"Okay, Katherine, hold still so I can put this blonde wig on," Aunt Jenna lifts her onto the countertop. Once the hair is perfect, Jenna reaches for her tube of pink lipstick and puts a little on her cheeks for blush and to color the little girl's lips. Lastly, she sprinkles some shimmer powder over her niece then lifts her down to work on Elena. As soon as she finishes her magic on her younger niece, Jenna hands them each a pumpkin basket then the three of them leave to go trick or treating.
"Who are you?" their neighbor Honoria Fell asks when she opens the door.
"I'm Aurora you know, Sleeping Beauty?" Katherine holds out her pumpkin, thanking the woman when she drops some Hershey bars into it.
"And you?" Honoria drops some candy into Elena's bucket too.
"I'm Belle," Elena spins around showing off her yellow, ankle length costume dress.
"Me in the company of such pretty princesses," Honoria winks at Jenna.
"Thank you," she smiles at the older woman and nudges the girls to move on when another group of kids come to get treats from her.
When they pass a little boy and girl dressed as bride and groom, Katherine stares at them until they turn the corner.
"What's the matter?" Elena tugs on her sleeve so they can catch up with their aunt.
"Someday, I'm going to marry prince charming," Katherine smiles and grins at her little sister. "Race ya," she squeals and takes off running with Elena hurrying after her.
"Beep, beep, beep," the alarm sounds, startling Elena awake. She glances at the time then flops back onto the pillow. Feeling something hard beneath her shoulder, she pulls it out. Sighing, she reaches up to swipe away the tears that immediately form. It's the picture Jenna took of the two of them that Halloween when she was 4 and Katherine was 9. It seems forever ago now. Then her thoughts go to Noah and Nadia and her sorrow morphs into anger that Katherine will never be able dress her kids in Halloween costumes or take them trick or treating.
Knowing she won't get back to sleep she gets up, showers and hurries downstairs to help with the kids. She, Nik and the kids have all been staying with Ric and Jenna. They will till after the funeral. Then she'll have to return to Galveston to her job or maybe she can take a leave of absence to help with her niece and nephew? That's something she'll have to discuss with her boss.
Finding Jenna in the kitchen, she pulls a cup out of the cupboard and pours herself a cup of coffee. "Are the little ones still sleeping?" she sits down at the table with her aunt.
"Yeah, I changed their diapers and fed them about an hour ago. Nik went to his office to see how much time he can take off and obviously he doesn't want to return to that house so he wanted to see about finding another place or an apartment in Galveston to rent. I didn't mention it but they had a contract, he'll have a place once it's finished being built. And yet that was supposed to be their home. I can't help but wonder how he feels or what he'll do."
"They can stay with me too, I'll have to talk to him about everything," Elena takes a swallow from her mug.
"Elena, you only have a two bedroom place, I don't think it'll be big enough."
"We can get their cribs out of the house and set them up in my room. Nik could have the other one. I want to help, Aunt Jenna, they're all I have left of my sister and damnit, I'm furious about it."
"Good, you should be angry. When they find who did this, it'll take more than cell bars to stop me," Jenna fumes, gets up and refills both their mugs.
"Are you okay watching them for a little while? I need to get something to wear to the funeral and I want to check in with police, see if there's anything new."
"Surely they'd keep us informed?" Jenna squeezes her hand.
"I would hope so but I told Ranger Salvatore in not so many words that I was going to be a burr under his saddle until they catch her killer."
"And what did he say to that?" Jenna smiles.
When his image pops into her head, Elena smiles too for the first time since she found her sister's body, "He said he looks forward to it."
Sitting back in his chair, Damon goes through the evidence they have so far. The two policemen that Enzo sent to West Virginia have talked to their suspect's sister. She denies knowing anything about her brother's alleged crime and claims she never heard of a Katherine Mikaelson. According to the report, she says she's never even left the State. Her brother has yet to be found, seems after returning her vehicle, he took off for parts unknown. They've sent an APB to the border patrol in case he tries to get into Mexico or Canada and to almost every police department from West Virginia to California and beyond.
Frustrated by the lack of progress, he grabs his jacket and leaves the building with the intention of walking through the house so he can try to piece together in his mind how it all played out. "Enzo, come on," Damon gestures at him to follow.
When they arrive at the house, the uniformed officer unlocks the place for them. Damon feels the hairs on the back of his neck bristle but it's not like this is the first homicide scene he's been to. Still the thought of those babies, running around in their mother's blood is chilling to him. After slipping on a pair of rubber gloves, they start their walk through again.
"You found a bullet casing but did you find the bullet?" Damon asks, his hands on his hip.
"Yes," Enzo nods his head.
"We know where her body was, let's get one of our forensic technicians to map out the trajectory of the bullet."
"We did that already," Enzo explains. "The bullet went into her face and cheekbone, went out the base of her neck through the dining room wall into the bedroom then struck that mirror and we pulled it out of the wall here," he takes Damon to show him the path of the bullet.
Cupping his chin with his hand, Damon studies the mirror and then Enzo pushes the dresser away and shows them where they found the bullet. "Good work," he says then continues his careful perusal of the physical evidence, the blood, now dried, is still painting the floor, the cabinets and the walls. The coppery smell permeates the room, there is laundry scattered all over the floor that Mrs. Mikaelson was laying on.
Stopping down, Damon uses his pen to move the blood-stained clothing around, then he runs his gloved finger along the underside of the cupboard, jerking it back when he gets a sliver. Getting on his knees, he looks at the spot and smiles when he finds another bullet embedded in the wood. "Enzo! here," he waves him over.
"How did my people miss that?" Enzo's shocked.
"Don't beat yourself up, can you see it from where you're standing? I only found it because of a sliver," he grimaces and pulls out the little piece of wood. "Get me a tweezer and an evidence bag."
Enzo returns and hands the items to him, Damon carefully extricates the bullet and drops in the bag. After spending a little more time at the house, they leave to go back to the office and log it into the evidence file.
A short while later, Enzo shows up in Damon's office. "We got something on the husband. It seems they took out an insurance policy when they moved here, making the surviving spouse the beneficiary of the estate."
"Get him in here so we can question him. This certainly puts a new wrinkle in the case," Damon shakes his head. "Do we know anything on Barstow yet? Is there any other family that might be a little more cooperative than the sister?"
"No, sister's his only living relative. Our perp seems to have vanished into thin air. And I can't bring Mikaelson in today, it's her funeral."
"We'll find him, I promised Miss Gilbert that her sister would get justice. We're keeping that promise," Damon glances at his watch, "I'm going to make an appearance, you coming?" he slips his jacket and hat on then with Enzo on his heels, they jump into his mustang and head to the church.
Wednesday November 7, 2017
The sun is shining brightly as it did only 5 days ago. The day should be cold, damp and the air silent. But the birds still sing and trees still bloom. Elena walks through the churchyard like a silhouette of herself, wishing she was as insubstantial as the shadows so that her insides don't feel so mangled. With Ric, Jenna, Jeremy accompanying her, they walk inside and take their seats. Her tears have dried, having been replaced by anger and the vow she made herself that her sister will get justice for what was done to her.
Looking to her right, she sees Nik along with his parents, the twins, Finn, Kol, Elijah and Rebekah all here to support their brother. His father looks over, giving her a silent nod and then takes his wife's hand.
Her eyes raise when the organ starts playing, the aroma of frankincense fills her nostrils. Inside she feels a plethora of emotions, numbness, emptiness, pain, but anger is the predominant one.
Words from the celebrant, speeches at the service, especially from uncle Ric and aunt Jenna, nearly undo her resolve not to cry. Nik's brother Elijah's words are just as poignant, telling the story about how her sister tamed the irrepressible Niklaus Mikaelson.
When the ceremony continues after the eulogies, Elena looks around, her brows lifting when she meets Ranger Salvatore's blue eyes staring right into her brown ones. He nods and she returns the gesture. For whatever reason, it means something that he's here to show her sister the respect she deserved not only in life but also in death.
After the service they all meet in the church hall to have a meal. Elena's outside chatting with her friend Caroline when she happens to notice the two officers walking towards the parking lot. "Excuse me Caroline, I want to talk to them," she points at Damon and Enzo then hurries to catch up, reaching them as they're opening the car doors.
"Miss Gilbert," Damon takes his hat off. "How can we help you?"
"Ma'am," Enzo nods.
"I just wanted to say that it was a nice gesture for you to show up today. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Damon slips his hat back on his head.
"Anything new? It's been 5 days, well past those 48 hours," she looks at Damon.
"Look, Miss Gilbert," he stops when she raises her palm.
"Please call me Elena, and can you tell me anything?"
"I can tell you we have a suspect but this person isn't in custody yet. We have notified the FBI, police all over the country. We won't rest until we find and make Katherine's killer face justice."
"I'm holding you to it," her eyes drift from Damon to Enzo. "Thanks again for making an appearance, I need to get back to my family," she turns on her heels and walks off.
Damon and Enzo watch until she disappears inside the building, "I don't think she's kidding," Enzo chuckles and slides into the passenger seat.
"Oh she means it alright," Damon turns the key and drives away, knowing that he'll do whatever it takes to keep his promise to Elena.
Damon's face is buried in a report when suddenly the sound of a door slamming commands his attention. Looking up, he pushes back on the chair and stands up. "Elena, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" she repeats herself. "How dare you bring my brother in law in here to give him the third degree? He's grieving, he has babies to care for. He didn't kill Katherine," she spews, her face red with anger.
"Elena, often the killer is someone the victim knows..."
"That may be but it's not true in this case. Nik was crazy in love with my sister. He treated her like an angel."
He swallows a comment that under the right circumstances even the most in love husbands could... "Enzo is just asking him about some information we only just became aware of. We haven't charged him with anything," Damon tries to placate her.
"What information?"
"I'm not at liberty to say. You'll have to ask him."
"You're infuriating," she tightens her lips.
"Elena, you told me you were going to make sure we're covering all the bases. How would you feel if I just ignored what could be a lead simply because it's uncomfortable for you? I understand your anger, it's righteous but I have to do my job - for Katherine."
She deflates visibly. "He didn't do it, I trust him implicitly."
"I hope you're correct, I really do," Damon sits down when she takes a seat.
"Have you found anything out on Wes?"
"It's hard to find someone when all we know is a first name."
"As much as the thought of going back into that house kills me, maybe I can find something in her stuff and we could use the cribs if that's possible?"
"I'll take you over there whenever you're ready."
"I'll never be ready to go back into that blood bath but if I can find something that helps you find her killer, I'll do it a heartbeat."
"Do you want to go now or pick a date?"
"Now's as good a time as any," she drops her eyes when her gut erupts with a churning sensation. Elena stands and takes a deep breath, rubs her clammy hands over her jeans, then grabs her keys and her purse. She lets out another breath, trying to gather her courage, before walking to the door.
Thank you all so much for all the reviews, follows and favorites. It means so much that people still love Damon and Elena. I haven't watched any reruns for awhile but they'll always be in my heart - Eva's too.
We'll see you next week with chapter 5 and a little something for Valentine's Day.