Lorelai raised up from her bed. It was 6 am and someone was pounding on the front door. She slowly got out from under the covers and headed downstairs.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." she called as she got closer to the door. "This better be important." she grumbled.
Lorelai opened the door to reveal a young caramel colored woman in a business suit.
"Ms. Gilmore?" The woman asked.
"Yeah." Lorelai replied a bit confused and still half a sleep.
"I'm Detective Cook." the lady replied.
"Can I help you?"
"I hope so." Cook replied. "May I come in?"
Lorelai opened the door wider, and allowed the young woman to come in. "Does this have anything to do with Taylor?" Lorelai asked guiding Cook into the kitchen so she could pour some coffee.
"News travels quickly in this small town." Cook replied taking a cup of coffee. "Something as big as a murder must be earthshaking."
"Yes." Lorelai replied. "It is. My daughter didn't even sleep in her own room last night."
"You have a daughter?" Cook asked interestingly.
"Mm hm. She's 16. Do you have any children?"
"No." The woman replied sadly. "I'm afraid my job doesn't allow for much of a personal life. My husband and I are barely spending time together as it is. But that's not why I'm here." she ended in a laugh. "May I ask you a few questions?"
"Sure." Lorelai replied.
Cook pulled out her pen and pad. "When was the last time you saw Taylor Doose, alive?"
"A couple of mornings ago."
"At the market?"
"Yes." Lorelai confirmed.
"Did you speak with him?"
"Well, he told me not to squeeze the groceries." Lorelai replied. "And the bread." she added.
"Did this make you angry?"
A pause. Whoa, wait a minute, was Lorelai a suspect here! "No..." Lorelai shot back almost in a laugh. "It's groceries... it's Taylor... everyone does things just to make him mad." Oh... That was the wrong thing to say.
Cook raised one of her eyebrows. "Why would everyone want to make Taylor mad?"
Lorelai became nervous. "Taylor was very demanding of people. He wanted things to be done a certain way. Sometimes it was comical to see how far he would go to get the things he wanted. Every now and then it we'd all tease him while he put to work his crazy ideas. It was all in fun, Detectives Cook, I would never dream of hurting Taylor or murdering him." Lorelai's eyes had gotten as big as quarters.
"I never accused you of murder." Cook replied cooly. "I don't think you killed Mr. Doose." Relief rushed through Lorelai's body. "But I think you know who did." Back came the nervousness.
"I don't." She replied calmly.
"You don't think you do." Cook said sharply. "This is a very small town, Ms. Gilmore, you know almost everyone in it. Chances are, you know exactly who killed Mr. Doose. All we have to do is put the pieces together and find out who that person is."
For the next 30 minutes it was give and take with questions and answers. Lorelai was becoming frustrated with all the hidden meanings she felt were lurking in the detective's questions. Finally, Cook raised from her chair.
"May I speak with your daughter?" Cook asked.
Lorelai's body tightened. "She doesn't know anything." Lorelai replied sternly.
"How do you know that?"
"I'm her mother."
"She tells you everything?"
"Yes."
Cook was impressed with Lorelai's quick answers once it came to the subject of her daughter. She exhaled deeply. "If you change your mind, please let us know. All information is vital." Cook headed towards the door.
Lorelai rose form the chair and followed her. She opened the door and waited for Cook to walk by.
"Thank you for your help." Cook said as she exited the house.
"You're welcome." Lorelai shut the door. "Well, 7 am and I've already had an interview with a cop. What a progressive day." Lorelai climbed the stairs back to her room. Rory was still sleeping peacefully. She crawled back into the bed and fell asleep not waking for a few hours.
(Luke's Diner)
Cook walked into the attractive little diner.
"Have a seat. I'll take your order in just a sec." Luke replied when he spotted the woman.
Cook went ahead and found a seat, but had no intentions of ordering any food. When Luke came over to take her order, she sighed heavily. "Mr. Danes, I'm not here to eat."
Luke looked at her funny. "Do you want something to drink?" he finally asked.
"I'm Detective Cook, from the Hartford Police Department. Is there a place a little more private we can go to?"
"Why?" Luke shot back.
"I need to ask you a few questions."
"I have a diner to run I can't just leave."
"Surely, someone can cover for you for a few minutes? It's very important that I speak with you."
Luke paused. "Alright. Jess!" Luke called. "Watch the diner. I'll be back." Jess nodded his head. "You can come up to my apartment." Luke replied. "And that's not a line."
Cook wasn't impressed with Luke's smoothness. They walked up to the apartment and Luke offered her a seat.
"Okay," Luke began "What's this about?"
"Mr. Danes, you knew Mr. Doose that was murdered yesterday morning, correct?" she asked.
"Yeah. Everyone knows Taylor."
"Did you like Taylor?" she grabbed her pen and pad to write down his answer.
Luke thought for a moment. "Well, there were a few times that he and I didn't exactly see eye to eye. But he was an okay guy."
"Did you ever want to hurt Taylor?" Cook asked.
"Hurt Taylor?" Luke repeated. "No..."
"Did you want Taylor to live here in Stars Hollow?" Cook continued.
"Well... I can't control who lives here..."
"That's not what I asked you."
"Sure, Taylor can live in Stars Hollow." Luke replied in frustration.
"So when you said that the town would be better off without him..."
"Whoa!" Luke jumped up from his seat."I didn't kill Taylor!" he exclaimed pointing to himself.
Cook leaned forward in her chair. "Who said you did?"
"You're asking me questions, like I did.. Am I suspect?" Luke asked.
"Right now Mr. Danes everyone and anyone is a suspect."
Luke rubbed his eyes. "Look, I have no idea what happened to Taylor. If I did I would have already been to the police."
"Mr. Danes, did you say that the town would be a lot better off without Taylor?" Cook persisted.
Luke breathed heavily. "Yes."