Chapter 30:

"It's a match!" Tao said in excitement the second Sharon and Provenza entered the murder room after visiting the morgue. He walked towards them with a paper in his hand. "The victim's gun was used to kill both him and Adama." He handed her the paper with the ballistics results and she examined it.

"I'm not so sure the gun belonged to our victim. The killer was smart enough not to leave physical evidence and witnesses, but he carelessly left the gun behind?" Sharon said as she walked to the whiteboard and looked at it. There wasn't much information on the three murders they didn't solve. Adama's picture was hanging under the headline 'Victims' along with the pictures of the other two victims. She stalled for a moment, looking at it, but then turned to face the squad.

"So maybe Adama's killer offed our victim and left his gun behind on purpose," Sykes said and she Sharon nodded. "But why?" Sykes frowned in confusion. Provenza rolled his eyes impatiently and sat on his chair.

"To make it look like Adama's killer was dead, and get the FBI off his back," Sharon explained calmly as Flynn entered the room.

"Uh, Captain," he said hesitantly and everyone turned to look at him. "The victims' parents didn't even care when we notified them, but the girlfriend is in the conference room. She wanted to come and talked to us, which is pretty rare."

"They didn't care?" Sharon asked in disbelief.

"They're both junkies, so…"

"Surprise, surprise," Provenza muttered.

Five minutes later, Sharon and Sanchez were sitting in the conference room with Monique Smith, her eyes wet and her hands shaken.

"Ms. Smith, can you tell us when was the last time you saw Andres?" Sanchez asked gently, as if he feared she might fall apart.

"Last night. He was at my place until 9pm and then, that lowlife Charlie Hernandez came to pick him up and they left. He killed him, I know it. He'll kill me too for talking to you, but I don't care anymore," she wiped her eyes and crossed her arms on her chest.

"We will protect you, don't worry," Sharon said slowly in attempt to sound comforting. "Charlie Hernandez, you said? Does he have anything to do with a Lionel Hernandez?"

"Yeah, they're twin brothers. I know he was arrested a few weeks ago and released."

"And why do you think Charlie was the one who killed Andres?"

"I don't think, I know. Andres was in the same gang as Charlie, but Charlie was always jealous of him. Andres was much more respected than he'll ever be," Monique said angrily.

"Do you know this man?" Sharon handed her a picture of the first victim and Monique shook her head.

"I wasn't really involved in Andres' businesses," she muttered. Sharon and Sanchez exchanged looks. They both thought she was lying. Sanchez asked her to write down Charlie Hernandez' details, whatever she knew about him. She did it quickly and handed them back the pen and paper.

"Okay, thank you. Wait here, please," Sharon said and left the room, followed by Sanchez.

"Captain, I think we can get more out of her if we put her in a motel room with protective detail and make her feel more comfortable," he said quietly as they were standing outside the room.

"Okay, make arrangements for that, please," Sharon said. He nodded and left quickly, and she walked back to the murder room.

(***)

In the evening, just before she went home, Sharon stopped at the motel, where they held Monique Smith. The squad members took turns in accompanying her until one of them could get more information out of her. Sharon climbed the stairs quickly and saw an officer guarding the door.

"Good evening," she said and showed him her badge.

"Evening, Captain. Your witness is in here with Detective Sanchez," he said and pointed at the door to his left.

"Where's his partner?"

"In here with my partner," he pointed at the door to his right, which was right beside the door to Monique's room.

"Thank you," she said and reached for the second door. Knowing that Sanchez' partner was Flynn, she preferred getting an update from him. She opened the door and the sound of laughter hit her before she even saw Flynn and a female officer sitting at a table, apparently having a very funny conversation. They looked at her and both got up quickly as she looked at them with her eyebrows arched in surprise.