A/N: A huge thank you to those of you who continue to read and review this, it means so much that you're enjoying the story! This chapter picks up right where the last one left off.

"Brenda, Michelle Williamson is dead."

Brenda didn't say a word after Cole had given her the news. She just stood there, staring blankly at him, as if she hadn't heard what he had said.

" We don't know how it could have happened, no one saw it. " Cole lifted hid hand to his forehead, rubbing his temple in distress. " Jesus Christ. Come on, we have to get to the scene."

"Cole, did you hear what I said about Perry?" asked Brenda as she grabbed his arm, preventing him from walking away.

" That's going to have to wait, we have more important things to do right now. " Cole started to move towards the exit of the room

" Oh for heaven's sake, will you just wait one minute." Brenda scurried off to catch up with him, having to lift the ends of her dress up to keep herself from falling. After a few moments, she had caught up to him.

"Cole, listen to me. Perry cornered me in the bathroom not five minutes ago. If Michelle was just now found dead, there is no way he could have done it. I'm his alibi. "

"I know, believe me, I know." Cole lifted his hand to Brenda's shoulder. "Come on, we have to go. "

"But what about all the guests? What are we supposed to do about them?" Brenda asked, concerned for their safety.

"Well, we can't let them leave, can we? One of them killed Michelle. Brenda, they can't go anywhere."

Brenda didn't say a word. Instead, she slowly walked towards the exit of the room, allowing Cole to catch up and take the lead.

Brenda and Cole walked through a mass of people, trying to remain calm about the current situation.

As they walked, Brenda tried to gather her thoughts. How could this have happened? Given the information she knew about Michelle, the only viable suspect was Perry, but the timeline of events didn't seem to coincide with that thought.

There had to be someone else that was missing from the picture. There had to be a third party involved. Perry acted like the two of them hadn't done anything wrong; numerous missions had been compromised, lives had been lost, and Perry acted as if it was merely a sex scandal.

What if there was more to the story? Why did the two of them have to be sleeping together? After all, sex just made everything more difficult.

Especially in this case.

Brenda's feet eventually caught up with her thoughts, and she and Cole arrived at the crime scene.

Luckily for them, the body had been tucked away in a supply closet down the nearby corridor. Brenda scolded herself for thinking that. There was absolutely nothing lucky about this situation.

Cole and Brenda's boss, Buckley Evans, spotted them as they were arriving on the scene. "Oh good, you two are here. I've sent everyone else away, I want this investigation to be small, and I want it to be quick."

"We understand." said Cole. He was about to continue, but Brenda interrupted him.

"Has anyone told the exact identity of the victim?" asked Brenda in a condescending tone.

"That's all been taken care of. He's in a room down the hall being interviewed as we speak. "

Brenda opened her mouth to protest, but Buckley was already a step ahead of her.

"And before you say anything, I've arranged for you to sit down with him after we figure this whole mess out. Right now this murder is your primary responsibility. We're going to have to get the body out of here, and then clear everyone out. There isn't much of a crime scene, so don't rely on the forensic evidence."

" But Sir, we can't let these people leave, one of them is the killer. We can't just let them go. That would be, that would just be completely irresponsible!" Cole was growing angrier and angrier by the second.

" Look, I know this situation isn't ideal—this entire assignment isn't ideal, but this is your job, and I am your boss. And this is what I'm telling you to do. Get the body out of here, clear the party, and solve the murder. Understood?"

"Yes, of course. We'll do everything we can." Cole spoke softly when he responded, making it know that he was displeased with their current course of action.

"Good. Brenda, you can talk to Perry when you're done here. He's being taken back to the agency in a few moments, so head over when you two have finished. I'm going to go start clearing the room. There's a medical examiner on the way, he should be here within minutes. "

Buckley seemed like he couldn't get out of there faster. While it was true that none of them had expected this fatality, it was apparent that Buckley was shouldering some of the responsibility for it. He was colder than usual, short and to the point.

Brenda was going to mention it to Cole, but he seemed to be preoccupied with his own thoughts as well. He clearly didn't agree with their boss's chosen course of action, but Cole normally wasn't one to complain.

To someone's face, that is.

So, instead of talking, the pair just stood there, aimlessly wandering around the body.

The area had been blocked off, so with the exception of the in-house Medical Examiner, the chances of someone else seeing the body were incredibly slim.

Like Buckley said, word couldn't get out about what happened tonight. If it did, the repercussions could be astronomical—nobody would ever trust The Agency again.

Not that many people did in the first place.

Cole was the first to break the silence. " They must have used a silencer. The killer, I mean. There were people nearby, somebody should have heard something."

"Unless there wasn't anything to hear." Brenda said definitively, agreeing with his conclusion. "Looks like a single gun shot wound to the head."

Brenda crouched down next to the body, looking over it inch by inch.

Cole watched her closely, afraid she would compromise the crime scene.

"Just don't…" Brenda interrupted him, finishing his sentence.

"Touch the body, I know, I know. I'm just talking a quick look. Her purse is still here, so it wasn't a robbery. "

"Brenda, we're all thinking the same thing here. This clearly has something to do with the leak we're investigating."

"But it couldn't have been Perry. I was watching him the whole time, and he was with me when the murder occurred. So how could the person who is the only plausible suspect, be innocent?" protested Brenda

"We have to be missing something. Someone else must be involved."

Neither Brenda nor Cole spoke after that. They remained silent until the Medical Examiner arrived.

Mainly because they both refused to admit that they had been wrong this whole time.

Buckley had gotten out of that crime scene as quickly as possible. He had a million things running through his mind, none of which he wanted to deal with.

As he was walking back towards the party, he was met by the one person he was trying to avoid since he had received word of Michelle Williams death.

Andrew Dalton.

" Buckley, what the hell is going on?" yelled Andrew from down the hallway.

" Andrew, I don't have time for this, I have to get these people out of here." Buckley was clearly frustrated, and did not wish to speak to Andrew about this matter.

" This whole thing has got to stop. There has to be another way to clean this mess up without involving Brenda. What if she's next?"

Andrew was fuming at this point. He had known the risks going into this assignment, and after everything that had happened tonight, he was starting to regret his decision.

Not that he really had any choice in the matter.

" She won't. I'm going to keep a close eye on her. Look Andrew, this is all going to work out in the end, trust me." said Buckley

"You're going to keep an eye on her? Buckley, Michelle Williams was your date tonight, and she somehow managed to go and get herself killed. As much as I like you, I'm having a hard time trusting you right now."

"Andrew, I know you care about her, but you have got to get your emotions in check. Like I said, everything is going to be fine." Buckley was trying to reassure Andrew, when in fact, he felt like he was trying to reassure himself.

" I brought Brenda to this agency, I trained her, I did exactly as I was told. I'm responsible for everything she is today. I refuse to be responsible for her demise as well. You get this cleaned up. You get this cleaned up fast." demanded Andrew

"If you'll excuse me, I have to get these people out of here." said Buckley in an authoritative voice.

Buckley sighed as he realized just how right Andrew was. "Look, Andrew. Brenda is going back to the Agency once she's done with the Medical Examiner, and she's going to interview Perry. You can meet her there, if you would like."

Andrew didn't respond, nodding in agreement instead. He didn't have the energy to have another fight with Buckley. He had already crossed the line with him once, he didn't want to do it again.

With that, Buckley continued on to the party, where he would discretely instruct people to return home as quickly as possible.

The Medical Examiner had finally arrived to where the body had been left. He was dressed in normal clothing as to not give anything away.

He was an odd fellow; very short, extremely talkative, eccentric even.

Ironically enough, he was rather lively, considering his profession.

"Let's have a look shall we?" He didn't bother giving his name, deciding to get straight to work upon his arrival.

" We just need to ensure that the girl was killed here, and determine the number of shooters that were present." explained Cole quickly.

" Well I can't guarantee all of that, I'm just the Medical Examiner after all. I can however, tell you how this poor girl died."

He smiled as he walked, something that confused Brenda to no end. As crass as it sounded, she couldn't wait for him to be done with the body. The sooner she was done here, the sooner she could get back to the Agency and finally have that interview with Perry.

Even if it was 72 hours late.

Brenda led the ME over to the closet where Michelle's body lay, saddened as the realization finally hit her.

Brenda had never seen a dead body before. She had of course, known people who had passed, but never like this. This girl had been murdered under her very nose, something Brenda vowed never to let happen again.

There was something to be said for justice—and murder wasn't it. Especially when nothing had been proven in regards to Michelle's supposed betrayal.

If Evans had just listened to her, if he had just gone with her original plan, Michelle might still be alive.

She might have even straightened out this whole mess twenty-four hours ago.

Her feet also wouldn't be killing her.

"Ah yes, look here." The ME pointed to a wound in the upper right temple of the young woman's forehead. "What we have here, is a single gun shot wound to the head, appears to be fatal. You stated earlier that no one heard anything, is that right?"

"That's correct." said Brenda, leaning closer towards the body.

"Well if that's truly the case, it would be my guess that the attacker used some type of silencing device. More and more people seem to be using those as of late, I've seen quite a lot in these past few months. It's a shame really, these poor people go unnoticed for hours, simply because no one could here their awful demise."

"Yes, the saddest part of murder is when it goes unnoticed for a few hours." muttered Cole from outside the closet. "Is there anything else you can tell us about what might have happened?" asked Cole

The ME pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket, lifting it up so he could peer inside of Michelle's slightly opened mouth. " What have we here? There seems to be some type of string stuck in the mouth, but it's too small for me to pick out."

Brenda reached into her small clutch, pulling out the pair of tweezers that she always carried with her. For emergencies just like this of course.

"Here you go Doctor." Brenda smiled at him as she handed over her pair of tweezers.

"Why thank you dear. Let me just quickly pull this out and we can all be on our way." He gently pulled the tweezers out of the mouth, carrying with him small pieces of what appeared to be a type of threaded material.

The ME was silent for a moment, meticulously inspecting the material before coming to a conclusion.

"My best guess would be that the killer used some type of smothering device to silence the girls cries before shoving her in the closet to face her untimely fate. Now normally, I would suggest that a pillow was used. However, based on the size of the material that was extracted, it is my guess that you are looking for something a bit smaller. A washcloth, or perhaps a handkerchief. "

"So what you're saying is that the girl was attacked form behind, gagged with some type of red cloth, dragged into the closet, and then shot to death." said Cole

"Why yes, that is a very good conclusion. Well done! I will of course have to do an autopsy, but I think my work here id done. I will arrange for the body to be removed, so you two don't need to stick around for that."

"Wonderful." exclaimed Brenda, anxious to get back to the Agency and interview Perry." So nice meeting you, bye now." Brenda practically ran away from the crime scene, but Cole yelled after her before she was completely out of earshot.

"Brenda, wait just a minute." Cole jogged over to where Brenda was now standing. "I really think we should stay and supervise the body, I'm not sure I trust this Doctor."

"Look Cole, I've been waiting to do this interview for 74 hours now, I'm not waiting any longer. You can stay here if you want to, it won't bother me one bit. But I have a suspect to interview, and the longer we stand here arguin' over who is trustworthy, the longer Perry sits in that interview room alone, coming up with God know's what." Brenda spoke in a stern voice, something she hadn't done with Cole in weeks.

"Fine." relented Cole. "I'll stay here with the body, you go interview Perry. I'll meet you at the Agency when I'm done."

Brenda didn't respond directly, instead she nodded her head in agreement, walking out of the building as quickly as possible.

She couldn't wait to get in a car and take her damn shoes off.

Andrew arrived back at the Agency about an hour or so after the news of Michelle's death had reached his ears. He never should have agreed to put Brenda on this case, it was too dangerous, and she was far too young.

She had no business being caught up in something like this. She was a trained interrogator, and a damn good one at that. Out of all the years he had been with The Agency, Brenda was by far the most talented interrogator he had ever seen.

And she didn't deserve what was happening to her.

Perry had been sitting alone in an interrogation room for over two hours. Andrew had peeked in on him a couple of times by looking at the surveillance monitors, and as far as he could tell, Perry seemed calm.

He would occasionally pace back and forth across the room, but he had yet to bang on any doors, or yell out in frustration.

Maybe he wasn't all that surprised about Michelle's death.

Which meant he knew more than they had originally thought.

Andrew's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Brenda opened the door as she knocked, knowing that Andrew would most likely be alone. Considering it was almost one in the morning.

"I'm not botherin' you, am I ?" asked Brenda as she came into Andrew's office.

"No, no, not at all. Please, have a seat." Andrew pointed towards that empty chair in front of him. He noticed that as Brenda sat down, she had a concerned look on her face. "Brenda, are you all right?" asked Andrew gently.

"Oh, I'm fine, really. Just a little shaken up is all. Is Perry in an interview room already? I'd like to speak with him as quickly as possible."

" He's in Interview Two. Brenda, before you go in, there's something you should know." Andrew had a very serious look on his face, as if he was deathly afraid of something.

"What is it?" asked Brenda gently. It was rare that something like this would cause such concern to Andrew.

"Well I've been checking up on Perry every once in a while, and he seems quite calm about the situation. He hasn't yelled, or demanded for more information about Michelle's death. The most drastic thing he has done all night is pacing back and forth in the room." hinted Andrew.

"As if he wasn't surprised by the current turn of events." exclaimed Brenda.

"Exactly. Which means that he must know more than we originally thought."

"Thanks Andrew, I will keep that in mind." Brenda stood up from the chair and grabbed her bag from the floor beneath her. "Are you going to sit in on the interview?" asked Brenda

" I'll be watching on the video cameras from the other room. This is your interview, not mine."

Brenda smiled as she nodded in agreement, turning around and walking towards the door to Andrew's office.

As she made her way to the interview room where Perry was being held, she realized that she didn't have any materials to aid her in retrieving a confession. There were no crime scene photos, no phone records, nothing.

It was just the two of them. The only thing she had to work with were the questions that were already forming in her mind.

It was her favorite type of interview—disorganized, raw, and unexpected.

Andrew had followed her out from his office, and she waited until he had entered the room that held the surveillance monitors before entering the interview room.

Andrew nodded at her as he went into the other room, silently wishing her good luck.

Brenda smiled at him before opening the door where she saw Gordon Perry sitting at the metal table, his hands folded and resting on the cold surface.

", how nice to see you again."

Brenda gave him the biggest smile she could put on, making it known that she was not coming out of this interview empty handed.

Even if it took all night.

A/N: This was kind of a filler chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Leave a review and let me know what you think! And as always, thank you for reading!

-Alison