I'm not coming out until "The End" appears on my screen. Hope someone can pass me provisions from time to time.

kav

scary........ OMG you've got to update soon.
I'll be waiting.

The whole team came to tear the motel apart to find clues. When Colby came in, he went straight to Don first. "OK, I put out an APB on this James Spencer fellow. Do we have any idea who's car he took?"

"No, not yet. I have the guys back at the office looking into all the people who stayed here last night. Some of them may have had time to actually get back home. If they have, we can know that it wasn't their car that was taken. There's also no word so far from LAPD on anyone calling to report their car stolen from here. Being that we did find signs of a struggle, we have to consider the possibility of a kidnapping here. It's hard to investigate that though when we don't know what car to lok for, or what people to look for."

"Yeah, we could be at this for awhile huh?"

"That's right, so you better role up your sleeves and help us out here. We gotta find something to go on here."

He did just that.

_____________________________________________

Sue was getting her jacket and things, getting ready to go home. Jack approached her. Levi pawed at her leg and then looked at Jack.

"Hey, did you find anything at all on the tape of the chemical plant."

"No, nothing really. The guards were only talking sports and women. Nothing about smuggling out chemicals to terrorists."

"Oh." said Jack, obviously disappointed. "Well, maybe we'll get something the next time around. So, what you doing now?"

"Well, I'm going to go home and have some dinner; call my mom."

"Call your mom? Is everything OK."

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure. Well, you know how mom's are. They still want to watch over you and protect you even when you don't still live with them." Jack gave a short smile of understanding. "Lucy told me when she got in this morning that she was all upset about some dream that she had last night. Apparently, it so freaked her out, that she MUST here from me when I get home. Some days, I really think that she is the most overprotective mom on the planet."

"Well, don't be too hard on her. She's only that way because she loves you."

Sue smiled back at him and wrinkled her lip in that way that she does when she's thinking things over. Jack thought to himself, that he loved it when she did that.

"Well, I'll try to keep that in mind when I'm talking to her."

________________________________________________

Charlie Eppes was very busy. He had multiple equations on his numerous chalk boards when his dad walked in. "Hey Charlie, how you doin'."

Charlie looked over his shoulder. "Oh, hey Dad. I'm just working on this problem for Don."

"Oh? What is it this time?"

"Well, Don has the case of the three young college girls that were found on the beach last night. I'm trying to figure out which of their college friends may have been involved in their death."

"How do you know it was one of their college friends?"

"Well, we don't really know for sure, but it is the most likely explanation. Three girls from the same university in Washington D.C. were found here on our beaches. Now, most college and university students on the east coast will spend their spring break at some place like Virgina Beach, or maybe Myrtle Beach. From what I learned when I was given all the information on these students, it has been confirmed that the girls were planning to travel together to Virgina Beach, but they never showed up."

"Oh. Well, that still doesn't mean that it had to be one of their college friends who did it. Are you including that in your equations?"

"Well, I am doing my best, but I don't think I can afford to allow for that in these equations. It's really based on the assumption that one of the university students was indeed involved. There's just too many variables to work with otherwise."

"All right, well, if all this math makes you hungry, just let me know. I have a quick dinner just waiting for your word."

"OK, well if I can just focus on this without interuption, I can have this done for Don tonight."

"OK, but even math geniuses need something to eat sometimes. Just let me know when you're ready."

Charlie turned to his equation as if he just realized something about a certain part of the equation. He picked up his eraser and snuffed a certain portion. "Ok, Dad, I'll do that." He picked up his chalk and started again.

____________________________________________-

Sue didn't quite entertain her mother's request immediately when she got home. She was so hungry, that she decided to eat first. It helped that Lucy had gotten home before her and already had some food on the stove. After they finished eating, Lucy reminded her. "Hey, don't forget to call your mom."

Just then the phone rang. Levi pawed at Sue's lap and then pointed to the phone. "Maybe I don't have to. That might be her right now."

Sue went over and took the call. According to the caller ID, it was indeed her mom. "Hi Mom!"

"Sue! It's good to hear your voice." said the little screen on her phone.

"And it's good to see yours. I understand you had a bad dream last night."

"Yes I did. Oh it was awful Sue. I just had to call and make sure you were all right, because you weren't doing so well in my dream."

"Really? Should I know what happened?"

"Dear, I dreamed that there was this guy who was trying to ....well, he was trying to rape you."

"Mom, that's just your mother's brain being worried. Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

"Well, I know that now dear, but I didn't know it for sure this morning. It was strangely realistic, but unusual all at the same time."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this guy that was trying to rape you wasn't the kind of guy you would imagine doing such a thing. He was wearing a business suit. Such well dressed men aren't usually the ones you see arrested on the news for rape."

"Yeah, Mom, that is strange, but most dreams are. Don't worry about it Mom. I'm fine.

Sue's mom's dream sounds very interesting I wonder if it is connected to the case or maybe to something that might happen in the near future?

Mother's always seems to have some kind of intuitive sense when it comes to their children. I know mine does. I have a feeling the Sue's mother's dream isn't just another strange dream...

I can't wait for more.

Jaynie

Wow, creepy dream by mom. Be careful Sue. Oh it's so good to see all the characters doing their thing. Charlie at his chalk board using that genius brain of his and dad interupting I love them. Don and Meagan on the scene. Scary scene with the creep killing the man and taking his wife. Jack keep a close eye on Sue, I'm worried about her now.

It looks to me as if Charlie is going to be the only chance they have of getting a clue!! This guy is wiley!!!

Jack made the statement that Sue's mother was overprotective because she loves Sue -Jack, could that possibly be why you are so overprotective???

I think Sue should heed her mother's dream!! Unfortunately, she's around a lot of men wearing suits, so she needs to be especially alert!!!

Joy

very intriguiing and at the same time. Nice job C.H. can't wait for more!

Yep definitely reading this one with the dust bunnies

kav

Charlie came bustling into the FBI office. Don and the team had just returned with little to go on. "Don! I'm done."

Don got up from his desk with anticipation. "Oh, hey great. We need to go somewhere, and we haven't gotten much until you walked in the door. Hey guys, pay attention."

The whole team gathered around to listen. "OK, Charlie, show us what you got."

Charlie loaded something into the computer and began displaying pictures for them. "George Washington University is a decent sized campus. Even so, there are many there at the east coast campus with connections to California. Not all of them currently live here, but most of them do. However, some of those who lived here in the past only moved away just recently, or they lived here for a long time before they moved. This first picture here is the most likely of the students to be involved. This 21 year old young man is Joseph Williams. He currently lives only about ten miles from the motel that you guys raided today. He has lived here his whole life and of the suspects on the list, he has attended George Washington U for the longest period of time. However, although he is the top suspect you should consider some of these other suspects simply because it is still very likely for some of these others to be involved."

Charlie pushed a few more buttons on the computer and three more pictures showed up. Charlie walked in front of the screen and pointed from left to right. "This here is the second most likely suspect. This is Charles Green. He has lived in L.A. all his life, but his parents have moved from here since he started attending George Washington U. It is very likely that he has other contacts in the area that may allow him to stay and visit for a while, or maybe even conspire with him. The man next to him is his twin sister, Charlene Green."

Don interrupted. "Wait a minute, Charlie. Are you suggesting that there may actually be a woman involved in this? I mean, all of the evidence points to a man here. How can you tell us that a woman is a likely suspect here?"

"Well, it can be difficult to explain for someone who doesn't understand complex math, but basically it comes down to this; Charlene has lived here for the same amount of time as her brother, and may possibly have the same contacts, and this is especially a possibility because of the bond that exists between twins. Although she may not necessarily have been able to commit the specific acts that you have documented in evidence, there is still a great chance that she is involved."

"All right, I'm not sure that I buy it, but tell us about the next one."

"OK, this one is Thomas Spencer. He lives about twenty miles up the coast from L.A. in a small town near the ocean called Sanita Town. It's a very small town. I was barely able to find it on the map. He has lived there all his life, but in various different locales in the area. At one point, he and his family actually lived in L.A. for about two years before returning to the Sanita Town locale."

Suddenly, Charlie stopped and looked at those around him. "What? What is it?"

Everybody was looking back and forth at each other and staring back at Charlie. Don said, "His last name is Spencer. The guy that we are looking for from the motel has the same last name. All right, quick, I want to know if they're related. It may be that James Spencer has run off to his relative's home to hide out. If he has, we're gonna get him."

David and Colby ran back to their desks and began researching. Charlie was obviously a bit perturbed. "Um, Don, I understand that there may be a connection, but don't you think that you need to check out these other possible suspects as well? I mean, mathematically, these other suspects are more likely."

"Well, we'll check this out first, and if it doesn't pan out, we'll come back to these, I promise. But this kind of connection... I mean if they are related, we can't ignore that. I mean this James Spencer guy may have kidnapped someone."

"Oh. I didn't realize that."

David came running back with his jacket in hand. "They are related. Thomas is the nephew of James."

to Charlie for all the great work and to the others for finding a possible connection!

C.H. I don't know how you did that, but I could really hear Charlie coming through in that post. It was so...Charlie great job. I was able to really visualize all of the characters. But Charlie by far, I would think would be the hardest to write. I'm impressed.

Two great posts to catch up on. The dream Sue's mom had does sound ominous; I hope it wasn't one of those dreams forecasting the future!

Oh, dont' we just love Charlie? He has come up with the clue the team needed to go find this horrible murderer.

Nice job C.H.

Lynn

Hooray for Charlie!! And, the team may just be able to find James Spencer now!!!

Joy

I'm glad they're making progress on the case, but I can't get Mrs. Thomas' dream out of my mind...so it's back to the

kav

Hey all! Usually, if there is a delay in me posting, I'm just plain busy. This time it's different. I hope to be able to finish the story in time for the challenge, but I can't make any gaurantees folks. My wife's grandmother died the other night, and my sife is scheduled for a c-section Tuesday morning. We're going to be unusually busy for a while. Grant me some time, and I promise that I will finish this story even if I don't make the challenge. I mean it. I really will finish the story. Thanks folks.

C.H.

Life comes first. We'll be here looking forward to your story whenever you have the time to continue it.

I'm sorry to hear about your wife's grandmother and I hope the C-section goes well.

Take all the time you need, C.H. You, your wife and family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Joy

Hope is all goes well for you and your wife with her c-section. There are no fun I have had two myself. My prayers are with her. I'm also sorry to hear from her grandmother. Must be a tough time for and happy one too. You and your family are in my prayers!

We will here waiting when you get back!!

C.H.

Sorry to hear about your wife's grandmother. My prayers are with you and your family at this sad time.

I, too, had three c-sections and they all went very well. I will also be praying for her on Tues.

If you have time, let us know how everything goes and whether it is a boy or girl and we will celebrate this new life with you!

Lynn

Yes, C.H. take your time, we will be here waiting. I'm sorry to hear about your wife's grandmother and I'm sure it's very sad for her. My prayers are with you both and that all goes smoothly with the c-section. We will be waiting to hear from you if you have a new son or daughter so we can share in your joy! There's nothing like a new baby to make the world feel perfect.

C.H.

Just wondering how the c-section went. I've been praying all went/is well and your wife and new little addition

will be coming home soon.

Lynn

Hey all! Just so you know, last Tuesday, Gideon James Slater was born at 9:33 AM via a very successful (though painful afterward for Dawn) c-section. He was 7lbs. and 3ozs. when he came out, and 20 inches long. He has eyes like his mom, and hair like his dad. He's a very good looking guy! Dawn and the little guy are home and Dawn is recovering well, though slowly, as I understand is actually normal. I hope to be able to have time to post again soon. In the meantime, I have a multitude of things to do. I anticipate maybe later this week, I may be able to post. Have fun without me for just a bit longer, but don't forget that a murderer (or maybe more) still needs to be caught.

C.H.

Congratulations on the new bundle of joy!

I hope your wife's recovery goes well, that she may be pain-free soon. We understand you're busy with life....and we'll be here, waiting to enjoy your great story when you're ready to return!

Congratulations on the birth of your son!!! I hope your wifes recovery goes well. Enjoy your new bundle of joy.

Congratulation on your little boy!!! I delivered my little boy via c-section 3 months ago and he was about the same size. A couple of weeks later I was feeling pretty good! The pain WILL go away!

CONGRATES on your baby boy. Best of luck and hope everything is well!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! to you and your wife on the birth of your son!!!

I pray that your wife will start to feel pain free soon...I understand what she is going through and I promise the pain will go away.

Enjoy your family and will be here waiting for you!!!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD GIDEON!!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS C.H. and Dawn on your new baby boy Welcome to the world Gideon.

Looking forward to the next post when you're ready

Congratulations to you and your wife on a beautiful little boy!! I hope your wife has a speedy recovery!!!

Joy

C.H. and Dawn

Congratulations on your new little bundle of joy, Gideon James!

What a beautiful name; an Old Testament Judge and Jesus' apostle. What are you going to call him?

I am happy everything went smoothly for you, Dawn. I pray for a speedy recovery from the surgery. I had all three of my children by c-section and each one was easier. It helped me to wear a girdle for the first couple of weeks; but, back when I had my children, women wore girdles all the time. I should probably wear one now; but, I don't.

I'm not even sure they sell them anymore!

Is this your first child? Enjoy these days as they are so fleeting. I'll keep you and little Gideon James in my prayers that he won't have colic!

Lynn

Congratulations on the birth of your son. Gideon is a great name. I hope your wife has a speedy recovery.

Jaynie

All right, just so you know, this is our fourth child. Our oldest is 8. The next is 6, and the third is 3. But enough about me and my kids. Let the story go on!



Don and the team arrived at the Spencer house. Don instructed, "Colby, David, keep your eyes open 'round back, and make sure nobody's making a break for it."

"Got it." they both responded.

Don and Megan approasched the door together. Don knocked on the door, and they both waited patiently, eyes open taking in everything that they could see in the dusk. Finally, a middle aged man answered the door. He looked at them obviously wondering who they were. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Don Eppes and this is Megan Reeves. We're with the FBI." Both held up their badges. "Is Thomas here? We'd like to ask him a few questions."

"The FBI wants to talk to my son? About what?"

"Well, if you don't mind, we'd like to mention that to him. Is he here?" asked Megan.

"Yeah, let me go get him."

The man turned and called out to his son. "Thomas! The FBI is here to see you!"

Suddenly, they saw him in the back running toward the door. Don called out, "Colby, David, here he comes!" He and Megan both ran around the house in opposite directions just in case he got past Colby and David. When they got there, Colby had him on the ground cuffing him.

"Pick him up." said Don. "Take him out front to my car."

"Come on." said Colby.

Thomas blurted out, "Wait! I promise, I only had one drink. I wasn't even the one that bought it! Come on. My birthday is only a couple months away."

His dad came bustling out of the house. "Hey! What do you guys think you are doing?"

Don turned to him and asked, "Have you seen your brother, James recently?"

"James? What does that have to do with my son?"

"Look, you know that your brother owns the motel that the girls found on the beach this morning was staying in, right?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"All three of those girls are classmates of your son Thomas. And now, we can't find James. He's disappeared with someone else's vehicle."

"And you think my son is involved?"

"Well, we don't know for sure yet, but it sure doesn't look good when someone runs when you come looking for them. You know they're hiding something."

"Hiding something?"

"Yeah, the only question is what. Now how about you? You still haven't answered my question. Have you seen your brother recently?"

"No. I haven't seen him in weeks."

"Well, do you have anything to hide? Mind if we look around?"

"What, you don't trust me? Well, fine, go look around. He ain't here!"

"All right, we'll do that. Megan." Megan and Don both stepped in and looked around to no find nothing. He wasn't there.

While they looked around, David and Colby began to question Thomas. "I tell you, I don't know anything! I know the girls, but barely. And I haven't seen my uncle in over a year."

Welcome back C.H. Hope everything is alright with little Gideon and Dawn is feeling better.

Good to have you back posting again. That was a relatively easy take down. Now, we just need to see if Thomas knows more than he is initially telling so we can get that

Uncle James captured and rescue the poor scared-to-death lady.

Waiting patiently

Lynn

WELCOME BACK!!!!


Glad that's over! Hopefully all with better soon!

I'll be waiting!:)

Exciting post! I can't wait to see where this leads!

So -- have they reached a dead end or are they going to be able to uncover something out of this? I agree -- it doesn't look good when someone runs from the FBI. He's covering something up.

kav

Thomas was particularaly upset to be in an interrogation room at the FBI building. He had been there for a good fifteen minutes without anyone coming in to talk to him at all. He was getting very impatient. All he wanted was to get out of there, and everyone could tell. Suddenly, Don and David entered the room. David stood in the corner behind him. Don sat down right in front of him and stared in his eyes for a moment.

"So, Thomas, where are they?" asked Don.

Thomas looked around at David as if confused, and then back at Don. "Who?"

"You know who?"

"No I don't."

"Where's your uncle and the people he kidnapped!"

"I don't know!! How many times do I have to tell you this? I haven't seen my uncle in over a month."

Don stood up in anger, leaning right over the table. "Don't tell me you don't know! The women that were killed were at your uncle's motel! He disappeared with someone else's car, and probably the people who owned the car! The girls who were killed go to your college!"

"But I barely know them!"

"Don't tell me you're not involved! There are too many things that add up that it can't be a coincidence!"

"I don't....know...where they are!"

Don stared at him for a while and sat down. David walked over and leaned on the table in front of Thomas. "So you say that you haven't seen your uncle in over a month. Maybe we might be able to believe you if you tell us exactly where and when you last saw him."

Thomas looked a thim a bit, beginning to calm down. Finally, someone might actually believe him. "The last time I saw him was in late February when he attended my mother's funeral."

Megan was watching the interrogation. She noted the change in his demeanor as he answered that question. She watched carefully as they went on.

David stood up and apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't know your mother was dead."

Don continued the interrogation on a lighter note. "So, how did your mother die?"

Megan noted the anger in his voice when he said, "She was raped and strangled and then left in a dumpster."

Suddenly Megan noticed his hair color. He had blond hair. She remembered that his father had brown hair. She went over to the interrogation room door and opened it gently. "Don. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Don was obviously annoyed, but only just a little bit. He answered nicely though. "Yeah, sure. I'll be right back."

He stepped out and they walked away from the door a bit. "Don, you may want to consider the possibility that he might be a victim instead of actually being involved."

Now, Don was confused. "What? A vicitim? How...what do you mean?"

"Have you noticed that his hair is blond, just like all the women that were killed? Also, his father's hair is brown. Where did he get his blond hair? Probably from his mother. His mother was also strangled as the other women were."

"Yeah, but all indications are that their sexual experiences were consensual, not rapes like his mother."

"Look, I'm not saying that it all makes sense, but other than the difference of consensual sex versus rape, everything is similar."

"Alright. I'll keep that in mind."

Don went back into the interrogation room and sat down at the table again. "So, Thomas, did they find out who killed your mother."

Thomas snarled the answer out. "No!"

"Do you know who killed your mother?"

Thomas just looked back at him across the table. "What does this have to do with my uncle?"

"Well, did your mother have blond hair?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"So do all the girls who were left on the beach last night."

Thomas sat up and looked very uncomfortable. He seemed to think things over a bit before answering, "What? Do you think that the same person who killed the girls killed my mom?"

"I don't know. What do you think?"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Why? Don't you want to figure out who killed your mom?"

"No! No I don't!" He seemed to stop and think a bit more. "Can I see a lawyer?"

"A lawyer?"

"Yeah. I wanna see a lawyer."

"Well, alright, but why do you want to see a lawyer? I mean, we're just trying to help."

"No! You thought that I was involved in killing those girls on the beach. I need to see a lawyer."

Thomas is acting really strange all of a sudeen something strange is going on here.

Nice job!!!! Can't wait for more/

He sure is in a hurry to get a lawyer....what's he up to?

I find it very interesting that Thomas now seems scared about something!!!

Joy

Megan approached Thomas' dad who had followed them there, and was patiently waiting for a chance to take his son home. "Hey there George."

"Hey."

"Your son has told us that his mom died last February."

George nodded his head. "Yeah, that's true." He had a very sad look on his face.

"That must be very hard for you."

"It is. We were going to celebrate our 25th anniversary in June." A tear showed at the corner of his eye. "Boy, do I miss her."

Megan hesitated a little. "George. I have to ask you some questions and they could be pretty hard to handle."

George looked quickly in her direction with a confused look among his watery eyes. "About what?"

"About your son and your wife's death."

"What do you mean?"

"When we were talking with your son, we noted that his hair and your wife's hair were blond just like the girls we found this morning. He reacted strangely to that. He wanted to know at first if we thought the same person who killed the girls also killed his mom. We told him that we didn't know, and asked him what he thought. After that, he refused to talk about it."

"Yeah, well, we haven't really talked much about his mom since she died. It's hard for me, and it's hard for him. We mostly spend our time together just making the most of our relationship with each other. We don't get much time together, what with him going to college in Washington and all. So when he comes home, we just spend time going fishing or something."

"Were you and Thomas doing that last night?"

"No. He's been home all week. Last night, he decided to spend one night out with his old friends who were also home on spring break. He was gone all night, and spent most of the morning sleeping in."

"Do you know what he was doing with his friends?" He shook his head. "You know, when we were talking with your son about your wife, he not only refused to talk, but he also asked for a lawyer."

George looked at her sharply. "A lawyer? Why? Are you charging him with something?"

"I don't know for sure why he asked for a lawyer, but we are not charging him at this time. However, we can't let him go until after his lawyer gets here."

George looked over toward the interrogation room. "Can I talk to him?"

Megan nodded her head, and walked over to the room with George. Thomas was waiting in the room alone. "Here you go."

Megan left them alone, and went to tell Don what little she had learned. Before she had gotten far, David and Colby came bustling out of the observation room and charged into the interrogation room. Megan ran back and Don was coming close behind her. When she got into the room, she saw David and Colby pulling George off of Thomas. George was yelling at Thomas, "What did you do to your mother! You killed her didn't you! Tell me what you did!"

Thomas bustled up off the floor and to his feet. "I didn't do anything to mom! It was Uncle James who..." Realizing what he had said, he shut his mouth and began puffing in anger. He looked at Megan. "You put him up to this didn't you?! You can't do that!"

George yelled back at him. "She didn't do anything. I came here to do this myself. You're despicable. I can't believe I called you son!"

Don jumped in and yelled "Get him out of here!" pointing at George.

As George was being pulled out of the room, he yelled further at his son. "I'll make you pay for this Thomas! You'll wish you were never born!"

Woah! That was certainly an interesting turn of events! This is so intense....can't wait to see what happens next!

Oh how horrible for George! It sounds like Thomas is involved in this with his Uncle and that is pretty sick if he had anything to do with his own mother's death. Creepy case. Look forward to more!

that's intense and creepy! Don't leave me for too long C.H.
Nice job!!!

I got the feeling that Thomas didn't know his uncle had killed his mother!! I think he might have known about the girls though!!!

Joy

Another twist and more angst. I think Thomas knew about the girls too...

kav

Finally Thomas' lawyer showed up and spoke with him for about half an hour or so. Afterward, she noted that she and Thomas were willing to talk. Don and Megan both went in to talk with them. The lawyer announced from the beginning, "I've talked with my client and I have advised him not to say much."

Don got visibly upset at that. "Look, I know that we messed up earlier tonight, but I don't really care about the death of his mom right now. It's true that he seemed to indicate knowledge of events surrounding his Uncle and the death of his mother, but I don't care about that right now. What I care about is finding his uncle right now. It is likely that James Spencer kidnapped at least one person earlier today in an effort to get away from of us before we got to him. He obviously has something to hide, and others may be paying a very serious price for it."

"Have you recieved a ransom notice?"

"No, and I don't think we'll get one. The girls found on the beach were murdered without a note of any kind. It's likely that he will kill the ones he kidnapped if he hasn't done it already."

The lawyer seemed to stop and think a bit. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything that will help me find James Spencer."

The lawyer looked at Thomas. "Tell him something."

"What!? You said not to say much!"

Don jumped right in. "If you don't start talking, and I find out that you know something that could've helped us, then I will charge you with obstruction of justice."

Thomas looked over at the lawyer. "Can he do that?" The lawyer nodded.

Thomas looked quite shaken now. "But, I can't. I mean, it's so shaming. I can barely live with myself with what's happened this past couple weeks." Tears started to come out of the corners of his eyes.

Megan reached out and gently touched his hand. "Look, Thomas, if someone has done something to you to shame you, it's OK. Whatever information we don't have to let out of this room we won't. I can't gaurantee that no upsetting details will leave with us, but if we don't have to expose it, we won't."

"You promise?" A tear dropped onto his arm. Megan nodded.

"All right. I'll tell you everything I can. Um, I don't know where to start."

"Just start at the beginning Thomas."

"The beginning?" He looked to his lawyer. She shook her head. "Do you really promise that you will help me?"

"No," Don answered, "What she said is we won't expose unnecessary information. Whether we can help you or not depends on what you tell us. If I were you, I would tell all. That way, we can never say there was something helpful that you hid from us."

He thought for a moment. "OK."

The lawyer spoke up. "Thomas, you asked me here for legal advice. I told you that you should withhold certain self incriminating details."

"Yeah, but you didn't tell me that they could charge me if I withhold something that helps them! I'm gonna talk!"

The lawyer sat back, obviously upset. "OK, go ahead, but you have wasted time for everyone. You could have done this without me."

Thomas looked back to them. "The beginning."

Megan nodded again. "Yeah. The beginning."

Thomas hesitated, but then he spilled all. "It all started with my mom's death. I was so angry when the cops couldn't figure out who did it, so I began to do some of my own investigation on weekends. I did college during the week, and I came back here on weekends. I never told my dad, so he never knew I was here. I paid for all the plane tickets by getting a credit card. Finding my mom's killer was more important than considering the debt.

"Well, I found the killer last week. It was my Uncle James. When I confronted him about it, he threatened to turn me in for my under age drinking issues. That's why I was talking about it when you guys arrested me. I thought that he had already turned me in. Anyway, he also told me that because I now knew that he had killed my mom, and he had leverage over me, that I had to do some things to get into his good graces again before he would forget it. I felt like I didn't have a choice. I did what he said.

"He told me that I had to be at his motel at 9:00 last night, and then he would give me the rest of the details of our activities at that time. I thought he was going to make me do repairs to his rooms or something, you know, painting or something like that. I was appalled at what happened when I got there last night."

Thomas stopped and cried for a bit, tears just streaming from his eyes now. He got control of himself and went on. "My uncle was there already. He had some other person running the desk for him. He wasn't alone though. The girls you found on the beach were there. There was also two of my classmates there. There was Joseph Williams, the nephew the University President..."

Don interrupted. "The President of George Washington University?"

"Yeah, it was his nephew, Joseph. There was another classmate of mine there also. It was another girl, Charlene Green."

"Charlene Green. Megan, wasn't that the girl on Charlie's list?" Megan nodded. "Thomas, was Charlene's twin brother there?"

Thomas shook his head. "No. Charles has been in the hospital. He was involved in some kind of accident that broke a couple of his bones and stuff. I don't really know what happened to him, but he wasn't there. There was one other person though. It was some guy that I had seen on campus before. My Uncle James called him friend, but the girls called him Professor. I never heard any other name for him, and I never really formally met him at school. This was the first time I had really met him. I wish I never had." Tears streamed down his cheeks again.

Megan reached out and touched his arm again. "It's OK, Thomas, take your time."

Thomas gently pulled his arm away, but collected himself again and went on. "This is the part that is so hard to share. This professor guy, he seemed to have control over everyone in the room. It seemed that power was important to him, and he knew that he had it. Everything that he said was done. We took some time to just hang out and talk about nothing important, but around 11:00, this professor guy got up and announced that we had spent plenty of time talking, and now it's time to have some fun. He told everyone of the girls to take off their clothes and dance in front of us. And they just did it. My Uncle James took pictures with his old polaroid camera. I couldn't believe what was going on."

He swallowed hard and coughed a bit. Megan got up and got a glass of water for him. He had a swallow or two and then set it aside. He continued, "He uh, told one of the girls, Wanda, to lay down on the bed. He used some sex chocolate on her, and had her way with her, and forced us to watch. That alone would have been bad enough, but then he had Jane and Colleen do the same thing with my Uncle James and with Joseph. He expected me to do it too with Charlene. I knew my uncle was going to turn my in if I didn't, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. So he told Charlene..."

He really struggled to go on, tears streaming again. "He told Charlene to play with me until she could do it. She grabbed me and threw me on the bed. I struggled until I got away. I just ran and ran down the beach."

He paused to sob as moment. Don and Megan looked at each other with obvious horror in their eyes.

Thomas collected himself one more time. "At one point, I turned and saw that the whole bunch of them were running after me. But then I saw something that I can't explain. The guys caught up to the girls and strangled them there on the beach. Then I thought, maybe they weren't chasing me at all. Maybe they just wanted to get rid of witnesses. I don't know. I just don't know why they did it.

"I snuck my way back to the motel, got into my car, and drove away as fast as I could. I went down the coast a bit and sat in my car, trying to decide what to do. I decided to go home around dawn. I just went into my room and stayed there all day. I told my dad not to tell anyone I was there. I decided to come out of my room just a short while before you guys showed up."

After a short time of silence, Don leaned forward and said, "Look Thomas, I know this is hard for you. But I need to ask you, did you hear your uncle, or anyone say anything to indicate where they might be right now?"

Thomas wiped his eyes. Megan handed him a tissue. He blew his nose quickly. "Um. Let's see. I remember my uncle asked the professor when he was going back. He said 'I'm going back tomorrow.' "

"Ok, that would actually be today right?" Thomas nodded his head. "Do you remember anything else? Do you know where Charlene is?"

Thomas just shook his head. "No. Nobody said anything else. I have no idea where Charlene is. I've told you everything I know."

Finally caught up with the last three posts. So much has happened. The crime is revealed. But where is James? And the professor is back in DC? Sounds like our team is going to be looking for him. And Charlene and Joseph? Could they be the kidnapped couple? Still so many questions. But, at least they now know what happened. Will be eagerly looking for answers in your next post.

Lynn

What an interesting case! At least they got some important information from Thomas. Can't wait for more!