Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 3 of Absolution. Thank you to those who have left reviews. It really does mean a lot to me and thank you guys for remaining with this story and this series itself. I hope that you guys continue to enjoy the story and this series as a whole. We have a long way to go before this story is finished. I hope that you guys enjoy this next part. Without further ado Chapter 3. ENJOY!

Chapter 3

Margarita stood in the evidence processing room with her husband as Beverly removed a DNA swab from a package before swabbing Hannibal's mouth and removing it to put it into a container.

"I am amazed what falls off the best of us when moving through a room." Hannibal said looking around the room never thinking that he would be in this room.

"Lessons learned from cellular decay: Enjoy the world while you have it and give a little bit back." Beverly explained as she worked.

"When possible, I try to leave an indelible mark wherever I go."

"Hopefully not with your DNA."

"How long will you have my suits?" Hannibal questioned as he looked at the garment bags that had his suits in it watching one agent in the hair and fiber room running a static comb over the fine tailoring of his suit jackets.

"You might have to think about supplementing your wardrobe." Beverly said, looking over to where the suits hung up and then back to him.

"I frequently do."

Beverly smiled, as she tried to be some comfort. "You know this is all a formality. Nobody expects to find anything."

"I know."

"Except for maybe Will Graham."

"He'll have to be disappointed. The beauty of what you do, Ms. Katz, is in its certainty. It'll be your evidence that convicts Will."

Beverly winced a little bit knowing that was not a good thing. "I found enough of it. No need to infer or intuit or trust."

"So much simpler than psychiatry. You can't trust the human mind, but the brain is an imagination machine. We only see part of the world and it manufactures the rest."

"Will has done some manufacturing."

Hannibal let out a sigh, feigning sadness at Will's problem. "Will is doing his best to understand where he is and why."

"You were supposed to protect him." Beverly pointed out looking at Hannibal.

"From himself?"

"Yeah. I'm not mad at you. Not any more than I'm mad at myself. We all missed it. Whatever it was. Is."

"We all are not suspects."

"You're not a suspect. You're the new Will Graham."

Margarita's brow raised as she looked at Beverly. "What is that supposed to mean Beverley? Hannibal isn't like Will Graham and nor will he ever be."

Hannibal carefully wrapped his arm around her knowing that she didn't like the idea that he was being compared to Will. He leaned in to whisper to her softly. "It's alright, no reason to get angry."

Margarita let out a soft huff looking up at him, her green eyes meeting his hazel eyes.

HANNIBAL

Hannibal and Margarita followed Beverly through a field of grass approaching the crime scene where Jack was waiting dressed in warm clothes. They noticed he was standing looking down into the dam pit where Brian and Jimmy were in haz-chem waders and gear, down in the water. A small hoist is carefully raising a badly decomposed corpse from the water as they oversee.

Technicians address three more bodies, one with a deep footprint in its abdomen.

Jack turned and walked towards Hannibal and Margarita. "Thank you for coming, Dr. Lecter. I was hoping you could help me with a psychological profile."

Margarita stood back, crossing her arms slightly.

Hannibal nodded his head, he allowed Beverly and Jack to see him feign a slight unease at the bodies, averting his eyes for effect.

"This is number four. At least one more down there."

"How long have they been here?"

"Hard to say. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to preserve them. Been coated with some kind of resin."

"Big guy was partially sealed. Rotting from the inside out. Other three look like they were embalmed." Beverly said as she looked at the bodies.

"Whatever he's doing, he's still figuring out how to do it." Jack said letting out a breath knowing that this was not a good sign.

Hannibal approached the bodies and studied their shape. "Were they injected with silicone?"

Beverly looked at one of the bodies poking it with something. "They were injected with something."

Jack turned to Hannibal, wondering what he'll say next.

"A technique for making resin-coated models out of fish. Helps the body retain a lively shape in death." He noticed Jack's look of confusion. "He's making human models."

"Make models out of things you keep. These were tossed in the river."

"Then they were imperfect."

Margarita pursed her lips together as she watched Hannibal carefully work knowing that he was making the best of a good thing, at least it was in his eyes. Her arms crossed as the cold air blew by her causing her blonde hair to move, making a slight mess. She let out a soft breath as she carefully watched him.

HANNIBAL

Margarita sat in the passenger seat as Hannibal drove down the road towards their home to drop her off so he could go to Bedelia's office and talk to her. She knew what her husband was planning. "Are you certain that you want to give Bedelia permission to talk about you to Jack?"

Hannibal looked over at his wife out of the corner of his eyes. "Of course I'm sure. It's the only way to get Jack to trust me."

Margarita let out a soft breath. "And you don't think that Jack trusts you? He trusted you with Will, and trusted you to be at a crime scene today…"

"I know, but I want him to trust me even more."

Margarita pinched her nose knowing that this was about the thrill of being close and seeing what they could figure out. She knew that he was getting a large thrill out of being close to the FBI and them not suspecting him in the least bit of being the Chesapeake Ripper. "You are going to have her lie for you."

"It's best that she does. She knows too much."

"Of course she does." Margarita said letting out a soft breath. "I don't know why you haven't killed her yet for knowing so much."

Hannibal's lips quirked a little bit. "She's useful."

"For you to talk to." Margarita said looking out the window. "You know she's talked to me privately before…" Margarita shook her head lightly. "She thought that you would be a danger to me." Margarita let out a laugh shaking her head lightly again. "You are dangerous to me. I doubt it. You would never hurt me or your children."

"And I would never harm you no matter what."

"I know Hannibal."

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This is the end of Chapter 3. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I worked fairly hard on this chapter and I kind of had fun with writing it. I hope that it was a smooth read and we got to see more interaction between Margarita and Hannibal and we're learning Margarita has known Hannibal's secret for a long time. And she's kept it to herself. And Bedelia thinking that Hannibal is dangerous to his wife? It's something that Margarita thinks won't ever happen. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Reviews help me keep going when it comes to writing. I will update next week hopefully. Until next time.