As soon as they land in Richmond, Damon says goodbye to Elijah, rents a car and heads to the Ashland, Virginia Police Department. The city is 18 miles from Richmond and the location of Mr. Gerard's photography studio.
Deep into autumn and nearly winter, the road stretches before him like a great quilt of golden and brown squares. It rises and falls like giant waves on a gentle ocean. Occasionally there is a patch of trees or a farmhouse.
When he arrives and steps out of the car, the crisp breeze tousles his hair and pinks his cheeks. The leaves dance from branches to the ground, each a colorful flag without strings or poles, free to roam. The breeze is rich with the aroma of the earth as it's the keeper of the seeds for the springtime to come. There is a calmness, as if all the gold, berry-reds, yellows and browns that flutter about are a cozy patchwork quilt.
He smiles at the beauty of mother nature and almost immediately in contrast - his face slackens as his thoughts slip once again to the wasted life of one fine young woman who had everything in life and will never be able to enjoy it.
Because of some lowlife bastard and perhaps a poor choice of lovers? Why do his thoughts always go back to the mysterious Wes? Perhaps Elena planted them in his mind?
Pulling the door open, he walks inside and approaches the information desk. "I'm," he pulls out his badge, "Ranger Damon Salvatore. I'm here to see Chief Bennett."
"Sure, let me see if she's free," the young man, Luke Parker, his name badge says, picks up the phone and after a few words, he steps from behind the desk to show Damon to her office.
"Ranger Salvatore," Sheila greets him at the door.
"Hello Captain Bennett. Thank you for seeing me."
"Have a seat and why don't you tell me why you're visiting our fine city?"
"I'm here on a murder case, a young mother brutally murdered in her home in front of her children. The man who killed her is dead but we have reason to believe that there's more to the crime."
"A conspiracy?" she hands him a cup of coffee then sits at her desk.
"Thank you. We have nothing concrete, it's rather...," he pauses for a moment, "just a feeling, I'm sure you're aware of it," he takes a swallow. "Good coffee."
"Only the best for my officers. And yes, I know that feeling all too well. How can I help you?"
"I need to get a warrant to get some photographs from a Marcel Gerard. He assured me he would cooperate but would like a search warrant."
"Marcel's a good man. He took that picture," she points to one of herself in her dress blues sitting on top of a bookshelf.
"Nice portrait, he does excellent work."
"Yes, he does. If you need a warrant, we'll need to pay a visit to Judge Lockwood. I'll come with you," she finishes her coffee then gestures for Damon to lead the way.
Grabbing her jacket on the way out, she tells Luke where she'll be then follows Damon outside. "We'll take my car, the courthouse is in Hanover, it's about 7 miles from here," she adds and Damon trails after her, sliding into the passenger seat when she unlocks it.
"That's Marcel's studio," she points to it when they pass the brick building.
"Thanks, now I know how to find it."
"Do you have reason to believe there's someone else involved in the murder?" Sheila makes conversation.
"Just that our vic and her husband left Virginia under the cover of darkness so no one would know where they went. They only told her sister and his parents their whereabouts. From what her husband told us, her ex lover didn't take the breakup well."
"It wouldn't be the first time nor will it be the last."
"Sadly, you're right," Damon agrees, his eyes watching the scenery as it passes.
"We're here," the chief pulls into the courthouse, parks the car and then the two of them go into the building to meet with the Judge.
With their search warrant in hand, their next stop is Gerard Photography Studio. Damon holds the door open for Sheila, allowing her to enter first. Hearing the bell above the it ring, a man looks up and smiles.
"Sheila, how are you?" he comes around his desk, shakes her hand then offers his to Damon.
"Mr. Gerard, I'm Damon Salvatore, we talked on the phone yesterday."
"You brought Sheila along for reinforcements?" he winks at her and chuckles.
"There's strength in numbers," Damon plays along, handing the man the warrant he requested.
"I got the photo you faxed me. Come, I have the file on my computer." he leads the two of them into his office, brings up the file, and steps aside so Damon can sit down to view them. Carefully he clicks through the pictures with Sheila and Marcel looking on. A low gasp leaves his mouth when he finds one that must've been a lucky catch. It's a profile of Katherine facing away from the camera, her eyes seemingly on the man that's standing off to the side. Blonde, approximately six foot tall Damon would guess.
"She tried to get him to pose with her but he didn't want his picture taken. He was adamant about that to the point of being rude."
"Can I have a copy of this one?" Damon looks up at Marcel and steps aside, allowing him to sit down and print the picture.
"Here you go," he hands it to Damon.
"Can I see that?" Sheila asks, taking it from him. Perusing it carefully, Damon notices immediately when it clicks. She recognizes him.
"I know this man. He's a physician."
"Are you sure Sheila?" Damon asks, his heart practically pounding out of his chest.
"Yes, my grandaughter recently had her gall bladder removed. He's the surgeon," she points to his face adding, "That was only a few weeks ago."
"Do you remember his name?"
"I have a photographic memory, Ranger Salvatore. His name is Dr. Maxfield."
Feeling the intensity of the moment, Damon turns to Marcel. "Who paid for Katherine Gilbert's photos?"
"Hang on, the man steps back to his desk and finds the copy of the original receipt and hands it to Damon.
"He paid cash for a photo shoot? It wasn't cheap," he turns to Marcel.
"Well, Ranger Salvatore, you get what you pay for. I take pride in my work."
"Hold on, I'm not questioning your talent, obviously your work speaks for itself. I'm just saying that was a lot of cash to be carrying around."
"No offense taken," the men shake hands and after thanking him, Damon and Sheila leave the premises.
"Enzo, I'm going to be here for a couple of days. I think we've identified the mysterious Wes but I haven't been able to talk to him yet," Damon talks to him on the phone while he waits for the receptionist to give him a key card for his motel room.
"We have a little news on this end too. Kai found out that someone named Wesley Maxfield purchased the Tiffany padlock pendant and bead chain. The clerk, who's worked at that store for many years specifically remembered when he showed him Katherine's picture. He said that the man didn't have enough in cash on hand and tried to get them to sell it for what he had. Apparently he got a little irate. When the store's guard threatened to escort him out, he had to pull out his visa."
"That's amazing that he remembered. We're going to have to spring for a few steak dinners when all of this is done," Damon rakes his fingers through his dark locks.
"The guys have earned it."
"Don't say anything to her family. I don't want to get their hopes up. As promising as this sounds, it could easily fizzle out, we have nothing that will hold up in a court of law."
"Agreed. I'll talk to you soon," Enzo ends the call.
Damon clicks it off then turns to face the clerk. "Thank you," he nods, takes the key from her, leaves the lobby to find his room. It's been a long day.
The next morning, Damon receives a call from Captain Bennett asking him to return to the station. He slips the .45 caliber into his shoulder holster, throws his suit jacket on and goes to the lobby to grab a cup of coffee and a pastry from the motel's continental breakfast, enjoying it as he drives back to the Ashland Police Department.
"Good morning," Damon greets Luke when he enters the building.
"Hello Ranger Salvatore, you here to see the chief?"
"If she's available," Damon confirms.
"She is," Luke shows him to the office.
"Ranger Salvatore! Pour yourself a cup of coffee and have a seat."
"It's Damon," he insists and takes a long pull from his cup, savoring the delicious taste of her coffee. "What brand is this?"
"Black Rifle, it's a veteran owned and operated company, a childhood friend of my granddaughter works for them."
"Good to know, now why did you ask me to come back?"
"I did a little snooping on Dr. Maxfield. His record is pretty clear, a couple of speeding tickets, had a DUI but it was pled down so it wouldn't affect his medical school acceptance."
"I flew out here in a hurry, I didn't take time to run by my house and grab my computer. Do you happen to have an address for his office?" Damon slides to the edge of his chair.
It's actually a suite of offices, I mean several physicians rent space in that building, Here you go," she hands him a piece of paper with the location written on it.
"Thank you," Damon stands to shake her hand, "for your invaluable help."
"Anytime, you take care of yourself," she walks him outside, waving when he pulls onto the street and drives away.
While en route, Damon's phone rings so he clicks it on speaker.
"Damon, it's Kai, I have some good news."
"Enzo told me about the pendant," Damon slows down to stop at a red light.
"It's more than that, we finally got the pawn shop's surveillance footage back from the FBI in DC. They have access to NASA software to clean up the blurry images."
"And?" Damon steps on the gas when the light changes, hanging a right turn on the next block.
"The person who pawned Katherine Mikaelson's jewelry was Sloane Barstow."
"Excellent work, Kai on everything. I told Enzo steak's on me when this is all done."
"I'll hold you to it," he chuckles.
"Please do... I also think it's time you and the Huntington PD pay a visit to Miss Barstow."
"I'm already at the airport," Kai laughs.
"It goes without saying but keep me up to speed."
"Talk to you soon, Damon."
"Yep," Damon clicks off the phone then pulls onto 11th avenue, soon reaching his destination and after parking the car, he runs his hand over his shoulder holster then walks towards the building, hoping to meet the elusive Dr. Maxfield.
Trotting up the stairs, Damon pulls open the door and steps aside, nodding at a pregnant woman holding a little boy's hand.
"Thank you," she smiles at him then hurries on her way.
Walking inside, he looks around the interior of the building, there's a nice ambience to the place. Soft colors and tiled floors. Noticing the address board near the elevator, he approaches it and rakes his eyes over it, finally finding Dr. Wesley M. Maxfield - General Surgery on the 7th floor. He tightens his fist when the elevator dings, again backing away enough to allow the occupants to exit before entering himself. He takes a breath when it stops on the seventh floor. Looking left to right, he turns in the direction of the man's office number. When he's still several feet away, he stops short when the man himself appears. Damon stands back slightly and observes, he's talking to a woman, long, wavy blonde hair, tall frame and slender body much like that of a runway model.
Damon turns around to get a swallow from the water fountain when he and the young woman approach and once they're ahead of him, he falls in behind, quickly ducking into their elevator before the doors close. Upon arrival at the ground floor, the doctor kisses the woman, she cups his cheek and smiles before walking into another office suite. Damon picks up the pace and catches up to the man just as he reaches the bottom step.
"Dr. Maxfield?"
He stops and turns, looking at Damon curiously. "Do I know you?"
"No... but I know you," Damon pulls out his badge and shows it to the man. "I'm Ranger Salvatore and I'm here to talk to you about Katherine Gilbert-Mikaelson."
There really are no words to sufficiently thank you all. Your support means everything to us.
Chapter title: 'Photograph' by Ringo Starr.
Huge thanks to Eva for helping me bring these characters to life.
I did post chapter one of "My Heart Will Go On" Tuesday. It's a short period piece set on the "Titanic" and hope you'll give it a look.
Please be safe and take care of yourselves. So far no Corona virus at my hospital, I hope it stays that way. Have a wonderful weekend, we'll see you next week with chapter 10 of this and the next installment of MHWGO.