A Bloody Knight

By ILoveTea

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Chapter 2.

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Disclaimer: I don't own CSI:NY and Jane Austen's books

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CSI Lindsay Monroe stepped into the huge hotel lobby. She looked up at the enormous chandelier hanging down from the ceiling. Approaching her, Detective Don Flack followed her gaze, and chuckled. "Are you thinking on having one for your apartment? I don't think Danny will agree with you," he said, grinning.

The girl playfully hit him on the arm. "Are you crazy? I know it's worth more than our yearly combined salary. I was just admiring this beautiful work of art. So, what do we have here?"

Leading her into an elevator with four mirrored walls, Detective Flack pushed the button. "A 36 year-old deceased Caucasian male. George Wickham, a banker. Tomorrow would have been his wedding day, right here in this hotel," he said, checking his notes.

"What happened?" Lindsay asked.

"Stabbed by a knight," he said.

"What?"

He didn't reply. Stepping out of the elevator, they walked through a long corridor, then turned left. A few uniformed officers stood guard in front of an open door. Examining a bloody statue was Danny Messer.

"Hey, Danny." Lindsay tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

Turning, he smiled. "Montana! Nice to see you! I miss you! We haven't seen each other for...," he paused, glancing at his watch. "Two hours."

"I miss you, too," she said, returning the smile. Bending down, she took a closer look at the statue. The knight and his horse were made of marble, while the 15-inch sword appeared to have been made from some sort of metal, yet she was unsure because of the object having been covered with blood.

"So, the knight stabbed the victim with this?" she pointed.

"You can put it that way, yeah. But we can't charge a marble knight for committing murder," he chuckled. "Anyway, we won't know the cause of death for sure until Sid finishes the autopsy. The body's at the morgue," he paused, then continued. "I'll process this room. Take the emergency exit, then take samples from witnesses Flack had found."

"What about the elevator and the corridor?" she asked.

"Been there, done that."

"Okay, then." Lindsay straightened up, and surveyed the room. There were boxes stacked in one corner, a huge sofa, half a dozen tables and chairs in another, and a few similar-looking statues near the one Danny was working on.

"This is a strange place for a storage room," she said, turning to Flack. "Usually, it's in a basement, but this is the thirtieth floor. "I noticed that the other rooms in this floor are meeting rooms."

Flack placed his hands on his hips. "I thought so, too, but she said it's only temporary. They needed a place to store things for the wedding. The reception hall is right above us."

"She, who?" Lindsay frowned, and asked.

Flack nodded to a dark-haired woman talking on her cell phone who had been standing behind him. "That's Anne Elliot, the wedding planner. She found the body of the groom-to-be."

The wedding planner finished her conversation and tucked her phone in her dress pocket. Walking over to the woman, the female CSI agent had been surprised. Usually people disregarded a police officer's request to cut their phone conversation.

Lindsay introduced herself to the wedding planner. "I understand you were the one who found the body."

Miss Elliot nodded. "I needed more chairs in the ballroom so I came down here with one of my staff. When I opened the door I saw a man suspended a few inches above the floor."

"Did you touch the body?" Lindsay questioned.

"Yes. After I asked Rooke, my assistant to call 911, I walked over to the man. I felt for a pulse to see if he was still alive. But there was none. I recognized him as my client, Mr. Wickham," she said, in a calm voice.

"You asked your assistant to call 911 even before you knew what happened to him?" Lindsay asked.

With a dead pan look on her face and amusement tinged her voice she said, "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that something was wrong. He fell against a statue; there was a pool of blood beneath his body."

"I need to know the exact story. You won't mind giving us a sample of your fingerprints and DNA? For the process of elimination."

The wedding planner's eyes widened. "I'm a suspect?"

"Well, Miss Elliot, at this moment everyone is a suspect." Lindsay opened her kit.

"Just call me Anne," the woman told Lindsay.

An hour later, Lindsay found Flack in one of the meeting room interviewing Cassie Abbot, one of Anne's staff. The girl didn't need much encouragement before she spilled the gossip about people involved in the wedding.

"You know, the wedding planner was originally Blake Willoughby. Blake accepted the job because the bride-to-be is the sister-in-law of Will Darcy."

Lindsay chipped in, "Darcy? As in William Darcy, the owner of this hotel?"

Cassie nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes. He's also the owner of Pemberley Real Estates, Pemberley Construction, and many other companies. You name it." She paused to take a breath before continuing. "When Will told him that there was a limited fund for this wedding, Blake lost interest, handing it down to Anne. It was not the first time that he did something like that. And I must tell you, she's a great wedding planner. Her weddings were just as memorable and beautiful as the ones managed by "The Great" Blake Willoughby himself."

"Where is Mr. Willoughby?" Flack asked.

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "All I know is he's going to do another celebrity wedding in Italy."

"So, he never came here?" Flack asked.

"No, as far as I know of. But nobody missed him. I think Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy prefers to have Anne here rather than Blake. They were school friends back in England."

She leaned toward Flack and said in a conspiring tune, "You didn't hear this from me, but back then Anne was much wealthier than her friend. Her father is a baronet, you see. But there was no grudge or whatsoever between them. Elizabeth is Anne's friend, no matter how much money they have."

Flack turned the conversation toward the case. "What about Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham? Was there any grudge between them? You said Mr. Darcy paid for the wedding, but only provided a limited amount of money."

Cassie leaned back in her chair. She smiled. "You cannot be more right. The gossip is Will Darcy was jealous of George Wickham because his father loved him more than his own son. George's father was the late Mr. Darcy's butler. As boys, Will and George were raised together. But after Mr. Darcy died, Will kicked George out of the house."

Cassie continued. "I don't want to talk bad about a dead man, but there were also rumors that George Wickham was a vicious man indeed. There were rumors that he was bankrupt. The only reason he was going to marry Lydia Bennet was because of her connections with Darcy."

To be continued.

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