Author's Note: Wow...I need to recover from those reviews! Thank you so much for the wonderful praise from the last chapter. It really meant a lot to me! Some of you have suggested that I may know a thing or two about the court system and that is extremely flattering. But believe me when I say, I just watch a lot of TV! I am trying to make this as believable for you as I can!

And quite a few of you have said that I am breaking the mold by actually having a trial in my story. I'm just surprised that no one has done it before and I am glad that I can do it in a way that you appreciate.

Well, let me know what you think!

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Ten minutes after one o'clock, the courtroom was once again packed to capacity and B.D. Hawkins had been sworn in as the next witness for the prosecution.

"Lieutenant Hawkins, you were the lead investigator during the Dominic Shepard case, is that correct?" Gwen asked, standing in front of the witness stand.

B.D. nodded his head. "Yes, that is correct."

"Could you please explain what happened on the night of October thirteenth?"

"We received a call around eight p.m. that said there had been a murder," B.D. answered.

"Who placed the call?' Gwen asked.

"Ned Nickerson."

"And what did you and your officers find when you responded to the call?" she asked.

"We discovered the body of Ann Granger," B.D. said, somberly.

"And was there anyone else in the house at the time?" she asked.

B.D. nodded again. "Yes—Nancy Drew, Ned Nickerson, and the victim's husband, Thomas."

"Nancy Drew happens to be a private detective. Was she there investigating the murder?" Gwen asked.

"No, she was a friend of the victim. They were supposed to meet for dinner and when Ann didn't show up, Miss Drew and her companions became worried so they went to her house to check it out," B.D. explained.

"Can you describe the scene when you arrived at Ms. Granger's house?" Gwen asked.

"We found the victim sitting at the dining room table," he said.

"What do you mean by she was sitting at the table?"

B.D. coughed. "The killer had propped her up in a chair at the table in order for it to look like she was just sitting there, as if she were eating or something. There was also a vase of pink roses beside her on a small table. The victim's husband said they weren't there before he left for the restaurant."

"Was there anything else?" Gwen asked.

B.D. nodded. "Yes. The killer had also left a note with the flowers."
"And do you happen to recall what the note said?" Gwen asked.

B.D. didn't hesitate one second. "'Catch me if you can; catch me if you will; you'd better do it fast; for I've got more to kill'."

"Was the note addressed to anyone in particular?" Gwen asked.

"No. We had to assume it was a message left for the police. He was daring us to stop him," B.D. said.

Carson rose from his chair. "Objection! Lieutenant Hawkins cannot presume what my client was thinking when he wrote the note."

"Sustained," Judge Kent said. He turned to look at the jury. "The jury will disregard that last statement."

Gwen held her annoyance in as she continued to question B.D. "Lieutenant, was there any evidence pointing to Dominic Shepard as the culprit behind the murders?"

"None that was linking him directly, no," B.D. said.

"So you had no suspects at the time?" she asked.

"No."

"So this bring us to a couple of days later—October fifteenth," Gwen said. "What happened then?"

"Around eleven that night we received a call from the security guard at Today's Times, the local newspaper here in River Heights. It was in the parking lot that we found the second victim, Brenda Carlton. She had been strangled," B.D. explained.

"Was there anything left with her as well?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, we found a single pink rose and another note," B.D. said.

"And what did that note say?"

"'Two are gone, but I'm not through; who's next, you ask? It could be you'," B.D. said, again without hesitation.

"Your Honor, I would like to submit the crime scene photos as Exhibit C, and the notes that were left with the victims as Exhibits D, E, and F."

The bailiff took the photos and the notes from Gwen and handed them to Judge Kent.

"And you still had no suspects?" Gwen asked, turning back to B.D.

"No, there wasn't any sufficient evidence that pointed to anyone."

"So, you were basically at a dead end?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, until Nancy came into my office with the theory that the killer was copying the murders out of Never Again, the book that was written by the first victim, Ann Granger," B.D. said.

"And what did you think of her theory?"

"To tell you the truth, I thought it was completely preposterous," B.D. said, slightly smiling.

"And did something convince you otherwise?" she asked, crossing her arms over her slender frame.

"I trust Nancy's instincts completely and I knew she would never come into my office with some outlandish story if she didn't believe it herself," B.D. said, glancing quickly at Nancy. "I read over some passages that she had highlighted and the murders that were happening matched up to the murders in the book."

"Let's bump things up a bit," Gwen said. "When did you catch your first break in the case?"

"It was a few days later. After the killer attacked Nancy and her neighbor, Nikki Masters, we started to go over the footage from the book signing," B.D. said.

"What good would that do?" Gwen asked. "I thought you said you had no suspects at the time."

"That's right but we were hoping that the killer messed up and Nikki got a look at his face," B.D. said.

"And what did the videotape show you?" Gwen asked.

"It showed a man that was keeping a very watchful eye on Nancy and Ann. We got a copy of the man's face and showed him to Nikki. She confirmed for us that we now had our killer," B.D. explained, sitting back in his chair.

Gwen walked over to the jury box. "Lieutenant, is that man in this courtroom right now?"

B.D. nodded.

"And can you tell us who it was?"

B.D. pointed a finger. "It was the defendant—Dominic Shepard."

"And did you arrest him?' Gwen asked.

"No. we still didn't have a name for him until we ran his picture through the database and came up with a couple of hits for DUI. Besides, Mr. Shepard had kidnapped Ned, Frank, and Nancy and were holding them hostage at the old Roxy Theatre on the outside of town," B.D. explained.

"How did you know they were in the theatre?" Gwen asked.

"Before Mr. Shepard had taken Nancy he had knocked out Frank's younger brother, Joe. But before Joe lost consciousness, he heard Mr. Shepard say it was time for the final act. We figured that was something and then Joe remembered that Frank had a GPS tracking chip in his cell phone. After it was activated, we were able to pinpoint their location to the Roxy Theatre," B.D. said.

Gwen nodded and glanced at the jury and was glad to see she had their full attention. "And what did you find when you arrived at the Roxy Theatre?"

"Dominic Shepard was trying to make a getaway with Nancy," B.D. said. He then glanced at Carson. "If we had gotten there any later, we may have been reading about another murder in the paper."

Gwen nodded her head, gravely. "Thank you, Lieutenant. No further questions." She walked back to her chair as Carson got up.

Carson approached B.D. with no expression on his face. B.D. knew his last statement got to him, but he wasn't about to show that to the jury. B.D. just sat back in his chair, bracing himself for whatever questions Carson may throw at him. After all, he had just torn into the coroner when no one expected him to. And Carson didn't disappoint.

"Lieutenant, you've been in your position for how long now?" Carson asked.

"Nine months," B.D. responded.

"So this was your first major case as Lieutenant, is that correct?"

"Yes," B.D. answered.

"So this arrest had to make you feel pretty good?" Carson asked, arching a brow.

"I took a killer off the streets so, yes, I would have to say I slept very easily at night," B.D. said.

"You say this was your case but you had a lot of outside help, did you not? Namely, Nancy Drew," Carson said.

"Miss Drew played an integral part in this case," B.D. said, nodding in agreement.

"From what I've read in reports and heard from your testimony, she did a lot of your work for you," Carson said. He shrugged a shoulder. "All you had to do was show up with the cuffs."

Gwen flew out of her seat. "Objection!"

"Sustained," Judge Kent said. He looked pointedly at Carson. "Watch yourself, Mr. Drew," he said in a warning tone.

"I apologize, Your Honor," Carson said with an apologetic grin.

B.D. cleared his throat. "To tell you the truth, Mr. Drew, I never wanted Nancy involved with this case. I wanted her as far from it as possible." He looked at Dom and was met by a chilling smile. "You client had other ideas."

"You are an officer of the law," Carson said. "You could have forced her form this case."

"I could have done a lot of things," B.D. said. "Especially if I knew what his plans for her were."

Nancy cringed in her seat, sensing that everyone was glancing at her.

Carson chose a new line of questioning. "Is it true that you had the media fabricate a story during this case?"

"Yes, after the attack on Nikki Masters, we figured it would be best if the public thought that she was dead," B.D. said.

"So this decision was for the public's sake?" Carson asked. "Don't you think they would have rested a little easier knowing that the killer hadn't succeeded in another death?"

"No, I don't," B.D. said. "No matter how you paint it, there was still a killer on the loose. The public wasn't going to rest easy until he was caught. Besides, if he found out that Nikki was still alive, who's to say he wouldn't have come back to finish the job?"

"But it's not for you to say that," Carson said.

"It was a decision that I made and I still stand by it," B.D. said. "I would do it again if I had to."

"But you took away their First Amendment rights," Carson said. "You kept them from doing their job."

"Yes, I did," B.D. said. "And they never had to agree to it."

"I would think that they had to," Carson said. "After all, you're the police. You could arrest them of they refused to help you."

"Don't be ridiculous, Mr. Drew," B.D. said. "I had to do my job to protect the citizens of River Heights, by whatever means necessary. I did my job and I caught the killer—I protected my town. I prevented him from taking any more lives—including your daughter's."

Carson slightly paled, his momentum gone. He cleared his throat and nodded at B.D. "No further questions."

Judge Kent nodded at B.D. as Carson took his seat. "You may step down, Lieutenant."

B.D. stepped down from the witness stand and walked towards the back of the courtroom. As he passed Nancy, he flashed her an encouraging smile. A quiet whisper followed him as he left the room.

Judge Kent cleared his throat in order to get everyone's attention. "The court will adjourn for today. We will resume again tomorrow at nine a.m."

The room rose as he retired to his chambers and immediately rose in noise level as soon as his door was closed.

"Nancy, we were going to grab some dinner before we went to our hotel," Frank said. "Do you and Ned want to join us?"

Nancy barely heard him, her attention focused on her dad.

"Nan, did you hear me?" Frank asked.

"What?" she asked, glancing at him.

"Do you and Ned want to grab a bite with us?" he asked again.

Nancy looked at Ned and he reluctantly nodded.

"Sure," Nancy said, distractedly.

She watched as her father grabbed his briefcase and left the courtroom. One thing she was sure about was that there certainly were going to be fireworks at her house for the next few days, especially if her father kept attacking everyone who took the stand.