“Has she confessed yet?” Lara asked, looking up at them.

“No, but she’s called in her lawyer,” Gen replied, “We have to wait.”

“So let’s run this through again,” Dana suggested, “What do we have and what don’t we have?”

“Ok,” Gen explained, taking out her notebook, “We know that the toy shops were not the primary crime scene. The cause of death was asphyxiation due to the ligature marks left on the victim’s necks. The tool used to decapitate the heads is still uncertain. We have deduced that it is possibly a large blade or rounded saw. However, we are certain that the decapitation was post mortem. We also have not determined the reason behind the lack of blood splatter and the blood coagulation. The pink ribbons which were used to secure the heads back onto the victim’s bodies had no traces of DNA or fingerprints. The white paint used to cover the bodies was traced to be ordinary white paint. No other injuries were found on the victims’ bodies.”

“The nature of murder shows that the UNSUB was most likely familiar with the girls and was confident in their method of killing. The UNSUB would also be most probably be female due to the very meticulous details of the crime,” Bette continued.

Dana looked up to see Helena and Shane walking with a tall blond lady.

“I think her lawyer’s here,” she said, “You guys should get back.”

“That’s Joyce Wischnia, I heard she’s tough,” Bette told Gen as they walked back to the interrogation room, “Hopefully Jodi will have some answers for us now.”

◊◊◊

“Ok, Miss Lerner,” Helena said pointedly, “We have adhered to your request for your lawyer. May we continue?”

Joyce sat beside Jodi and gave her a nod. Jodi put her hands on the table. “I must warn you to be careful of what you say. We can hold you in contempt,” Tasha added.

“I’m going to ask you again, Miss Lerner, what is your relationship with Nikki Stevens, Francesca Wolfe and Dawn Denbo?”

Jodi looked at Joyce before she spoke, “They were my students.”

“Did you have a sexual relationship with them?”

Jodi let out a sigh, “Yes, I did.”

Helena and Tasha exchanged a knowing look.

“Where were during the time murders, Miss Lerner? According to your Blackberry, your schedule was empty. Were you with the girls?”

“I never saw them during that time,” Jodi answered.

“Then where were you?”

Jodi remained tight-lipped and looked at Joyce for help.

“My client doesn’t wish to divulge this information,” Joyce explained.

“Well,” Helena said, “If she has no alibi, I will have to assume that based on her relationship with them, that she was in some way involved.”

“I had nothing do with the murders!” Jodi replied, raising her voice defensively.

“Then where were you, Miss Lerner!” Helena asked, slamming the file she was holding onto the table which stood between them, “Where were you!?”

“I was with Phyllis, alright! I was with Phyllis!”

“Phyllis, as in Phyllis Kroll? Your boss?”

“Yes,” Jodi said breathlessly, “I could say anything because she is married and very happily so! We have a very strong attraction, but we had to keep our relationship under wraps to keep our working relationship professional.”

Bette let out a sigh. Gen lightly pressed her hand on Bette’s back, feeling her disappointment.

They were so close to something, anything, and now they were back where they started, Bette thought putting her hands to her head as she felt the warm tears welling up in her eyes.

They were back to square one.