Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Forty-eight hours later, Scarlett had enough evidence to hold the two young men on suspicion of murder. Yet, she didn't have enough to convict them. Nate Leopard was extremely smart, and cocky. His downfall would come by his ego. The other young man whose name was Dick Lowes was in love with Nate. They were in a relationship. Scarlett figured Nate had talked Dick into doing the murder by telling him, that if they did the murder, they would be bound to each other forever. They would also prove to the world how smart they were.

Scarlett considered who was the weaker link. She knew it was Lowes, but she didn't think she could get him to confess because then he would be letting his one true love down. Yet she knew that Rhett could get Nate to confess to prove to the older man how much smarter he was than Rhett.

It was so sad to Scarlett. The young men were nineteen and twenty and now they would spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Scarlett managed to talk Rhett into interviewing the young man and hopefully getting him to confess. She said, "This is the time where your intelligence will pay off."

"My intelligence pays off every day."

"Yes, Dear, but what I meant is that I need to get Leopard to confess to prove to you how much smarter than you he is."

"You mean someone is trying to tear down the great and fabulous Rhett Butler once again."

Scarlett knew she had to play up to Rhett's ego to get him to interview Leopard and get him to confess. She said, "Yes, Dear."

"You know that I know, you are playing me."

"Good use of slang. I'm so proud of you that you realized what I am doing."

Rhett smiled and said, "I will do it."

Rhett sat down with Nate alone. Scarlett didn't want to say or do anything that would give Leopard any advantage. Rhett could be like the Sphinx, so she wasn't worried about him.

Rhett said, "Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, you are Rhett Butler, supposedly the best forensic anthropologist in the nation."

"There are two things wrong with that statement. I am the best forensic anthropologist, not supposedly. And not just in the nation, but in the world. One thing I must make clear, I am representing the United States government. Did you want to go head-to-head with me?" When Nate didn't answer, Rhett said, "I don't need for you to answer. I already know the answer. Of course you do. You are like a thousand other pipsqueaks out there who are too big for their britches."

Nate didn't speak but Rhett could tell the pipsqueak comment had gotten to him. He was looking for all the things Scarlett had alerted him to look for. He had seen the man's mouth tighten.

Rhett said, "Are you in college?"

"Yes, I attend Georgetown. I started when I was seventeen."

"Do you live in the dorm or at home?"

"I live at home. That way I don't have to associate with the unwashed."

"I went to West Point then transferred to the University of Tennessee. I don't even think it is in the top fifty colleges/universities in the nation, but they did have the best Forensic Anthropology program in the nation. So, there is that. Of course, I'm just an old Southern boy from South Carolina so what did I know."

Milton Berle, Nate's attorney, said, "As much fun as it is to go down memory lane with you Dr. Butler was there a question in there."

"No, but here is a question. Are you left or right-handed?"

"I am left-handed."

"There are only ten percent of the people in the nation who are left-handed."

"It is thirteen-point one percent."

"No, the latest data says roughly ten percent."

"That is for the world."

Rhett took out his cellular phone and typed in a question to google. He looked at Nate and said, "You are right. The person who attacked Bobby Frank was left-handed."

"So? As I said thirteen-point one percent of the population of the United States is left-handed with there being three hundred and thirty-three million people who live there. Or four point four million left-handed people who could be the killer."

"True. I was telling you because it is another connection to you and the killer."

"What is your IQ?"

"One sixty."

"Mine is two hundred."

"Wow. Impressive. But I have always been a firm believer in its not what you've got, but what you do with what you've got."

The AUSA Levitt who was standing next to Scarlett in the observation room, said, "What is he doing?"

"Don't worry about how he gets there. Just enjoy the ride."

Levitt looked at Agent O'Hara. He had worked with her on several occasions. Even though she was oozing sexuality, she had always struck him as asexual. It was plain to see that she was a woman, but it was plain to feel she just wanted to be thought of as a damn good FBI agent. Now he could feel the pride she had in Dr. Butler. He blurted out, "Are you and Dr. Butler dating?"

"It is a little bit more than dating. He is my life partner."

Rhett said, "Agent O'Hara found the car you rented under the name Morton Ballard, just like Nathan Leopold. For some reason, the clerk remembered you. She picked you out of a photo line-up. She didn't even hesitate. She said it was because of your snotty attitude. She said you acted like she was stupid."

Nate said, "She was stupid."

"How do you know she was stupid?"

Milton said, "Don't say anymore!"

Nate said, "All I wanted was a four-door vehicle, but she couldn't give me it. She kept trying to upgrade to a more expensive model."

Milton said, "All you have him confessing for is renting the car."

"Being a homosexual, I am sure you don't know how to sweet talk a woman."

"There isn't anything I can't do."

"Can you have sex with a woman?"

"Why would I want to have sex with a woman? I don't want to have anything to do with a cunt."

"You said there isn't anything you can't do. I'm just questioning that statement."

Nate yelled, "If I had to, I could!"

"I am not sure what your purpose was for killing Bobby Frank."

"I didn't kill him."

"He is your cousin, isn't he?"

"Yes."

"How did you come to live with your aunt and uncle?"

"They took me in after my parents died. My aunt was my mother's sister."

"They died in a house fire when you were fifteen. It must have been devastating to you when the court refused to make you an emancipated minor. They instead shipped you to Maryland to live with your aunt and uncle. Where are you from?"

"Boise, Idaho."

"I am going to have to get Agent O'Hara to contact the Boise police department. They need to reinvestigate that fire. That is just too much of a coincidence. Although I am pretty sure they are suspicious of you. I think that is why the court wouldn't let you have access to your parents' money. Your sister died in that fire also, didn't she? No point in splitting the money if one doesn't have to."

"You would know. You murdered your entire family and got away with it."

Calmly Rhett said, "I did not kill my family." With a smirk he added, "When do you inherit your parents' money?"

"When I am twenty-five."

"I got my parents' money when I was nineteen. I guess my attorney was smarter than yours."

"My lawyer was a punk ass right out of law school. It was all I could afford because I didn't have any money."

"Interesting." With a smile and a look at the mirror, Rhett said, "I'm just thinking out loud here. You attempted to successfully pull off the crime of the century a hundred years later. As I see it you did it to prove you were the greatest man .. excuse me the smartest man of all time just like Leopold and Loebs. I think part of your plan was you wanted to outsmart me. I suppose you know all about me."

"Yes, I know all about you and your whore."

"If you are referring to Agent O'Hara, she is not my whore, but my partner. She pays her fair share of the expenses. Just like any other roommate would."

That wasn't true. Rhett paid all of their living expenses. Just like he and Scarlett were husband and wife. He wanted them to be husband and wife. He wanted that so bad he could taste it. Yet, he was so scared of messing up what they had that he had refused to ask her to marry him.

Nate stared at the other man. He had not reacted at all to his girlfriend being called a whore.

Scarlett would not have wanted Rhett to react. There were more important things on the table than what some punk had called her. She had been called worse.

Rhett for his part had wanted to hit the little bastard in the jaw, but he had to get the confession. He had smiled which he could see baffled Nate. He had smiled because Scarlett would have ripped him a new one for being offended on her part and losing sight of the goal. The goal of getting a confession out of Nate Leopard.

Rhett kept the smile on his face and said, "If you know all about me then you know that Agent O'Hara and I often work cases together when they involve a skeleton. That is why you dumped the body on federal land, so the FBI would have to be called in. How did you know Agent O'Hara would be assigned the case?"

"She is assigned all the cases involving skeleton since you are fucking her. The FBI knows she will get you to help her solve the case. Just like a woman to use a man then take credit for it."

Rhett ignored Nate's statement. He could not respond to the boy. He said, "When did you come up with this plan to recreate Loebs and Leopold's murder. When you found out your cousin was named Bobby Frank? No. I bet it was when you met Dick Lowes. When you found how he was gay it was perfect. Are you gay? I bet not. I bet that was just an act to rope poor little confused Dick Lowes in. I bet he actually thinks you love him." Rhett laughed a mocking laugh that Scarlett didn't know he had in him. He sobered and said, "Well, done Nate. My only question is how did I get involved?"

"I'm not admitting guilt, but I read an article by you that was published in Forensic Anthropology Today."

"Really? What was it titled?"

"I don't remember the title, but it was on how important insects were to the forensic world."

"And you googled me then?"

Scarlett smiled at Rhett's question. A year ago, he wouldn't have even known what googling someone meant. She thought, 'He has come a long way.'

"Yes. It talked about you and your cunt being a power couple and a beautiful couple."

"That's nice. I will have to share that with Agent O'Hara that we are a beautiful, power couple."

Scarlett knew Rhett was seething inside at all Nate's comments about her, but he would not let it show. He had a mission, and he understood his mission. Get the confession. Nothing else was important.

Nate said, "Maybe she will suck your dick as a reward if you get me to confess, but sorry I'm not going to prison for life just so you can get your dick sucked."

Rhett then made one of his rare jokes, he said, "One can always hope." Rhett sighed. He said, "Back to you, Nate. Was I supposed to be impressed by your actions? You lured your cousin into your car. No big deal. He foolishly thought you were safe because you were his cousin. Honestly, a pedophile would have had to work harder to lure a three-year-old into his car while waving candy at her and holding a puppy. In other words, that would be like shooting fish in a barrel. When I was a kid, I thought the fish were alive and swimming around in the barrel. That is not the case, prior to the days of refrigeration, fish were packed and stored in large barrels. The barrel was packed to the rim with fish and ice. As such, any shot entering the barrel was sure to hit at least one fish."

"It was harder than it looked. He didn't want to get in because he wanted to walk with his girlfriend."

Milton said, "Nate, don't say anything more."

"Nate, you are pathetic. You were supposed to stump me with this soft soap. You didn't even fool me for a week. At least Ted had people guessing for years, the zodiac killer, I would like to take him down, but he is probably dead by now, what about BTK? It took what.. almost twenty years to bring him down. There is the Green River Killer and the Atlanta Child Murderer who kept the police guessing for years. You are so pathetic that you didn't last a week. How long did this take to set up? Months I bet. You shot your wad in a matter of seconds just like a boy with his first girl. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Nate stood up and screamed, "I made it too easy for you. I gave you too many clues."

"So, did you kill Bobby Frank?"

Milton had stood up, and said, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Nate ignored him and said, "Hell yeah, I did. As my idol said If I were to murder anybody, it would be just such a cocky little son of a bitch as Bobby Franks. Well, I did it. I kill Bobby Frank."

Scarlett turned to Levitt and said, "Is that enough?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Levitt started to leave the room. Scarlett said, "Wait a minute. Rhett asked him how he did it. Maybe he will confess all."

To Levitt's utter amazement, Nate Leopard told Rhett everything.

Scarlett said, "Sadly, he is trying to impress Rhett. Let's go."