This was Sheldon's worst day of his life. Even worse than the Arctic betrayal and humiliation, this one will definitely cost him the job at the university and his future career. He was sitting in the interrogation room of the Pasadena police department. His hands were cuffed, on his lap. He was calm and showing no remorse for what he did.

Investigators looked at him through the one-way glass, going over his records, to get to know him better. Detective Jethro Gibbs summarized.

"Doctor Sheldon Lee Cooper. BS, MS, MA, PhD and ScD. Born in Texas on February 26th 1980. Entered college at the age of 11, got his first PhD at the age of 16. Theoretical physicist, employed at Caltech University. IQ rated at 187?" Detective stared at that figure for a second. "Currently working on top-secret military project, which we've been denied access to. Brought in, after calling and surrendering himself to the police, this morning."

Detective sighed and looked at Sheldon through the window. "One of the best and brightest minds in the United States and he's sitting in our interrogation room."

"I've seen some of his work involving string theory. It's bad that it happened, but we have to do our job. Just because he's a vital asset to our national security, doesn't mean we can just let him go without a trial." Detective Eleanor Bishop defended.

"I know. Abby showed me the autopsy. Shit. he really lost it there, didn't he?" Gibbs shook his head. Bishop ran through the report. Cause of death: suffocation.

"Stuffed his girlfriend's head into the oven and snapped her neck with the door. Never seen anything like it. You think it was just a momentary outbreak? I mean, look at him. All calm and quiet."

"Many guys are like that. Quiet, till they burst. The police will bring in his neighbors…" Gibbs checked the report again. "Leonard and Penny Hofstadter, for questioning later today. For now, it's just him. Come on, let's talk to him."

Both detectives entered the interrogation room.

"Hello, doctor Cooper. I'm detective Gibbs, this is detective Bishop, we're from the Los Angeles police department." They both showed their badges and took a seat on the other side of the table. Gibbs threw the reports and files on the metal surface. Camera in the top corner was recording the session.

"Officer, please remove the handcuffs from doctor Cooper." The guard followed the order and uncuffed him.

Sheldon felt his wrists and laid his hands back onto his lap. "Thank you."

G: "Doctor Cooper, you are accused of murdering your girlfriend, dr. Amy Farrah Fowler. You killed her in the apartment, which is rented to your neighbour, ms. Penny Hofstadter. Did I get it right?"

"Where's Penny, I need to see her!" Sheldon was triggered by her name and raised his voice.

B: "Calm down now, Sheldon. May we call you Sheldon?"

Sheldon sighted at first. "You may." He calmed and bowed his head in agreement.

G: "Penny and Leonard Hofstadter will be brought in for questioning later. They might offer some more insight into what happened today. But for now, please. Tell us for the record. What possessed such brilliant mind to commit such a horrible crime?" Gibbs leaned back and gave Sheldon the word.

"Amy and I knew each other for the last 7 years. At the time, I was single, so my friends, without my knowledge, arranged me a 'perfect'..." Sheldon made air quotes "Match, on some internet dating site."

B: "And you went along with it."

"Yes. It was fun hanging out with Amy at first. She was smart and a scientist, just like me. But the relationship proved to be far from easy, as the time went by. She tried to improve me many times over the years."

B: "By improving, you mean..."

"My personality. To make me more... human. To fix my habits and behaviour."

B: "How did that make you feel?"

"She wasn't accepting me for who I was. She had a PhD in neuroscience, she tried all kinds of mind tricks on me, to change my behaviour into what she believed was normal."

G: "But you never confronted her?"

"I did! But she was stubborn and insisted on our relationship at all cost. She was either afraid she couldn't meet other guys, if I left her, or she was obsessed with me."

G: "So you stayed in this relationship, despite her behaviour?"

"Yes, I went along with it. It wasn't that bad all the time and I still had my own apartment. And my close friends."

B: "Penny and Leonard."

"Among others, yes." Sheldon nodded.

B: "Did you reveal any of these issues to them?"

"I did on occasion, but they never took them seriously. They wanted my relationship to go well. I guess failure was not an option for them. From their perspective, I was in a normal relationship."

G: "So, everything was going rather well, until?"

"Until Amy and I decided to try and live together. Her apartment was in need of repair, which would take five weeks. All three of them decided it would be fun, if we tried to live together, these couple of weeks."

G: "But you didn't want to do it."

"I never liked this idea, I'm very attached to my apartment and order in it. But I sticked with it. For the sake of the experiment."

B: "Experiment?"

"Yes, we treated this period as a scientific experiment. We were both scientists."

Detectives looked at each other, surprised.

B: "Experiment? You treated your relationship like an experiment?"

"It's how we approached it as fellow scientists." Sheldon nodded.

B: "Sheldon, did you actually love this woman? So far, you didn't provide any information or clues, that would suggest you did."

"I killed her, I believe that answers your question, detective." Sheldon looked straight at Eleanor.

G: "Why did you do it?" Gibbs got to the point.

"Because she never stopped. She always had something to bicker about. Something to remind me how dumb I acted or talked. Something to humiliate me infront of my friends. Something to treat me like a child. I couldn't take it anymore. Not with her being around me for so much time, each day."

B: "Sheldon, your IQ is among the highest in the world! Why did you remain in this relationship for so long?"

"I was single my entire life, before I met her. I didn't want to go back to that. Not after all my friends got their life partners. There was also a part of her, that I couldn't let go. She broke up with me a while ago, but we got back together again..." He sighted.

G: "So you stayed with her for the sake of peer pressure."

"That and I was afraid. Afraid what she might do to me, or my friends, if I left her go again."

G: "What are you talking about?" This raised their curiosity.

"Amy had a sad and lonely childhood. She was in the same boat as me. Getting dumped by me, would devastate her. I cared enough to not break her heart again."

B: "You said she could hurt your friends?"

"Yes. Penny. Amy was always jealous of her. Her looks, social skills and boyfriends. And lastly, my friendship with her."

Detectives shook their heads in disbelief. A second woman, of course.

G: "Please, tell us about that. Everything you reveal, will help your case and ease the sentence."

Sheldon smiled for the first time, all it took was a thought of Penny. Detectives noticed it. His tone changed, when he started to talk about her.

"Penny and I grew close over the years. She moved into the apartment next door ten years ago. She's been an integral part of my life ever since. She's like... a sister to me. We helped and supported each other, since we met. I help her through life and she helps me. She is an amazing person." Sheldon was smiling.

B: "And you believe, Amy would think this friendship was the reason for the breakup, if you would do it? Leaving her for Penny?"

"Yes. She has always been jealous of what I had with Penny. Every time we were together. Amy tortured animals as part of her research. I couldn't allow her to hurt Penny because of me."

G: "Ah, yes. Ms. Fowler worked as a tester of various drugs at your university. Making experiments on lab animals. Good judgement, Sheldon. You made quite a sacrifice with this, trying to protect your friend. Which brings me to the final question. Do you have any feelings for Penny?" Room became dead silent.

Sheldon turned serious and waited in deep thought. He finally exhaled the breath he was holding.

"No. She's married now, I'm just her friend." He looked down into the desk in sadness. Detectives looked at each other. They both knew he wasn't telling the truth.

G: "Ok, thank you for all this information, doctor Cooper. I must say, after hearing your side, the case is getting clearer. The victim abused you verbally, until you ended her life. She also posed a threat to you and your friends. You'd be surprised how many such cases we go through each year. Thank you for your cooperation. The guard will escort you to your temporary holding cell and we will question Penny and Leonard in the meantime."

"I understand. Thank you, detectives."

They all left the room together. Detectives returned to the adjacent room on the other side of the interrogation room.

"Poor bastard. He gets set up with an abuser and rather shuts up, than talks about it. But even if he did, would others believe him?"

"Did you see his face when Penny was brought up?"

"He's in love with her and doesn't even realize it."

"She's married, Gibbs. It would wreck her marriage and friendship."

Gibbs shook his head. "That's one hell of a mess. When do they get here? I wanna hear their side of the story."