Tiredness wracked Barbara's body as she stumbled shoeless back to her apartment. It had been a long day with never-ending bus rides and delays to finally get home. She fumbled with her keys, tucking her heels under her arm as she walked in, and turned on the nearest lamp. Finally, home sweet home. Barbara sighed. "Jim? Holly? You here?" She called out. But to her surprise, neither of them answered. Maybe they were in a deep sleep and hadn't heard her? But when Barbara went to check Holly's room, the room was cleared out. All that remained was her stripped bed and her empty desk.

What the hell? Where are they? Barbara checked her room, and as she opened the closet, she was just as shocked to see most, if not all Jim's clothes were gone. But just as panic for her fiancé and daughter was about to set in, Barbara could hear faint chatter and followed the sounds into her living room. Even after Holly left, Selina and Ivy kept visiting the apartment and helping themselves to the snacks, living the high life.

"Hi," Selina spoke through a mouthful of cereal, breaking the awkward silence between them. "Do you know where Jim is?" Barbara asked. "He dropped off his keys like last week," Selina answered. "What about Holly?" Barbara inquired. "She's with him. But she did stay here for quite a while. She thought you weren't ever coming back," Barbara's eyes widened to the size of saucers. She had to admit, she had been gone for a while, but Holly should've known she'd be back soon. She had said so in her note!

"So, screw them anyway, right?" Barbara grumbled as she plopped down on the sofa next to Ivy. "Who are you guys?" Selina swallowed her mouthful of cereal before the kids introduced themselves. "We're Holly friends. She told us to make ourselves our home and help ourselves to the food," Selina said. Of course Holly did. The girl has a heart of gold. Barbara sadly smiled at the mention of her daughter. Her mind instantly went back to the last night she saw her. And as she remembered how she packed up her things and left while Holly was fast asleep, a twinge of guilt formed in her gut.

How could she leave Holly without saying goodbye? She must be devastated. It may have been months since they last spoke, but Barbara could only hope the most important people in her life would welcome her back with open arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The grin on Holly's face lingered as the day turned into night, and it only seemed to get better. Not long after the art contest ended, she was surprised with a Facetime call from Bruce congratulating her on her big win. And while their conversation may not have lasted long, it was worth seeing each other again. Not only that but during their celebratory lunch and time at the circus, Holly and Lee were getting along very well. Lee took a great interest in Holly's artistry, while Holly asked questions about Lee being the M.E.

Of course, there was the gorier and more graphic side to Lee's job, but to Holly, it was strangely fascinating. Holly happily skipped to their seats in the middle row as they gathered in the big tent to watch the show. As she munched on her cotton candy, she could see the pure joy on her father's face as he and Lee snuggled up together. And it warmed the young girl's heart to see him at his highest peak of joy.

Gasps and awes filled the tent as the Graysons flew through the air. Two men on the opposing sides of the tent swung back and forth across the trapeze. Holly had never seen it before, and it was a wonder how they were so flexible. She quickly grew dizzy with all the spins and turns as the Graysons continued to put on their show. "Ladies and gentlemen, The Flying Graysons! Show them your appreciation!" The ringmaster announced, gesturing to the Graysons as they all took their bows.

Then came the loud honk of a car. Confused, the crowd and the Graysons shifted their gaze as a tiny clown car pulled into the tent. The clowns popped out of the car, juggling balls and various other things, their cackles and fits of laughter were rather unsettling. One of the clowns even rode around the ring on a unicycle. "You want some?" Holly offered her bag of cotton candy to Lee, who took a tiny piece of the pink cotton. "Thank you," She smiled graciously before popping it into her mouth.

As Holly looked back to the stage, one of the clowns approached a Grayson and smashed a big bottle over his head. This didn't look like it was part of the show. It turned into an all-out brawl as the trapeze artists and clowns started pummeling and tackling each other to the ground, screaming, "I hate you!" and challenges of more fighting. "You two stay here," Jim turned to the girls before getting up and walking towards the ring. "GCPD!" He shouted, holding up his badge, but the brawl only continued. "Everybody freeze!"

Three or so cop cars were quick to arrive on the scene and help Jim break up the fight. And during the questioning between the clowns, Graysons, and the ringmaster, they weren't very cooperative in giving Jim answers. "Why did you attack Mr. Grayson?" Jim asked the clown who instigated everything. "No reason, I don't like him," he shrugged. And when it came to questioning one of the Graysons, he said he had no idea why this all happened. But on Lee's end, things seemed to be going smoother.

"Hey Holly, can you grab the antiseptic for me?" Lee pointed to the medical kit resting on the edge of the gurney. "Sure thing," Holly grabbed the tiny bottle and some cotton balls and handed them to Lee, tending to one of the Grayson boy's wounds. "Wow, you circus people don't mess around, do you?" Lee spoke. But he didn't reply as he kept staring at the girl across from him. When she noticed his gawking, she glared at him. "I swear, John Grayson, if you give me that look one more time, I will slap you, silly," Mary Lloyd threatened.

"You wish," John challenged. "Don't think I can't!" Mary squinted. "Whoa, kids. What's the big problem anyhow?" Lee intervened. Yeah, why do they hate each other so much? Holly wondered as she sat down. "The Graysons are a bunch of arrogant buttheads, is the problem," The Lloyd girl answered. "The Lloyds are feckless drunkards, is more like it," John retorted. "Ah, so it's a family feud," Lee realized. "Graysons don't get along with Lloyds. Been that way for years," John Grayson explained. "It's sort of a tradition," Mary added. "You guys fight like this every night?" Holly inquired.

"No. That was just her idiot uncle doing his thing," John shook his head. "You know damn well it must be Lila's fault," Mary hissed. Lee and Holly looked over at her with equally surprised faces. Was there another woman involved in all this mess? "Mary..." John warned. "What?" Mary shrugged. As Lee finished taking care of the injured, Jim met up with the girls, tired from all the resistant questioning. "Hey, sorry the night went south," Jim apologized. "Are you kidding? Best date ever. Who gets to see a circus brawl?" Lee smiled. "Yeah, besides the brawl, this was pretty fun," Holly agreed.

"True," Jim nodded. "None of them will talk, of course. I still have no idea what those two were fighting over," "I think they're rival lovers," Holly speculated. "Their families have been fighting since way back, but this particular fight was apparently over a woman named Lila," Lee added. "She's a snake dancer in the sideshow," "Wow," Jim replied. "I know. How cool is that? A snake dancer," Lee grinned. But Jim clarified that he was in shock at how Lee and Holly were good at figuring things out. "People talk to doctors," Lee shrugged. "And kids,"

Jim suggested he check up on Lila and make sure she was okay. But as he was about to walk off, Lee grabbed his hand, insisting she wanted to come along. "Me too! It'd be cool to meet a snake dancer!" Holly joined in. "Girls, this is police business," Jim said, looking back and forth between them. "Come on, Jim. We're dying to meet Lila," Lee begged. "Well, bringing along medical personnel... is a justifiable precaution, I guess," Jim reasoned. "And I can't leave you wandering by yourself so late," With Lee and Holly trailing right behind him, Jim walked over to the ringmaster, asking about the whereabouts of Lila.

The ringmaster looked confused before Jim elaborated they were looking for the snake dancer. He led the three of them outside the tent, past the caged animals and food tents to a small set of trailers. They stopped at one of them, where a large snake sat in a barred wooden box. Jim knocked on the door and announced their presence. But rather than meeting with the snake dancer, a young man, maybe around seventeen or eighteen, with pale white skin and ginger hair looked confused as he stepped out of the trailer. "We need to speak with Lila," Jim told him. "She's not here," the boy answered. "Why? What's happened?"

"Where is she?" Jim questioned. "I don't know. She was supposed to be home ages ago," the young man answered, slipping on his coat. "You a relative?" Jim inquired. "I'm her son, Jerome," Jerome introduced himself. "Jerome, when did you last see her?" Jim asked. "This morning. She was here when I left for the library," Jerome said, his body shivering from the cold winter night and the worry for his mother. "Relax, Jerome. This gentleman is just here because Owen and Al had a disagreement," The ringmaster spoke up. "Your mother's fine, gone on a spree, no doubt. You know how she is,"

"A spree?" Jerome squinted. "Without her hat, her coat, or her purse?" A quiet hiss made them all turn to see the snake rising from her peaceful sleep, interested in what was going on past the bars of her cage. "Oh, look at Sheba. She's distraught. She knows something's wrong," Jerome ran a gentle hand over her scaly head. "The snake does seem to be agitated," Jim agreed. "Sir," The ringmaster leaned in close, his voice growing into a whisper. "She's what you call a "party girl". Back in the morning with her knickers in a handbag, sure as eggs,"

"But she didn't take her handbag, did she?" Jim replied before turning back to Jerome. "How fast does an animal like that move?" "A fast walking pace. They rely on surprise mainly," Jerome explained. "Let her out," Jim requested. Jerome blinked, wondering if he heard the detective correctly. "I'm sorry?" He said. "Let her out," Jim repeated. Slowly, Jerome nodded before he unlocked the cage, helping the snake onto the ground. Sheba slithered across the hay, her forked tongue flickering in and out of her mouth as she followed the scent of her master.

Following a few feet behind the snake, the group followed her to a nearby pickup truck, inching closer to a white tarp and poking her head underneath it. Jim pulled it back, revealing a blood-covered woman still dressed in her snake-like attire. Jerome sobbed as he fell onto his knees. Holly and Lee bent down on either side of him, rubbing his shoulders comfortingly. "I'm so sorry," Holly whispered. Jerome sniffed as he turned to Holly and buried his face into the crook of her neck, his cries muffled against her sweater.

"You knew. You knew she was here," Jim turned towards the ringmaster. He looked at Jim with a somewhat remorseful look as he shook his head. "She was like that when we found her," He explained. After consoling Jerome for a while, Lee sent him to a nearby group of paramedics. And just as Jerome was about to walk off to the ambulance, Holly caught a glimpse of magenta and yellow sticking out of the ground. It was a tiny amaryllis freshly bloomed. "Jerome, wait!" Holly called out as she caught up with him. "It's not much, but here," Holly handed the tiny flower to him, causing a tiny smile to form on his tear-soaked face.

"Th-thank you," Jerome whispered. "You're welcome," Holly patted his shoulder before catching up with her father, Lee, and two other officers as they walked past the tents to the woods entrance. "A couple of riggers found her right here. We decided to hide her on the truck. We were going to give her a proper burial as soon as we got back on the road," The ringmaster pointed to the blood-soaked space between bales of hay. "Decent of you," Jim remarked. "Who's "we"? Who else knew?" 

"Just me and the head of the families. If an outsider killed her, what can you do? An act of God. If it was one of us, we always find out. And we make sure they're punished," The ringmaster answered. "How?" Jim questioned. "We have our ways," The ringmaster assured. "And we have ours," Jim turned to the other two cops. "Hook him up," The cops bound the ringmaster's wrists, leading him to a cop car and throwing him in. As dawn approached, everyone in the circus was taken back to the precinct for questioning.

As Harvey took a sip of his steaming cup of joe, he was baffled by all the glitz and glamor of the acrobats and the frizzy red wigs and stars, and polka dot printed jumpsuits of the clowns as they were led to the holding cells. "Morning, partner," Jim patted Harvey's shoulder as he walked up the stairs with Lee and Holly. "Gonna need a little help here," "No kidding. I mean, you're kidding, right? This isn't an elaborate prank or...?" Harvey trailed off. "Nope, you're not seeing things," Holly assured.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jim shut the door behind him as he and Jerome sat across the table in the conference room. He still looked just as distraught as the moment he saw his mother's body, and he kept looking down at his lap, fighting back his tears. "Tell me about your mother, Jerome," Jim spoke softly, making the young man look up again. "She's my mother. What can I say? I love her. She's perfect. Not a very good cook. Except for that," That last statement made both men crack a small smile before they shifted back to seriousness. 

"Did she have any enemies? Someone with a grudge?" Jim questioned. "No," Jerome shook his head. "Boyfriends?" Jim inquired. "No, she had lovers. They're sex partners really, but not boyfriends. She didn't want the commitment," Jerome answered. "Were Alphonse Grayson and Owen Lloyd some of them?" Jim asked. "Yes," Jerome confirmed. "Any others?" Jim asked. "Uh, not that I could put a name to,"

"How do you feel... about your mother's love life?" Jim treaded the waters carefully. "I feel fine about it. If not for my mother's love life, I wouldn't be here, would I?" Jerome answered. "Sex is a healthy human activity," "Yes, it is," Jim nodded awkwardly. "Do you have any other family?" Jerome claimed the circus was his only family, saying they had been there for him for as long as he could remember.

Figuring he had all the answers he could obtain for now, Jim left Jerome in the conference room, meeting up with Owen Lloyd in the interrogation room. "One more time, why did you assault Mr. Grayson?" Jim glared warningly. "You know why," Owen replied. "Tell me," Jim persisted. "He killed Lila," Owen accused. "Why would he do that?" Jim questioned. "She was gonna choose me over him, and he's an arrogant son of a bitch. Not gonna let a Lloyd humiliate a Grayson that way,"

"How come your families don't get along?" Jim inquired. "His great-grandfather falsely accused my mother's uncle Barry of stealing a horse," Owen answered. "When was this?" Jim asked. "Before The Great War. World War One," Owen clarified.

"So, for three generations, your families have been feuding over a stolen horse?" Harvey blinked, having a hard time believing it as he questioned Alphonse Grayson. "Yes, and the Lloyds are still trash. Blood is blood," Alphonse responded. "Must've been a hell of a horse," Harvey commented. "Why did Mr. Lloyd assault you?" "He killed Lila and fears I'm gonna kill him for it," The Grayson answered. "He says the opposite. He says you killed her," Harvey stated. "Yes, I suppose he would have to say that, wouldn't he?" Alphonse looked up at Harvey with a serious expression as Harvey sucked in a quiet breath.

This was going to be a long day.