Chapter Twenty

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"It must be nice to be so rich that you don't have to work like normal people do," Angell snarked as she and Stella made their way into the posh high-rise. The door-man remained stoic.

Her attitude reflected the day's events so far. With their second murdered victim came some of the same disappointment. Same caliber of bullet, same method of death, same scalpel used, but no trace and no fingerprints, either on the victim or in the room. Stella, Danny, and Hawkes had debated the connection between the two words carved on each of the women. The words 'liar' and 'accomplice' indicated that their murderer had a personal grudge against the women, possibly the two had perpetrated some crime against the killer and now he or she was taking revenge.

Fortunately, this new victim had yielded some leads. The victim, wearing a fancy evening dress, had stomach contents revealing that she had eaten a fancy dinner, specific to the menus of a few restaurants, one of which was conveniently only two blocks away from the scene. Hawkes had been dispatched to that lead. Danny was focusing on the dance studio itself. Why was the victim there after hours and how had she gotten in? The owner gave up the names of those with keys to access the place, and Danny focused his attention on the night janitor, who had not clocked in the night before and was now not answering his phone. Pictures of the employee were obtained and now Danny, with Flack tagging along, was hunting him down. Which left Stella with the last lead. Focusing on the victim, her prints received a lucky hit, giving her a name. Lynn Teegan, who had a record three years ago for breaking and entering and the destroying of personal property. Her then-husband, James Hidal, had filed the charges and since then, the two had been embroiled in a bitter divorce case. A case that the death of his ex-wife would clear up neatly. Stella and Angell were on their way to question him.

Stella gave the young detective a brief smile before she knocked on the penthouse suite.

A moment later, a fresh-looking blonde, blue-eyed woman who looked barely out of her twenties answered the door. "Yes?"

Stella flashed her badge. "I'm Detective Bonasera and this is Detective Angell. We'd like to speak to a Mr. James Hidal?"

The woman looked curious, but called out, "Honey! There's some people at the door for you."

James Hidal was in his early forties with brown hair, strong build, and calculating brown eyes. He fiddled with a cigarette in his hand as he came to the door. "Yes, hello? What can I help you ladies with?"

Again, Stella introduced themselves. "Mr. Hidal, we'd like to ask you a few questions about your ex-wife, a Ms. Lynn Teegan. When was the last time you saw her?" A scowl came upon the man's face at the mention of his ex-wife.

"Not for over a month. She and that lawyer of hers were making remarks about how the settlement negotiations weren't to their liking. Again." Hidal looked angry. "Lynn was just trying to squeeze more money out of me."

"Where were you last night, Mr. Hidal, between ten and midnight?"

He frowned. "I was having dinner with my girlfriend and a couple of business associates at Herschell's and then my girlfriend and I went to Coltrane's, a late-night jazz club." Hidal gripped the door and inquired, "What's this all about, detectives?"

"Mr. Hidal, your ex-wife was found murdered yesterday." Stella and Angell watched the man's reaction carefully. Momentarily stunned, but wholly remorseless. After asking a few questions and getting less than helpful answers, Stella asked one last question, holding out a picture of their Jane Doe. "Mr. Hidal, do you know this woman?"

A flash of fear. It wasn't hard to recognize a morgue picture. James Hidal looked at the picture a second longer before shaking his head. "No. The face doesn't ring a bell. Now if that's all detectives...?" After Stella shook her head, the door shut rather quickly, leaving the two women to stare at each other knowingly.

"He knows something."

"Oh yeah."

"Just perfect," Danny said disgustedly opening the car door. "A fake address. Aren't employers supposed to check these things out before hiring people?" He got in the passenger seat.

"They should, but don't mean they do," Flack retorted, climbing in the driver's side.

"At least we got a picture." Danny sighed, looking tired.

Flack glanced over at his friend, concerned. Danny still wasn't looking so good. The news of Lindsay going AWOL shook him up badly and he shook his head mentally. Now that Mac was back, though not in perfect shape, all that was left to worry him was Danny and Lindsay. Man, things must be rough for the Montana native right now and Flack hoped fervently that everything would turn out all right for her. She'd be devastated if anything happened to her parents and Danny would be right there alongside her. "You wanna' hit up some lunch before we head back to the office?" Danny's eyes had circles, his posture slumped, and looking somewhat sickly.

"Nah. Stella and Hawkes will want to know what we found, or rather didn't find."

Turning the ignition on, Flack's worry grew. Lindsay had better get back soon.

By the time the team had gathered, it was late Monday afternoon. Hawkes had returned with a vague description of the man that the maitre'de had given that had accompanied Lynn Teegan to her last meal and later identified him as the man in the picture Danny had obtained from the dance studio only with a goatee and not a full beard. Tired and downtrodden, Stella had sent the two to Lynn Teegan's apartment while she checked on Mac.

"So, right now, all we have is a picture of an unidentified male, a potential past connection between Lynn Teegan and our Jane Doe, and I bet you anything that James Hidal knows something," Stella wrapped up as she stood in Mac's office minutes later. "There was definite fear in his eyes when he saw the picture. He knows who she is. But he might clam up if we push. I know, I know," she held up her hands as Mac looked at her with a slight frown, "intuition means nothing, our job is in presenting solid proof."

"Actually, while that is something I would say," Mac pointed out, "I was thinking about something else. That name, Hidal...it rings a bell in my mind that I can't quite figure out." He leaned back in his chair, giving a small grimace. "Just like when we first checked Jane Doe's body, looking at her, her face triggered something. I've seen her before and this James Hidal, I've heard of him before too." Mac's frown deepened. "I just don't know where."

A/N: On a side note, does anyone know Stella's age? I need to know for the sequel for this story. Can anyone help?