Bobby POV

"So, I'll go with you if you want."

"Am I going somewhere?"

"When you go buy the ring," Logan clarified.

We were still sitting outside of the apartment of Jared Thomas. A helpful neighbor had mentioned that Jared was due back any time, but that was more than three hours ago, so I was starting to wonder if we were being played.

I was also starting to get restless.

And okay, so starting isn't exactly accurate.

I've been restless since Logan put the car into park.

"Why, are you thinking about doing some jewelry shopping, too?"

"What? No. No, it's not that. It's…well, okay. Maybe."

"Really?" I asked in surprise.

He sighed heavily and kept his focus on the apartment building across the street.

"I have no idea. She doesn't want to get married, and until last month I would've said that same thing, but now I'm not so sure. And maybe I just want to be a little more prepared if the timing ever feels right."

"More prepared than me you mean?" I asked on a laugh. "Learning from my mistakes, huh? Yeah, okay."

Because honestly, I could use the moral support.

And the additional opinion.

"So what do you think?" he asked after another minute.

"About you and Liz?"

"Yeah. I mean, am I stupid to even consider it?"

"If you're considering it because Ross is back and you want to shove it in his face, then yes. If it's because you love her so much that you can't imagine your life without her, then no."

"It's the second thing," he said quickly.

"Good. I figured."

"Don't say anything though, okay?"

"Who would I tell?'

He looked at me incredulously and rolled his eyes.

"Really?"

"Okay, other than Alex," I amended.

"Uh huh. And she probably already knows," he mumbled.

"How? You just told me."

"Yeah, but now you know, which means that somehow she knows."

"We're not that good," I said, chuckling at his exaggeration. "But even if…oh, hey. There he is."

I pointed through the windshield at Jared Thomas as he walked down the sidewalk.

He appeared confident and relaxed.

"Let's let him get inside," I suggested as we watched him go in the building. "Maybe he'll invite us in."

"What if the neighbor tips him off?"

"I hope you wore your running shoes," I told him as we got out of the car.

Together we crossed the street, keeping an eye on the front door just in case Jared decided to come running back out. But to me, he'd seemed to cool. He didn't appear to be a man on the lookout for cops.

Jared's apartment was on the first floor so after giving him ample time to get inside, we went into the lobby and down the hall to his apartment.

"I'll be his friend," I said to Logan just before he knocked. "Push him to me, okay?"

"It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel," he replied. He knocked loudly and then paused briefly before banging on the door again. "Open up, Mr. Thomas!"

I heard the deadbolt slide open from the inside and after another moment, the door cracked open.

"What do you want?"

"NYPD," Logan barked. "Open the door."

"You got a warrant or something?"

I nudged Logan out of the way and showed Jared my badge.

"Detective Goren with Major Case," I said quietly. "We'd just like to ask you a couple of questions. Do you have a minute?"

"Not really…um…Major Case?"

"That's right," Logan answered. "We do the big stuff, like homicides."

"Homicide?"

"That's just one of the many types of cases we investigate," I explained. "Now if we could just talk to you briefly…"

"Hey, Goren, take off the kid gloves, will you?" Logan interrupted. Then he looked at Jared and said, "You know Kaleigh Marquez, right?"

Jared visibly paled at the mention of the girl's name, and at the same time, he got more belligerent.

"I don't have to talk to you guys unless you've got a warrant, okay?"

"Come on, Jared. Let us in," I coaxed. "Look, if you didn't do anything, then we're in and out. If you refuse to let us in, we'll just stand right here while the ADA brings us a search warrant."

"Based on what? You'll never get a warrant," he shouted as he attempted to slam the door closed.

But Logan jammed the toe of his shoe into the crack just in time, stopping the motion. Then he put his left hand on the door, shoving it open as far as the chain would allow, and he looked at me with a smile.

"What's that smell, Goren?" he asked, and then he turned back to Jared, who was by this point throwing all of his weight against the door in an effort to close it.

"He's really good at smells," Logan continued conspiratorially. "Listen to this."

"Fish," I stated. "Baked maybe, but more likely it was fried on the stove. Probably a few days ago."

"Uh huh," Logan said with a nod. "And you know what that smells like?"

"Probable cause," I said. "Sorry, Jared. Now we don't need a warrant, so just open the door."

"Fish is probable cause? No way in hell, man. I'm not opening the door."

"You might want to rethink that," I told him. "Because right now, my partner's not even trying. You really want to have to pay for a new door, on top of whatever other trouble you're about to be in?"

"I didn't do nothing," Jared insisted.

"You're doing a great job of killing the English language," I corrected. "But if that's the only killing you've been doing, we'll get out of your hair soon enough."

Jared ignored me and continued ramming his body into the door, trying to dislodge Logan.

"Okay, I'm going to count to three," I warned him.

Because I really didn't want to have to break the door down.

Things like that never play well in the press, and what if by some chance we're wrong about Jared?

What if he's just some little punk who likes to smack-talk on Facebook and was coincidentally a friend of one of the victims?

And whose apartment smells like burnt fish?

"One," I began. Logan kept his foot in place but moved slightly to one side so that I could get my shoulder against the door, too. "Two."

"Alright! Shit…just…wait, okay? You're gonna have to move your foot so I can close the door enough to get the chain off."

"You screw me and I'm pulling my piece," Logan threatened.

But Jared made good on his word.

Logan moved his foot, and Jared closed the door fully before releasing the chain and allowing us entry into his apartment.

"What the hell was that about, Jared?" Logan asked as he backed Jared up in the tiny entryway of the apartment. I moved past them and started wandering around, looking at everything that was in plain sight.

"You're asking me? Shit, I didn't even see your badge! You could be some kind of goombah for all I know."

"You saw his badge," Logan fired back, keeping Jared occupied while I made the rounds. "You accusing him of being a dirty cop?"

"What? No!"

"When did you cook the fish, Jared?" I asked while Logan continued to pin him with a steely gaze.

"Monday," he answered immediately.

"You need to get better ventilation in here. This place still reeks," I remarked. "So what kind?"

"What kind what?"

"What kind of fish?"

"Striped bass."

"You caught it yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Really?" I asked, pausing in my perusal. "Because you know the season doesn't start until mid-March, right?"

"You want to write me a ticket for illegal fishing?"

"No, I want to know if you've got any leftovers."

"Of the fish?"

"Yeah. It's the one you caught a week ago Friday, right? Or have you been fishing again since then?"

Jared glanced nervously back and forth between Logan and me, and he was clearly confused as to my line of questioning.

"It's um…yeah, it's that one. I don't get to go very often."

"So you have leftovers?"

"Yeah. In the fridge."

"Good," I answered, flashing him a smile. Then I pointed at the refrigerator and asked, "Do you mind?"

"You…want to eat my…fish?"

I shrugged at him and so he said, "Okay. Knock yourself out."

Then he seemed to get some of his confidence back because he eased a step away from Logan and added, "Shit, I thought you guys were supposed to like doughnuts. What's with the fish obsession?"

"Oh, he's not going to eat it," Logan told him, clearly having picked up on where I was going.

Jared's smile faltered and he furrowed his brow as he watched me poke through the foil-wrapped lumps in the refrigerator until I found the right one.

"Then what's he gonna…"

"DNA," I told him.

"Fish DNA?"

"It's just as unique as human DNA," Logan explained. "And guess who has fish DNA on her?"

"Which, by the way, you never even asked why we questioned if you're friends with Kaleigh Marquez. You know, if it's me, and two cops come to my door, I'm going to ask what it's all about."

"But you already know, don't you?" Logan finished. "You know we're here about Kaleigh. And the ME found traces of fish on her fingertips, mixed in with the battery acid."

"Which spells bad news for you, Jared," I concluded as I put the fish into a Ziploc baggie.

"Uh huh," Logan said as he turned him around so that he was face-first against the wall. "It means you should've cleaned your knife before you cut up that poor girl's fingertips."

"Wait, I...just wait!"

"Jared Thomas, you're under arrest for the murder of Kaleigh Marquez," Logan stated, and then he finished reading him his rights while I called for CSU to come to the apartment to finish processing everything.

"And as soon as we can pin the other five on you, we'll add those charges, too," I said when Logan finished.

"Just wait!" he shouted again. "I didn't kill those girls!"

"The other ones?" I clarified. "Because you did kill Kaleigh."

"It was…it wasn't supposed to go like this," he said in frustration. "I did everything right!"

I glanced at Logan and he turned Jared around so that he was facing us.

"What do you mean by that? How did you do everything right?"

"I think maybe I need a lawyer."

"Big mistake," Logan told him. "Once you call a lawyer, we can't help you."

"You don't want to help me anyway!"

"Right now, we've got six dead girls and only one suspect. It'll save us a hell of a lot of legwork if we just charge you with all six."

"You can't do that!"

"You just keep telling yourself that, Jared. I bet you never thought we'd be standing in your apartment with a conviction sealed up in that bag over there, either, did you?"

"Where'd you get the idea to do it?" I jumped in. "Someone else you met online?"

And then the way he'd phrased his post on Friday popped into my head.

"Throwing your hat in," I added. "Like in a ring? Is it some kind competition?"

Peripherally, I could see Logan look at me sharply, but I kept my focus on Jared, watching for his tells.

He didn't disappoint me.

His eyes went up and to the left briefly before flittering back to mine.

"I wonder how much trouble you'll get into for questioning me after I asked for a lawyer," he said evenly.

"Not nearly as much as you'll be in for multiple homicides," I retorted.

A few minutes later, a couple of uniformed officers showed up and we handed Jared off to them for transport to 1PP.

One down, five to go.

"A competition?" Logan said quietly to me after they were gone.

"It was a guess, but did you see his face?"

"Uh huh. But you know what that means."

"It means he might not have any idea who the other killers are," I said with a nod. "And depending on the prize, there might be more dead girls before we can put a stop to it."

TBC...