They watched Casey's face, saw her what the fuck look as she hung up the phone.

"God, I love her," Tori said without thinking. She looked at Malone and Sikes.

"What?"

"I'll never understand you women," Malone muttered as he walked away.

"Hey, I didn't mean love like love, you know."

"Whatever."

She turned to Sikes. "Now he's going to think I'm having an affair with O'Connor."

"Yeah. Wait until he gets a clue about O'Connor and Tucker. That'll really spin his head." He grinned. "I know it's already spinning mine."

They walked out into the hallway just as Casey and Leslie came out with John Doe.

Before Tori could say anything, two men in suits walked up behind them.

"Well, well. Detective Hunter. I should have known."

Tori turned, standing face to face with Robert, of all people. Wonderful.

"I understand you've been questioning my client without representation."

"He waived his right to an attorney."

101.*Robert plastered a false smile on his face. "Let's see. Since when does indecent exposure require jail time? Or have you taken to harassing the homeless now?"

Tori tilted her head, aware of everyone watching them. "I wasn't the arresting officer." She took a step closer. "But I understand he was exposing himself while he watched a young lady in her apartment."

"I didn't expose nothing," John said. Then he smiled sheepishly. "Well, maybe just a little."

"You don't have to say another word. Let's get you out of here," Robert said. "I'll take you home."

"Who are you?" John took a step back. "Miss Leslie, who is he?"

"He's your attorney."

"I don't have no attorney. No. I don't want to go with him."

"Who posted his bail?" Tori asked.

"You're the detective," Robert said. "It'll give you something to do." He looked at John again. "John, I'm going to take you down to the shelter so you can get something to eat, okay? Then you can stay. You can go back to the street. You're not in trouble."

John looked at Leslie and she nodded. "It's all right, John. You go with him."

"Will I see you again?"

She smiled and touched his arm affectionately. "I think so. Don't you?"

"I hope so." He turned. "Miss Casey, I'm glad you didn't have to tie me up again."

"Yeah, me too." She looked at the others. "But for the record, it was just handcuffs."

Sikes nudged Tori as Leslie reached out and squeezed Casey's arm. He leaned closer.

"Told you."

They walked back to their desks in silence, then Leslie turned, facing them. "Who the hell was that?" she asked.

Tori stared as all eyes were on her. She shrugged. "Robert."

"Robert who?"

Sikes grinned. "Yeah. Robert who?"

"Shut up, Sikes."

102.*Casey finally came to her rescue. "Robert is the defense attorney Sam was dating when...well, when...you know, when Tori and Sam...when they first...well, when they first..."

"You're a big help," Tori murmured. She looked directly at Leslie. "For the record, Sam broke up with Robert before we...well, before we, you know...before the first time we...well, we ever..."

Leslie laughed, looking at Casey then Tori with a shake of her head. "Good grief, you two are a pair, aren't you?"

Sikes stepped forward. "They were flirting with each other shamelessly, then Sam dumped Robert. I'd venture to say it was a very short time later that Tori and Sam slept together for the first time, making their affair official."

"Sikes!"

"What? I was here. I guess I know."

Chapter Twenty-Two.

They sat at their desks-burger wrappers, chip bags and drinks littering each-as they tossed ideas about.

"Remember how some of the witnesses said the Peeping Tom was a woman," Casey reminded them. "Could have been this Patty."

"You're not seriously thinking that his brother Patrick is really his sister in drag and goes by Patty?" Sikes held up a chip. "I think that's too far-fetched."

"Oh, so you think it's just a coincidence that he calls his sister Patty? Come on, we told you what Mac said about the DNA. A relative. His brother."

"But he said he didn't have a brother," Sikes said.

"I think we're forgetting something here," Leslie said. "John is simpleminded." She grinned. "And I don't mean you, Sikes."

Tori laughed. "Good one, Tucker."

"Anyway, John sees things in black and white. So if this person in his life wears a dress and goes by Patty, to him, it's his sister. It may very well be his biological brother and most likely is, but he answered the question honestly. He doesn't have a brother, he has a sister."

Casey leaned back and folded her arms behind her head, staring at the ceiling. "But why would Patrick feel the need to dress up like Patty? And does he do it all the time?

Obviously not. He must have been Patrick when he killed Rudy Bobby. They didn't say Patty killed him. They said Patrick."

103.*"And who all knows that he dresses up?" Tori asked. "If it's something that he does once in a while, then John wouldn't say he had a sister. John said he had a sister as if he dresses like Patty all the time."

Casey closed her eyes, still thinking. They had more questions than answers. But at least they had questions. At least they had somewhere to go now.

"Oh, I had Sam make some calls. The Homeless Alliance bailed him out. Seems Robert volunteers there," Tori said.

"How would the Homeless Alliance even know he was arrested?"

"Sharon down in booking. She's a volunteer too."

"What? It's like a little network of volunteers? All waiting around for us to arrest one of them so they can send in the troops?" Casey shook her head. "Amazing."

"Everybody's got a cause, O'Connor," Tori said as she wadded up her foil wrapper and tossed it at her. "What do you guys think of canning the surveillance of the apartments? I think it may be a waste of time."

"I don't agree," Leslie said. "If Patrick is our killer, then he has to do some kind of reconnaissance on his victims. They're not random."

"Actually, it makes sense," Casey said. "He's a lot less likely to cause suspicions if he's a she, you know. You see a woman walking around, you don't think anything of it. You see a guy snooping in apartments, you call the cops."

"But there's too much ground to cover. And you guys just lucked into John Doe. If you hadn't, then he'd have been at Cascades doing the dirty and no one would have been the wiser. We were cruising six blocks away."

"And maybe we'll luck into Patrick doing surveillance," Leslie said. "At least we'll be out there. If not, then we're just waiting on his next murder."

"Let's all do it every night," Casey said. "With both of us out, we can cover more ground." Her suggestion was met with a groan from both Hunter and Sikes. "Oh, I forgot. I'm the only one without a life."

"No, no. It's a good idea," Tori said. "Sam will understand." She glanced at Leslie.

"Can you swing it? I mean, your fiance might-"

"I can swing it," she said without hesitation.

"Okay then. John? Will it mess up your new love life?"

"Hell, yeah, it will. But I guess if Sam can handle it, Kristi can."

"Kristi? How sweet," Casey teased.

104.*"But Friday nights, no, waste of time," Tori said. "There's too much activity on the weekends. I can't imagine he'd take a chance at scouting out apartments then. Too many people around." She looked at Leslie. "When you pulled your Peeping Tom reports, what days had the most hits?"

"Wednesdays and Thursdays."

"But I think we should still go out on Monday and Tuesday too," Casey said. "Don't you guys agree?"

"Yeah, yeah. Every damn day, O'Connor. By the way, we're going out on the boat tomorrow, spend the night. Sam wanted me to invite you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. She made up a big pan of lasagna last night. Come on. We've got to take advantage of the lingering summer weather while we can."

"Cool. I'm in." Casey glanced at Leslie. "You guys have big plans?"

"We're going to Austin. A college friend of Michael's is getting married. I don't really know them."

Casey looked away. "Well, you can maybe get some pointers for your wedding then."

"Not necessary. Michael's mother already has it all planned, remember?"

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, then Sikes cleared his throat. "So, have you set a date yet?"

Chapter Twenty-Three.

The sun was high and hot, and Sam shaded her eyes as she watched Casey climb on board. She smiled, shaking her head. Tori and Casey greeted each other with an arm bump. She walked over, wrapping her arms around Casey in a hug instead.

"Glad you could come." She kissed her cheek affectionately, pleased to see the slight blush that covered Casey's face.

"Thanks for including me." Casey pulled out a bottle of red wine from her bag. "For dinner."

"Excellent. Thanks. Now go put your cooler in the shade. Tori's anxious to get out on the water."

"I'm going to start her up. You guys ready?" Tori called from the control deck.

"See what I mean?" Sam looked at Tori and gave her the thumbs-up.

105.*They sat in the anchored deck chairs while Tori sped across the lake. She accepted the beer Casey offered her, then slipped her sunglasses on her head. She wanted to talk to Casey and she wanted to do it now, in private. She was dying to know about Leslie.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You seem a little...well, quiet. Distracted."