Seattle's Hearts

Olivia:

"Nope, too late, I'm already in the zone," I told him, smirking as I pulled up to the addressed listed on the file. I quickly put the car in park and hopped out.

I knew confidence wasn't an issue. I was fully capable of talking to a witness. It just wasn't often I worked with someone who was confident in me too.

I fixed my blazer again and put my hands on my hips while I waited for him to get out of the car. I surveyed the outside of the house and saw the widow on the side that was boarded up.

Shaking my head slightly I wondered if this really was a good idea. From one extreme to another. Surprise to confidence. I wasn't going to question the chief but as I slipped the file into my backpack and saw her waiting with hands on hips I didn't know how well this partnership was going to go.

Stepping out I left my blazer in the car, shouldering the backpack before I gestured for the door. I let my musings over my partner go. It was time to work.

Olivia:
I walked up to the door first and rang he bell. I made sure my badge was clearly visible when she opened the door and her eyes went right to it. I wasn't dressed like a police officer so it was always important to identify myself.

"Hello, Stacey White?" I asked. She nodded and looked at Pike and then at me again. "Nice to meet you. We're the detectives investigating the break in and we wanted to ask you a few clarifying questions if thats alright with you? I'm Detective Bishop and this is Detective Pike." I painted the picture of ease. The last thing we needed was for her to think she was a suspect.

"Oh, of course, come on in!" She said, opening the door wider for us to slip through. "What can I do for you?"

I thanked her while I stepped inside and she led the way to the living room before I answered. "You think it was your husband who did this, right?" I asked, glancing around the room.

"Ex husband," she said, a little more venom in her voice than I expected. "But yes, I saw the video tape and I would know him anywhere."

I nodded. So she was sticking with the second story, where she didn't actually walk in on him, she just suspected it.

"Do you know why he might have done this?" I asked, curiously.

"I have no idea. Maybe he needed a little money to help sustain his new lifestyle," she said, again, her voice taking on an edge.

"What kind of lifestyle are you referring to, Ms. White?" I asked.

"If you ask me, I'd say he's having a midlife crisis. Younger women, expensive cars..." she trailed off with a shrug but i noticed her eyes flash when she mentioned other women.

Did he cheat on her? Was that the motivation?

I nodded at the woman in greeting and while Bishop was talking with her I let my eyes focus on the broken window and then the cameras. "It's good you had camera's up to catch the break in. How long have you had them?" I chimed in after she'd settled into an armchair.

"I've had them for a couple months. My ex-husband was paranoid." I frowned for a moment then nodded.

"Mind if I take a look around?"

"Why would you?"

"I was hoping to gather some more information, get the layout. The duty cops left us with very little in that regard."

"Oh fine. Go ahead."

Nodding I glanced at Bishop then wandered off.

Olivia:
While Pike took a look around, I tried to keep Ms. White occupied on the couch. It was better if the suspects weren't looking over your shoulder during an investigation.

"So, was anything taken?" I asked, drawing her attention back to me.

"Just a jewelry box," She told me. "Eric was the only one who would have even known where it was," she said, waving her hand towards the closest in the corner of the room.

Thats when I noticed a bandage on her right hand. It might have been nothing, but thinking about the broken window, I was suspicious.

"That doesn't look good," I said, gesturing to her hand. "What happened there?" I asked, trying to keep my voice light, like it had nothing to do with the break.

She glanced down at her hand like she had forgotten the cut was there and I saw her hesitate. "Oh...nothing. I just...just dropped a jar in the kitchen and managed to slice it during the clean up process." she waved it off like it was nothing but I saw the way she bit her lip after saying it. She was lying, I was sure of it.

I wandered the house, no more than cursory peeks over rooms, windows, and anything that really caught my eye. I made a few notes as I went, new pictures, a new jewelry box, and the locations of all the camera's in the house.

Satisfied I took a moment to write down the notes in a small notepad before I took my investigation outside. Walking the perimeter I went from the broken window to along the fence, noting all the camera's left outside. Fifteen minutes later I returned, rejoining Bishop and the woman in her living room.

Olivia:
I looked over as Pike walked back into the room. "Ms. White, I think thats all we'll need for now. Pike, you got any other questions?" I asked. I wanted to know what he had seen in his look around and I was working a possible motive in my head.

"I saw pictures in your hallway, you have a nice looking family. Hopefully they are being helpful during this time. I have nothing else to add. Thank you for your time ma'am." I nodded my head respectfully.

Her eyes narrowed for a moment then she smiled, "Yeah my family has been great and my boyfriend Aaron has been comforting me over the whole incident...I've been terrified over what my ex-husband might do now..."

"If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to call." From my pocket I drew a business card that included my work number and email. I passed it to her then glanced at Bishop to see if she had anything else she wanted to add.

Olivia:
I stood up and gave Pike a slight nod to show I was fine with the meeting ending at that point.

I thanked Ms. White for her time and as she was escorting her out, I glanced at her hand one more time, taking note that the bandage went around her whole hand.

As soon as the door closed and we were some ways done the drive, I turned to Pike. "So ex cant have a new girlfriend, but she can have a man of her own?" I questioned, my interest peaked.

"It isn't our place to judge that. But that is what it would seem like she believes." I flipped through my notebook for a moment then glanced at her. "What did she have to say while I was looking around?"

I stopped by the passenger side door, opening it and watching her for a moment. I tried to gauge how she felt about what she'd just asked. I had spoken the truth as to how I felt. It wasn't my place to judge, I hadn't been in many relationships. One ex-girlfriend had been like the victim. She'd gotten ticked off at me for going on a date a month after she broke up with me. Never mind that it had come to light she'd cheated before breaking up with me.

Friendships, romantic relationships. They typically didn't last long. It wasn't easy to hold a relationship of any sort when you didn't feel much emotionally. That didn't however deter me from having an interest in observing how other people felt, trying to gauge what they reacted too and did on a purely emotional level.

Olivia:
"Something about how her ex would have been the only one with knowledge about where her jewelry box was," I waved a hand because that wasn't the most pressing thing I had noticed.

"But she had a cut on her hand, did you see it?" I asked. "Like maybe the kind of cut you might get from, I don't know...breaking a window?" I looked at him with raised eyebrows to get his opinion on it.

Before he could talk though, I paused and turned to him. "And I wasn't judging her. I'm still thinking of motives," I told him. "Its interesting that she considers the relationship over enough to be in another relationship, but is angry about his girlfriend. I think he cheated on her. It would explain her anger at the relationship," I shrugged. It was just a theory.

I considered what she had said before shrugging. "She had pictures of her boyfriend up, including him being in her kitchen, and their was enough stuff around to indicate that he has been staying for a while." Climbing into the car I pulled out the file and compared it with my notes.

"The injured hand is new. It wasn't included within the notes the first responders shared...we will have to ask them when we return to the station." I checked the time on my watch then jotted down a few more notes. "Anger over the relationship is a decent motive. Doesn't explain where the jewelry is however."

Olivia:
I shrugged as I got into the car. "She could have sold it, given it to her boyfriend to hide..." I trailed off. The jewelry could be anywhere.

"Did you see anything else in the house?" I asked, putting the car into gear and driving off. I tried to make a mental list of all the people I wanted to talk to. The boyfriend and the girlfriend were high up on that list, but I wasn't sure how much information they could really give us.

"Camera's haven't been moved. If it was the husband, he had to have known about them. And the outside is well covered but if you know about the cameras there are ways to get into the house. Not many though. On top of which for someone to not be spotted by the outside camera's but spotted by the inside is difficult to believe." I closed my notebook after that and leaned my head back. "We need more information."

Olivia:
I nodded towards his notebook. "Well, who do you wanna talk to next?" I asked, merging into traffic. "We have the ex, the boyfriend and the girlfriend," I said. "The ex is just gonna say he didn't do it. I'm not sure how helpful thats gonna be," I shrugged.

"Perhaps. But if you are suspecting the woman, then he might shed some light on the situation. Whether this is driven by anger, greed, or some other motive." I fiddled with my pen for a moment, "The girlfriend is likely to have the least helpful information. However we can talk with her and the ex together."

Olivia:
"You got an address in there?" I asked, gesturing towards the file. I took the GPS off the dashboard and tossed it onto his lap so he could program it so I knew where to go.

I stared down at the gps for a moment then looked through the file. “Nothing on the boyfriend or girlfriend but the officers did manage to get the ex husbands.” Picking up the gps I keyed in the address and set it back in its holder for her. “There.”

Olivia:
I glanced over at the GPS so see how much time it would take and nodded at the fifteen minute estimation.

"I really don't believe this guy has anything to do with me, but maybe he can help us connect the dots," I said.

“Perhaps not. But yes. He should give us some insights if nothing else.” I glanced at my watch noting the time. Half the day already gone and I had promised my sister I’d be home early. Even if I was late or wrong in being able to get off early I figured a call to check in was in order soon.

I happen to glance over as he checked his watch and before turning my eyes back to the road asked "you got somewhere else to be?"

It wasn't any of my business and I knew that, but he seemed like a closed book and any new information would be interesting.

"Yes. I made a promise to get off early and grab dinner and a movie tonight." Even the chief knew very little about my home life. He knew enough that if I asked for an early release or a day off he didn't do too much complaining about it. My sisters condition wasn't something to be used for sympathy and she liked it better when people didn't know.

Olivia:

"Ahh, I big date?" I guess, smirking. He didn't seem like the kind guy who was big into dating, but I suppose he was a guy after all.

I pulled into the driveway of the house that the GPS led me to and was immediately stuck by how much smaller it was than the house we had just been to. Did the ex-wife get some kind of settlement?

"How do you wanna handle this one?" I asked, unbuckling myself. If he wanted to take the lead, I wouldn't fight it. It was only fair.

"I don't know if I'd call it that, but you'd make her laugh if she heard that." Taking a moment to review my notes one last time I didn't answer her question right away. "I'll take this one."

Olivia:
"Well get you out of here on time then," I said, getting out of the car. I started up the walkway and looked around as I did. It looked a little run down, nothing too bad. The grass was slightly overgrown, hedges not trimmed, that sort of thing. Looked like a mans house might look if he was fresh out of a divorce if I was being honest.