A/N: New chapter! Enjoy! One or two more chapters to complete this story!

The Day of Love and Friendship

Chapter 6

By the time Grissom, Sara, and Chief Barton returned to the station, two of the police officers had talked to several regular customers at the butcher shop who remembered Maggie's bandaged wrist and a black eye. One said the black eye was so severe that Maggie had taken to wearing sunglasses in the shop.

The myth of the ideal husband was quickly fading.

As Juan drove to Aurora's house, the chief asked Sara, "What would you do if your man knocked you about?"

Sitting side by side in the rear seat of the police department's truck, Grissom's fingers caressed Sara's hand as he said, "Are you talking about me or one of those she didn't marry?"

Chief Barton laughed. "Not you—one of those others."

Sara glanced at her husband and then took a deep breath. Her fingers tightened and relaxed against the warmth of her husband's hand. She said, "It is easy to say one wouldn't put up with it and think it wouldn't happen a second time. But if one had no other means of support, nowhere to go, everyone thinks he's a nice man—in this case, a handsome man—if she loves him—people are strange."

Barton said, "You said 'a second time'—I wonder if there comes a final straw—maybe the second time, maybe the twenty-second time."

Sara agreed, thinking this man knew nothing of her parent's history, as she said, "In this case, we know Alex Mincho had been beating his wife—and when the right people were asked about it, it seems it was common knowledge among his customers—especially the women. What we have are three women telling us the same story—only now we know one of them was his mistress—and Aurora likely knew about his abuse. Yet, I can't see Maggie or Neva killing Alex because of an affair."

Both men agreed.

She continued, "If Maggie killed him, why is Aurora giving her an alibi? If Neva killed him—again, why is Aurora giving an alibi? And Maggie was the only one with blood on her clothes."

Turning off the main highway, they traveled several miles on a narrow shell road lined with dense growth to a small farm. Aurora and her husband were working a large vegetable patch fenced with corrugated sheets of tin fastened to wooden posts. She was not surprised to see them.

Her reply to the chief's greeting was, "No point in denying it, is there?" She shrugged, adding, "You can't keep a secret around here."

For a moment, all four thought she was admitting to killing her lover.

Then Aurora said, "I needed a change of scenery but that's over and I'm back here."

Shaking his head in confusion, Chief Barton said, "Neither of you gave us information about—about your relationship with the butcher."

Aurora's husband snorted and stalked away toward a small building.

"We need to question your husband about where he was that day," said the chief.

At his comment, Aurora laughed, saying, "He hasn't left this plot of land in two-three years except to go to the bar at the end of the road." She looked at Sara, adding, "A woman gets tired of that—Alex was fun and when he offered that apartment in town, I took it."

Sara looked at the woman who appeared untouched by the recent death of her lover. She said, "It's a bit odd that you and your lover's wife arrived at the shop at the same time and found him dead, don't you think?"

"I knew she'd be there and I wanted to tell her it was finished between Alex and me." She drew a long breath. "It was a physical thing—the way he looked—I couldn't get enough of him until I realized he wasn't going to leave her. God knows I don't know why—he said going to bed with her was like banging into a coat hanger."

Sara bit her lip and looked away from the woman at the same moment Aurora raised her hand and brushed back a lock of hair.

Grissom almost missed it—an odd mark on Aurora's palm. He said, "What happened to your hand?"

Even as she curled her fingers, Grissom knew instantly what had caused it. Across her palm was a fading bruise, longer than it was wide, and a small crescent shaped cut; an unusual wound unless one had wielded a tenderizer mallet using extreme force.

"Open your hand," ordered Chief Barton.

As Aurora opened her hand, Sara had a sudden revelation; the three women had told the same story, almost word for word. Maggie and Neva had been robotic in the way they had repeated what had happened.

She said, "You killed him, Aurora. Was it because he wouldn't leave his wife?"

The woman lifted her chin, defiant, silently challenging Sara.

In a flash, Sara knew the answer. It was not because Alex would not leave his wife—it was because Alex had beaten his wife; Aurora had witnessed it and had taken up the mallet to defend Maggie.

Quietly, Sara said, "You were defending Maggie—Alex was hitting her and you saw it. You grabbed the first thing you could reach and hit him—and kept hitting him—again and again until he was dead."

After a long moment of silence, Aurora dropped her chin, slightly, and said, "I'd do it again. He'd lied to me for weeks."

In an unusual turn, Aurora's husband served coffee and cinnamon flavored cookies as they sat around an outdoor table while Aurora told the truth of what happened. The coffee was fresh and hot, brewed as Chief Barton called the station simply saying Aurora had confessed to the murder.

As Aurora told how events had unfolded that day, Sara watched in amazing awe as a free ranging giant tortoise followed a long established trail into the dense growth surrounding the small farm. Aurora turned to see the animal slowing disappearing into the brush and broke her narrative to say:

"He's been using that trail since I came here—has a wallow hole down there."

She picked up where she'd stopped. On the day of the murder, she had spent the morning in the apartment waiting for Alex to finish his morning hours and close the shop at midday. They were kissing and hugging, "making out for a while", she said when Alex heard someone in the shop.

"He put his shirt back on and went downstairs and then I heard him shouting—I went downstairs and he had Maggie cornered, hitting her face, slapping her around. She looked like a scared puppy—just letting him hit her like that. Next thing I knew, I had that meat hammer in my hand and he was on the floor."

Chief Barton asked, "Were you in danger? Did he know you were there?"

Aurora's husband had remained at the table and she glanced in his direction before answering. "We were all in danger from a man like Alex. He'd lie to your face—go to church where everyone thought he was such a good man—he was never a good man. He was a cheater who beat his wife and then denied he ever did it." She pushed her hair back and briefly smiled. "I think a lot of good-looking men are like that."

"How did Neva get involved in this?" Grissom asked.

"That's Maggie's daughter—I don't know her—or didn't before that day. We—I cleaned up, went back upstairs and washed off, changed my clothes, and came back down. Maggie was sitting on the floor crying when the girl walked in—she thought her mother had killed him, I guess. But real quick, I told them what we would say—made them repeat it two or three times. She—Neva decided she'd be the one who found him and would say she called her mom. She dialed her mother's phone so if anyone checked phones, it looked like she'd called."

"What happened to your clothes?" asked Sara.

Waving a dismissive hand, Aurora said, "I rolled my shirt up and stuck it in a drawer. When I left, I took it in my bag—no one thought to look in it. Everyone believed we'd found him like that—three women saying the same thing. I worried about Neva being charged because she said she found him but if we said the same thing, we'd be okay."

Aurora took a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders, saying, "You can arrest me and haul me to jail. I could use a good rest—only back a week and I'm tired of this place."

The chief, dumbfounded at what he had heard, said, "You know we have two small cells for drunks or people who fight. I'm not taking you to jail but promise me you won't leave the island. People are going to be watching you so don't do anything stupid." He turned to her husband, asking, "Do you feel okay about this? Keeping her here until I can get her to court? She'll probably go to prison but you never know—these lawyers now-a-days can talk a judge into anything."

The man, who had spoken few words, said, "She'll be fine here—I've never hit her or anyone or anything else and she'll have some work to do before you take her to court. She knows she was foolish to take up with that man."

Driving back, the four who had witnessed the denial and then the confession were quiet.

Grissom broke the silence when he said, "Neva believed her mother did it—that's how Aurora got her to go along. Aurora acted with great presence of mind—and she'll claim she feared for her life."

Juan, who had remained silent for the entire visit, said, "She won't serve a day. Not sure she should—not that I believe in killing, but sometimes, it happens and not many people will miss Alex Mincho. In a week, he'll be known as an evil man who beat his wife and a lot of people will say good riddance."

The chief pointed to a clearing along the side of the road where a male tortoise, bobbing his head, was slowly moving toward a female tortoise. He said, "Now, those two have the right idea about how to spend Valentine's Day, I'd say!"

Grissom laughed, saying, "She may try to run away."

Sara nudged him in the ribs, laughing, as she said, "Nope, he's got her attention—look how her tail is extended! She's showing off!"

As everyone laughed, the chief turned, adding, "Those animals were hunted almost to extinction—and history records say the fat from a Galapagos tortoise compares to the best olive oil made."

"I did not know that," Sara said.

"We'll never know," said Juan. "If anyone tried to eat one around here, they'd be stoned to death."

Sara settled back into the seat; Grissom placed his arm around her and pulled her into a side hug. "Aurora gets to spend a few days with her husband. Maggie and Neva can dance on Alex's grave—and I'm going to spend the rest of this day with the woman I love."

He touched Sara's cheek with a kiss.

Laughing, the chief said, "Better drop these two off at their place, Juan. No use making a scene for the tourists!"

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter- and a bit of GSR coming up!