"You want what?" Hudson's thick eyebrows had risen almost to the level of his cowlick.

Colin crossed his arms. "We want to put this case on hold, Chief. It's not going anywhere."

"Not going anywhere! Four women have been killed! Yes, this is going somewhere. You wanna know where it's going?" Hudson stood, not leaving any time for Colin or Bonnie to answer. "I'll tell you - it's going to-"

"We know!" Colin broke in. "We know it's bad, Chief." He rested his hands on Hudson's desk and let out a sigh. "But we want back in on this case if anything turns up."

Hudson seated himself with a world-weary groan. "All right, all right." He thumbed through a few files on his desk and chose three, then held them out to Colin. "Look through these, see if any of them sound interesting, and come back."

"Sure, Chief." Colin took the files, tucked them under his arm, and left Hudson's office, Bonnie close behind him. They went out into the hall, where Colin stopped and leaned against the wall.

"Okay, let's see what we've got here." He opened the first file and handed the other two to Bonnie. "This one seems...well...straightforward. Here, take a look." He handed the file to Bonnie and took the two she had been holding.

"A robbery?" Bonnie glanced at the file and wrinkled her nose. "It seems so...so tame."

"Well, that's what we asked for, I guess." Colin glanced at the other two files. "None of these are any good." The phone rang in Hudson's office and they could hear Hudson talking through the door. Colin shook his head and tried to focus. "Which one sounds better to you?"

"Hm..." Bonnie pushed the first file into Colin's hands and stared at all of them. She closed her eyes, slowly raised a finger in the air, and then jabbed her finger at one of the files. The robbery. Her eyes popped open. "Which one did I get?"

Colin shifted the files and showed her the label. Her face fell. "Well, it could be worse."

At that moment, Hudson's voice rang out. "Everton!"

Colin jumped, sending the files sliding out of his hands and onto the floor. He swore and bent over to pick them up, but Bonnie touched his arm.

"Go on. I'll take care of this."

He rose slowly, favoring her with a small smile. "Thanks." He inhaled and pushed open the door to Hudson's office.

"Everton, where's Taylor?" Hudson demanded.

"Right outside, Chief." Colin noted that Hudson had switched from "Miss Taylor" to simply "Taylor." That's good, isn't it? Or maybe it just means he doesn't have time to use his manners.

"Well, get her in here!" Hudson snapped irritably.

Colin backed away and glanced out into the hall. "Bonnie," he hissed. "Come on!"

Bonnie rose quickly, thrusting the files back into Colin's arms. "There. I think I got everything where it was supposed to be." They approached Hudson's desk with some trepidation.

"Remember Whelan?"

Bonnie frowned. "How could I forget? Did he die of liver poisoning?"

Hudson stared at her for a moment, the way he stared at a disgraced rookie. Colin was tempted to put his arm around her, but refrained. "No," Hudson said finally. "No, he didn't die. He found out his wife was having an affair."

"His...deceased wife?" Bonnie ventured.

Hudson stared at her again. "Yes, his deceased wife. Go talk to him about it; see what he's got to say."

Colin raised an eyebrow. "I guess we won't be needing these, then." He dropped the files on Hudson's desk and headed for the door. "Come on, Bonnie." He glanced back to see Bonnie give Hudson a simpering smile before leaving.

When they were outside, Bonnie exhaled loudly. "He's starting to get on my nerves. I can see why you quit."

Colin squirmed inwardly. "He wasn't the only reason. Remember...last night...you asked why I left?" He could feel Bonnie's gaze as they walked down the street.

"Yeah..."

"Well...my last partner was...well...he was a good partner. Or at least I thought he was. But it turned out he was addicted to...well...anything he could get his hands on. And he was using his position to snag drugs for free. I found out."

"And...?"

"And..." Colin heaved a sigh. "I had to turn him in. The whole time I thought he'd had my back, he hadn't. He was just in it for himself. And then he accused me of not having his back."

Bonnie said nothing, but wrapped her coat a little more tightly around herself. She laid her fingers on Colin's arm and squeezed lightly.

Colin felt a little bit of warmth spread through his body. He returned Bonnie's gentle squeeze and continued. "He was convicted, of course, but he tried to drag me down with him."

"He obviously failed."

Colin chuckled. "He did. But that's when I decided to quit. I didn't want reminders of that every day."

"Did it ruin your reputation on the force?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Sort of. I don't think anyone believed that I was with him, but it still kind of tarnishes a guy's reputation. That's why Daughtry was so surprised to see me last night. No one thought I'd come back."

"Mm." Bonnie rubbed shoulders with Colin, who found her touch reassuring. He turned his head and planted a kiss on her temple. "I'm glad you did. I couldn't stomach working with Hudson by myself."

***

Colin knocked on Whelan's door, glancing at Bonnie. "I wonder how he's been holding up."

"Probably not too well," she answered dubiously. "He found out his dead wife was having an affair. I hope Suzie's all right."

It was Suzie who answered the door. She peered around the door and her face lit up. "Bonnie!"

"Hi, Suzie." Bonnie bent over to take the girl's hand. "How are you?"

Suzie shrugged her tiny shoulders carelessly. "Fine, I guess. What about you?"

Bonnie glanced back at Colin, the corners of her mouth turning upwards. "We're fine, too. We came to talk to your dad. Is he here?"

"Mm-hm." Suzie opened the door wider to allow Bonnie and Colin inside. She led the way into the kitchen, where Colin was not surprised to see Whelan nursing a glass of alcohol.

He cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Mr. Whelan?"

The liquid in Whelan's glass sloshed around as he jolted, turning to face Colin and Bonnie. "What the- oh. It's you two again."

"Yes, Mr. Whelan," Bonnie said politely. "You called the police station earlier?"

"Yeah, I did. I found this in Alice's drawer." Whelan tossed a watch on the table. It slid across the wood surface and off the edge. Colin had to lunge forward to catch it before it fell to the floor.

He turned the watch over once in his hand and glanced back up at Whelan. "And it's not yours?"

"Of course it's not mine," Whelan said snappishly. "It has someone else's initials on it."

"Really?" Colin's interest was piqued. He turned the watch over again and peered at the engraving. "D.K.," he read aloud. "You know anyone with those initials?"

"Not a single damn person. If I did, I'd have killed them by now."

Bonnie cleared her throat softly. "That's our job, Mr. Whelan. We'll find whoever it was and make sure he gets what's coming to him."

"He?" Colin glanced at Bonnie.

She nodded emphatically, and a bit condescendingly. "If Mrs. Whelan was having an affair with a man, it probably means the killer is a man."

"Mm." Colin nodded slowly, then held up the watch. "Do you mind if we take this, Mr. Whelan?"

"You can have it. Anything to help find that so-"

"Ahem." Bonnie cleared her throat to get Whelan's attention, nodding her head to where Suzie watched from the kitchen like a silent apparition.

Whelan followed her gaze and his mouth twisted. "What am I going to do with her," he murmured. It wasn't a question, not one he meant for Colin or Bonnie to answer, anyway. Colin wasn't even sure that Whelan had meant for them to hear what he said.

There was a tense silence as Bonnie glanced at Colin, then at Whelan. "Do you know anything else about Alice that might help us? What her normal habits were?"

Whelan pushed his glass from one hand to the other. Colin gritted his teeth and tried not to focus on the grating sound of glass on wood. "Habits?" Whelan said finally. "I didn't know her habits. I was gone all day."

"A neighbor, then?" Bonnie pressed. "The more we can find out about her normal life, the better we can distinguish abnormal things she might have done recently."

"Neighbor..." Whelan grunted, tilting the glass up to his lips. "Next door, to the right. Last name Moses."

"Is there a Mrs. Moses?" Bonnie asked dryly. "If Mr. Moses is away at work every day, he won't be much help."

"Her name is Nancy." Whelan set his glass down with a thump. "She and Alice were friends."

"Thank you." Bonnie favored Whelan with a small smile, then stepped forward. "Will you call again if you find anything else?"

"Maybe."

Bonnie's smile disappeared and her lips tightened. "Thank you," she repeated. "Come on, Colin." She turned and walked to the door without another word.

Colin closed his fingers around the watch and waved at Suzie with his free hand before following Bonnie back outside. "Now you're letting Whelan get under your skin, too?" He asked.

Bonnie turned on her heel, arms crossed. "He doesn't make you want to scream at him?"

"No. In fact, if I were in his shoes, I'd be worse off." Colin held the watch up in his open palm and then stuck it in his pocket. "So...let's take this back for fingerprinting."

"But it's already got your fingerprints on it!"

"And Whelan's, too. I know, but it's all we've got to go on. Unless he finds something else." Colin jiggled the pocket of his coat and felt the weight of the watch. "Let's go."

Bonnie took a step toward him, but paused before reaching him. "What if I talk to Mrs. Moses? And then meet you at the station?"

"That's not a bad idea," Colin conceded. "Kill two birds with one stone."

Bonnie winced. "An unfortunate choice of words."

"Right." Colin gave her a half-smile and headed down the street. When he glanced back, Bonnie was standing on the doorstep of the house next to Whelan's, waiting.