I've been away, for a while. Mainly to gather my thoughts and to get over some major writing block of some of my other stories. But I have continued it on and here is a new chapter.

Disclaimer: Not Mine

Chapter 10: Connections and Reckonings

6:00:00

Abused women...Antonia Kentwood...Accomplices...Five years ago...think, think, think. The thoughts had been going around in his mind for hours now, twisting and turning over and over in every combination that could possibly be a part of this. And still Leon had no idea what to do. Think, think, think! Marie was clever, and so was he. She would play a game that was impossible. Or did she? Just to prove that she was smarter.

He looked at his clock, seeing that he had five hours left on it. And there were six hours left on Marie's deadline. He could feel himself growing tired with all the twists and turns that this past day was taking. Had it only been less than twenty four hours since she had given him the riddle? It seemed like weeks, if not months. Far too long in his opinion. But then not enough if the sand in the hourglass was anything to go by.

"Maybe the women came across something that they weren't supposed to know," Korsqq proposed, as he spun around on the chair, "They find out that she's killed people, try and go to the police but she gets her accomplice to kill them in order for them to be silenced, so they don't talk to anyone,"

"After ten years?" Leon asked, "We know that she found out about Sara Luxembourg through the National Medical Society five months ago, through her lawyer with the court files, and I know he told her, no matter how many times he tries to deny it," he ran a hand through his hair, "Is Le Blanc still in custody?"

Korsqq looked at his watch, "He's been here about...Two and a half hours, and we can hold him for about another five hours maybe, if we're lucky. He's a lawyer, he probably can rustle up someone within the hour to get him out of here," Leon nodded distracted, "You don't think she's just killing abused women for the sake of them being abused?"

"That makes no sense," Leon murmured, "But nothing seems to make sense in this case. We have different pieces that aren't connected," he picked up the photos, "So we have Sara and Raquel, also known as Patricia and Rachel, both who published articles in different places. They both belonged to a support group ten years ago which also included Antonia Kentwood, Marie and Anna Howard," he rubbed his eyes, "And this accomplice. Meanwhile we have Molly Hooper and Stephanie Caelian who both seem to scare Marie into hanging up in the middle of a conversation,"

"We're just missing that big piece in the middle of the jigsaw," Korsqq mused, thinking hard, "The piece which you always lose even though you've never assembled the jigsaw before," he looked at the pictures of the dead women, seeing if he had missed something, "There is another way that we could go about this,"

"I know what you're thinking, and I've already thought about it," Leon told him, "You're thinking that we could wait until the clock ticks down, letting the next person die and we would have another body to work with. Another chance to get it right. Yes, I've considered it, and perhaps we should consider it further,"

"But-"

"But it leads back to the same thing!" Leon sat down in his chair, frustrated, "I know how this works. It won't stop, she won't ever stop," Korsqq shifted slightly, "And the next day they'll be another body, and another, and another. And I won't let Marie mess me around again. Ten years ago, I hesitated and five women died, including Antonia Kentwood," he felt completely drained, "She's right, I let her kill them, and I...I stood by because I thought that she'd stop. I thought she had a semblance of humanity," he shook his head, "I will not make that mistake ever again,"

"You liked her," Korsqq said, "She was your friend; you thought you could trust her. It's not the first time something like this has happened, probably won't be the last. Ellini and Gabrelli knew her as well; most of the Timekeepers ten years ago knew her. Naturally you would feel betrayed,"

"Korsqq," Leon smiled a little, "Even I'm not that deaf to hear the gossip that goes around this department. Everyone knows the story of Marie Howard and me. Hell, I think it's probably the first thing people are told about me. I've learned to live with it,"

"Her sister, Anna," Leon felt himself tense a little at that, "Do you think that she might have something to with Sara and Raquel?" Leon looked away, "Sir? Do you think Marie would try and bring her sister into this game with you?"

Leon tapped the desk, "No," he said distantly, "Marie's involvement of Anna ended ten years ago when she got placed in prison. She wouldn't bring Anna into this game. Her sister's long gone now," he tried to smile, "She made her point with Anna years ago,"

"At least there's some consolation," Korsqq answered, "In this nightmare of a day, there's a line that she won't cross," he leaned back in his chair, "Which is always nice to appreciate if we're feeling slightly self-pitying," Leon found himself smiling at that, "Jacques Le Blanc is still in holding, we could go and talk to him. He might talk to you,"

There was a knock on the door and they turned toward the door, "I seem to have been delegated to being your messenger boy, Leon," Dent walked in with a parcel, "I'd like it to be noted that I'm only doing this as a favour to Ellini who's babysitting your pet lawyer," he set the parcel on the desk and accidentally knocked a pile of papers onto the floor, "Damn,"

"I've got it, Dent," Leon said tiredly, going to pick up the papers that were scattered across the office, "Who was the parcel from, Dent?"

"No idea, I wasn't privileged with that information," Dent said, bending down to pick up a scrap of paper, "You'd think we were beyond paperwork," he looked at it, his eyes scanning, "I knew Marie Howard was insane, but I didn't realise she was that twisted," he cleared his throat, "'Should we forgive those that commit crimes or should we take action to them, knowing that they will never feel peace with themselves? Should we damn them to save them?" he put down the paper, "Weird,"

"Say that again," Leon said, and Dent frowned, "Not the weird comment, what you said before, about forgiveness. Say it again,"

"Err..." Dent picked up the paper, "I am of the opinion that there are always those that reside in the Dark unable to see the Light that you talk so often about. If one knows this, and accepts it in full and genuine truth, then we should all know peace," he looked up, "Dark and Light have capital letters," he went back to the page, "For we should all accept Truth as absolute and never deviate from that...what is this about, Leon? Is it important?"

"Everything. All of its important," Leon replied, his mind going a million miles a second, "What did Marie say on the phone about Sara Luxembourg? She had problems, all those tiny little problems that make up humanity. Problems. Sara had problems. Big problems," it clicked, "And so did Rachel Lighthower, I said it myself. Some women retreat into themselves, some women become stronger, and some women become something else entirely," he hit himself on the head, "I've been such an idiot, she wasn't talking about the accomplice now, she was talking about then…when she was looking for someone. And she used the group to look for them,"

"You think that Raquel and Sara were killers as well, sir?" Korsqq asked sceptically, "It's a bit of a long shot, don't you think?"

"Not killers, but I bet they had done something that made them damaged more than they already were," Leon explained to the two other men, "Something..." he closed his eyes, "Something that made them stand out to Marie," the connection washed over him, "She told me herself, why she bothered finding someone in a crowd. Even Marie's not clever enough to get it right on the first go. Searching for how many years for people who she could twist,"

"And Sara Luxembourg and Raquel Lighthower were what?" Dent said, "Cast offs?"

"Why not?" Leon shrugged, "Think about it. You're looking for someone to help you. Someone that you can mould to your designs, someone to keep you entertained and interested. What a better way to ensure that their predecessors kept their mouth shut? Dead men don't talk after all,"

"We're still missing out the fact that this happened ten years ago," Korsqq inputted, "Yes, we know that the court files were released, but apart from a note about Patricia Strozzi in the Antonia Kentwood murder, they weren't involved. And Sara is still fifteen, she's was a bit young then, sir,"

"She was there, she was available," Leon replied, thinking it over, "How difficult would it have been for Marie to talk to Sara alone? Smile a little, talk to her with false words and laughs. I bet it was easy to slip inside her mind, hardly a challenge to someone like Marie. Sara probably didn't know until she was arrested. Her parents said that when they went to see a trial, Sara had to leave halfway through. She probably thought that Marie was going to make her the next victim,"

"Well she certainly was that, after a fashion," Dent quipped and folded his arms when the other two men stared at him, "That still doesn't explain the whole ten years between here and then. Why not just get their accomplice to kill them immediately when she was arrested? Because that would be what any sensible serial killer would do. Cover up their tracks,"

Leon opened his mouth, before picking up the photos on the desk, taking the letter from Dent and walking from the room. Korsqq and Dent had no choice but to follow him as he went into the room where Le Blanc was being held with Ellini, "Timekeeper Leon," the man looked towards him, "This is a surprise, I thought I was done answering inept questions,"

"Just got a couple more," Leon sat in front of him, placing the photographs on the desk, "Sara and Raquel, did you know them personally or did Marie just tell you to keep an eye on them?" Jacques pulled the photos towards him lazily, lazily, "Because I know you knew them in some capacity, what exactly did you tell her when you made that two hour phone call five months ago?"

"No," Jacques raised his head to look at him, "I didn't know either of them personally," he held a photograph to the light, "But forgive me when I say that I won't answer your questions about that phone call, client confidentially,"

"How did you meet Marie, Jacques?" Leon asked, and the other man laughed shortly, "Did you see that she had been arrested and leaped at the chance of representing her? I know a lot of lawyers were angling for that job,"

"You don't go looking for Marie," Jacques told him, "She turns up and doesn't give you a chance to back out, maybe because she knows that you won't back out from any offer that she makes you. You think you're the only person who she talked to? She turned up in my office, and I shook her hand the same as you. That's how I know her," he pushed the photographs towards the Timekeeper, "You were asking about Sara and Raquel,"

"What changed?" Leon asked, "Ten years of letting Sara and Raquel walk around this country unharmed. They knew what she could do. Why now?"

"Who knows what goes on in Marie's mind," Jacques said calmly, "I don't think anyone knows what the next thing she is going to do. Believe me; I was surprised when she allowed herself to be arrested ten years ago. She's a psychopath; you can't predict what she's going to do next. The only reason she's even playing this game with you, Leon, is because she finds it entertaining. That's the only reason why she gave you an extension of time until the next body turns up,"

"You seem to be cooperating rather easily," Dent said on behind Leon, "Why are you talking to us now? We've found the link between the two victims,"

"Just because you've found the link doesn't mean that you've found the next victim," Jacques shrugged, "It's all the same in the end. I don't know who Marie has working for her, and I don't know who is going to die next," he turned over the photos, "That's part of the problem, isn't it? You make a deal with the devil because you can't see the real reason why they made an offer in the first place. And when you do...there's no going back,"

"You sound like you regret shaking her hand," Leon said, "Having second thoughts about being her lawyer now, are we?" Jacques merely smiled, "What did Sara and Raquel do to make them worth noticing?"

"They were empty," Jacques answered, "Empty of life, they were merely surviving, that's how she put it. They were flawed, they weren't saints. They didn't stick to the rules. You'd have to ask Marie what exactly they did wrong, or why she lost interest in them. I wouldn't know,"

"And now she's killing the people that she groomed," Korsqq stated, "Huh," he rubbed his jaw, "The accomplice is literally killing their predecessors. You couldn't have told us this earlier? Saved us all of nineteen hours running around trying to solve this,"

"You ask that I regret Marie?" replied the lawyer looking straight at Leon, "I think anyone who has ever met her regrets knowing her even if it's for a second. I have in the past regretted being involved in her actions," he leaned closer to the Timekeeper, "I value my life, Leon, and if someone other than you had spoken out about the connection then I would guarantee that they would find themselves dead within a matter of weeks. I like my life; it's comfortable when I'm not being interrogated,"

"What's she planning?"

Jacques grinned, "If I knew that Leon, then believe me, I wouldn't be here. But," he added, "Just so you know, I feel for you, really. Because Marie's not the type of person to play with someone and leave them completely intact. Whatever she's got planned, it's not going to be pleasant, I can guess that much. Whoever she's got working for her, they probably are even more insane than Marie appears to be,"

10 Years Ago

"Was anyone working with you?"

Dulled green eyes stared back at him, "Hmm?" Marie sighed as she placed her head against the metal of the table, "Four months you've had me locked up in here, Ray, and haven't even started asking the right questions yet. It's all so formal and clinical," he saw her eyelids shutter, "Wake me up when you have something intelligent to say,"

He sighed impatiently, "Up," he kicked her chair, "Marie, get up," she didn't move, and he gritted his teeth. After four months of hitting a solid wall, his temper was on a short leash, "If you don't get up right now, Marie, I am going to keep you in a solid cell with no windows or contact until you start talking to me," she didn't move, "I swear to God,"

"Don't swear to God," she murmured, her head still on the table, "God didn't rip thirteen female holes in the lives of thirteen families," her saw her lips curve into a smile, "You could swear to me, I'd be nice if you gave me what I wanted. But no," she raised her head slightly; "You're so boring now, Raymond. Where's the man who could debate with me for hours on a topic. Four months...four months of nothing. I'm dying I'm here,"

"All I'm asking is that you cooperate with my questions, Marie," he said, reigning in his anger, "Tell me who your accomplices were, tell me where your killing site was. Why you chose those particular people, why you let me find it out. Why you did what you did?" she straightened up, looking at him, "Why did you do it?"

"What are you going to give me, Ray?" she whispered to him, "You don't even have a confession from me," he stared at her, "You have circumstantial evidence that might hold up in court, but it's not guaranteed. There's a chance I could walk free. You need concrete evidence if you need to convict someone," she smiled secretively, "And the only way to do that, you believe, is breaking me into telling you my whole story," the handcuffs clicked against the metal, "Ray, you know more than you believe you do,"

"It would be easier if you just told me what I need to know," he stated coldly and she leaned back, "Four months, consisting of one month of baiting us, one month of silence, one month of nursery rhymes and one month of non-cooperation through sarcasm. It's enough. Answer my questions,"

"No," she leaned back, the table moving a little, "Why should I? You're not prepared to bargain with me, give me what I want,"

"We're talking about thirteen dead women, Marie, try to remember that when you go to sleep at night," he snapped, and she looked back with just a blank gaze, "Thirteen lives just snuffed out in an instance, thirteen worlds, thirteen families that will always live with the knowledge that you tore a hole in their hearts. Can you really not care about that?"

She was silent for a long time, just staring at him, "Twelve," she answered finally, "Not thirteen...twelve families," he stood up roughly and turned towards the door, "And you know that I don't give a damn about those twelve families," his hand was on the door-handle, "If you give me what I want, Ray, then I'll give everything to you. Names, places, dates, a full confession," he bowed his head, turning back and sitting down slowly, "You'll get your concrete evidence,"

"What do you want in exchange?" he inquired, and she smirked, "If you answer my questions, what do I have to give you in exchange?"

"Not much in terms of time and material wealth," she shrugged delicately, clearly pleased at the price that she wanted for the one thing he would reach the moon for, "For every question you ask me, I want a question of my own answered. And you have to tell the truth, I want the truth from you,"

"A confession for the thoughts inside my head?" he asked, feeling slightly suspicious at the very one-sided deal, "Why do you want them, they aren't very valuable to anyone," she looked at him like he was five years old, "You'd give me a confession..."

"And I have access to everything," she shrugged, "All your thoughts, all your opinions, what you really think about everything. To me that's worth everything. Even a few years in prison,"

"You won't be getting a few years, Marie," he assured her, "You'll be getting timed out," she smiled wryly, "You really don't think that any Judge or Jury will allow you to live after this?" her expression didn't change, "Oh you do, it just proves how insane you are to think otherwise. I do hope you have a good lawyer, but I suppose if you are giving me a confession, you'll have to plead guilty. Are you sure you want to bargain only the truth with me?"

"Perfectly," she said, "If it's my time to die, then I'll be given the death penalty. If it's not my time then they won't sentence me to death," she folded her arms on the table, and blew a piece of hair out of her eyes, "And don't worry, I have a very good lawyer, and I think he's up to the task of winning my case, perhaps not in the way that you're thinking, but I would consider cheating death to be a victory,"

"Even if you spend the rest of forever in jail,"

"If I'm placed in jail then they'd put a number on it, and they'd find some way of keeping me there. And really forever isn't that long if you spend it with the right people," she told him, clearly, "And I see that you've accepted my deal. Do you want to start asking the right questions now?"

He clasped his hands together, nodding, "Do you confess to the kidnap and subsequent torture and murder of thirteen women that occurred for the period of five years?" he asked.

"Yes,"

5:00:00

"Are we going to go and see Marie Howard now, sir?" Korsqq asked as they crossed the Tarmac to the car, "Now that we know what the connection is between the two women, shouldn't we inform her that we know?"

"Like Le Blanc said, we've found the connection but it doesn't mean that we've found the accomplice, or the next body," Leon answered, "So we're going to cut her off. We don't tell her we've found the connection and she won't be able to contact her friend," he raised his radio to his mouth, "Dispatch this is Timekeeper Leon," just static replied. He turned to Korsqq, "I'm going to have to borrow your radio again,"

"You'll need to replace yours,"

"It's worked for twenty years, it's not going to give out now," Leon muttered defiantly, refusing to give into the other man, and Korsqq handed over his with a sigh, "Thank you," he spoke into the phone, "Dispatch, can you give me the address of where Margaret Cavalli lives?"

"Margaret Cavalli lives at 371 Queen's Street, New Greenwich," they answered him, "She lives with her husband and two sons. It will approximately take two hours to get there if there is no traffic,"

Leon clicked off the radio quickly already putting the car into gear and speeding off, "So we've worked out how the accomplice has chosen the victims, so we've found the connection between them," he reeled off to Korsqq, looking at his clock, "And it will take us two hours to reach, Margaret Cavalli's house. And we are going to see Mrs Cavalli because she will be able to tell us who exactly Marie was close to when she decided to get into this game with everything" he breathed out violently, "Why is there never enough time for any of us in this case?"

"Do you think that Marie's manipulating what is happening within the case, sir?" Korsqq inquired, and Leon didn't say anything but focus on the road in front of him, "If she is, then we've walked into her trap. How do you know that we aren't going right where she wants us to be and right off the course that we should be heading in?"

Leon was silent for a second, before looking at the other man, "A long time ago, we were on this case and trying to find a connection," he explained, "And nothing was happening, bodies were being found and we couldn't do anything with the little that we had. Marie said how bored she was, waiting around for something when there was nothing. She's bored now, she wants something to happen. She's already given us the reason to the connection, all right there was misdirection, nursery rhymes and I could have done without the sarcasm, but she was always very helpful. She wants to know something is going on, she wants things to been shaken up and rattled around. For us to be moving, and finding things,"

"Which is why we cut her off from hearing anything," Korsqq realised, "If she gets bored, she says more things that will lead us to the killer, and we'll be one step closer," the other man nodded sharply, "Unless of course she knows that we're just using her for more information. She's guessed everything so far, and I wouldn't want to risk her guessing this," Leon felt the blond haired man's eyes on him, "What happened when Marie told you that she was bored when nothing was happening?"

Thirteen Years Ago

"You know I still don't understand why," Ellini said, looking at the board with the information pinned to it, "I don't get it. I really don't. Why would anyone choose to murder these women? How could anyone choose to murder them? I don't understand what physically drives someone to be able to perform such a horrendous act. We still haven't found a motive for these,"

"I thought we had agreed on the theory that the murderer killed because they have a compulsion to kill," Timekeeper Dumont said dryly. He was a Timekeeper of some eleven years, yet always felt something of an inexperienced newbie when it came to Raymond Leon and Marie Howard, "That he kills because he's obsessed with the idea of death and murder. More of a mental illness,"

"That was only a theory," Leon said, "Not confirmed. There could be any number of reason why he could be murdering these women. For their time, for some misguided revenge tactic, or maybe because of his beliefs?"

"You're all missing the obvious," They all turned to look at Marie who was looking fast asleep in her chair, "You're throwing around these theories," she waved a lazy hand, "Why does there have to be a theory concerning this? Does he have to kill for a purpose? It just seems rather random to me,"

"Thank you for your input, Marie," replied Ellini sarcastically, "But if we want to get this...bastard the death penalty then we need to say why he did it. It doesn't look good if we don't have a motive to why someone would do this to another person, let alone six," she turned around to see Marie back to sleeping in the chair, "Can you actually appear to be interested in this discussion rather than sleeping?"

Marie sighed, opening her eyes and leaning forward, placing her hands on the table, "Fine, here's my opinion on the matter. We have no DNA evidence that can lead us anywhere; we have no apparent witnesses that wish to come forward. We only seem to be actually doing something when the next dead body turns up and even that turns out to be a dead end," she stood up, "So forgive me, Ellini, when I say that I find this discussion completely pointless,"

She picked up her coat, walking away from the group. Leon sighed, "I'll go and talk to her," he said to Ellini, "She's just annoyed at the lack of progress," Ellini just sighed, throwing herself in the abandoned chair. He walked after Marie, finally catching her on the shoulder, "Hey," he turned her around, "What the hell was that?"

"That was me walking out," she answered him, "I don't see the point of this stupid discussion," she folded her arms into herself, "What is it going to achieve? We're going over the same information and the same piece of evidence that week have since we started this case and I'm just bored of it all. You're getting nowhere and I'm bored of waiting around for nothing to happen. Nothing is happening," she bit her lip, looking down, "I apologise, Leon, I'm just a little frustrated. You have the pieces but it's like you don't know how to assemble them correctly,"

"This guy is smart," he shrugged, "And we don't know much yet. Six women dead and that's it. Can't go on circumspect evidence at the moment, Gabrelli wants a proper investigation into this, and an airtight case. There is going to be a lot of waiting around at this point in time," she merely nodded, clearly not pleased with what was happening at the moment. He placed a hand on her shoulder, "Maybe you just need a few days off, go on a vacation to a different zone and let yourself breathe. You're too tightly wound at the moment,"

She looked at him, before smiling slowly, "Maybe you're right," she admitted, "Maybe I do need a break from everything. Need to get a few days away and unwind," she smiled at him, "I should do that, don't suppose you'd like to join me?"

Leon looked back at the door, "Someone's got to stay here and make sure everything gets done," he excused himself, and her smile faded a little, "You have a good time with your time off. And we'll see you when you get back," Marie nodded slowly, her eyes probing him carefully, "See you soon,"

He walked away from her, still aware that Marie hadn't moved, "Hey Leon?" he looked briefly back at her, "Good luck with the case…God knows you need it," he nodded and she turned to walk out of the building.

4:30:00

"I walked to talk to my lawyer," she banged against the wall of the glass, "Come on now…there's no need to be retrained about these matters, I want to talk to my lawyer and I want to do it quickly. I am allowed phone calls to him," there wasn't any reaction from the guards on the other end of the glass wall, "Phone call, please can you allow it through," still no reaction, "This is getting dull, my friends, and you know how much fun I am when I'm not happy," still there was no reaction and she turned away from the glass to look at the cell. Picking up the phone, she dialled in the same number, only to hear the dial tone of the number being blocked. She slammed the phone down again, "Something's happening," she mused to herself, throwing herself onto the bed, and looking at the glass ceiling, "Someone's found something. He's found the connection,"

She laughed a little, giggling to herself as she thought about it. Why was it that Raymond Leon thought that he could hold against her? That he thought that every step he took was a step towards her when in actuality, he was taking a step towards the deep blue sea. There was a whole world of opportunity, and he remained in the past, determined to see it through. But then she liked that about him. The only flaw that he had been that he still had the pride that he always had.

Tearing that away from him was the least that she could do.

Perhaps it was only because she saw them as what he truly was. The other side of the coin from her. He was the honourable man devoted to pursuing justice and she was a dishonourable killer devoted to pursuing interest above all else. They were so similar that they couldn't help but complement each other, if only Leon could see that. She would never be a part of the Timekeeper system again but she would do everything to continue the game on. Even if she had to change the rules.

And now the Timekeepers had found the connection, she was sure of it. It would only explain why the guards refused to allow her a single phone call to her Jacques. She wondered how Leon had managed to piece it all together. Had it clicked just like a jigsaw puzzle that had needed to be solved? And now he would have known all about her ideas right at the very start. How odd when he could have found all this out just by sitting through two hours of phone messages. And she had known that he would have never been able to. He had already talked to Margaret Cavalli, now they would go back to her to ask all the questions they wanted. But it was already too late. Even if they managed to find the next victim, they wouldn't be able to do anything.

Marie rolled onto her side, watching out at the darkness, "Oh Anna, what would you think of me?" she murmured, "Your little sister doing all this," she rolled her head back, "But then you always did refuse to accept the worst of someone. Even at the very end, you refused to believe what I was. But it wouldn't have saved you in the end,"

So here we go again. Hoped you liked the chapter, and see you next time.

Next Time:

Marie Howard's face filled the screen, "Tick Tock, Leon," she called out, "What is the problem...can't you find me?" Leon stared at the screen, "Bit too soon? Do hope you enjoy the present. I thought about you when I chose her,"