Chapter 3

"Here is what we have so far. The last person to see Clyde Buckner was his wife Linda. She saw him at home around 10.30 p.m. yesterday night. At 1 a.m., he should have been at work, but never made it. His laptop, computer disks, files and car are gone, but no clothes or other personal things. Linda said he might have taken his files to work, but she isn't sure. His co-workers confirmed that he usually brought in his own materials. So that they are missing might not mean anything."Jack summarized.

"The report from CSU gives not much, except that they found evidence of blood on the floor. It had been wiped off." Vivian handed out a picture of the blood pool made visible by luminol.

"That's quite a lot of blood."

"Yes, but we can't tell how recent it is. It could have been there for years. They sprayed the corridor as well, but found no more blood. Forensics will have DNA and an estimated timeframe on how old the blood is by tomorrow."

"If there is no blood trail, it's not very probable that he was killed or stabbed. There would have been a mess when trying to get rid of the body," Danny considered.

"Maybe someone wrapped him in something, like a shower curtain or plastic bags. But until we have a body and we have DNA, we can't move further on that. It could be his wife's blood for all we know."

Samantha considered the possibility in silence. Had Clyde beaten Linda? He hadn't been physically violent with her, even though he had been a jerk in every other way possible. She looked at Martin and saw the same question on his mind as well.

"Clyde Buckner was having problems at work. According to his boss, he called him that day he disappeared and told him that he was about to get fired for harassing a co-worker. We talked to the boss and to the co-worker in question and the story checks out. Both confirm the allegations and apparently, it was also caught on security tape," Samantha summed up what they had found out so far,

"Might the woman have a motive?" Vivian questioned.

"Didn't seem like it. As far as she's concerned, him going to court would be ideal. She told us that she wanted him found. Also, even before the harassment incident, Clyde was a problem at work. Apparently he had discipline problems."

"Those weren't his only problems. He was in major financial trouble: nine years ago, he started a computer repair business with money that I haven't been able to trace yet. Whatever they were doing, they didn't bother to ever file a tax return. They did however officially go out of business last year. But there are no records of any activity between the foundation of the company and the bankruptcy. Makes you wonder. Afterwards, Clyde was broke. No unusual payments since then. But it gets better. When the company was founded, Clyde Buckner and one Lyle Simmons were listed as partners. I checked into Lyle Simmons. So far, I haven't found him. The address he gave doesn't exist. It looks like Clyde had a bogus business partner."

"Or one who didn't want to use his real name."

"Wait, Lyle Simmons. Linda told us that Lyle Simmons was the father of her older daughter, Carla. We might be able to get the birth certificate or the hospital records."

"You are going to handle that, Samantha." Jack said.

"Martin, I want you to make use of your experience in white collar and talk to the colleagues over there about Clyde's business activities; maybe they can tell us something. Danny, you and I, we'll work our way through the phone records, see if anyone suspicious pops up. Now that we know that Clyde might have been involved in criminal activities, we know what we're looking for."

oOo

Samantha was glad that she could work by herself for the rest of the day. She really needed some room to breathe. She had had enough on her mind, without the past paying her a visit. Unwelcome memories of a forgotten time came back to the surface. It had been a different life back then. She was now a different person; at least she had grown to believe that without question. Seeing how much Clyde had stayed the same and how much his bad traits from back then were now highlighted made her question to what degree her self-image was deluded. Clyde probably saw himself in a very different light than they, the investigators did.

Gathering the results of her research, she walked over to Jack's office. She knocked and was immediately answered. Jack looked stressed out.

"No luck with the phone list?" she asked.

"Uh? No, not so far," he answer distractedly.

"I traced back Linda and Carla. There isn't a father on the birth certificate or in the hospital records, but when Linda was arrested in 1992, custody of her three-month-old daughter was turned over to the father, one Richard Dane. Last know residence was Denver, Colorado. He moved without leaving a forwarding address. That was in winter 1991. He reappeared in 1992 in New York City, where Carla lived with him during Linda's prison sentence. Then nothing until 2001, when Mary Dane, his mother, reported him missing. She knew that he was living in the city, but hadn't heard from him for a couple of years, but after 9/11 she panicked. Nothing ever came of it. I say we talk to Linda and ask why she lied to us about who Carla's father really is. Maybe Richard Dane was the business partner. Jack, are you listening?" Samantha noticed that Jack had a far-away look on his face.

"I'm sorry."

"Problems at home?" Samantha asked, even though it was none of her business.

For a moment Jack considered evading the question or lying to her. "Maria is having an affair."

"I'm sorry."

"It hurts more than it should."

"You're married, you deserve to feel hurt. Have you talked to her yet?"

"She told me," he answered, then corrected. No, I haven't talked to her yet." Jack sighed.

"Call it a day and go home."

Samantha walked out and closed the door behind her. She needed to get out. She needed some alone time away from people, away from the case. It was still rather early, time to work out before going home. She needed to deal with some serious frustration today.

oOo

Jack was frustrated as well. By the time, he got to the main office, Samantha was already gone. He felt bad for not asking how she was handling the case. He should have paid more attention to how she was doing. All day his head had not been at work. All these years he had gotten good at compartmentalizing his life, to the point of ruining his personal life. Now that he tried to get more invested into it, it started to eat away at him. Somewhere there had to be a middle ground. A talk with Maria might be able to clear a few things. Samantha was probably right; he had to talk with her sooner or later, and they couldn't let the issue stand in the room forever. The longer they let it, the more it affected the atmosphere at home. Hannah and Kate had already noticed that something was even more wrong than usual this morning. Jack checked with Danny, who wasn't having much luck with the phone list either, before he left for home. Half an hour later, he arrived home and found Maria already there, sitting in the kitchen reading the paper. From the looks of it, she had been waiting for him. The girls were nowhere to be seen.

"Where are the girls?"

"At my mother's; they're staying overnight. They love it and my mother doesn't mind if it's just on occasion. I think we need an evening to ourselves. We need to clear where we stand. Both of us."

Jack nodded.

"This isn't working; I think we can both agree on that. We have been pretending for the girls' sake, but it's time we look reality in the face." Jack said what had been on his mind for too long. It hurt him to say it out loud. Uttering the words into the room sealed the failure of his marriage that he had realized a long time ago. This was just the final act.

"I'm glad we agree." Maria sounded sincere. "I need some space, Jack. I have been feeling stifled for a long time. I'm moving in with my mother for a while. I need to get clear about my life again." Maria sounded like she had rehearsed that bit thousand of times in her head.

oOo

Samantha's morning had started out far better than the last. She had gone to bed early after an intense work-out the previous evening. Now she felt well rested. Her mood was actually pretty good until she opened the morning paper and came to the local section. She was casually browsing the articles while she was sipping her coffee when she came across something that captured her attention. NYPD was seeking information on a case. Two days ago, an unidentified body had been found. She immediately recognized the picture. She hadn't seen the man in ten years, but she would never forget his face. That his body had been found now couldn't possibly be a coincidence. A chill ran down her back. She had to do something. First Clyde went missing in the same night Erik was found murdered. It all had to do with what had happened on that morning in March 1994. Before yesterday, she hadn't thought of any of it for years--it had all been pushed into a dark corner of her mind--but she didn't have that option anymore now. She would have to tell Jack what she knew and, in doing that, she would have to reveal her own role in the events, something which she had neglected to mention when she had applied at the FBI Academy. Her old self that she thought she had left behind was coming back to haunt her present after all. Nervously, she got ready for work. She was almost out the door when Danny called. He was going to pick her up. They were supposed to check out some addresses from the list of callers and it would save time if they didn't bother driving by the office first. That only delayed the inevitable. She would have to talk to Jack sooner or later today and probably also to the police, as they were investigating the murder case. For a moment, she considered picking up the phone right now, but then she thought better of it. She would do it during lunch break, after she and Danny had checked out the new leads.

Four hours later, they were hungry and knew nothing they hadn't known before. They had driven two hours to learn that one of the callers had moved to Newport two weeks ago. The second address had checked out, but all they had learned there was that Clyde had applied there for a job, had had two phone interviews but hadn't gotten the job in the end. Since it was already past lunchtime, they decided to stop and grab a bite to eat now before returning to the office.

"Danny, can I talk to you about something? It has to do about the case. It's not exactly something I want everyone to know. I figured you are the man for secrets."

"Sure," Danny smirked. Something in his expression told her that Danny already knew a lot of secrets.

"You heard about it. From whom?" Samantha was puzzled.

"Just heard about it," Danny smirked.

"There is something else. One morning, Clyde called me and told me to get the car and pick him up in town. I didn't think of anything and did it. I waited at the corner. I was already considering leaving again, when Clyde and two friends of his came running down the street. They had a bag with them and one of them was bleeding. I was scared. They never told me what had happened. But when I read the next day that a bank--a corner from where I had been waiting-- had been robbed, I knew what they had been up to. That's when I moved out for good. Today, I read in the paper that NYPD found a body that night Clyde disappeared. They haven't been able to identify him, but I'm pretty sure it's Eric Dane. He's the brother of Carla's father."

Danny was silent for a second.

"That's complicated. Have you told Jack about it?"

"No, not yet." This time, the question didn't bother her.

"I will have to; it might play a role in the case, especially since Richard Dane probably is Clyde's business partner."

"I know. I just didn't exactly mention any of this when I applied at the FBI Academy." Samantha frowned. She was well aware of what that meant.

"I understand. But I think Jack can handle it," Danny said and meant it.

"Thanks. I'm going to talk to the police first, can you cover for me at work? I was planning on going during lunch break, but seeing as that's not going to happen, I might as well do it now." Samantha wasn't exactly enthusiastic about the idea, but she had made the decision and there was no backing out of it now. Her conversation with Danny had helped to reassure herself that she was doing the right thing. It might still ruin her career, but it was the right thing to do. She might have run away and not have asked any questions as a scared eighteen-year-old, but she wasn't that same person anymore.

"Sure. I'll drop you off it the station and fill Jack in on our fruitless morning. Seeing the mood he has been in lately, you can be glad that you're not around when he hears the bad news," Danny said light-heartedly as they walked back to the car.

TBC