Chapter 3

"So, Amanda, are you all unpacked?" Billy greeted her with a smile as he held open his office door. He had seen Lee and Amanda enter the bullpen and managed to get the door open as the hoots and howls and cheers echoed around the room. He couldn't help but join in the applause, much to Lee's embarrassment. Billy waved them into his office, and closed the door behind them, calming the clatter outside.

"Yes, sir, just about. There are still a few more boxes to go and we still need to go back to the house on Maplewood and give it a thorough cleaning before Joe can start moving in," Amanda replied with a smile.

"Joe's moving in?" Billy sounded surprised.

Amanda nodded happily, "Yes, Joe and Carrie are moving in and he plans on buying me out. But this way, the boys will have a room they are familiar with when they stay with him. It's a win-win for everyone."

Billy sat back in his chair and replied, "Well, that's good to hear. You're settling in nicely?" He looked directly at Lee as he asked the question.

"Yes, we are settling in fine. And so far, minus the incident with my car, everything has been pretty smooth I would say," Lee replied pointedly. He settled into the chair across from Billy's desk and asked, "So have you heard anything new?"

Billy folded his hands and looked into the bullpen before looking back at them. "Well, they were able to isolate the poison, finally. It's a combination of Tetrodotoxin, Aflatoxins, and another compound called TM9. They are being inhaled, somehow, and the TM9 speeds up the effect processes in the body. We have yet been able to determine exactly how these toxins are being introduced as they appear to be isolated to just the victims and none of their family members for those that have a family."

"But why?" Lee asked, confused. "Why these senators?"

"That's a good question, Scarecrow, and one I'm sure you'll find the answer to. Your first official assignment as husband and wife is to get to the bottom of this mess before anyone else gets hurt or even worse," Billy commanded.

Amanda nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, sir. I'll start going over research on each of the senators, their comings and goings the last few weeks before they got sick. See if there's any kind of a pattern."

Lee and Amanda stood simultaneously and turned to face the door. "I'll talk to the responding paramedic teams. Maybe they've noticed something. Who was the latest victim?"Lee asked.

"Senator Cooper. Cameron Cooper. Single, lives alone, age thirty-three. He became ill at approximately ten-thirty Friday night. Has an apartment in Georgetown, the address is in the file," Billy relayed as he handed Lee four colored file folders.

"All right, I'll get right on it," Lee stated as they left the room. "Amanda, why don't you take these up to the Q Bureau while I see about getting another car for us down in the motor pool. This way, maybe we can divide and conquer."

"Will do. Anything, in particular, you want me to look for?" Amanda asked as she took the folders from Lee.

"I don't know yet. Start with the usual. Any social interactions they may have had, did they dine at the same restaurants, common friends, that kind of thing," Lee ran his hand through his hair as he thought. "Has anyone publicly admitted to having a grudge over them? Anything out of the ordinary."

"Oh, so you mean, find what you would miss?" Amanda teased as the elevator doors began to open.

Lee smirked and replied, "Very funny. Just see what you can find. I'll be up as soon as I can."

"And where will you be hiding, Scarecrow?" Francine snarked as she came around the corner, only catching the tail-end of their conversation.

"Oh, hello, Francine," Amanda piped up. "I'm heading up to the Q Bureau to do some research if you'd like to join me for a fresh cup of coffee."

"Hmmm, coffee in the Q Bureau over the swill they have down in the bullpen. I think I'm going with the Q Bureau on this one," Francine pretended to ponder the question.

Amanda laughed and added, "Good, because you may enjoy the chocolate chip muffins I made this morning, too."

Francine rolled her eyes and said, "Amanda, if they are half as good as your Christmas cookies, I will never fit into the little number I picked up for my date tomorrow night. Who says Tuesday night dating has to be dull."

"Well you ladies enjoy your coffee and muffins, I'll be down in the motor pool," Lee groaned.

"Oh yes, I heard about your little… incident… over the weekend. Tell me, Scarecrow, were you going for a slam dunk or a lay-up when that happened?" Francine teased, her eyebrows high as she attempted to keep a straight face.

Lee scrunched his face up and commented, "Very funny. I wasn't even driving. I was actually in the shower when the whole thing happened so just save your jokes."

"Oh, I wasn't joking. I mean, it isn't very often you manage to completely destroy the interior upholstery as well as the T top, the hatch glass and the passenger door if I'm not mistaken," Francine rattled off the damage to Lee's car.

"And how did you learn all that?" Lee groaned.

Francine smiled and fingered the edge of the folder she was carrying, "Well, Leatherneck and I were out for drinks Saturday night when he mentioned it. As a matter of fact, he couldn't stop laughing when he was describing the look on your face."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… well, you can just quit the jokes now. I'll be back as soon as I get another car for us to use. Then Amanda and I can go to the hospital to question Senator Cooper. Maybe he remembers something just before he got sick," Lee explained. He turned and headed back down the hall as Francine and Amanda boarded the elevator. He stopped and turned around once more and added, "Save a muffin for me, will you?" His request was answered with giggles as the door to the elevator closed.

When the doors re-opened to the Georgetown lobby, Amanda immediately said cheerfully, "Good morning, Mrs. Marston!"

Mrs. Marston smiled as she said, "And good morning to you too, Mrs. Stetson. Although I do need to remind you, if you're planning on changing your name officially, you'll need to go through the proper channels. All the paperwork will need to be filled out and brought downstairs to accounting."

Amanda smiled, "Will do, Mrs. Marston. I've already requested it." She climbed the stairs, Francine just a step behind.

"Oh, Miss Desmond?" Mrs. Marston called up to them.

"Yes, Mrs. Marston?" Francine replied looking down over the railing at the top of the stairs.

"Please tell Leatherneck he owes me a coffee roll from the bakery down the street," the older woman stated before turning back to the small screen in front of her.

Francine frowned then asked, "And what makes you think I'll even see Leatherneck today?"

Mrs. Marston chuckled as she said, "You will."

Francine scowled as she walked down the hall to meet Amanda at the door. "What was that all about?" Amanda asked, the frown still discernible on Francine's face.

Francine shook her head, "I have no idea. Do you think I should call Leatherneck and ask him?"

Amanda shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Well, that's up to you but it sounds like you have a message to deliver to him anyway." She tried to hide the smirk on her face when she turned to unlock the door to the Q Bureau.

Amanda dropped the files she was carrying on the desk and crossed the room to pour two cups of coffee for each of them. She opened the small fridge and without asking poured just a small amount of cream in each cup. She handed one to Francine, opened the Tupperware container on Lee's desk to reveal a half dozen muffins. Francine chose one and sat down on the couch across from Amanda's desk.

"Ok, so let's see what we can find out before Lee gets back here, shall we?" Amanda suggested as she sat down at Lee's desk and turned on his computer.