Murder in the Morning
By Pamala Rush

All Disclaimers apply.

	"Welcome to KKTS in the morning," the radio announcer 
yelled in Mark Sloan's ear from the bedside radio alarm. "This is the 
Pandie Anderson show. All put downs all the time!"
	"Not funny, Freddie," the woman known as Pandie said. 
"But then I'll have to forgive you. You are after all, a man."
	"Oh, straight through the heart," Freddie said, feigning a 
wounded voice.
	Pandie Anderson and Freddie Bailey woke Mark up every 
morning with their witty banter and piercing cut downs. Pandie was 
the daughter of an old friend who had died several years ago 
leaving his then artist daughter with the radio station. Working 
under Mark's advice, she had turned it into a popular country music 
station. Her morning show was the most popular show on the air in 
LA.
	"Men are pigs anyhoo," Pandie continued, as she did every 
morning except Sundays, with her man bashing. "Except my daddy 
and Dr. Sloan."
	Mark perked up at that. "Now who is Dr. Sloan?" Freddie 
asked slyly.
	"Go ahead and tell him," Mark said. "I'm the guy who took 
out your appendix five years ago."
	"He's the doctor who took my appendix out a few years 
ago," Pandie said.
	"Good girl," Mark said as he crawled out of bed and headed 
into the bathroom for his normal morning routine.
	The banter continued back and forth for a few minutes, 
Pandie saying a snide remark about men and Freddie giving a quick 
comeback until they took a call from a familiar voice.
	"We have on the phone," Pandie paused. "Jesse.  What do 
you have to say Jesse."
	"Well," began the caller. It was Jesse Travis, a doctor friend 
of Mark's from Community General. "I was just wondering what 
exactly men ever did to you to make them dislike them so 
vehemently."
	"Nothing," Pandie replied. "They never do anything for me 
either. Why, my last boyfriend never gave me flowers, never took 
me to dinner, never took me for romantic walks on the beach. I 
think his name was Jack. He's a doctor in Vale, Colorado now."
	"Sounds like he was a real jerk," Jesse commented.
	"Why do you think we broke up?"
	"You know," Jesse said. "I know the doctor you were 
talking about." Mark choked on his toothpaste, rinsed his mouth out 
and grabbed the phone.
	"Cool," Pandie said. "Tell him hi for me next time you see 
him, will ya'?" Then she hung up on him.
	"That was rude hanging up on him like that," Freddie said.
	"Next caller," Pandie said ignoring him.

	Pandie stuck her tongue out at her co-host through the glass 
as he brought up the next caller. Freddie only smiled back before 
speaking. "I think the audience is going to like this next caller. Dr. 
Mark Sloan, you're on the air!"
	Pandie choked on her apple juice as Freddie laughed. 
"Mark! Long time no hear." She coughed a couple of times before 
she was able to make another attempt at speech. "How's life?"
	"Life's great," Mark answered. "Did you know that I wake 
up to your show?"
	"There's no accounting for taste," Pandie replied.

	"I don't believe this," Jesse said as he listened to Pandie and 
Mark talk over the radio. Jesse was in the doctor's lounge at 
Community General where he had been listening to Pandie's show. 
"Listen to this," he said to friend and coworker Amanda Bentley.
	"I remember Pandie Anderson," she said as she put her 
romance novel, *The Bonds of Love,* down to listen. "She went 
out with Jack Stewart for a couple of months before he went to 
Vale."
	"Oh, so he's Jack the jerk," Jesse said before Amanda 
shushed him.

	"That guy you just hung up on," Mark said over the phone 
as Pandie listened leaning back in her chair. "I do know him. He's 
Doctor Jesse Travis from the hospital where I work."
	Pandie made a chagrined look at Freddie, who just shook his 
head. "I'm sorry," she said in her usual not-sorry-he's-a-man voice. 
"I treat all men that way except my daddy...."
	"I know, I know," Mark said. "And your daddy's dead."
	"Precisely," Pandie said watching Freddie wave frantically 
at her. "We have to go to commercial right now, so we'll talk more 
about my man bashing later."
	"Pandie," Freddie said as soon as they were clear. "I have 
got a great idea."
	"Let's hear it," Pandie said.

	"Hey, Sloan," Officer Dave Cummins called from the 
doorway to Detective Steve Sloan. "Your dad's on the radio."
	"What are you talking about?" Steve asked.
	"He called in to the Pandie Anderson show on KKTS," Dave 
told him as he tuned the radio on top of the file cabinets to the 
correct station. "You know the woman who's always putting down 
men?"
	Steve nodded as Dave found the station and the DJ's voice 
broke through the air. "Well, Freddie gave me a great idea during 
the commercial and Mark has agreed to it," a woman's voice was 
saying. "I have invited Dr. Sloan to be my personal guest on 
tomorrow's show. Right Mark?"
	"Oh no," Steve groaned as his father's voice came over. "I 
certainly am," Mark said. "As long as you don't put me down in the 
process."
	"Now would I do that to you?" Pandie said to a myriad of 
boos and hisses.
	"You're never gonna hear the end of this Sloan," Dave said 
as he went back out to his duties.

	"I wouldn't know," Mark said into the phone. "It just sounds 
like fun is all."
	"I'll try not to be to hard on you," Pandie said. "Now let's 
spin a few CD's, shall we?"
	Freddie came on with, "Sung by women of course. We've 
got Patty Loveless with 'That kind of girl.'"
	"Gee, thanks Freddie. That fits with the theme of the show 
all right," Pandie fit in before the song filled the airwaves in Mark's 
room. Over the phone she said, "Mark you still there?"
	"With bells on," Mark said.
	"Thanks for calling," she said. "It was great talking to you 
again. A bright point in an otherwise dull existence."
	"It will be even better seeing each other again in the 
morning," Mark replied.
	"Yes, it will. I hope you'll tell your friend that I'm sorry for 
hanging up in his ear," Pandie said.
	"I will," Mark told her. "But won't that ruin your man 
bashing image?"
	"It's just a gimmick," Pandie said. "If people stop believing 
it and stop listening, I'll find another one."
	"What is this about a dull existence?" Mark asked.
	"I get up at five a.m., eat breakfast-- a bagel and coffee-- go 
for my morning jog on the beach, and come to work," Pandie 
explained. "Some times the show gets a bit crazy, as you probably 
know since we wake you up every morning...."
	"That I do," Mark said.
	"At lunch time I change from Pandie Anderson, DJ in 
sweats and canvas shoes to Pandora Anders, station owner and 
manager in double breasted suit, panty hose and heels," Pandie said. 
"All afternoon until eight I do paperwork and everything that needs 
to be done to keep this place running. Then I go home and eat 
dinner and spend my time until ten watching TV and doing other 
projects. The next morning it all happens the same way."
	"Sounds like you keep busy," Mark said.
	"Busy but dull," Pandie said as Freddie signaled her. "I'd 
better let you go now. Freddie's signaling me that the song's almost 
over."
	"See you tomorrow then," Mark said.
	"Tomorrow," Pandie replied and hung up the phone.

	Pandie finished saying her good-byes to Mark and hung the 
phone up gently. When she looked up, Freddie and the engineer 
made crying noises and faces. "Boo hoo," Freddie said. "How 
sweet!"
	"Get me a bucket," said the engineer. "I think I'm gonna 
puke it's so sweet."
	Pandie stuck her tongue out at them and laughed.

	Jesse stood with a wheelchair as Mark was looking at the 
file of one of his departing patients. "I want you to take good care of 
yourself when you get home, Mrs. Miller," he was telling her. "I 
don't want to see you in here again for awhile."
	"You won't," Mrs. Miller replied. "Now what's this I hear 
about you being on the radio this morning."
	"Oops," Jesse said as he started to turn and leave the room. 
"I'm in trouble."
	"Jesse," Mark said sternly, stopping the young doctor in his 
tracks. "I wonder where she heard about that."
	"Not from me," Jesse returned.
	"Is it true that you'll be on again tomorrow?" Mrs. Miller 
went on. "I think that that young woman needs a lesson in 
manners."
	"She's a very nice young woman," Mark said as he helped 
her into the wheelchair. "She's just like that on the radio."
	"I don't know," Mrs. Miller said. "She sounds awful rude to 
me. I mean hanging up on that nice young man this morning."
	"That nice young man was Dr. Travis," Mark told her.
	Mrs. Miller looked up at Jesse. "Why would a nice young 
man like you call a disgusting talk show like that that puts down 
men?"
	"I don't know," Jesse said thoughtfully. "Why would a nice 
lady like yourself listen to a disgusting talk show like that?"
	Mrs. Miller blushed and turned back to Mark. "I don't 
know," she said stubbornly. An orderly came and wheeled Mrs. 
Miller out of the room leaving Mark and Jesse to themselves.
	"By the way, Jesse, she told me to tell you she's sorry for 
cutting you off like that this morning," Mark said as he walked out 
of the room and down the hall.
	"You're kidding," Jesse said. "You mean she really is a nice 
young woman?"
	"That's what she is all right," Mark said as he patted the 
younger man on the shoulder. "Just don't tell any one. It might ruin 
her reputation."
	"Her secret's safe with me," Jesse said. "Do you think she'd 
mind if I kind of, well, tagged along with you tomorrow?"
	"Probably not," Mark replied.

	"Goooooood Morning LA!" was what woke Mark up the 
next morning. It was an hour earlier than usual. "It's my last hour on 
the radio, but don't you worry, Pandie 'the man hater' Anderson is 
coming up with her special guest and probably the only male friend 
she's ever gonna have, Mark Sloan! Whoa!"
	Mark squeezed his eyes shut and chuckled before pulling 
himself out of bed to Garth Brooks' latest.
	Jesse arrived just in time to go to the station. KKTS was 
hopping when they got there, but they were quickly ushered into a 
room with a desk, a microphone, a telephone with several rows of 
buttons, and a few chairs in it. A glass window partitioned the room 
from the control room where Freddie and the engineer sat.
	Pandie sat in one of the chairs dressed in a sweat suit and 
braids. "How's it going Mark?" she asked from her chair near the 
desk. "Who's your friend?"
	"This is Dr. Jesse Travis," Mark introduced.
	"Oh, THE Jesse Travis from yesterday morning," Pandie 
said as she stood up to shake his hand. "It is truly a pleasure to meet 
you. And I'm not just saying that."
	"I'm glad to meet you, too," Jesse stated. "And I'm glad that 
you're not really a man hater."
	"You're right, I'm not really," Pandie told him. "And to be 
truthful, Jack wasn't really a jerk either."
	Jesse laughed. "That's good to hear."
	Pandie glanced over to the window. "Freddie's signaling that 
the news is almost over, so why don't you two have a seat and we'll 
see if we can get a good debate over the niceness of men started."
	Mark took one chair and Jesse took the other then Pandie 
gave them each a pair of earphones. "You'll need these to hear 
Freddie," she told them as she put her own pair on.
	As soon as she got them settled over her ears, she heard 
Freddie's voice. "I think you'd better take this call, Pandie," he said.
	"Put me on the air," Pandie said.
	"No, I think you'd better take this one in private," Freddie 
said.
	Pandie looked over at Freddie through the glass. His 
expression was so serious that it frightened Pandie. She looked back 
at Jesse and Mark. "I'd better take this one," she said as she pulled 
the headphones off and put them on the desk next to the phone. She 
picked up the receiver and hit a flashing button. "KKTS radio," she 
answered. "What can I do for you?"
	"There's a bomb in your studio," a slightly metallic voice 
said.
	Pandie looked over at Freddie. "What?"
	"There's a bomb in your studio," the voice repeated. "I'd 
evacuate if I were you."
	The line clicked then went silent in her ear.
	She debated on her next course of action for about two 
seconds. She dropped the phone into its cradle and picked the 
headphones up then put one speaker to her ear. "Freddie, put on a 
taped show and call the police," she told him. "Then begin 
evacuation procedures for a bomb scare." She turned to Mark and 
Jesse. "Let's find the nearest exit."
	"Was that what I think it was?" Jesse asked as he followed 
her out the door.
	"If you're asking if that was a bomb threat," Pandie said. 
"Then yes, it was." By this time they were in the main lobby where 
word had gotten out about the threat and things were absolute 
chaos. "People!" Pandie said loudly and sternly.
	Everything stopped. "If you go out orderly and peacefully, 
things will go a lot faster."
	Things began moving again, but more orderly and a bit 
faster than they had gone before. The place finished clearing out as 
Freddie came from the hall leading down to the control room. "The 
bomb squad is on its way and the taped show is on. All we need 
now is to get the place emptied," he said.
	"Which seems to be done," Pandie said as she looked around 
at the now empty lobby.
	Mark grabbed her arm and began leading her towards the 
door. "Which is what we should do," he said.
	"By the way," Freddie said on their way out. "Gabrielle 
Parker was here. She wanted to talk to you first chance you got. She 
said she was going to wait in your office."
	"I hope she left with the others," Pandie said as she 
approached her car. Sirens were wailing all around them as the 
bomb squad arrived.
	A blue gray car pulled up in front of them and the driver got 
out. "Hey dad," he said. "What's going on?"
	"You here to investigate the bomb scare?" Mark asked him.
	Steve Sloan nodded then Mark introduced him to Pandie. 
"This is Pandora Anders and her co-host Freddie Bailey."
	"Pandie," she said.
	"I remember you. You stepped all over my toes at a banquet 
a few years ago," Steve said as he eyed her attire. "Only you were 
dressed a bit better."
	Pandie glanced down at her sweats and looked at him. "The 
great thing about radio is that no one can see you," she watched a 
TV news van pull up at the roadblock. "Usually. If you'll excuse me 
I'm going to find a place to change my clothes." She pulled a 
clothes hanger with a clothing carrier over it from her car and took 
off towards the park across the street. Suddenly she turned back 
around. "I'll tell you everything I can about the call when I get 
back."


	Twenty minutes later she was back in a neatly pressed suit 
of the lightest pink silk. Braids gone, her hair was pulled up into an 
elegant and professional French twist, a strand or two hanging from 
it in tight curls at the base of her neck. Most surprising of all was 
the fact that she had somehow managed to apply enough make-up 
to her face for her to look like a total professional. A pair of white 
heels were on her feet instead of the canvas shoes which she had 
started the day out with.
	Several news crews had gathered by this time and Steve was 
only waiting for the station's owner before going to talk to them. 
"Where is she?" he asked Pandie.
	"You're looking at her," Pandie replied. "Would you like to 
hear about the phone call now?"
	"Of course," Steve said. He was a bit surprised at how fast 
the woman had been able to make herself look like a woman. He 
pulled his notebook from an inside pocket and wrote down 
everything Pandie told him. "That's all he said?"
	Pandie nodded as a cellular phone in her inside pocket rang. 
"KKTS radio."
	"Did they find my bomb?" said the same metallic voice that 
had delivered the bomb threat.
	"Who in the hell are you?" Pandie said.
	The voice laughed. "Did they find my bomb?"
	Steve, Mark and Jesse were looking at her strangely. "Did 
they find the bomb?" she asked.
	"Not yet," Mark answered. "Is that him?"
	Pandie nodded as she spoke into the phone. "No, not yet. 
Where did you hide it?"
	It laughed again. "Your office." The click signaled the end 
of the call and the dial tone was heard.
	Pandie flipped the phone shut. "He said it's in my office," 
she told the others. "It's off the main hall. My name's on the door."
	"Stay here," Steve said as he went over to where the bomb 
squad was. A few seconds later he was back. "They're checking 
your office."
	The longest ten minutes of any of their lives passed before 
one of the bomb experts came to talk to them. "We didn't find any 
bomb anywhere in the station, but we found something in Miss 
Anders' office you need to see."
	Pandie and Steve followed the officer just ahead of Jesse 
and Mark. Pandie's office was spotless as usual except for the pool 
of blood that Gabrielle Parker lay in. Pandie gasped as Mark pushed 
his way through to inspect the body. Gabrielle's eyes stared at the 
ceiling like glass marbles and there was a knife through her chest 
and the book that lay on top of it. Mark looked up at them and 
shook his head. Pandie's cell phone chose that moment to ring 
again.
	"You found it didn't you?" the metallic voice asked. "You 
found my bomb-- and yours."
	'It's him,' she mouthed to them. "What are you talking 
about?" Pandie asked as Steve looked back at her.
	It laughed again and Pandie decided that it was a sickening 
sound. "Your bomb," it said. "Your latest romance novel."
	The click and tone told her that he had hung up on her again. 
"What's the book?" she asked.
	Mark looked around the blood and knife without touching 
either to read the title. "*The Bonds of Love,*" he told her. "Why?"
	"By Elizabeth Rien, right?" she asked. "Right?!"
	Mark nodded as Steve said, "What is it?"
	"It was him, her, it," she said visibly upset. "They said," she 
paused and swallowed, "They said that it was my bomb."
	"Now I'm confused," Jesse said.
	She clutched at her chest. "I wrote that book," she said. "I'm 
Elizabeth Rien."

	Her mascara was running and her eyes were red as she sat in 
the doctor's lounge waiting with Mark for the results of the autopsy. 
The results of the tests on the knife had come back revealing that 
there were no prints on the weapon. Steve and his team had found 
no prints out of place anywhere in the entire station. Mark's 
appearance on the show had been postponed until a later date and 
the tape of Pandie's show was still playing.
	Her people had gone back to work as soon as the bomb 
squad and police had cleared it, but she couldn't go into her office 
until Steve and his team had gone through it with a fine toothed 
comb.
	"I wish I had never written that book," Pandie said. "Or any 
of the others."
	"How many did you write?" Mark asked.
	"Three," Pandie replied. "All pretty good sellers."
	"Amanda's been raving about Elizabeth Rien's books for 
awhile," Mark said. "I never thought the author would ever be you."
	"I don't do book signings because of the show," Pandie said. 
"I don't think anyone else would expect this from *the man hater.*"
	"The killer has to be someone you know and who knows 
that you write the books," Mark said. "Who's your manager?"
	Pandie snorted. "Gabrielle Parker."
	Mark nodded slowly. "I see."
	"She was a good friend, too," Pandie said.
	"Was she always your manager?" Mark asked.
	"No," Pandie replied. "My first manager was Alastair Davis. 
I met him at the banquet when I stepped all over Steve's feet, but I 
haven't seen him since I fired him."
	"Why did you fire him?"
	"He wasn't working out," Pandie replied. "My first book, 
_Daydreams_ was waiting to be published and he said he had taken 
it to everyone. I found out that he just wanted the money I was 
paying him to find a good publisher, for the expenses, and keeping 
it for himself. Do you think he could be doing this?"
	"Who knows," Mark replied. "We have to look at every 
angle."
	"Yeah, I guess," Pandie said. "And I bet this puzzle is 
shaped like a octagon."
	Mark chuckled.

	Jack Stewart looked out the window of Los Angeles 
International Airport at the city beyond. More than two years had 
passed since he had left this city for a job in Vale. Now he was here 
on a well-deserved vacation from his practice there. He was hoping 
to meet some gorgeous women, have a nice visit with Mark, 
Amanda, and Steve, and perhaps get a good tan laying on some 
beach somewhere.
	Jack turned from the window and headed for the baggage 
claim. After unpacking at his hotel he planned on going to 
Community General to see Mark and Amanda. A lot could change 
in two years. He hoped they still worked there.
	On the street outside, he got a cab and was halfway to 
Community General before Mark came on the radio.
	 "I think the audience is going to like this next caller. Dr. 
Mark Sloan, you're on the air!" the guy on the radio said. Jack 
gagged.
	"Mark! Long time no hear." The woman DJ said before she 
coughed a couple of times. "How's life?"
	"Life's great," Mark answered. "Did you know that I wake 
up to your show?"
	"There's no accounting for taste," the familiar sounding DJ 
replied.
	"What station is this?" Jack asked the driver incredulously 
as the show went on.
	"KKTS radio," The driver replied. "Something wrong?"
	"No," Jack replied. "I just know the person on the radio."
	"Pandie Anderson?" the driver asked. "My wife loves her 
show."
	Now Jack knew why he knew the DJ. Pandie Anders. He 
dated her for a few months before he went to Vale. "Well, yeah," 
Jack told the driver. "But I was talking about Dr. Sloan."
	"He was supposed to be on today," the driver told him. "This 
is yesterday's show. I heard there was a bomb scare at the station 
this morning."
	By now they were arriving at the hospital. "Thanks," Jack 
said as he gathered his things and vacated the car.
	The hospital was just as he had left it. Oh, there were a few 
new faces, but it was the same old Community General. After going 
up on the elevator, he found that Mark was not in his office. He still 
had the same old office, but he just wasn't there.
	He walked back down the hall to the doctor's lounge where 
he stuck his head in. A young doctor sat looking at a file as if it told 
the meaning of life. "Excuse me," Jack asked and the man looked 
up. "Could you tell me where Dr. Mark Sloan is?"
	The young man stood and passed Jack going out the door. 
"He's in the morgue with Amanda. I was about to head down there. 
You want me to show you how to get there?"
	"No," Jack said. "I know the way." He turned and started to 
walk in the direction that he remembered the morgue as being.
	"That's the wrong direction," the younger man told him.
	"I haven't been here in awhile," Jack stated. "When did they 
move it?"
	"Before I got here," was the reply. "It's been in the same 
place as long as I've been here, about two years."
	"And you know Amanda Bentley?" Jack asked.
	"Yeah," the younger man stated. "Only it's Dr. Livingston 
now."
	"I never thought of her as the marrying type," Jack said as 
he followed the young resident down the hall towards the morgue.

	Mark stood next to Steve looking at the body of what once 
had been Pandie's friend and manager. Pandie stood on the other 
side of the room behind the door, shaking. On the table next to the 
body were the knife and bloody book encased in a plastic evidence 
bag.
	"The cause of death is pretty cut and dry," Amanda said. 
"She died of a fatal stab wound to the heart."
	"What about the book?" Steve asked.
	Amanda picked the subject of Steve's question up and held it 
in front of her. "The killer stuck the knife through the book before 
he stabbed her. There was no paper debris in the wound."
	Steve nodded before asking his next question. "How long 
had she been dead when we found her?"
	"I'd say she died about the time the first call came through," 
She replied as the door behind her opened.
	"Dr. Livingstone, I presume," said the man who came 
through.
	"Jack?!" Amanda said with surprise.
	"In the flesh," Jack replied then gave her a big hug. He 
shook hands with Steve and Mark as Jesse came up behind them.
	"When did you get in?" Mark asked.
	"This morning," Jack replied. "The cabbie said something 
about a bomb scare at a radio station this morning. I hear you were 
right in the middle of it."
	"Actually," Steve said. "There was no bomb, just a murder."
	"A murder, huh," Jack said. "Who got murdered?"
	"My manager," said a quiet voice from behind him.
	Jack turned to find Pandie Anders standing in her pink silk 
with her mascara smeared down her cheeks. "How you doin'?" he 
asked gently.
	"I'm fine, I think," she replied.
	They stood looking at each other for a few minutes before 
her folded her into his arms. She felt as right there as she had before 
he went to Vale and she went to work at the station. "It's good to see 
you," he told her through the embrace.
	"It's good to see you too," Pandie said before he released 
her.
	Jack rubbed at one of the streaks of mascara staining her 
face. "Don't tell me you've been pining away for me all this time."
	Pandie shoved at his shoulder. "Yeah right," she said as the 
spell broke. "In your dreams."
	"As always," Jack said as he kissed her cheek.
	"So you're the Jack I've heard so much about," Jesse 
interrupted the reunion.
	"I guess," Jack said. "Who are you?"
	Amanda was the one to do the introduction. "Jack, this is 
Jesse Travis. He's one of the residents that Mark is in charge of."
	"Then I guess it's a pleasure to meet you Dr. Travis," Jack 
said as he shook Jesse's hand.
	"Good to meet you too," Jesse said with conviction.

	The radio was turned on to KKTS radio, playing gently the 
song that had played at the same time yesterday. Nearby a blood 
stained blouse lay over a chair, its owner having thrown it there in a 
hurry.
	The woman sat next to the desk on which the radio sat, 
waiting for the show to return from the commercial the song had 
ended for. Suddenly there was a silence, then the live show came 
on.
	"Ladies and those men brave enough to listen," Freddie 
Bailey said over the waves. "KKTS is back on the air!"
	The woman sighed and flipped the switch off. She turned 
back to what she was doing.
	Across the room on the wall was a dartboard with several 
darts in it. Pinned up over the board, as a target for the darts, was an 
8x10 of Pandie Anderson a.k.a. Pandora Anders. The woman threw 
another dart and it landed in the middle of the photograph on 
Pandie's nose.

	Pandie was tired, but still in her pink suit for the rest of her 
show. She tried to make light of the situation.
	"Well, Freddie," Pandie said. "This has been some day, 
hasn't it?"
	"Yeah," Freddie said. Behind him stood Mark, Jesse, 
Amanda and Jack, having been invited to watch the show being 
done.
	"By now everyone has heard about the bomb scare," Pandie 
said.
	"It was probably some man who was insulted by something 
you said," Freddie said.
	Pandie smiled for the first time that day at the group behind 
the glass. "That's a good one Freddie," she said. "Now shut up and 
play us a song."
	"Spinning 'Think About Elvis'," Freddie said.
	The music started playing through the speakers and Pandie 
took her earphones off and waved her guests in. They entered 
through the door which attached the soundproof room to the control 
room.
	"Do I sound calm?" Pandie asked them as soon as they came 
through the door.
	"Yes," Amanda told her as the others nodded their 
agreement.
	"I don't feel calm," Pandie said. "I feel like a nervous 
wreck."
	"Considering what has happened today," Jack said. "I would 
be surprised if you weren't a nervous wreck."
	"Thanks for your vote of confidence," Pandie said with a 
half smile. "Have a seat, everyone." Then to her friend in the 
control room, "Freddie, could you bring a pot of coffee and some 
cups?"
	"Will do," came Freddie's voice over the speaker and he 
gave her a smart salute through the glass.
	Pandie gave him a dirty look and turned to Mark and the 
others. "Thanks for coming along," she said. "I really needed the 
moral support."
	"I've always wondered about you," Jesse told her. "You've 
blown all my conceptions of you right out of the water."
	Everyone chuckled. "It's just a gimmick. You can get by in 
this business without one," she told him. "Especially in this town."
	"It's good to see you doing so well," Jack commented.
	"I feel that way myself," Pandie replied. "You having fun in 
Vale?"
	"I work three days a week," Jack told her. "The other four 
days I can ski."
	"He couldn't take working seven days a week," Amanda 
said.
	"I couldn't take the punishment I got from you," Jack 
replied.
	Amanda punched him in the arm, hard. Jack rubbed the area 
and said, "You're getting weaker."
	Mark shook his head. "Just like old times," he said.
	The engineer rapped on the glass with a panicked expression 
on his face. "Pandie, I think you better go to the lounge," he said.
	Pandie felt like she was going to panic again, but she pushed 
it away. "Put on another song," she told the engineer as she 
removed the earphones from her neck and left the room followed by 
her guests.
	Dana Billings was crying on the floor in the hallway just 
outside the lounge, and when Pandie went in, she was struck by the 
horror of Freddie's dead body hanging by a noose from the lighting 
fixture. His eyes stared out at them, lifeless, a look of fear there.

	For the second time in a day, Steve drove his car up in front 
of KKTS Radio and parked near the van belonging to the county 
morgue. He walked over to his father who sat on the ground near 
the hysterical Pandie trying to calm her. Pandie was sitting on the 
ground as well, still in the pink suit she had changed into earlier, 
running her fingers through hair that had long since fallen out of the 
professional twist. Tears poured from her eyes.
	"I can't believe they killed him," she was mumbling over 
and over.
	Mark left her to Amanda's care and stood to talk to Steve. 
"Freddie Bailey was found hanging from the light fixture in the 
lounge," Mark told him as he led his son into the building and down 
the hall to where the coroner was taking down the man's body.
	"Suicide?" Steve asked.
	Mark shook his head. "Not unless he jumped off the counter 
across the room."
	Steve let out a breath. "Any phone calls?"
	Mark shook his head. "Not so far. But there was a note 
found in the front of another of Pandie's books."
	Mark gestured to one of the officers and he brought the note 
over to show Steve. Steve took the plastic encased document, 
written in a sharp font on a computer, and began to read it.
	It said, 'One for the third, one for the second, who will die 
for the first?'
	The officer handed Steve the book it was found in, also 
bagged in plastic, for him to examine. The cover had a beautiful 
woman encased in the arms of a shirtless man pictured with the 
words Meghan's Desire written across them. Elizabeth Rien was 
along the bottom of the romance novel's cover. Steve turned the 
book over and over in his hands, looking for some kind of clue, then 
looked up at the officer.
	"Any prints?"
	The officer shook his head. "Not in the room or on the 
book."
	Steve shook his head. "Thanks," he said and the officer went 
back to work.
	Amanda came up behind them both. "Pandie just told me 
that she's going to completely shut down the station until we find 
out what's going on," she told them.
	"That's logical," Steve said as he turned to face her. "Seems 
to me like her means of making money are being targeted."
	Mark nodded. "The books and the station. But who would 
do such a thing?"
	Steve shook his head. "I'm going to start talking to her 
friends."
	"Too, late," someone said from behind them. The three 
turned to see Pandie standing in the doorway. "The only _real_ 
friends I had were Freddie and Gabby."
	"What about family?"
	Pandie looked thoughtful. "My aunt Edie is in a nursing 
home, and her only son Earl lives in New York. I don't have any 
other family."
	Now it was Steve's turn to look thoughtful. "This is getting 
us nowhere."
	"I agree, son," Mark said. "I can't believe there is nothing to 
go on."
	Steve shook his head then looked up at Pandie. "I want to 
talk to as many people around here as possible."
	"Talk to whoever you need to talk to," Pandie told him. "I 
want to find out who is doing this as much as you do."

	The woman threw the syringe in the wastebasket and 
washed her hands in the sink. Freddie had scratched her hand, but 
she had scraped his nails clean after she hung him. No clues. And 
Pandora would never know what hit her when it came to be her turn 
to die.
	She sat down at the table full of papers, and searched for the 
one she needed. Her birth certificate. She was Paulie Ann Anders, 
the identical twin sister of Pandora Anders.
	Paulie was angry because Pandie had made the big time. 
Their father had divorced their mother, Krista, when the children 
were two, and her mother had never gotten over it. She had taken 
Paulie away from her sister and poisoned her mind about her father. 
When he died leaving everything to Pandie and not even 
mentioning Paulie and Krista, Krista had committed suicide. Paulie 
blamed her sister and spent the last few years plotting her own 
sister's downfall. Her own sister's murder.
	"It'll have a sweet taste," Paulie said to herself as she looked 
down at the birth certificate and a photograph of the two as babies.

	"You sure you're all right?" Jack Stewart asked Pandie over 
a dinner of steak and vegetables that Mark had grilled on his deck.
	The four were sitting, eating dinner and trying to come up 
with a solution to Pandie's murderer. Steve and Amanda were the 
only ones absent.
	"Sometimes, I think I will be," Pandie replied. "Then I think 
about Gabby and Freddie and it starts all over again."
	"Do you think you might need something to help you 
sleep?" Mark asked her. "I can give you something."
	Pandie nodded. "Thanks Mark."
	Jack put his hand on her knee. "You want me to stay with 
you tonight?"
	Pandie shrugged. "Maybe," she said as Amanda and Steve 
came up the stairs.
	"I got the toxicology report back on Freddie," Amanda 
announced.
	"I still can't believe they made you a county medical 
examiner," Jack said with a shake of his head. "It's like they're 
encouraging him." He gestured to Mark.
	Amanda ignored him as Steve spoke. "And I talked to your 
aunt," he told Pandie.
	"Who's going first?" Mark asked.
	Steve gestured to Amanda. "Go ahead," he said.
	She handed the report to Mark. "He had traces of 
psychotropic drugs in his system," she said. "Specifically 
Phenotriptochol."
	Mark looked over his glasses at her. "How'd they get there, I 
wonder?"
	"I redid the autopsy," Amanda said "And I found a puncture 
wound in his shoulder."
	"It's likely that whoever did it was waiting in the room for 
him," Steve said. "He didn't struggle for a really simple reason. He 
knew the person." Steve paused. "Or he thought he did."
	"You want to explain that?" Jesse asked.
	Steve looked at Pandie. "I talked to your aunt and she told 
me something very interesting."
	"What?" Pandie asked.
	"Did you know you had an identical twin sister?"
	Everyone looked shocked except Pandie. "I used to," she 
said. "But she was killed with our mother in a car accident when we 
were six. That's what my dad told me when I asked him about her 
not long before he died."
	"She's not dead," Steve said as he pulled a photograph from 
his pocket and handed it to her. "This was taken about a year ago 
with your aunt."
	Mark looked over her shoulder at the picture. The younger 
woman that stood with an older woman was the spitting image of 
Pandie. "That's not me," Pandie said. "I haven't seen my aunt in 
years although we talk on the phone every week." She pointed to 
the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. "She's in San Francisco 
in this picture and I've never been there."
	"What was the last time you spoke to your aunt?" Steve 
asked.
	Pandie thought about that for a minute. "About a week ago 
on the phone," she replied. "She never told me anything about this. 
She said that she had a surprise for me, but she wouldn't tell me 
what it was."
	"I think we know what it was, now," Mark said. "Your twin 
sister. She's trying to ruin things for you for some reason."
	Pandie shook her head. "I wish I knew why my dad lied to 
me about this."
	Mark patted her hand. "It was probably to save you some 
pain," Mark said. "The few times I spoke to him, I got the feeling 
that their break wasn't amicable. I seem to remember him telling me 
that your mother took your sister even though he had, for some 
unknown reason, gotten custody of you both."
	Pandie drew her hands through her wind blown hair. "I just 
can't understand why my sister would do something like this."
	"You probably never will," Amanda stated.

	"Thanks for bringing me home, Jack," Pandie said. "I think 
I'll be all right, now. You don't have to spend the night."
	"I want to," Jack said as he kissed her cheek. "I think you 
need someone to keep you company... and I'm not talking about 
sleeping with you."
	"Then you'll need some blankets and a pillow," Pandie said 
with a smile as she headed down the hall to get the bedding. When 
she returned with her arms full, she went on. "The couch is very 
lumpy, but it'll do for tonight."
	"I don't want to keep you from your normal routine," Jack 
said.
	"No biggie," Pandie told him. "I usually work on my book, 
but for some reason, I really don't want to tonight."
	"I don't blame you," Jack said as he helped her make the 
couch up into a narrow bed for him.

	The station the next morning was desolate. Pandie had given 
everyone the day off, but Morgan the janitor and Lydia the 
receptionist had insisted on staying to help out.
	Jack came into the office with her. They both stood talking 
to Lydia for several minutes as Morgan cleaned the lobby's carpet 
behind them. Nobody expected Paulie's next move.
	She came in, dressed in black and wearing a black mask 
over her face and head. The gun she held in her hands was a semi-
automatic rifle, and she began to shoot at everyone in the room. 
Lydia took a hit to the neck, but Morgan was hit in the chest and 
died instantly.
	Pandie screamed and ducked with Jack back behind the 
desk. Paulie stopped firing and walked back out the way she had 
come.
	"Damn it!" Pandie screamed. "I'm tired of her killing 
everybody associated with me!" She jumped up and ran after Paulie 
with Jack screaming after her.

	"Paulie!" Pandie screamed.
	The black clothed figure turned around in time for Pandie to 
tackle her. The gun fell a few feet away from them, and they 
struggled to get it. Paulie was able to get herself loose and start 
towards the gun again. Pandie was on her feet in a flash and kicked 
Paulie in the back on the knees, sending the woman flying toward 
the gun. Paulie picked it up and rolled over, aiming it at her twin.
	"It's over," Paulie said as she took in her sister's 
appearance. "You're in good shape."
	"Pretty good," Pandie replied, gasping for air.
	"Not good enough to overcome being shot in the shoulder," 
Paulie said.
	Pandie looked down and suddenly knew why she couldn't 
breathe. Blood stained the pale blue jacket that she wore and poured 
for the wound that Paulie had pointed out. She carefully touched the 
area and looked at the blood on her hand in disbelief.
	Paulie laughed and stood. "I think it's time for you to go 
now," She said as she raised the weapon to shoot her.
	Before she could fire, a blue-gray police car sped up on the 
street in front of the building and stopped with a squeal of its tires. 
Steve jumped out just as Paulie brought the weapon to bear on him. 
She fired twice then turned back to her sister only to find that she 
was gone. Angry, she fired two more times at Steve before he took 
one shot at her, hitting her in the neck and making her drop the 
weapon.
	Jack had Pandie in the entrance of the station where she was 
gasping for air and they had both watched the scene outside. Steve 
kicked the gun aside and checked her vitals. "Jack!" he yelled. "Get 
out here!"
	Jack looked down at Pandie. "You going to be alright?" he 
asked.
	Pandie nodded. "I'll call an ambulance," she said as she 
pulled her cel phone out of her pants pocket.
	Jack kissed her suddenly and took off for where Steve was 
holding pressure on the dying woman's neck.

	Pandie was dozing in her room at CG when Jack came in 
with a dozen roses in his arms. He stood watching her as she slept, 
not moving, just watching.
	Pandie was almost as white as the sheets that she lay on. 
After having suffered a gunshot wound, a collapsed lung, and 
surgery, it was expected that she be pale. Finally he just lay the 
roses on the table next to the bed and turned to leave.
	The scent of the roses touched Pandie's nose and she woke 
up. "Jack?"
	Jack turned and smiled at her. "Hey," he said softly. "You're 
looking better."
	"I feel like I've been through the wringer," she replied. 
"How's Lydia doing?"
	"Better," Jack replied. "She's still in ICU, but Mark and Dr. 
Travis say she's going to pull through."
	Pandie sighed. "That Dr. Travis is a pretty good doctor," she 
said.
	Jack nodded. "I watched him in the OR theatre when they 
were working on you. He is almost as good a doctor as I am."
	Pandie smiled and smacked him with her good right arm. 
She wiped the smile off her face to ask, "How's Paulie?"
	"Still in critical condition, but Dr. Travis says she will 
probably pull through," Jack told her.
	Pandie nodded as Mark and Jesse joined them. "In time to 
face charges for murder," Jesse said.
	"Do you think they'll give her the death penalty?" Pandie 
asked.
	Jesse looked at Mark. "Don't worry about that," Mark said. 
"You worry about getting better so you can get the station up and 
running again."
	"That's a good idea," Jack said. "I'm sure that Dr Travis 
here will take really good care of you until then." He slapped 
Jesse's shoulder.
	Pandie smiled. "I just don't want her to get the death 
penalty."
	"She won't," came Steve's voice from behind the 
assembled.
	"How so?" Mark asked.
	Steve handed Mark a file before he went on. "She's going to 
be remanded to the state mental hospital as soon as she's well 
enough to travel."
	"Why?" Pandie said as she pushed herself up.
	"She's been in and out of mental hospitals since she was 
sixteen," Mark explained as he perused the file. "It seems that your 
mother and sister were in an accident when your sister was killed, 
but both survived with serious head injuries. They were never the 
same."
	Pandie lay her head back on her pillow. "I wish I had 
known. There might have been something I could have done."
	"Don't talk what ifs," Mark told her. "There's nothing you 
can do about it now." He closed the file and patted her hand. "Get 
some rest."
	Jesse nodded in agreement. "I'll be back to check on you 
later."
	Pandie nodded as Jesse turned to leave followed by Mark. 
Steve stopped to say a quick goodbye before following leaving Jack 
and Pandie alone again.
	"You'd better get well pretty quick," Jack said. "I expect 
you to visit me in Vale as soon as you can."
	"I will," she said as he leaned in to kiss her. She stopped 
him just inches from her face. "As long as you promise not to lose 
touch like we did last time you left."
	"I promise," Jack said and finished his lean to kiss her.