Gavin had started getting newspapers years ago when he was teaching himself to read. And by "getting himself newspapers" he meant "stealing them from Tara". She had two or three papers from each city to stay abreast of what was happening in the world, and he'd grabbed one haphazardly from the pile before heading back to the loft apartment he shared with Bella and Aurora. It had been a few days since the devastating pair of wars had ended, and he was looking forward to finally getting some rest when he finally glanced at the paper in the elevator.

He wasn't expecting to see a familiar face- well, not hers at least. He read the headline three times before it hit him.

"Barroom Beauty Murdered in Malt Whiskey Massacre."

Beneath it, a picture of Evelyn. Gavin walked through the door and, ignoring Bella's greeting, tossed her paper. 

"I need to go to Chicago. Now. Are you coming? Or staying with Aurora? I know things are settling, but... this won't take long. I can do it alone. Are you coming or not?"

Before she could answer, he moved toward the bedroom to pack a bag. A small one.

Bella picked up the paper and looked at Evelyn's photo.  That night, in Chicago, she'd been there planning to make matters right with her and now she was dead.  This would have been welcome news a few weeks ago, but now, it felt like an empty victory.  A pointless death and Gavin was furious which only made it worse.

"Patches has a daughter so she knows something about babies.  We'll put my guys here with her... Linval, Neil; but I'm coming with you.  I'm gonna need more time than you to make that happen.  If you want to get a plane ready and wait, I'll be right behind you - thirty minutes tops.  She'll need to pack her things and head over, you know how traffic is this time of day."

Bella went over to Gavin violently shoving things into his bag.  "Are you sure this won't take long?  Do you know who did this?  I assume a traditional bolt bag will do me?"

Bella reached under their bed and pulled out a bag already packed and smiled at Gavin who was still throwing stuff into a bag.  "I'll make you one when we get back.  So... tell me what you know, if anything?  Any hints in the paper text?"

Gavin nodded. He was angry and felt like if he didn't move he'd be liable to explode, but he could wait that long.

"Thirty minutes. And no, I don't know who did it. Yet."

True to her word, Bella had her people set up with Aurora in just under thirty minutes.  Being with Gavin when he was like this, was like walking a cat on a leash.  Oh sure he pretend like everything was fine, but the truth was any moment he might go feral and start lashing out at anyone and everyone nearby including the person who cared most about him. 

He'd never done that, not in so many words, but she'd always felt it was there under the surface.  Always carefully repressed, in many ways, Gavin truly felt similar to her Father.  Except in all the years she'd known her father, he'd never felt the need to repress his rage and more often than not, he embraced it.

Bella prayed age and power never brought her husband to such similar conclusions.  For now though, she wouldn't push him to find the limits of his control.  She wasn't the target of his anger at the moment and there was no need to pull it down upon herself telling him to 'be calm' and 'relax.'  The unfortunate truth was, he might well recall her knee-jerk jealousy of Evelyn and wonder if her urging him to relax was a hope he'd let this go and not avenge the woman.  Of course, that was ridiculous but people seldom thought with clear heads in moments like these and hurt often spoke only the language of pain.

So she was silent.  A steady presence, as emotionless as she could be, but always making sure he knew that he wasn't alone.  Subtle things really... her hand on his leg in the car, her foot against his on the plane.  Later, if they were to stay overnight, she'd make a point of cleaning her weapon, he didn't know it but she'd picked up that the smell of Hopps brand gun oil always seemed to soothe him like some children were soothed by the scent of Vicks vapor rub.  Maybe that would help some, grand gestures surely wouldn't, not today at least.  In truth, he'd probably just resent the distraction.  So... subtle.  She'd be subtle.

Gavin was strangely quiet on the flight. His eyes were closed for most of it, although Bella didn't think he was sleeping. As soon as it started descending, his eyes snapped open and he took a deep breath. He glanced over at Bella and looked like he was going to ask something, but swallowed his words. 

When they landed, they moved quickly to the hotel to change. Gavin ditched the suit for jeans and a black jacket over a black t-shirt. As he changed, he spoke matter-of-factly.

"Story said she was killed in a bar. Her bar. I figured we'd start there. My guess is that it's someone from the lower end of the totem pole... someone who either didn't know her connection with Marie or didn't care. Just doesn't seem like a real player's work. I'd wear something more casual."

He shrugged. 

"Actually, not too casual. I don't want to get caught up coming back here for fucking costume changes. Wear something nice. If we track him to a nice place, you can go in. Otherwise, it's me."

"I promise,"  Bella said picking up her bag and opening it.  "I won't slow you down."

Bella's bolt bag had to be light, easy to carry, and ready for anything and so she couldn't afford 'multiple costumes' to be packed nor her huge makeup regimen or hair styling tools.  Living out of the bolt bag meant practicality.  It was something Salvatore had taught her early on when they'd had their first 'outing' together.

She didn't kill anyone that first time, a lot of watching him really, but looking back now she could see that was the point.  She was meant to watch, even though it galled her to no end that her father dragged her along.  He'd had a purpose though, from her place in the back doing nothing... she'd learned a lot.  She had all the time in the world to watch and remember.

Bella's bag didn't just open, it unfolded completely revealing things secured inside in compartments.  For makeup, a tube of lipstick a middle of the road day/night shade, one small eyeshadow, and mascara.  Rouge was replaced with a little pinching of the cheeks.  In other pockets, there were practical things like some Hersey chocolate bars, folded up garbage bags, a few police evidence bags, emergency first aid items including a small sewing kit and gauze, and even items to make fire, and of course cash.  

In the middle was the outfit.  A black jumper was very flattering and dressy if she put on the earrings and bracelet which she pocketed as she dressed.  The legs were wide enough they'd be mistaken as a skirt if she didn't take long strides, the top was form-fitting, sleeveless, closed over her breasts and coming up to a high neck halter.  It was backless so it would reveal her tattoo very nicely, and be all the right levels of sex appeal... while also maintaining a bit of conservative as it showed nothing overt. 

With the jacket, it was a casual outfit she'd wear into any bar or restaurant around town.  Truly the outfit was timeless and suited to day or evening wear.  It was ideal for any occasion & she could run and fight in it... hell it was even black, in case she had to attend a funeral.  This, of course, was the whole point of everything in the bag... to be ready for anything.

Once she was dressed she looked like she wanted to say something but instead, like Gavin earlier, she decided to keep it back.  There would be time for talking later.  Right now he needed her to keep pace and not get in the way, just as her father had once a very long time ago.  She would have his back no matter how this played out.

"Lead the way."  She said as popped her shoe back on, tucking her gun back into place under her jacket.

Gavin had paced as Bella dressed, and the cursory way he skimmed her over and simply nodded at her, rather than his usual lingering glances, told Bella more about his frame of mind than anything else on this journey so far. He helped her slip on her jacket, and led her out the door. A taxi stopped quickly for them- undoubtedly Bella's influence- and they both sat in the backseat.

"Morgue. Quickly."

Bella looked at him with questioning eyes. Gavin replied with a lower voice.

"I need to know it's really her. She faked her death before. I don't expect that's the case here, but..."

He shrugged, distracted.

"I hope it is, at least."

She knew he'd say no.  She knew it in her bones that way she'd screamed at her father when he suggested that he identify Elias' body instead of her... but, she had to ask if he wanted her to do it.  If her father had identified Elias, would he have been fooled as she had been?  Would his emotions have gotten the better of him and clouded his eyes to what she missed?  God, it was an ugly thing to see someone like that, especially someone you love... 

Bella hit the word in her mind as if it were a brick wall and she was a car traveling over 100 miles an hour.  And it was then she knew it was true.  On some level, in some way, even now he loved that woman.  And while she might have felt horrible, furious at any other moment in time, right now she could only feel a sense of pain not for herself ... but for him.

Gavin might have chosen to be with Bella... but it did not remove the fact that some part of him, loved Evelyn for the role she played in his life.  She looked at her husband now, his eyes, his body tensed up like a cat set to spring.  The way he held himself as if he was a weapon, not just a man carrying weapons.  He'd barely been able to spare her a look in the hotel... he was hyper-focused and with good reason.

How could I have been so cruel?

"I hope so too."  Bella put her hand on his and gave it a gentle squeeze before removing it again.  Weirdly enough, she meant it, she really did hope they were wrong about Evelyn being murdered... but she doubted it.  In life, you seldom knew the importance of a person until you'd lost them... and damn it all, today they'd lost one of Gavin's truest friends only she'd been too stupid to see it for what it was.

I'll make this up to you... 

Gavin tried to walk past the desk with Bella, but the man's nasally voice dragged them back. For a moment, Gavin considered knocking the man out, but decided he didn't need the hassle. Instead, he regretted he didn't have his suit on.

"Grant Blaise, FBI."

With a bored smile, Gavin reached around to his wallet and flipped it open, revealing a badge and an authentic looking ID. 

"Here for the Durand girl."

The morgue manager, leaning back in a chair that strained against his weight, studied the ID carefully before handing it back to Gavin.

"Sorry for the suspicion, Officer-"

"Agent."

"Sorry, Agent Blaise. You have no idea how many reporter mooks have tried to get back there. Got a police officer in the back room too, just to be sure. I'll phone ahead and let them know to expect us."

Gavin nodded as the man made a phone call. They prepared to head back to the morgue when the man's eyes fell on Bella.

"She'll have to wait out here, of course."

Gavin shook his head.

"She's a friend of the victim. Needs to see the body to confirm a theory of mine."

The morgue official shrugged and led them both back past a police officer. The room was filled with the most oppressive, dense silence that Gavin had ever heard, and he wondered for a moment how much of that was his own perception. He kept his face steady as the man opened the "freezer" and slid out a body covered in a sheet. As he lifted the sheet, Gavin experienced one of the few disorienting moments he'd had in the last fifteen years of his life. The only comparable moment was the instant he'd realized he loved Bella, and this was its horrible inverse. 

Evelyn was dead- that was unmistakable. It could only be her- although it was hard to recognize her through the carnage. As much as the morgue had cleaned up the blood, the devastation was impossible to hide. There were two long cuts to the face- one of which was so deep it punctured the cheek. A long, jagged cut across the throat...but her torso looked like it had been crudely used to practice a number of twisted surgeries. The hole in her chest seemed to swallow Gavin. Her heart had been removed. Her liver. There was more, but Gavin turned away from the broad slashes.

Gavin felt darkness creep in at the edge of his vision, and it took every ounce of his considerable willpower to stay upright. With supreme effort, he nodded at the morgue official. 

"That's enough. Thank you."

"But what about-?"

Gavin took Bella's arm and started moving quickly to the exit. The morgue manager's voice halted Gavin in his tracks.

"Wait, didn't you want to see the other one?"

Gavin froze and Bella saw his will reassert itself over his body as he turned and nodded. Unsure if Bella was following him, Gavin focused on walking and staying upright as he was shown the body of another young woman in a similar state to Evelyn's. A redhead.

"Joan Douglas. She was five nights before the blonde. The FBI guys who'd been in earlier..."

Gavin's eyes snapped up.

"-told me to call them if I got another one. Want me to call you as well?"

Gavin shook his head. 

"Not 'as well'. Call me first, then I'll coordinate the rest of the team. You can reach me at this hotel... Room 311."

Gavin quickly moved back to Bella and took her arm, walking quickly outside and sitting on the first bench he could find. He sat with his forearms resting on his knees, eyes closed. He spoke softly but firmly to his wife.

"I'm fine. I just need a minute."

Evelyn, the woman who she'd first thought of as some sort of statue made flesh, was brutalized in a way that was utterly inhuman.  Bella was a murderer, she'd killed her own first love, she'd shot men in the back who'd pissed her off and men in the face who had dared to threaten her family... not even priests were sacred.  But this, this was something else entirely.  The monster who did this was straight from the pit of hell.  Bella's eyes teared up in spite of herself and likely played well to Gavin's story of the two of them having been friends.

We should have been friends... would have been friends, if I hadn't been so damned insecure!

Gavin's reaction snapped her back to her senses though, she wanted to chase the fuckers out of the room and give him a moment with her... she'd had one with Elias and while it hadn't really been him, saying goodbye was a necessary part of letting go.  Or, so she'd been told.  Truth was, nothing helped.  That bleak thought made her ache over Gavin's suffering grow exponentially.

She let him take hold of her arm and was ready to speed walk out when the news that there was a second victim left her stunned.  Bracing herself she looked at the redhead.  Seeing this woman was infinitely easier, she didn't know the pretty lady and so it felt less... real?  While Gavin continued to spin his lies about being a federal agent and asked to receive word about future victims, Bella took the time to REALLY look at the red-head, her wounds, and try to wrap her head around it all.  

Who would do such a thing to not one, but two women?  And why?

When Gavin was ready to go, Bella didn't put up a resistance, she went with him and sat beside him on the bench.  

"No problem." She said softly in response to his lie as if she believed him.  He wasn't fine.  He didn't just need a minute ... all the minutes in a lifetime would never justify or make palatable what she just saw, and she didn't care about Evelyn the way Gavin did.  For only a moment she looked at him, suffering as he was, with pity.  She wanted to hold him and tell him it would be okay... but that would have to wait.  Bella strongly suspected that if Gavin was going to allow himself to mourn and be comforted, it would only come after they had an answer to who, how, and why.  So... all of her energy had to go there, for now.

And so they sat there, silent, for almost five minutes.

Finally, Bella pushed down her emotions, all the kindness she wanted to show him and did her damnedest to treat him and this moment like any other situation... just another job to be done and a faceless victim of the violence their lives was so full of. 

"Well, Agent,"  She began a hint of amusement at calling him Agent leaked into her tone.  "I don't know where the hell you snagged one of those trinkets, but I know what I'm asking for this Christmas."  

She stood up from the bench and allowed herself one small bit of compassion, she put a hand on his shoulder firmly.  She promised herself she wouldn't crumble into a weepy wet blanket to wrap around him just yet.  He needed to get up.  He needed to keep moving and he needed her to be the strong one this time to help him do it

"We need to find out who the hell Joan Douglas is and see what connected her to Evelyn.  Whatever link exists between them, it might lead us to the soulless fucks who did this.  Five nights ago... if she's still in the morgue then I'm guessing she doesn't have much in the way of family.  Gonna be harder to track her down, but not impossible.  Come on."  She urged him.

"We can start where-ever you like, if you're stumped for a next step, I'll take it for us."  She met his eyes, trying to exude an air of confidence in him and in the fact that they would find the people responsible.

As soon as Bella's hand hit his shoulder, Gavin popped up and stood next to her. He nodded about the badge. It was a long story, and he almost started telling it. Almost.

"We'll find Douglas's place, but I want to see the bar first. All we need is one wrong phone call and that guy knows I'm not really FBI. I'd rather visit the places associated with Evelyn quickly, just in case. Let's head to the bar."

They hailed a cab quickly, and Gavin had the cab stop slightly early. They walked the last couple blocks to get to their destination. It was a good choice for him to get out to the open air. He focused on keeping his weight light on his feet, moving silently, watching his breath, and paying attention to the wind. He fell into just about every one of his old hunting habits before he realized that he was doing it. His subconscious, apparently, recognized the situation perfectly.  He was hunting again, with a focus he had felt only a couple times since he'd left the woods of his youth. It had been like this when Bella had been captured in Jamaica... but this was different. He was fully healthy here, for one. And in Jamaica, he'd hunted for Bella. It was a rescue mission; he'd wanted to punish the men responsible, but not at the expense of saving her. Now, he was hunting a predator with no hope of victory and no happy ending- only revenge. 

The sign appeared in front of him: golden letters on an ebony background. 

EVELYN'S

The gold lettering was spoiled by the yellow police tape across the door and on the sidewalk in front of the entrance. Gavin flashed his badge again and spoke briefly to the officer, explaining that Bella was a woman who'd previously worked there. Not really caring much, the flatfoot lifted the tape and let the pair in. Gavin ducked under the tape and reached back to help Bella through, but she was already behind him. Turning, Gavin moved into the room.

It had only been a couple days, but there was already a thin layer of dust covering just about everything. Gavin ran a finger through the dust on the bar as he slid into one of the stools. He spent a few minutes with his eyes closed and, when he finally opened them, it was like he was in a different world- almost in a trance.

The dust disappeared. The bleak afternoon light vanished, replaced by the glow of dozens of small lamps at the tables and the pleasantly dimmed lanterns above the bar. Music materialized as he saw a spot for a small band. No dance floor… the music changed in his mind, becoming a slower jazz. Something to listen to, but nothing to make you jump up and dance… finally, the people came into view. Based on the décor, it was an upscale place. There would be men in suits, old and young. The women… mostly young, but a few happily married couples… he saw them in his mind's eye as he walked through the tables and came back to the bar, and the last person appeared in his imagination.

Her hair and skin were different but complimentary shades of gold. Her necklace, her earrings, her bracelets would be gold as well- all would be outshone by her smile. This was not only her element as an experienced bartender, one who could exact tips from men the way that a drill drags oil from the earth, but this place was hers. Gavin was her partner, and she finally had what she wanted: a place of her own. She would have been behind the bar, because that was where she was comfortable; a helmsman who became captain often insisted on still steering their own ship, at least some of the time. He could see her flitting between customers like a bee buzzing between flowers.

One of these customers was her killer. He was sure of it. Intuition, but it felt right. He’d spoken to her on the phone a week after the business opened and asked her if she was seeing anyone. It was a professional interest; when Evelyn “dated” it tended to be a full time job, and he was worried about the bar getting ignored. But she’d sworn off dating for a few months until the bar was running steadier. Was that what had happened? Someone was rejected? Or did they just cross paths here? Gavin looked at the bar, imagining a regular customer who wanted to be more.

It was possible. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Someone pretending to be friendly.

But someone who had killed that brutally? Twice? Gavin hoped, perhaps naively, that a person like that wasn't able to blend so smoothly into the crowd. That people could sense the sickness. Perhaps they were a loner. A hunter.

Pursing his lips, Gavin allowed himself to become that person. Hunting Evelyn, looking at her as prey. Sitting at the bar would scare her off. No, he’d be… Gavin turned away from the bar and moved toward the back of the room. He found what he was looking for in the corner: a small table, angled toward the bar with a perfect view of the room and a wall against the back of the chair. No way to get surprised, and a good view of the target. Exhaling, Gavin reached down and picked up one of the handful of cigars on the floor. White Owl brand- and more than a couple. Someone had sat here for a long time on the last night the bar was open… perhaps more than one night. He pocketed one of the cigars and stood up. Gavin blinked, and the music, the people, and the lights disappeared, the perspective of the killer faded away, and he and Bella were alone with the dust as the cold afternoon light streamed through the windows

When Gavin seemed to return to his senses and look around the room, she finally spoke, "Knives are personal.  A person dies by a knife and you feel it.  You gotta be close... Evelyn wasn't a pushover either, which means the person needed control of the situation.  Her guard had to be down and for a girl who runs with tough guys ... that means she was at ease with the person.  Genuine ease.  Not faked for the benefit of a potential mark."

"Assuming you think that cigar is significant,"  She said walking over to him, "I'm betting you'll find more around her place... for her to be comfortable with the person he could have been a regular if the bar had been around longer, but I'm guessing he was more."

She shrugged, "I could be wrong but between the two of us, you're the one who's more likely to spot something out of place in her personal stomping grounds.  Why don't you check her office and if she's got a place she stays upstairs... there too.  I'll start in the alleyway."

Gavin looked prepared to say something about the cops, but Bella shook her head, "Again... not my first time, Wolf."  She gave him a reassuring smile,  "I got this, honest.  Look, it'll probably only take me a minute or three anyway.  The coppers probably have combed the whole damn thing clean.  Likely to take you more time than me.  I'll come back when I'm done."

With that Bella made for the back door where they hauled in the goods from supply trucks that delivered to the bar.  She expected the cops would be out here as well, but when she found none she was glad that Gavin hadn't come out here first.  A brutal murder sold papers, but Bella knew damn well a barmaid wasn't going to get the same sort of investigation as a woman of high society.  Evelyn deserved better than how she went out of this world and she sure as fuck deserved a decent investigation.  

Fucking cops.

The alley was a grimy mess.  Like most alleyways in Chicago it wasn't odd to spot piles of refuse from torn garbage sacks, old cardboard box remnants, puddles of nasty looking mud that didn't quite go over the paving stones to the gutters.  It would be hard to see down the alleyway from the street unless you stood right at the mouth of it.  The buildings cast long shadows and the dumpsters hid a good portion of the space.  A perfect place for a murder.

Bella put a small rock in the door jam so she could get back in the way she came out, thus avoiding the cop at the front entrance.  Bella tried her best to imagine how this place looked at night and wondered why the hell a woman would come out here.  Nothing in storage to be brought in, no trucks arriving at night, there wasn't a whole lot of reasons to be here.

Bella caught sight of her own reflection in the black water pooling in one of the divets at her feet.  The pool was no bigger than both Gavin's fists wide but it looked deep.  This led to a long slow walk down the alley, making certain to look into the depths of each divet/puddle.  The process was slower than she thought it would be, but the more she struggled to find a reason Evelyn would have willingly come out here, the more necessary it seemed to be that she find something someone else must have missed.

This was how she came to handling trash.  Discarded matchbooks, cigar and cigarette butts... hoping to find something that would indicate time spent here or the person Gavin suspected from inside.  Finally, the tiniest hint of confirmation that anything had even happened out here... a small pool of blood which only served to punctuate how utterly useless a gangster was at trying to solve a damn mystery.  What the fuck would this blood be able to tell her that she didn't already know about the fucking crime?

Bella imagined poor Evelyn being stabbed and then... she blinked and looked up.  

The walls, the dumpster, the door, the windows, she went to all of them and slowly looked at each.  Finally, out loud she said, "No splatter."  When had she EVER killed anyone with a knife and not sprayed blood?  Sure blood drops, and pools like the one she found would happen, but murders were messy.  Blood didn't just pour out all calm like when you stabbed a person!  You threw blood with your own stabbing motions for Christ's sake.  For blood to pool Evelyn had to be down already when she came out which meant she wasn't standing!  This wasn't an answer but it wasn't nothing either!

Bella quickly made for the door and bent down to pick up the rock out of the door jam when she spotted a piece of trash she hadn't noticed before.  There was a rain gutter just next to the door, a place where water from the roof ran off and down into.  From the alley proper, she hadn't been able to see the space between the steps and the spout, but here... 

Bella reached down and pulled up a small white washcloth?  It was an odd bit of trash to find.  She pulled it closer to her face, looking for any traces of blood or ... 

A pungent smell brought back a string of memories and voices echoing from her past.  The sense of dread, the unknown, and memories of agony that was indescribable to anyone who had never been shot before.  The terror of a doctor coming into her line of vision trying to tell her she'd be okay when she damn well knew she might never wake.  The ethereal smell was something she'd never forget. 

"Ether."  She breathed the words, still hearing the doctor instructing her to count backward from twenty.  Bella's heart thundered in her chest and she quickly went inside to find Gavin, all the while trying desperately to not think about how exacting each and ever cut on her body now seemed.

Bella was a gangster, she'd seen a lot of shit in her day but this... this was straight out of a dime store horror novel!

Gavin picked the lock to the office with little difficulty. It wasn't exactly Fort Knox. The desk inside was as messy as he expected, and he grabbed a blank piece of paper and a pencil to scribble down things that could potentially be relevant. A calendar... nothing special on the day she died. Much emptier than he'd anticipated. Maybe she really was focusing on the business. A list of employees and shifts, phones numbers... those would come in handy. He wrote down anything that seemed important, even though nothing came to mind. 

Still, he wrote down everything he could find before he forced himself to go upstairs. The place looked like a disaster. The cops probably thought it was ransacked... but Gavin knew that the mess was just how Evelyn lived. The realization of the past tense almost caused him to miss a step, but he recovered. He moved through the house quickly, checking the backs of cabinets, the fridge, drawers. Nothing. He ransacked the living room like a bear in a campground. After that, the bathroom. Nothing. 

Finally, he walked into her bedroom and was struck by the smell of her perfume. Still in the air? Or his imagination? He almost sat down on the bed, but he forced himself to keep moving. The drawers, under the bed, under her pillow, the closet... nothing unexpected. The picture on her bureau, a snapshot of her and Gavin, froze him for a moment but he continued his restless searching. He found no answers and only memories, and so he left as quickly as he entered and retreated down to the bar, where he found Bella coming in.

"What's that?"

Bella sighed, she wished he didn't have to tell him something so horrible.

"When they took ..."  She swallowed her words.  No.  She couldn't say that, not with the image of poor Evelyn in her head. 

"After I was shot, they had to put me to sleep to perform the surgery.  They had this cloth over a mask that covered my nose and mouth.  I was to breathe in the fumes and it would render me unable to feel anything or wake... the doctor called it ether and I've never forgotten how it smelled.  Careful... even a whiff of it will leave you light-headed."

She handed him the cloth.

"There's more... there's blood in the alleyway but it's not cast off from a knife or splatter... it's pooled."  She knew he was putting it together just as she had.  He had to be.  "Maybe a surgeon."  She put forward.  "Or someone with access to their tools." 

Bella braced herself for his possible reactions.

Gavin nodded, smelling the cloth from a distance. Another piece.

"Good. Very good."

He locked eyes with his wife for a moment.

"Thank you."

He was thoughtful for a moment.

"Back to the hotel? We can track down Joan Douglas's place. And I have a few phone calls I need to make."

"Did you..."  She paused.  

say goodbye?

take something for yourself?

have a moment with her?

"... find anything?"  She asked, unsure of how asking a personal question might be taken right now and not wanting to poke at a very exposed wound.

"I mean... I'd be happy to look if you think it would be helpful?"

Gavin shook his head.

"There's nothing there. Found a list of employees to call, but nothing in her place that suggests she's had a guest in a long time. Especially a male one."

I would know, and despite the context I don't think you'd appreciate knowing how. He glanced around.

"I suppose we could use the phone here. Probably won't be too long. And I won't stop you from looking around her place if you could find something. Why do you go upstairs and use that phone to make some calls about Joan. Maybe she has a phone book? Or you could try calling the newspaper saying you're a friend and bullshit them for information? Not sure the operator would just connect you through."

He gestured to the phone in the office.

"Separate line down here, I bet. I can make some of these calls here."

Bella nodded at the suggestion.  "I'll call the paper, ask if there's somewhere I can send condolences, a friend or family member would be helpful right now... but I doubt we'll get anything like that since she was still in that morgue.  Assuming Evelyn and her have things in common, she might be living on her own or with a roommate... I'll see if I can find her in the phone book.  It's a long shot but, what the hell."

Bella turned to walk towards the direction Gavin indicated only sparing a moment to glance over her shoulder at Gavin wishing she had the right words to say.

The place was an absolute pigsty.  Clearly, the cops and Gavin had been over it roughly.  Again she felt for the poor woman.  She'd lived a hard lonely life, been brutalized to death, and after she'd been utterly disrespected and there wasn't shit Bella could do for her now really.  Even trying to find her killer felt more like something she was doing for Gavin than for Evelyn.  Just being here felt like an invasion of the woman's life and privacy.  She could imagine the woman standing there with arms crossed glaring at her just for walking into a room that had been the one place she and Gavin had likely shared... the one thing Bella hadn't stolen from her, until now.

Bella looked at the bed and grabbed the phone from the bedside table so that she could sit on a nearby chair instead of it.  Seeing the place that her husband had likely been with this woman only caused some part of her mind to imagine how Gavin must have felt that week at the Ivory Tower knowing what she and Will had done and where... 

She thumbed through the phone book and found the number for the Chicago Sun-Times and asked to be connected with the man responsible for putting together the obituaries.  Claiming to be a friend, Bella asked where she might send condolences for Joan.  

Bella gets connected to the number and waits for a greeting.

"Hello? If this is another newspaper I swear to God-"

"Hello?  I'm so sorry to bother you... this is Marie Landucci," Marie's name was the first woman's name at the front of her mind after Evelyn which would have been a disaster and sadly the only other last name she could think of was Elias'.  "I am an acquaintance of Joan's... or was... I was told by the paper that I could reach someone at this number to whom I could send my condolences or flowers for the funeral?"

"Oh. I'm sorry. I've just been getting so many calls. I... well the funeral was yesterday. I can try to find you her parents' number though. Did you work with her at the bar?"

"Actually, no, but she mentioned she worked at a bar, I think it was the name of some woman?  Anyway... her parent's address would be great actually.  Are you a friend of hers then too?"  Bella stomped on the floor hard enough that she hoped that Gavin would get the point and come up before he got to the girl on that damn phone list.  What were the odds the lady didn't mean THIS bar?

"Some woman? No, she worked at the Twin Anchors. And yea, I was a friend. Her parents live in a suburb outside of town..."

"Town is named Rochelle. Address is 72 Maple Street. I don't have a phone number for 'em, though."

"I'm truly sorry for your loss."  She said with true regret in her tone.  "I hope the papers let up on you soon, it's bad enough to lose someone close to you without those vultures making it worse."

"Thank you, Marie. Vultures is RIGHT. And if you talk to her parents, please tell them I told the cops everything they wanted me to. I was going to call and tell them but like I said I forgot to get their number."

"They just seemed so anxious about it, might make 'em feel better."

"72 Maple..."  Bella said making note of the address.  "I'm sure this will be good enough for sending a card and some flowers... but who knows, maybe I can track down their number too, I did find yours after all.  Oh, I know!  Where was the funeral?  I bet the funeral home has it still!  And don't worry, I'll make sure they know you did all you could for her."  

"Well thank you, Marie.  I'm sorry you didn't know about the funeral; it was back near her parents in Rochelle. I thought we'd told all the friends we could, but we musta missed a few. Take care and thanks for passing on that message."

The dial tone was the only thing that Bella heard after that.  She hung up the phone and sat there for a moment thinking.  The parents would be an easy matter... Gavin might want to see them personally, after all, how strange was that request?  Everything they wanted me to tell them?  What did that mean exactly?  Wouldn't most parents just want a young woman to tell the cops EVERYTHING?

Bella stood up.  She glanced around the room and found a photo of Evelyn looking stunning, she briefly considered picking it up and keeping it for Gavin... but again, that strange uncertainty of how he might read into that nagged her.  So, she went back down the stairs to Gavin.  As soon as he was off the phone she told him about her call with Joan's friend.

"I'm guessing the parents are probably a dead end... maybe the woman's turn of phrase was just an odd choice of words?  We could check it out if we run out of leads but..."  She shrugged.  "At least the idea that she worked at a bar here in town is at least another thing she and Evelyn shared in common." 

Bella wished she had more to give Gavin than this, it felt like nothing.  It didn't explain anything about why someone would do this... had they both run afoul of someone who moved alcohol?  Surely no one did something this gruesome without good reason... right?

Gavin tried a several names before he had any luck. Most didn't answer, a few hung up as soon as he started asking questions, but finally someone gave him something to work with. It was security, of course. Gavin asked specifically about a guy in the corner he'd noticed smoking cigars, and he had his suspicions confirmed. A guy had been there two or three nights before Evelyn died, always got there early, always sat in the same spot, had a drink or two and smoked. 

"Describe him to me."

"I dunno man... he was just a guy. Normal sized. Maybe a little on the short side. Youngish, I guess. 25? 30?"

Gavin bared his teeth.

"I need more than that."

"Uh... well this is kind of weird, but he was a snaky looking guy. Just reminded me of a snake. His eyes... I dunno."

Gavin hung up the phone. He tried the rest of the numbers quickly and received nothing to go on. He had something, but it wasn't enough. When Bella returned, he listened with rapt attention, then filled her in on what he'd learned. He sat there quietly for a moment, and she could see the gears moving in his head.

"Okay. Next steps. Visit Twin Anchors and follow up there... and then the parents. Better to call the parents or go out and talk to them face to face? And would you rather split up and each take one or do them both together?"

"Together."  she said decidedly.  "You've got an eye for things I don't... and vice versa.  I think we're better off together... especially since ether is one hell of an equalizer in a one on one fight.  Since we still have no idea who we're looking for, we might accidentally find him, or her and if that happens I don't intend to be alone when that goes down."  

She shrugged, "Your guy in the corner theory isn't out, but we don't know if he worked alone.  Hell we don't know anything about his motives yet."

"As for the parents, if we visit face to face, we have the advantage of them not turning us away so easily.  We can play into their emotions, maybe get them to open up to us about shit they might not have wanted to the cops to know based on that comment Joan's friend made.  Show a little vulnerability to get some in return ... we could tell them that Evelyn and you were very close, business partners, and her death was too similar to their daughter's death to be random.  I know there is some risk involved in that method, but if they are hiding something from us, there's a damn good chance we'd see it on their faces."

"What do you think?"