-Chapter Five-

A few hours earlier…

Elsa arrived inside her house, she called out for Anna but she wasn't there. Turning on some lights she plugged her ipod into a speaker system and it immediately began playing Otis Redding's 'The Dock of the Bay.' Taking a beer and a salad she had saved she began to eat and sip; staring at her TV but not having the interest in turning it on.

A few minutes passed and the deputy dozed off on her couch the bowl for her salad resting on her toned stomach. She was awoken by a phone call on her landline. Jumping up and spilling the remainder of her salad onto the floor she grumpily answered the phone "Hello?"

The voice on the other end was her estranged husband's "Hey Elsa, was just calling to uh,….check in." Lamin's voice sounded more sad than desperate, more lonely than depressed.

"Hello Lamin. What do you want?" Elsa sighed internally that was too harsh of a reaction. She was always just so cold towards him, towards everyone. She needed to really work on that personality flaw; but she had been saying that for over a decade now.

"I just wanted to know if you were okay, saw the press conference on the news today."

"Yeah the shit is really hitting the fan isn't it?"

"Yeah…"

"Mhm."

"You know we haven't done anything together in a while and…"

"Wasn't that the point of creating some space?"

"Well yes SOME SPACE, but what you don't even want to try and make this work?"

"As you pointed out I'm kind of in the middle of a big case right now. Don't really have time to go see the sights. Besides what is there to see that we haven't already seen?"

"Well that musical group 'The Muses' are coming through next week, maybe we could go to the show? I can get us tickets."

"I don't think that's a good idea Lamin."

"Why not?"

"I think we need to start seriously looking at our relationship. I mean you keep saying let's make it work but…maybe it's not meant to. I don't know, I just need some time to think. And I can't think with all this going on. Now just isn't a good time."

"I understand. Well if you change your mind about the show…"

"I'll let you know."

Elsa hung up the phone with some force. Leaning against the kitchen counter she took a deep breath. Their marriage had been so perfect at first, maybe too perfect. Lamin just admired her too much; she couldn't live up to his expectations. She was distant, she was cold, and she was aloof in their relationship. Eventually the stress became too much and they separated. It had been hard on the both of them, but in particular Lamin who had moved to Walt County to be with her. They had met in college at the University of Wyoming, he was from Detroit and had gone to the university for scholarship money. They had an instant chemistry, one that made many of her other suitors jealous. Once they started dating they never looked back, never took any time to slow down and before they knew it they were married.

Elsa felt like she had personally failed Lamin when she admitted to him she had no desire to have children. It would've slowed down her career and she knew she'd make a bad mother. She just didn't have the patience for children like he did. Lamin accepted her decision but he was never happy about it, and thus their marriage slowly began to unravel.

It wasn't like she hadn't sacrificed for him however. It wasn't easy being the sensual white woman married to the black man from Michigan. She had been bullied, harassed and emotionally prodded by many people she had grown up with. She had given up many of her personal habits and preferences to keep their bond steady. But it had all basically failed in the end. If Elsa was honest with herself the only reason she hadn't completely divorced him was because as bad as her image was in the town now, a divorce would shatter it. Maybe she could work things out with him, maybe they could be happy like they once were. But Elsa wasn't a happy person, that expression that feeling didn't come to her easy. And Lamin just could never seem to understand that.

Before Elsa could wallow more in her self-pity she heard the door unlock and the creaking feet of Anna come inside. Anna must've thought she was asleep; it was late but not that late. "Anna?" she asked startling her sister who was obviously drunk and or high. She was stumbling around and her eyes were blood shot and she reeked of alcohol. Elsa took another big sniff near the wobbly Anna and recognized the smell of marijuana. "You're cross faded?! Anna where have you been?" asked Elsa as she guided Anna onto the couch.

"Hans and I were just having a good time" explained Anna, slurring her words. Anna belched her breath stunk with the aroma of cheap whiskey. "But then he got drunk and passed out, so I came over here. Don't worry I called a cab" giggled Anna as she hugged Elsa tightly.

"Anna, what do you mean you just left? Why wouldn't you just spend the night?" Elsa asked her voice beginning to rise with concern.

Anna just shrugged her shoulders. "I wanted to be with my big sis" as Anna said this Elsa arm went to prop the slouching Anna a bit when she touched her side and caused her younger sister to wince. "Ow, ow! That hurts!" cried Anna moving away from her blonde haired kin.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Just sore from working out."

"That doesn't sound like sore muscles Anna…"

"I'm fine! Okay I'm fine!"

"I was jus…"

"Drop it!"

Elsa went silent, she wasn't going to push it at the moment. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by her own phone going off. Moving away from Anna who fell onto the couch already trying to fall asleep. Elsa moved into the kitchen to take the call.

Aladdin was just getting out of the shower and entered his posh bedroom where Jasmine sat reading a book. "Ugh, what a day. Glad it's over, barely got any sleep last night." Groaned Aladdin as slipping into some pajama pants he crawled into bed with his wife. "How are you doing hun'?"

Jasmine put down her book and scowled at him "I don't want you on this case anymore." Aladdin sat up his eyebrow raised, he wanted to say something but he figured it was better to just wait until Jasmine finished her piece. "People are dying, what if this sicko decides to target the people hunting him? Or his loved ones? You aren't thinking this through Al!" Aladdin swore he could see a vein popping out of Jasmine's forehead; he was going to need to tread lightly here.

"You know the oath I made when I took this job honey. We're almost done with the case, I think we're real close to nailing this bastard. I can taste it! He's not going to hurt anyone else, and he sure as hell will be caught before you know it! I've got this."

Jasmine's face softened a bit, as Aladdin caressed her hand. It was as if the strokes from his hand across her dainty knuckles was lowering her blood pressure. She smiled and he grinned back as he hugged her and kissed her on the neck. "Now put that book down, you can finish it later…" Jasmine giggled as Aladdin began to lower the direction of kisses down her negligee. Then there was a phone call, moaning her answered it. "This better be good Elsa….good lord…I'll be right there." Aladdin hung up the phone and the concern had returned to Jasmine's face. "It's Sleepy, he's dead" Jasmine gasped cupping her hands over her mouth. "I have to go. I'm sorry."

Aladdin moved to get up but Jasmine grabbed his arm as he went to move out "I'm pregnant." It was all she needed to say, Aladdin paused for a moment soaking in what he had just been told.

"I'll be back, I promise" said Aladdin with a crack in his voice as he began to get dressed. Jasmine just looked down at her bed sheets as her husband left her alone in the room.

After going to the crime scene and dealing with the media frenzy, and the inconsolable Doc and Grumpy Elsa and Aladdin were already exhausted. They were both running on a combined seven hours of sleep in the past 48 hours. There was nothing they could do, and little evidence to how Sleepy had been poisoned. There were no fingerprints on the glass pitcher other than Sleepy's and Doc's. It could have been Doc' fingers on the pitcher if he was suddenly the greatest actor in the world, but Phoebus seemed pretty confident that it wasn't the good doctor's doing.

Elsa and Aladdin found themselves back with Jack who also was visibly tired, though his fatigue seemed to be more spiritual than physical. Jack had been examining the substance for hours found in the pitcher and he finally had a conclusion for the detectives by noon. "Sleeping pills, crushed up sleeping pills. A little bit is fine but too much will kill you. Someone put enough in there to kill a horse, and seeing how sleepy never needed the medication in the first place he had no sense of immunity to it." Jack's words were attached to the situation in a rare moment he was more than a coroner he was someone now invested in the solving of this case.

"It had to be someone who knew that Sleepy would be the one to drink the water. He was the only one. Someone knew. Someone was careful and precise. It was done to match his personality like the other murders." Elsa was shaking her head as she spoke, clenching her fists up. She felt powerless, she felt trapped, and she felt afraid.

"I'm not sure if we can stop this guy before it's too late. He has a plan in mind, and he's not going to stop until it's complete" growled Aladdin as he sat down on a nearby stool. Aladdin turned to Elsa who placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm going to go speak with Jafar, I know you don't like him. But we need him" said Elsa. Aladdin just nodded his head, but with a clear frown.

"I'm going with you, we're doing this together" replied Aladdin as he stood to his feet. Elsa didn't dare protest his decision and nodded in agreement and turned to Jack. "What can you tell me about the melted boot soles we found?"

Jack read from a notepad "The material is not the same standard issue the local fire department uses so we can rule them out. Based on the imprint we are looking for a man with a size 7 foot. But that's all I can tell you" said Jack with a smidge of disappointment in his voice.

"That might come in handy. Thank you Jack" said Aladdin flatly, the life in the room was just dried up; which is saying a lot for a morgue. "Alright Elsa, let's go talk to Jafar…"

Aladdin and Elsa arrived at 'Iago's Beak' it was a seedy dive bar at it's core but it managed to attract a few hipsters because of it's low prices, local music performances and Jafar's slight of hand tricks that he used as bartending pizazz for customers willing to give him a nice tip. The reason Aladdin and Elsa were there was to get some tips of their own. Jafar had been a drug peddler and thief when he was caught; he could've spent over 10 years in county for all his crimes but was able to get released early for discretely cooperating with the authorities. Going to prison was the perfect cover to make it seem like he was a true hardened criminal but that was all just a cover so people would still talk with him. Elsa was always surprised what a few drinks could get out of criminals and Jafar was more than willing to rat someone out…for a price.

Jafar and Aladdin didn't get along for numerous reasons, Aladdin was never down with the idea of him getting a light sentence and during her wilder years Jasmine had almost died of an overdose after Jafar mixed her cocktail with some pretty heavy drugs. To this day Aladdin stood by the fact Jafar was trying to take advantage of his then girlfriend now wife, but Jafar denied it. There was no evidence so it wasn't even brought up in court but Aladdin just knew in his heart of hearts Jafar wasn't to be trusted. But at the moment they needed him, any lead, anything that could take them to the perpetrator of these heinous crimes.

Jafar was at the bar as usual mesmerizing a young hipster by making his drink vanish in and out of his hands as he took a card and 'magically' pulled it out from behind the ear of the bearded youth. As Elsa and Aladdin approached he managed to excuse himself as he stepped into his office to talk.

The office was well kept, with different exotic décor placed strategically about. Jafar had good taste if nothing else. He was a rather flamboyant man after all, always taking it to the nth degree with his look and even the manner in which he spoke. Yet it all fit him, it always made sense for what was necessary.

Jafar sat down behind his desk and leaned back in his Mediterranean style wood chair. "Ah deputies what do I owe the great pleasure?" His words crawled out of his mouth like a snake and caused Aladdin to tense up.

"I'm sure as you know there have been a lot of killings recently. Serial killer, knocking off the dwarves, need to know if you've heard anything through the grapevine" explained Elsa.

Jafar just snickered "What you didn't come here to just pay me a friendly visit? I figured that out the moment you two walked through the door. It's all anybody is talking about. It's quite the juicy gossip, I'm practically salivating to sink my teeth into this morsel."

"You're amused? People are dying" said Aladdin already growing annoyed with the situation. Jafar just curled his goatee a bit and grinned showing his white but slightly crooked teeth. "If you know anything and you're not telling us I'll have you brought in for impeding an investigation!"

Jafar laughed "Oh Aladdin, your words are nothing but empty threats. I am protected by the U.S. Marshals, the FBI and your own department, don't even attempt to sway me with that. I need to know what's in it for me? What do I get if I tell you this dirty little secret I have lodged in my brain?"

Elsa's eyes pierced through Jafar "Something tells me you don't want Tupperware." Jafar just put the tips of his fingers together building up the anticipation for his eventual reveal.

"I have a shipment of some fine ivory from sub-Saharan Africa coming in soon. There are friendly merchants interested in procuring this fine bone and I would appreciate if the local law enforcement didn't give them a hard time. They pose no real threat to anyone and I'd like it to stay that way. I know you have my place bugged so I'd really like you to just ignore this little…transaction."

Aladdin rolled his eyes, but Elsa kept her composure as her partner began to lash out a bit at Jafar she motioned for him to calm down. "Alright Jafar we'll play, but this information better be good. Or your friendly merchants are going to meet me, and I am not going to give them a warm welcome. Do we understand each other?"

Jafar nodded his head grinning "Yes, yes my dear. I wouldn't even dream of requesting such a moment of levity from the law if I didn't have something that would be of great help to you." Jafar stood up, and the tall man sauntered over to a unmarked file cabinet and using a key unlocked it. The barkeep pulled out a thick manila folder and handed it to Elsa who snatched it out of his hands. Chuckling he sat down and with bated breath watched as Elsa and Aladdin opened up the folder.

They were photos almost all of them were in black and white, but they were…graphic. At first they started out innocent enough just a few pictures of the dwarves hanging out drinking beers, 'Prince' Charming and Show White appeared in some of the photos. Prince Charming and Snow White used to date but they had broken up years before. They had stayed close friends and some still said they held a flame for each other. But Elsa wasn't so sure about that, she had always thought Charming was a closeted homosexual. She could be completely wrong about that of course, and many still thought she was in the closet herself so who was she to even consider accusations like that?

The pictures slowly became shadier; it was like Jafar had organized them for a slow build to something shocking. That is when Elsa and Aladdin collectively realized that Jafar had planned to show the photos to them all along; he just wanted a bargain beforehand. Pictures began to feature Snow White alone with individual dwarves, putting her hand down their pants or stuffing their faces into her cleavage. It was fairly harmless, not a crime by any means but then Aladdin flipped to one photo and nearly dropped the whole stack.

It was Happy and boy did he have a smile, a vertical smile as well and planted right on that vertical smile were the lips of Snow White. "What the actual Hell?" gasped Aladdin flipping the photo to Jafar.

"Oh I've seen them already my boy, I've seen all of them." Elsa and Aladdin continued through the photos they were devious and filled with lewd sex acts that would make a porn star blush. All of the dwarves in particular Dopey and Grumpy were seen in countless sexual acts with Snow White. But these just weren't sex acts; they were almost always with a BDSM twist. The dwarves were collared, tied up, on their knees and even being lightly abused by Snow White in almost every picture. It was easily one of the most uncomfortable things Elsa or Aladdin had ever seen.

"Where did you find these?!" asked Elsa while she quickly examined a photo of Snow White bull whipping Dopey who was nude; spread eagle on a bed.

Jafar lost his smug look "That idiot Dopey tried to get copies at the local print shop. T was just the ones of him; he used the self-service print machines. But that print shop keeps a digital copy of everything printed for…insurance. Once my friend over there noticed what was on his files he called me over. I figured that one-day that they'd come in handy. Especially if I ever wanted to blackmail the dwarves to get their buried treasure." Elsa's eyes grew wide, Jafar laughed like a hyena "That's right my dear I know all about that! You think they could keep a secret that big away from me in this town? Oh if there is treasure to be found, I will seek it and find it."

Elsa felt sick to her stomach; she couldn't believe that these men could be so deviant in their sex lives. She didn't want to judge them, but this was all a lot. Aladdin seemed less shocked about the sex itself and more that it was the dwarves partaking in it. "What kind of men get their rocks off doing this?" asked Elsa as she looked at more photos.

Aladdin was taking an extended look at a nude photo of Snow White. "Well don't judge them too quickly. We all have our kinks. I like mid drifts and roleplay and you like black men."

Elsa scoffed at her partner "Just because I married one doesn't make it my kink or my fetish asshole!" Aladdin just laughed and nudged Elsa playfully.

"Calm down Elsa, I'm just trying to keep it light" said Aladdin as he put the photo down and examined another nude photo of Snow White, this one far too lewd to describe.

"We've talked to everyone in these photos, most of them are dead. The only one we haven't checked out yet is the so called-prince Charming. I don't see him having sex in these photos, but I'm willing to bet my hat it's the reason he broke it off with Snow White. I think it's time we paid him a visit. What do you say partner?" asked Elsa already taking the photos and getting up to leave. "You've been most helpful Jafar, we'll be taking these. Not that it matters I'm sure you have copies right?" Jafar simply nodded his head 'yes.' Turning to Aladdin the two left the office of Jafar. Prince Charming had a lot of explaining to do.

Author's Note: Please leave reviews/feedback! We're nearing the home stretch appreciate any and all thoughts, comments etc. on this story!