A/N Hope everyone is still enjoying the story. Feel free to leave a review.

Chapter 3

Carlisle's POV

I normally get to work around five in the morning everyday because I liked to have plenty of time to get all of my normal responsibilities as the plant manager taken care of as well as be able to oversee some of the day-to-day operations in manufacturing. That's why I was surprised when it wasn't the alarm clock that woke me up this morning.

Instead, the shrill ringing of the telephone in my house awoke me from my sleep. I answered it as quickly as I could without waking up my wife, Esme, who was sleeping beside me.

"Hello?" I asked.

I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands and took notice of the time on the clock. It was only three in the morning.

"Carlisle," said a voice that I immediately recognized as that of the company president, Aro Volturi, "you need to get down here right away."

"What's going on?" I asked sitting upright in bed. I knew that something had to have happened for Aro to be calling me at this time of night.

"Someone murdered Jane," Aro answered. "The police are already here investigating the scene of the crime."

"Okay, I'll be there right away," I replied before hanging up.

I couldn't believe that something like this would happen at my workplace. I took one of the quickest showers of my life before getting dressed in my typical suit. I wrote Esme a note telling her that I had to get to work and would call her about it later today.

I walked out of the door knowing that today was probably going to be a bad day.

It had been hours since I first arrived at the company. I was met at the doorway by Aro. He herded me into the lab where Jane was murdered. They were still taking pictures of her body as I came in, so I averted my eyes as quickly as I could because that was an image I did not want to have for a lifetime.

I think I must have talked with a dozen police officers before I finally had a moment to myself. Of course, by this time people were arriving for work. None of us had even thought of closing the company today because we had been too busy with the police for hours this morning. I was just thankful that none of my employees would see Jane's body because the medics had already placed her in a body bag to take her for the autopsy.

I retreated to my office hoping to escape for at least a short period of time from the turmoil going on around me. I had mountains of paperwork and messages left by the secretary for people I needed to call back.

I busied myself for the next few hours handling the daily business and forgetting about the horrible crime that happened this morning. I was just hanging up from my last phone call of the morning, when my phone rang.

I picked up the phone and said, "This is Carlisle Cullen."

"Carlisle," Aro's voice spoke over the phone. "I was thinking some more about this bloody situation. I'm sure the news outlets are already aware of what took place this morning, and I want the criminal responsible to be taken into custody as soon as possible. We have to be aware of the public perceptions of the company, and bad publicity is severely detrimental for business."

I shook my head slightly. Aro was always focused on the bottom line. "What exactly did you have in mind?" I asked.

"What do you think about hiring somebody to come in and investigate?" Are responded.

"Are you referring to a private detective?" I questioned with my brow furrowed.

"Yes," Aro answered. "Why don't you see if you can line someone up?"

"Sure, I'll work on that right away," I told him.

Aro barely responded with a "bye" before the dial tone was present on the line.

I glanced at the clock on my desk and saw that it was still a little early for lunch. As much as I could use a break from this day, I probably needed to see what I could do about lining up a detective. I've never had the occasion to need one, but I did happen to have a friend in the field.

I searched through my list of contacts until I came up with the person I had in mind. I haven't talked with my old friend in a long time, so I just hoped the number I had for him was still operational. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the number listening to the other line ringing.

"Hello?" answered a voice from my past on the third ring.

"Fenton?" I questioned even though his voice was identical to what I remembered.

"Is that you, Carlisle?" asked Fenton Hardy. "How long has it been? Five years?"

"I think that might be accurate," I answered. "That's the last time I was up in New York City."

"You should come back sometime," Fenton responded. "We definitely have some catching up to do."

"We'll see," I told him.

"As much as I'd like to believe this is just a friendly phone call to catch up on some old times, I know you better than that," Fenton said. "What's wrong?"

I sighed. "I think I could use your help here."

I went on to explain about the murder that occurred sometime overnight and how I was being pressured a little from Aro to make this nightmare disappear.

After I finished telling Fenton about everything that was going on, I waited for him to respond.

After a long pause, I asked, "Can you help?"

"I wish I could tell you that I would be down there right away to work on the case, but I'm currently tied up with a court case that I have to testify for this week. There's no way I'd be able to offer the kind of help you need long-distance."

"Do you know of anyone else that I can trust with something like this?" I asked him.

"You remember my two sons, Frank and Joe?" he asked.

"Aren't they in college now?"

"No, they graduated a couple years ago and have opened up their own private detective agency," Fenton replied. "I can promise you that they have my seal of approval and will do their best to get this case solved as quickly as possible if you want them to help."

I tapped my foot nervously on the floor as I pondered over the idea. I wasn't so sure about bringing in a couple of boys so young, but I did trust my friend's judgement.

"Okay, I trust your judgement of your boys," I relented.

"One other thing, Carlisle."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Since we're talking about a murder case that the Chicago police are already working on, it might be a good idea for them to go undercover," Fenton explained.

"How would that work?"

"Well, you could get Frank and Joe hired with the company in positions that would allow them to have access to the lab and be able to get to know the other employees. Considering what you've told me already, it sounds likely that it's an inside job, so one of your employees will probably know something about the murder."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?" I questioned him. I certainly didn't want to put his sons in danger.

"I won't lie and say that it's all fun and games," Fenton responded seriously. "Although, Frank and Joe know how to avoid sticky situations, so I wouldn't worry about them."

"Okay, I guess I'll talk to someone in HR about getting them hired," I said.

"Give me directions for where they can meet you when they get into Chicago, and I'll send them packing."

I was spouting off directions to my home when I noticed Edward standing in the doorway. I motioned for him to come in since I was almost done with the call to Fenton.

Edward walked into my office closing the door behind him before having a seat as I said my final goodbye to Fenton. I could tell something was the matter because Edward looked on edge and nervous about something.

I asked him what was wrong and listened to him tell me all about how he hadn't seen or heard anything from his girlfriend since he left work yesterday. I had enough knowledge in how investigations were conducted that she would probably end up being a suspect in the case just because she wasn't around.

I thought of Bella as a daughter and knew her well enough to know that she could never hurt a fly much less murder someone in cold blood. I did the only thing I could think of at the moment considering everything that was going on around me. I suggested that Edward find a private detective to find Bella.

I just hoped that my suggestion wouldn't cause a problem for Frank and Joe Hardy.