Chapter 10: Menacing Melanie

Office of Sheriff Sofia Curtis
Las Vegas Police Department
The Next Morning
9:30 AM

Catherine Willows, Lindsay Willows, Greg Sanders, Detective Andy Aikers, and Sean Yeager all entered Sheriff Curtis' office to find the sheriff seated at her desk, clad in a light blue button-down shirt, dark pants, and black flat heels with her elegant blue oval reading glasses on. Her hair was done up in a stylish ponytail.

"Good morning, everybody" Curtis said, "Thank you all for keeping me in the loop with this. Detective Aikers tells me you guys found out some surprising information pertaining to one of our suspects."

All 5 colleagues took their respective seats in the leather chairs and couch that furnished the office. "Yes, ma'am" Lindsay began explaining, "Firstly, 'Melody Ward' is in fact not that woman's real name. Greg and I believe that she copied the name from a Nineteen-Eighteen Spanish Flu death registry. It took me almost two full hours and hundreds of public record websites, but I was able to narrow down her real identity. There was only one Nevada-born white female from Nye County with the birthdate of February Seventh Nineteen-Ninety-Two with those exact vital statistics."

Curtis waited a minute before shrugging her shoulders. "What?" she said, "Are you waiting on a drum roll?"

Catherine scoffed before interjecting on her daughter's behalf. "Melanie Wickens, Sofia," she replied, "'Menacing Melanie,' remember? She's back and, apparently, now living here in Las Vegas."

Curtis nodded as the metaphorical light bulb went on in her head. "Oh yeah," she said, "Who doesn't? April of Two-Thousand-Six at Zachary Taylor Middle School out in Gabbs. Thirteen-year-old Melanie Wickens laced the school lunches of three alleged school bullies with fifty-milligram tablets of arsenic. Those three kids ended up in the hospital while the school was shut down for a week. Luckily, the tablets weren't fatal for them and they all survived."

"Yep," Sean cut in, "I was a Level One CSI when that happened. It was statewide front-page news for a while afterward, if memory serves. Melanie was initially charged with three counts of attempted murder, but the Nye County District Attorney agreed to let her plead down to a misdemeanor menacing rap as a juvenile."

"Thus, giving her the sensational nickname 'Menacing Melanie' in the media," Curtis added, "If my memory serves me correctly, she was sentenced to five years at Desert State Hospital here in Clark County."

"That's correct, Sheriff" Sean said, "She got that sentence after the juvenile prosecutor realized the severity of her crime."

Taking in all the information, Greg nodded. "Then that begs the question," he said, "Where did she eventually come to meet Jessica?"

"I can actually answer that," Lindsay replied, "After I found out her real identity, I secured a subpoena with our DA to get Melanie Wickens' treatment records from the hospital. As it turns out, she was in the same group therapy unit with Jessica while the latter was there for her own treatment stemming from that self-harm incident that she had."

Greg smirked at that. "So, two damaging storms met in the same field and became one unified catastrophe," he sardonically said.

Sheriff Curtis laughed at that, at which point Greg shot her a befuddled look. "What?" Greg inquired.

"Nothing," Curtis replied as she regained her composure, "Sorry. I just thought that Gil Grissom had come back on to dry land for a minute there."

Detective Aikers then put up his hands, wanting the momentary levity to cease and get back to business. "Alright," he cut in, "Alright. Where do we go from here with all this?"

Curtis took her glasses off and cleared her throat as she sat forward in her chair. "Did the DNA results come back on those motel bedsheets?" she asked.

"Yes," Catherine explained, "The two female contributions from the sheet stains match the DNA samples from both Jessica Trent and Melody Ward, or I guess I should say Melanie Wickens."

"But they already admitted to Sean and I that they engaged in a threesome with Hanson Lewick at the Park Pines that night," Aikers added, "I'll admit that neither of those two young women seemed to be very big on empathy, but based on the DNA, they weren't lying to us about what happened. I found the Uber driver they had and he said that he picked them up at the motel right when Jessica said and brought them straight back to their house on Surrey Lane. He even provided me with the ride entry from his phone app."

"Still," Greg said, "The timing of when they left the motel room and Hanson's collapse is majorly hinky. Can we bring them in for questioning?"

"Technically," Curtis said, "No. But we can have them come in on the pretense of doing a follow-up to Sean and Aikers' earlier interview."

"I'll call Jessica and have them come in to LVPD," Sean said, "How do you want us to handle the interviews, Sheriff?"

Curtis took a beat to ponder things. "How about this?" she said, "Aikers, you and I question Melanie in Interrogation One while Catherine and Greg handle Jessica in Interrogation Two. The rest of you can watch behind the glass in the Observation Room. Do we have any other forensic results we can hit them with?"

Greg got up from the couch and retrieved his cell phone from his pocket. "Dawn and Rory were working on something when we left to come here," he said, "I'll get a progress report on my way downstairs."

Interrogation Room 2
Las Vegas Police Department
90 Minutes Later

Catherine and Greg entered the spacious room to find Jessica sitting at the table, surprisingly without a lawyer. She was dressed in an unzipped black rayon jacket with a black jogging top underneath with black yoga pants and a pair of Adidas sandals. Her arms were crossed in a seemingly self-protective posture and her large, deeply blue eyes widened at the sight of Catherine's entrance.

"Hello Jessica," Catherine said as she took her seat on the opposite side of the table with Greg occupying the seat right next to her, "I would say that it's nice to see you again, but considering the rather grim circumstances…"

Jessica momentarily put both hands up in response. "No worries, Miss Willows" she replied in her usual deadpan tone, "As you know, Detective Aikers and CSI Yeager already informed Melody and I about what happened to Hanson. Given my past, I've elected to come in today and speak with you without an attorney as a way of showing that I have nothing to hide."

An equally impressed and edgy Catherine nodded. "I like the confidence," she candidly said, "First of all, you can call me 'Catherine'." She then gestured to Greg. "This is CSI Greg Sanders."

Jessica then gave Greg a nod of recognition. "Yes," she said, "I remember you as well. You were that lab technician who testified at my juvenile trial in Two-Thousand-Two. You've obviously come up in the world."

Greg let out a bothered chuckle. "I have," he replied, "I've been a Crime Scene Investigator for about ten years now. I supervise our lab's Night Shift these days."

"Thanks mainly to our mutual friend Catherine, no doubt" Jessica said before returning her gaze to Catherine. "I read online that you've come up in the world yourself, Catherine," she continued as she feigned a prideful tone, "You left the Las Vegas Crime Lab in Two-Thousand-Twelve and spent three years working with the FBI in California only to return and be named Lab Director about a month ago after the resignations of Lab Director D.B. Russell and his would-be successor. Remind me, what was her name again?"

"Sara Sidle," Catherine replied, "She ended up marrying our old boss, Gil Grissom."

"Ah yes," Jessica said, "The tall socially awkward fellow who also helped you convict me. I read that he retired."

"That's right," Greg cut in, "Now, if we could please get down to why we're here." He then flipped open the case file folder they had brought in with them, revealing a photo of Hanson Lewick on the autopsy table. "I know that you've already admitted to having sex with Hanson Lewick at the Park Pines Motel," he continued, "Let me ask you. Was he displaying any signs of illness or discomfort afterwards?"

"Not that Melody or I noticed," Jessica said before creepily smirking, "He was sleeping like a baby almost immediately afterwards. I think we wore him out."

"I see," Catherine replied, "I don't really want to go off on a tangent here, but I have to admit that I'm quite curious when it comes to you and Melody."

"What about me and Melody?" Jessica asked, displaying an almost eerie anticipation for Catherine's potential answer.

"Well," Catherine said, "For starters, how long have you two been a couple?"

"Since I broke up with my ex-boyfriend in Tonopah and moved back here," Jessica replied, "So that would've been around three years or so ago. We had already known each other for about six months before we made things exclusive."

"In a group therapy setting at Desert State Hospital," Greg very pointedly interpolated, "I would say that's a hell of a way to meet somebody, huh?"

Jessica chuckled, very noticeably trying to toy with Greg. "What can I say, Greg?" she replied, "Not everybody goes out for coffee or to a restaurant on the first date."

"What if we told you that Melody Ward wasn't even her real name?" Catherine said with a sharp tone.

With that, Jessica's cold and detached attitude seemed to falter as her hauntingly beautiful blue eyes indicated pure surprise for once. "What?"

Interrogation Room 1

Meanwhile, while Jessica was feeling stunned by the actual truth in the Interrogation Room next door, Melody Ward, was being grilled by Sheriff Curtis and Detective Aikers. She was dressed in her housekeeper's uniform, having been pulled straight from a work shift.

A public defender, Margaret Finn, was seated next to her at the table. Finn was a smartly dressed white brunette woman with a short bob hairstyle in her early fifties who was clad in a dark brown pantsuit and black high heels. Her brown leather attaché case sat between her and her client on the table.

Sheriff Curtis flipped open a case file and began referring to it. "Isn't that surprising?" she said to Melody in a sarcastic tone, "'Melody Ward' is, in fact, not your actual name at all."

"A lot of people change their name, Sheriff" Melody replied in a very barbed manner, "It certainly isn't a crime if you get permission from the state government to do so."

Curtis nodded. "Very true," she said, "But I highly doubt that those people changed their name for the very unusual reason that you did." She then turned to Aikers. "Detective Aikers," she continued, "Would you mind reminding this young lady and her attorney who she actually is, please?"

"Your true birthname is Melanie Ann Wickens," Aikers began as he read from the case file, "You were born in Gabbs, Nevada on February Seventh, Nineteen-Ninety-Two. Your mother, Debra Wickens, was a stay-at-home mom who left you and your father Dan when you were five."

"Not that I remember much of that," Melanie cut in, "But from what I do recall, they fought like cats and dogs. What's the point of rehashing all this?"

Margaret Finn then held up a finger in a cautionary gesture. "Let the detective finish, please" she softly whispered to her, "I want to see where they're going."

"You were arrested by the Nye County Sheriff's Department in late April of Two-Thousand-Six at the age of thirteen for the poisonings of your seventh-grade classmates Bo Smith, Jimmy Lee Davis, and Regina Rae Bathory at Zachary Taylor Middle School," Aikers went on.

Melanie let out a disconcerting chuckle in response. "Three bullies who had no respect, compassion, nor open-mindedness for a girl who liked girls," she replied, "Again I ask, your point being?"

"Hanson Lewick was poisoned with arsenic," Curtis said, "The CSIs determined that it was the same type of arsenic that acted as an ingredient in the weed killer kept in the maintenance closet at the Park Pines Motel."

"As a housekeeper for the motel," Aikers added, "You have access to all the keys for the premises, correct?"

Melanie nodded. "I do, yes" she said, "But so do all the other housekeepers, our manager, the motel owners, and of course our maintenance man."

"Understood," Curtis replied, "But all those other personnel didn't leave their fingerprints on the top side of that weed killer bag. Two of our CSIs just made the match ten minutes ago and they determined by the placement of the prints that you were trying to pour out some of the weed killer."

"My client already anticipated this bit of information," Margaret Finn said, "And she has a perfectly reasonable explanation for the presence of her prints."

"Great," Aikers replied, "Let's hear it."

A now vexed and bored Melanie sighed. "We don't have a designated housekeeping closet or office at the Park Pines," she explained, "Therefore, all of us housekeepers must keep our room-cleaning carts in the maintenance closet with all those other supplies. I went in to get my cart three days ago and accidentally knocked over that big bag of weed killer. I picked it up and some of the powdery stuff spilled from inside it. That's why my fingerprints are on the bag."

"With that said," Margaret commented, "I would say that, considering your lacking ability to present any evidence that potentially could charge my client or her girlfriend with Mister Lewick's murder, I suggest you let both these young women go."

Sheriff Curtis and Detective Aikers traded looks for a second before both returned their shared gaze to Melanie and Margaret. "Fine," Curtis said with an unhappy tone, "You're free to go, Miss Wickens."

"Ward," Melanie blurted out as both she and her attorney got up from the table.

"I beg your pardon?" Curtis inquired.

"My name's 'Melody Ward' now, Sheriff" Melanie replied.

Curtis just blinked in retort as she and Margaret exited the room and headed into the hallway.

Curtis and Aikers met back up with Catherine, Greg, and Sean in the hallway. Dawn Banks and Rory Kilegh also joined with their coworkers after exiting the Observation Room that was located between the two interrogation rooms.

"That was fun," Rory said with a considerable amount of sarcasm.

"Where does this leave us?" Dawn asked.

Catherine straightened her posture as she replied. "For now," she said, "Back to square goddamn one."

[Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took a while to finish. There was a lot I needed to unpack here in regards to both story and exposition, plus I had some family obligations that I had to attend to this week. Thanks for everybody's support thus far!]