I heard a voice from behind the curtain, “Oh, thank you Bridgette.” A tall blonde stepped from behind the curtain, pulling off her latex rubber gloves, “How may I help you?”

“First off Misses Carlin, we would like to express our sympathy’s for the loss of your daughter.”

Her gaze averted downward and she seemed upset, “When did you find her?”

“Very early this morning. Do you know anything that would help us aid in the capturing of her killer?”

She smiled and looked away, “My daughter and I weren’t on the….best of terms. We didn’t exactly see eye to eye on certain subjects. When she was in high school I had to tolerate her because she was a minor and I was required to take care of her. But when she turned 18 she moved out.”

“Who did she move in with? And do you know if she was still living with them recently?”

“She moved in with that stupid Mexican bitch. She and Spencer had, how shall I put it, ‘unsavory affairs’.”

“Do you know this ‘Mexican bitch’s’ name?” I tried my best to be professional without completely making fun of her.

“Madison. I don’t know her last name.”

I couldn’t help but wonder, “Misses Carlin, are you implying that your daughter was a lesbian?”

She began laughing, “Such a clean sounding word for such dirty people. Yes, I guess you could say that.”

I gave a small smirk, “Alright, I think that’s all the questions we have for now. If we need to ask you anything else we’ll contact you.”

As we walked out of the hospital I could feel the California heat radiating through the automatic sliding double doors. I slid my sunglasses on and pulled out my cigarettes. Sam was beside me, putting on his own sunglasses and taking off his jacket, “Wow…that woman really hates lesbians.”

“Common run-of-the-mill bible thumper.” I took a drag off of my cigarette, “I just can’t get over the fact that Madison Duarte was a lesbian.”

“Old crush?” He joked.

“The opposite actually, old enemy.”

“So, you went to school with the victim and her girlfriend. Don’t you think that you’re a little too attached to this case to run it?”

I flicked ashes off of my cig, “Sam, its day one of a homicide case. A case of a girl that I didn’t even speak to, let alone know.”

We stopped at the car and I knew that Sam was concerned, “Alright Ash. But if this case becomes too much you have to promise me that you’ll hand it over to someone else.”

“I promise. Now can we go get some lunch and track down the cheer-bitch?”

He let out a small chuckle and opened the passenger car door, “Yeah.”

Later on that day I tracked down Madison’s address. Madison came from money, so it was no surprise that she lived on the very good side of town. She and Spencer did not have the same address so I figured that they had broken up since high school. But Madison Duarte could still hold some of the most valuable clues to Spencer Carlin’s murder. I could really use something to make my job easier.

“Yes, can I help you?” Madison stood in the doorway of her large house.

“Hello Miss Duarte, I’m detective Davies and this is my partner detective Cameron. We’re here to ask you some questions regarding one Spencer Carlin.”

“What about her?”

I glanced over at Sam. Madison had no idea that Spencer was dead, “You might was to take a seat.”

“Yes, please come in.” She opened the door and we walked into the house. “You said that your name was Davies?”

“Yeah, Madison, you might remember me from high school.”

“Ashley? You’re a detective?”

“It’s taken some years and hard work, but yeah…I am.” Madison sat down on her couch and I took a seat beside her, “We found Spencer this morning.”

“Is she alright? I haven’t spoken to her in a good couple of months. I was beginning to worry.”

“She’s…there’s really no easy way to say this…she’s dead Madison.”

Just like Paula Carlin, Madison averted her eyes. But this time I saw the tears flowing. There was no way that she could’ve killed Spencer, “When? When did she die?”

“We’re not really sure yet. She had been missing for a week.”

Sam and I left Madison’s with all of our questions still left unanswered. This murder seemed like it wasn’t going to cut us a break anytime soon.