There was a firm knock at the door followed by the entry of a small, stocky man. He glanced furtively around the room and nodded at Ron before disappearing again.

Seconds later, the President entered the room and grinned. “Danny, good to see you. How come we don’t talk anymore?”

Danny, who had risen rapidly to his feet, shuffled from foot to foot. “I don’t know, Sir.”

“So you want to interview me?” the President asked, waving his hand to indicate the other occupants should sit. “Ron.”

“Mr. President,” Ron muttered, stepping back into the shadows and leaving the questioning to Danny. He wasn’t about to ask the President outright if he murdered the Gardner woman. Better Danny play the bad cop under the circumstances and Ron keep his job. Besides from his research earlier, and yes he had considered Miss Gardner as a suspect in CJ’s stalking, she wasn’t exactly an innocent bystander.

“So, you want to ask me about Amy Gardner,“ Jed stated, staring past Danny and out of the window. “Great scenery, don’t you think? It's so wonderful to travel cross- country like this. Gives one such wonderful imagery.”

Danny stroked his beard unconsciously, not really sure how the interview had gotten out of his control so quickly. “So, Mr. President. When did you last see Amy?”

“I was hoping we could take a diversion on the way back. My staff need a break and I thought we could tour the National Parks,” Jed said, smiling. “I’m not sure we can do that by train, but I’ve got Charlie looking into it. You know, Danny, I’ve visited every National Park. Except of course the newest one. You’ve heard of Big Sky?” Smiling, Jed answered his own question. “Of course you have. You reported on the declaration.”

“Mr. President. Amy?”

Jed returned his attention from the scenery to the redheaded reporter‘s question. “Amy? Probably when she boarded. Abbey and I retired almost immediately to the executive sleeper.” He grinned as he remembered what Abbey had done to her little gumdrop. It was enough to make the icing melt, and of course the earth move. Either that or maybe the faulty air conditioning and rough tracks were to blame. Nah, Abbey did it.

Danny raised an eyebrow at the satisfied grin on the Leader of the Free World’s face. He scrunched up his face as realization of why the President looked so happy hit.

“And that was the last time?” Danny asked, grimacing.

"I don't really remember how many times. My wife . . ."

Hurriedly, Danny interrupted the President before he found out more than he ever wanted to know about the First Lady. "I meant was that the last time you saw Amy. You didn't leave your sleeper car?"

“Abbey and I were rather tied up.“ Jed flushed flamingo pink at the slip of the tongue and unconsciously rubbed his right wrist.

Danny had the good grace to blush too. He focused on his notepad as he tried to move his thoughts back to the matter at hand, except an image of CJ in black lingerie, tied up in her sleeper car kept springing to mind. Not exactly the image he needed stuck in his mind whilst interviewing the President about murder.

“So, no I didn’t see Amy again.”

The President’s voice broke through Danny’s erotic reverie.

The letters C and J stared up at Danny from his scribbled page of notes. Big bold letters surrounded by small hearts.

Jed leaned across the table and caught a peek at Danny’s notes. Frowning, he growled, “I hope you’re not getting ideas about my Press Secretary again. She’s a good Catholic girl and as a good Catholic boy, you should be abstaining.” Jed settled back in his chair. “Anyway, it’s a well known fact that I am not comfortable with violence.”

“So, you’re saying you had nothing to do with the unfortunate demise of Ms. Gardner?” Danny asked, blood slowly moving from his lap back up to his brain allowing him to catch up with the sudden shift in conversation.

“Of course not,” Jed snorted, his arms flailing through the air. “What possible motive would I have?” Without waiting for a response he asked, “So Notre Dame are playing well this year?”

“Yes, Mr. President. Have you been able to catch a game or two?”

“Of course. Abbey faithfully records them for me to watch in bed.” His thoughts drifted back to Abbey and the special garment she had brought for this trip. Glancing at his watch briefly, he smiled up at Danny. “Is this going to take much longer? I have a special appointment.”

The special agent in the corner coughed and stifled a grin. The President’s special appointments were the talk of the Secret Service, all in the strictest confidence of course.

“Getting a sore throat there, Ron? Maybe I should get my wife to take a look at you.”

“There’s no need, Mr. President,” Ron said quietly. “If you’ll just answer a few more questions, you can be on your way.”

“Of course.” Jed leaned forward and rested his folded hands on the desk. “Ask away.”

“Did you know Amy was going to be on the train?” Danny asked, his pen poised over his notepad.

“Trains are such an incredible way of travelling. One can just sit back and watch the world go by,” Jed commented. “Of course, this is a little different than the average train. Bullet-proof glass and the Executive Sleeper is just like being at home. Well, not exactly. Ever slept in a bed that moved, even after you‘ve finished. . .”

“No, Sir. Uh, well,” Danny interrupted, shifting in his seat. “So you didn’t know Amy was travelling with you?”

Jed sat silently for a second as he debated whether he’d received a memo about Amy or whether she’d just turned up. Damned woman always seemed to be turning up. Abbey had thought it prudent to set Josh up with the feminist from hell and look at the trouble that was causing him now.

“No, I didn’t know Amy was coming. She was a last minute addition. You would need to speak to Leo about that,” Jed offered thoughtfully. “There was probably a very good reason for her being on board.”

“Had you had any disagreements with Ms. Gardner?” Ron asked calmly, his body never moving an inch.

Jed turned to look at him and frowned. “I didn’t really speak to her. She tried to screw up a welfare bill some months ago. Josh handled that. Of course Josh should never have let it get out of hand like it did, but these youngsters and their romances.” He grinned at Danny, smug in the knowledge Leo had put the kibosh on any romance he’d had in mind with CJ.

“I wouldn’t know, Sir,” Danny grumbled.

Ron cleared his throat. “We digress.”

“Look,” Jed began, his voice somewhere between a groan and a sigh. “My great, great, great grandfather signed the Declaration of Independence. I’m a two term Governor with a Nobel Prize in Economics and a three term Congressman. Do you really think I’m going to go around killing people I don’t like?” He rolled his eyes for good measure.

Danny pretended to consider the matter. “So you‘ve never killed anyone?”

Jed threw his arms in the air.

“Well, if you didn’t do it, maybe you had one of your staff finish the job. Have you ever ordered the death of someone? Maybe someone whom you considered dangerous and evil?”

The President looked none to happy about answering the question again. “Danny.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“You’re fired,” the President stated heading for the door.

Danny looked bewildered for a second. “But I don’t work for you.”

“You had to think about it though, didn’t you?” Jed smirked, looking back over his shoulder.

Danny groaned as he looked back at his notepad. He frowned as he realized the President had blocked him from asking all the important questions on his list. And he’d never gotten an answer to his last question. Had the President ever ordered the death of someone?

Part Nine: Interview with Abbey by Cal

Danny was trying to gather his thoughts when there was a strong rap on the dining car door. As Ron was closer, he answered the knock. Abbey Bartlet strode into the room, her own Secret Service detail waiting outside.

"Daniel! Long time, no see!"

Danny stood, out of politeness and respect. "Mrs. Bartlet-- or should I say, Dr. Bartlet, so nice to see you."

Abbey sat down across from where Danny was standing. "Well, I'm technically not a practicing physician right now, but I do like a boy with good manners. I understand that you've been interviewing everyone. How's that going?"

Not wanting to give anything away of his investigation, he gave a pat answer. "Well enough, I suppose. I have some very interesting leads."

"Care to share?"

Danny waggled a finger in reproach. "I don't think so. Everyone is still a suspect, including you."

"Then why haven't you interviewed me?" she asked sweetly.

Raised eyebrows marked Danny's astonishment. "You are the first person I've talked to that is actually willing to participate in this investigation."

"I'm as willing to find out who killed Amy as you are. I want to throw a party for whomever did it."

"Ah. Well, your husband has already provided your alibi, so..."

"He has, has he?" The tone of her voice told Danny that all would not be well in the state of Bartlet. No one spoke for Abbey Bartlet.

"Pray tell, what did my dear husband say that seemingly exonerates me from this dastardly deed?"

The tips of Danny's ears turned red. Ron looked the other way. "He, uh... that is to say the President... he, uh--" Danny sputtered.

Ron mumbled, "The President said you two were doing the horizontal mambo all night long."

Abbey looked amused. "Really?"

Both Danny and Ron shot hesitant looks at one another. The President wouldn't have lied to Danny, would he? They turned to look at the First Lady when she cackled in a very un-First Lady like manner.

"He fell asleep five minutes after we started!"

"So you weren't 'busy' with your husband all last night?"

Abbey laughed even louder for several minutes. Even after she stopped laughing, there were tears streaming from her eyes. "I am not in the habit of jumping my husband when he's unconscious. Now, if he hadn't fallen asleep--"

Danny covered his ears with his arms. "Too much information!"

Ron looked puzzled. "So you weren't with the President last night, all night?"

"No. He fell asleep, I got bored, so I looked for some entertainment."

Danny uncovered his ears. "What sort of entertainment?"

"Well, I did look for CJ and the wine she brought, but she was talking with Toby at the time. Sam was busy combing his hair. Leo was ranting about something, I'm not sure about what... Josh and Donna were throwing paper snowballs at each other. I never did find Bruno and his brood, or for that matter Margaret. After that, I went back to my cabin and caught up on my medical journals."

"Can anyone corroborate your story?" Danny asked.

Abbey smirked. "Well, I would ask my husband, but he has different ideas about what happened last night."

"So, that would be a 'no'?"

"You're quick, Danny. It's a wonder no one has snatched you up yet."

Danny flipped to a clean page in his notebook. "What did you think about the whole Josh-Amy dynamic?"

Abbey's expression took on an air of calculated indifference. "It was supposed to be a match made in heaven. You see, I get tired of having to go down to Josh's office to browbeat him into getting any sort of feminist agenda on the table. Because, Lord knows, he's got the biggest mouth of them all. CJ tries, but if she suggests something, the Boys club thinks it's for the sisterhood. But if Josh suggests it, then the Boys club listens. So, CJ and I devised a plan to get a woman's influence in there. Amy looked really good on paper, but..."

"But what," Danny urged her to continue.

Abbey shook her head, forlorn. "She just didn't live up to her potential. She was supposed to be a good influence on Josh, and it ends up he was a bad influence on her. Josh is a sweet boy, but not all the bats in his belfry are running on radar if you catch my meaning."

"I think I do. But rumor has it that you invited Amy to an impromptu party in your sitting room during your birthday bash."

Fluttering her hand in front of her face, Abbey replied, "Oh, that. Well, I was raised right. If you invite someone, you have to invite everyone. She was in ear shot when I hijacked CJ, so propriety dictated that I had to invite her as well. Never again, I tell you."

"Why is that, Dr. Bartlet?"

"Have you seen that girl's feet? I swear, my feet couldn't attract that much dirt if they were magnetic and I had just walked through a field of iron filings."

"That seems to be the running comment these days," Danny offered.

"And she's a very boring drunk. Now, CJ on the other hand, she's fun to be around when she's had one, or ten, too many."

Interest perked, Danny filed that tidbit away for future reference. "Dr. Bartlet, if you're no longer practicing--"

"Oh, I do intend to practice after this administration is over, Daniel. Once a chest cutter, always a chest cutter."

Danny looked suitably admonished.

"Excuse me, I will amend my statement. If you are not practicing at this moment, do you still carry prescription pads with you?"

"They make excellent little notebooks, easily pocketed, that sort of thing," Abbey explained.

"Can you tell me how several of your prescription pads found their way into Amy's sleeper car if you had not seen her since yesterday?"

"No, Daniel, I cannot."

Part Ten: Interview with Donna by Shelley

"I'm not sure where she is," Danny sighed impatiently. "I specifically told her what time to be here. Doesn't she realize we're trying to conduct an investigation?"

"You know how women can be," Ron grumbled.

"No, how can women be?" Donna asked cheerily.

"Where did you come from?" Danny asked.

"I just walked up like I always do."

"This day is becoming unbearable," Ron growled as he retreated to a chair in the corner of the room and began softly banging his head against the wall.

"Have a seat, Donna. This won't take long," Danny began.

"Good. I have a million things to do."

"Such as?"

"Memos, meetings, schedules. Josh would be lost without me."

"So I've heard. How's he feeling this morning?"

"Fine," Donna answered breezily.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, his girlfriend was murdered last night. I thought he might be a bit……I don't know……distraught?"

"She wasn't really his girlfriend," Donna replied matter-of-factly.

"But I thought……"

"Oh they were sleeping together. No doubt about that. But she wasn't his girlfriend. That connotes some sort of emotional connection, and they didn't have one. Trust me. I know all about what it's like to have an emotional
connection to Josh——and Amy didn't have it. Things were ok at first, but lately, when he was with her, he didn't have…….well he couldn't…….ok, let's just say that things were getting so bad he had me doing research on those
little blue pills."

"Really?" Danny said as he thought about the prescription in his wallet. 'I guess I'm not the only one who was curious.'

"Really. But can you blame him?" Donna asked sincerely.

"I guess not."

"They were just engaging in a bit of mutually beneficial physical and professional gratification."

"And what exactly does that mean?"

"She was a power-dater and he was horny."

"But why didn't he……"

"Because he can't have a public relationship with the person he really loves. He has to date someone else to throw everyone off the scent. Amy was the perfect choice. She was willing to trade sex for power and access, no emotion
needed."

"Who is it that Josh really loves?" Danny asked with a sly smile. He loved it when he tricked an unsuspecting interviewee into revealing something they hadn't intended to.

"I can't tell you that," Donna scolded. "I'm very loyal to Josh. I keep all his secrets."

"Of course you do," Danny said aloud, while what he was really thinking was 'Drat, foiled again'.

"Loyalty is very important in an employee. In fact, in the Court of St James…….."

"I'd really love to hear all of your interesting factoids, Donna, but we're kind of pressed for time. We need to get back to the matter at hand."

"Which is?"

"The death of Amy Gardner," Danny said in his best 'DUH' voice.

"Oh, that," Donna said dismissively.

"You don't seem terribly upset that she's dead."

"We've all gotta go sometime," Donna said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Did you do anything that may have hastened Amy's meeting with her maker?"

"Me?" Donna asked innocently.

"Yes, you."

"I had no motive. I wasn't the least bit worried about Amy. I knew that Josh would come back to……umm……his senses sooner or later."

"And where exactly were you last night?" Danny asked.

"I was working."

"Alone?"

"No," Donna said hesitantly.

"With……" Danny asked leadingly.

"Well it certainly wasn't Amy Gardner."

"Then who was it?"

"Who is it usually? Josh, of course."

"And where exactly were the two of you working. Because aside from a few fleeting moments, no one remembers seeing either of you all night."

"We needed a quiet place to get some things done."

"What sort of things?" Danny asked, his temper growing short.

"Work things," Donna answered, refusing to be intimidated.

"Look, I want you to tell me where you and Josh were, and what you were doing, during the time in question last night."

"Don't snap at me!"

"Donna.."

"No, I mean it. Don't snap at me. I'm just trying to give you what you asked for. The things I tell you may end up being valuable to the investigation. But you won't know that until you read over your notes. So just open your mind to
the fact that I may be giving you exactly what you want and don't snap at me!"

Danny stared at her, bewildered. Ron's head began to bang harder against the wall.

"OK. Let's just take a deep breath here and try this from another angle."

"Ok."

"Did you see Amy last night?"

"What do you mean by 'see'. Do you mean did I visually locate her? Are you asking if I spoke to her? If we were alone together?"

"Maybe this will help refresh your memory," Danny said as he pulled an item out of the bag by his feet.

"Do these panties belong to you?"

"No," Donna said adamantly.

"Don't lie to me," Danny warned. "I know they're yours. They have your name in them. Which, by the way, is something I'd like to discuss with you after this whole investigation is over."

"Get in line."

Danny was momentarily startled, then gathered his thoughts and continued.

"Would you care to tell me how your panties made their way to Amy Gardner's cabin?"

"I have no idea."

"Umm……don't you remember taking them off?"

"I don't think I like what you're suggesting, Danny."

"I'm just trying to find out how your panties came to be found wrapped around Amy's neck."

"I'm sure I don't know. You see, those panties are the ones I lost last year on the floor in front of Karen Cahill."

"Yeah, I remember hearing about that," Danny chuckled. "But from what I was told, Josh gave them back to you."

"He did. And I put them in my desk drawer. But when I went to retrieve them later, they were gone."

"Stolen?"

"I didn't say that. I just said gone."

"The rumor is that Josh was doing some pretty serious fondling of your underwear in the bullpen. Do you think he was the one who stole them?"

"What are you insinuating, Daniel? Josh doesn't wear women's panties. Unless of course it's after a bachelor party and he's wearing them as a necklace," Donna said sternly. "I'm not sure what's gotten in to you, but I may have to ask CJ
to adjust your attitude."

Danny scowled. "So you're telling me you have no idea how your panties ended up in Amy's room."

"None whatsoever."

"And you were working with Josh all night."

"I was with Josh all night. Right."

"Every second?"

"Well I had to leave for a few minutes to run to the kitchen car and see if they had any whipped cream."

"Whipped cream?" Danny's eyebrows rose dramatically.

"Yes……um……yes," Donna stammered.

"And what did you need whipped cream for?"

"I like it in my hot chocolate," Donna said as she demurely straightened her skirt.

"Right."

"Don't push me, Danny. CJ has told me things I'm sure you don't want spread around."

"Alright, let's wrap this up," Danny said quickly. "You're saying you didn't see Amy at all last night."

"I didn't say that."

"So you did see her?"

"Briefly."

"What did you talk about?"

"Josh's cell phone."

"I'm sorry?"

"We talked about Josh's cell phone."

"Why did you need to talk to Amy about Josh's cell phone?"

"She stewed it."

"Stewed it?"

"Yes. In the middle of one of her little Amy-snits, she threw Josh's phone in a pot of burned stew."

"What is she, five years old?"

"Tell me about it. It's like dealing with a toddler. When she doesn't get her way…….well……I could tell you stories."

"So you went to ask her to replace the cell phone?"

"No. The phone was replaced the next morning. What do you think I am, a slacker? Josh can't work without his phone. He needs to be accessible 24 hours a day. He's a very important man."

"Right. Sorry. You wanted her to pay for damages?"

"No, I wanted her to pay for the calls she made after she fished the phone out of the stew."

"Huh?"

"All I know is that two days after she dumped the phone in the stew, she had it messengered back to Josh. I was just gonna expense it out as some unfortunate accident, then I got the bill."

"And she made calls?"

"Yes, can you believe it? The phone was still working after she dug it out of the stew. And there were close to a dozen calls to 900 numbers on the bill. Although how a person who mumbles like that can have phone sex is beyond me."

"It still worked when she pulled it out of the stew? Man, what kind was it? I can't even get mine to work if there's a tree within 100 yards."

"I'll write down the model number for you. They're really great. I got one for myself……"

"A——hem," Ron interrupted from the corner of the room.

"I'll get the information from you later," Danny whispered before resuming his normal speaking voice. "So you asked Amy about the calls."

"I only saw her for a few minutes. I gave her a copy of the bill and told her she really needed to brush up on her basic hygiene. That phone was filthy and yet she had it near her ear and mouth. The woman was a total slob."

"But I'm not sure how that matters in this case."

"Hygiene always matters. And don't even get me started on her feet. They were filthy. I mean where does a woman who lives in D.C. pick up all that dirt on her feet."

"I've heard……"

"Well hearing is nothing compared to seeing. I'm quite sure that she stepped on a rusty nail somewhere along the way and that's why her jaw didn't move."

"I'm not following you," Danny said, confusion all over his face.

"Try and keep up. Dirty feet + rusty nail + outdated Tetanus shot = lockjaw."

"I guess that's as good a theory as any."

"It makes me cringe to think about what germs Josh may have picked up from her. He has a very sensitive system you know."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"All I can tell you is that Amy was alive when I left her. And I was with Josh for the rest of the night. After I retrieved the whipped cream that is."

"OK. That'll be all, Donna. If I have any other questions I'll let you know."

"OK. Nice to see you again, Danny. You should come around more often." Donna smiled sweetly and headed towards the door.

When she was almost there, Danny spoke again. "Just one other thing. Did you hear any screaming last night?"

"Oh yes," Donna blushed, "There was definitely screaming. But it wasn't Amy."

Part Eleven: Interview with Josh by Brandy

Josh was walking into the lounge car just as Donna was leaving. She had just finished her interview with Danny and Ron, and he couldn’t help but notice the rosy flush in her cheeks or the not-so-secret smile on her lips. As they passed by each other in the doorway, Josh saw mischief and promise in her eyes as their eyes met briefly, then she was on her way down the passageway. Josh couldn’t help but smile a little himself, as memories of the night before created all sorts of satisfying mental images. Doing his level best to wipe all evidence of those pleasurable memories from his expression, Josh walked across the room to where his inquisitors were waiting.

"How’s it going, guys?" Josh asked as he dropped into the chair Donna had just vacated. It was still nice and warm- not that that surprised him……Okay, he needed to stop that line of thought right away.

"Josh? You okay?" Danny asked after a moment.

"Sure- why do you ask?"

"Well, I just said something to you and you didn’t respond…… and you had kind of a funny look on your face."

"Well, Danny, let’s see - we’re in the middle of a tough campaign. We’re on this lunatic train trip, instead of traveling in a luxurious, state-of-the-art aircraft, and - oh yeah, someone was murdered last night while we all slept", Josh replied, just a tad defensively.

"Yeah - well, first of all, I’ll repeat my earlier condolences over Amy’s demise. I understand you two were ‘involved’……"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Second of all, I’m not sure it would be totally accurate to say that Amy was murdered while everyone slept", Danny stated with a rather pointed look at Josh.

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Were you sleeping last night, Josh?"

"Well……not technically."

"What does ‘not technically’ mean?"

"It means……. It means that I wasn’t sleeping."

"Okay then - what were you doing?"

"I was working."

"Working ……alone?"

"Not really."

"Okay, I’m just going to jump ahead and assume that means that someone was with you. Right?" Danny asked, already knowing the answer.

Josh figured Donna had supplied at least that much information already, so he confirmed Danny’s assumption. "Yeah - Donna was with me."

"You and Donna were working all night?"

"Yeah - pretty much."

Ron sighed heavily and looked at Danny with a weary expression. This interview was as irritating, if not worse, than the one with Donna had been. The two had obviously been giving each other lessons on the importance of being vague.

"And where were you working? In your compartment?"

"No."

"In Donna’s?"

"In Donna’s what?"

"In her compartment?!" Danny practically yelled, his face getting red with frustrated anger.

"Hey, man - you should really try to take it a little easy - maybe go stand against that wall over there and take a few deep breaths. Just don’t stand near a door, because I did once and Donna"

"I’ll be fine if I can just get a few straight answers around here! Now…… where were you and Donna during the time you were working together?"

"How about if I just say we found a quiet little space that wasn’t in anyone’s compartment, and leave it at that", Josh replied firmly.

"Fine - for now, we’ll do that. Now, were you two together the whole time?"

"Uhmmm……yeah."

"Every second of the time?"

"Well, maybe not every second", Josh admitted reluctantly.

"Donna left you? You left her? What?"

"Actually, she had to go out at one point, and so did I."

"For how long?"

"Which time?"

"Both! Either! Just answer the damn question!"

"Hey, I’m just trying to be clear on what you’re asking me. Well, let’s see…… it couldn’t have been for more than a few minutes either time. Of course I’m not the best person to ask when it comes to questions about time. Donna’s always saying that I have no grasp of time because I have, in her words, a watch that ‘sucks’. I don’t think so, but it’s useless to argue with the woman……"

"‘Josh! I think I get the point. So, as best as you can narrow it down with your pathetic grasp of time, you and Donna were out of each other's sight for at least a few minutes on two separate occasions. Is that correct?"

"Yeah."

"I know I’m going to regret asking this, but what did you go out for?"

"Excuse me?"

"I think you heard me", Danny replied with a pointed look.

"Yeah……well, I had to go out for something of a personal nature."

"A personal nature? Is that your delicate way of saying you had to go to the ‘little boy’s room’, Josh?"

"No."

"Okay - one more time - what did you go out for?"

"A personal item that has nothing at all to do with your little investigation", Josh replied, blushing profusely.

The longer Danny and Ron looked at him, the more crimson his complexion turned. Finally, Danny and Ron shared a look, and Josh knew that the penny had finally dropped, and they had figured out what that 'item of a personal nature' was. Josh sat there for a miserable few moments, squirming in embarrassment, as Ron and Danny tried unsuccessfully to hide their amusement.

Finally Danny muttered, "Well, I guess that explains the Cool-Whip."

Josh was fervently wishing for a hole to open up in the floor that he could drop through. He couldn’t believe Donna had told them about the Cool-Whip! More to the point - what exactly had she told them about the Cool-Whip?

"Josh -You okay? I haven’t seen a look like that on your face since you came up with your secret plan to fight inflation", Danny observed with a devilish smirk.

Amusement lightened even Ron Butterfield’s stoic expression at that comment.

Finally, curbing their collective amusement over Josh and Donna’s nocturnal escapades, Danny looked at Ron and nodded toward the bag at Ron’s feet. Ron reached into the bag, retrieved a small object, and placed it on the table between them. Josh’s eyes widened just a bit at seeing the item, before looking inquisitively at the two men across from him. Danny picked up the item, and held it up between them.

"Recognize this?"

"Well, it looks like a cell phone……" Josh hedged.

"Yeah, a pretty trashed cell phone if you ask me", Danny observed.

"I’d have to agree with you there."

"Uh-huh……What do you suppose this brown crusty looking gunk is that’s all over it?" Danny asked with a smug little grin.

"Uhmmm - it looks like dried up stew, maybe?"

"Yeah, I think so too. In fact, you know that’s what it is - because it’s your phone, and the last time you used it was right before it ended up in a big pot of stew. Isn’t that right?"

"Well, if that is indeed my phone, then that would be a accurate statement of the facts."

"Is that the last time you saw this particular phone?" Ron asked.

"Uhmmm - I’m not sure."

"Not sure? You’re not sure if you saw this after it took a swan dive into a pot of stew?" Danny asked incredulously, holding the object up as visual evidence of just how memorable it was.

"Okay, I do seem to remember it being sent back to me a couple of days after Amy had her little snit-fit, but I don’t recall what happened to it. Donna had already taken care of getting me a new one, so I wasn’t worried about it. I’m a busy man, you know. I oversee eleven-hundred White House employees. I don’t have time to concern myself with soiled cell phones."

"Okay…… so you’re fairly sure you haven’t seen or had possession of this phone since it suffered it’s unfortunate fate?"

"Yeah, pretty sure. What’s the big deal about a crusty, cruddy cell phone anyway?"

"Other than the fact that it was shoved down Amy Gardner’s throat - nothing at all", Ron replied in his typically bland and inscrutable manner. Danny just leaned back in his chair to observe Josh’s reaction to this tidbit of information. It was interesting, to say the least.

"Oh……well…… I guess that would make it somewhat important."

"Somewhat - yes."

"Shoved it down her throat, hmm?"

"Yeah. It looks like whoever did it was trying to make quite the point."

"Uh - yeah. I guess so."

"Well, I just have one more question before we wrap this up - Did you see Amy at any time last night?"

"Amy?"

"Yeah, Amy. The deceased. The person who was murdered while at least a few of us slept last night. The reason that we’re spending all this fun time together…….Amy."

"Uh - well, I believe we did spend a few moments together."

"What occurred during those few moments?"

"Nothing much - just your average five minutes of power-hungry manipulation, and frustrating one-sided conversation."

"Sounds like a lot of fun", Danny replied sarcastically.

"You have no idea. I mean - far be it from me to speak ill of the dead - but, have you ever spent five minutes listening to a diatribe on what a sexist, elitist pig you, and all your friends are, and when it’s finally your turn to speak, the person puts their hand in your face, in some adolescent gesture of denial, and says, ‘Don’t talk to me’? I mean, what kind of a rational person does that?"

"I hear you", Danny commiserated. "It’s enough to drive a man to extreme measures just to shut someone like that up."

"Oh yeah…… Hey! What are you trying to say?" Josh asked indignantly.

"Nothing, Josh - nothing at all. Just making an observation", Danny replied with an innocent shrug.

"You can just keep those kind of observations to yourself."

"Fair enough. So, after this unsatisfying conversation with Amy, what did you do then?"

"I met up with Donna, and we got to work on some stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Okey-doke."

"And did you hear anything unusual last night?"

"Well……"

"Yes?"

"The only thing I can think of is this one time when Donna got kind of loud……"

"Loud?" Danny asked with an amused grin.

"Oh……uh, yeah. She was making a point in the middle of this discussion we were having. Donna can very forceful when she’s making a point", Josh explained, once again looking very flustered.

"I’ll bet."

"So - are we done? I really do have things that need my attention."

Danny looked to Ron who shrugged then nodded, as if to say, ‘sure-why not?’.

"Yeah, Josh. I guess that’s about it."

Josh quickly rose and was halfway across the room when Danny called out to him. "Say, Josh-"

"Yeah?" Josh said, turning with a frustrated sigh.

"You wouldn’t happen to know anything about Donna’s panties, would you?"

"I beg your pardon?" Josh asked in a near screech, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. He was standing there with visions of those lacy black panties Donna had been wearing last night swimming in his head - and wondering just how Danny knew about that……

"You know - those panties of Donna’s - the ones Karen Cahill sent you. Those panties……" Danny clarified, thoroughly enjoying the expression on Josh’s face.

"What about them?" he finally gulped out.

"Would you happen to know where they are?"

"Uh…… to the best of my knowledge, they’re in the bottom right-hand drawer of her desk. Unless……"

"Unless what?"

"Unless they’re not. I mean, it was a while ago, and given the way I came into possession of them, they’re liable to turn up anywhere."

Danny thought about that for a moment, and with a shrug and a smile said, "Okay. I guess that answers my question."

With that, Josh completed his exit, thoughts of lacy, silky panties and Cool-Whip dancing in his head. He really needed to find Donna and clear up a few things. Maybe they could steal away to that ‘quiet place’ again, he thought as he swaggered down the passageway in the direction Donna had gone.