Disclaimer—Still don't own it.

6—Unusual

"Come on, Lil, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" cried out Scotty as they entered the homicide division. Several officers looked up at the pair and snickered. Lilly glared at all those who caught her eye. Her morning had gone from bad to worse after the Kite incident.

In the parking lot Lilly had been stopped by several female officers to settle the ongoing bet of whether or not Scotty wore boxers or briefs. Lilly had rolled her eyes and told the women to buzz off; causing the officers to chuckle and promise they wouldn't steal her partner from her. And that had only been the beginning.

Scotty had been a few feet in front of her when another woman approached Lilly. But this time she hadn't been an officer, she had been a paralegal from Kite's office. And she definitely wasn't one of the nicer ones. The woman had practically chewed Lilly out for "crushing" Kite by sleeping with her partner. Unfortunately, Scotty stepped in before Lilly could tear the woman's hair out.

Now Lilly was pissed. Pissed at Victor for running off; pissed at the Mayor for ordering a shadow for Lilly; pissed at Scotty for agreeing to the job; pissed at Kite for being an egotistical asshole for spreading rumors about her so quickly; and mainly pissed at herself for letting this all happen.

Vera and Jeffries were waiting for the two officers in Stillman's office. The moment Lilly and Scotty walked in the small group's conversation stopped short.

Lilly pointed a finger at the three men accusingly. "Don't even start."

"That bad?" asked Vera raising an eyebrow.

Scotty rolled his eyes and said, "What do you think? Kite showed up and started this great story that we're sleeping together."

"We've heard," replied Jeffries with a twinkle in his eye. Lilly shot him a dagger eyed look before taking a seat in an empty seat.

"Yeah, yeah. So I have no chance at a personal life as long as I've stuck with Valens here…lets move on shall we? What's on the menu today, Boss?"

Stillman let out a sigh. "Well, now that we've lost Victor we need to go back and question his friends and family. I figure the Glenrose's won't appreciate seeing Vera so soon again, so Lil, you and Valens get the parents…and Vera, I think you and Jeffries better question some of our MIA's co-workers."

"You think Mr. and Mrs. Glenrose are gonna be more cooperative today than they were yesterday?" questioned Scotty.

Lilly grinned as she plucked some papers off of Stillman's desk. "They had better be. Yesterday we didn't know about these abortions. Mrs. Glenrose has a lot to explain today."

Thirty Minutes Later:

Scotty shook his head as Mrs. Glenrose offered some freshly baked cookies and coffee. He and Lilly had managed to catch her at the house alone, and were reluctantly invited inside.

Mrs. Glenrose was a plump, tired looking blonde. Her hair had been pulled back into a bun, and her eyes were a dull shade of blue. She wore an apron over her slacks and blouse, and a string of pearls around her neck. She wasn't exactly the perfect image of a housewife; she looked more like a woman trying to play a part she didn't know.

"I'm sorry…about that." Mrs. Glenrose nodded her head at Scotty's arm.

"It's alright, happens quite a bit," returned Scotty politely.

Lilly had been studying Mrs. Glenrose quietly, trying to understand the woman before her. "Your son has quite a temper," she said finally.

"Victor is a good boy, he can be hot headed at times, but it's usually nothing serious." Mrs. Glenrose shrugged.

"That's not what one of Victor's ex-girlfriends said. And neither did the charges she filed against him." Scotty watched as Mrs. Glenrose's face flushed a light red.

"That Angela was no good for Victor. She was a gold digger, only after his money. I was glad when she dumped him for some other chump."

Lilly smirked. "But you won't deny that Victor has lost control of his temper before, right?" She continued when the woman didn't reply. "I know that you were questioned yesterday about some rather…disturbing facts centered on your children."

Mrs. Glenrose looked up sharply, her lips set in a firm line. "I will not sit here and listen to you officers sully the reputations of my children. Nothing of that…that hideous sort ever happened in my house!"

Scotty took over from there. "Then how do you explain the hospital records where several times Laura and Megan were brought in with Victor…battered and bruised? Or the abortion documents you signed for one of your daughters once? We've talked to both Megan and Victor…it was pretty clear from the answers we received that there was something going on that wasn't what we define as 'brotherly love'."

Mrs. Glenrose hung her head in shame, and when she looked up there were tears in her eyes. "You don't know what life has been like for me. For my children. Laura was our pride and joy…and then she was cruelly killed, for God knows what reason. And what do you officers do? Rather than search for the true perpetrator you go after my son! You sit here and ask questions and search for the answers that you want to hear!"

"Mrs. Glenrose, I'm aware of much of what you're afraid of," started Lilly calmly. "But in order for us to rule Victor out as a suspect, we need to piece the story of your children's childhood together. Why didn't you mention the abortion? Or the miscarriage? What are you afraid to tell us?"

"Teens will be teens. Their hormones aren't easy to control—you both must know that from one time in your lives. Laura's pregnancy was unplanned, unexpected…she was so young, fifteen, don't you see? She didn't know how to take care of a living being inside of her; she went too far and lost the baby…on accident. I…I don't think she actually knew that she was with child."

"What about the bruises reported by hospital staff?" asked Scotty shifting so that he could lean back in the cushions of the couch.

"Laura and Victor had been wrestling…the kids did that all the time. Sometimes they got a little carried away, but no one ever got hurt. Victor gave me a call and said that Laura was bleeding, so he took her to the hospital. She never told me she had had sex, and after she lost the baby she refused to tell me who the father of it had been. I didn't push it because I couldn't tell her father."

"Laura was pregnant when she had been murdered," pointed out Lilly. "Did your husband know about that?"

Mrs. Glenrose nodded. "Laura had promised she wouldn't do anything stupid, but how do you stop a teenage girl from acting upon a bodily urge?"

"What about your other daughter, Megan?"

"She made the same mistakes as her sister. You can go into any high school today and a majority of the students will tell you they're sexually active…it's a common theme among teenagers. Megan didn't want the child; she said the father didn't want it…so I thought it would be best if we kept the whole situation hush-hush."

"You didn't tell your husband?" Scotty raised his eyebrows in question.

"There are just some things that Paul shouldn't know. He prides himself on being a good father, and he is. I can't prove to him that I'm a bad mother because I can't control our children," snapped Mrs. Glenrose.

"Would your husband have blamed you for what happened between your kids?"

"I…no."

Lilly narrowed her eyes as Mrs. Glenrose looked to the ground. There was something she was hiding, something bigger than the incest of her children. Lilly lifted her eyes and glanced around the room. It was furnished with pictures of the family. As she studied each picture on the wall, her eyes settled on one in particular. It looked like Mrs. Glenrose and her husband on their wedding day. Lilly stood up and walked over the picture in question. Mrs. Glenrose watched with a mild amount of fear in her eyes.

Then Lilly spoke. "Mrs. Glenrose, how old were you when you married your husband, Paul is name?"

"Sixteen."

"I see...if you don't mind my asking, how much older is Paul?"

"He was thirty when we married." Mrs. Glenrose refused to meet Scotty's eye as Lilly continued with her line of questioning.

"You know, I must say that it is quite odd not to find a former residence in your records. It's like you and your husband appeared in Philly out of the blue. There's no evidence of your former life before the ones you made here." Lilly finally turned back to Mrs. Glenrose. "Tell me, is it common to marry a man fourteen years her senior where you came from?"

"It…I…"

Scotty was at a loss of words as Mrs. Glenrose let tears trickle down her cheeks. He had an idea where Lilly was headed, but he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answers.

"Mrs. Glenrose, where did you live before Philadelphia?" he murmured after a minute.

"Hildale, Utah. I'm sure you've heard of it, it's been making headlines these last couple of years in Arizona and Utah," whispered Mrs. Glenrose.

"The polygamous town?"

"The very same. My father arranged my marriage when I was just thirteen. At sixteen he gave his consent and I was married to Paul. It was his first marriage…he was a big supporter of the Fundamental Church of Jesus-Christ Latter Day Saints. He still is. But, the town was watched carefully, some, like Paul, didn't want to be put in jail…so we left. The prophet of the Church was upset, angry—but Paul promised he wouldn't stray, you know? And he hasn't, over the years he…he's been teaching Victor the teachings of the Church. And Victor has somewhat listened."

"Somewhat?" Lilly frowned.

"Victor can be just as radical as his father and grandfather…it dates back generations. I…I've been caught up in trying to lead this normal life, one where I can be normal. I never had that chance. My own father had ten wives at the time I left. I haven't spoken to him or my mother in years. She taught me that there was a such thing as freedom from tyranny, but I'm still looking. I thought Paul was breaking from the Church when we left, but I was wrong. Even now he has eight other wives, I don't know where, so don't ask. But, I guess I felt I could break from Paul in the modern world, but I have no where to go. Megan, Megan was soiled before Paul could find a match for her. No man of the Church will take her now, and that's what I was counting on.

"I knew about Victor and Laura. And I encouraged it. It was the only way to free my kids from the chains I wear. But…Victor has been influenced by both the Church and modern way of life, I'm afraid that he wants to take things to a new level. He loved Laura more than he should have, did he kill her? I don't know, and frankly, I don't want to know. I'm afraid that if he did, I will lose everything that I have learned to hold dear. Megan is all I have left, but she too has become too infatuated with her brother. And Laura…

"When Laura was killed she had been on her way out of our family. She was escaping from the life Paul had picked out for her. I've raised my children the best I could in my situation, Paul has never been much help as he divides his time between his families. So all praise and blame rests on my shoulders when it comes to the kids. He knows I can't stand him, he knows I have let my girls run wild so they could break free…but I could never help Victor. He's a firm believer in that women are property, and that no man can get to heaven unless he has three wives. There's a whole list of things set by the Church.

"So that's my story, officers. Do you understand why my children are screwed up? It's because I am. Because I didn't know any other way to save them." Mrs. Glenrose paused and glanced over at her wedding picture that Lilly stood by. "I have accepted Laura's death, sometimes I try to convince myself that she would have wanted to die rather than go on living knowing the background that she is from. I don't care who killed her, she's gone and bringing a killer to justice won't bring her back. I just want to salvage the last of the dignity that I ever possessed. Now, if you don't mind leaving, Paul will be returning soon. He'd be angry if he knew you had come by. And I know he wouldn't want to see you." Here Mrs. Glenrose directed her attention to Lilly. "You look just a lot like Lilly…Paul doesn't like to be reminded about Laura. God, you would probably give him a heart attack. Not that I'd care any."

Lilly and Scotty allowed themselves to be ushered out the Glenrose residence, and only when they had gotten back into their car did they speak.

"Do you buy her story?" asked Scotty as Lilly started the car.

"Yeah, I do. It makes sense, so now there are more suspects in this case than I care to count," replied Lilly sighing.

"Mr. Glenrose? You think he did in Laura cuz she wanted out of an arranged marriage or something?"

"Him and Mrs. Glenrose. She might have killed Laura because she felt there was no other way out for her daughter. Either way, it doesn't explain why our number one, Victor, snapped and took off."

"Great, this damn puzzle keeps getting bigger and bigger." Scotty groaned as he leaned back in his seat.

"What's the boss got planned for the rest of the day?" asked Lilly, concentrating on traffic.

"I think he just wanted us to interview the Glenroses, though I wish we could talk to old Paul himself. I'd like to ask him a few things about his way of life."

"We'll have to do it another day and make sure he doesn't skip town. His Church is getting hit pretty hard for the forced marriages and sex with minors. I wouldn't mind nailing his ass to the ground along with Laura's killer," growled Lilly.

Scotty chuckled. "No kidding. So what are the plans tonight?"

"Laundry."

"Good, maybe I can catch a nap on the couch before I sit watch."

"Scotty, you do know that I don't own a washing machine, don't you?" Lilly eyed her partner out of the corner of her eye and smiled at his frown.

"And why not?"

"Can't afford one."

"So where do you do laundry?"

"They Laundromat."

"What? You mean we gotta go sit out at some place with strangers all night? For what? Clean clothes? Just wear a towel to work."

"I'm sure the rumor mill would love that one," said Lilly dryly.

"I was joking, Lil."

"It's okay Valens; you can just pay for my laundry at the mat."

"Do they take credit cards?"

A/N—Alright, I figured I owed you guys a new chapter, so I made myself write it up…and the outcome has even surprised me. I wasn't planning to make this latest twist, but it makes it that much more entertaining, right? Enjoy until the next chapter!