The Widow in Red

[Veroe]

((Closed for Myself and Sensualista))​

IC: Nick Donovan

Nick got out of his Nissan Maxima and walked up the driveway to the palacial manse in a ritzier suburb on the outskirts of Las Vegas. He breathed deep glad to be back on the job. He had finally gotten out of the shadow of IA's investigation, and things were starting to turn around for him after the shit show he'd gone through last year. He and Monica were starting to patch their relationship back up, and here he was back on a case doing what he did best, what he was meant to do again. He was a detective in the Las Vegas Police Department with a specialization in Criminal Behavior. All that time learning from his instructors from the FBI in Quantico and now he was back to doing what he was supposed to do again-catching killers.

This neighborhood was full of vacation homes for the very very rich. The majority of houses were currently vacant, their owners out and about the world jetting and setting, moving and shaking, as spoiled trust fund babies, or titans of industry, or even a few, reality tv stars, and political apparatchiks from Washington or Carson City.

His "partner", Tabitha Morgan was at the door waiting for him. "You're running late, Donovan," she said coldly in greeting, "I'm only allowing you to partner up with me on this case because IA came up short on you."

"Yeah traffic was a bitch and you're a real princess, Morgan," He joked with a hefty dose of snark to his tone. He knew she had agreed to work with just to keep an eye on him. Being investigated by Internal Affairs for planting evidence had made him toxic to his colleagues. Many believed he had or would have done that. Morgan was one of the few that had managed to stay reasonable about whether or not Nick could be trusted.

She led them inside the mansion and up the grand staircase to the master bedroom. The Crime Scene Technicians were already at work taking detailed pictures of everything in the room. The body was a midleaged man tied down naked to his own bed.

"Meet Stuart Reichmann, age 54, and as you can tell by the house he was completely loaded," Morgan told him, "He has his fingers in a lot of pies all over; real estate, venture financing, adult web-site production, but mostly investing in Tech startups over in Silicone Valley..."

Nick nodded lowering to one knee looking over the body. Mr. Reichmann's body was rigid, his eyes glassy as they stared up at the ceiling, and his lips had a bluish tint to them. "Any needle marks on him?"

"None that they've found yet," Morgan replied, "Also they found Ecstasy, Cocaine, Ketamine, and a variety of other drugs in the nightstand drawer. We'll know when they run bloodtests when they get him back to the lab."

Nick looked over the rest of the bedroom. The furniture was exquisite and luxurious. He noted a woman's jewelry box. There were women's clothes in the dresser drawers. On a shelf he saw a wedding picture.

"Have you spoken to his wife yet," He asked Morgan.

-------------------------X

The answer was no. It took them a few hours to locate Mr. Reichmann's wife. A woman with dual doctorates in psychology and in Zoology. Reportedly she guest lectured over in Stanford. Curiously she hadn't taken his name when they married hadn't even added it with a hyphen to hers.

Nick was mulling over that detail as he rode the elevator up to the High-roller suites at the Grande Hotel on the strip up to the room Mr. Reichmann's credit card had paid for the past few days.

Now Morgan was the one running late stuck in traffic. So he knocked on the door to meet Mr. Reichmann's widow and take her initial statements for their investigation in his death alone. "Dr. Allessandra De Luca, I'm Detective Donovan from the Las Vegas police dept. You were contacted over the phone..."

 

[Sensualista]

"Do open the door for me pet", Alessandra said almost bored to the fetching half-naked woman who was dedicatedly on her knees, focusing all her efforts on licking her mistress's pussy. The pet got up and opened the door to let a hunky dark haired man enter. Way too handsome for a police officer. As they walked into the room together, Alessandra continued as though the officer wasn't there, not even making an effort to cover up her mostly exposed, long and toned legs, which were fully on display under the ultra short wine colored silk bathrobe she wore.

"Your technique has deteriorated and is now mediocre at best. You know that I do not tolerate anything but excellence. You will bring me the implement you believe you deserve to be punished with between your teeth as you crawl towards me. If I feel your choice wanting, your punishment will be doubled. Leave us now", she said, dismissing her pet with a gesture, her bright green eyes now focused on the man from the police, the unwavering intensity of her gaze unsettling.

She was clearly seizing him up, taking in everything from his shoes over his suit to the way he held his body.

"Something has got you on edge, officer", she said in her beautifully melodic and rich voice. "Something besides this case. Relationship", she asked, then shaking her head when she took in his face, languidly recrossing her legs as she did. "You flinched, so it has been an issue, but more in the past. Not a strong enough response to explain what I am seeing in your posture. Is it work?", she added, watching him like a hawk. "Bingo. I see your partner has waited outside, so trouble in paradise", she stated matter of factly. "From the slight flash of shame and anger I saw on your face, I d say you were accused of something and noone believed your side of the story", Alessandra said lightly, stretching her hand out unseen to take the heavy cat o nine tails from her submissive's mouth, leaving her to wait there, ignored in a kneeling position.

"For what it's worth I think you are innocent - this time. You also flashed guilt, indicating you have actually committed this crime just not this time around", Alessandra added, her perfectly manicured finger tapping against her chin thoughtfully.

"So, how can I help you, officer", Alessandra said with an almost playful smile at his response throughout her analysis of him.

"I normally charge in excess of $500 per hour for my therapy sessions, so you are certainly getting a great deal here".

 

[Veroe]

IC: Nick Donovan

Now Morgan was the one running late stuck in traffic. So he knocked on the door to meet Mr. Reichmann's widow and take her initial statements for their investigation in his death alone. "Dr. Allessandra De Luca, I'm Detective Donovan from the Las Vegas police dept. You were contacted over the phone..."

After a moment or two the door opened and a pretty blonde answered. Nick was about to say something when what she was wearing-or rather what she wasn't wearing registered. She was naked save for a leather collar around her neck. As this registered in his mind his eyes couldn't help but be captured by surveying the sumptuous display of a nubile young woman's body. She saw this of course as she opened the door to let him in her eyes drifting down and a blush rising to her cheeks as she ushered him inside. She didn't say a word to him, but he followed her inside the hotel suite anyway.

Inside he could see wall to wall windows with a fantastic view of the famed Las Vegas strip. It was late in the afternoon so the sun was close to the horizon on its way to sunset, but casting long shadows across the room. The suite itself was wide and exquisitely decorated intended to impress the important whales to visit the casino and bet large amounts of money downstairs in the casino.

The naked young woman came to a stop before a woman sitting in a chair. Though it was only a dark red silk robe she atleast had something on. However as he looked over her more he realized that while the robe covered her up it draped over every contour and line of her body as it lounged back in her chair. It was a short robe so it left her legs bare, and what a pair of legs they were, toned like a ballerina's, and long-going on and on for miles. They were spread and the woman in red didn't act as if she cared in the slightest that she might be baring too much or not.

"Dr. De Luca," He asked her for clarification.

"Your technique has deteriorated and is now mediocre at best," She announced to the naked blonde in the leather collar ignoring his question, "You know that I do not tolerate anything but excellence. You will bring me the implement you believe you deserve to be punished with between your teeth as you crawl towards me."

His eyebrow raised at this, and he noticed the woman in red, whom he had taken to be Dr. De Luca, was not regarding her-her slave or submissive-but rather was watching him like a hawk instead. He got the sense she was sizing him up in more ways than just in his appearance.

"If I feel your choice wanting, your punishment will be doubled. Leave us now," She told the young blonde woman with a dismissive wave of her hand. Her eyes never left him.

"Dr. De Luca," He repeated.

"Something has got you on edge, officer," She concluded as if in contemplation of some particularly fascinating crossword puzzle, "Something besides this case...Relationship."

Despite himself his surprise at her guess and how right caught him off guard. Was his problems with Monica that apparent to even total strangers?

Langoruosly one of those impossibly long legs lifted and crossed over the other. He watched a little mesmerized by the motion. She shook her head continuing, "You flinched, so it has been an issue, but more in the past. Not a strong enough response to explain what I am seeing in your posture..."

"Doctor," He cautioned, but she went right on analyzing him like a dead frog in an a biology class on anatomy.

"...Is it work?"

How in hell was he the one being interrogated right now? He had to regain control of this. "I'll be the one asking the questions, Doctor."

Despite that she kept right on, "Bingo-I see your partner has waited outside, so trouble in paradise?"

His reaction she caught of course. He may as well be advertising himself to her on a fucking billboard. He let a little annoyance come off in his tone as he attempted to steer this back into a more professional and appropriate zone. "My partner," He informed her, "Is being delayed, stuck in traffic. Detective Morgan will be here in a few moments."

At that she reached out a hand without looking taking the whip the blonde woman carried in her teeth from the bedroom crawling on her hands and knees the whole way. "From the slight flash of shame and anger I saw on your face, I d say you were accused of something, and no one believed your side of the story."

She was right on that one. They hadn't believed him. Colleagues, friends for years, suddenly had turned on him, the whole department fell over themselves to stab him in the back the moment they heard IA had been investigating him.

"For what it's worth I think you are innocent-" She went on finger tapping on her chin contemplatively, "-This time."

Those last two words hit him like a runaway Mack truck. "What makes you say that?"

"You also flashed guilt, indicating you have actually committed this crime just not this time around," She answered.

He shook himself. She was doing a classic trick. Turning the tables from the outset to dictate and control the interview session. Making it all about him and forcing him to defend himself. It put her automatically in a position of power and subconsciously the whole investigation and the investigators beneath her. Many of the more narcissistic serial killers in the casefiles he had studied in Quantico had the stones to try it on their investigators, But why do so from the start? Unless she had something very bad to hide.

"Doctor," He said a little more firmer than before, "I'm not here to talk about me."

"So, how can I help you, officer," She said with playfully mischievous grin, "I normally charge in excess of $500 per hour for my therapy sessions, so you are certainly getting a great deal here."

"And again, Doctor," He corrected, "This isn't about me."

"I assume the officer that contacted you told you what happened to your husband," Nick went on, "I'm sorry for your loss, but we need any information you can give to aid our investigation into his death."

He gestured around the palatial suite, "Such as why book this room when he rented an entire house only a few blocks away?"

 

[Sensualista]

What an interesting development that Donovan walked in on her whilst Alessandra was in a dominant space. Her predator was out and purring, wanting to play and she simply couldnt help herself playfully swatting at the cop's composure to see what he was made of.

The way his eyes followed the movement of her mainly exposed legs simply made her slow her motion down languidly, almost caressing one leg with the other as she recrossed them gracefully.

"I'll be the one asking the questions, Doctor", he had tried valiently, evoking nothing but a smile. "Wanna bet?", alessandra thought playfully, knowing she was playing with fire here, teasing and tormenting the investigating officer in her husband's murder with her as a prime suspect. There was something in him that brought out her dominant side. Typically her feline predator as she called that side of herself only came out in response to a submissive. Could it be?

Alessandra's thoughts went to him naked, kneeling on the floor in front of her, wearing nothing but a bowtie, his eyes lowered, awaiting her command. The thought turned her on...

He kept responding to her questions, almost as though mesmerised, giving her way more leeway than she had expected. She knew she was good, but was he really so sexually frustrated or so submissive that he would just let her wrap him around her little finger?

Her perceptive skills had freaked out and aroused many a man and woman and was one of the main reasons she was one of the best poker players in the country and Mr. Donovan was certainly showing signs of being psyched out, trying desperately and unsuccessfully to take back control of the conversation until she took pity on him. She would need to take it out on her submissive afterwards...

"I am sorry for your loss, but we need any information you can give to aid our investigation into his death", Nick stated not unkindly.

"Thank you. As you can see I am heartbroken. I have a high stakes poker tournament on this evening and the hotel kindly offers me this suite for convenience. My husband was meant to join me later this evening, but it now seems unlikely that he will", she said matter of factly, continuing to watch him carefully.

"As you can see I am somewhat inappropriately dressed, so if you wouldnt mind giving me a minute", she said, not really asking as she got up, flashing most of her beautifully toned legs at him again and disappearing in the adjacent bedroom without looking back, her submissive following her on her knees.

After a few minutes, Morgan was knocking on the door and he went to open it to let his "partner" in.

It was only a few moments later that Dr. De Luca emerged out of her bedroom dressed as conservatively as a woman of her exceptional beauty could be. Her impeccable make up was streaked by some of the tears that were running down her face, her hair neatly tied back in an austere chignon, none of the previous sensuality now visible.

"Thank you so much for waiting, Inspector Donovon", she said in a soft, shaky voice completely unlike anything he had heard from her before.

"Please excuse my state, I, I still havent quite processed what happened...", she said, glancing away as though ashamed of her tears.

"Did you want the glass of whiskey now that you d asked for earlier, Inspector? It is too early for me join you, but please, feel free to have whatever you wish", she added innocently, her large, moist green eyes glancing up. Morgan was clearly eating it up, casting a disapproving glance at Donovan.

"At this time of day", she hissed under her breath with obvious contempt.

"Dr. Alessandra de Luca. Please do let me know if there is anyway I can help you with your investigation, inspectors", she said, sitting back down demurely on the same place of teh couch she had previously occupied so very differently.

 

[Veroe]

IC: Nick Donovan

"I assume the officer that contacted you told you what happened to your husband," Nick went on, "I'm sorry for your loss, but we need any information you can give to aid our investigation into his death."

"Thank you," She replied in a casual tone of voice as if she was talking merely about the weather outside, "As you can see I am heartbroken."

She didn't seem very heartbroken to him. Though if his fifteen years in law enforcement had taught Nick anything it was that Grief was a strange and often unpredictable thing. So right now Dr. De Luca sounded indifferent to what had happened to her husband, but was not to say that was really how she felt. She may be shutting down the emotional side of her at the news or perhaps the reality hadn't hit her just yet.

He'd wait and see which one.

"There is still some questions I need you to answer, Ma'am." He gestured around the palatial suite, "Such as why book this room when he rented an entire house only a few blocks away?"

"I have a high stakes poker tournament on this evening and the hotel kindly offers me this suite for convenience," She explained again matter-of-factly, "My husband was meant to join me later this evening, but it now seems unlikely that he will."

He nodded trying to pry his eyes away from the languid sway of the bare leg crossed over the other in the air. This woman would make the Pope start having impure thoughts.

"As you can see I am somewhat inappropriately dressed, so if you wouldn't mind giving me a minute." She obviously picked up what a distraction her state of undress was being and got up though not even trying to stop the flash of sleek, sun-kissed thigh and the curve of a taut buttock he got as she did so. She began to head for the bedroom her naked submissive following on hands and knees after her.

"Certainly Doctor," He said thankful for the chance to reorient himself. It seemed from the moment the door had opened to let him inside this suite he'd been thrown off balance by her.

He spent the next few minutes breathing in deep trying to center himself and organize his thoughts. The air in the room was thick with the scent of sex-hers presumably. His mind tried to go down a dozen different rabbit holes picturing what Dr. De Luca and her submissive had been doing to account for why it was so strong in the air.

This was so not helping him refocus his thoughts.

He jumped when Morgan knocked on the suite's door. When he let her in she looked at him with annoyance. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

Nick looked back at her stunned. He'd questioned suspects solo before with his previous partners. Nick hadn't expected it to be an issue with Morgan. She really did not trust him.

The doors opened and Dr. De Luca strode out of her bedroom wearing a skirt and blouse that was the exact opposite to the red bathrobe she had worn minutes before. Where it had draped and accentuated every contour of her body to the eye this revealed nothing. It seemed overtly conservative, like she was making a statement with the choice of this outfit. Also her mascara was streaked down her cheeks with tears Nick knew she hadn't been shedding minutes before.

Either she had needed the privacy for it to hit her or she was playing some sort of game here.

"Thank you so much for waiting, Inspector Donovon." Her voice was soft, shaken, tear-soaked.

What the hell was going on here?

"Please excuse my state. I-I still haven't quite processed what happened..." She continued glancing away from them as if embarrassed by her emotional appearance.

Was this the same woman he'd met minutes before?

Then she added oh-so-innocently, "Did you want the glass of whiskey now that you d asked for earlier, Inspector?"

"What," He stuttered shaking his head in denial. "I didn't-"

She pressed on cutting off his denial, "It is too early for me join you, but please, feel free to have whatever you wish."

"At this time of day." Morgan glared at him in disapproving contempt.

Fucking fantastic. The last thing he needed was for her to think he was drinking again. He'd been sober for years. Had Dr. De Luca known that somehow? She'd proven how perceptive she was earlier, but Nick was pretty sure he had not given any sign of his past alcoholism in their brief exchange...unless she was somehow telepathic it must have been just a coincidence.

"Dr. Alessandra de Luca. Please do let me know if there is anyway I can help you with your investigation, inspectors," she said, sitting back down demurely on the same place of the couch she had previously occupied so very differently.

"I didn't ask you for a drink," He put in letting a little of his growing annoyance with this game she was suddenly playing with him show in his tone.

"Nevermind that, Donovan," Morgan told him said raising a hand to stop him. To Dr. De Luca she added, "I apologize for my partner, Doctor. We should probably just begin, shall we?"

Morgan pulled out a notepad and pen-she was old school that way-asking, "When was the last time you saw your husband?"