"Constance, right?"

Nick's head pokes out from behind the wall where he is standing in his kitchenette and he regards the woman who now sits in the chair in front of Ellie's desk. She lifts her head, though the look in her eyes is faraway and it takes her a moment to register what Nick had said before she responds.

"Hm? O-Oh. Yeah." she nods.

"Alright, Constance. Milk? Sugar?"

Since Ellie isn't here yet, it falls on Nick to be hospitable and make sure his witness feels comfortable and safe in his agency. If she is here, willing to offer up information, then he certainly does not want to lose her. Unfortunately, though, he had not been expecting her and thus he is entirely unprepared. He has all but torn the kitchen apart looking for the tea which he never typically drinks because Constance does not want coffee. And now, he silently hopes to himself that she doesn't ask for milk or sugar, since he isn't entirely sure he has either of those things as he takes his own coffee black.

Constance crosses and uncrosses her legs, and then, much to Nick's relief, she says, "Neither." Nick nods once and disappears behind the wall again, where he pours the tea and tightens his tie before he steps back out, a mug in each hand.

He sets the mug of coffee down gingerly in front of her and the tea in his spot, but then quickly realizes his mistake and switches the cups. "Sorry – I wasn't expecting you." he admits, then chuckles, "You've got my wires all crossed."

"Sorry..." Constance says but Nick waves his hand quickly.

"No, no. Don't be." he smiles, and the expression puts Constance at ease."I'm glad you're here."

There is an awkward silence as Constance grabs for her mug and tips it carefully, taking in a small sip so as not to burn her tongue. Nick tries not to stare at her, but he's eager to hear what she has to say. He clears his throat and straightens his notebook out on the desk in front of him. "So," he leans in and attempts to remain nonchalant, "You say you saw Maggie the night she went missing, huh?"

What looks to be regret flashes fleetingly across Constance's face. Regret that she has come here, perhaps? Or something more? She nods quickly, though, and looks back down to her hands.

"Y-Yes. That's right." she confirms. "I-I feel... really bad about it all, I'm..." Her head falls forward, and Nick notices her knee is bouncing anxiously. But he says nothing for now, patiently letting her work through her emotions. Eventually, she lifts her head again and rubs her hand down her cheek, heaves a sigh, and pulls her chair in closer so she can grab her tea once more. "Um..." she begins and then clears her throat awkwardly, "I, um... I never really liked Maggie..."

Nick's eyes narrow only slightly, and he grips his pen, then rolls it in his fingers idly. "That so?" he says, "Any particular reason?"

"You know... I just... She was..." Constance is having a hard time speaking. She swirls her teacup in her hand as if hoping that the right words will float to the surface of the fragrant liquid, but they don't and so she inhales. "She was weird. I... She was, like... obsessed with me, or something. I caught her... following me, and drawing me, and... It was just really... strange, I..." her brow furrows as she watches Nick stand abruptly and hurry to his own desk against the wall. He grabs a journal which he had separated from the others and leafs through it, before he sets it down in front of Constance, open to the pages of Maggie's drawings of the woman with the long black hair.

"This you, by chance?" Nick asks, and as he looks from the artwork to the woman before him, he can certainly see the resemblance in her angular face and long neck. She may be older, stockier and shorter-haired, but...

"Yes! That's me!" Constance's eyes widen as she carefully grabs the journals and looks at the drawings. She's impressed by them now. "I know... I look different now," she, like many women her age, mourns her youthfulness, "but this was me. Once..."

Nick can hardly believe his luck, that the subject of Maggie's admiration has somehow fallen right into his hands. "I've gotta say, this is quite the coincidence." he chuckles. "I spent all of last night trying to figure out who this could be."

Constance regards the art for a moment longer, before she pushes the book away from her again and Nick moves it aside and away from the beverages on the table. "They're... Nice pictures." she says weakly, then swallows. "I remember, back then, it always... made me so uncomfortable, you know? But... But I never said anything to her, because Maggie, she was just a kid."

"She was. And I take it you're Tim's age."

Nick notices how Constance's eyes widen momentarily at the mention of Tim, and how she nods and squirms in her seat. "Yeah." she says, and then her voice drops a few decibels, "A-Actually... Um..." She bites her lip and picks at her fingers, "Tim was..."

Suddenly, she looks behind her as if expecting someone else to be there. But there isn't anyone else: it is just her and Nick, who is practically on the edge of his seat as he waits for her to continue. He follows her gaze, then creases his brow. "You alright, kid?" he asks.

Constance nods quickly and draws in a shaky breath. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." she says in a way which is entirely unconvincing. "I-I'm sorry... You know Tim?"

"Yeah." Nick says, "Caught wind that he and Maggie were seein' each other before she went missing. Went to check on that fact myself."

"Oh." Constance swallows. "A-And?"

"He said it was true." Nick tells her and then studies her reaction. For a fraction of a second, she almost looks angry, but her expression settles back on vaguely troubled and she sips at her tea once more.

"Well..." she says, her eyes finally meeting Nick's. "I was also seeing Tim then. At the same time."

Nick sits back in his chair, his mechanical heart skipping a beat. He is tense as immediately, he wonders if this is about to be a confession to a crime of passion...

"Well, I'm sure you were thrilled to hear that." Nick probes sarcastically. "How long did you know? That he was two-timin' you?"

"I found out about... a week or so, before..." Constance doesn't finish the sentence, instead shaking her head like she is trying to clear an etch-a-sketch. "I-I'm sorry, um..." Once more, she looks over her shoulder, "You aren't gonna... tell Tim about any of this, are you?"

Nick is still. He doesn't answer immediately, but then he folds his hands on the desk in front of him and once more leans forward. "Don't fret. Tim doesn't have to know you came here to see me today." he says in a way which instills trust in Constance. She pulls in another shaky breath and bobs her head as she stares off at the wall.

"Okay, okay..." she whispers, psyching herself up. "Well... so... That night, I... Well, I had plans, y'know? To go out and confront Maggie. I don't even know what I was planning to do, maybe... Call her names or something? Yell at her a little? I didn't want to hurt her, because she was only a teenager and I was in my twenties, but I really, really hated her.

"S-So... when I went out to find her, I..." her hands tighten around her mug, "I was on my way to her place, but then I heard Tim's voice, and so I followed the sound and looked down the alley and there he was with Maggie. A-And I hid... I hid and I listened."

Her eyes flick to Nick, who is watching her intently. "And? What did you hear?"

"Tim was..." Constance chews her tongue, "He... He was saying some really awful things to her. He had her cornered in that alleyway, and he was calling her all sorts of names. And Nick, she looked... She looked really scared... D-Distressed or something, I don't know. I didn't... I didn't stick around long, because..."

Tears are pushing at her eyes now, and she feels as though she is going to be sick. "It... It felt good to see her upset like that." Her voice breaks, and she sets the tea down on the desk and hides her face in her hands as her shoulders shake. Nick frowns and watches her in both sympathy and distaste, but he does reach for the box of facial tissues Ellie keeps at her desk and moves them closer to Constance who takes one and uses it to dab at her eyes then blow her nose. She takes a few moments to calm down and attempt to regulate her breathing again, and then she draws in a stuttered breath. "When I heard she went missing the next day..." she swallows and catches a tear with the spent tissue before it can hit her cheek, "I knew Tim had something to do with it... But..."

She lurches forward again and once more hides her face in her hands. "I was honestly just happy she was gone."

Silence hangs over the two of them like a heavy blanket as Nick digests the information he has just been given. Eight years. Eight years, Constance has been sitting on this information out of sheer spite for this poor child. He can't help but wonder what difference this knowledge could have made eight years ago: would they have been able to find Maggie? Would she be safe, home with her aunt? Or, would Rosa at least have gotten the closure she so desperately needed, and would Tim be behind bars where he couldn't hurt or prey on another woman again?

Nick thinks of Tim's young daughter and the thought makes him sick to his stomach. But he draws in a deep breath, and his face softens as he watches the distraught woman across the desk. Clearly, she is remorseful for her actions now that she has grown.

"Well..." he begins, and Constance peeks at him through his fingers, "I'm not going to sugar coat it and tell you that you weren't wrong for keeping this to yourself for so long. But," she clings to that 'but' like a life-preserver, "you're here now. And that takes guts. So thank you, Constance. Honestly."

Constance's face is red and blotchy, and her eyes swollen. But she feels a sense of relief to finally get everything off her chest. And she is thankful for Nick, for his empathy and warmth. He's a good man and a good detective and though she wishes she had told him sooner, she is just glad she did at all. She takes another tissue, blows her nose, and then sits quietly as Nick slides a blank piece of paper toward her.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'll have you write your address here for me." he says. "You can likely expect me to come by again within the next couple days, but for now, unless you have anything else you want to tell me, I think it would be best for you to go home and clear your head."

With that, he sets his pen down in front of her. She places her half-finished teacup on the desk again and stares at the page, before hastily, she prints her address and hands both the pen and paper back to Nick. As she meets his glowing eyes, he smiles softly. "You did the right thing today, kid." he tells her reassuringly, and Constance sighs in relief.

"Thanks, Detective."

Constance doesn't stick around to finish her tea. She leaves shortly afterwards and hurries home, leaving Nick alone with his new notes. He doesn't have long to ponder them, though, before suddenly the door at the top of the stairs flies open and he jolts a bit in his seat.

He looks up quickly and spots Piper as she hurries into the room. She looks dishevelled and agitated, and Nick quickly stands to greet her.

"Everything alright, Piper?" Nick asks with genuine concern as he spots the dirt on her leather coat, and Piper shakes her head.

"I caught him." she says. "Cass. Cass Sun, he's ripping down the posters, Nick!" she blurts frantically. Nick pauses, eyes widening and then his brow creases in confusion.

"Cass?" He doesn't quite believe it.

Piper nods and begins pacing, her hands flailing wildly as she speaks. "Yep. Cass freaking Sun. I was out on a walk this morning, and I saw him, but he didn't see me," she turns to Nick and shakes her finger at him before she returns to pacing, "I saw him take a poster off the wall and rip it in half, and when he saw that I saw him, he took off. But I wasn't about to let him get away. I chased him, I chased him all through the city, Nick, but when I finally caught him, security came and took his side!" she scoffs. "Typical security. Those jugheads couldn't even— Nick." she frowns as she turns to face her friend, whose eyes are now drifting idly about the room as he thinks, "Nick, are you listening to me?"

He is, but his focus is divided. He doesn't want to believe Cass has anything to do with any of this. He likes him a lot, finds him easy to be around. Plus, he feels for him. He's been really struggling ever since he lost his wife Lana to cancer several years back. Nick had watched from a distance as the brilliant, promising young man that he once was fell victim to his grief, only to bounce back recently to try and make a better life for himself – but then, how coincidental that the posters started going missing again just as he resurfaced. And he had been at Power Noodles that night, he could easily have taken that poster down from inside the stand after Nick had left. And he'd been so quick to throw Tim under the bus, too. Perhaps to protect his own ass.

But then, why? What did he have to do with Maggie? And what about all Constance had just told him?

Nick finally meets Piper's eyes, and Piper pauses. "Nicky...?" she asks softly, stepping forward, and Nick straightens.

"We've got a hell of a lot of work to do." he says to her suddenly, and his tenacity is palpable.