Ok here's another one. So sorry for the wait, life got in the way, you know how it is. We're nearing the end of this fic. I think a couple of more ch to go and it will be finally done!
The decision to keep James at the station proved to be very wise. Considering James' history he would be considered a prime suspect to almost all involved. He was an elusive figure, not much was known about him except his volatile nature and some tidbits here and there.
The night of the murder Max had set up a meeting with James wanting to put the past behind and find some way to reconcile his mistakes from the past. They did meet, soon after however James left without any solution being reached.
"His alibi checked out," Seely told Walcott. "He was at this bar for lowlifes like himself around the time of the murder."
"That's just great, however the bar isn't that far from the murder scene."
Seely's eyebrow went up, "we've got witnesses that place him at the bar."
"What you've got is a bunch of drunks thinking they can place him there detective. So no alibi…leaves him right where I want him," she said as she was looking at James from behind the mirror. She was having the feeling now that something was overlooked. It could be quite possible that James didn't kill Max, but that didn't mean that he was innocent.
"Ok well he oughta be warned then," he said trying to be funny. "But where does that leave the poison? Yea the ME's office dropped that little bomb on us so?"
"Yea I know," for a moment she seemed to be deep in thought still staring at James who in turn was staring at the mirror as well. "You know what detective? I'm going to ask Mr. Horton here a couple more questions. He does know more than he wants us to believe," she said determined to get some answers. Seely stayed behind to observe behind the mirror, he really didn't know what she was up to but from the looks of it he knew she meant business.
"Mr. Horton…mind if I call you James? Let's cut the formalities then, Max Cavanaugh is dead. I refuse to believe that you didn't have a part in it."
He looked at her and gave her one of his smirks, the one that drove both Woody and Jordan to anger. It didn't seem to have the same effect on her however. "DA isn't it? Should you be playing out all your cards on the table so early in the game?"
"Ah so it is a game to you then? Was killing Max Cavanaugh part of it too?"
Her insistent questioning did the trick, the smirk faded away. "What makes you think you know anything about me? You waltz in here like you've got all the answers why don't you tell me who the hell you think you are!"
Gotcha. "James I know exactly who you are. You can speak the truth and get away with it." He didn't seem to understand where she was going. "You took us all for a ride you know…I don't like that. You think you're so smart, but you and I both know you couldn't have done this alone. You are going to pay for this …and it will be my pleasure putting you away for good." She walked out leaving James to think. As soon as she closed the door she heard him scream and by the sound of it he was trashing the room. Gotcha again.
"Well I have to say, you sure know how to handle a man," Seely had joined Walcott in the hallway. "So you got a theory or was that just for fun, I mean it was entertaining to say the least…"
"Detective…find detective Hoyt, I wanna see both of you in the conference room and track James' foster parents. I want to speak to them as well."
Seely surprised at the connection with the foster parents and Max's murder did what he was told and ten minutes later the three of them were in the conference room contemplating the next step. Walcott began explaining her actions, "first off detective Seely are the parents here?" He nodded in agreement, "Good, ok I have reason to believe his foster parents were involved. It struck me as odd why James would be so calm and collected and why I actually believed him when he told us he didn't kill Max."
Woody was in no mood for riddles and although he couldn't really tell Walcott to hurry the heck up he was getting impatient. "Ok so we know all of this already, why are we here?"
"Detectives I want you two to interrogate the Horton's."
They both were surprised at the turn the conversation took. Woody continued to speak for both of them, "Why? There's nothing they can tell us."
"Detective Hoyt, I know James is guilty and while he may not have killed Max himself, I know he had someone else do it for him."
"That's crazy…the Horton's haven't seen James in years. He hates them as much as…as much as the Cavanaugh's. Why on earth would they kill for them? No that's not possible."
"You'd be surprised how far a parent can go for their child detective. I've heard the stories and read any existing files; the Horton's had a baby before James who died. They thought they got a second chance with James, a second chance gone up in smoke soon after he turned sixteen. That's twice detective…they lost their son twice, can you imagine what that does to a parent? What a parent will do to reverse it when given the chance? I'm not asking here understand? I send Framus and Santana to the Horton residence looking for possible evidence. They should be back soon; I'll keep you two updated. In the mean time get going, I want this case closed."
She left the two men behind each wrapped up in their own thoughts. Was that Walcott being maternal now? Seely wondered. Woody was still processing the Horton connection, could they really have done it? This is too much, how will I ever be able to face Jordan again? What if she was right all along?
A/N: come on now I know you're dying to press the little button