The doctor had included care instructions just in case they were necessary.

"Hopefully this will bring Jason some closure." Shawn said as they walked to their cars. It was late and he wanted to get home to his girl.


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