LN Cronan

Detective Graves is smart, and she figured out what Gideon did and why -- and how.  Sylvia stressed earlier this spring that Graves is smart and figured things out -- her comments stressed the intelligence of this particular character and were supportive of cops in general, doing so in response to opinions by some readers that the cops were dumb. Graves solved the killing. The mystery now is - what is Graves agenda for going rogue by definitely leaking stuff to Eva and in all likelihood leaking stuff to Eva's police officer father.  The timing of when Victor learned Nathan was a rapist can't be a coincidence. Especially because it was the middle of a weekend - Victor started calling Eva early on Sunday morning, so he either found out that morning or sometime late Saturday night. His devastation upon just finding out was no act when he was practically crying on the phone to Eva late morning Sunday.  Courthouses aren't open on weekends, so we can scratch off the list of possibilities that through his own investigatory means, Victor  managed to on his own somehow directly obtain records of the juvenile criminal case against Nathan. Someone told him, and someone leaked to him copies of the rape case files. He read those records, he told Eva on Monday afternoon.  All those rape files would be included in the more recent murder investigation case files. It'd been all too easy for Graves to give Victor copies of the rape case documents. Graves is the most likely suspect (pun intended) for having revealed police investigation secrets to Eva's father on either Sunday morning or Saturday night, because Graves most definitely released police investigation secrets to Eva on Wednesday evening.  The question is - how much did Graves end up telling Victor about the homicide case along with the rape case? Is she going to let Victor, another smart cop, connect the Gideon dots all on his own? Or did Graves already do so for Victor.

 Well, you do have a very valid point there about the video (the real video -- not the sex tape) being kinda disrespectful. Brett doesn't get that it is any more than he gets the fact the song can be misinterpreted too -- for him, it's all about him being sorry he took Golden for granted and would do anything now to win her love.  For such a smart, smart lady .... Eva surrounds herself with men who do dumb stuff on a regular basis. Exhibit 1: Gideon. Exhibit 2: Brett. Exhibit 3: BFF Cary. Any questions? ;)  (couldn't resist getting silly)

 Brett's OK. Really, I have nothing against the guy -- he's trying fair and square to win back a woman he's loved for years. He's honestly making up for the way he treated her little better than a groupie back when he did have her. Now he's publicly put her up on a pedestal. And I think in the end that like Magdalene, he'll give up gracefully once he's firmly convinced he has no chance -- and he'll wish Eva all the happiness in the world.

 Ah hah!!! Excellent point!!! The time Gideon had Maggie to lunch at his office so he could show her the Christopher sex tape in privacy, there were three separate floral arrangements, obviously sent by Eva, who, the last time Maggie had seen was a few days earlier engaged in hot make-up sex with Gideon in the middle of his parents' library.  It's possible -- I say likely -- that Maggie visited Gideon in his office sometime during those "W T F Is Going On About Corrine" weeks -- he's dating Corrine, but looks like h e l l to anyone who knows him well enough personally to be able to see the guy was in pain. Eva was nowhere to be found. Maggie may have concluded Corrine succeeded in driving Eva off, and Maggie might have tried to talk some sense into Gideon. No flowers to be seen in his office then.  Maggie definitely paid Gideon a visit for a reason on the Friday of Entwined Ch. 6 for "W T F Is Going On About Deanna". Gideon looks happier than he has in weeks, he confirms Corrine is out of his social circle -- and there's flowers in his office. No wonder she went to check out her hunch he and Eva were in contact again.

 JFG is right to be angry at Gideon for having given Corrine false hopes. Gideon allowed him and Corrine to repeatedly be photographed together under circumstances that would lead anyone to believe there was something going on between them -- and never once did Gideon publicly deny all the rumors. Gideon himself admitted he let even Corrine herself draw her own conclusions it's possible they were headed toward couplehood. He obviously allowed people all around them to draw the same conclusions -- including possibly JFG's own in-laws.  For his own desperate reasons, Gideon manipulated Corrine into playing a certain role -- and in doing so, fed her craziness.  Then without warning, he yanked the rug out from under her feet and started avoiding her as much as possible. Mr. Clueless yet again totally underestimating how much women read into his actions -- good and bad -- from Anne Lucas to Deanna Johnson to Eva herself.

 Nathan was wearing the bracelet when Gideon stabbed him -- Gideon remembered that and told Eva as much. Therefore, someone had to have removed it from either the corpse itself in the hotel room before the police were called in -- or -- removed it from police evidence sometime later.  It is possible it did get removed from police evidence - maybe by Graves? But it's trickier to do without getting caught. There's meticulous record keeping in tracking every place a piece of evidence goes, a "chain of custody" that includes a paper trail. A paper trail that would have started at the medical examiner's office when Nathan's body was stripped bare for the autopsy. Everything that was on his body would have been bagged and then documented being taken by an NYPD officer to an evidence storage room. The person who received the bag at the storage room would document its arrival .... and so on. Every time someone wanted to go through the box (like Graves and her partner) they'd need to sign the box out and then sign it back in when finished.  Cops have to make certain there's an unbroken record of exactly where evidence goes and who exactly touches it -- because the defense gets copies of the chain of custody paperwork. Heaven help the prosecution if there's some sort of hole in the record. Because if the chain is broken, the defense has an excellent shot at getting the judge to throw out the piece of evidence.  When physical evidence does go missing (and it does happen -- usually because someone screwed up in putting it someplace other than where it was supposed to be) it is possible to backtrack to see "who had it last." Besides, even if the bracelet disappeared from the evidence box, photos of it on Nathan's corpse would exist -- both the photos taken of his body exactly as it lay where found, and then pictures taken again at the medical examiner's office.  Graves could have pulled it off at big risk -- maybe she's the real one behind the frame-the-Russian-move.  BUT ... I think it far more likely that Clancy -- who had Nathan under surveillance and would have known from Monica about the significance of that bracelet to Nathan -- entered the hotel room after Gideon left and took the bracelet himself, planning all along to later plant it somewhere in order to protect himself, Monica and Stanton from the possibility of murder conspiracy charges, were Gideon to get caught and arrested.

   Excellent point. Maybe Victor now knows about Nathan and knows about Gideon having removed the threat to Eva forever. He's keeping his mouth shut about the latter for right now. If Eva ever wants to open up to him, fine -- but for now, he'd rather avoid going there unless he absolutely has to.  Maybe he's watching what happens next with Gideon. Obviously, Gideon loves Eva enough to do anything to protect her -- and it's obvious now Gideon wasn't some sort of cheater. If Gideon now "does right" by Eva and makes her happy, then Victor will let sleeping dog lie. But just like Gideon has some proving to do to Eva, he's got some proving to do to Victor too. Thus -- watch and wait; step in only if Victor becomes concerned, but other than that, give his blessing to Gideon becoming his son-in-law.

I'm also now thinking about the exact thing Magdalene told Eva when gossiping about what Gideon told her (Maggie) about Corrine. Â "He's told Corrine that it's best if they remain long-distance friends, rather than social ones. But I suspect you already know that." (page 82) Â I read into that three things: Gideon urged Corrine to go back to her husband in France. Gideon made clear he no longer would in-person socialize with Corrine anymore. Maggie correctly guessed why Gideon no longer would go near Corrine (where the risk was he might be get photographed). Gideon must be trying to get Eva back - had in fact already made some sort of overture to Eva. I think Maggie was as much checking out her hunch, when she immediately went from Gideon's office to Eva's, as Maggie was double-checking that Eva wasn't still so hurt by his having been taking out Corrine that she rejected any gestures of reconciliation -- and worse, was a scorned woman out to get even by helping Deanna Johnson. Â Gotta love Megumi's crack afterward. She'd been hoping for an Eva-Maggie catfight. But there was "No scratching or hissing." (page 83). Love this!

 Victor did tell Eva he'd originally hoped she would tell him herself the real reason why she practically fainted when she found out Nathan had been in New York. Not for a second did he buy the "just some bully" explanation. He knew there was something more to it. He also knew that Cary knew as well.  Victor did start doing some digging the very night the cops had first seen Eva. Victor could tell Gideon was being evasive too -- evasive about where he (Gideon) was on Thursday. Didn't take long for Victor to figure out Gideon was out (so he thought) cheating on Eva with Corrine on Thursday night.  My guess is that Victor did some initial digging about Nathan, but was counting on Eva working up the courage to start talking to him about what the real deal was with Nathan. When she still kept silent, and the days passed, he decided to start digging hard.  Timeline: Friday of THAT week: detectives showed up about Nathan. Eva wouldn't talk to her Dad about Nathan. Saturday: Eva ditched Gideon, and then began avoiding talking about him too -- so Victor couldn't find out from her why the police asked Gideon about Nathan as well Rest of the weekend: Victor and Eva went sight-seeing, and avoided talking about anything painful. He went home Sunday. Nine more days pass: still Eva doesn't open up about Nathan, despite Victor hoping she would work up whatever courage she needed to do so. Wednesday: Graves tells Eva the truth - Gideon killed Nathan. Sunday morning: Victor had found out about Nathan. It took him a while to get Eva by phone (she was at the love nest, not her own apartment, and she slept in late). They talked, and she believed he was getting on a plane that day. But she didn't hear from him again. Monday afternoon: Victor was at LaGuardia, Eva picked him up there.  Questions: Did Victor find out on his own through police channels about Nathan's juvie record -- and then manage to get copies of the court files? Or was it Graves who told him about Nathan? If Victor did find out on his own, did he then on his own call Graves, knowing she was handling the investigation into Nathan's death? If so, how much (or how little) did Graves tell Victor about Nathan's recent activities in New York? About Gideon's involvement? About Monica and Stanton's involvement? Did Victor actually fly to New York on Sunday but keep that secret from Eva so that he could meet with Graves? Because the type of stuff she'd tell him isn't stuff they ought to have talked about on the phone -- it called for a face to face meeting someplace private.

Favorite quote from Chapter 6 is what Eva had inscribed on the card that accompanied the flowers she sent Gideon: Â "You've got me under your spell. I'm still thinking about you." (page 78) Â BECAUSE .... She called up Angus, told him to arrange for the flower delivery, and told Angus -- Angus -- what to write on the card!!! So in a way it was sweet that she was making Angus happy too -- making Angus happy knowing that she and Gideon had reconciled. Â Poor Angus had been caught in the middle for so many weeks: assigned to guard Eva and yet facing her flat-out refusal to accept rides from him. She was mad as h e l l at his boss, but poor Angus was the one who had to see her unhappy day in and day out. Â I wonder whether Angus was worried Eva was mad at him too. Mad for him and Arnoldo dragging her off the night of the concert. Maybe even mad for that day Angus gave Corrine a ride. Because the first time Eva flatly refused a ride from Angus was after work the day of the nooner stunt. Â I've got this fantasy image of Angus practically skipping to the florist's shop in Chapter 6.

And got the bondage gadgets -- let's not forget about those red cuff. Rawr ......

 My guess is what really infuriated JFG was seeing pictures of Gideon "dating" Corrine and reading all sorts of wild stories that Gideon and Corrine were reunited.  I wonder whether he has originally been placing the blame for his marriage failing where it belonged -- with Corrine holding a torch for Gideon. But now, suddenly, JFG was shifting the blame to Gideon. Could it be that Gideon had been wrecking the Giroux marriage from afar in order to lure Corrine back?  Deanna believed that Gideon used Eva to make Corrine jealous enough to come running back to him. Why wouldn't some other people also assume that to be the case -- including JFG? In which case, he'd look at Gideon as a manipulative homewrecker.

 That's key, Sharon -- Graves knows Gideon did it. So she doesn't believe the Russian mob guy did it. But she's not happy that someone has made it look like the Russian did it. Because that new evidence throws the whole case into some sort of limbo.  Where things stand right now, the cops can't definitely pin it on the Russian and so solve/close the case for good. Yet there's no way at this particular point in time that they can dare charge Gideon, if that's what Graves actually wants to do. Because as long as the Russian remains some sort of unsolved mystery, there's no way the prosecution could ever win a trial. All the defense would need to do is convinced the jury the Russian might have done it -- that's enough for "reasonable doubt" that Gideon did it. If Graves really does want to nail Gideon, she needs to eliminate the Russian as a suspect. To do that, she's got to figure out who sought to attempt to frame the Russian and why. If Graves really does want to lay the whole matter to rest quietly, well, she can't do that right now. Because there's a loose cannon out there -- is it an enemy of Gideon's who's got inside knowledge of the case and is manipulating evidence? The part about Victor puzzles me. Did Victor meet with Graves after he found out about Nathan? Was it, in fact, Graves who told Victor about Nathan? Victor called Eva on Sunday and said he was hopping on a plane right away. She expected him to show up in New York sometime that same day -- but she never heard from him again until Monday afternoon. Did Victor actually come to New York on Sunday and meet with Graves face to face first -- then made things appear like it wasn't until Monday he got to New York. yes, Eva picked him up at LaGuardia on Monday afternoon. But who's to say he didn't just go to the terminal and make it look like he just got off a plane, when in fact he'd been in New York since Sunday.

Various thoughts on Chapter 6 -- one I especially enjoyed  Eva trying more sexual healing of Gideon In Chapter 5, through role play she gave Gideon a taste of what it would be like to be a regular 20-something guy having a new girlfriend over to his place for the very first time -- just how lucky will he get? How far will she let him go the first time she visits his apartment? In Chapter 6, she tried with Gideon a very similar tactic he used with her way back in early Reflected in You, when she had one of her Nathan rape nightmares. Asking him to help "wash it away" they had a sexual encounter in her shower, with him being extra cautious to avoid triggering her. Here in the bathtub scene in Entwined, the roles are reversed with her "washing it away" and being extra cautious in what she's doing to him sexually.  New Magdalene It's clear that when Magdalene went to see Gideon over Deanna sniffing around, Magdalene expressed worries to Gideon that Deanna might be sniffing around Eva too. Gideon told Maggie to steer clear of Eva, but New Magdalene went right downstairs to talk to Eva anyway. Because Maggie all along has been on Team Gideon and has got his back -- she wasn't going to take his Control Freak Caveman I-Got-This for a final answer. It's obvious, too, that Maggie plied Gideon for information on What's-The-Deal-With-Corrine? Maybe word there was trouble in Corrine Paradise already got back to Magdalene? Sure enough, Gideon revealed to Maggie that he'd already "dumped" Corrine - he'd told Corrine ... it's best if they remain long-distance friends, rather than social ones." (page 82) Here's where I wanted to pump a fist in the air and say "Yes, I like Magdalene after all!!!" Because Maggie went straight to Eva with that hot piece of gossip. If Magdalene truly were out for herself, she'd have decided "Eva's history, now Corrine is history -- here's my shot." It's obvious Maggie has figured out Gideon does love Eva -- and because Maggie genuinely cares for Gideon's happiness, she's willing to see him with Eva. So to help get them back together, Maggie slipped key gossip to Eva about Corrine -- did so in a way that was getting Gideon off whatever hook he might be on as far as Eva goes.  Spy stuff Monica secretly planted a tracking device bug in a cosmetic container Eva was sure to carry around in a purse Gideon openly is tracking Eva via the burner phone she is sure to carry around in her purse When Gideon had Raul set up the apartment next door to Eva's, high tech jamming devices were included to prevent the place from successfully being bugged. How much you want to bet that the same Wednesday that Raul was setting up Gideon's apartment (while Eva was at work and Cary was hours from being sent home from the hospital) Gideon had Raul install listening bugs, maybe even hidden cameras, in Eva's apartment. The opportunity would have presented itself when the home medical equipment for Cary was brought in. The reason Gideon positioned himself next door to Eva that week was so that he could get to her quickly if Nathan suddenly showed up anywhere near her apartment. Why wouldn't Gideon take the precaution of being able to hear and see what was going on next door -- in case of emergency? Sure, technically Nathan would have to get past the doorman and downstairs desk -- but what if the sicko managed to sneak in? So the question is -- if Gideon bugged Eva's place, how long did he keep the bugs active after Nathan was dead? Did he check them still -- now because it was the only way he could see/hear her, check up on how hard of a time she was having .... make sure she wasn't bringing guys home (Martin Stanton, and of course, Brett Kline)?  Standing up to Monica I loved it that New Eva, who has been demanding straight answers from Gideon, now is demanding straight answers from Monica too. I think it was huge progress, too, for Eva to walk away from her mother, who was trying her old tactic of throwing an emotional fit to make Eva back down. Eva was having nothing of it -- she was furious, and she wasn't going to let Monica cry her way out of it this time. I saw it too as a sign Eva really does finally feel she no longer has to look over her shoulder anymore, no longer has to worry about Nathan coming after her. So she no longer has to endure Monica's over-reactions and serious stunts regarding her (Eva's) physical security.

 Graves definitely is still playing Eva. I'm no longer certain, however, whether Graves is out to nail Gideon or not. But Graves definitely lied to Eva at the end of Reflected about she and her partner dropping the matter on their own. It's definitely still an investigation.  "Cold" case is not the same as "closed" case. A "closed" case, also known as a "solved" case, is one where the police have solved it by arresting a person. Or in an instance where an arrest isn't possible, because the suspect has died, officially ruling the dead person did it. An "cold" case is an open case where the evidence trail is going "cold" -- the investigation isn't going well. Perhaps it even has hit some sort of dead end. But it's not yet over. In some cases, once a certain number of years pass (the "statute of limitations) passes, the case dies, because it no longer is possible to arrest someone. The time ran out on arresting a person. There is no statute of limitations in murder cases -- a "cold" case can stay open for years, even decades.  Re: while a case is still a police investigation and someone (here, Gideon) has not yet been formally charged and arrested, the cops and prosecutors don't have to give the defense jack sh!t. They can play their cards as close to the vest as they want and selectively feed stuff, if they so choose, to a suspect and his/her lawyer. Once someone has been arrested though and is being actively prosecuted, the prosecution is required to turn over copies of all its stuff to the defense. The process is known as "discovery" in the legal world. It boils down to the prosecution having to show the defense all the potential ammunition it may use in court. In return, the defense is required to give some discovery in return, such a list of witnesses the defense might consider calling. Also, the defense needs to give some notice about certain defense strategies - for example, if an insanity defense is planned. But the defense  does get to keep secret some of its tactics planned for the trial, most especially whether or not the defendant will take the stand.

I wonder whether Magdalene has shown Christopher the sex tape involving the pair of them -- and told him where she got the tape (from Gideon). I can see New Magdalene letting Christopher have it (you go, gurl!!!) Â And Christopher takes the sibling rivalry to new heights with a gift he's just be handed -- a sex tape featuring Gideon's fiancee and a recording star for Vidal Records. A tape probably a lot more XXX than still-clothed Magdalene and Christopher caught on cell phone video from a concealed spot in a hedge. The Eva/Brett footage is from hidden cameras set up by an experienced videographer, and let's admit it, Eva probably got wild with Brett.

 I suspect that Christopher Jr. knows about the sex tape and has told Lizzie .... and Lizzie is going to attempt to drive Eva away by threatening exposure (bad pun intended) if she doesn't end things with her son (so poor little Corrine can have him.)  I think the setting they were in at the time -- the middle of a high profile society event -- is what made Lizzie stop short of hitting Eva with the sex tape. Unfortunately, I can envision Lizzie calling up Eva the next morning (day one of Book 4).

 For weeks, Gideon has been wearing a ring on his right hand. Maybe some people might assume he's added a promise ring to his left hand, kind of a "male engagement ring."  The problem is -- sooner or later someone is going to ask about the ring. I can see Gideon answering truthfully it's his wedding ring. Because honestly, he'd love to shout to the world Eva is his wife. It's at Eva's request right now they're spreading the engaged version -- and it's purely because she wants to give Monica the opportunity to plan a big wedding. I can see that getting tossed out early in Book 4 though. Between the radical shifts going on in the mother-daughter relationship, with Eva less and less willing to appease Monica, and the fact Brett is still out there .... well .... I wouldn't put it past Gideon to leak to Deanna that he and Eva are actually wed.

 I don't believe Corrine was capable of rational thought by the time she decided to leave France. She'd already been phone stalking Gideon, the divorce from JFG was underway -- and she called Gideon on a Saturday night from what would have been the middle of the night over in France to tell him she was about to hop on a plane.  THEN she found out Gideon had a new woman in his life, one he obviously had fallen for fast. Further crank up the crazy.  As for JFG impregnating her, one scenario I have is that the divorce actually had been going on for some time, and perhaps he made some last ditch effort to try to win her back. Managed to even get her to let him make love to her -- and perhaps that turned into a mercy f*** on her part. Last time they had sex -- but unfortunately for her, she conceived.  Who knows .... one of the things I love about this forum is the ability to spin different theories and bounce them off other equally as impassioned fans.

Even more than my hopes of getting an yes/no answer from Sylvia about whether Gideon's casual sex partners were only brunettes, I'm really hoping she will answer for the community at large - was Corrine clueless about the fact she was pregnant? Because it's sparking such huge controversy. Â Just when we thought the anti-Corrine sentiment couldn't get any higher .... as soon as we read Entwined, it soared to new heights.

 Hi Rogue,  I'm not saying Corrine could get Gideon actually might have accomplished getting Gideon to the altar that fast (by week 12). The woman was pulling crazy desperate stuff. But I could see her trying.  Especially if Corrine's divorce back in France was on the verge of being finalized. We know from what Magdalene said about them getting divorced that the proceedings themselves were underway. I'm wondering whether Corrine was still based in France as the summer started was so she could be immediately available for court hearings and for signing necessary documents. To do whatever she could to speed things along as quickly as possible.  But if -- IF -- she was trying to play the Gideon-knocked-her-up card, she needed to move things along in New York as fast as possible too. Have him ready to elope with her the instant the ink dried on her divorce decree. With each passing week, she got closer and closer and closer to starting to "show" -- that'd be a dead giveaway she was months into a pregnancy, not weeks.  I still go back and forth on whether she knew she was in early pregnancy when she suddenly decided to call upon Gideon to get her settled in New York as fast as possible. When she made that decision, she booked her flight and called up Gideon to say essentially "I'm on my way, meet me at the airport." THAT'S when Corrine found out Gideon had just fallen for a new woman he met that very week. Eva wasn't the initial trigger for the move -- something else made Corrine throw caution to the wind and start stalking Gideon in New York itself.  If she did know she was carrying JFG's baby, I think she had no intention whatsoever of going through with the pregnancy. Bearing JFG's child would greatly lessen her desperate move to become Mrs. Gideon Cross. I think she planned to bail out of the pregnancy as soon as it served it's purpose -- thus taking medication didn't matter. She wasn't going to go through with carrying the baby anyway, so possible birth defects were a non-issue.

The more I think about it, Chapter 6 showed Eva's not yet convinced Gideon will keep his word "no more Corrine." Â In Chapter 6, Eva specifically asked Gideon to bring his sister Ireland to events (i.e. business dinners) where it would be more appropriate for him to have someone with him, not go stag and upset some boy-girl-boy-girl seating arrangement with an even number of people instead of an odd number at a table. Â So in Chapter 6, Eva was still testing him. Including continuing to hold Brett over his head as insurance against him ever appearing in public again with Corrine beside him.

 Very much cause and effect:  Reflected: Gideon takes Corrine out dinner Monday Eva takes Brett out to lunch Tuesday  Early Entwined: Gideon swears No More Corrine Eva tests him by putting him into a position where he can demand No More Brett (starting with asking Eva to cancel Times Square).  To his credit, Gideon didn't ask Eva to cancel. He recognized he had no right in the world to tell her whether or not she could appear at a public function with a "friend" who is an ex -- not after that Kingsman Vodka thing where Gideon took Corrine and went out of his way to make sure it got covered.

I'm starting to think, too, that Gideon would NOT have known, when he first started revenge F(&^*** Anne, who her brother was. But during the affair, he found out. Â Perhaps at the time he first sought to get even with Terry, all he knew at that time was the role Terry played in what happened to him (Gideon) as a child -- branded a liar and even his own mother sided against Gideon. Perhaps when things started out with Anne, Gideon knew that Terry lied -- but not why Terry lied. Â What if during pillow talk with Anne, Gideon found out who Anne's brother was -- and that's how he pieced together Terry's motive for lying. Â In North Carolina, Gideon told Eva that Anne was supposed to be a one-night stand, but Anne kept going back for more, and so Gideon let things continue -- in order to cause even deeper pain to Terry. Might this have been one of Gideon's half-truths -- the full story being that in bed, Gideon found out why Terry lied, to protect family, and so that was why Gideon calculatedly decide to ratchet up his (Gideon's) revenge for Terry having caused such a rift in the Vidal family?

 Ala Eva, I did some Googling. Right now, Henry is dating a woman, Gina Carano, and publicly has said he's straight but has a lot of gay friends.  However, the gay rumors have been so persistent for years that I wonder whether he might have experimented in the past? Or might even be bisexual but with a clear preference for women.  I'd take him in any case!!!!!