FIVE SILVER TONGUE

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THE TARYN HOUSEHOLD (WREN'S CURRENT ADDRESS).
That Same Afternoon.

"Wren Romily-Wallace?" Derek Morgan asked as a tall, pale blonde woman stood behind the screen door in a small Colorado home. Her cheeks were tear-stained, eyes puffy, and the tip of her nose bright red. To someone who didn't know any better, she would look like she had a cold. In reality, her husband had been murdered less than a week ago.

"Yes?" the woman asked, but there was no surprise or confusion in her voice. It was as if she had been expecting them. "Are you police? They already got my statement and asked me everything they needed. What more do you need from me?"

"Mrs. Romily-Wallace, I'm Agent Jennifer Jareau, this is Agent Derek Morgan, we're with the FBI," the shorter blonde next to Morgan spoke in a kinder voice, "We're consulting on your husband's case and we have a few questions separate from the local police force. May we come in? This shouldn't take long."

The woman's icy stare was penetrating as the silence hung over the three of them for a heavy moment. After the hesitation, the woman uncrossed her arms to open the screen door and let them inside. Stepping inside, they could see she was wearing a large t-shirt that must have belonged to her husband. Her hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in days. Morgan shared a pointed look with JJ as if to say, "Seems like a grieving widow to me."

"Can I get you guys anything? Water? Coffee?" the woman offered as she motioned for them to sit on a soft brown couch, a red patterned blanket haphazardly thrown on top of it.

JJ shook her head, "No, thank you. Just have a seat, please."

"Mrs. Romily-Wallace--"

"Please, call me Wren," the woman offered with a small smile, cutting off Morgan mid-sentence. "Every time I hear Wallace, it just reminds me of my husband and I would hate to cry in front of you two. So, what have you come to ask me?"

Morgan continued with where he had been going before he was interrupted, "Wren, your statement was the one most damning to Mr. Baldwin's case, are you aware of that?"

"I was the only other person on the property before the two of them were left alone, so I can only assume it would be," Wren's voice was very purposeful when she spoke as if she was choosing her words very carefully, "It pained me to do it because I loved Teddy so dearly, but I-I couldn't deny the evidence. I haven't... God, I haven't even been able to go back to that house... the home we shared. I can't believe Teddy, our Teddy would snap like this."

"Around what time did you leave your home?" Morgan continued, trying to stay on the subject. JJ was watching him carefully, knowing he had a tendency to come off as interrogating just because of his deep and commanding voice.

Wren took a deep breath as she tried to remember, "The sun hadn't quite set yet, so it was around six, I want to believe. I was heading here actually, my friend and I were going to go out for drinks. Last I saw was them heading out into the woods with beers in their hands, laughing like old friends."

"Didn't they have a fight just a few days prior?" JJ asked. Her tone was confused, but Morgan knew she was looking for inconsistencies and was feigning the confusion. She knew exactly what she was doing.

"Uh, Teddy came to apologize, at least, that was what he said. For all I know, it could have been a rouse to get him alone so he could... well, you know," Wren choked up towards the end of the sentence. "Teddy's always been a marvelous liar, he got us out of so much trouble when we were younger. It's a miracle he and James never got any detention for their antics, but that one had a silver tongue, and teachers loved him. I just never thought he would turn on James, not like this."

The agents shared a look, Morgan hesitating before turning back to the widow and asking, "So, you never saw Teddy with anything that could have been used to knock Jameson out?"

"The police told me they found shattered glass around Jameson's body, I imagined that meant Teddy used the beer bottle he had been holding," Wren's expression shifted into something more perplexed as if the question had caught her off guard. "I-I mean, Jameson was a smaller guy, especially compared to Teddy. I would think he stashed the ax in the woods and knocked him out using the beer bottle or just blunt force."

"We've spoken to Mr. Baldwin's niece, Tensley, have you met her?" JJ questioned, changing the subject but it was clear she was deep in thought.

Wren nodded, "Tensley, yes, a wonderful girl. Poor girl had the worst childhood, but she was as much our niece as she was Teddy's. We were like... we were like family to her. Jameson loved that girl as much as he would one of our own... I think he loved her like that because he knew we could never have our own kids. At least, we never got the chance."

"Forgive me for bringing this up, but that reminds me, was there a strain on your marriage after your miscarriage?" JJ was aware she was treading dangerous territory and she could feel Morgan's glare from her side, "I'm a mother, too, I have a son back at home. I understand how important motherhood can feel for a woman, did Jameson ever look down on you for not being able to have children?"

"No, not at all," the woman shook her head, brushing a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, "Um, that wasn't the first miscarriage I've had and we could never afford a surrogate or IVF, so we just kept trying naturally. It wore down on my mental health, maybe, but never our marriage. Jameson was always so loving, took such good care of me."

"Is that why you let yourself be cut out of your will for him?" Morgan asked and it was clear the question had taken the widow by surprise, "Was there a particular reason your family didn't like Jameson?"

The woman hesitated before a small smile overtook her expression, "My parents wanted me to keep wealth in the family, I suppose. My mother was trying to get me to break up with Jameson and start seeing the son of her friend who was a doctor. I, uh, pardon my French, told her to go fuck herself and proposed to Jameson the next morning. Next thing I knew, I was completely cut off. I didn't care, though, because I knew Jameson was the love of my life."

"Thank you, Wren," JJ said with a soft grin and a nod of her head, "I think that's all we have right now. Here is my card, contact me if you remember any new information. Please don't leave town, we might have more questions as the case goes on."

"Of course, I'm glad you were able to get some more information," Wren nodded as she stood, motioning them to the door. "Thank you, agents, have a nice day."

With that, the door was shut behind them. JJ sighed as the two agents walked to their black SUV parked on the curb. They sat in the front for just a moment.

"Seems like a grieving widow to me," Derek Morgan shrugged as he turned on the car, "I mean, did you see her? She was a mess."

"She was very controlled," JJ contradicted, "Did you see how she froze when I brought up the miscarriage? Most women when you bring up stuff like that will at least look like they're sad about it, but she just looked... numb. Something's off about her."

"I think you're believing what you want to because you want to believe Theodore didn't do it," Morgan commented as they drove, giving the agent next to him a pointed look, "If Wallace was knocked out by brute force, there's no way she did it. Jameson was smaller than Teddy, but he was by no means scrawny. Even if she caught him by surprise, there would be evidence on both Jameson and Wren of a physical altercation."

JJ sighed, "Fine, but if we get the toxicology report back and find out there was some sort of sedative in his system, I'm not ruling her out."

Morgan considered this as he nodded, "Fair enough. I guess we'll see."

so we've finally met the mysterious wren! that poor woman honestly imagine having a bunch of miscarriages and then your husband just gets fuckin murdered asuhfeku i do be putting my characters through hell