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Chapter 3:

The Hardy Boys Hardly Find The Answers

It was 10am. All of their suspects had been released on bail, and Carver had just warned them that they needed to produce something more substantial or the obstruction and conspiracy charges were going to get thrown out. The four detectives were slumped over their respective desks. Carolyn was downing coffee, Mike was staring into space, Alex was still wearing the Sherlock Holmes coat and Bobby was picking at his fading green face paint. Deakins walked in to see his best detectives in their present state.

"Can we please go home now?" Alex asked. "Even if it's just to change out of our costumes? These heels are killing me."

"I can't remember the last time I slept," Mike piped up.

"Yeah," Carolyn added. "Goren's face is falling off and this corset has permanently changed my breathing pattern."

"Alright, alright," Deakins said. "Be back here by 1:00 this afternoon."

"Oooh, a whole three hours of sleep," Mike said.

XXX

"Excuse me?"

Bobby looked up from his desk. He'd started to doze off waiting for Eames to get in. It was 1:30pm and no one else was back yet, except for Deakins, who had never left.

"Can I help you?" Bobby asked the older woman who stood, wringing her hands.

"I need speak…Captain Deakins," the woman said in broken English.

"Just…just a second," Bobby got up. "What's your name?"

"Estella Juarez," she said. "I work for Mrs. Samantha."

The maid! Of course! Had he gotten more than an hour and a half of sleep, Bobby thought, he may have been able to put it together quicker. He showed Estella Juarez to Deakins' office. Then he sat back down and closed his eyes again. When he woke up again, it was nearly 2:00pm.

"Rise and shine," the newly arrived Mike Logan grinned.

"The maid," Goren stood up.

"She's still in with Deakins," Logan said.

"Where's your partner?" Goren asked.

"I dunno…where's yours?"

"I…I don't know…" Bobby scratched his head.

"Goren, Logan," Deakins called. "I need to see you for a minute…where are Barek and Eames?"

"Umm…probably still sleeping," Mike guessed.

"Great…get in here and then call them both, get their asses down here."

The two detectives went into the captain's office.

"This is Estella Juarez," Deakins said. "She's Samantha Burke's maid. Mrs. Juarez, this is Detectives Goren and Logan. Would you please tell them what you just told me?"

Estella Juarez nodded.

"Mrs. Samantha…she pay me…to say she taking a bath…but she not in her bedroom when the power go out."

Mike raised his brows. "Really…"

Deakins nodded. "Go call your partners, boys, and then I want you two to go pick up Samantha Burke for questioning."

XXX

"You've reached Carolyn Barek. I'm unavailable to take your call…"

"Barek, it's Logan. Where the hell are you, we've got--"

"I'm here…gahh…I'm here," Carolyn picked up. "Shit…I slept through my alarm."

"Get on down here," Mike said. "Goren and I are on our way to pick up Samantha Burke."

Meanwhile, Bobby was leaving a message of his own.

"Eames, wake up…Eames, pick up the phone…Eames, wake up…"

"Ugh…Bobby, go away…Bobby, hang up the phone," Alex replied, having also just woken up.

"You, uh, planning on…coming back to work today?" Bobby asked politely.

"Oh, yeah," Alex said. "Thanks for reminding me."

XXX

After they called their partners, Logan and Goren made their way to the outskirts of town, to Burke House. They knocked on the door to no avail. Finally, just as they were about to leave, the door opened. It was another maid.

"Is Ms. Burke home?" Bobby asked.

"She's in town," the maid answered. "Getting a manicure. A place called Eva's."

"Okay, thanks," Mike said, as they turned to go back to the car.

"Her husband's been dead less than a day…and she's getting a manicure…" Bobby said.

"The rich cope differently than us plain folk," Mike said.

XXX

Barek and Eames rushed into the bullpen of Major Case at nearly the same time.

"You hear about Samantha Burke?" Alex asked.

"Yup."

"Ladies," Deakins said, spotting them both. "How nice of you to join us."

Before they could offer a defense, he smiled and continued. "I want you two to drop by Samantha's place of work…New York One. Talk to her co-workers. See what they have to say about her."

"What if she's there?" Barek asked.

"Logan just called," Deakins said. "She's out getting her nails done. They're on their way to see her."

XXX

"Ms. Burke," Bobby said, as they walked up to the new widow, who was sitting with her feet propped up, getting her toes carefully painted.

"What is this about?" she asked.

"We need you to come down to the precinct with us," Bobby said. "I…hope we didn't…catch you at a bad time."

XXX

"David Nolan?" Alex asked the middle-aged man with glasses and thinning hair.

"That would be me," he answered, looking up from his desk.

"Detective Eames, NYPD. This is Detective Barek. We're here to talk to you about Samantha Burke."

"Oh yes…tragedy what happened to her husband," Nolan said, putting his pen down.

"How long have you worked with Ms. Burke?" Alex asked.

"Five years," Nolan said. "Ever since I hired her…"

"Before she married Warren Policy," Carolyn said.

"That's right," Nolan said. "They weren't even dating yet. She worked her way up to anchor just before they started going out. She's one of my best…it's a shame that she's going to be leaving, though."

"She's…leaving New York One?" Alex asked.

"Well…yes…You see…the company that owns New York One also owns Warren's newspaper. They just renewed his contract…but…Warren's always been known for going out on limbs with his columns…the company was threatening not to renew it…until he told them he could help them fix their other problem…"

"Which was?"

"Getting rid of his wife," Nolan said. "Her ratings have dropped drastically in the past year and a half. He told them if they renewed his contract he could convince her to let the company buy out her contract for New York One."

"Let me guess," Carolyn said. "Ms. Burke was not too pleased about her husband's plan."

"Of course not," Nolan said. "She still had two years on her contract…she worked hard to get to where she was…but then something changed…I didn't know what it was…she came into work last week to give me her two weeks notice."

"That must have been quite a shock," Alex said.

"It was…and like any good journalist, I investigated," Nolan said. "Turns out, the bank was about to foreclose on Burke House—their fancy mansion on the edge of town. It's been in Samantha's family for generations. Seems that Warren had some gambling problems and his debt-collectors conveniently all came around to collect his debts at the same time…which meant that in order for Samantha to keep her house, she needed the money that the company was going to pay to buy out her contract."

"So her husband sold her out," Carolyn said.

"Funny how she forgot to mention that part," Alex mused.

XXX

Meanwhile, back at the precinct, Mike was questioning Samantha Burke while Bobby listened on the other side of the glass.

"Why did you lie to us, Samantha?" Mike asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she looked at him with indignation.

"Come on," he said. "We talked to your maid, Estella. She told us you were lying about being in the bath when your husband was killed…What happened? Did you catch him going at it with Claire Wentworth in your own house?"

"Screw you," she said.

"You know, you're the only one without an alibi now," Mike said. "That looks pretty bad…especially since you lied to us. Even if you didn't kill him, that obstruction of justice charge is going to stick like white on rice…that can't be good for your career."

"What would you know about my career," she spat.

Just then, Bobby poked his head in the door. "Logan," he said, "Barek and Eames are back…they need to see us."

Mike got up. "I'll be right back, Ms. Burke."

He followed Bobby over to Carolyn's desk, where she and Alex were waiting.

"Here come the Hardy Boys," Alex said.

"What have you got?" Mike asked.

They told him about what the producer, Nolan, had told them.

"Well, well, well," Mike said. "Motive for sure…why don't we go see if we can use this to our advantage." He led the way back to the interrogation room. "Shall I continue or do one of you want to handle this?"

"You started," Alex said.

Mike nodded. "Okay, then." He went back into the room.

"You doing all right, Samantha?" he asked.

"I'd be a hell of a lot better if I wasn't in this room," she said.

"They've got nice cells at the women's prison," Mike said. "We can take you there if you'd like…though…after our prosecutor gets done with you, you may not have a choice."

"Stop it!" she cried. "I didn't do anything!"

"Really? That's not what your boss, Mr. Nolan told our detectives. Says your husband sold you out, Samantha. For his own gain. That had to hurt. First he cheats on you, then he leaves your career in ruins."

"I told you people," Samantha cried, "I knew all about Warren's women…that was nothing new."

"But his new contract with the Post," Mike said. "The one that stipulated you resign from New York One…that gave you a huge settlement…money that you just so happened to need to save your family's house…which Warren put in jeopardy in the first place because of his gambling problems…"

"Son of a bitch!" Samantha screamed, lunging across the table at Mike, who held her back. Eames and Barek rushed in, grabbing the woman as she clawed at Mike's face. It took both of them to hold her down.

"He killed my career!" Samantha yelled. "That bastard sold me out like I was some whore, so I stabbed him. Right in the back. Just like he did me. Only I was a little less metaphorical."

"Samantha Burke, you are under arrest," Eames said as she cuffed the woman.

"I don't think they give bail to people who are already out on bail."

XXX

Less than ten minutes after Samantha Burke had admitted to stabbing her husband, Deakins got a call from the Medical Examiner.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said. "No…no I'll tell them…thanks…I think…"

He went back out to where his detectives were at. "That was the M.E.," he said. "She just called to tell me that she's ruled out the stab wounds as the cause of Warren Policy's death."

"So then…Samantha Burke didn't kill her husband," Bobby said.

"No, but she did attempt to kill him…that charge should stick…so should obstruction and assault on a police officer," Deakins said.

"Her career troubles are the least of her worries," Alex said.

"So we're back to square one then," Carolyn sighed.

"We've still got the broken locket," Mike said.