As forensics began the arduous task of going over the crime scene, the homicide detectives questioned Maggie’s sister, Lily. The poor, middle aged woman seemed to age a few years just talking to them. One could tell she was holding back a lot of grief. Alice waited as the other detectives asked pointed questions about who might have done this, but Lily didn’t have the slightest idea. She insisted that everyone had loved Frederick and Maggie. The couple hadn’t reported any suspicious people nearby, no strangers around the house, or anything. Frederick and Maggie had just stopped getting in touch.

          When the homicide detectives finished, they left to start looking for any potential suspects or leads as Alice and Gary began their own interview. The two of them stood with Lily in front of the Benjamins' house. They asked for the usual information about Maggie, which could be summed up as a detailed description. While Gary spoke with compassion, Alice had an intense look in her eyes as she hung onto Lily's every word.

          “Are there any other places your sister might have gone in case of an emergency?” asked Gary.

          “Of course,” said Lily, holding back tears. “There's me, family, and friends, but I made a few calls before the police arrived, and no one's seen her.”

          “Alright,” said Gary. “Just give us a list of anywhere she might have gone, and we’ll keep an eye on things.”

          Alice frowned. Such steps were lucky at best and a formality at worst. The only way they were going to find Maggie Benjamin was to find whoever did this.

          “Are you sure your sister never mentioned anything suspicious?” asked Alice.

          “No,” said Lily. “Nothing.”

          “The homicide detectives already went over this, Detective Hayes,” said Gary.

          “Think,” said Alice, ignoring Gary. “Anything at all, even the slightest thing that seemed odd or out of place.”

          Lily struggled to think for a moment, but then something occurred to her.

          “Well,” said Lily. “I suppose…Maggie did mention seeing…a shadow.”

          “A shadow?” asked Gary.

          Alice gave Lily her full attention.

          “Yes,” said Lily. “In the light of the kitchen window. Maggie said she saw something cast a shadow as it ran from the house. It didn’t seem important enough to mention before, but maybe...”

          Lily swallowed nervously, staring off into space as she thought about it.

          “Whatever it was," Lily went on. "It was fast, and when Maggie mentioned how it moved, I could hear a shiver in her voice.”

          Gary felt a shiver of his own, while Alice narrowed her eyes.

          “But it was probably just an animal or something,” Lily added, though she looked uncertain.

          “That’s it?” asked Alice incredulously. “Just an animal?”

          Gary looked at Alice, surprised, while Lily looked up in shock.

          “You…you said anything,” Lily protested.

          “I need something I can work with,” said Alice. “Come on, there must be something else.”

          “I…I don’t’ know,” Lily stammered.

          “Detective Hayes,” Gary warned.

          “A suspicious person,” said Alice. “Windowless vans driving near her house, someone Frederick owed money to. Anything.”

          “I…uh…”

          “Can’t you remember anything?!” Alice snapped. “Do you want to find your sister or not?!”

          “Alice!” Gary shouted.

          Alice’s turned to him, and despite the anger she was feeling, Gary's face made her just a little uneasy. Gary never used her first name at a crime scene, much less in front of a witness.

          “Can I speak to you for a moment?” asked Gary.

          Alice rarely heard that tone in his voice, but she knew what it meant. He may have been asking, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. With an angry look in her eyes, Alice stepped away with Gary, leaving poor Lily flustered.

          When they were a fair distance away, Gary rounded on her and asked, “What has gotten into you?”

          Alice realized she didn’t have a good answer and crossed her arms. “I just want to find the victim, that’s all.”

          “Alice, I’ve never seen you act like this, much less on duty. Are you okay?”

          “Yes.”

          “Are you sure?”

          “Yes,” Alice insisted.

          Gary gave her a suspicious look for a moment.

          “Fine,” he said. “But tone it down, unless you want to get suspended for harassing a witness.”

          Alice took a second to answer, “Fine.”

          Gary turned and walked back to Lily. Alice watched him go, her arms still folded as Gary began consoling the witness. Alice watched him, and for the briefest of moments, Alice wondered if Gary had a point. She dismissed that thought, however.

          She had a killer to find. 

###

Back at the station, before Alice and Gary even had a chance to process things in the evidence room, the officer working the front desk got their attention.

          “Alice, Gary,” said the officer. “Chief Dalton wants to see you, and before you ask, he does mean now.”

          Calling them to the office before they had a chance to process the evidence? It must be serious, Alice thought.

          Minutes later, both Alice and Gary entered the chief’s office. Chief of Police Joseph Dalton was an older gentleman with mostly gray hair, aside from a few stubborn strands that clung to their dark color. He sat at his desk, looking through a file folder with his lips pursed in displeasure. Alice had seen that look before, and she wasn’t looking forward to whatever he wanted.

          “Officer Hayes, Officer Frasier,” said Chief Dalton, looking up. “Please sit.” They took seats as the chief continued. “You’ve got quite an interesting case today.”

          Alice frowned. “We only just got back. How…”

          “Officer Fraiser gave me a call,” said Chief Dalton. “And filled me in on a few…unsettling details.”

          Alice turned to look at Gary angrily as he turned away with a guilty look on his face.

          “I didn’t notice you make a call,” said Alice. “Gary?”

          “You seemed different today,” said Gary. “You snapped at a witness. I’ve never seen you snap at a witness.”

          “And it seems he was right to be worried,” said Chief Dalton. “Because the case he described reminded me of another case from…oh I don’t know…about ten years ago?”

          Alice felt like the floor had been ripped out from under her.

          “Sir…”

          Chief Dalton put his hand up.

          “Three victims,” said the Chief. “The Baxter family, all of them completely drained of blood through two puncture wounds in the neck, and found in a house that had the power cut. It’s a case I remember well.”

          Alice looked away, unable to respond, as Gary looked on incredulously.

          “This has happened before?” asked Gary.

          “Indeed,” said Chief Dalton. “And just like the Benjamin case, there was a disappearance as well. The night before they were found, another boy had gone to their house for a sleepover. After the Baxter’s were found dead, this boy was reported missing and never found. His name,” Dalton paused, “was Arthur Hayes.”

          Gary was rendered speechless as he stared at Alice with his mouth open.  Alice cringed. She really didn’t like where this was going.

          “You knew about this case?” Alice asked. “About me? You never said anything.”

          “The name Alice Hayes sounded familiar,” said the chief. “From back when I was just a beat cop. I wasn't on the case myself, but a lot of us couldn't stop talking about it back then. Of course, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why someone whose brother went missing would be interested in becoming a missing person’s detective. I remember how hard you pursued that position, and I’ll admit, I was a little worried that you’d have trouble remaining objective.

          “That being said, you had already been working here for three years by then. You passed all your psychological evaluations, and you were good at the job once you got it. Ultimately, I didn’t see a reason to bring it up. It wasn’t my business. It wasn’t, that is, until now.”

          “Sir,” she said. “I assure you, this won’t be a problem.”

          “I’m afraid it already is a problem,” said the chief gravely. “Snapping at a witness is absolutely unacceptable.”

          Alice considered her words carefully. “I may have gotten carried away today, but it won’t happen again. I promise.”

          “Alice,” said Dalton sternly. “This is a chance to bring the man who kidnapped your brother to justice, or perhaps even discover what happened to Arthur. After your outburst, do you seriously expect me to believe that you can remain objective on this one?”

          “I’m not emotionally compromised, sir,” said Alice, a little more aggressively than she intended.

          “Honestly, I want to believe you,” said the chief. “I really do, but I can’t just take your word for it. For goodness’ sake, you’re the one who found the bodies. A teenager, walking in on that, how could that not have affected you?”

          Gary looked away.

          “Gary,” said Chief Dalton. “Tell me again. Did she seem herself outside of that outburst?”

          “No,” said Gary reluctantly. “She seemed off. She was moving faster than normal and got irritable when we couldn’t find any leads. She came off as…obsessed.”

          Alice clenched her fists.

          “Obsessed?” she asked him, offended.

          “Come on, Alice, what do you want me to do? Lie?”

          “Maybe have my back,” she snapped, making Gary wince.

          “Alice,” said Chief Dalton. "This hostility is just proving my point.”

          Alice froze, realizing that he was right. She tried to relax but couldn’t stop herself from feeling tense. Then Chief Dalton said the last thing Alice wanted him to say.

          “I’m taking you off this one.”

          “No!” she said too quickly.

          “I’m taking you off this case,” he said sternly. “And ordering you to undergo a psych evaluation before you take on another.”

          “You don’t need to...”

          “Alice, don’t make this harder than it already is.”

          “I can solve this case!”

          “Alice…”

          “You can’t do this!” and she slammed her fist on the table, making Chief Dalton and Gary flinch.

          Alice instantly knew she’d made a mistake. She pulled her fist down and desperately tried to think of a way to diffuse the situation as she looked back and forth between the others. Gary seemed bewildered, while Dalton had disappointment written all over his face. No matter how hard she thought about it, Alice couldn't think of anything to say.

          “Alice,” said Dalton. “You’re suspended for a week and will be required to undergo an extensive psych evaluation before you can return to work. That’s an order.”

          She wanted to protest, but once again, she couldn’t think of anything to say.

          “I…yes, sir,” said Alice.

          Chief Dalton nodded silently. Gary just watched Alice, wanting to say something encouraging but lacking the words to do so.

###

Chief Dalton sent Alice home immediately. Gary would have to finish processing the evidence since Alice wasn’t operating at a hundred percent. She accepted this, albeit reluctantly. When other officers realized she’d been sent home, they gave Alice sympathetic looks, though she would have preferred that they didn’t. As she got her things from her desk, Gary came up to her, wearing a guilty look.

          “Alice,” he said. “I’m sorry about this. I just…”

          “No,” said Alice, taking a deep breath. “No, I’m sorry for how I acted back there.”

          Gary nodded. “Listen…when I solve the case, I’ll tell you everything I find. Okay?”

          “Yeah,” said Alice. “That would be great. Thanks.”

          Gary nodded.