Stella knocked on the door of Lacy Dalton's apartment. She had an uneasy feeling about the whole situation, and she hoped her instincts this time were wrong. Judging from the newspaper still on the driveway, she wasn't too optimstic. Don Flack stood beside her, his gun at the ready. He'd not liked the scene either, and hoped that he wouldn't have to use his service weapon.
"Lacy Dalton," Stella called, knocking again,
"NYPD, we need to talk to you." She answered, but the house was silent.
Stella turned to look at Flack, who was trying to see between the slats of the blinds that covered the front window.
"I can't see jack shit in there," he said, frustrated, and Stella nodded, before raising her hand to knock again.
"Do you think maybe she's just at work," Flack asked, and Stella shook her head.
"They said she reported in sick this morning," Stella responded and Flack sighed.
"I hope I have a really good reason for this," he said, and with a strong kick, busted the front door wide open.
They entered the house, careful to keep their weapons drawn should someone come out at them. Stella moved through the living room while Flack went cautiously down the hall. Stella entered the kitchen and noticed a familiar odor. Walking to the stove, Stella saw that one of the knobs was turned on, allowing natural gas to seep through the house. Taking a quick picture with her digital camera, Stella turned the stove off immediately, and quickly checked the other knobs. Turning off the second one, she made sure the rest hadn't been touched, and was in the process of processing the stove when Flack called from the bedroom.
"You'll want to see this, Stella," he said, poking his head around the door facing. Stella followed, not really wanting to know what Flack had found.
Walking into the master bedroom, Stella got a whiff of gardenia, and saw the burned out gardenia candle sitting on the counter.Against the wall, closest to the closet, was a double bed with a white down comfortor on it. Only, the comforter was now splattered by bright red drops. Stella looked at the body of Lacy Dalton laying in the bed, looking very much asleep except for theh bullet hole between her eyes.