As Steve and Stacy left Joe Slighter's former place of employment, Steve's phone rang as they clambered back into his car. "Yeah, Sloan here." He answered. "Dad? What's up? Okay, thanks." He said as he hung up. "That was Dad. He says that Amanda found something in Joe Slighter's autopsy that she said we need to see!" Stacy's eyes widened.

"Should we ask Kat to meet us there?" She asked eagerly.

"That might be a good idea." Steve agreed.

Kat joined them at the hospital and they all walked into Amanda's pathology lab. "Oh, hey." Amanda smiled as she glanced up at them. Mark was already there.

"What's going on?" Kat asked.

"You said there was something we needed to see?" Steve inquired as they entered.

"Yes." Amanda nodded, setting aside the clipboard on her desk and walked over to the cadaver table.

"Stacy? Honey, first of all, I want to tell you that Joe's death was not your fault." Mark spoke. Stacy hung her head.

"Thanks." She sighed.

"No, I'm not just saying that." Mark smiled.

"I'm not sure if this will make you feel better or worse," Amanda said as she pulled the cover down, revealing Joe Slighter's lifeless face. Stacy cringed and Kat patted her shoulder. Amanda cleared her throat and continued. "The police are ruling Joe Slighter's death as a suicide, right?" She eyed Steve.

"Right." Steve muttered, still feeling like the bad guy here.

"Wrong." Amanda smirked.

"What?" Steve, Stacy, and Kat all gaped.

"If you look closely at Joe's throat, you'll see bruises around it." Amanda explained. They all gazed intently at Joe's neck. Sure enough, there were round, purplish impressions on it.

"So...you're saying he was strangled?" Kat raised her eyebrows.

"Choked." Amanda corrected. "But that's not what killed him!"

"What do you mean?" Stacy furrowed her brows, more confused.

"The bruises aren't all Amanda found." Mark said and lifted the flap of the sheet over to reveal the back of Joe's right shoulder blade. "Now, if you look closely here, you'll notice a small jab wound." He pointed to the upper side of the back of the shoulder and there was a very small but bruise colored puncture.

"You're saying he was drugged?!" Steve sputtered in astonishment.

"Uh-huh." Amanda nodded. "I ran a tox screen on him and look at what turned up in his blood." She handed the folder to Stacy. Steve and Kat read the paper from over her shoulder.

"Phenobarbital?" Steve sputtered. "Was Joe Slighter taking medication?"

"No." Mark shook his head. "We called his personal physician. Joe was not on any medication at all."

"There wasn't a trace of any other drugs in his system. Aside from the phenobarbital, he was clean." Amanda added. "He had a lethal dosage though at the time of his death."

"So, he drugged himself then hung himself?" Stacy asked absent-mindedly.

"Then why were there bruises around his throat when he was strung up with a bathrobe sash?" Kat rolled her eyes.

"Oh, right." Stacy mumbled, embarrassed.

"Joe didn't give himself that injection. Someone else gave it to him!" Mark announced.

"How do you know that?" Steve asked skeptically.

"Well, Joe was right-handed, so there's no way he could've reached that far back and given himself that injection, not from The angle we found it at."

"Couldn't he have used his left hand?"

"No." Mark shook his head. "Not a direct hit like that."

"And take a look at this." Amanda spoke up, holding up Joe's limp right hand. "I found blood and skin tissue under his fingernails."

"So...he was murdered?" Stacy asked unhappily.

"It certainly looks that way." Amanda nodded. Stacy wrapped her arms around herself and walked to the hallway, just standing there. Amanda cleared her throat. "Someone was trying to dose Joe with a fatal injection, and from the blood and the bruises, looks like he tried to put up a fight to defend himself."

"Just a regular dose of phenobarbital alone would've made him compliant to his attacker's favor, but apparently someone really wanted him dead." Mark added.

"But why kill him at all?" Kat furrowed her brows. "He was pretty poor. It's not like he was a threat to anyone."

"Well, apparently someone must have thought he was." Mark stated.

Steve glanced back at his somber daughter. She stood with her back to him, rubbing her arms. Steve didn't like her being part of this conversation. He felt bad for her. Her hunch about this had turned out to be true after all, yet that was the ugly part. It proved that Joe hadn't killed himself out of spite because of their misunderstanding, but now she still felt bad because some skunk had murdered an innocent man, a good provider for no good reason. Steve walked over to her. "It wasn't your fault, honey." He said quietly. Stacy hung her head. "You know how the press is...twisting unsaid words into something they're not meant to be."

"Yeah, well...I don't like it!" Stacy said adamantly. "He begged me not to publish that information, and I gave my word. Yet someone used it to poke fun at his pain. And now he's dead! I don't appreciate that!"

Steve gently rubbed her shoulder, feeling awful for how miserable this was making her. "Listen, Stace...I'm sorry for the way things turned out." He cleared his throat. "Honey, you proved your point. So...let me handle the rest. Okay?"

Stacy lifted her eyes and looked up directly at her father. "Dad? I...I really…I want to help you find his killer." She stated confidently. Steve was taken aback a little.

"Stace," he began quietly, starting to shake his head. "I know you're feeling bad, but..."

"Dad, please!" Stacy pleaded. "You and I both know that I didn't write that article, but Joe Slighter didn't, and neither does his family. I want to know who did this and why! The least we

can do is find the fiend that did this and try to protect his family from more slander. I feel the paper owes him that much, I feel I owe him that much. I have a responsibility now, Dad. For years, I've wanted to help you fight evil on the job, but I always had to sit on the sidelines. Now, I can do something. Please don't say no, Dad. It's my job! Please, Dad. Please?"

Steve sighed, staring thoughtfully at her. In his heart, Stacy and Katherine would always be his little girls, but it was at moments like these that he realized that they were now truly grown women, both with ambitions and passion for their dreams, not only that, but also for justice and all things good. Here was his child, no longer a child, stepping up to right a wrong that she didn't do, but feeling responsible to set it straight. Her mind was made up, and besides, if he said no, it would be driving her crazy wondering what really did happen to Slighter, and coming up with all the reasons she could think of to be out there figuring it out. He smiled warmly. "All right." He agreed, nodding. "If that's what you want."

"Thank you, Dad!" Stacy smiled sadly, hugging him.

"But listen to me," Steve said firmly, pulling her back. "I want you to be careful, hon. Yes, I was wrong about this, and I'm sorry for how unhappy it's made you. But I really want you to be careful. It can get ugly out there, catching murderers and exposing high-riding criminals. I don't want you getting hurt! Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." Stacy nodded. "But if you and I work together on this, with you around, how can I get hurt?" She grinned.

"Well, I talked to Mrs. Slighter and Joe's attorney." Kat spoke up. "He didn't turn in his life insurance policy."