Hey everyone! So I wanna apologize for that long delay especially leaving you in the middle of a case, but I'm really busy at university.

Anyways, I've been wanting to come back to Case File for a while, but I needed to have a more clear mind for it because I've so many ideas and hopes for it. I actually have at least 7 more crime ideas for Case File that I'd like to explore; one of them would be a crossover with Maria (from Party for Murder) and the last case would be Sharna's father case. 

Also, I wanna thank everyone who's been reading, voting and commenting cause it really means a lot. I'm really glad Case File passed 3K, it means a lot and I submitted it for the Wattys.

I hope you enjoy this chapter and this whole case, so please vote and let me know all of your thoughts in the comments. (Maybe it's better if you reread the whole case to get back on track)

Finally, a quick shoutout to InamorataFeels

Case File #20

(5th Crime)

The next morning Sharna woke up but decided to stay in bed for a while longer, she didn't want to deal with Nicole right now, until her phone started ringing and it was Detective Howard.

"Good Morning," she said

"Were you still sleeping Davis?" he said strictly

"No sir" she straightened up

"Good" he paused, "I think you were right, that kid didn't do it"

"He is highly suggestible." she interrupted him in a proud tone "He was sadly at the wrong place at the wrong time and the others kept blaming him, pushing him further until his mind couldn't take it and made him believe he did it"

"The two other victims have very similar cases to Megan's, there's a definite link and according to the autopsy they could be the work of the same person"

"Maybe we could check records of any transportation between the three murder locations" Sharna suggested as she started getting out of bed.

"That would be a waste of time Davis" he paused "and a dead end. The three murders happened over the course of more than 2 years and in 3 commonly visited cities."

"We'll work on other leads then Sir," Sharna said

"Exactly. And I'll be back by tomorrow"

After that phone call, Sharna showered and got ready for work. While getting dressed, she could smell the burnt waffles Nicole was preparing from outside. She took a deep break and she went out of her room to face Nicole.

"You're up!" Nicole said in an enthusiastic tone "I made waffles?" she smiled from ear to ear "With peanut butter, the way you like it."

"It's a little burnt," Sharna said coldly

"Well I'm not the best cook, I tried to work in a bakery for a while though" Nicole sighed "I wanted to apologize about last night Shar" She raised Sharna's plate.

Sharna remained silent but walked over to grab the plate from Nicole's hand then sat down.

"Thanks for the waffles" she finally said

"That's it?" Nicole's voice pitched even higher

"What do you want me to say then?" Sharna asked as she started eating

"I want us to talk" she gestured with her hands "I want us to discuss, like adults, the things you said yesterday" she paused "ugh... I thought we were over the past. I thought we were good again"

"Me too" she sighed "but I guess I've been hurt way too much to just forgive you like that"

Nicole walked closer opposing her "and I said I'm sorry over and over again"

They were both awkwardly silent for a moment "I can leave if you don't want me here, but I don't wanna lose my friend"

"I didn't want either" Sharna shouted "but you still abandoned me" Sharna took her last bite and stood up "I need to go" she headed for the door.

She grabbed a cab to go to the police station and on her way, she tried to call Emily but her phone went straight to voicemail "Hey Em" she said after the beep "I miss you. I figured you'd be working on a new project or something. Hope everything is fine. Please call me when you can. Oh and say hi to Tyler for me. ok... Bye".

For the rest of the ride, she kept looking through the window observing the street and thinking about the case and what Howard said while trying to ignore what happened with Nicole.

As she was looking through the window, she noticed Matt waving at her with excitement, nearby the station. She paid for her cab and walked out towards him.

"Are you waiting for me?" she asked

"Yes, I've been up all night thinking and doing a lot of research" he was speaking way too fast and Sharna knew he had a lot of coffee to drink this morning.

"And...?" she said

"The body is cut in a very specific way and according to the witness she was alive as the time." he said and Sharna nodded "Plus the items that were found burnt are kind of weird, it can't just be a coincidence"

"It's common that murderers burn the murder weapon to get rid of their DNA" Sharna added

"Yeah, but what about the hair and the underwear?" he paused waiting for a reaction from Sharna but she whispered for him to go on. "Detective Young said yesterday that there could be more victims and that made me think what are the odds that three random people would murder three random women in a similar way?"

"Detective Young called a while ago actually," she said, "He told me that the pathologist who did the autopsy says that the three women could have been murdered by the same person"

"Exactly" Matt added enthusiastically

"But I never thought to question him about the other items," Sharna scratched her head "they're just so random"

"A few years a go, when I was in college, I read about this serial killer who murdered 8 people and was on his way to 12. He apparently believed that if he killed a person from each Zodiac sign with a specific order, he'd be reborn with all the best traits from each Zodiac sign." Matt said and Sharna was very attentive "It was some sort of an ancient cult's ritual that he believed in"

"So you think the three women murdered are a part of some ritual?" she asked confused

"Yes" he nodded "I kept reading about ancient rituals all through the night until I found an ancient supposedly 'religious' ritual to get rid of the demons that are hiding on Earth in the form of women" he handed her a pile of printed papers from his research about the ritual, how to perform it and its origin.

Sharna skimmed through them "I don't get it" she said "I don't find this at all religious"

"Me neither, but I guess that's what they convince themselves, that they're actually doing this for the greater good, they think they're getting rid of the evil" Matt added then he yawned from exhaustion.

"Yeah, but they're certainly not very mentally stable either, like who would follow a guy thousands of years ago who believed he was sent from heaven. So he killed all the women in his village because they were supposedly disguised demons."

"Well when you put it that way" Matt laughed a little

The two of them walked into the station to talk to Caleb about what they know from Howard and about the ritual.

Sharna was very impressed by Matt's research and his dedication to helping, and he was very pleased to know that.

After talking to Caleb in his office, another officer came in to inform them that Kevin's psychiatric test was done and he led the psychiatrist into the room.

She was an old woman but very good at her job as she has been working for the police for almost 20 years now, her name was Anne Walsh.

She sat down in front of Sharna "Wow" she said staring at Sharna's hair "What a color"

Sharna blushed, still not cool about it, but it was the least of her problems these days.

"Dr. Walsh, this is Detective Sharna Davis and crimw journalist Matthew Miller who are also working on the case"

"Heard about you Miss Davis, you were able to crack Kevin yesterday"

Sharna nodded

"Good," the old woman smiled "because I have no doubt the kid is innocent." she paused and grabbed a notebook and a pen from her purse then started reading and ticking off the points "Definitely not the personality type for such a brutal murder, very suggestible, no clear details of the memory and most importantly no strength for such a crime both physically and mentally"

After Dr. Walsh left, Caleb told them that a team is working on face recognition from street cameras and Matt offered to help while Caleb and Sharna interviewed Megan's parents.

"Did you talk to them before?" Sharna asked Caleb

"No, but I saw them. The father, Henry works in a tech company, he was as angry as they can get and Sylvia, the stay at home mum and former middle school teacher, she seemed... broken" he tried to hide his sympathy.

Sharna and Caleb grabbed some coffee and then went to meet Megan's parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, I'm Detective Sharna and this is Officer Caleb," Sharna said as they went into the room and sat opposing the parents. "We're working on Megan's case and we promise we'll do our best to get justice for her."

"And what would promises do now." Henry said "They wouldn't get our baby girl back" he clenched his fists.

"Nothing would change what happened, we can't bring her back, but at least the murderer will be behind bars" Caleb assured them.

"We need to know from you everything. Any little detail can lead us to the murderer," Sharna said then told them what they already knew about homeschooling and her friends then she asked "Did your daughter ever tell you about seeing another guy" she cleared her throat "an older guy"

"No, never," Henry said defensively

Sharna turned to Sylvia who didn't say a word since they entered the room "Did she talk to you about anything Mrs. Edwards?"

"I don't know anything anymore" Sylvia wiped her tears "Meg was our little baby girl, 15 years and 17 years younger than her older siblings" she looked down "That past couple of days, I've been reading and hearing more things about her than what I knew. She was so good at pretending that she was still our little baby girl, but I guess she was rather rebellious." she turned towards Henry "Did you know that she had a tattoo and 2 piercing that we had no idea of?"

"That's normal among teenagers," Caleb said trying to comfort her

"Where did she say she was going the night of the murder?" Sharna asked

"She said she was gonna stay at Hanna's, but apparently that was a lie," Sylvia said

The rest of the interview was all the same and Sharna and Caleb were a little disappointed that they couldn't get anything useful from them. After they were done, Sylvia asked to speak to Sharna alone and Henry got a bit worried.

"Sure," Sharna said and led her somewhere private to talk.

"Detective," Sylvia said "I want to see her"

"What?" Sharna was a little puzzled

"I have not seen Meg's body yet" she sighed, "Henry told me not to, he said it would be too hard for me." she paused and closed her eyes for a moment "I need to know how she looked when you found her" her eyes started watering.

Sharna threw her hands around her and hugged her tightly "I'm very sorry that you have to go through this" she pulled away.

"When I was young my father died, he killed himself." Sharna was silent for a moment "I was the one who found him hanged in his office." she shook her head "for weeks or even months I could not un-see his lifeless face whenever I thought of him or of any memory we had, it felt like a curse, like I was haunted by this one memory." Sharna walked to the case files and grabbed one of them which had Megan's photos from the autopsy. "You have the right to see her if you want to, I can't stop you, this file contains photos, but trust me you wouldn't be able to forget the way she looked and that will stain your memories of her."

Sharna didn't even know Megan, but still she couldn't stop thinking of the way she looked when they found her, it was horrific and she wanted to save Sylvia from that pain.

Sylvia didn't take the file and turned the other way leaving the room.

Sharna went to talk to Caleb to see if he has any news about the street cameras, but he said they're still working on it and waiting for Detective Howard to come back tomorrow, but she didn't really want to go home and face Nicole, so she waited for Matt.

After a while, Matt came out of an office in which they were reviewing the street cameras in the week leading to Megan's death. Sharna was waiting outside the station on a bench.

"Matt" she called him when he came out and he walked over.

"I thought you left," he said

"No," she replied "I was too curious to know if you found anything useful"

"It was hard at first because there are so many available footages but we were able to narrow them down. I guess they'll pull an all-nighter and by tomorrow they'd have all of her movements" Matt said

"Great. Tomorrow Detective Howard will be here as well" she added

"Can I ask you something?" He asked and she nodded yes. "Were you waiting for me? I mean you could have left and just called or texted me for the info" he smirked a little

"Don't be so cocky" she joked. He smiled and she kind of thought he looked cute. "I don't wanna go home right now" she looked down.

"Nicole?" He said

"Yeah, she's just a little too much right now"

"She honestly seems too much for any time" they both laughed

"She barged into my life without saying a word after a very long period of not speaking and she just thinks everything is back to normal. She's so delusional" Sharna burst "ugh... I really don't wanna talk about it especially to her and she's so damn insistent"

"I get it." he paused "Anyways" he smiled sheepishly "since you don't wanna go home right now and I'm a bit hungry, maybe too hungry... Do you like wanna go grab a bite?" He was very awkward "if you're hungry too"

Sharna noticed how embarrassed he was, she knew he still liked her and he was cute, maybe different from her usual type or what she thought her type was, but there was something about him that was different in a good way, something that she liked, but still didn't want to acknowledge. "I'm not ready" she kept telling herself "I need some time for me," she thought.

"Yeah, I'm hungry too" she smiled

"Cool," they both walked to his car and went to a nearby Indian restaurant.

"I really like curry," she said

"Yeah me too. I guess I like spices in general" he added

"Oh." she had an evil smirk "let's have a spicy competition"

"I like that, but I'm warning you, I've had a lot of practice," he said proudly

"Huh..." she laughed sarcastically "trust me you're the one who needs the warning"

"So what does the winner get?" he asked

"Umm..." she pretended to think but she already knew her answer "the loser will pay for dessert"

"I'm so in," he said excitedly

The two of them enjoyed the night, they got to know each other further and Matt was able to male Sharna laugh a lot. They ate their spicy meals and Matt was the clear winner even though after eating his face was red as a tomato and his nose was runny, but he still insistent to paid for his half.

Afterward, they walked outside together for some fresh air.

"Honestly I'm impressed, I never thought you'd win" Sharna joked

"I warned you." he smirked confidently "You didn't do so bad yourself"

They kept walking for a while and Sharna was glad to be distracted from Nicole and the case for a while. He then drove her to her building and Sharna looked up through the car window to check the light of the apartment window.

"Ugh..." she said

"What?"

"She's still up, I can see the light," she said unbuckling her seatbelt "Thanks for tonight" she smiled at him "I had fun"

"Me too" he smiled back

She took a deep breath and opened the car door and stepped outside.

"Sharna." Matt called and she turned back "I have an extra couch if you want?"

They were both silent for a moment, she trusted him but didn't want things to be weird. However, on the other hand, there was Nicole and a confrontation she was not ready for.

She sighed then stepped back into the car "I'm really not ready for Nicole right now"

"I know" he nodded sympathetically

They drove into his place and he prepared the couch for her with a pillow and a blanket then offered her an extra hoodie.

________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, as Sharna woke up she was a little unsure where she is at first. She tiptoed into the bathroom and got ready to leave then went back outside. The house was still so quiet and she knew Matt was still asleep so she left him a note on the kitchen table then left to go home change before she went to work.

As soon as Sharna went in to the apartment, she fpund Nicole sitting drinking her morning coffee.

"Where were you last night?" Nicole asked raising an eyebrow

"I had work to do" Sharna really hoped that Nicole would be out now but she wasn't lucky.

"Work." she said sarcastically "I saw Matt's car parked down last night. Did you go home with him?" She smirked "ohh, did you sleep together"

Sharna was speechless "It's none of your business," she said as she walkes to her room "and no we didn't" she closed the door aggressively

"You wish you did!" Nicole sighed "at least you wouldn't be that angry"

Sharna changed as fast as she coule and left to the station, she wanted to be there before Howard arrived simce she's finally on his good side.

She met with officer Caleb in his office as he ordered his new intern to make then coffee.

"I see you have a mini me now" Sharna joked

"Summer internships season." he said "Trust me I try not to be mean"

She smiled at him "good". "So any news fron the street cam team".

"Yeah, they're on to something". He got up and closed the door. "This is not common knowledge yet"

"Don't worry I won't tell a soul, even Matt" she paused "he's trust worthy" she assured him.

"I know your boyfriend ia but he's still a journalist"

"He's not my boyfriend, but please go on"

"We traced all her movements the week leading to her murder. Her best friend and boyfriend lied about meeting her, they met her 2 nights before the murder and the footage show them fighting"

"Typical highschool drama, I knew they were hiding something" Sharna replied "We'll need to interrogate them again, they probably lied more than once".

Caleb nodded in agreement then went back to twlling Sharna the news "She also met with 3 oldee guys whom we suspect as 'the older guys' she was supposedly dating"

"Do you have any information about them?"

"Not yet." he adding "We're still running them through the data base"

A few moments later, Detective Howard came into the office along with another Detective.

"This if FBI agent Grant, he's been working on the case for a while now." Howard said "Gosh that purple" he gave Sharna one of the most judgmental looks she ever recieved "I forgot about it".

She looked down embarrassed "I didn't have time to change it sir"

"This is Detective Davis and Officer Caleb" he introduced them and they told Howard and Grant everything they knew till this moment.

"Olivia Kane, a college student, was the first victim" Agent Grant said and Sharna noticed hia strong southern accent. "She was cut simillarly. 9 months later, Lydia Edgar's body was found in the same manner. This time with a piece of her hair and her underwear burnt with the murder weapon." He paused "That's when we started making the links"

Sharna then told them about the ritual that Matt mentioned. "We're dealing with a mentally dysfunctional person"

"We need to find him before he strikes again" added agent Grand

After a couple of hours of discussion, there was a knock on the door and Caleb let them it. It was Officers Billy and Kelly from the Data Base analysis team.

"We reached the 3 men Megan Met" Officer Billy said as he handed 3 folders.

"Julio Romero, aks JJ, a drug dealer. He was caught once selling to highschool kids, but he pleaded guilty and made a deal to rat his accomplices so he got out early" Officer Kelly said showing them his record. "Professor Ethan Keene, a professeur at our local college but he's also a part time leacturer at the highschool."

"Finally, Scott Ramsy" said Officer Billy "he's an alleged hitman, but he was never caught because of lack of evidence."

"Any one of them could be our older guy" Sharna said

"Exatly" Howard said "Caleb locate the 3 men, we'll start the interrogations the first thing tomorrow"

"Yes sir," Caleb replied "I'll also infom Hanna and Darren's parents about the second interrogation

Sharna went out of the station and noticed 3 missed calls, 2 from Matt and 1 from Emily.

She called Matt first

"Sorry, I didn't check my phone till now. Missed you at work today" she said and he laughed "Why the hell did I just say that" she said to herself

"I missed you too this morning, why didn't you wake me before leaving?"

"I was in a hurry, so how is your new article"

"Ugh..." he said "the paper is making me write about this beauty pagent event coming up. They not taking me seriously as a crime journalist"

"Tell me about it" she rememberes what Caleb said and how much an exclusive would me to Matt's career.

"How was your day?" He asked

"We found a couple of leads" she sighed "but I'm sorry I can't talk about it yet"

"Don't you trust me?" He said teasing her

"You know I do trust you but I dont trust the ambitious journalist in you and I know the pressure you're under, plus..."

He interrupted her "hey I was just kidding, don't worry about it"

"I'm already jumpy, I'm gonna have to go home and face Nicole soon"

"You know my couch ia still available"

"We'll see how the confrontation with Nicole would go, maybe I'll take your offer"

After hanging up with Matt she called Emily

"Hey Em" she said excited "I missed you so much"

"Yeah me too. I've been living in my own bubble or a while wokring on a new project for the company"

"So you're done?"

"I hope, the clients keep changing their mind and I've literally redid the whole thing more than 12 times" she sounded angry

"At least remember how much you love your job" Sharna wanted to cheer her up "or at least remember my freaking purple anime hair"

Emily laughed "How can I forget about it?"

"You should have seen Howard's look today"

"I though you two were getting along"

"Don't over strech it, it's just that we don't hate each other anymore" Sharna said sarcastically "Em," she paused

"Yes?"

"I need a favor from you. I need you to help me practice talking to Nicole without ending up in jail"

Emily laughed "Finally!" She said "you're so stubborn Shar. You're been postponing this talk since forever"

"I hate these kind of talks, I just don't feel comfortable talking about feelings and all of that crap"

"I know" Emily said "so let's reherse"

"Wait, let me grab a pen and paper"

They talked for a while and Sharna was able to decide what she wanted to say, so she grabbed a taxi and went back home.

As she entered through the door, Sharna noticed Nicole's luggage.

"NICOLE" she called loudly "What the hell is going on? Where do you think you're going?"

Nicole came from hee room holding another backpack.

"I'm packing, I'll be leaving in the morning. I don't wanna disturb you anymore"

"Shut up" Sharna said

"Excuse me?"

"Just shut up, you're not going anywhere" Sharna grabbed the handles of the luggage and carried them to Nicole's room.

"Hey" she shouted "my bags"

"I'm not stealing them, I'm simply putting them back in your room cause you're not going anywhere"

"Shar you're confusing me. You're angry with me, you can't stand me and yesterday you didn't come home cause you didn't wanna see me and now." she blew out her cheeks "You want me here? Make up your damn mind?"

"I'm angry cause you hurt me, but that doesn't mean I want you to leave" she burried he face in her palms "I tried to forgive you Nicole, I still am trying, it's just that..."

The door bell interrupted their conversation. Someone kept ringing non-stop.

"Perfect timing" Sharna said sarcastically as she talked towards the door.

"We still need to talk" Nicole added

"I know, but just don't leave" Sharna said as she opened the door. She was surprised to see the homeless man again.

"So did you think about it?" Sharna said confidently.

"Do you think the prosecutor would offer me a deal for the information I have detective?"

"We can arrange that." she nodded "You'll be doing a huge favor for those kids"

"Good" he said sympathetically "I don't want the to end up like me"

"We need to go to the station asap"

Sharna locked the door and left with the homeless man to the police station while Nicole started unpacking her luggage.