Philidelphia, Pennsylvania 2010

Jessica stalked out of the room after Smith, inwardly fuming. Of all the colossal wastes of time- she cut the thought off intentionally and forced her tensed muscles to relax. This was the sort of thing that brought on killer migraines, and she did not need to be dealing with one of those at present. Glancing at the clock, she realized that the tow of them had been in there longer than she thought, and her shift was well and truly over for the day.

After saying the perfunctory goodbyes to her supervisors, Jessica considered her blazer for a moment before draping it over her arm and heading downstairs to her locker. Dialing in the combination, she reached in and removed a black leather jacket. Right now, she needed to drive, and fast, but she was not without some regard for her safety, and the tougher material would do her much better than her suit coat.

Not five minutes later, she was out in the parking garage, and a rare smile crossed her face as she spotted her beloved red Kawasaki Ninja. Fastening on the visored helmet (in matching red, of course), she slung her leg over the bike and tore out of the garage faster than was strictly legal. The highway was a pleasant feeling, and she would have been fine going until dark save the fact that she was only just realizing she was painfully hungry. Not in the mood to cook, Jessica decided it might be best to eat out that evening, and remembered that there was small diner with surprisingly good food not too far from here. Elmo's, that was it.

With a slight twinge of regret, she exited the freeway and pulled up to the diner. Hang on... Unless she was very much mistaken, those people in the window were the rest of the team. Shrugging to herself, she left the helmet on the bike and swung open the cheerfully-painted door with the little bell on it. Deciding that it would probably be best to socialize with the team and maybe get to know the rookie (or profile him, whichever was faster), she nodded to Ginger and headed over to the group.

"Mind if I join?" she asked, with a passing feeling of awkwardness. She wasn't on unfriendly terms with any of them, but socializing was most certainly not her forte. She slid into the large booth next to Cody and Victoria, and Ginger was quick to bring her black tea. The brands you could get in American restaurants generally weren't that good, and Jessica would have preferred green tea anyway, but it was better than coffee. The only thing coffee had going for it was the smell.

Taking a sip of the hot liquid, she glanced at the others. "So... find anything useful?"

Victoria grinned as Alec teased Ginger and the rookie. Shaking her head, she agreed and laughed at Alec's spoken reaction of Markle's apartment. "Creepy as he is, I definitely think he is not our guy." She smiled as she took another drink of sweet tea, "But at least I know where I'm doing my Christmas shopping for all of you."

Waiting for the rookie's response to her earlier questions, she glanced up and spotted Jessica approaching the group. She offered a small smile. The two girls on the team really haven't attempted be become 'girl-friends' just yet. Victoria couldn't help but be a little territorial over the guys. It was a girl thing, she supposed. Something she reckoned she would have to get over sooner than later. Jessica was valuable to the team it didn't look like she would be going anywhere for a while.

"Hey Jessica. So, how did it go with the interrogation?", she asked the woman as she slide in beside of Cody and Vic. A vision of Ben holding Markle by the collar across the interrogation table flashed across her mind. Complete with flared nostrils and pulsing vein protruding from his forehead with Markle shaking and clearly scared shitless. "Did you guys get anything out of him?"

Almost at the exact same time as her question, Jessica asked what they found. "We," she jerked her head across the table at Alec, "found a binder with some newspaper clippings. Enough to prove he's a freakish fan, but nothing solid to peg him as the murderer." She figured Cody or Hutch would give their own findings.

Jessica glanced down the table at Vic and nodded slowly. "Sounds about like what Smith and I managed to get out of him. There's no way he's our guy, though I'm not discounting the possibility that he will be one day." Slender fingers tightened almost unconsciously about the teacup, and an inscrutable expression passed over her face, only to be swiftly schooled back to neutrality.

There was something of a lull in conversation, and Jessica took the time to study her teammates. It was pretty clear in the small things they did that they were disappointed with the day's work, and she could hardly blame them. Whatever else she may have thought of the group individually (and she was slow to form lasting opinions on those she worked closely with, a lesson she had learned well about a year ago) she knew that overall, they were a dedicated, hardworking bunch, though about half of them had a proclivity for tardiness that she could not say she approved of.

So it was only natural that the lack of any good leads, anything to propel the case forward, was going to be disheartening. She was pretty sure this was where someone was supposed to say something motivational or stirring, but it certainly was not going to be Jessica. She'd leave that to someone with better people skills, or maybe just Ben, who she was sure could manage something simultaneously cranky and proverbially fire-lighting or something of that nature.

For the moment, though, she contented herself with simply listening, both to her teammates and the general buzz of conversation in the diner. Societal convention would probably frown upon this sort of behavior, but Jessica had never bothered too much with such things. She was going to speak when she felt like it, and listen to whatever happened to be going on in her immediate area, invited or otherwise. Doing so made her good at what she did, and she'd be damned if she was giving that up for the sake of someone else's sense of propriety.

See, Jess, this is why you don't have friends, she mused internally, then immediately dismissed the thought as irrelevant. One of the others was bound to mention something case-related soon, and she had no desire to be zoning out when that happened.

Bendikt honestly hated that acidic, biting feeling that rolled around in his stomach whenever a lead proved false. He knew that Markle was a dud, but what other option did he have?
Ben was withdrawn, but was able to answer James when his boss addressed him.
“Yeah,” He hummed in a deep, throaty manner, “he hold him until someone sees though our cheap excuse.”
Truthfully, the fact that Markle ran was what pissed Ben off more than anything. He wanted so badly for Markle to start crying and to confess everything.
But it was never that easy. And it certainly would not be with the Couples Killer.

Ben scrubbed his face with is hands and took in a deep breath. His outward appearance mirrored his inner dismay. Since the murders happen in clusters, he has stay up to drive around to street to monitor for activity. In his opinion there were no off-duty policemen.
Though this made him look like he was tossed out of a moving car.

Ben flashed a glance at his phone to see if there was anymore updates being piped in.
“Hey James, the whole gang is getting bite to eat. I think a little Philly cheese steak would do me good. You drive, my truck is about to rust out completely.”

Alec rolled his eyes at Victoria, "If you get me one of those...Things, I...I'll." He shrugged, "I guess I'll save it and give it back to you sometime. Then we will engage in a never-ending cycle of gift-giving." He shook his head, "But seriously, get me one of those damn things and you'll regret it." He nodded silently to himself at that statement.

Alec smiled at nodded at Jessica, acknowledging her presence as she slid into the booth. He listened to women as they talked about the 'findings' of the team. He shook his head and sighed, "Man, guy's so creepy that I wouldn't be surprised if he was our guy someday." He frowned and took another drink of his coffee, crossing his arms and leaning back against his seat after he did so. He looked out the window and scowled, wishing he could dig up something useful in the evidence they had. He didn't doubt that he could, it was all a matter of time. Time and knowing what to look for, both of which where scarce.

He scratched his head and looked back at the group, offering half a small smile and sighing softly. This job was going to make him lose all his hair before long.