A/N: Pleas refer to notes and disclaimers in chapter one.

Chapter 4

"So if Bigelow is out, who do we have left?" Deakins demanded from behind his desk the next morning.

"It's definitely someone in that band," Goren insisted. "I'm positive that Bigelow and Mitchell both know who it is."

"If Mr. Bigelow knows who actually committed the murder," Carver pointed out, "why wouldn't he tell us? Why is he willing to go to jail to protect the real perpetrator?"

Goren thought for a moment, tilting his head sideways. "Maybe he thinks it's for the greater good."

"You think he's taking one for the team?" Eames asked.

"Maybe," Goren answered. He thought for another second and pointed at Carver to get his attention. "Can you get an indictment on Eric Bigelow?"

Carver thought this over. "I suppose that he is the only one with opportunity. His fingerprint is on the murder weapon, and he certainly had motive."

Goren nodded. "And then I need a material witness order for Alexis Mitchell." Carver seemed about to object, but Goren spoke first. "She knows who it is. She's deliberately withholding that information from us. She's not from this area. If you subpoena her, she might run back home to Rochester, which is only an hour and a half drive from Canada… Uh… did we mention she has family in Canada?"

It was thin, but they were definitely on to something.

Carver finally nodded. "All right, detective. Consider it done."

Arista Record Company

New York, New York

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Zeke put the last signature on the contract and slid it back to the men in suits along with the pen. Everyone stood with a smile.

"I think we're making the right decision here," one of the suits said. "Welcome aboard, Broken Dreams."

Outside the conference room, the band members lingered around, promising to catch up later for a few beers to celebrate. After a few minutes, only Alexis, Eric, and Justin were left. There was an awkward moment as they avoided each others eyes, not wanting to talk about the only thing there was to talk about.

Justin shoved his hands into his pockets. "Thanks, you guys," he said. "For sticking up for me."

"Sticking up for you?" Eric said. "You mean being arrested and interrogated for hours for you."

"Hey, that wasn't me, you can thank your habit for that!"

"I'm clean!" Eric roared.

"You guys, shut up," Alexis hissed. "People are looking."

"You know what, I don't need this right now," Justin concluded, throwing up his hands. "I'll see you tonight."

Alexis watched him leave. Eric spoke first.

"Lex, you've always been the one with your head on straight."

Already the tears were welling up. Alexis shook her head. "Don't, Eric. Please don't ask me to do it."

"Lex, you know they're looking at me hard."

She met his eyes. "How hard? They let you go, didn't they?"

"For how long?" It was a valid question. "I have the record, I had the opportunity, God knows we all had motive. It's only a matter of time before they come back to me. Or you. How much is this deal worth to you? Is worth my life?"

Neither said another word. They stared each other down for a long minute before Eric walked away toward the elevators. Alexis stared after him until he pushed the call button. She closed her eyes, letting the tears spill over. She quickly wiped her face and headed for the restrooms.

Alexis stepped off the elevator and into the lobby just in time to see the commotion outside.

"Eric?" she asked aloud to herself. "Oh my God."

She ran out the door to Eric, but was pulled back by a uniformed cop.

"Eric!" she yelled. She was just in time to see him pushed into an unmarked Crown Victoria in handcuffs.

Alexis pulled her arm away from the cop and was about to ask what was going on when someone behind her took her other arm and pulled her away. She looked up to see Detective Goren dragging her toward a blue Mountaineer. Eames appeared on the other side of her.

"What the hell is going on?"

"We're serving a material witness order on you," Eames said as Goren opened the door.

"What is that?" Alexis demanded. "Witness to what? What's Eric being arrested for?"

"That's what we're going to talk to you about," Goren said. "Please…" He gestured into the car.

Alexis rolled her eyes and sighed disgustedly, but complied.

Eames had barely stepped into Interrogation Room A when Alexis was out of her seat, demanding to know what was happening.

"What could you have possibly arrested him for? I know it wasn't for murder, because he didn't do it! If it even gets to trial, there's not nearly enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt it was him. You're putting an innocent man in jail!"

"I'd be more concerned about my own situation if I were you," Eames said, closing the door. "Please sit down, Ms. Mitchell."

Alexis sat down in a huff, Eames taking a seat right after.

"We obtained a material witness order for you," Eames explained. "We have an indictment for murder on Eric. You have information we need about this case. The way it works is you talk to me now; tomorrow you'll be arraigned before a judge. How you cooperate now will influence the judge's decision on bail-"

"Bail!" Alexis couldn't believe what was happening. "I'm under arrest? I haven't done anything!"

"Alexis, right now you need to listen to me," Eames said, becoming annoyed at the interruptions. "Tell me what you know, and the judge may grant release on your own recognizance."

Alexis sat back in the chair, crossing her arms. "I would, but I don't know anything about what happened. I wasn't there."

"Who was?" Eames asked.

"I don't know."

Eames shook her head and looked through some papers. "We got a copy of your recording contract. Congratulations, by the way. I was wondering about this passage here-" She slid a sheet of paper across the table for Alexis to read. A portion was highlighted. "The part that says if Justin Woodwater leaves the group the contract is null and void. What makes him so important?"

Alexis shrugged, sliding the paper back across the table.

"Is he that talented that without him no one would buy your record?" Eames put the paper back into the folder. "He is a handsome young man. If he was around when I was your age… Boy, I'd buy anything with his face on it."

She closed the folder and looked up at the girl. All Alexis did was turn her head toward the door and start to bounce her leg.

"I don't need a lawyer," Eric said. "I didn't do anything. I didn't kill anybody."

"Come on," Goren said. "Are you really going to take the fall for this kid?" Receiving no answer, he continued. "We read the contract with Arista. There's a clause that says if for any reason Justin leaves the band your contract is 'null and void.' Is that why you won't tell the truth? Recording a CD is more important than being cleared of a murder?" Eric stewed in his chair, staring at the table. "I gotta tell you Eric, recording an album won't be easy to do from an eight by ten cinder block cell upstate."

Eric looked up sharply. "Find the murderer and I guess I won't have to try."

"That's what we're trying to do," Goren answered. "But you and Alexis have information that we need." Eric looked back down to the table. Goren ducked his head, trying to catch his eyes. "Come on, Eric. You would rather serve life in prison for a crime you didn't commit than lose this contract? Either way, you won't be a part of it."

Eric raised his head. He was fighting an internal struggle between loyalty to his friends and his own freedom. He took a deep breath. "It was Justin," he finally answered.

"What happened?" Goren asked.

"I don't know. He must have been waiting somewhere until Jerry left for the night and then snuck in and killed Sutiani. He got back to campus and went into Lex's room. She said he was all hypersensitive and freaking out. His hands were all marked up and scratched. He told her he'd killed Sutiani."

"Did he say why?"

Eric shook his head. "He failed his midterms. He's on academic probation because he couldn't afford textbooks because that asshole wouldn't pay us right. I don't even think he told his mother yet. She rides him pretty hard. He was really upset. The school was threatening to pull his financial aid and kick him off campus. He'd have to commute from Coney Island every day."

"Why do you keep picking on my band?" Alexis demanded. "We all have alibis, for Christ's sake!"

The door opened and Goren stepped in, quietly taking a seat next to Eames.

"Not quite," Eames said, pulling another sheet out of the folder in front of her. "We checked Justin's cell phone records. Turns out he called his dorm phone from his cell phone at three-thirtyto re-routed a call to his girlfriend. He made it look like he'd been on the phone from his room, but the cell tower his call came from was Manhattan."

Alexis sat staring at this new piece of evidence, her mind whirling.

"There's also the statement Eric just gave," Goren jumped in, pulling the paper back. "He implicated Justin. He also told an interesting story of him going to your room right after he killed Joey Sutiani."

Alexis looked up at Goren. She seemed to be considering her options, which were few now.

"It seems like everyone is hung up on this contract," Goren said. "Would it help you make up your mind if I told you we talked to the people at Arista? Told them what was going on?"

"You didn't," Alexis said, trying to convince herself he really didn't.

Goren nodded. "Yeah, they were surprised and uh…well grateful to me for telling them. They already revoked the contract."

"It's amazing how some companies are just terrified of bad publicity," Eames said.

Alexis stared at the detectives, trying to stay in denial as long as possible. "You didn't," she repeated. "Why would… No." She was trying to hold back tears. "We w-worked so h-hard…"

"Well you can thank Justin," Goren said, tilting his head. "I mean, after all, he is the one who murdered Sutiani." Alexis wasn't biting. "You know, I've been meaning to ask you… Your guitar. A Les Paul Standard, right?"

Not quite grasping his point, she nodded. "Yeah." Her voice had suddenly become hoarse.

Goren nodded. "They run…what? A grand?" She didn't answer. "Three grand? How'd you come across one? I mean, you only make 6.50 an hour at the Broadway Multiplex. You said so yourself… And if Sutiani wasn't paying you-"

"He gave it to me," Alexis said, finding her voice, though barely. "For Christmas."

"A thirty-five hundred dollar guitar…?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you!" Alexis exploded. "We didn't have a motive! He bought us gear, he bought the Les Paul, he bought Zeke new cymbals, last summer Tony needed strings for his bass. If he hadn't fired us, we never would have been signed by Arista!"

Goren nodded. "So why did Justin kill him?"

Alexis weighed her options. The contract was canceled, what was there to lose? She couldn't live with herself if she let Eric go to jail because she didn't confirm what she'd seen with Justin. She bit her lip, making the biggest decision of her life.

"Justin holds grudges," she finally explained. "He lives to please his mother, which is impossible. He could be President, and she'd still be disappointed. When Sutiani fired us, he didn't have money for textbooks. He failed his midterms." She looked up at the detectives. "He didn't mean to kill him. It was an accident. He just went there to scare him into paying us more, that's all!"

Goren thought for a moment. "Alexis… for us to drop the charges for Eric and arrest Justin, we need something more. Would you be willing to wear a wire?" He could she was hesitant, but she was considering it. "Maybe we could get Arista to reinstate that contract for you."

Alexis' initial instinct was to say 'absolutely not,' but something stopped her from blurting that answer out. She thought about Eric, everything he'd been through in the past year, how he'd gone back to school, finally started to clean up his act. Against her better judgment, she nodded slowly.

"I'll give it a shot," she said reluctantly.

State University of New York, College at Old Westbury

Building 4, Room 146

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Alexis jumped when her door flew open and banged against the wall. Justin stormed in, pissed off.

"What's your problem?" she asked. Other than the fact that you're about to go down for murder.

Justin sat in the desk chair and faced Alexis, who sat on her bed.

"You would not believe what I just went through. I went to bursar to pay their retarded twenty dollar fee to drop one of my classes. I'm thinking if I only have to bring three classes up to passing it'll be easier than four, right? They tried to charge me forty bucks. I pointed at the sing hanging right in the window and told them it was twenty and they were like no, it's forty. So I finally said I want to talk to their boss and he says yeah, twenty, duh. So they're like sorry, twenty dollars. Whatever. I went to turn the sheet in to registrar, and they're like 'Are you registered here?' So I was there for a half an hour while they tried to find my file. Then I had to go to Res Life because my internet's been down for a week and a half and I'm getting really sick of going up that Godforsaken hill to the library every time I want to check my e-mail. They tried to tell me I don't live on campus because I'm on academic probation, meanwhile no one told me I had to leave, and they looked some stuff up and they're like oh sorry, that's after your second warning you get suspended…" He paused and caught his breath. "Alexis, I hate this school! Everyone's got their heads up their asses; no one knows what the hell they're doing!"

Alexis nodded from the bed. "That's SUNY for you," she said.

"What's with you?" Justin asked, just noticing her quiet demeanor.

She shrugged. "You haven't talked to Eric?"

Justin shook his head. "No. Why?"

"Oh, I don't know," Alexis answered casually. "Maybe because he was arrested today."

"Alexis," Justin warned. "Don't start with me."

From the next room, Goren, Eames, Carver, and a wire tech listened in on the conversation. Justin's voice came in through the headphones.

"He didn't do it; the cops'll figure it out between Krispy Kreme's and let him go. I mean, they're dumb but they're not that dumb."

"How do you think that'll happen, Justin?" Alexis' voice asked back. "They have his prints, he's got a record… What conclusion would you draw?"

Back in Alexis' room Justin shook his head and stared at the floor.

Alexis leaned back against the corner of the room. "I still don't understand why you had to kill him in the first place. We wouldn't even have to be in this situation right now. We'd be celebrating our new record deal."

Justin was out of the chair lightning-fast. "I've told you over and over!" he shouted. "I didn't mean to kill him!"

Eames smiled in the next room. "Got him."

Alexis looked at Justin, shocked. "Justin, not so loud," she said, hopping off her bed. "Someone's gonna hear you!" Beautiful, she thought to herself. I deserve an Emmy.

"As long as you hear me!" Justin said forcefully. "I did not mean to kill him! It was an accident."

"Wrapping guitar strings around someone's neck is an accident?" Alexis asked.

"You know what I mean," Justin answered. "I didn't mean to get so mad, it just happened."

Alexis nodded sarcastically. Justin stared at her.

"Who told you about the—"

There was a knock on the door as it opened. Both looked to see Goren and Eames walk in. Justin returned his stare to Alexis who looked back at him.

"You… You rat!"

Alexis' eyes opened up wide. "Justin, I—"

Smack. The hit barely registered before Alexis lunged. Goren pulled her back to get her out of the way and went straight to Justin, turning him around and shoving him against the wall to handcuff him.

"You bitch! You lying, rotten, spoiled little bitch!"

Alexis held her stinging face while Eames moved past her to help Goren.

"You're the one that killed a person!" Alexis screeched back.

Two uniformed officers came in and took the handcuffed Justin Woodwater to the door.

"You're gonna pay for this Alexis, I swear!" he shouted on his way out. "I've killed before, you watch your back, bitch!"

Alexis watched as he was dragged from the room, still shouting and cursing from the lobby.

"Are you all right?" Eames asked Alexis.

The girl nodded, a little embarrassed. "Yeah," she said. "Just sorry I couldn't get in a kick to the nut sack."

The wire tech motioned for Alexis from the door and she started to follow him into the surveillance room next door, but then stopped and turned back.

"Will you really be able to get them to reinstate the contract?" she asked Goren.

Goren gave his head a slight shake. "It might be hard to keep it, actually... I mean, now that you're star is going to prison for a long time."

Alexis stared at him. "You- You lied?" She couldn't get over the shock. The tech tugged on her arm to get her going. Alexis backed out the room, still staring at Goren until she could no longer see him.

Carver entered, looking pleased. "Very nice confession," he said.

Goren nodded.

"This team is no one hit wonder," Eames put in.