Ellsa rolled her eyes, “Hi and how did you get this number?”
“Am I interrupting something?” Emma whispered.
“No, what’s up?”
“Kris gave me the number. She said she wasn’t sure you’d answer.”
“So why did you call?” She prompted, impatiently.
“Ah… George is dead. He was murdered.” She cried.
Ellsa looked at her watch. She couldn’t stay on the call for too long. Faking a sad voice, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“The funeral is next week. I hope you can make it. It would have been sooner but some Agent Beckett won’t release his body.” She paused and then, “I’m sorry about Taylor, I heard he was Ellie’s boyfriend too. Don’t worry, they’ll catch that monster soon.”
Ellsa was taken aback. Richard was on the case? That’s too close to home…. unless Ellie is a suspect. I mean, they’ve already began to connect the dots… and Ellie was right in the center of it. That would work out just fine for her. She purposefully endeavored to commit the murders the weeks Carson was gone. It was perfect. “I promise to try. Bye Emma.”
Once she got back to Georgetown the next morning, she called Daniel. “Hi, do you know Ellie’s boyfriends are dead? Could that make her a suspect? I’d hate to see her get harassed by the cops.”
“Not really but I’ll find out…” Daniel paused on the phone, “It’s nice of you to look out for your sister. I never thought you cared about anyone else but yourself.”
“Well I’m full of surprises. One day I’ll surprise you too, you can count on it.”
“You’ve already surprised me.” He said, hanging up.
Ellsa sipped at her wine and then placed a red bow on the bottle of Chivas Regal, “Oh Daniel, you aren’t surprised yet.”
Carson ran out of the elevator and into the case room, “Show me!”
Audrey quickly brought up several images on the screen. “I got these from all their Facebook pages.” She brought the first victim up, “This is George Lucas the first victim,” she paused, scared of the eruption that was bound to follow. “And this is him with Ellie. It looks like a high school picture.”
Carson felt like his heart was in his throat as he stared at his wife with the victim. She was in a cheerleader’s uniform and he was in a football jersey. “That could be Ellsa.”
Audrey blinking back the tears, “The caption says me and my girl Ellie.”
“Show him the next one,” Gwen demanded.
Audrey gave her a livid glare before she brought up the next image. It was of Ellie kissing the second victim. She was wearing only a college sweat shirt and he was in the matching pants. “His name is Taylor Jones. This one was taken in his college dorm.”
“If you haven’t recognized him yet, he’s the one who won the Eagles the NFL championship.” Gwen spoke, watching Carson for a reaction.
Carson stayed quiet, the emotions on his face speaking volumes.
She brought up a picture of Ellie sitting alone at a restaurant, “And the third one is Elvis Banks.”
Carson felt a little hope fill his chest, “That doesn’t prove anything! She’s alone in that picture.”
“That’s because Elvis Banks edited the picture. I ran a search on the internet and I found the full picture at a dating site.” Audrey’s finger lingered over the button. She felt like with each picture she brought up, she was destroying her best friends’ lives.
“Audrey,” Gwen prompted.
Audrey bit down on her tongue and pressed the button. A full picture of Ellie sitting across another man popped up, “That is Ellie and…”
“The fourth victim,” Carson whispered in anguish. He sat down, his legs to weak to hold him up anymore.
Richard placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Those pictures could mean anything.”
“Like he married a sociopathic killer?” Gwen blurted out.
Carson shot out of his chair, ready to attack her, but Audrey beat him to it.
“Do you even know why you are alone? Because you are a bitch with no heart!” Audrey barked at her. “Everyone else is quiet, but no, you have to find a way to rub it in! For all we know you could have done this out of revenge!”
Gwen’s clenched her jaw as she tried to stay calm. “What reason would I have to do this?”
“You are jealous Carson left you for Ellie.”
“Audrey that is enough!” Richard ordered, “Like I said, those pictures could mean anything.”
Doran stepped in between Gwen and Audrey, “Ellie might be the focus of this investigation but it doesn’t mean she’s a suspect. When would she have found the time to do all of this?”
Gwen’s lips spread in a sadistic smile, “All these murders were committed, when we were out of town on a case.”
“She went out on a killing spree with our daughter?” Carson’s anger mounting past boiling point.
Audrey held onto Carson’s arm. “Well then Kris and I should be suspects too. When you guys left on the long trips, Kris and I moved into Carson’s apartment. After the last time he got shot, she couldn’t stay home alone worrying if he was okay.”
“So you showed her how we operate?” Gwen accused.
“Shut up already Gwen. You are just coming off bitter.” Kevin put in, “Like a woman scorned?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Richard asked.
Doran turned to look at her. Carson knew it was wrong for him to suspect a woman who’d had his back for years, but considering how hard she wanted to implicate his wife, he was very ready to push her off a cliff!
“We took a look at the fourth crime scene and the body. There is no way a man could have done that to him with such passion. The only other explanation is a woman. A woman who can put a man down very easily, like you Gwen.”
She scoffed, “So I’m the killer now?”
Richard banged on the table with the files pulling everyone’s attention. “That is enough! We need to put our emotions aside and figure this case out. If the main focus is Ellie, for all we know the suspect could be building up to harming her next. She could be a woman scorned or a stalker. Either way we need to find this person as soon as possible.”
“Should we bring Ellie in for questioning?”
“Why?” Ellie’s voice sailed into the room.
“What’s going on Dale?” Kris asked, stepping forward, from behind Ellie.
Stacey-Ann squealed waving her hand at Carson.
Carson went to them taking Stacey-Ann, “What are you guys doing here?”
Kris held up four cards. “I just got funeral invitations. And since Ellie’s mail still comes to my apartment, two of these are hers, to the same funerals.”
“Hi,” Kevin said, as he took the cards from Kris. He opened them, “They are invitations to George Lucas’s and Taylor Jones’s funerals.”
“When we called to give our condolences, Taylor’s sister said Senior Agent Richard Beckett was the agent in-charge. She said you guys came back, because there had been another murder. I offered to get them some information since my husband was working the case. Now it’s your turn to explain.”
Carson swallowed hard and stared at her blankly, “Explain what?”
“Why Gwen wants to bring me in for questioning?”
Carson gave Stacey-Ann to Kris. “I have something to show you.”
Ellie took a step back, “If it’s bloody body parts, no thank you.”
“She should be questioned in the interrogation room like a real suspect,” Gwen blurted out, with a smile.
“What?” Kris exclaimed. She put Stacey-Ann in her stroller and moved to stand next to Audrey. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Ellie Jabari Carson is a murder suspect.” Gwen spoke out again.
Ellie fisted her hand with Dale’s shirt, “Dale, is this a joke?”
“There are four dead people, all who’ve dated you. Do you find anything funny about that?”
Kris went right into Gwen’s face, “You red headed witch! I knew you were trouble the second I saw you!”
Ellie moved to the two women, “You might have trouble keeping track of the guys you date and sleep around with, but I don’t. I’ve dated three guys in my life. Two of them are dead and the last one I married. You might still hold a grudge over it, but I don’t care. I’m not in the business of pleasing people I don’t like.”
“That’s great because I don’t like you either!”
“We should just kick her ass!” Kris announced.
Gwen took a step forward, closing the gap between them. “I’ll take you both down in a minute!”
“You wanna bet?”
Carson grabbed Ellie and Richard grabbed Kris. “All of you calm down!” Richard ordered. “Carson, take them to the conference room and question them.”
Carson grabbed Kris’s arm and dragged them both away, “Audrey, bring the baby and come with the files please!”
Once Audrey was in the room he locked the door. “The two of you don’t want to pick a fight with Gwen.”
Kris paced the room, “We could take her. Tear that red mane off her rat sized head!”
“What the hell is going on Dale?” Ellie demanded.
Carson laid out the pictures of the victims. “You said you know George and Taylor?”
“I dated George in high school and Taylor in college. I don’t know who the other two are.”
Carson held her and kissed her lightly on her lips. “Calm down and breathe, I need you to have a clear head if we are to figure out what is going on.”
She took a deep breath and nodded, “Ellsa could have dated the other two.”
Audrey held up a picture, “So this isn’t you, speed dating?”
Ellie looked at the picture and then she groaned burying her face in Carson’s chest. He held on to her tighter, wishing there was a way he could make all of this disappear for her. Maybe being with him was a bad idea. She used to have a peaceful life before he met her.
Kris grabbed the photo from Audrey, “I knew this speed dating thing was a bad idea! I told you not to go to this thing, Ellie!”
She pulled away and yelled at Kris, “If you had followed that with ‘you might be implicated in a serial murder’, maybe I would have listened to you!”