Interrogation Room

"Mr. Hobbs, tell me about your relationship with Jessica Bancroft" Mac began the questioning while Flack leaned against the wall behind Michael Hobbs.

"Jess and I've known each other since we were kids. She spent almost every day in my house since we were 7 years old, we grew up together. She's my best friend"

"That's some kind of friend Michael." Flack commented from his place by the wall "We found your pubic hair and your saliva on her body."

Michael didn't reply and Flack moved closer until he could lean right next to Michael's ear "So what happened Michael? Your good friend wouldn't do the nasty with you and you tried to kill her for it?"

"I'd never hurt Jess." Michael replied angrily "Yes, we slept together. We slept together a lot over the years. We were together two nights ago…

Mac placed a photo of Henry Buford taken from his employment record on the desk in front of Michael "Michael, do you know this man?"

"I've never seen him before" Michael said after a short glance

"His name is Henry Buford" Mac supplied "A few month ago, Jessie was sleeping with him too."

He checked Michael's face carefully for a reaction but the man in front of him remained stone faced.

"That doesn't make you jealous Michael? You're girlfriend stepping out on you like that?" Flack asked.

"Jessie wasn't my girlfriend" Michael said weakly, his shoulders slumped in resignation "It wasn't like that. We were friends; sometimes we slept together, no strings attached."

"Did you know that Jessie was looking into her mother's death?" Mac asked him.

Michael hesitated for a moment before answering "Yeah, I did. She only began to work on it seriously about a year ago. I told her she should let it go, but she didn't listen to me."

Flack opened his mouth to ask another question but Michael quickly cut him off "She came over that night to see me before I went out of town for the day. I headed to the train station to catch a night train to Washington right after she left. I checked into the hotel in Washington as soon as I got there. You can check."

When Mac and Flack remained silent he leaned in and placed his elbows against the desk "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go back to the hospital to be with my friend."

"Mac" Danny stuck his head through Mac's office door "No dice on our archive man, just talked to Flack and his alibi checks out - he was with friends the entire evening clear across town. What about your guy?"

"He admitted to sleeping with out victim last night but claims it was consensual sex between friends"

"Ah, the friends with benefits thing… Nice. You believe him?" Danny flopped down on the couch and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"Flack's checking out this alibi right now but my guess is he didn't try to kill her"

"So two suspects and neither one of them is our scumbag…great!"

Just then Stella opened the glass doors and stepped in with Lindsey and Hawks in tow. From their glum expressions Mac could tell right away they had no good news to report.

"We just finished going over all the evidence from the ally a second time" Stella reported as she took a seat in one of the visitor chairs in front of his desk "We got nothing"

"Two days of work and we're no where closer to catching whoever did this" Hawks said solemnly from his place leaning against the door while Lindsey sat on the arm of the couch beside Danny.

Mac took a look at the erasable board in his office that listed all the evidence from the current case, then turned back to look at his team. For the most part their expressions mirrored the same emotions he was feeling: anger, sadness, confusion, frustration, and helplessness. But the expression on Danny's face was somehow different.

"Danny? What are you thinking?"

"I think we're not looking in the right place" Danny said slowly as all eyes turned to him

"Danny we looked through the ally, we looked at her room… we should probably look at Michael Hobbs' apartment again but other than that…" Lindsey objected.

"That's not what I'm talking about" Danny shook his head "I keep thinking about the keys. Three hidden keys, one of them we still haven't found, a lock box inside a locker that nobody knew she owned - all this just to hide a few documents. This kid was afraid someone would find out what she was doing, and I ain't talking no general fear either. She was afraid of someone very specific"

"Who ever she thought killed her mother…" Lindsey started nodding, her voice and expression starting to show excitement that wasn't there a few minutes ago.

"So maybe our victim was hunting down a killer and got a little too close for comfort" Mac agreed, suddenly seeing the case from a fresh perspective.

"So we find whoever killed Hanna Danvers" Stella began and looked over at Hawks who finished the sentence for her "And we find whoever shot Jessie Bancroft."

"Ok, new strategy" Mac reached a decision "Stella, Hawks, we'll stay on Jessie Bancroft. Danny and Lindsey you look into the Hanna Danvers murder file. Lets see if there are any points of connection…"

Mac's apartment

He walked in and immediately started shrugging off his jacket. He rolled his shoulder and moved his head from side to side trying to get the kinks out of his neck when he heard the sound of someone moving in his kitchen. He hesitantly walked over and peered through the doorway, his hand inching towards his gun just in case, the sight made him smile instantly.

Payton was standing over the stoves stirring something in a large pot. Her back was to him and she didn't seem to have noticed him so he used to opportunity to admire her for a little while. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a white dress shirt that he recognized from his closet while her hair was pulled up to a messy ponytail. Her feet were bare and she was tapping them in tune with her humming as she cooked.

"Well, this is certainly a nice surprise…" He finally commented with a small smile, making his presence known and she turned to him with a wide smile on her face

"Well, then my mission here is accomplished!'

She came over and put her arms around his neck, drawing him in for a tender kiss that lasted several minutes. "Keep going like this, and we'll never make it to dinner" He growled when they finally came up for air and she laughed a throaty laugh that only ignited his desire even more.

"I thought since you and the team have been working so hard, and the lack of a body meant I have no way of assisting, I'd play the dutiful girlfriend and have dinner ready by the time you got home.."

He kissed her again, marveling at her ability to provide him with so much comfort so easily, and her ability to know exactly when he'd need it.

A few minutes later, dinner was long forgotten as they made their way to the bedroom.