I know it's been an awful long time since I updated this story. It never felt right, leaving it hanging and all, but life, and another project got in the way, and I thought I should be fair and put on a 'completed' just so I didn't lead folks on. But hey, I've gotten back into a good frame of mind, and we do still need to sort out who killed Sam Merlotte, so if you will, I invite you back into the story.

I hope you enjoy the continuing adventures.

Merick

Chapter 37

If I had ever held the illusion that Sookie Stackhouse cried more than any other woman I had ever met, I was proved wrong upon meeting Holly, and I developed a new respect for Sookie's restraint. The house was a mess of used tissues and empty boxes, coffee mugs and blankets, tossed over every suitable surface. Holly was pale when she answered the door, if you did not count the red streaks on her face from the tears. She hurriedly gathered up fluffy masses from the couch, tossing them onto her dinning table so that we would have a place to sit. Of course she had to hug Sookie first, for a good few minutes and share a few more audible sobs before she could sink into a chair, still armed with a handful of Kleenex. Besides Sookie, Holly had held on the longest to Sam; I had been given to understand that Arlene had given up a good many shifts of late, and we had not yet had the chance to speak with Jessica; I had been wanting to leave her to the end of our list, just in case Bill was still with her. Our last meeting had been very unpleasant, and I held grudges for a very long time. I also had no intention of letting him harm Sookie or cast further dispersions about our relationship.

"I just don't understand who could do something like that to Sam?" She sobbed as Sookie and I settled ourselves onto her couch. Apparently she was under the same impression as everyone else we had spoken with; well Andy, Sookie, myself and perhaps Terry, that Sam had not gone gently into that good night. "I know he'd been having some problems, just not acting like himself sometimes. But I just can't believe he's gone."

"What do you mean by that Holly? That he hadn't been himself?" I had kept quiet since our arrival, and not that I did not trust Sookie to come to the same question, but I knew that seeing Holly in tears had shaken her tremulous confidence a bit, and I wished to spare her any pain that I could, acting the investigator when she could not just then.

"I don't know if I should say anything Mr. Northman?" She pursed her lips together in a sad smile, raising her eyebrows. She was obviously quite concerned about giving voice to something.

"Eric, please call me Eric." I said, hoping to put her at ease. I watched her shoulders sink a little, which I thought was good. She seemed to be relaxing, though her breaths were still punctuated by the occasional sob. "We all understand that we are not here to speak ill of Sam, only to solve the mystery of his passing." She nodded slowly, still seeming unsure of herself. I did not want to try to glamour her, not just then, I had no reason to believe that she would hold back anything.

"Well Eric," she began again, slowly. "He just seemed to change directions on people so quickly, like he had two different people in his head sometimes."

"How so Holly?" Sookie had gathered herself up a bit and was looking more intently at Holly just then. I assume that she was trying to look into her mind, but being a Wiccan, Sookie knew that she had to be very subtle in her efforts or Holly would sense it and shut her out.

"I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but he could be all sweet one minute and then the next just go off on you. I think that's why Tara quit. She couldn't handle his flirting one minute and then his angry words the next."

It was interesting to hear that Tara had quit, but not surprising, as she had been one of the most vocal patrons of Fangtasia of late, complaining about Sam that was. But of course, Tara complained about a good many things, I was actually surprised that she chose to come up to Fangtasia, but apparently her disregard for Vampires was not nearly as strong as her need to gossip and to see Sookie. Her complaints about Sam had been that he had suddenly gotten less flexible when she wandered in to work late, or poured herself a shot off the books for her own pity parties. I personally could not blame Sam for wanting to run his business, but the attitude he used certainly could provoke angry words from Tara. Now knowing that those words might have come from hurt was interesting. It seemed that perhaps we had more information suddenly about Sam. Not that I believed that Tara would kill him, I personally do not think she had the cunning to carry out something as efficiently as the murderer seemed to have done, but if he could be Jekyll and Hyde with her, perhaps he could have done the same to someone with more 'influence'. Or perhaps the dichotomy was the side effect of whatever had killed him? I filed those notions with the others and looked over at Sookie. I could feel a hesitance from her through our bond, but I didn't really need the bond to understand that she was uncomfortable with the fact that she hadn't noticed the changes in Sam. Of course she didn't see him as often as she had used to, and we had gone away for a bit, and of course, she never did try to see the bad in people, so it sometimes did make her a bit oblivious to things. It was one of her traits I loved so much, because she had given that gift to me. She reached out for my hand, I was happy to give it to her, but her strong grasp of it told me she had something else she needed me to know, something she dared not say in front of Holly. I knew it was time to leave.

"If you think of anything else Holly, please call Sookie or myself. We just need to find out the truth." I tried to offer her the reassurance that whatever it might be that she was hiding, that I had no interest in it. My only goal was to give Sookie some peace of mind, because I loved her, and because Sam was her friend. There was also the fact that nothing in Bon Temps was ever as simple as it seemed, and that my love was often in the center of that complexity. So of course, when I made my suggestions to Holly I did put a little bit of a compulsion behind the words.

Sookie pulled herself to standing and tried to smile at Holly, dropping my hand and reaching out her arms to take another hug from the woman. I knew what she was doing; the physical contact would make it easier to read Holly's thoughts. I admired Sookie for what she was able to do, because her own undercurrent of pain had never really abated. Her focus and her strength never cease to amaze me.

She said nothing until we were back in the car; she waved at Holly who was watching us both through her front window, another wad of Kleenex pressed to her face.

"What is it my beauty?" I asked as I leaned over to her, turning her face to mine with my fingertips under her chin.

"She was sleeping with Sam."

"Really?" That was a revelation I had not expected.

"She thinks she might be pregnant."

And that was another.

I had not been given to believe that having multiple sexual partners was in Sam Merlotte's nature. But Holly had indicated that he had been flirting with Tara, something that Sookie confirmed. He had flirted with her as well, she did not say it out loud, but I knew it. It did not bother me as Sookie came to my bed every night, and not his. But he had also been sleeping with Holly, and perhaps others. Sookie couldn't understand that, and agreed that it was quite out of character for Sam. I could not help but begin to think about the possibility that Sam had been killed by a spurned woman, and a witch (or a wiccan in this case) certainly could have accomplished the tidy job that had been left for the authorities to find. Conveniently Holly had been the one to find the body. Had she been the one to put it there as well? Could her skills as a Wiccan be enough to hide that from Sookie? My love did not believe so, but I reserved my judgment for the time being.

"I cannot believe that I didn't see any of that about Sam, Eric. I know he seemed cranky sometimes, but that was just him. He had his own demons, but they never took over for long." It was an interesting choice of words for Sookie. I had not considered the possibility of possession.

"Do not blame yourself for not seeing it Sookie." I knew she was doing it anyways, but I had to say it. "If Sam Merlotte was troubled he chose not to confide it in you. We should not guess at his reasons."

"I was a terrible friend to him." She dabbed at her own eyes.

"You were a good friend to him Sookie. Are you still are. You only see the good in him, and that is an honorable legacy. We will find out who did this."

"Are you sure Eric?"

"I make it a promise to you my beauty. I am not without means."

"Where should we go next?"

"I think we should speak with Tara."