A/N this is mostly about the case chapter, I just wanted to wrap up the initial case.I promise, for those reading that are here for Brenda/Flynn, next chapter is about them.
"Now, Miss Hudson, we have some questions for you concerning the death of your boss, Mr. Edward Fleming. It's come to our attention that you were having an affair with him. Is that right, Miss Hudson?" Brenda questioned the very nervous assistant sitting across from her.
"What does that have to do with his murder? I don't have to answer that question!" she protested.
"Why hide it, Miss Hudson? Mr. Fleming's wife knew all about it. It's not like it was a secret. Now, I ask again, were you having an affair with Mr. Fleming?" Brenda persisted.
"Fine, yes, I was having an affair with him. What of it?" she said petulantly.
"Well, based on the evidence we have, you were in his office during the time he was murdered. And the prints we got off your water bottle match a set of prints found on the scissors that were used to murder Mr. Fleming. Care to tell us how they may have gotten on there?"
"Well, duh, lady, I'm his assistant. I handle dozens of things in his office." she said snidely.
"Care to tell us how the prints overlap those of Mr. Fleming's business partner, which were also found on the murder weapon? Because either one or both of you murdered Mr. Fleming. The scissors weren't wiped down. Not very smart of either of you. What we're having trouble figuring out is why you did this. Did you have a fight, and it got out of hand? And did you not realize there was security footage of the two of you going in and out of that office? This was all in all, a very sloppy murder. We should have arrested you the first day, after we collected his body!" Brenda declared.
Christy's eyes darted around the room, trying to think of an excuse for some of the evidence. "Look, I didn't kill Eddie. When I walked in his office, he was laying on the floor. I tried pulling the scissors out, but I could tell he was dead. That's why my prints were on the scissors."
"So, why did you not phone the police if you were so innocent?"
"Because, I knew who had killed him. It was his partner. They've been fighting all the time lately. Mr. Davies wanted to sell the business, they got a huge offer a couple of months ago. The offer was set to expire shortly and Davies wanted out, but Eddie loved the business and didn't want to let it go. But as 50-50 partners, neither could sell without the consent of the other. It was an all or nothing deal that this buyer wanted, he didn't want a 50-50 split. With Eddie gone, Davies would have control of the whole company. "
"Wouldn't Eddie's share have gone to his wife?"
"No, the company was set up that in the event of the death of one partner, it would revert wholly to the partner."
"Well, wouldn't murder be a little obvious way for him to get control? I mean, it's not like this was a carefully thought out murder. Prints, video, no attempt to do away with the body." Brenda probed.
"Look, I just found the body. I went and told Davies and he came back in with me. It was too late, but he didn't want to phone the police, he just wanted to get out of the building. I didn't hear anything, I have no idea what happened. I just figured if Davies wanted to get away, he did it."
"That's funny that you didn't remember the security footage. You had to know you were on there."
"Actually, no. We've been having trouble with the cameras lately, and we never knew when it was working or not. Didn't the security guard tell you that?"
Brenda smiled, opening the file in front of her. "Actually, Miss Hudson, security just installed those cameras in front of Mr. Flemings door last weekend. Apparently Mr. Fleming was worried about his safety and had a camera installed there. And security told me that it was a hidden camera, and he gave strict orders that no one except for them was to know about it. So, that tells me that you didn't know you were being filmed."
Caught in a lie, Christy looked downward. She had no answer.
Brenda set in on her. "Now, here's what I think happened. Your mother is Donna Hudson, correct?"
"Yes, but what does my mother have to do with this?" she was nervous, wondering where this was going.
"Well, it's more like who your father is, and what he has to do with this. Looking into your records, your mother filed a paternity suit against one Thomas Davies immediately after you were born, yet he isn't listed on the birth certificate. So, is it true that Mr. Davies is your father?"
Christy hesitated, then answered with a soft "yes".
"And did he get you the job at his company, help you get started?"
"Yes." she was quiet again.
"And did Mr. Fleming know that you were his partners' daughter?"
"I didn't think so, but the last time we were together, we got into a fight. I told him I loved him and he laughed. He told me he only started up with me because of who my father was and wanted to drive him nuts. That he would never love me."
"And how did that make you feel?"
"I was devastated and I went and told my father. He didn't say anything about it, and I just worked as normal. But I was going to quit, it's the reason I went back to the office that day." The girl seemed to have drifted into a trance, telling the tale. "I went into the office, and my father and Mr. Fleming were arguing. And then I started arguing with them too. Fleming called me an easy lay, and my father hit him. They fought and he had my father pinned down. I tried getting him off my father, but I couldn't. I grabbed the scissors and hit him in the shoulder. He grabbed them out and turned on me. My father grabbed the scissors from Fleming and they fought again. And when my dad got up, Fleming had the scissors in his chest. It was self-defense, I swear. We didn't mean to kill him, we didn't!"
Brenda looked at the young woman, knowing she'd gotten the truth. She felt some sympathy for the girl, now they had to figure out how serious a charge they would lay against them.
"Detective Sanchez, could you please stay with her, I need to go interview Mr. Davies now. If he corroborates your story, we'll base the charges on that." Brenda got up to leave, heading for the next interview. This wasn't the most twisted story she'd ever heard, but it was sad. That girl had loved a man who'd used her. Nothing new in that, but still.
Sitting down with Mr. Davies, she set right in on him. "Mr. Davies, we have your daughter in the next room. And she's told us quite the tale, I can tell you that right now."
"I don't have a daughter, Ms. Johnson. Whoever told you that is a liar."
"Well, Mr. Davies, you do have a daughter, according to these paternity test results and the fact you've paid child support to a Ms. Donna Hudson for 18 years. Now the funny thing is, this murder that occurred, apparently it was over your daughter. And at least some of it was self-defense. Care to back that up?" Brenda questioned.
Caught in a lie, Davies looked anywhere but at Brenda. It was all coming out, no matter that he tried to hide it. "That bastard found out she was my daughter and set out to use her against me. He knew it drove me crazy that he was carrying on with her. I couldn't stop him. When she told me what happened last weekend, I went to talk to him about it, at least get him to apologize to her. He laughed at me, called her an "easy lay". We fought, he knocked me to the ground, he was choking me." He removed his tie, unbuttoned his shirt, showing the angry bruises that were around his neck. "The next thing I knew, Christy had stabbed him, trying to get him off of me. He turned on her, and I got up. We fought again, and when it was all over, he had the scissors in his chest. I didn't mean to kill him."
The blustering man seemed small then, a father who'd been protecting his daughter. Brenda sighed. Almost the exact same story. Maybe the D.A. Would go easy on them. Maybe manslaughter. It sounded like a situation that got out of control, it hadn't been planned.
Brenda got up, leaving Sgt.. Gabriel to deal with the rest. She went back to Sanchez and told him to take Miss Hudson down to booking. She felt exhausted, but relieved to have a double confession. At last the case was closed. She made her way back to her office, glad to have closed it, but also worried. Now that she didn't have to concentrate on the case, she'd be left to her own devices and that scared her. Work had kept her occupied, now what would she do not to think about Fritz? She threw her purse down, frustrated. She threw herself into writing up a report on the case, to give to the D.A. When she looked up next, the office outside was in semi-darkness. She vaguely recalled having said goodbye to her team, but she had no idea how long she'd been in her office. Sighing, she closed the file and got up to get ready to go home to an empty house.