Chapter 29

                                    

                                          
It may have taken five hours but we finally solve the cold case. 
                          
"THE GRANDMA DID IT!" I yell. 
                          
Dean laughs as he takes a bite of his pizza. 
                          
"She had the motive. Every single woman had the exact same ring, and it just so happened that James owned it as well. James was giving a ring to every one of his mistresses, and soon enough his Mom found out. James was cheating on his wife, and because he has three kids Margaret didn't want her to find out. So she went and killed them all, she just failed to take back the rings. The only obvious connection between them all," I state. 
                          
"The MO was a single stab wound to the chest. Margaret wanted each and every single one of them to know how it felt to be stabbed in the heart, which would've been exactly how James' wife felt had she found out," he adds. 
                          
"The only reason the bureau didn't connect her to the serial murder was because she was old and didn't actually have any connection to the women. James gave each of them a different contact name, so one was texting a Sheldon, another a Mark. None of them knew his real name, so the FBI wouldn't have known to make the connection. Yes, they were suspicious of the rings, but they were cheap ones from a fake jewelry store. Anybody could've owned one, but that's exactly why James picked them."
                          
"A nice looking ring to present his mistress, when in the end it only cost him $10 a piece," Dean finishes for me. 
                          
I put my fist up and he stares at it confused for a second before chuckling and giving me a fist bump. 
                          
"We did it, and still made time for lunch."
                          
"It was a lot easier than I thought. Most serial cases take months to figure out."
                          
"Yeah, except this one is ten years old and we already had all the information," I remind him as I stand to stretch my legs.
                          
"Whatever," he mutters as he stands with a groan. 
                          
Without even thinking I laugh. "If you can barely stand then maybe you need to start doing some squats."
                          
"Squats?" he asks, scrunching his nose in distaste. 
                          
"Yeah, like this." I stick my arms out infront of me and demonstrate. He laughs, and in the flash of a second he picks me up by the waist and swings me around. I scream playfully, gripping his shoulders. 
                          
As he sets me down he looks into my eyes, and I smile, my hands on his chest. 
                          
"Little de ja vu, don't you think?" I joke. 
                          
He grins, his dimple prominent on his face. 
                          
"Sure is," he murmurs, and to bring the memory back to life he places his lips gently on mine, savouring the moment no matter how brief it was. 
                          
"I..." I begin, looking for a word to say. "Like you."
                          
"You like me?" He asks, a smirk firmly on his face duel teaming with a raised brow. 
                          
"I always wondered what people say to each other at the beginning, you know? I like you, seems like the only fit."
                          
He ponders this for a moment before nodding. "Well, I like you too."
                          
I simper, pecking his chin before pulling away to pick up the case. 
                          
"So, we finished the case, Locke and Briggs won't be back for another... three to six days, and we have no other homework to do."
                          
"Whatever will we do?" he asks sarcastically as he helps me with the file. 
                          
We carry it upstairs and into the kitchen where Michael stands in a ratty tee, wiping his hands on a rag now stained black.