Maggie came down the stairs and paused for a moment, smiling, to take in the picture. Like her wife Elizabeth, who argued so much against taking in a dog like Blu, and at that moment was sitting on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table, scratching the head of the pit bull that the dog had placed on her lap, clearly enjoying the attention.
She walked toward the couch and smiled a little. "For the one who has clearly spoken out against having a dog, you look like you're Blu's best friend."
Elizabeth took a deep breath and smiled as she scratched Blu's head, the dog making no effort to move an inch as the redhead sat down next to the detective. "We had a dog back then, too," she said, looking at the peaceful pit bull, "Sarah and me. A bullmastiff named Bear. Sarah had met Bear while on a job at a shelter and spontaneously decided to take him home without talking to me about it first. When I got home, I was beside myself, first because that breed of dog was notorious at the time and because --"
"Sarah went over your head and decided to adopt the dog," Maggie said as her wife fell silent.
Elizabeth nodded slowly as she continued to ogle the dog's head. "One of many impulsive decisions Sarah had made at the time. As it would turn out, one of the good decisions she had made then, in the end. Bear became Nikki's best friend at a time a child that age should never have to go through."
Maggie nodded slowly and frowned a little. Once again, she heard one of many stories she didn't know existed. Slowly but surely, she was becoming increasingly aware that this would probably never change with Elizabeth, that she would only hear about her wife's previous life sporadically if the detective would really let her.
She took a deep breath and regarded her wife from the side while Elizabeth continued to pet the dog, lost in thought. "What happened to Bear? You didn't put him off after Sarah --"
Elizabeth looked at her with furrowed brows. "Shot herself with my gun? Jesus, no. As I said, Bear was the support the girls needed during that time, just like he was for me. If it hadn't been for Bear, I very likely would have drunk myself to death or put a bullet in my head during the investigation phase against me. Because of Bear, I was forced to leave the house with him before he pissed in my apartment. As I said, he had supported me greatly, too."
Maggie waited a while and tried again when the detective fell silent all at once. "What happened to Bear?"
Elizabeth looked up again and took a deep breath, raising her shoulders. "Somewhere along the line, the day came when Bear died of old age."
The redhead nodded slowly as she began to understand. First, the detective had lost her wife and then her animal best friend. She watched as Elizabeth continued to pet the dog, and she realized that the animal was very likely no longer just with them for fostering but rather had already found his forever home the day Nikki had brought Blu here, and Elizabeth had seen him for the first time. She smiled a little and now stroked the pit bull's head herself. "You are certainly aware that you are a real softie, aren't you?" Her smile grew as she saw the puzzled look on her wife's face. "We both know Blu is going to stay here."
Elizabeth chuckled before nodding with a smile and petting Blu's head. "You're right. Blu isn't going anywhere."
Maggie chuckled too and gave the detective a kiss on the cheek before getting up from the couch. "Softie," she said once again, walking into the kitchen.
Elizabeth smiled again and eyed the snoozing dog. "Right again," she murmured.
xxx
Nick came down the stairs in his T-shirt and sweatpants and exhaled audibly. "Jalen finally fell asleep."
Katherine, wearing comfortable clothes, too, and sitting at the dining room table in front of spread-out papers, looked up and smiled strained before taking a sip from her wine glass.
Nick looked at her long and hard and sat beside her, frowning deeply. It hadn't escaped him that his wife's demeanor had changed drastically since the name Kenneth Baldwin had come up in their current case. He could understand it; after all, Baldwin was to blame for Katherine going through a rough time. At least, that was the current state of affairs. However, the assumption that Kenneth Baldwin could have a sidekick who had decided to continue the work of the Angel of Death after so many years of dormancy in Boston didn't make the situation any better.
He knew that his wife had never really gotten over Nathan's death, which was understandable; after all, he and Katherine were planning to get married.
Nick took a deep breath and pulled out one of the documents, which turned out to be older, and frowned deeply while pursing his lips. "Are you sure we're dealing with a copycat Angel of Death or that Kenneth Baldwin is even innocent in prison?"
Katherine took a deep breath and pressed her lips together. "I'm not sure what to think anymore. I'm not sure what to believe anymore, Nick." She paused and shook her head. "I don't --" She paused and frowned deeply. "We, Williams and I, did a perp profile together back then after Brooks and Nate brought in enough material. It was the first time I had ever profiled a perpetrator, in one of the most significant cases in Los Angeles and New York, of all places; after all, the murders were being reported nationally, and there was a huge amount of pressure on each of us to see that the Angel of Death was finally caught. Everything in our profile pointed one hundred percent to Kenneth Baldwin, the typical sociopath, and during interrogations, he hadn't really been cooperative." She pressed her lips together and shook her head. "Brooks and Nate put Baldwin through the wringer quite a bit at the time; after all, it was about the death of the son of the Chief of Police Los Angeles ... We were so sure Baldwin was working alone. And now --"
"And now the murders continue here in Boston after all these years," Nick added after Katherine fell silent.
"While Kenneth Baldwin sits in prison for the rest of his life," the psychiatrist added before emptying her glass, about to refill it.
Nick looked at his wife for a long moment, recognizing the beginning dark circles under her eyes, the result of the doctor not sleeping very well at night since the new state of affairs they were now aware of. "Kate --"
"I'm not sure Ken Baldwin is actually the Angel of Death anymore, Nick," Katherine said suddenly, running a hand through her hair with a pained smile. "I mean, yeah, he fit the perp profile perfectly back then, maybe a little too perfectly. I was young and inexperienced at the time, and there was tremendous pressure on us because the Angel of Death had terrified two cities for months."
"Kate," Nick said again, putting his hand on hers to get Katherine's complete attention. "At the time, the evidence was overwhelming; there was no doubt that he murdered all those people, including --" He paused, pondering for a moment whether it was wise to bring the name into play. "There's no denying that he's responsible for Nate's death, and what's more, he confessed all the murders."
"I know," Katherine replied forcefully, rising from her chair. "I know that all too well, Nick. After all, I was there at the time Nate died." She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath as if to lock the burgeoning negative feelings from the past back in the box from which they had escaped in recent days. "He killed Nate back then while trying to escape; there's absolutely no doubt about that; after all, Liz and Ma were also involved in the chase, not just Brooks. But afterward, Baldwin was pressed hard about it and repeatedly confronted with the other murders in L.A. and New York until he finally caved in." She paused and shook her head with her lips pressed together as she looked at her husband. "Maybe we pushed too hard then."
Nick thought he had misheard and furrowed his brows. "You think it was a forced or even a false confession?"
"Kate, you watched every single interrogation back then. No matter what he'd done at the time, you would have intervened if you'd noticed Baldwin being badgered until he gave a false confession."
"You didn't know me at the time, Nick," Katherine retorted a little too forcefully and loudly. "After Nate died, I wasn't myself; I was a shadow of myself. At the time, I just wanted that son of a bitch to pay for what he had done to Nate, what he had done to me when he took the man I loved with all my heart. When he had taken away the love of my life."
Nick gritted his teeth and nodded slowly without saying anything. He knew very well that the doctor was caught off guard by the feelings from her past.
At that moment, she realized what she had actually said to her husband, the father of her child, and slumped her shoulders as she looked at him. "Nick --"
"It's okay, Kate," he said quietly, reaching out to take her hand.
Katherine instantly recognized the conciliatory gesture, took the hand, and sat back in her chair without letting go of Nick's hand, squeezing it and running her thumb over it, hoping it was a conciliatory sign.
The detective nodded slowly and licked his lips. He realized that just like Elizabeth and Jane, Katherine tended to prefer to keep things that caused her intense pain and grief bottled up inside, never really talking about them to others unless they came to light again through some incident. However, there was a small but subtle difference with Katherine; she had confided in Dr. Claire Galloway, one of her mentors and friends, during her therapy sessions Galloway. Even then, when his relationship with Katherine began, he decided it was pointless to ask what had been discussed in those therapy sessions. He let Katherine set the pace and gave her the time she needed to open up to him more and more, to confide in him.
He took a deep breath, frowning deeply. "Baldwin revealed details that had never been released to the public, Kate."
Katherine closed her eyes briefly and licked her lips before saying, "Yes, I know. At the time, Williams and Brooks took turns questioning Baldwin for several hours. Ma and Liz had been excluded from the further investigation because they were personally involved; after all, Nate was my fiancé. Williams had strictly followed the guidelines during the interrogations at that time. Brooks, however --"
"What did Brooks do?" Nick wanted to know after too long a pause.
Katherine took a deep breath and closed her eyes before looking at her husband long and hard. "Brooks kept giving Baldwin intermittent details about the murders during the interrogation, then after a few hours there was another pause, and then Baldwin positively confirmed Williams' questions."
Nick looked at her long and wide-eyed. "So you're saying that Brooks influenced Baldwin at that time to the point where he made a meaningful confession?"
Katherine ran a hand through her hair again and raised her shoulders. "I'm not sure. At the time, I wanted nothing more than anything for Kenneth Baldwin to go to jail for what he had done. For him to be convicted, for him to be locked in a dark cell and for the key to be thrown into an infinitely deep abyss. In retrospect, I realized I wasn't really paying attention at anything else at the time."
Nick nodded slowly with a deep frown. "That's understandable; after all, you lost a loved one at that time, Kate. Your life has gone off the rails. That's when any normal thinking person wishes you'd lock the monster away forever; throw the key as far away as possible. I wouldn't act differently if anything happened to you or Jalen." He paused and raised his shoulders. "Shit, I'd do far worse things in a case like that."
Katherine took a deep breath and closed her eyes as her husband placed his free hand on her cheek, drying a tear that had found its way down without permission. Not only was she once again forced to relive feelings she had locked away for years but also because she thought that it sounded like she still loved her late fiancé Nathan more than she loved her best friend and husband Nick.
"Hey," he said softly with a furrowed brow, "look at me, please, Kate."
Katherine took a shaky breath and complied with her husband's request, looking at him.
Nick looked deep into her eyes and nodded slowly. "It's all right, Kate. I promise you that."
Katherine looked at him for a long time, recognizing the truth in his words and eyes.
"Could it be that Kenneth Baldwin himself had been the henchman from the Angel of Death or that he had somehow picked up details that had not been passed on to him by Brooks?"
The doctor sighed loudly and shook her head with furrowed brows. "I don't know. In retrospect, it could be possible that Baldwin had been in the same bar with the real Angel of Death at the same time, without even being aware of it, and overheard him boasting about his actions to others, though not taken in stride because he may have had too much to drink. And at some point, Baldwin's been taking credit for himself; after all, the murders have been in the news all over the country."
Nick gave her a long look and pressed his lips together for a moment. "So we have to consider that while responsible for Nate's death, Kenneth Baldwin had nothing to do with the other murders?"
Katherine gave her husband a long look and hesitated momentarily before saying, "I'm afraid so."
Nick nodded slowly and opened his mouth. "Okay," he said slowly, though he instead wanted to say great.