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It had been a few weeks now since Pacey had started spending nights at Miss Holt�s mansion. The first few nights Drue and Chris had the duty of keeping the mansion under surveillance but the nights had proved to be uneventful until the Captain decided to pull Drue and Chris off surveillance (replacing them with uniformed cops) stating their nights could be used more productively. The Parker and Riner case as it had now been dubbed had reached a certain lull. At first they had been excited about the possibility that Miss Holt might be the killer but new evidence was later discovered to contradict that possibility. Some witnesses had come forward claiming they had seen a man dispose of Riner�s body. They had seen the man carrying Riner and had assumed Riner was drunk and they had not made the connection until recently. They had described the man as small around 5 ft 3�, lean and older than 30. The exact age of the man they were unsure of because it had been dark and they didn�t get a clear view. The description of the man, Riner�s suspected killer, matched Jen�s description of the possible killer of Parker. The witnesses also mentioned that the man had been driving a green sedan, partial plates LWF. The same sedan had recently been reported as stolen and had turned up recently dumped and the care wiped so no fingerprints were detected. It was becoming clearer that they were looking for a male but who the man was they had no idea. Furthermore as Pacey he had discovered, after spending several nights with Miss Holt, that Joey�s assessment of the woman was astute and correct. Pacey now had huge doubts as whether Miss Holt was capable of murder and she was quickly being ruled out as a possible suspect in Pacey�s mind. In many ways Miss Holt was simply a little girl, frightened of the dark and of being alone. She made no attempt of seduction despite her public bravado and when they were alone, away from the prying eyes in Moon Shadow, they would talk. She had a penchant for fairytales and talked much about Jerome Parker. In many ways Lisa Holt saw Jerome Parker as being akin to her Prince Charming. Pacey was unsure of what role Riner might have played in Lisa Holt�s role, Joey had suggested perhaps something akin to one of the seven dwarves. Joey. They were speaking now, Pacey and Joey, much to Pacey�s relief. She had called in the morning, just as he had reached home from spending his first night in the Holt and Parker mansion. In terms of a normal conversation it wasn�t much but they had both decided that they didn�t want to fight any more. Joey had apologized for pushing him away and Pacey had gracefully accepted her apology. They were friends again, partners, although Pacey had not spent much time working with her as of late. He would see her at the club. There might be a brief hello and smiles exchanged, eye contact made when he was stripping but overall communication and contact was minimal. She had started to call him though, every morning around 10am, after he had just gotten back from Lisa�s. They would exchange ideas about the case, he would tell her of his day and she would inform him of hers. As much as Pacey and Joey hated to admit it, the Parker and Riner case was looking like one of the few cases they would not be able to solve. Captain Hutchinson had pulled Chris off the case just yesterday citing that there were already three other detectives working on what appeared to be a dead-end case. Media and political demand for the case to be solved had died down substantially and there were new cases that needed attention. Not surprisingly Chris had been unhappy about being pulled off the case. He had argued vehemently but to no avail. Joey had sympathized with Chris and had quietly asked the Captain to reconsider or at least pull Drue off the case instead. Given a choice of Chris or Drue, Joey would have chosen Chris any day. Unfortunately the Captain had been adamant citing that Joey would just have to bear the burden of working with Drue. He confessed that it had not been a decision he had made but rather an order from his higher ups and that closed the matter. Joey now had the privilege of working and being partnered with Drue Valentine. In addition to Chris being pulled off the Parker and Riner case, slowly and bit by bit less resources were being used and delegated into solving the case. No new viable leads had emerged. All they knew was that they were looking for a man older than 30 and that Miss Holt was highly unlikely to be a suspect. There was now debate as to whether Pacey would be pulled from undercover although for the moment he was to remain as a stripper in Moon Shadow and new friend of Lisa Holt�s. Joey too, was told to maintain her friendship with Miss Holt but less time was being spent at Moon Shadow as Joey concentrated her efforts on searching for the mysterious man over 30. With Chris gone from the case, Joey was now temporarily partnered with Drue. Initially Joey was unhappy about the partnership but there was little she could do. Surprisingly Drue turned out to be a pretty good partner although no where as wonderful as Pacey. Joey and Drue were spending many late nights trying to chase any possible, wild lead. They had gone back to talk to Mr Anderson who was very busy at the moment with the new release of software to the market. Apparently Parker Enterprise was still thriving without Parker. Drue and Joey had also spent some nights scouring the streets trying to find further witnesses to Riner�s death. Riner had been dumped in a back alley, not too far back from a popular street corner where hookers walked the streets. Although the people had been rather evasive they had gather small bits of information. �Possibly a man as old as 50,� one had suggested. �A business man, real upper class.� Another had informed. It was information but it did not help much to narrow the field. Drue and Joey had vented their frustrations over a couple of beers and Joey had to admit he was pretty decent company when he wanted to be. Joey found herself spending more and more time with Drue. Pacey was working in Moon Shadow and spending the night at Lisa�s while she worked the days, occasionally dropping in at Moon Shadow during the nights. Joey supposed she should have felt jealous or something but she knew Pacey was only doing his job. Besides, the only thing Joey really felt was she missed Pacey. She missed him like crazy. They were talked in the mornings around 10am but it was short conversation lasting at most fifteen minutes. Joey missed her best friend. She missed her partner. She missed her love. In simple terms she missed Pacey. The Police Dance was also coming up in less than a few weeks. Tickets had to be bought and although Pacey and Joey were meant to be going together, with Pacey working at Moon Shadow he now had the perfect excuse not to attend. This of course left Joey without a partner to the dance. Drue had gallantly offered Joey to be her partner if she wanted. Insanely enough it was a possibility that Joey had been actually considering. After all they would be attending as just friends and she and Drue had reached a point they were semi-friends now. In the end Joey had politely refused Drue�s invitation but had offered to save him a dance. She wasn�t even sure if she was going to attend the dance any more, at least not without Pacey. In truth the lull and stagnancy of the Parker and Riner case was taking its toll on both Pacey and Joey. They missed working with each other. They missed seeing the other every day. Work was predictably hectic and tiring but usually they suffered together and not alone. Equally depressingly was the lack of leads and suspects. Pacey and Joey both had a feeling that the case would soon be reneged into the unsolved pile, to be taken out and re-examined during a slow day. It wasn�t a good feeling. They knew that other crimes were being committed and other cases were waiting to be solved. The Parker and Riner case was using resources, money and time with little results to show. They needed a break and they needed it soon. Unfortunately it appeared that none was forthcoming. They were both frustrated, despondent and the lack of contact was getting to them. Pacey was also tired of spending the night at the Holt and Parker mansion. He much preferred his own bed�or Joey�s. Of course therein lay another unresolved matter. Pacey and Joey were friends again but neither had really discussed the status of their romantic relationship. For one thing they didn�t have the time. They were kind of stagnant at the moment. Neither here or there. It was a frustrating situation to be in and at the moment in both their professional and personal lives, Pacey and Joey were unfortunately stuck in this motionless position. |
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