DR, on his flight to New York, studied the Marshall family very well. The couple meet in college, married, and had a first child. It seemed like any other normal family, just like his own. But, always in his cases, there is always a twist. The wife and mother, Lilith Perry-Marshall left her husband and her fourteen year old daughter in the middle of the night. She has not been seen.
The plan ride from San Francisco to New York was long, so it gave him ample time to hack into the police department to find any files on the Marshall's.
DR hit gold!
He should a domestic abuse report filed only two years before she left. When she arrived at the hospital, she had a broken rib and bruised wrist. Her face was clean those. The report was dismissed as the two sat down with on officer and said it was a mistake, that Lilith was mentally ill.
DR didn't believe the report. While looking through files and talking to people at his company, DR heard many rumors that Mr. Marshall's wife left because he abused her. She ran off with a better lover. The new questions became who she left with and where did she go to.
The plane ride was almost over, and he had to turn off all electronics. That just left him to his thoughts. If Mr. Marshall did abuse his wife, could he have also done the same for his daughter? It was a plausible theory worth exploring.
DR now had three potential suspects: Ross DeLuca, Lilith Marshall, and Penelope Marshall.
The Company that DR works for provided him with a nice hotel room so that he can complete his work. This Company, which DR never knew the actual name, worked in secret and was international.
DR didn't find The Company, they found him.
After a fateful accident, The Company found potential in the young man and hired him. He traveled all around the world, investigating the murders of the world's richest...
And then killing the murdered.
Mr. Marshall knew what one part of this Company did, so he put them in his will to investigate in the case that he was murdered. Then, The Company would take them out.
At the hotel, he decided to start with Lilith Marshall, since she would be the easiest to find. He had an algorithm that looked through missing person's report from the date Lilith left to two weeks forward and that cross referenced to everyone Mr. Marshall written down on his files and in the company logs. He guesses that she left with someone from the company. If Mr. Marshall was abusive, then he wouldn't allow her to have friends. But Lilith is also recorded in visiting the company many times.
Sometime later, he got a match. The name was Kelley Franklin, Mr. Marshall's former personal assistance. She had a report written on her a few days after Lilith's disappearance. The missing report was resolved, however, once the family got a call, letter, and photo of the woman. She hasn't returned home since.
Starting off simple, he did a reverse image search from the missing person's report and found a picture right way. Albeit, she is older now, but he is still the same person. It turns out she is a real estate agent in upstate New York. He looked at the time, and saw that if he left now, he be able to see her before it is too late.
He hopped in his rental car, from the company, set the address to her office, and drove off.
He made it right in time. Kelley was walking out of her office. He decides to follow her back to her house. He had a suspicion that Lilith lived with her friend, still. He trailed along in the suburban neighborhood, with white picket fence and lush tree belts. She turned into one house, got out, and opened the front door.
And, to DR's luck, a woman matching Lilith's features (red hair, tall, and skinny) opened the door. What caught him by surprise was the two embracing in a kiss.
So, she didn't run of with her best friend. She did run off with her lover.
Before they go back inside, he rushed out of the car, "Excuse me ladies!" They both stop in their tracks. "I am an investigator, and I would like to ask you a few questions."
They were hesitant and asked if they could talk outside and not in the house. DR understood that these were two woman living alone and now a mysterious man wants to ask them a few questions. He also got the feeling that Lilith was uncomfortable with men in general.
They sat down in chair on the front porch, "You are a hard to find woman, Lilith Marshall." DR addressed the redheaded woman. She looked shocked, taken aback.
"I'm sorry, but who are you," Kelley asked for her, slightly block her from sight.
"You can call me DR, and in his will, I was hired to investigate the murder of William Marshall, your ex-husband."
Shocked seemed to be the only expression the woman had, "Wait, murder? William is dead?"
"Are you admitting the fact that you are Lilith Marshall, the ex-husband of William Marshall?" DR asked.
Kelley grabbed Lilith's hands for comfort, "Yes, I was once Lilith Marshall. After I left with Kelley, I changed my name to Lila Perri. It wasn't that big of a change, but it was enough."
"Hmm" DR hummed in thought. Then he got to the main questions, "Where were you Thursday, a few weeks ago?"
"Wow that felt like so long ago..." Lila trailed off, trying to remember where she and her wife had been.
Kelley interrupts, "Oh shit! This is going to look bad, but we were in San Francisco that day."
Without jumping to conclusions (at least out loud), he asked for them to elaborate.
"Well," Lila says, nervously, wringing her hands and playing with a ring on her left hand. "Kelley had a real estate convention and Thursday was the last day. So, we were at the convention all day and then at night, we went out to a club with a few of our friends we met there."
"Okay," Lila was looking less and less like a suspect to DR. "Where were you exactly at 11:04 that evening and do you have proof and witnesses to place you at the scene?"
"Well, Kelley was with me the whole time, and we have pictures from the night. They have time stamps right, that can show I was there..."
DR nodded his head, asking to see the photos. Kelley got out her phone and so did Lila, together they showed a bunch of drunk selfies done by woman in their early fifties. It was a hot mess, but the pictures cover the time of the murder.
He wished the women a good night and walked off to his car. But before getting in he yelled out, "You know your daughter is in New York."
He didn't get to see her reaction as he got in his car and sped back to New York.
He stopped for a late dinner at a random dinner and reevaluated the case.
Ross DeLuca was still nowhere to be found.
Penelope Marshall had no substantial evidence against her.
Ross DeLuca fits the image of a killer, but no motivation just yet.
Penelope Marshall would be motivated to kill her father if the abuse passed on to her, but he could not see her over-powering a man like her father.
He continues eating and thinking, deciding to follow done the path of Ross DeLuca first. He needs to find out where he has been and what he has been doing. If Mr. Marshall was involved with this dangerous man, that can open a whole new can of worms that DR just doesn't want to follow through with.
The mafia can be very dangerous, and if DR kills one of them, they might go after him. The Company would never protect him from something like that. He would be on his own.
He finished eating and walked out of the restaurant. His shoulder hits a man coming in. It was a familiar man, his older brother.
They both look up at each other at the same time, blue eyes meet green. They were similar heights and had similar bone and jaw structure. His brother at first was unfamiliar with him. He did have a "man-bun" and overall dirty look. Not a homeless look, just a sad, run-down look. That's what happened after working for the company for so long.
Not even a second later, he recognized that it was his brother, "Dylan! What are you doing here?" They embraced in a hug whether DR wanted to or not. And he did not. He tried to push the strong man off him. Eventually, he let go.
"I'm here on work, Ben," he told him in a serious voice. "I can't be bothered right now."
"But you are so close to home! When was the last time you've been here?" Ben was too excited. "When was the last time you've seen mom and dad...me, Aubrey, Addison...your twin brother Danny for God's sake! You missed Quentin getting married to this beautiful young woman."
Confused, he asked, "Quentin got married?" The last time he seen his brother, he swore off dating.
"Yeah, her father died and some weird clause in will forced them to marry. You know how business works."
Dylan Romano's case is starting to get dirty. He read the will; he was familiar with the clause. He didn't think all of this was going to trace back to his family.
Soon they will know that he was back home. Penelope Marshall would recognize him as the man investigating her father's murder.
What if she was the killer? He would have to rid her of the earth, hurting his family in the process.
"I will contact you when I am free and ready to meet up with everyone," With that DR stormed out the diner.
He drove back to his hotel room, and just crashed on the dirty bed. He will have to pick up the investigation the next day.