LN Cronan

 Mr. Waters, one of the agency owners who was there, likely knew Eva was instrumental in that Kingsman account getting awarded to the agency, because she was a huge help at the first meeting -- Gideon even asked Eva for her opinion on things. Though Mark, not Eva, who got the actual high-fives back in June when the contract got signed.  Waters had to have known that all summer thus far there had been all sorts of news and stories (from red carpet pictures to tabloid candids) showing Eva was Gideon's new girlfriend. Because not only is Gideon a client, Gideon is a celebrity. So Mr. Waters would have thought it was really weird that other than saying "Miss Tramell" once in Eva's direction, Gideon acted like she wasn't even in the room during that big meeting. (In fact, he was sending a (false) message he'd totally rejected Eva. Everything was riding on it -- there were mere hours left before Nathan was gonna die that night.)  But yes, Mark would have been the only one knowing about the ugly details -- especially about the whole mess after the concert the prior weekend. Shawna, Eva's friend who had the tickets, is practically Mark's sister-in-law, and she was there. Mark never would have revealed any of the dirt about that at the office -- he's a wicked nice guy and really is thrilled to have Eva as his assistant. But there had to have been (probably still is) speculation around the water cooler that Eva went from being a celebrity girlfriend to getting ignored by Gideon at the Crossfire.

Ireland may have told her parents all about the dinner party, from how sweet Eva was to her but how unhappy Eva seemed that night before and during dinner. Gideon was chilly as always (because it's a sad truth Gideon apparently never bonded with Ireland, and the few times she's seen him, it's around his family and he's cold as ice. He was that way at the garden party -- the only reason he even talked to Ireland was because Eva asked him.)   No one publicly knows yet anything about Nathan, not even why he mattered to the cops anyway. Certainly the Vidals have no way of knowing the guy got stabbed to death in a hotel. I wonder if Ireland even remembers the guy's last name, "Barker." If Elizabeth Vidal and Christopher Jr. wanted to pump Ireland for any information at all, it wouldn't have been Nathan -- it'd be a play-by-play of Gideon and Eva obviously on the outs  The dinner ended very weirdly, but all Ireland saw was:  Eva got upset when the cops showed up and asked her if she knew her former stepbrother, a "bully" was in town. Turns out the guy was found dead that morning. They never said murdered. For all Ireland knew, the guy OD'd or something. Though it was weird it was detectives, and Eva's cop father asked them to leave. Gideon seemed to recognize the guy's name, But Gideon didn't say anything specific, not to the cops, and not to Eva. The cops did want to know where Gideon was Thursday, but he flatly refused to talk about that in front of Eva. Her Dad had just asked the cops to leave, so Gideon jumped at the chance to walk the cops downstairs, offering to talk about it then(clearly where Eva couldn't overhear him explain.) Eva, who had been a little "off" all evening and almost fainted when the cops showed up, said she felt sick, and she decided to go straight to bed. She didn't even say goodnight to Gideon.  The Vidals probably quickly put two-and-two together about where Gideon really had been Thursday. They may have already known even before Gideon brought Ireland along with him on Friday to a dinner at Eva's that had been in the works for a while. Because there was Internet proof Gideon was out partying with Corrine on Thursday night, a picture showing him with his arm around her waist and her laughing. They were having a great time. In fact, it was the second time that week he'd taken Corrine out. There were pictures of him out to dinner with her Monday. No wonder Gideon didn't want to talk about Thursday with the cops with Eva sitting right there.  I'll bet the Vidals came to the conclusion Gideon was dating Corrine again., and judging by the way Eva was acting Friday, she probably knew it. Because there was something seriously wrong between Eva and Gideon. Since then, Eva disappeared from Gideon life. Do the math -- Eva lasted only a few weeks with Gideon. She wasn't even his type to begin with.  She was a blonde, not a brunette. What was up with that? No wonder it didn't last. Especially because the two of them repeatedly had been seen bickering (quietly on their first date, obviously at the Vidals garden party, and in front of a whole society crowd when Corrine crashed the fundraiser and snagged Gideon right under Eva's nose.)  Poor Ireland herself probably believes this now. Just more of the same old Gideon being Gideon -- meaning Gideon is pretty cold to women. Either he got sick of Eva or she got mad at him about Corrine, or both. But Eva is history. And if anything, Ireland's probably pretty disappointed in him right now, despite the fact she sorta hero worships him from afar. It's too bad, because Eva was really nice to Ireland, and Ireland liked her.

 Eva could just as easily be on the birth control shot. It's a long-acting form of progesterone, a hormone that is naturally manufactured in the ovaries. The shot is given as an injection in the upper arm or in the buttocks once every 3 months. In fact, that happens to be the form of birth control used in Fifty Shades of Grey.

GiGi, a huge part of your Monica Did It theory, which I respect, is your supposition Monica is about the only person Nathan would have opened that room door for. That Nathan would have never opened his door to Gideon, because Gideon already physically attacked Nathan once. But you're assuming, just because Detective Graves said so, that Nathan open his door and immediately got stabbed on the threshold. Nathan opens door = red flag he simply let his killer in. I believe that's a red herring (something to cleverly mislead a reader so the author can twist the plot.)  In that very same conversation, Graves also said the hotel where Nathan died is owned by a subsidiary of Cross Industries. That's the real red flag I see. That ownership would enable Gideon, using a computer system he himself could easily manipulate (or have someone like Angus do it for him) to generate a master hotel keycard that would open every door in that hotel, from Nathan's room to the delivery entrance out back.  Besides, you're also assuming Gideon beat up Nathan so badly the guy would be terrified of Gideon. That didn't happen -- if it had, they'd have carried Nathan out of the Crossfire, with an awful lot of explaining left for Gideon to do. Gideon landed probably just a single punch, and not one hard enough to break Nathan's nose or something, because even that would leave some explaining to do when Nathan left Gideon's office and then the building itself. There was only a little bit of blood on one cuff of Gideon's dress shirt, so little that Eva thought it was lipstick. Nathan may have even thought Gideon was just some guy who grew up never learning how to fight, because he was so sheltered. But we know from Angus, Gideon has a very high degree of control over use of physical violence. Plus Nathan himself is a very violent individual. Why would he be such a coward about someone daring to hit him.  So here's my case for how the fact Cross Industries owned that hotel is the real red flag -- owning the hotel made it simple for Gideon get a master key to let himself in to Nathan's room -- and -- based on another habit Gideon has concerning keys and his properties makes it highly likely that's exactly what Gideon did do, use a master key.  Hotel management always has master keycards to access every last door in a facility. Housekeepers have master keycards to open every single guestroom. Yes keycards are activated (and usually tracked) through a computer system. It'd be simple to alter a computer log.  Remember, Graves has no idea Gideon's well-established habit of carrying around a master key of another sort -- a master elevator key that lets him take over an elevator whenever he feels the need. Like when he wants to corner Eva, a habit he has of doing. And not just at the Crossfire either. Gideon owns the building where Dr. Lucas has his pediatrics practice. He whipped out his master elevator key to corner Eva in the elevator there after he fetched her from Lucas' office, so he could kiss her as ask her what the f*** she was up to.  And no, Gideon doesn't have a whole collection of elevator keys, one for every building -- that'd be a pretty big keychain to carry around in his pocket. Just in case readers thought it was a little too "convenient" for Gideon to magically have the key to the elevator at the doctor's office building in his pocket when he went tearing over there after Eva. Master elevators keys actually exist -- firefighters always carry them. So do elevator repair personnel, and in large buildings, facility managers usually carry them around too.  Bottom line: We know Gideon has a habit of using a master key to take over elevators. Why would he hesitate to carry around a master keycard for hotel properties? Or at least get his hands on one when need be and not hesitate to use it. So without even having to knock, to tell Nathan "open the door" Gideon could very quietly let himself into Nathan's room, then just stood there and wait for Nathan to approach him. Stab Nathan. Walk away without leaving any fiber evidence anywhere in the room other than the threshold, where it would end up destroyed by a parade of people walking over it. Tamper with the computer system to erase any record of a keycard opening that door around the time frame Nathan died. Even conceal from the computer system Gideon himself had any sort of master keycard assigned to himself.

 I think Monica and Stanton might have been working together with Gideon on Nathan back when the blackmail was the only problem. It's possible Monica and Stanton might have even known about the attack on Cary. But that's when Gideon quit working with them and set out on his own to solve the Nathan problem.  I never indicted I thought Gideon had any help from them on the murder itself. I firmly believe he came up with that solution totally on his own, and did the deed himself, quietly letting himself into Nathan hotel room with a master key. No one else was with Gideon. It's possible Angus was waiting downstairs near a back service entrance with a get-away car. Remember, all the security cameras were down and had been for a while due to scheduled upgrade. So Gideon could sneak in and out of side and back doors, with a master keycard to open them all.  Alas, no, I am not drifting over to your Camp Monica Did It (wink, wink). Gideon "Control Freak" Cross decided all on his own to put a permanent end to the Nathan situation. Things started out as rapist-blackmailer. But then they escalated to rapist-stalker who took a baseball bat to Cary. And Gideon feared (even the cops feared) Nathan would have kept escalating to rapist-homicidal maniac.  I am still one of the camp counselors (wink, wink) of Camp Gideon Took The Law Into His Own Hands To Stop A Dangerous Maniac From Raping/Killing Eva.

Maybe Gideon's going to buy her the coffee company for a wedding present, giggle, giggle.  But honesty. I think it involves Eva all on her own, as a very smart woman with talent quickly starting to establish herself in her chose field of advertising. She doesn't need Gideon helping her out -- none of that "You Cross, me Cross Woman" malarkey. Gideon has now figured out the only time Eva's ever submissive (and only most of the time) is when they're making love.  She doesn't need Gideon's help career-wise, though he does owe her in a way. He'd best leave her alone for now, especially because people know the only other time he got her involved in an advertising account, it started out with him doing so to seduce her. It was humiliating for her when the relationship ended badly.  During That Week (in fact, the Thursday on which Nathan died) Gideon totally ignored her in front of important people at work during a big meeting on the Kingsman Vodka account. Worse, without any knowledge to Eva's agency (they handle only the advertising) Gideon had his own PR people set up a publicity party for Kingsman Vodka. The party was after business hours the same day as that meeting where Eva had been humiliated. No one from Eva's agency was invited. In fact, Gideon brought Corrine to the party instead.

Here are a few theories I'm tossing out. But first, a couple of things worth noting, because they all ties into my theories:  In Bared, Eva had begun working with her boss Mark on an account to come up with a clever way of marketing blueberry flavored coffee. In fact, Eva showed some real initiative, including coming up with a great idea on her own about how to market the stuff. Mark, whose job it is to come up with the ideas, liked Eva's suggestion so much that (giving total credit to her) decided to run with it. The story always has been is from Eva's point of view, and thus far in the past two books, nearly everything work-related has been related to Eva's job at the advertising agency. (With only a few rare exceptions of Gideon mentioning Cross Industries stuff in passing to Eva, all the work related stuff in Bared and Reflected has been about Eva's budding career in advertising. In fact, much of the early chapters of Bared concern Eva's brand new career. Eva's career is a very important part of the novels. Because we are still very early in Entwined, it is likely that this chapter continues to unfold some of the Eva work-related stuff that first began in Bared and Reflected. Chapter One of Entwined picked up immediately where Reflected ended, and Reflected ended on Wednesday evening with Eva on Gideon's doorstep. I'm pretty certain Chapter Two involved Gideon and Eva waking up together Thursday morning at her apartment. My guess is Chapter Three involves Eva at work on Thursday.  Throwing out for fun and consideration (and lots of back and forth) a couple of theories. First are my theories that the blueberry coffee account comes into play in Chapter Three:  Eva's probably getting big kudos at work for her brilliant idea on the blueberry coffee account, which is to market it as a indulgence like tea-with-crumpets. And in recent weeks, she's been working her b*** off especially hard, because burying herself in work ever since things turned sour with her love life.  Maybe Thursday is the day they land the coffee account. Perhaps they'll even let Eva do some account executive work on it (presently she's only Mark's admin assistant, which makes her entry-level. Mark himself is just a junior-level account executive, still relatively new to the field.) If they land the coffee account thanks to Eva, it'd be a much-needed boost to her standing at the agency, especially because of a recent black mark against her -- the Kingsman Vodka account. She helped her boss work on the vodka account back in June when she first joined the firm, and the agency first landed the account. That account was with Cross Industries. Eva had first started sleeping with Gideon Cross while helping on that account, and some people might suspect the whole reason Gideon gave the account to the agency at all was so he could seduce Eva. Actually, some of that is true, at least as far as Gideon using the vodka account to seduce Eva. Gideon specifically sought out Eva's immediate boss and gave the guy the account as part of Gideon's early push to get Eva to finally agree to sleep with him. Her coming into contact with Gideon because of that account is part of the process where he finally wore her down. This all happened in the early days of Bared, before they ended up boyfriend and girlfriend and then fell in love. It got very uncomfortable once Gideon clearly starting behaving like he was done with Eva for good. He was cold as ice around her in the middle of a huge meeting key agency people had with him up in his offices about that account. In fact, he pointedly ignored her in front a meeting room full of people, from her immediate boss, Mark, to one of the agency owners. Fortunately, they didn't lose the account, and no one reprimanded Eva for becoming sexually involved with a client. For one thing, she's not involved with Gideon anymore. But still ....... More potential stuff arising directly from past story threads in Bared and Reflected that tie directly to Eva's job and her work-related social life, and where some of that stuff might lead next, early in Entwined: Through work, Eva has become friends with Shawna, who for all intents and purposes is her boss Mark's sister-in-law. (Shawna's brother is Mark's long-term same-sex partner, whom he's been with since they were in college). Maybe Shawna and Eva have decided to go out partying after work (perhaps to that nightclub we saw in snippets 7 and 8?) Shawna's a bit of a party girl. She does have a boyfriend, but he's temporarily over in Europe. Shawna has invited Eva along for a "girls night out" with some of her friends. Weeks ago, Shawna took Eva and now-ex-boyfriend Gideon to a Six-Ninths concert -- which ended pretty badly, and appears to be the reason why Shawna might assume Gideon dumped Eva. Shawna saw practically the whole thing - turned out lead singer Brett Klein is Eva's ex, and he wrote the song "Golden" about Eva. Gideon caught her making out with Brett outside in the parking area after the concert. Gideon had his driver/bodyguard remove Eva from his sight, and he proceeded to beat Brett up. Last weekend, after weeks of crying over Gideon walking away from her, Eva got a sexy make-over. Now the weekend's almost her, and she's feeling more like her old self. Actually, better than old -- she's "New Eva" looking hot and ready for the guys to throw themselves at her feet. Eva's also become friends with the agency's main receptionist, Megumi. They've gone out to lunch together several times. The most recent time had been on Monday, when they brought along new-hire Will. Eva's been helping Will settle in to his entry level job, and he's grateful. They're strictly on a work level though - Will's just moved in with his girlfriend. Megumi and Will might still be gossiping (in a friendly way) about what happened Monday when they were boarding a crowded elevator down in the lobby level to go back upstairs. Gideon jumped into the elevator too. Eva went to get off at the 20th floor along with Megumi and Will, but Gideon asked her "wait." So she apparently went up to the top floor with him, where his office is. She wasn't gone very long though, and when she came back, she dismissively told Megumi the guy is a "total head trip" and Eva snarked "I should just write a book." In terms of the police investigation problem though, Megumi and Will witnessing Gideon going after Eva in the elevator Monday, and then her going off to talk with him, has serious potential consequences. Not that Megumi and Will would know it, but it had been the first time in weeks Gideon dared contact Eva in any way whatsoever -- and did so by approaching her in front of coworkers no less. No one can dare think Gideon still even cares about Eva (much less loves her with all his heart). Too dangerous. So now Eva might (plotting with Gideon) start oh-so-carefully spreading gossip that when she rode up to Gideon's office on Monday, she only did it to tell him off and make him leave her the h*** alone. He's a "head case." They do need to worry about the cops maybe poking around. Because there's lobby-level security camera footage of Gideon getting on the same elevator Eva had just boarded with Megumi and Will. Gideon obviously was worried enough about that video he went out of his way to make sure there was video of him leaving with Corrine the end of that same workday, the pair of them climbing into his car to go somewhere after work. OK, ladies -- jump in. Any more thoughts?Â

IT'S TUESDAY, WHICH MEANS IT'S SNAPSHOT DAY (Doing the happy dance.) Â Here's the link for our Chapter Three snapshot: www.sylviaday.com/2013/03/26/entwined-snapshot-3 Â In case any of you cannot temporarily view it, because the traffic jam of fans rushing to the page sends the server down temporarily, it is a picture of a nice cup of coffee set on a beige tablecloth. Next to it is a piece of paper with most of the word "Business" (it's a little off to the side and kinda cropped; there's no text, like it's a memo or anything.

OK, here's my whole case for how it would be child's play for Gideon to fool the media about a Corrine-Gideon-Eva love triangle with Corrine hands down on the winning side -- because Corrine fought hard to get him back, and she won, beating out his latest girlfriend, whom he'd been seeing only a little while. It's a bit long, so bear with me -- this is the former reporter in me laying out all her notes. (And in only a couple of cases, tossing in what we readers know off the record to be the real truth, but all of which would be kept a deep, dark secret from the media. I've put those things in italics.) Â Corrine is the one who came back to Gideon, and based on things she'd publicly done, it's simple to establish Corrine chased Gideon, NOT the other way around. Because it's the God's honest truth. Corrine did it in a very public way the minute she moved back to New York. A few weeks later, Gideon started publicly seeing her again. He didn't chase her -- he's now giving her another chance, is the fake story we're being led to believe. Â Gideon's a celebrity, and people watch. Here's what witnesses would have seen with their own eyes connected to Corrine's reappearance. In many of these cases, photographers were around. In other cases, plenty of reputable eyewitnesses (prominent members of society) would be all too willing to gossip to reporters. What's more the bulk of what's below is actually true. Every last bit of it reinforces "Corrine chased Gideon, Gideon left Eva, Gideon is now giving Corrine another chance."Â Â Corrine very recently left her husband and she left her home in Europe, moving back to New York. That's easily established via a paper trail, from divorce filing to residency change. As soon as she moved back, she showed up alone at a high profile fundraiser Gideon was certain to attend, because it was a charity he supports. There even was a a press photo gauntlet of people arriving. As soon as Gideon saw Corrine, he went running to her, and she instantly latched onto him. They walked around together, her on his arm, and they quickly went off to the side for an intimate one-on-one serious conversation. (He was telling her not to upset Eva, but people would naturally assume he was thrilled Corrine showed up obviously intending to see him there.) While Gideon was off with Corrine, everyone could see two other socialites he's been dating recently (Eva and Magdalene) sitting together looking miserable, tossing back drinks. Because that was the truth. And because there have been recent celebrity pictures of both women alongside Gideon, everyone there knew he'd been dating Eva recently and Magdalene just prior to Eva. During dinner, Corrine sat next to Gideon, and he spent the whole time talking to her, especially about places they used to go together -- also true. Meanwhile, he didn't even look at Eva, sitting there openly miserable on the other side of him. Finally, someone else at the table took pity on Eva (Dr. Lucas). Things ended with Eva and Gideon arguing and her walking out of the fundraiser. Even before Gideon started seeing Corrine again, soon after Gideon had begun dating Eva, he quit being photographed with Eva. It gives the appearance he'd quickly tired of his latest socialite. (Nathan was back and Gideon switched to a low profile with Eva out of safety concern, but no one would know that, not even Eva herself.) Fast forward a little later in the summer, photos of Gideon and Corrine started appearing -- photos that made it apparent Gideon had started "seeing" Corrine (because Gideon deliberately set it up that way, first to fool Nathan and then very much to fool the police.) Less than a week after the Corrine pictures started showing up, Gideon stopped being seen anywhere near Eva again. Not anywhere in public (even when no photographers were around.) Not at the Crossfire, where she works for another company. However, only two nights ago (two nights before Reflected ends) Gideon walked out of the Crossfire with Corrine, a hand intimately touching her in the small of her back. They were seen climbing into one of his cars together. Gideon wasn't even seeing Eva in private. In fact, he wasn't even talking to her PERIOD. She was 100% history -- even she herself believed it. You could have asked her best friend, her family, even Eva herself -- any one of them would say Gideon was DONE with her. (And for all we know, Cary Taylor might have been gossiping about that among fashion industry folks he knows.) And here's the background story from just before Corrine came running back. All of this is pretty easy for the media to establish either through existing material and/or talking to people who know Gideon and/or Corrine. In fact, even some people who know Eva would think some of it is true. Gideon saw Corrine exclusively for three years, including a year-long engagement. She's was his first serious girlfriend and the only woman he's ever indicated publicly he loved enough to want to marry her. (Yes, Gideon did love Corrine -- but he wasn't IN LOVE. Big difference, but no one else would know.) Corrine had been the one who broke the engagement years ago, so that does count as "the one who got away." Based on the fact one of Gideon's oldest friends, Magdalene, firmly believed that herself, it's safe to say Gideon's never told anyone the real circumstances of why the engagement ended. (Why would he? He let Corrine walk away dignity intact, not telling people they broke up over a serious problem with their sex life.) It's possible (I say likely) Corrine's been privately telling other people the same thing she told Eva herself: she believes the "biggest mistake of her life" had been walking away from Gideon years ago. Eva is a socialite Gideon started seeing near the start of the summer. She was the latest in a long line of socialites photographed as Gideon Cross arm candy at benefit fundraisers recent years. What's strange is Eva wasn't his "type" -- she wasn't a brunette. Gideon has been famous for preferring brunettes, and most of high society knew it too (even Eva's own mother knew that.) Sure, there's a picture of Gideon kissing Eva (that's new - no paparazzi has managed to catch him in a lip lock before. But that's not proof of love -- that's one photographer who got really lucky, because Gideon tipped him off on impulse.)Â And yes, because of that picture, Gideon did let out through his PR people that Eva was currently the "significant woman" in his life. But so what if his PR people are saying she's a serious girlfriend. The very next day that the "Gideon's latest girlfriend" photo hit, more tabloid pictures cropped of Eva -- with the guy she lives with, model Cary Taylor. Maybe something was going on there. Meanwhile, another photographer got a shot of Gideon and Magdalene together outside a restaurant, supposedly Magdalene consoling him over the Eva/Cary betrayal. Gideon's "bevy of beauties" his how one tabloid put it. After Eva-with-Cary and Gideon-with-Magdalene simultaneously hit the online tabloids, Eva and Gideon got into a fight in public in Bryant Park. Some witnesses caught cell-phone candids, but that's it. In the background, Eva suddenly becoming tabloid fodder because she was seeing Gideon is what prompted her to warn Gideon she had buried secret - she was raped for four years by a stepbrother. After that, Gideon was careful about Eva in the spotlight. To our knowledge, Gideon walking the press photo gauntlet, Eva on his arm, into the very fundraiser Corrine crashed is the last existing public photo of him and Eva together, period. As for photos of him going out with Corrine again, he very carefully set those up ahead of time, either through paparazzi tip offs or in the case of a work-related publicity party, had his people expressly invite the media. And in front of everyone, he had his arm around Corrine's waist. Bottom line: What more could you want, readers and viewers alike? This reporter can tell you Gideon Cross and and Corrine Giroux have a significant past history, and Corrine just left her husband. Then she moved back to New York all the way from Europe. Corrine very obviously latched onto Gideon soon as she came back to NYC. EvaTrammell, who'd been with him only a few weeks, had already started fading from the public spotlight even before Corrine came back. In fact, the last time Gideon posed for a picture with Eva happened to be the same night Corrine showed up and snagged him from right under Eva's nose in the middle of a fundraiser before a whole crowd of people. Eva got so upset she finally walked out, but not after having sat there ignored and humiliated throughout the entire meal itself. Only a few weeks later, Corrine suddenly emerged into the public spotlight alongside Gideon, who obviously cares for her, judging from pictures of the pair of them together. She's even been spotted coming and going from his office tower, the Crossfire. Meanwhile, Eva utterly vanished from his life, public and private.

 What really weirded him out about the limo sex with Eva was she "topped" him -- that is, she was the dom. Because of his deep-seated issues, he had to be in control of sex - he had to be the dom. Part of his controlling sex was to always control when and where. But Eva took over control by initiating the when and where -- right then and there in the limo. He submitted to being topped, and she rocked his world. Rocked it so hard it scared the h*** out of him, and sent him on a serious head trip.

 Natural talent combined with years of practice -- and a steady supply of women eager to go to bed with him.  Even back when he was 18 years old and nothing more than Christopher Vidal's unloved stepson, he was hot -- so hot Corrine chased him around the campus of Columbia and eventually seduced him.  Ten years later, he's a hot celebrity and one of the richest men in the world. For him, finding sex partners whenever he wanted to get laid was as easy as ordering take-out.  Which makes it hilarious he thought he could get Eva to just jump into bed with him. The moment he laid eyes on her for the first time, he wanted to f*** her. He was hot and rich -- she was single and attracted to him. But that just wasn't enough. She made him work hard for it. Then he fell in love.

 Except for Corrine and Eva, all the women in Gideon's life fell into one of two categories:  Female friends he dated socially but never slept with. Magdalene was one of them and the woman he took out most often, but there had been others in the past, online celebrity photos of Gideon showed. All of them were brunettes, by the way, a weird fetish I hope Entwined explains. Corrine issue? Mommy issue? Casual sex partners he f**** but never spent any time with besides going to bed. In fact, at the very beginning, this is the category he tried to put Eva in, because from the moment he first saw her, he wanted her. But he couldn't easily get her to sleep with him, so his usual M.O. of getting a woman in bed didn't work.  For all of his casual use of women, Gideon was a skilled lover, and I think he kept sex toys on hand in order to be a little adventurous if that's what a woman needed to be able to climax. He made sure to please a woman first, so she'd had no objections when he took control and held her down in order to chase his own climax (his sex issues involved the need to be in control.)  The fact the toys were still in packages is kinda obvious to me -- he never any of his sex partners around for any length of time that there would be any currently-in-use toys lying around. Sleep a woman a few times, maybe even for a couple of weeks, then send her on her way before she started getting attached. Throw out any toys they'd used, then have fresh ones on hand for the next woman he casually seduced.

 I think that at first, it had been Gideon's plan all along to take Eva to the f*** pad, and that's where he planed to conduct their sexual relationship. Because of his sexual issues, he never planned to take her home nor spend the night at her place, but he ended do so anyway because he loved her and was terrified of losing her.  That particular hotel is the only place Gideon ever had sex with any woman, starting with his very first lover (Corrine) and continuing with every woman since right up to Eva herself. (By Gideon having sex, I mean full intercourse, him holding a woman down as part of his dom/control fetish). As luck would have it, the hotel was near his gym.  The first -- and only -- time he ever had intercourse somewhere other than that hotel had been two nights earlier, when Eva seduced him into making love in the back of his limo, and she was the one in control. That scared him so much he went on a major head trip that ruined the rest of the night, which had been the first time Eva had gone out with him. He almost lost every chance he ever had with her because of how he'd acted the rest of that night. He knew it too -- knew he'd blown it big time.  Two days later, he convinced Eva to become his girlfriend (and he had to work really hard to talk her into it.) Now it was Gideon's turn to initiate sex with Eva on the first night of their official relationship, and so he took  his familiar safe place hotel room where he could be in control and not worry about going on another head trip. And the second time they made love, it went fantastically.  Unfortunately for Gideon, while he was in the shower after having made wild love to Eva, she found stuff (spare clothes, a good supply of condoms, and even a stash of sex toys) that made her figure out the room was his own personal f*** pad. She immediately pulled a runner (unfortunately the first of several that would later plague their relationship.)  Her running away terrified Gideon, literally. He'd almost blown it with her the first time they made love, in the limo. And now, after only the second time he'd made love with Eva, he'd blown it again big time, because she found out what he'd been using the hotel room for. She'd already warned him, mere hours before when she finally agreed to be his girlfriend, she had serious insecurity and jealousy issues. Now she'd just figured figured out she was the latest in a long series of women he'd taken to a f*** pad. She felt angry, humiliated and used - and she ran away.  I think that Gideon never had planned, when he made Eva his girlfriend, to ever take her home for the night to his place, nor did he plan to sleep over at her apartment. Because of his nightmares, he never spent a whole night with any woman, not even Corrine when they had been engaged. And in recent years, he never allowed any women period (not even women he was socially dating, such as Magdalene) to ever step foot in his penthouse. His mother was the only woman (other than paid staff) who ever had been there.  But when he managed to track Eva down where she'd run to after she fled the hotel, and he figured out how hurt she felt, he took the huge risk of taking her home (and spending the whole night with her) to convince her he cared so much she was the first lover he ever brought home. Even that early into the relationship, he was already so desperately in love with Eva he'd continue to break his own rules if that's what it took to keep her. As the relationship progressed, they spent some nights at her place too. And just as he was afraid of, his violent nightmares soon became a problem.  P.S. Eva found out, because Gideon told her later (this was early in Reflected) that hotel was the only place he'd ever had sex with any woman before Eva. Thus the later absolute devastation of the photo of him with his arm around Corrine's waist at a party at that very hotel weeks later. Eva believed it was proof Gideon was sleeping with Corrine again, and it was the final straw that made Eva dump Gideon. The truth was the party (including the photo proving he was with there with Corrine) was his alibi for the night of Nathan's murder. The hotel was near where Nathan was staying, close enough to allow Gideon to sneak away from the party for about 30 minutes, long enough to kill Nathan and get back. Sometime in the years since Gideon first started using that hotel in college, he'd bought the place, and he spent enough time there that he knew it well. He set a small fire to temporarily disrupt the party and empty the hotel. Amid the confusion of people milling around outside, he slipped away.Â

 I've recently come up with a media manipulation "Plan B" that Gideon and Eva can resort to early in Entwined, what I'm calling "Plan Brett" (and yes, I am smirking about the use of the letter  Right now, Gideon's cover story is he left Eva for Corrine even before Nathan died, so he's had no motive to kill the guy over a woman (Eva) he'd already rejected. Problem is right now, this cover story is a wee bit too convenient. And the cops already are suspicious, because Gideon's made mistakes to make them so.  What if, the story got out Gideon dumped Eva over Brett, then started going out with Corrine. Add Eva "cheating" into the mix and it makes it that much harder for the cops to argue he had motive to murder Nathan. "Plan Brett" to even better fool the cops, now that Gideon and Eva either think (or worse, know for certain) the cops are trying to trap them?  I think Gideon might have had the Brett option as a back-up all along if things got really bad with the cops. Because there were a lot of witnesses to that whole ugly scene after the concert the Friday night before Nathan died. I think he's held off on using that thus far for a few reasons:  It'd look bad to let people think Eva cheated on Gideon with an old boyfriend who just so happened to now be a big rock star for a record company Gideon practically owns. Worse, it'd further encourage Brett to keep pursuing Eva, the mere thought of which terrifies  Gideon, because he'd seen with his own eyes she's still sexually attracted to the guy.  However, as Entwined opens, Gideon and Eva are back together and finally -- FINALLY -- Eva trusts him where Corrine is concerned. However, the fact they're still sneaking around shows they're still afraid of the cops. "Press" has something to do with Chapter One of Entwined. What if that means Gideon and Eva decide to leak the Brett incident? Gideon would need to trust Eva that when Brett comes running back to town, she's not going to take Brett back.

A wrap up about the legal theories motive, opportunity and plausible deniability .....  Even if Gideon didn't kill Nathan (I think he did, but for argument's sake, let's say someone else did it) Gideon most definitely is the cops' chief suspect. So all of the three legal theories currently apply where things now stand at the end of Reflected.  Unless it turns out in Entwined that someone else committed the murder, and the cops find out, Gideon and Eva need to resolve these issues in Entwined -- most especially they need to resolve them if it is in fact true Gideon did kill Nathan to save Eva's life.  Motive: the cops believe his motive is his loves Eva so much he'd do anything to protect her. But there's still trying to establish enough evidence to prove it. They're halfway there because of some mistakes Gideon has made, but they haven't got it nailed down. Opportunity: they have already have established opportunity. They've found a possible hole in his alibi that gave him the time to sneak off to commit the murder. This part of their case is a bit weak though. Plausible deniability: as long as Gideon remains under suspicion, he has got to maintain plausible deniability he's in love with Eva, because if the cops can't prove he loves Eva, they can't establish motive.  Gideon messed up badly twice in the first 24 hours after the body was found, doing two things in front of the lead detective to show he cared for Eva. He got caught at her apartment Friday night, then he got really upset over a phone call from her he answered on his cell phone Saturday morning at the police station.  So in a bid to establish plausible deniability he loves Eva, he absolutely cut off all contact whatsoever with her after that phone call he stupidly answered at the police station. And as Reflected wrapped up, plausible deniability was about the only thing standing between Gideon and the cops being able to establish enough motive in order to try to indict him for first degree murder.  Until the last three days before Reflected ended, when Eva started figuring out otherwise, the biggest plausible deniability of all had been Eva herself believed Gideon didn't love her. Until Gideon finally started having contact with her again, and then the lead detective herself told Eva exactly what the cops think really did happen, Eva sadly believed all of the following, all of which she'd have told the cops they ever questioned her about Gideon: All along in their relationship, Gideon had only wanted her sexually. But his ex fiancee Corrine had some sort of hold over him. After he saw the rape pictures, he rejected Eva and went back to Corrine. The whole world saw pictures proving he was seeing Corrine again even while Nathan was still alive. Gideon been too much of a coward to break up with her himself, so she broke up with him when she figured out Gideon had been cheating on her. Since then, Gideon sometimes had been sending Angus to offer her rides, but this was because he felt guilty for breaking her heart. He'd never contacted her again himself after she dumped him. In the last three days of Reflected, three things happened, each more serious than the last, to endanger the plausible deniability Gideon had worked so hard at for weeks to build and then maintain.  Monday: he broke his no-contact stance with Eva by approaching her in a crowded elevator at the Crossfire, in front of witnesses and within sight of the Crossfire lobby security cameras (so now there's video plus eyewitnesses). Tuesday: he chased Eva to Dr. Lucas' office, and made it clear to Lucas he cares about Eva. Lucas is a sworn enemy of Gideon's, and now he's a potential witness Gideon still loves Eva. Wednesday: the lead detective in the case tricked Eva into revealing she dumped Gideon, not the other way around, and did it after Nathan was already dead. What's more, her ploy prompted Eva to go running straight to Gideon's apartment. P.S. On number three, I see a potential legal out for Gideon. The detective was walking a very dangerous line with Eva, who made it clear she didn't want to talk without a lawyer. The detective told her to just listen, and she fed Eva all sorts of things about the investigation against Gideon. Telling Eva stuff wasn't unconstitutional, but when the detective got into the part about the telephone call Eva made to Gideon, the detective slipped over the line into asking Eva to confirm she broke up with Gideon. That violated Eva's (and by extension, Gideon's) right to have a lawyer present during questioning. It's now very possible what Eva said will be inadmissible, as will any further evidence detectives gather as a direct result of Eva confirming she dumped Gideon on Saturday.

Wouldn't it be ironic if Gideon had found out about the Brett interview from Google Alerts? Because Eva's past habit of following Gideon on Google Alerts had caused trouble from almost day one of their relationship. It had seriously fed her insecurity and jealousy problems, and he'd repeatedly asked her to quit reading stuff she saw online.  He took Corrine out to dinner the Monday night of That Week specifically to manipulate the media by getting pictures and speculative stories online. Thus, pictures and articles about him with Corrine were there when Eva checked Google Alerts on Tuesday. By coincidence, Brett showed up unannounced in the Crossfire lobby midday Tuesday looking for Eva. Eva jumped at the chance to get even -- and she made sure Gideon knew it. Just before she left for lunch with Brett, she emailed Gideon proof she'd found out online he'd taken Corrine out to dinner the night before.  So what if as a result of Eva taking her ex out, Gideon added Brett to his (Gideon's) own Google Alerts? And that's how he found out about that interview? It'd be karma's way of payback time for Gideon, finding something on Google Alerts to feed his own raging insecurities and jealousies about an ex Eva had who now was a serious threat to Gideon?  Ironic especially because the same day three weeks ago that Eva "reconnected" with Brett was the last time she'd checked Google Alerts about Gideon. On Saturday, at the end of That Week, thanks to her Dad, she found out online about Gideon partying with Corrine at the f*** pad hotel. (Dad showed her the picture with an accompanying story confirming when and where the party happened.) Soon as she saw it, she dumped Gideon, and she stopped reading about him online anymore. Why would she anymore? She'd now had all her worst fears confirmed, and she was done with Gideon.

 You're right, the same weekend Brett gave that interview (to a radio station in Florida), Eva got a make-over. The new look was sexier and sophisticated, and it included a pretty new haircut.  After Magdalene threw in the towel because of Corrine, she quit wearing her hair waist-length like Corrine, instead dramatically changing her hairstyle to something more polished. Eva herself was the one who clued Gideon in about why Magdalene had cut her hair.  Gideon might have found out about Eva's make-over even before he could see it with his own eyes that Monday morning as she walked by the lobby cameras in the Crossfire. Because Saturday night at a dinner club, Eva ran into Christopher Jr. plus his parents. Christopher complimented Eva on the new look as he danced with her. It's possible Christopher told Gideon about it later that weekend to twist his tail.  Gideon woke up scared Monday, with good reason in the face of steadily mounting signs Eva was slipping further away from him with every passing day:  Thursday, without any explanation (none was needed) Eva dropped off an envelope at his apartment building lobby desk containing the promise ring he'd given her and her key to his place. The key was even more ominous than the ring, because it sent a signal she wasn't going to chase after him again like the prior time he'd deliberately pushed her away (that time was because of one of his violent nightmares.) Their relationship had turned a huge corner for the better after that nightmare, because for the first time ever, Eva ran after him instead of running away from him for the upteenth time. She ran after him by letting herself into his apartment, so she was there when he got home. Giving back his key now sent a clear sign she wasn't ever going to do it again. Over the weekend, she got a makeover and resumed an active social life. Same weekend, Brett gave that interview. Gideon never had gotten to find out what went on between Brett and Eva when she'd taken Brett to lunch three weeks earlier. But now Brett was telling the media he had "reconnected" with Eva and made it crystal clear he was trying to get her back. Prior to that Monday, Gideon had kept asking her to "trust." Monday, he pinned her against an elevator wall, put the ring back on her hand, and asked her to "wait."

Here's my theory on that ..... Plausible deniability is also a legal concept. In Gideon's case, if the prosecution lacked proof of their allegation he loved Eva, he could "plausibly deny" the fact it was true. So if he needed to talk to Eva, he had to make certain not to get caught. Thus - see her in secret. The secret meeting between him and Eva in that security office took place midday Tuesday. Just that morning, they'd finally gotten back on speaking terms again after almost two weeks of being apart (they'd taken that car ride together Tuesday morning.) Midday Tuesday, she had lunch with Christopher Jr., and Gideon felt he needed to find out right away what had gone on. Because since Saturday, Eva had gone after his mother, Corrine and Dr. Lucas -- and judging by the fact Eva had just had lunch with with Christopher, apparently she was still at it. So why there (in the security office)? Here's what I think were the key events leading up to that: Over the weekend, Brett Klein gave an interview that hit the Internet saying he and Eva had reconnected and he wanted another chance with her. Monday midday, Gideon finally broke almost two weeks of zero contact with Eva. I'm certain the Brett interview is what made Gideon decide he had to beg Eva to "wait" for him. Gideon broke the no-contact by approaching Eva in the ground floor elevator lobby of the Crossfire, jumping onto a crowded elevator after her. The security cameras would have caught that. Monday after work, he made a point of parading Corrine past the lobby security cameras and out of the Crossfire to his car parked at the curb, his hand at the small of her back, a sexually proprietary gesture. Because he didn't dare approach Eva a second time only one day later within sight of the Crossfire lobby cameras, he met with her in the security office itself. The way to have plausible deniability was to resume avoiding being seen anywhere near her. He'd already blown that twice: at the Crossfire one day before, and chasing her to Dr. Lucas' office that morning. So if he wanted to talk with her any more times at the Crossfire, he needed a secret place to do so. I think that on Tuesday, Gideon had decided he soon needed to tell Eva part of the truth - the detectives thought he was involved somehow with Nathan's murder, so to protect both himself and Eva, he was being careful about being seen talking to her. That's the plausible deniability part -- and when he did get around to telling her about the cops, he'd explain what he meant by plausible deniability. Eva knew the detectives questioned him about Nathan a couple of weeks ago, because they did it right in front of her at her apartment. But ever since then, Gideon had kept the entire situation secret from her. He still was keeping it secret that Tuesday morning weeks later when he and Eva took the car ride. During that ride, he learned for certain he was going to lose Eva forever unless he quit keeping secrets from her. In fact, when she first got in the car, she told him point blank she'd already begun living her life without him, and the reason she was moving on was because he'd always shut her out. Fortunately, during the talk Gideon had with her in the car, he convinced her to wait for him to come back to her as soon as he could. But now he needed to be able to talk with her in secret if when he had to, because three things were still going on, any one of which could make her change her mind about waiting: Gideon was still keeping a big secret from her - he was under investigation. That's something she might find out about herself from the cops. (Funny thing was, the next night, that's exactly what happened.) Gideon was still seeing Corrine -- seeing her for the very reason of plausible deniability. In the not too distant future, Brett's concert tour was going to wrap up and he'd almost certainly go see Eva again. Gideon had good reason to be scared, because Corrine is what had made Eva turn to Brett twice in the recent past. Bottom line: Gideon still needs plausible deniability he's in love with Eva. So if they're going to meet, it needs to be in secret. In fact this is the VERY set-up we apparently have in the early part of Entwined, judging by snippets and the book excerpt itself indicating Gideon and Eva have gotten back together again but are seeing one another in secret.

 Here's my thoughts, ladies ....  "Motive and opportunity" are the two legal elements a prosecutor must establish to convince a jury beyond reasonable doubt Gideon committed murder.  Gideon set up the opportunity by making sure both he and Eva had alibis and placing himself where he could quickly get to Nathan's hotel and then back to a publicity event that was his cover. He set a small fire to temporarily interrupt the party and empty the place where it was being held. Amid the crowd of people milling around outside, Gideon made sure he was seen moving about -- then he slipped away, killed Nathan, and got back to the party.  But part of the opportunity required having to deal with his motive he loved Eva so much he'd do anything to protect her. To prevent the prosecution from convincingly establishing that motive, well ahead of the murder he started publicly behaving like he'd rejected her. He fooled the media (and unfortunately Eva herself) into believing he'd begun seeing Corrine again.  However, he ended up forced to cut off all contact with Eva within 24 hours of the body being found Friday morning, because he'd messed up twice in front of the lead homicide detective. His first mistake was being at Eva's apartment Friday night when the detectives showed up. Then he made a huge mistake taking Eva's phone call Saturday morning, ending up devastated while he was at the police station. After that, he avoided any contact whatsoever with her (well, managed to keep that up for almost two weeks.) That was the price -- them being completely apart.  Bottom line: When he risked contacting Eva again, he told her he had seized an opportunity but the price was their being apart. At the time she (and thus we readers) may have assumed the opportunity was the chance to work through unfinished business with Corrine. The truth was he seized the opportunity to stop Nathan forever, but price was he could not go back to Eva any time soon, because he was now the chief murder suspect.

Gideon was able to stop himself from beating Nathan into a bloody pulp in his office. Only a little bit of blood was left on the cuff of his sleeve, so little that Eva mistook it for lipstick. This was a very smart thing for Gideon to do -- shut himself off after probably just one punch. Beating Nathan to a pulp at the Crossfire would have needed a lot of explaining to do. Including the cops when Nathan ended up in the emergency room. And Eva would have ended up finding out about the rape pictures because of it. I can see Gideon suddenly thinking about the possible consequences to Eva, and that's what got him to stop. That and his own thought "I'll come up with a better way to deal with this sicko. One that's going to protect Eva."

I think the nickname "Ace" fits Gideon. He got started by counting cards to win lots of money playing blackjack, and now casinos are a big part of his financial empire. Gideon didn't like it at first, because it was the nickname of some character in a book and he used to be so insecure he was a little jealous of even an imaginary man Eva liked. But it's really grown on him. I wonder whether this is the first time in his life someone gave him a special nickname. The "Ace" book character became a little special part of the wonderful weekend in North Carolina. Among the many things Gideon made sure were stocked at the house were those books. Eva ended up reading passages aloud to him.

The more I think about it, the more I like the media finding out about Brett and Eva could really be to Gideon and Eva's benefit. Especially if word got out about what happened in that alley after the concert. It could solve two problems: the cops, and Corrine. COPS: Think about it. Right now, the cops are convinced his motive for killing Nathan was he loved Eva so much he'd do anything to protect her. They'd have a hard time establishing that if witnesses could say Eva had "cheated" and Gideon dumped her almost a week before the murder. CORRINE: Gideon's been letting people think he left Eva to go back to Corrine. But an even more convincing story would be Gideon dumped Eva over Brett. He then could make people think that weeks later, he decided to forgive Eva and give her a second chance. Even Corrine herself would swallow the bitter "truth" he never really wanted her -- instead, he'd taken a break from Eva. I wonder whether it was always a "Plan B" of Gideon's that if things got desperate, he could use that ugly incident with Brett to convince people he had no reason to kill Nathan over her. This may have been why Gideon picked Tableau One to take Corrine out for the first time a few nights later. His good friend and owner of the restaurant, Arnoldo, witnessed how enraged Gideon was over Eva caught in Brett's arms. Arnoldo himself bodily threw Eva into the limo to get her out of Gideon's sight. Now that Gideon and Eva can work together to stop the police from establishing Gideon's motive for murder, the pair of them can agree to manipulate the press with the "Plan B" story. "Plan Brett." It's better than Gideon continuing to "date" Corrine for the foreseeable future.

God you ladies all seriously rock!!!! And I think it's a hoot that some of us get the smileys to work while others can't. I can't get them to work, but somehow I can manage to access an edit function that lets me go in and clean up my own errors. So I hereby vow to never again mention another spelling issue.

Because EVERYTHING was riding on it -- his future, their future, Eva's very life itself, was riding on it, Gideon did very cruel things to Eva. Things he did without even telling her why, much less saying he was sorry. So I think if he had to do low-level physical stuff with Corrine, like making out with her, especially in private, he'd do it if that's what it took. He'd do anything short of f***** her now if the danger to him and Eva got too high. Because look what he openly, deliberately did that hurt Eva, did it KNOWING Eva was hurting: Deliberately allowing himself to be photographed taking Corrine out Monday night instead of going to the hospital. Not even bothering to call her that night. Not apologizing the next day after Eva saw photos of him with Corrine splashed all over the Internet. Instead, he added insult to injury by blowing her off a second night in a row. Later that same week, coldly ignoring Eva in the middle of an important business meeting where everyone from her immediate boss to one of the owners of her agency were sitting there. The same afternoon, promising her he'd meet her at Dr. Petersen's office for couple's therapy and then blowing her off without any explanation nor apology. And why did he blow Eva off instead of sitting there in therapy trying to fix a rapidly unraveling situation? Even though he already knew his taking Corrine out was hurting Eva, while Eva was sitting there in Dr. Petersen's office, Gideon was going out of his way to make sure he got photographed with his arm around Corrine's waist. At a party he threw himself for the very work account (the vodka thing) Eva worked so hard on -- and which Gideon coldly ignored her in front of important bosses. WORSE holding his party at the hotel Eva knew full well was the only place he ever f*** other women, starting with Corrine herself. CRUELEST OF ALL, after Eva made an agonizing telephone call to him in which she wept as she forgave for considering her damaged goods because of rape photographs of herself, NOT going to see her to tell her it wasn't true. He could have sneaked into her apartment once her Dad left in order to talk to her. He didn't. Instead, he went the next twelve straight days without contacting her in any way, which would most certainly make her believe every awful thing she feared was true: he was glad she broke up with him, because he'd been too much of a coward to break up with her like he wanted to both because of those rape photos and because he was f***** Corrine again. He did all this awful stuff because he thought it was for her own good. To save her and to shield her. But did we ever think Gideon capable of doing even one deliberate thing that would hurt Eva? Much less for weeks hurting her again, and again, and again, knowing full well she was in agony? Gideon never meant for Eva to know he'd seen rape photos of her, much less believe they caused him to reject her. Nor did he mean to deliberately let her think he was f***** Corrine again. But he NEVER disavowed her of those awful things that broke her heart into a million pieces and made her think he was glad she left him. Every other thing on that awful laundry list above, he did deliberately. Thought about it and the possible consequences and still did it anyway. Never stopped even though with every passing incident, the damage he was doing to Eva was getting worse. Something that actually really angers me about Gideon's whole behavior throughout his God awful way of handling the Eva part of his plot, start to finish, is that he expected her to trust him in the face of deliberate cruelty. Even though he was incapable of trusting her. He expected her to wait. Even though he hadn't raised a finger to stop her from walking out of his life. He simply planned to wait the cops to go away. Then without any explanation why he hurt her, he expected her to forgive him and take him back. He was never going to tell her the truth about Nathan. He was going to keep lying to her by omission. I'm glad Eva gave him the wake-up call three weeks later sitting there in the car with him. She told him it really was over, because he never let her in. He believed her. So then and there on the spot, he made the biggest change of his life by letting someone -- letting Eva -- inside to one of the most hidden parts of his soul. THAT's when he finally stopped being cruel to Eva. That's when he proved he still loved her. Thank God she still loved him enough that it worked.

Gideon's unique ability to get into Nathan's room quickly and quietly, totally catching Nathan off guard, I think is the most convincing argument of all that Gideon stabbed him. He let himself in, stood there in front of the closed door, got Nathan to approach him, then stabbed him. No banging on the door to get let in. No chasing Nathan around that room, which would get overheard. Most of all, no leaving fiber evidence all around that room. The only possible fiber evidence Gideon might have left behind, immediately inside the door, is going to get destroyed by the parade of people later walking in and out of that room -- from the housekeeper who probably found the body to the crew from the medical examiner's office hauling the body away. People are assuming, because Nathan was found just inside the door, that Nathan opened it for his killer. It's very clever of Sylvia to make us assume Nathan opened that door, because there are at least three people he might -- MIGHT -- have been persuaded to do it for. The three who could "show him the money" -- Monica, Stanton, Gideon. But the alternative is this. Gideon got through that door on his own by using a master key. He shut the door and stood there. Then said something to trick Nathan into walking up to him. Something like, "OK, you win -- I'll pay whatever you want." It was Detective Graves' theory that Nathan attacked Cary in order to intimidate Gideon into finally paying the blackmail. He gets Nathan to walk up to him and then -- BAM -- whips out the knife and drives it right into Nathan's heart. Nathan drops to the floor and in under a minute, his heart will have stopped beating forever. Gideon looks out the peephole, makes sure there's no one in the hallway, and slips out of the room.