Thanks to all who continue to read and to those who review. Here is a nice long chapter with a surprise or two. Enjoy.

"I guess it's pretty obvious now, who I take after," a disconsolate Watson mumbled. She'd been unable to sleep, her thoughts tormented by images and fears she'd rather not see again, so she'd called Gina, since Irene was out of town. Despite the late hour, Gina had come straight over and had sat there, without word, while she told her about Angelo. "Just like dad, I wanted to do more than just hit him," she said, then shook her head. "John just sat there without reacting to his words, yet I reacted in typical Watson fashion. Blood doesn't matter, I'm daddy Watson's daughter through and through." The words tasted even more bitter than usual after Angelo had implied the same.

"That is the biggest amount of bullshit I have ever heard," Gina said, the anger behind her words surprising Watson. "I will not sit here and let you talk yourself down anymore." She reached out and held Watson's face in her hands. "You are nothing like that mongrel stepfather of yours, do you understand me?"

"I replied with my fists, just like he would."

"Just like a hell of a lot of people would have under such an attack," she told her. "For fuck's sake Georgie, even I would have been tempted to pound into that little shit if he'd said anything like that about my family to my face." She smiled at the startled look on her stepdaughter's face. "What, you think John is the only protective parent in this family, because he's not. I know violence isn't the answer and I'd never condone it, but I also understand that sometimes under great distress, even the calmest of people could snap."

"I'm not a calm person."

"No you're not." She smiled warmly at her. "You're a very passionate and emotional person and that can sometimes dictate your actions, but unlike your stepfather, you're also a kind, loving and considerate young woman who would never set out to deliberately harm another person and while you may not like to hear this, you are more like John than you realise," she said. "But as for your stepfather, I will tell you again, you are nothing like him."

"That fear that I am has always been with me though," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "I've seen more than enough in my job to know that abuse can be a learned response and dad educated me and mum a lot."

Her stepdaughter had never really said much about what she'd endured at the hands of her stepfather. They knew some of it though. When she had been shot, the extent of some of the abuse had shown up in x-rays and when he'd heard about it, John had been devastated. It had been hard enough to know he'd been kept from his daughter, but knowing even some of what she'd endured, had made it worse. It was part of the reason he could never give up hope that she'd come to him one day. He wanted to show her that not all fathers treated their kids like that.

"He taught me how to smack us around so it wasn't noticeable under our clothes," she said. "How to manipulate us in to believing it was our fault, that we somehow deserved it." She shrugged. "I know that's not true, but back then, when there was no one to help us, I didn't know any better."

"You don't need to fear that you will become him, Georgie, because you're a completely different person to him," Gina told her. "I can see that and so can Martha. She is with you because she believes in you and she absolutely adores you. Why else would she trust such a precious gift like Jay with you?"

Watson just shook her head. "I know Martha wouldn't look twice at Angelo and that she's happy with me, but he was right in saying that if Jack were alive today, she'd be very happily married to him and I'd be all alone," she murmured. "I hated him for reminding me of that and then when he called me an embarrassment to my boy, I just snapped. Jay means the world to me and I try so hard to be a good mother and someone he can look up to."

"Georgie, you are a wonderful mother to Jay and you are definitely someone he can look up to."

"Not after I punched a superior officer."

"Angelo may outrank you, but he is in no way superior to you. Georgie, as he gets older, Jay is going to see what huge obstacles his mum has had to overcome and he's going to be even prouder of you because of it," Gina said to her. "And as for that Rosetta prick, he was deliberately targeting your vulnerabilities, but that doesn't mean he was right. He couldn't be further from the real you."

"Yeah I suppose, but he's not the first to think that about me and he certainly won't stop saying it either," muttered Watson. "Robertson may have intervened this time, but Angelo knows exactly what buttons to push to get me to react and he will keep at me and at me until I snap again and then I really will lose my career." She sighed heavily. "He got me so angry that I could have killed him Gina, and that type of anger inside me scares me so much, because I don't know what I'm capable of."

"Well, looks like our time in the Bay is going to be extended after all," murmured Robertson as he stood with Graves at the back of a nightclub, staring into the rubbish. The two blue Grundy bins were overflowing with rubbish and there were bin bags strewn all around them, their insides spilling through slits in the sides of the bags. There was a strong scent of rotting food and there was a definite stench of stale urine in the alleyway. The dull and flickering lighting from the overhead lights and clouded over moon, just added to the gloomy atmosphere of the scene. As did the body lying amongst all the rubbish.

"Is it wrong to find this resting place rather appropriate for the deceased?" Graves said in response. She'd gotten the call and after a quick refreshing shower, she'd come straight here. She spared a quick glance at Robertson; his appearance was immaculate, as if he hadn't been dragged out of bed at this ridiculous time in the morning.

"Not at all," Robertson said. "He seems quite at home here."

"You do realise that the list of suspects is going to be long, since he basically pissed off anyone who met him."

He nodded. "Charlie, who found the body?" he asked of her.

"One of the barmen from the nightclub," replied Charlie. "He went to toss a bag of garbage in the bins and found him."

"Did he recognise the victim?"

"He'd seen him around quite a bit recently, but didn't know him by name," Charlie said. "He just called in that a body had been found, I arrived with Stevenson a short time later and as soon as I saw who the victim was, I backed off and called you, since it was pretty obvious that the bullet holes meant it wasn't an accident."

"Did you or Stevenson touch the body?"

"I had Stevenson check him for a pulse to confirm death, that's it," Charlie said. "I then had Stevenson handle the cordoning off of the crime scene since I figured you'd want me to have as little involvement as possible."

"Very good."

"I did have quick word with the nightclub Manager though," she told him. "Just to ask him to make sure no one inside the nightclub left without first giving a statement to an officer. He also told me that he saw the victim leave through the backdoor with a woman at around 11 pm," she explained. "He didn't come right out and say it, but I'm sure he was implying that this woman works hard for her money."

"Ah," was all he said in understanding.

"The woman came back inside at some stage and is still in there."

"I'll definitely be having a word with her," he murmured. "Going by the amount of blood and holes in our victim, more than one shot was fired," Robertson said. "Surely someone would have heard something."

"The nightclub is the only business on this block open at this time of night," Charlie replied. "And it's doubtful anyone could hear anything inside with the music blaring as it was. Even someone walking nearby would probably only hear the music or just assume it was part of the partying."

"Send some officers to doorknock," he ordered of Stevenson. "Ask them if they heard anything besides music between the time the body was called in and 11 pm."

"Will do."

"Oh and Charlie."

"I know, don't get involved." She took a couple of further steps back out of their way, while Robertson and Graves walked the scene.

"There are two blood pools, one where the body was found and here, where I suspect he was standing when he was shot." The position was about ten metres from where his body now lay. "The blood patterns and these drag marks definitely show that his body was moved after he was shot," Robertson said. "One of the bullets struck him in the neck and with the amount of blood spray we can see here, I find it highly doubtful that the killer didn't end up with blood on him or her after they moved the body."

"There's also blood on the side of the bin," added Graves. "The killer might have tried to get him inside there, but he might have been too heavy. It's one thing to drag a body and another thing entirely to lift up a dead weight that heavy and toss him in."

"A woman might have such difficulty," concluded Robertson.

"The woman he came out with?" Graves said. "She'd have to be pretty cold hearted, not to mention ballsy, to murder a man, then go back inside and continue to party as if nothing was wrong."

"Could you have dragged him that distance?"

"Sure," she replied. "I'm not the tallest or strongest of people, but if I had enough incentive, I could have gotten him from A to B. It probably wouldn't be easy for me though and would take a bit of time." Graves shone her torch closer to the body for extra lighting. "He has a bruise to his jaw. Perhaps things got a bit heated out here, before our killer resorted to using a gun."

"I think you'll find that bruise is from earlier in the day," Robertson said and both Charlie and Graves stared at him in surprise. "From when Const. Watson assaulted him."

"Shit," muttered Charlie at Robertson's revelation. This wasn't good. She didn't believe her cousin was capable of murder and while assaulting Angelo was bad enough, having him then end up dead on the same day, really didn't bode well for her cousin, especially given her history with him.

"Watson hit him?" Graves said. "When did this happen?"

"At the station just as his shift was ending," replied Robertson.

"Shit," Charlie muttered again. Angelo had been gone by the time she got back from her lunch break, which she'd taken as a blessing, while her cousin had been pretty quiet and kept mainly to herself. At the time, she'd just assumed it was because she'd felt embarrassed about asking for help with the report and rather than embarrass her further, she hadn't said anything to her cousin about her mood. Now she wished she had.

"Angelo had been deliberately goading her and according to Watson, he even confessed to the accident. Unfortunately, I wasn't in time to hear the confession and Angelo denied it all of course. He claimed that he went to get his things from his locker before going home, but didn't see the sign on the door that meant a female officer was in there, so he accidently walked in on her. She reacted angrily to his presence and struck out at him. What Angelo didn't know, was that I had overheard the last few comments he'd made to Watson and so became aware that it wasn't all as one sided as he claimed it to be."

"I'm just surprised this is the first I've heard of it," Graves said.

"Same here," Charlie said. "I'd have thought Angelo would have been yelling at the top of his lungs for charges to be laid against Georgie."

"Oh he did," Robertson said with a self-satisfied smile. "I persuaded him otherwise."

Charlie raised her brow at that. "How exactly?"

"Well, after he made some rather hollow threats to my career, I merely pointed out my exemplary record and standing within the Force in comparison to his and then reminded him about the behavioural agreement he'd signed before being reinstated here, and how the overly sexualised and explicit comments he had made toward a female officer would likely see the agreement torn up and him out on his arse."

"Bet he just loved that," muttered Graves.

"For a moment, I did seriously consider filing a report on his conduct, except that could very well have ended Watson's career in the fallout."

"That hardly seems fair," Charlie angrily interjected. "Not when Angelo barely got a reprimand for assaulting Aden. I mean, what happened to the whole misunderstanding and punch ups between officers generally ending up with only a reprimand in their files?"

"And that is usually the outcome," he said. "Except each case is treated on an individual basis, with the history of those involved taken into account. While Angelo has paid for his recent conduct with a reprimand and also a demotion for a combination of things, until recently, he had an impeccable record, whereas unfortunately for Watson, her rather long record speaks loudly against her."

"Fuck," said Charlie. She knew part of that was self-inflicted by her cousin's behaviour, yet she knew there were times when she'd been unfairly judged compared to others. She'd been guilty of doing that herself. Not this time though. She'd make sure of that.

"Now, I'm aware that records don't always paint an accurate picture, especially if the person writing them has a preconceived or personal grudge, yet there is no denying that your cousin has a bit of temper."

"Which until now, she hadn't acted on while in her uniform," Charlie pointed out.

"She still has problems with authority and discipline though and those are two important characteristics needed for a police officer, yet have sadly been lacking in her throughout her entire career," he said. "Also, it's no secret that she had zero respect for Angelo from day one."

He was right, thought Charlie. Georgie had resented Angelo before he'd even arrived and never gave him a chance. It no longer matters that Angelo never gave her cousin a chance in return either, because right now, it all went against Georgie.

"And recent events have only exacerbated things," Robertson was saying. "Watson has every right to be angry with Angelo, but her history is now against her and a junior officer assaulting a senior officer was always going to be viewed in a harsher light. Throw in her history of little respect and clear animosity toward Angelo and Watson was looking to be in a hell of a lot of trouble for what she did."

"It doesn't seem fair," muttered Charlie.

"Because it's not," agreed Graves. "Personally, I think Angelo got off lightly with only being demoted, but he has backers willing to go into bat for him. Your cousin doesn't."

"I'd go into bat for her," Charlie said. "But I suppose I'd just be dismissed as sticking up for my cousin."

"Charlie, I'm not saying it would have been a certainty as Angelo seemed to believe it to be, but with Watson's less than stellar reputation where authority and discipline is concerned, then there is no denying that her career could very well have been in jeopardy, especially if Angelo had been free to have his backers exert the right influence, had I not intervened and threatened him when I did." Robertson stared down at the body. "Now even in death, Angelo might cause considerable trouble for Watson. Alive, I could have kept him at Bay, but that injury to his face is going to need an official explanation for the autopsy."

Charlie sighed heavily as he said it. Things were just going from bad to worse.

"And I'm also going to need to make a detailed report as to why I chose not to report the incident in the first place," he said.

"So Georgie may still end up losing her job," murmured Charlie. Her cousin had already been through so much and while she may be struggling to find the passion for her job these days with the strain she was under, she also knew that Georgie would hate to lose the uniform like this. It would be like confirming everything some people believed of her.

"Charlie, I'll do what I can to protect Watson for the assault," he assured her. "Personally, I don't blame her really after what he said to her and it was quite admirable that she held out for as long as she did, but I should have stepped in earlier than I did and I'll make sure my report details that, along with everything I overheard Angelo saying, including the rather disparaging remarks he made concerning her disability and sexuality. Given her disability came as a result of being shot trying to save a fellow officer and the Force is against discrimination and harassment based on a person's sexuality, then Angelo's words may end up working in Watson's favour, especially now his death is going to be a PR nightmare. It all depends really, on how far his backers are willing to stand by his reputation now that he's dead, but I suspect that the wisest course of action will be to let this particular incident rest," he said. "A report filled with terms like 'crippled muff diver', 'sucking my dick like a lolly pop' and 'ride her like a bitch in heat', isn't something anyone on either side, will want released into the public arena, not when there is already going to be so much scrutiny surrounding Angelo's murder."

"The media attention is going to be pretty strong on this, isn't it?" Graves said.

"More than pretty strong, I dare say. If he'd been a normal cop, it would be bad enough, but Angelo was from an influential high society family with a strong history within the Force. He was going to be the poster boy for the future of the Force and his recent actions are going to be fodder for the press vultures. Every one of us is going to be under intense scrutiny from this moment on."

Charlie winced. She knew her relationship with the victim's wife was going to make her an obvious target. Not to mention a suspect. She also hated that people she loved and cared for, were also going to be on that suspect list. Charlie caught Robertson's eye. He didn't need to say anything. She knew by that look what he wanted. "Is this where you ask me for an alibi?"

"I'm sorry Charlie."

And he really did sound sorry for having to ask, she thought.

"But given your own history with Angelo, you're a legitimate suspect."

"Yeah I know, I'm the wife stealing job stealing back stabbing bitch who had it in for him," she muttered.

"You said Angelo was seen leaving with a woman at 11 pm. Where were you between then and when the body was called in?"

"I was out on patrol on my own until after midnight and I'd just gotten back to the station when the call came in. I grabbed Stevenson and came straight here," she replied.

Her response had come without any hesitation and Robertson nodded. "You realise then, that you have no real alibi."

Charlie nodded.

"No 'I didn't do it' or such?" he said.

Charlie smiled then. "I didn't kill him."

"I'll need to interview you properly and I can't have you involved in any part of the investigation," he told her. "The further away the better."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." She spared a glance at the body. "Look, my shift is now over and since I can't help you here, I'm going to go home and tell Joey about Angelo, before she hears it from another source."

"We'll need to speak to her as well," he told her.

Charlie just sighed and nodded as she walked away. Joey would likely be in bed by now and while she'd rather leave her to sleep til morning, she believed Joey would want to be awoken and told about Angelo as soon as possible. She just wished she had some idea as to how Joey was going to react to the news. At one time, Joey had cared for Angelo, yet lately, she had wanted nothing to do with him, but now that he was dead, how would she feel? She sighed heavily. Things had been so great between them and now they were going to have a tonne of shit land on them.

"Charlie," Robertson called out when she was about halfway down the alleyway. She stopped and turned. "Has Angelo's mobile been found?"

"No," she called back. "I did try calling it, but didn't hear anything," she said. "Maybe it needed recharging or it could be under his body or amongst all that rubbish, where the ring tone would be muffled."

"We'll have the crime scene techs keep an eye out for it then."

"He was alive when I left him," Kathy Dean informed them a short time later.

"After you had sex with him, is that right?" Robertson said.

At least it was a little less gloomy inside the nightclub, thought Graves, as she watched her partner quiz the woman who had been seen leaving with Angelo earlier. They'd waited for forensics to turn up and set them on their task, before heading inside to interview her. Kathy Dean was a tiny woman who possessed that hard and worn edge that Graves had seen in a lot of prostitutes before.

"Yeah, we did it in the alleyway. No money exchanged hands though, so you can't charge me," she defiantly said.

"We're not interested in your work," Robertson said. "Did you see where he went afterward?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Nah, once we were done, I came straight back inside. Didn't really care where he went."

"How long were you out there for?"

"Maybe fifteen minutes, twenty tops."

"Did you know Angelo before tonight?"

"Sort of."

Robertson raised a brow in wordless enquiry.

"He liked to use his position as a cop to get things for free," was all she said.

"Did you see anyone else in the alleyway while you were there?"

"Nah," she replied. "Even if there was someone, the lighting is so shit out back, you wouldn't see them any way, unless you were right on top of them."

"I can see why people go out there then," Robertson murmured under his breath. "Thank you Kathy, that's all for now, but we'll need you to come to the station and make a formal statement sometime today," he told her.

"Am I a suspect?"

"Yes, Miss Dean, you are."

"Fuck, now I wish I had charged that cheap skate bastard," she muttered as she stalked away from them.

"That woman is smaller than me," Graves said once she was out of earshot. "I doubt she'd have been able to drag him that far and unless she changed her clothes, she doesn't look like a woman who was dragging a dead body only an hour or so ago."

"She could have had help," he murmured, though more to himself. After speaking to Kathy, he was of the opinion she wasn't a credible suspect. Still, until something said otherwise, he'd need to treat her as such. "Graves, you said yourself that you'd be able to move the body."

"Yeah, but not easily. Angelo was a pretty big guy and being a dead weight, that would make dragging him all the more harder," she said. "I could do it, but Kathy Dean is much smaller than me and she barely looks like she could lift a puppy with those thin arms of hers, let alone move a man."

"Would a small woman with a limp be able to move the body?"

"You're thinking Watson did this?"

"Watson was a suspect the moment the body turned up."

"I guess it's possible she could have," Graves said. "Going by her build, Watson looks as strong as me, maybe even a little stronger."

"Yet you still don't sound all that convinced."

"As much as Watson hates to admit it, her disability does put limits on what she can do."

"She doesn't seem to think so."

"Mmm, you're home," Joey sleepily said when she awoke to find her girlfriend sitting on the side of the bed. Even in her hazy state, she sensed something was wrong. "Charlie, what is it?"

Charlie took her hand. "I'm sorry Joey," she said. "Angelo has been murdered."

"You told our uniformed colleague that you saw the victim leave with a woman, Kathy Dean, at around 11 pm."

"That's right," the nightclub manager replied to Robertson.

"We've already spoken to her," he said. "But can you tell us anything about their mannerisms as they left?"

"About what you expect with Kathy," he said. "Kind of all over each other."

"When did Kathy return inside?"

"I don't know. I saw her leave, but I was in and out of my office all night, so I didn't see her come back in. I just saw her with another patron a little later on. Jerry might know though."

"Jerry?"

"The bartender."

"We'll speak to Jerry shortly," Robertson said. "When you next saw Kathy, was she in the same clothes."

"Yeah."

"Does everyone on your staff use the back door and go out to the bins."

He nodded in reply.

"Then we'll need the prints of all the staff here, as well as those not on duty, so we can eliminate them from our enquiries."

"Shit," the manager muttered. "This is going to kill business."

"I'm not sure how to feel," Joey murmured after Charlie had explained everything to her. She was fully awake by then, her knees drawn up to her chest as Charlie sat next to her, her arm laying comfortingly across her back. "I mean, I loved him and genuinely cared for him," she said. "At least I used to, before he became a man I didn't recognise and who made me angry and disgusted by his behaviour and attitude." She shook her head in sad resignation. "If anything, I think I might be feeling something like relief that he's no longer going to be standing in our way or causing anyone else more trouble, but when I say it like that, it kind of feels wrong. How can anyone feel relief at the death of another person?"

"It's a lot to take in," Charlie softly said. "You're confused right now, that's all," she told her. "And don't feel too bad about feeling relief. I felt the same thing, that finally, we can be together without fear of interference from him."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Joey, when there has been so much animosity, stress and conflict between people, then it's only natural to consider both the good and the bad sides to a person's death, while still being allowed to be shocked by their death." She kissed Joey on the temple. "It's also ok to grieve for him if you need to. I never knew him as you did, but you saw something in him, so grieve for that Angelo, if you need to let go in some way."

Joey nodded and drew her knees even closer to her chest. "Am I going to be a suspect in this?"

"We all are," Charlie quietly answered. "And you're going to have to speak to Robertson at some stage."

"I don't have an alibi Charlie," she whispered. "I came home after work and Ruby was already asleep, so she can't confirm that I was here when Angelo was killed."

Charlie sighed and rested her head on Joey's shoulder. "I don't really have an alibi either."

"This is going to be bad, isn't it?" she murmured.

"Yes," replied Charlie. "Every little thing we've done is going to be placed under a very fine microscope until the killer is caught."

"What about the woman who left with him?"

"My gut tells me it's not going to be that easy."

"You know his family is not going to just leave this to the police," Joey said to her. "They'll probably come right at us, especially me. I'm Angelo's wife."

"I'm going to be right by your side throughout all of this Joey," Charlie told her. "We're stronger together and we'll get through this."

Joey smiled at her confidence, but it did little to ease her growing worry. "I just wish I understood what changed with Angelo," she said. "This man who had been going around hurting people, it was so uncharacteristic of the Angelo I grew up knowing."

"Maybe Angelo just cracked under all the pressure," Charlie said. "He was stressed from losing you, likely back on the drugs and he nearly killed a woman and child and quite likely killed Bianca Scott and the ramifications of that could have lasting effects on anyone."

"Or he was just finally showing us the real Angelo that had been lurking beneath the well manicured and cultured persona," muttered Joey. "I just have to accept that I never knew him at all." She sighed. "How does his death impact on the crash investigation?"

"It could go two ways," replied Charlie. "It could be left open or it could be officially determined on existing evidence that Angelo was the driver. I think the latter is unlikely though, especially if his family continue to try to prove his innocence."

"Then it will be just another unsolved case."

"And worse than that," murmured Charlie. "We may never learn the fate of Bianca. We might have theories as to what could have happened to her, but I'm sure April would appreciate something more concrete. She deserves to know beyond any doubt, if her sister is alive or dead."

Jerry the Bartender had confirmed he'd seen Kathy Dean re-enter the nightclub a bare fifteen minutes after she'd left. He hadn't seen Angelo return, so assuming Kathy wasn't the killer, then Angelo was likely killed within minutes after she'd left him, because he couldn't see a reason for Angelo to stay out there any longer than necessary. Unless of course, he was planning to meet someone else in the alleyway, like a drug dealer. Given Angelo's previous drug use, they'd certainly have to look into that angle.

Jerry also told them that Angelo had arrived at the nightclub on the arm of a redhead. He didn't recognise the woman, but didn't believe she was a local and he said they looked very much like a couple, with the way they were all over each other and kissing over their drinks. That bit of info had come as somewhat of a surprise to both Graves and Robertson. Secret affairs and casual sex with a hooker was one thing, but Angelo had never been so blatant as to be seen kissing another woman so publically, not when he supposedly wanted his wife back. Apparently, this woman and Angelo had spent over an hour doing just that, until the woman had blown up over something and stormed out of the club.

"It's not my redhead," Graves told Robertson when she caught him eyeing her sideways as they went to follow up on Jerry's suggestion that they speak to the blonde at the end of the bar. A blonde named Candy, who Angelo had tried to chat up after the redhead had left and before he had gone off with Kathy. "It can't be Shannon."

"How can you be so certain?"

They reached the woman's side before she could argue with him more.

"We had a few drinks, he suggested more, I told him no, I wasn't that kind of girl." Candy shrugged. "I know, people look at me, see ditzy blonde and then see these," she indicated her breasts. Robertson and Graves gazed at the impressive bosom, both probably having similar thoughts. "They're real by the way," she told them with a knowing smile. "Anyway, people assume that being a blonde with big boobs means that I'm a dumb slut, but my IQ is well above average and I only sleep with a man if I'm dating him and never before the fifth date," Candy explained. "Plus, his wedding ring was a major turn off, so I told him no. He called me a prick tease and a few other things, I called him a bastard, thanked him for the drink and then tossed it in his face. I'm just glad my friends arrived right then, because I think he might have actually wanted to slap me."

"This woman he arrived with, did you get a good look at her?"

"Yeah." That pleased Robertson, since Jerry had only been able to tell them she had red hair and not much else. "She was a stunning redhead. I had assumed at first that she was his girlfriend with the way they were carrying on with each other," Candy told them. "It was a bit weird though, because it sometimes looked more like she was doing most of the kissing and he seemed kind of nervous about it. It made more sense when I saw his wedding ring later. I just figured then, that his discomfort was because the woman wasn't his wife and he was nervous about being seen with his mistress in public, in case his wife got wind of it."

"Interesting," murmured Robertson. "However, his wife wouldn't care who Angelo was seen with, since she's left him and is now with another woman."

"No shit," she said with a little chuckle. "Guess if there was no wife to worry about, that would explain what the redhead said to him then, since she didn't seem too fussed about being at his place all the time."

"You heard their argument before she stormed out?"

"Only some of it," she said. "He wanted to leave and she was arguing that she was sick of just fucking like rabbits at his place all the fucking time and if he wanted to keep fucking her in his bed, he could at least get her out of the fucking house and buy her a fucking drink or two. The fucking parts were her words, not mine."

"You didn't happen to catch her name, did you?" asked Robertson.

"Sharon or something like that. Sorry, it was really hard to hear anything too clearly with all the music and other loud voices all around us."

"Could her name have been Shannon?" asked Robertson as he ignored his younger colleague's glare at him.

"Yeah, that's it," Candy said with absolute conviction. "Her name was Shannon."

"Thank you very much Candy," Robertson said. "We'd like you to come down to the station and make a statement and give a description of this other woman."

"Can I do that tomorrow?"

"It already is tomorrow."

"Oh right."

"But you can leave it till after you've gone home and had some sleep."

"Thanks. Can I go then?"

"Yes." He grabbed Graves' elbow and took her aside.

"I know what you're thinking, but it wasn't Shannon," she hissed at him.

"How well do you know her?"

"Not that well," she reluctantly admitted.

"You told me some time ago, that you felt like we were being watched."

She nodded. "And I suppose now you think that Shannon only bumped into me so she could get closer to spy on me. You're wrong Robert, it's not her."

"She could have been working for Angelo for all we know and that's why he was nervous being seen with her, because he didn't want it to get back to you that he knew her," he said. "Think about it Graves. A redhead called Shannon who just happened to be involved with Angelo, the man we're investigating and you're not the least bit doubtful about her just suddenly becoming interested in you?"

"You think I'm that naive a fool to have been played so easily?"

"I think desire can blind some people to what is right under their nose."

"Fuck you, Robert," she snarled.

He was caught off guard by her forceful reply. He hadn't realised until then, just how strong his younger colleague's feelings were for this other woman. He didn't wish to see her hurt, but he couldn't let this go. "Graves, is this woman worth risking your career over?"

"I'm not risking anything, Robert," she said, except perhaps her heart if things didn't work out with Shannon in the long term. "You're completely wrong about her, that's all."

"How can you be so certain?" he persisted. "You've admitted yourself, that you barely know this woman, so how do you know she wasn't just playing you from the beginning and hadn't been sleeping with Angelo behind your back this whole time."

"Because while Angelo was here arguing with his redhead, my redhead was making love to me in my bed and making me cry out her name," she snapped at him. Her face was flaming in embarrassment at being forced to reveal such private details to him and she certainly hadn't meant to blurt out the bit about crying out her name, but she'd been so pissed at him and wasn't going to let him slander Shannon any further.