It was a few days and a change in shifts before Laura Eacker was visited for an interview. She was still so distraught over her sisters death that her boyfriend had to sit with her, nearly holding her up when she had to walk. At first it seemed like an act, unbelievable that someone couldn't hold it together enough to answer some questions. But the more Lindsay thought about it, the more she remembered how hard it was to hold things together in times like this. She thought about how hard it would be if she lost Austin and suddenly the desire for an interview fell by the wayside and all she really wanted to do was sit down next to Laura and cry with her and tell her she knew how she felt.

But duty and justice came first so she steeled herself and sat down next to Jo, across from Laura and her boyfriend Dane, who looked to be just as upset as his girlfriend was. A silence fell over the room as Jo expressed her condolences and Lindsay looked over the information they already had.

"Laura I know it's hard to remember details right now but can you tell us anything abnormal that happened with your sister in the last few weeks?"

"No. She was so busy, getting things in her classroom ready for the start of the school year. We hadn't seen each other much, but we'd been talking a lot."

"How was her state of mind?"

"She was happy. Couldn't wait for the new year."

"Going out with her friends, was that normal?" Jo asked softly, letting a little more accent into her voice because she knew the calming effect it had.

"In the summer she went out with them sometimes. Not often, but it wasn't something she never did."

"Was she involved with anyone romantically?"

"No. Katie hasn't dated since college. Always said she wanted to get her feet on the ground and figure out her own life first."

"We tried to get her to date," Dane added. "She wasn't opposed to meeting people but she didn't want blind dates and she wasn't a fan of doubling either. She finally just told us to let her do it on her own."

"What kind of hobbies did she have? Places she went often, people she might have known casually through every day encounters."

"She did Pilates seven mornings a week. She was planning on becoming an instructor."

"Do you know where at?"

"I… I really don't. I don't know who her friends were outside our mutual friends. I don't know where she got her groceries, where she got coffee. I don't know anything."

"Yes you do," Jo assured. "You might not know where or why, but you have a special connection to your sister that no one else has. If there was something she was hiding, if she was scared of something or anything like that, you might be able to feel that."

"I didn't know her as well as I thought."

"You might know more than you think."

The interview didn't last much longer and when it was over, they didn't know much more than they had at the beginning. There were a few leads to go on but nothing really solid and while it didn't feel like it would go cold, it definitely didn't seem that hopeful.

"Well, what's next?" Lindsay asked as they got into the car to drive back to the lab. Under normal circumstances, they would have conducted the interview at the precinct, but this time called for an exception.

"I don't know."

"Do you think it was random? The more we learn about it, the more it seems like it had to have been a stranger. Nothing in her life indicates that she was being followed, that she had any bad blood with anyone, that she was hanging around with people she shouldn't have. It just doesn't make sense unless it's random and then it makes even less sense."

"I love this job, but I hate this job."

"Right with you on that. I'm going to call Danny and see if they got the security tapes from the bars she was at the other night."

She sunk back into the passengers seat while Jo navigated the city streets, cursing softly under her breath when a taxi cut her off, and cursing a little louder when a pedestrian stepped off the curb without looking. Lindsay chuckled as she listened to Danny give her an answer that didn't really answer her question. She wasn't sure if he did it on purpose or if he really forgot what she'd asked and just kept talking, hoping he would stumble upon the answer.

"So Danny, did those security tapes come in yet?"

"They're on the way."

"Thank you, Blues Traveler."

"Huh?"

"You gave me the run-around. I would so beat you in musical Trivial Pursuit."

"You remember what happened last time the four of us played Trivial Pursuit? Austin chucked the popcorn bowl at me, had bad aim and hit Adam in the face."

"Remember how his nose bled?"

"Remember how he cried?"

She laughed and shook her head, realizing that night had been many years ago, before any of them were joined by children.

"I married a girl."

"Like that Katy Perry song."

"Danny, that was I Kissed a Girl."

"Well didn't you experiment in college?"

"I went to college in Montana."

"So your song was more like I Kissed a Cow."

"What happens in the rodeo stays in the rodeo."

"That's what you get for wakin' up on a dairy farm."

"Okay, you win that one. I'll see you back at the lab in a bit."

"Later."

She hung up the phone and Jo shook her head in amusement.

"What?"

"I'm just waiting for the noogies to start."

"That man doesn't dare give me a noogie. He tried it once with very bad results."

"The good thing about him is he never makes the same mistake twice?"

"Mostly."

"So did the videos come in?"

"Not yet, but they'll be there soon. I'm just hoping we can get something from them, for as long as it's taken to get them."

"That would be fair."

"So you're saying it won't happen?"

"I am not saying anything because I am a strong believer in jinxes."

"You carry a horseshoe, don't you?"

"And a rabbit's foot."

"What if one cancels the other out?"

"That's why I have a barnstar over the front door."

"I thought that was just your down home southern charm. Now I find out you're superstitious."

"Not superstitious, just prepared."

"Difference noted."

"Oh my word, this reminds me of that episode of X-Files where Scully had to stare out the window at the seamy underbelly," Lindsay whined, rubbing her eyes and trying to focus on the fourth hour of security tapes from one of the bars that Katie and her friends had been to that night.

"Welcome to my world babe. You get to go out in the field and I have to sit here and sift through evidence for hours on end."

"Okay Adam, we're even. Just remind me why I said I would sit here and do this with you."

"Because you love me and you miss me and we can look at this like movie night."

"The plot is terrible."

He chuckled and reached over to rub her shoulders.

"Oh wait, right there."

"Right here?"

"No, Adam on the screen," she chuckled. "See that guy right there talking to Katie? I wonder if that's the guy she met online."

"She doesn't seem to be that impressed with him, but he doesn't look like he's bugging her."

"She's humoring him. See how she's chewing her nails?"

"So when you chew your nails, you're saying you're just humoring me?"

"No, I would never just humor you honey," she said, smirking and looking quickly away.

"You're gonna get it."

"Adam, we're supposed to be working."

"What's work?"

Sighing, she pushed her chair further from his and concentrated on the screen while he watched her.

"Stop lookin' at me."

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Going to sleep very early."

"You wound me."

"Tell you what. You get some work done and maybe I will change my mind."

"Really?"

"You know I can't resist you, but I've got to cut a deal to save face."

"Whatever makes us both happy," he chuckled, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

"Yeah. Now can we get to work?"

"Yes."

She took the video off pause and they slowed it down, trying to get a good visual of the man's face.

"Hey baby, you wanna go back to my place?" Lindsay said in a deep New York accent as the man moved on from Katie and tried to flirt with another girl.

"Um like do you have games? Like Twister?"

"I got a twister for you, baby."

"Is there alcohol in this? I am so drunk!"

"That's nice, I like them drunk. Where'd you get that skirt? It's fly."

"My daddy bought it for me. He has a lot of money. I used his credit card!"

"Lemme buy you a drink hot stuff. And then after that you could repay me."

Adam crinkled his nose and shook his head.

"Avery's never leaving the house."

"Agreed."

"And finally after all that MTV imitation he finally looks towards the camera," Adam said in relief, creating a screen capture to run through the facial recognition database.

"Excellent. I am going to go throw back some coffee and call to check on the kids."

"Alright, I'll be here in the nerdery with my calculator."

"That's where I like you."

He chuckled and she dropped a kiss to the top of his head before crossing the hall into the breakroom and pouring another cup of coffee. Her stomach rumbled at the bitter caffeine and she remembered that she hadn't eaten today, except for a bit of waffle that Avery had graciously offered her early this morning. Leaning against the counter she pulled out her phone and called Austin, who had all six kids today.

"Hello?"

"Hey, how's things?"

"Well the good news is that Colton, Isa and Sarah have been working on a 300 piece puzzle for the last hour with no signs of getting bored and Avery is taking a nap with Elvis. The bad news is that Ben and Daniel got in their very first fight and Ben won't come out of the bathroom."

"What did they fight about?"

"I'm not sure but they were both crying and saying the other one started it. I tried talking to Ben but he said "Go away from me, I wanna be me, myself and my eyes." I had to leave because otherwise I would have laughed."

"Can you tell him I'm on the phone? Maybe I can talk him out of there."

"Yeah, just a second."

There were a few moments of quiet and then a squeaking noise as Ben reached his hand out of the bathroom for the phone.

"Hello mama. Are you coming home soon? I don't want to be here anymore."

"Why? What happened?"

"Me and Dunner yelled at each other! He said I was bein' mean because I am goin' to preschool and he is not! I said we will be friends and he said no and we is supposed to do stuffs together. And I said he should be happy that I get to learn stuff and he was jerky for wantin' me not to have fun. And then we wrestled because we felt mean and then we called each other names and my feelings were hurt so I cried and hided in the bathroom. And that's the story of what happened."

"Honey, maybe Junior is just a little jealous because he wants to go to preschool too. Maybe it would be better if you didn't talk about it all the time. It makes him feel bad."

"Like how he gets to do baseball and I don't?"

"Yeah. It's good for you two to do separate things sometimes but that doesn't mean you're not friends."

"Okay."

"You should probably go apologize to him. You know Junior doesn't get mad very often so his feelings must be really hurt right now."

"Okay mama. I will do that. But what if he doesn't forgive me?"

"Sometimes it takes people some time to get over their hurts. If he doesn't want to play still, you can just give him some space and do something else until he is ready. Alright?"

"Okay. I feel better talkin' to you mama. I will go talk to Dunner. You wanna speak with Austin again?"

"Yes please. I love you."

"Love you too. And know what else? My bottom feels funny from sittin' on the floor so long."

"Yeah, it's probably numb. It will feel normal again later."

"Will I feel it if I toot?" he whispered curiously.

"Pretty sure you will."

"Good. Don't wanna embarrass myself."

She chuckled as he handed the phone back to Austin.

"I guess sometimes little boys just need their mamas."

"Yeah, Ben does at least. Is everything else okay?"

"Colton's refereeing a fight between Isa and Sarah, but he's holding his own pretty well. Lots of drama around here today."

"Adam should be there in a few hours."

"Don't worry about it. They're all pretty good, it's just normal kid stuff. Avery just woke up though and she's giving me that mug face because I don't have an entire table of food ready for her."

"Do you think we should put her on a baby diet?"

"No, she just likes to try things, she doesn't eat too much. Yes, I'm talking about you Avery. Don't look at me like that, I'm getting you fruit snacks."

"She's quite the diva and it's Adam's fault."

"I think some of it might be maternally genetic."

"Hey, he's the one that feeds into it."

"At least she's cute about it."

"Yeah. I'll let you go, but one of us will be there before dinner time. Thanks for doing this."

"You're welcome. Dinner on Sunday?"

"Yeah, that works."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

They hung up and Lindsay looked down at her empty coffee cup, deciding that she needed food to balance it out or she was going to be very sick. Luckily there was an apple in the fruit bowl on the table and she grabbed it, inspecting for bruises before she bit into it.

"Hey Linds, I got a name to go with that face," Adam announced poking his head in the door. "Nick Aleto."

"Got an address to go with that name that goes with that face?"

"Sure do. And I will give it to you under one condition."

"What?"

"Take someone with you. And be careful. It's always when you just go to innocently question someone that you end up getting hurt."

"I know. I'll be fine," she promised, taking the file from him. "And if I'm not, at least you know where the coupon drawer is."

"That's not funny."

"What? I expect you to still use coupons."

"Lindsay, don't joke."

"I'm sorry, honey. I won't joke about it."

"Alright. Take this and be safe."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Nick Aleto, NYPD! We need to ask you a few questions."

"What?" came the confused voice from inside.

"NYPD!" Jess answered back rolling her eyes. "Open up!"

"Okay, okay. Hold your horses lady!"

"That's not going to go over well," Jo whispered so only Lindsay could hear.

The door clicked open and the man from the video stood there looking disheveled and like he'd just rolled out of bed, even though it was three in the afternoon.

"Yeah, so what do you want?"

"Can we come in or did no one ever teach you how to receive guests?"

"Uh, sure."

They stepped inside the messy bachelor pad and exchanged looks of disgust while he settled himself down on the couch.

"Now what did you want to talk about?"

"Were you at Club Mercury on Friday night?"

"There's been a lot of clubs in my life, lady."

"Let me refresh your memory," Lindsay said, pulling out a photo. "Katie Eacker."

"Oh yeah, I know her. Yeah. Met online. She was okay, kind of cold."

"Well now she's really cold."

"Huh?"

"On a slab."

"What?"

"In the morgue."

"Where?"

"Stone cold dead, Nicky," Jo explained, crossing her arms. "What happened at that bar?"

"She's dead?"

"Yes, she's dead. She died Friday night shortly after leaving the bar. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

"No, I only talked to her for a while. She wasn't interested and there were better options for me."

"She rejected you then. Did that make you mad?"

"Even if she had rejected me I wouldn't have minded. There were a lot of women at that bar the other night and only one Nick Aleto."

"How wonderful for all those women," Jess dead-panned, her eyes revealing not even a flicker of amusement.

"Yeah, I know, right?"

"Why don't you just tell us what happened that night?"

"She texted me late, said she was going to be at that bar if I wanted to meet up. I wanted to meet her so I went. We had a drink, decent conversation, but no chemistry. I might have been a little drunk. I spilled my drink on her. She laughed and said she'd had much worse spilled on her. I could tell she wasn't interested so I moved on. No hard feelings, nothing weird. I left with someone else."

"Oh did you now, Hef? Does she have a name?"

"Uh... Sherry? No, Brandy. Yeah. I got her number around here somewhere."

He started to look through the garbage on his coffee table, spilling papers and take out containers on the floor.

"Here it is. I was with her all night."

"I'm sure you were, Casanova. Can I have that number to confirm your alibi?"

"Yeah sure, I wasn't gonna call it anyway. Nick Aleto doesn't call the girls, the girls call him."

"Do they talk in third person also?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. We'll call her and confirm, but just in case, don't leave town."

He gulped and nodded and they showed themselves to the door. Nick wasn't really a suspect, but it was nice to watch him squirm a little as they led him to believe he was. Maybe he would think twice before continuing in his current lifestyle. Or maybe it would at least make him clean his apartment.

"So back to the security tapes?" Adam groaned, making a disgusted face. "That's it, I'm moving to Guam."

"You are not running away to a tropical climate unless you take me with you," Lindsay retorted, poking his shoulder.

"I'm never going to get to be my own person again, am I?"

"Should have thought of that before you popped the question."

"I did, and I decided I was bored of me."

"And you're glad you did, right?"

"Most days."

She glanced around to make sure no one was watching before she leaned down and kissed him as deeply as they were comfortable with in a public place.

"And today?"

"Glad."

She smiled and found her own chair, sitting down next to him and taking control of the video, zooming out so she could get the best perspective on the room.

"Did you happen to see when she left the bar?"

"Yeah, it was just before three. They stopped serving at two but people stuck around for a while. Really though, why would you want to stay in a cramped bar that smells like spilled beer, bad cologne and B.O. if you can't even drink the unpleasantness away?"

"Because sometimes you don't want to go home."

"And sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name," Jo added as she breezed into the room. "Anything yet?"

"Not so far."

"I've got her phone records, but it looks like she must have left her cell at home because the last thing she did was text Nick around ten and told him to meet her at the bar at one. She probably forgot it, considering she had the muscle cream in her purse. Phone seems more important than that."

"Maybe a little. Or maybe she left it on purpose, just wanted a night to herself. Did you find anything else on her call records?"

"A few calls to her sister in the last week. Short calls though, less than five minutes. There were a lot of calls between her and another teacher at her school, but they were coordinating curriculum for the year, so that explains that. No sales calls, no burner phones. Nothing suspicious yet again."

"You talked to all her friends? No cat fights?" Adam asked, distractedly, his eyes on the video.

"Cat fights? Who do you think these women are?" Jo snickered, shaking her head.

"I dunno. Girls fight. Girls have hormones, Girls are intense. It's not entirely out of the realm of possibility."

"Are you sure you want to stick to that statement?"

"What? I'm sayin' girls are tough enough to kill. You should take that as a compliment."

"You think we need your compliments?"

"Why don't you just go ahead and let me know when I can actually win in a conversation. I'll just be quiet until then."

They ignored him and looked over the phone records again, checking off names that they'd already ruled out.

"Are either of you two gonna watch this since I don't know what I'm looking for?"

"He has a point," Lindsay sighed, sitting down next to him. "As much as I hate to admit that."

"Geez, you used to think I was somethin' special."

"I still think you are," she chuckled, winking at him. "I just don't need to say that in front of people. You might start gettin' a big head."

"Yeah whatever."

Lindsay rolled her eyes as Jo joined them, all of them taking the same security tapes from the different angles and going over them slowly, keeping their eyes on Katie in every screen but also trying to look for people that were watching her or following her. They all watched through to the end, then started back at the beginning, trading angles.

"Hey Linds, doesn't this guy look familiar to you?" Jo asked, stopping her video. "Right there."

"That's Dane, Laura's boyfriend. He said he was at home that night."

"That's right he sure did."

"Ay, that's a mite suspicious ladies," Adam mused in his best, but very terrible Irish accent.

"I think it's time for you to go home honey."

"Yeah like half an hour ago."

"Don't just make crap for dinner okay? There's chicken in the fridge and a recipe on the counter. And yes the kids like it even if they whine."

"Okay, okay. Thinkin' I can't handle my own kids," he mumbled, standing up and dropping a kiss to the top of her head. "Although that daughter of yours is becoming quite the little sass machine. I'm beginning to question paternity. She reminds me a lot of Conan O'Brien."

"Yeah, sure honey."

He smirked and left the room right before Jo burst into laughter.

"He is so weird. How do you keep a straight face?"

"Lots of practice, though I can say that there have been probably less than ten days since we've known each other that he hasn't made me die laughing."

"He's a good man."

"Yes he is. Dane on the other hand, is going to have some explaining to do."

"Oh yes. What's say we bring the young lad in bright and early tomorrow morning?"

"I think it's a plan."