chapter 171

word count: 1245

gil made a knee-jerk decision to initially not let on that he knew the victim.. a decision he would live to regret.. 

instead he flew into full cop mode.. he and hank working together like the well-oiled machine they had always been in the past.. all differences put aside,, at least for the moment.. 

within seconds, they had uniforms cordoning off the scene,, they had the entire staff separated,, awaiting questioning,, and they had uniforms taking statements from the customers who were in the pizza shop at the time the murder occurred.. 

by the time the crime scene investigation unit appeared on the scene they had the victims i.d. and were running a NCIC background check,, they had come to the conclusion that the shooter had policed his/her own brass,, and they had bagged and tagged the only trace evidence that was visible without disturbing the scene,, three tiny black sequins,, and several jet black, long, straight hairs from the bedspread, that most definitely did not belong to the victim..  

hank headed back down stairs when the CSI team arrived to get the report from the first responders,, as gil signed off the chain of evidence for the items they had collected and gave explicit instructions to the CSI team that he and hank were first on scene and therefore expected full disclosure as soon as any further information became available.. 

buzz joined them,, just as the coroner was removing the body,, and as a team, they collected a detailed witness statement from each of the segregated employees. the initial interrogations took upwards of four hours.. all of those questioned had been notified to be ready at any point in time to be called in for further questioning,, as well as advised that no one was to leave the city.. they left the witnesses in the hands of a couple of sketch artists,, and with the prelim’s under their belts the three of them agreed to meet  back at the precinct to compare notes,, create a timeline,, as well as a list of possible suspects as soon as the sketches came in.. 

one thing they knew for certain before they left the scene.. the perp was an asian female,, and had been seen a number of times in the company of the vic..conveniently though,, no one had any idea what her name was...

no sooner had hank sat down behind the wheel of the crown vic and gil taken his place shotgun,, when hank fired away at gil. “why would you hold back pertinent information?? why would you not disclose that you know the victim?? he was your alibi on the o’houlihan hit before we had the ballistics’ back on your piece!! gil!! what the fuck is going on here???”

***

as the clock struck twelve, trudy grew livid.. she kept on repeating to herself the relaxation techniques that dr beaureguard had prescribed for her when she felt herself going over the edge,, but at this point,, they were becoming all but useless.. and sitting at the kitchen table being stared at by the housekeeper from hell and priscilla’s unlikely looking little husband didn’t help at all.. 

mrs. dunn,, still in a state of utter dismay over detective miller’s having allowed trudy to move into the house, “to be closer to elliot”,, was using every bit of her proper british upbringing to try and maintain her own composure,, and truly if it hadn’t been for algernon,, she doubted she could have contained herself as well as she had so far this evening.. 

algie,, doing his best to mask his own insecurities about just being in the same room with two such potentially explosive women,, did his best to distract them from their lingering hatred for each other..  

“well,, i for one,” he stated as he stood up and made his way to the stove to put the kettle on,, “could do with a spot of tea and some sweets.. have you anything to fit the bill, winnie??”

mrs. dunn stood up from the table and approached the bread box. “well there are a few bickie’s here that i had intended for yesterday’s tea..”

trudy inhaled noisily,, and gave mrs. dunn a piercing look before she blew her breath out with a ‘whoosh’.. 

“cookies,, then mrs. hunt.. would you care for a cup of tea and some cookies while we wait?? it has been a very trying couple of days for all of us…”

“i don’t need you to tell me what a ‘trying couple of days’ it has been.” trudy said in her most mocking british accent.. “in case either of you have forgotten,, i have a son in the hospital having just undergone a serious surgery who i cannot even visit because the stupid security at that hospital has banned me from doing so.. i have been wearing the same clothes for two days,, as i have nothing to change into,, and it seems as if my buzz is more interested in finding that wife of yours than he is in ever coming home to take me to collect my things!!”

“how ungracious it has been of me not to think of it before!!” algie exclaimed, putting his distaste for the bitter remark trudy had just made about priscilla behind him for the greater good.. 

“why don’t you allow me to take you round and collect a few of your things?? it might be just the ticket to get both of our minds off the tragic situation that  has overtaken our worlds.. you with your son,, and me,, with my beloved priscilla…” he looked sternly at mrs. dunn as he said the words ’beloved priscilla’ as in her current state he was quite unsure she would not announce to god and everyone that priscilla was in fact not his wife,, just to incite further distress in mrs. hunt here.. 

“that would be a delight!! a sheer delight!! i do so need a breath of fresh air.. and perhaps winnie here can keep the kettle on,, and i’ll pick up a round of what you americans call donuts so that we can have them with our tea when we return..” he said with a gracious bow,, as he extended his small, soft hand to trudy in hopes that she would be carried away with his extravagant attentions,, and accompany him out of this volatile situation without any further disturbance.. 

“well it couldn’t hurt..” trudy responded begrudgingly,, as she took algernon’s outstretched hand in hers.. 

‘sure,, he’s a nerdy looking little fellow,, but he has the manners of a true gentleman.’ trudy thought to herself as she stood up and hand in hand accompanied algernon to the door.. 

as algie opened the door and gestured for her to please go ahead,, trudy looked back at mrs. dunn as she stood dumbfounded, in front of the stove, amazed by the chain of events as they had just played out before her..

“and you!” trudy said as she pointed her finger at winnie accusingly,, “you be sure to let buzz know if he calls or shows up while i am gone, that not only have i been here all night waiting on him,, but i will be right back as soon as i pick up a couple of things to wear!!”

“ugh!!” winnie sighed aloud, as algie quickly closed the door between them.. 

“what on earth will the two of them find to talk about?” winnie asked as she shook her head a bit and proceeded to pour just enough hot water over the loose tea she had placed  in the pot to make herself a cuppa, to stew over while the most unlikely pair were gone…