I Love Her and I Mean It

CHAPTER 1

They had arrived at the 54 precinct moments ago, and while Detective Maria Baez was off finding more information about their victim, Danny sat in silence at his desk pondering their case. They didn't have much and it didn't look good. This was their third victim and if they didn't find their suspect soon, there would be more. And for Danny that felt like more blood on his hands. That didn't sit well with him. Just then, his phone rang and he answered it to hear from the M.E. But the news wasn't all that helpful, as it wasn't something he hadn't already established, and as his call ended his partner had returned.

"Alright thank you," Danny said ending his call as she sat down, "The M.E confirmed cause of death was signal gunshot wound to the chest."

"And we have no witnesses to what actually happened," Baez stepped in.

"The location was the dumping site," he continued, "The murder happened somewhere else so that no one would be able to see it. And it happened at night so no one would know."

"Asked around at his work and the places he frequented from his close contact," she told him, "People say he's a pretty good guy."

"Great and we can't find a single connection between the victims except for the notes," Danny gripped, "There has to be something we're missing."

"You ever think this guy's just pulling our leg?" she asked him, not having much faith in following the hints from their suspect.

"Maybe," Danny said, "Or maybe it's a message. I think the only people who will know that are next of kin. Victim #1 was single, and Victim #2 was a widow. Chris is the only one who was in a relationship and his wife might be the only one who could give us a connection between the two." And with that, they grabbed their stuff and headed out to find Chris' wife.

The journey was fairly simple; it wasn't much and it wasn't long. They had arrived at the wife's home in good time and met with the woman that they hoped would give them the answers they needed. It was never easy for them to deliver the news to family members that their loved ones had died, but this one was different. When they informed Chris' wife Jessica that her husband had been killed, Danny noticed something about her reaction. She was shocked as to be expected, but there was something else. Something that he didn't expect. She seemed to tense up at the sound of her husband's name and relax at the news of his death. Almost as if she was thankful that he had died. Something told him that there was something else to their marriage that she was not going to easily admit.

"Do you know of anyone that would want to kill your husband?" Danny asked her gently, "Did he have any problems with anyone that you were aware of?"

"No," she replied almost hesitantly, "I mean not that I know off. He seemed to be pretty well liked. By a lot of people."

"What was your relationship like with your husband?" Baez asked her.

"It was like marriages normally are," Jessica told her, "Nothing to it really." The partners looked at each other questionably at her response, seeing that her answer wasn't usual for someone that was in love with someone who had just died. She was fairly simple with her answers, and very put together and contained during the entire questioning process. A little too put together for Danny's liking. To him, it didn't feel like she had just lost someone she loved and wished to stay with for as long as they lived. It felt like she had lost someone she wanted to lose for a while, in a way that was more than just a divorce or a separation. But then he saw it; that piece that connected all the dots for him. The tank top she was wearing revealed a part of her back, in particular a part that happened to don a noticeably dark bruise. And he immediately knew what their marriage had really been like.