Present Day, Mrs Mathers' Residence...
"Mrs Mathers? Marg Mathers?"
"Yes... Who are you?"
"I'm Agent Carmichael, this is Agent Doggett, we're from the FBI and we'd just like to ask you a few questions about your son, Luke."
"He's dead isn't he?"
Monica looked at the woman with an unpleasant feeling in her gut. This woman was disregarding her son's life so easily, why wasn't she in tears and begging them to find him safe and bring him home? But then she remembered what the boy's father had said. That Mrs Mathers hadn't seen her son in months.
"May we come inside?"
"I've got nothing to say to you people. I already had the police here thinking I had him hidden away in the basement or something. He's my boy too, but I know that if he was alive you'd have found him already, now leave me alone."
"Mrs Mathers, may I speak with you mother to mother?"
The woman looked at Monica and slowly nodded her head.
"How old is Luke?"
"Oh it's in the case file, hang on..."
Monica grabbed Phoebe's arm to stop her opening the file and she looked at Monica alarmed before watching her interact with Mrs Mathers.
"He's six."
"My daughter is almost five, and I spend each waking moment of every day worrying about her and wishing I could be with her rather than working, or doing other things with my time. I can't begin to understand what it's like to lose a child, but I do know what it's like to lose someone that you love dearly, and no matter what the police or your husband think, we just wanna talk to you and find your little boy, nobody is going to accuse you of anything or make you do or say anything that you're not comfortable with. So, would it be ok if we came inside for a few minutes?"
Mrs Mathers looked at Monica and was clearly developing a newfound respect for her. Nobody had talked to her like a human being about her son's disappearance; she had only been spoken to as a suspect. But now there was somebody offering her help only a mother could. She nodded her head and Monica smiled, but Mrs Mathers looked at Phoebe and held up her hand.
"Not you. Just her. I'll only talk to her."
Monica looked at Phoebe and smiled reassuringly.
"It's ok. Wait in the car. This wont take long."
They walked inside the house and Phoebe looked on bewildered before walking over to the car and getting into the driver's seat ready for her next instruction.
July 1st, Silver Spring Maryland, Police Station...
Monica got out of the car and was greeted by Detective Alan before she'd even entered the building.
"Agent Reyes, thanks for coming."
"Any more news?"
"None as yet. We're waiting on print analysis on the murder weapon, and we're trying to find an independent witness to say they saw Mia Dukes and Adam Davies together that night."
"Where did they say they were?"
"They didn't. But Davies refuses to talk about it, and Dukes wont tell us anymore than she was with him. We just didn't have enough to hold him."
"Have you tried talking to Mia again?"
"No. We thought maybe you might like to try."
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea."
"Well from what I heard she was pissed you didn't see her before you left last week. Maybe if you sweet-talk her she'll let something slip. She's visiting her mother, but she should be back at the children's home by lunch."
"Ok, well I'll get right over there."
"Thanks, I appreciate your help."
Monica got back into the car and drove to the children's home to face Mia. She didn't know that it would help any but she would do whatever it took to get to the bottom of this. Whatever it took.
Whilst waiting for Mia's return Monica had been invited to speak to the woman in charge of the home about Mia's behaviour and overall character. Monica wasn't sure it was any of her business or that it would assist in the case at all, but she found herself curiously drawn to finding out more about Mia and why she was the angry and unfriendly teen that she was.
"Agent Reyes, you must understand that Mia Dukes is a very unfortunate child."
"As are all the kids in here."
"She lost her mother at just six years old, she's been in more homes in the last eight years than most people live in their whole lives. And I'm sure the note from her father must have confused her terribly."
"Excuse me, the note from her father?"
"Yes. A few days before the Gooding's were murdered, Mia's father, Paul Brady, contacted them. He wanted to come and see her, to maybe take her to live with him in California."
"How much did Mia know about this?"
"Well from what I was told by the Gooding's Mia was fully aware of her father's wishes and was furious with him. She didn't want to live with him, but the Gooding's were reluctant to keep her when her own father was so keen to take her, as far as I know they had contacted him and been discussing arrangements for him to visit."
"And Mia was against the idea?"
"Oh very much so. She said she'd rather be dead than go anywhere near him. But the Gooding's were already preparing to let her go."
Monica stood up and thanked the woman for her time quickly walking out of the building whilst dialling Detective Alan's number.
"Alan."
"It's Agent Reyes, you need to pick up Mia Dukes for further questioning."
"What are you talking about?"
"She had a motive."