Chapter 5
Do You Ever Tell The Truth?
"I have a new case." Len states as I enter the den.
He's sitting on the couch, staring into the fireplace and sipping wine. Out of his crystal glass. What if he had made a mistake, and poisoned his own glass?
Then again, I don't suppose he could have. It's a very strong smell, when I convict him, I'll have to ask him how the old man didn't notice it.
"May I have the details?" I ask, sitting across from him with a blank face.
"I think I'll keep them from you." He says, and suddenly throws his head back in laughter. His laugh seems different today, more... On edge.
When he finally stops laughing, his face is straight, and for some reason this bothers me. Quick transition from laughter to morbidness. "There's been a drowning, down by the docks. The boat was shipping several very expensive items, only a few of which were missing. With the exception of the missing items, it could be classified as an accident.
But since things were stolen, I was asked to investigate. I'll be taking this case alone, if you don't mind." He states, rising from the couch and setting the half-empty glass on the table.
"Fine." I reply, watching him as he stretches out, then walks past me on the couch.
"I'll be back in an hour or so." He states, pulling open the door, and then leaving.
As soon as the door shuts, I jump up. Now is my chance to search the rest of the house.
I start with the bathrooms, then the bedrooms and guestrooms, the dining room, the kitchen, the balcony, the library... I find nothing interesting.
I descend the stairs and enter the kitchen, quickly preparing tea.
I set it on the coffee table just as he walks in, and I turn and smile at him. "Welcome back, any news?" I ask with false happiness.
*~*Len*~*
I have to make her trust me, it's fairly obvious she doesn't. The false cheeriness, finding her under my bed, the way she questions my opinion on murder. I know she suspects that I'm the murderer, I can just see it. It's in her eyes. I'm not sure what led her to believe this, but she needs to trust me.
She extends a cup to me, waiting for my response. I take it, smiling.
Even though the sun has been out lately, the previous rain made it difficult to walk through the snow. Though it could have been worse, at least the snow has melted some the past couple of days.
I take a seat, and her across from me. "I'm not sure who the culprit is, but I know it was murder. There were signs of a struggle for one thing, and it was definitely a robbery.
There was no evidence, no fingerprints, nothing."
"Have you any idea what lead you're going to take?" She asks, and I laugh.
"There is no lead, but it's only a matter of time." Damn, I really need to think before I speak.
"A matter of time until what, Len?" She asks, her face never changing.
"Until I find a lead, I'm sure. I'm going back soon to double-check, you see." I explain.
"I see." She replies, the edge of a frown on her face. Though I doubt she knows it.
"Thank you for the tea, you don't have to do that, you know. You're my assistant, not a maid."
*~Rin~*
Four days after that, the dock closed down it's shipment company, because 'someone' kept drowning the boat-drivers and stealing the shipment items.
"...But it's only a matter of time." The way he said it, it was so... Knowing. I know he's behind this, he keeps disappearing at night to, 'Re-check the boats for fingerprints', and soon after the missing person is discovered along with the robbed boat.
Right now, he's 'investigating' the most recent one, and I'm investigating his bedroom.
And not for nothing, either. Tucked away between his mattresses is the boat schedule for the docks.
But the problem is, he probably has that because he's the detective for the case. But then again, why was the paper hidden under the mattress, and why are the boats that have been robbed crossed out? It's almost as if, well, it's his to-do list.
I put it back under the mattress, jolt down the new information and then go down to the kitchen.
I quickly take out the roast-beef I'd put in the oven and lay it on the counter, then drip a special sauce over it.
My mother had taught me the recipe.
Then, I take out the baked potatoes.
After that, I finish the bread, then lay everything on the table. I need to make it seem like I've been busy, even though this doesn't really take that long.
I set the table, then prepare tea and set it out.
Just in time- "Did you do all this?" Len asks, and I jump, startled. I spin around to face him.
"Uh... Yeah, I did... I thought you'd be hungry by the time you got back, you've been so busy lately." I smile kindly, and he laughs.
"Well... Thank you, Rin. That's very kind of you, and I'm starving. Let's eat."
As we're sitting here in the dining room, the long table stretching between us, I find myself looking at the situation from an outsiders point of view.
A male and female, sitting together at dinner after the male had come home from work. It's like we're married, or at least a couple.
The thought makes me blush, and he notices. "Something wrong?" He asks, looking up from his plate.
I laugh, nervously. "No, nothing's wrong..." I reply, pushing my food around on my plate. "I'm just not hungry."
"Well, maybe if you eat all your food, we can go out for ice cream." He teases, and I smile.
"Is that a promise?" I ask, then laugh.
"Sure, but you have to eat first. To be honest, you really don't eat enough." He points out, and I blush deeper.
I didn't know he noticed. Being a detective is a stressful job, I don't usually have an appetite.
I don't reply, lifting my fork to my lips and taking a bite of potato. I'm taking him up on that promise.
Later, we're walking through the snow, bundled to keep the cold away. "It's a bit cold for ice cream, I admit." I laugh, and he smiles over at me.
Suddenly, he takes my hand and squeezes it gently. "Then we'll get hot chocolate instead, okay?" He says, not letting go.
I look down at our hands, both gloved in white, and blush.
He laughs, noticing my face and squeezing my hand again. "Come on, we're almost there!" He pulls me along.
He has an almost child-like way of seeing things, he's almost always smiling, always happy. always looking forward to the next event, the next day.
For the first time since all of this, I decide to forget about the case, about the evidence, and have fun today.
Later, we're walking again, sipping hot chocolate out of cheap tin mugs. The snow is falling ever-so-lightly around us, and he's still holding my hand. In fact, he hasn't let go. And somehow, I don't mind it.
What in the world am I thinking, enjoying my evening spent with someone who is more likely than not a murderer? And yet, I find myself letting my guard down, laughing, even, and having fun.
"Do you like living with me?" Len asks suddenly, and I don't even think before I reply.
"Yes, of course. It's so much better than-" I stop myself, the say, quieter, "I do like it." And it's the truth. At home, all I ever did was work, come home and clean. It's just me and my father now, and he doesn't work at all. I actually send half of my paycheck to him so that he can survive without me there. He's just lazy, though. He isn't sick, and he isn't a drunk. Since mom always worked, he never had to, and then I took over when she died.
"Then you should know, I'm not planning on staying here. In a while, a few months or so, I'm leaving. This town is just too dark, and... Cold..." He says, squeezing my hand.
I don't look at him, staring straight ahead in shock, surprise, confusion, almost.
He's leaving. A series of possible- No! I stop myself, shaking my head once. "Oh..." I reply weakly, frowning. I don't want to think about the case right now.
"If... You wanted, you could come with me." He offers, and I freeze. "I would be resigning my position as a detective."
He takes a few more steps, then comes to a stop when he realizes I'm not following him anymore. He drops my hand and turns to me, stepping closer. "What's wrong?" He asks, noticing my frown.
I don't reply, trying to think of an excuse for why I'm upset. I can't believe this... He's offering to let me live with him, even after he leaves? Just to live with him, not as an assistant anymore... The case just won't leave me alone, will it? Fine. He's a murderer, I just know he is. He's offering to let me live with him, for me to move with him. What am I being offered here? To run, run from a series of thefts and murders, to run from everything I've ever stood for? "No." I reply, turning away from him. "I mean, I can't. I'm just... Just... I can't leave my father here without me, he wouldn't be able to support himself." Hey, it's half-true.
For once, the smile seems to drop from his face. "Oh..." He actually frowns. "Well, you've still got two months, you know?" He says.
He turns, and we begin walking again, but this time he doesn't take my hand.
For some reason, I really wish he would. "Well... I could mail him a bit of money now and then, right?" I turn to him, forcing a smile to my face. "I could, if you still want-"
"Great!" He cuts me off, grabbing my hand again and smiling. "We can start looking for somewhere soon then."
Later, we're in the den, sipping tea and looking through the most recent drowning cases photos.
"He looks like he'd just recently died." I state, looking at the picture of the victim.
"Well, it could have been at any time. The water is cold, is preserves the body for longer, it was frozen completely when it was drug out." He states, glancing at the picture.
Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. He jumps up, stretching once before going to see who it is.
While he does that, I take the chance to look closer at the pictures.
A dead man, his body blue. Another, a female, her body looks recently deceased. Another, male, the same. Then a blue one, this one with a scratch on his face.
Then, one strikes me in particular... This one looks like he was fighting, there's a bruise on his left cheek, and his fingers are clenched.
What's that in his hand...? I look closer, knowing I see something. It looks... Yellow?
Maybe... "Rin!" A sudden voice cuts into my concentration, and I jump up. I spin around to run towards Len, who just called me, and trip.
I look up quickly, confused by the small 'clang' I heard when I tripped over the floorboard. Len is still talking to the detective.
I glance down at the floorboard, and realize it's higher than usual. "Rin, we have to go." Len states, and I jump up. I'll deal with that later, something in his voice sounds urgent.
"There's been another drowning." Len states, grabbing his coat and pulling me along with him out the door.
Once we're at the dock, and upon the boat in which the murder occurred, I begin to feel a bit faint.
I hate boats... I get seasick fairly easily. I just hope this doesn't take long, or that he won't mind me leaving.
But he's acting strangely... More shaken than the last ones. Maybe he was told something I don't know, or maybe evidence was found. Or maybe, he didn't commit the murder at all.
He's already looked over the body, noticing that the murder was committed by a blunt object to the head, and this time, more things were missing from the ship.
He's dusting for prints right now, and I'm just looking over the previous evidence. It looks as though- "There are prints that don't match the victims." Len states, and I hurry to his side- this was done by someone else.
On the railing of the boat, there are two, slightly smudged fingerprints, as if the person were not wearing gloves.
"All the others had been so... Careful. It was almost like a talent," I state. "But this one is careless. I don't think it's the same person, do you?" I ask, turning to him.
"This was done in daylight, and not only that but there was a guard on duty. It would make sense that the culprit did this so carelessly, in the panic." He says, and I must admit I find logic in that.
After questioning everyone for about an hour, they find the culprit. It's a grocery store owner who needed the money, and was planning on pawning the items he stole. He's arrested on the scene, after admitting to it.
Then, we return home, where we have tea in silence in front of the fireplace. "Do you really think they were all done by the same man? It seems to me that they were too different to have been by the same man. And he only admitted to this recent one." I point out, laying the tea on the table between us.
"Yes, I do." He states shortly, smiling into the fire. I just watch him, frowning.
"I'm going to take a walk, Len." I say quietly, rising from the couch and going to the door.
I walk out into the falling snow, frowning softly at the sweetness of it, when reality is so sour.
I just stand there for a while in his yard, staring up at the sky.
Suddenly, someone- meaning Len- takes my hand. "You look sad." He states, pulling my close to him. His smile never fades, even when my face falls and I feel myself losing it.
I feel tears, for the first time since my mother died, glistening in my eyes. I reach up to wipe them away, but he beats me to it.
I turn away from him, closing my eyes. "Why do you work so hard?" I ask, and he smiles wider.
"To bring justice to the world, I thought you knew that." Is his reply, and I cross my arms to keep out the cold.
I shiver anyway, closing my eyes so I don't have to see his smile anymore. "Do you ever tell the truth?" I ask, my voice low. So low, I don't know if he even heard me until I look at him.
He's not smiling anymore, his face has fallen into a look of confusion.
I let out a laugh, stepping away from him. "I'm going for that walk now, I need some time to think, okay? I'll see you in a bit." I turn away, leaving him there in the snow.
I haven't cried since mom died, that night... Dad got the news, and told me. He didn't even seem to care, but I loved my mom and she loved me. And then she was just gone, snatched away. Since then, I decided I didn't need to become that close to anyone again, and that my job would make it dangerous. I had to become a detective, you see... Because I had to find my mom's killer.
But now... I've fallen for someone. Someone that I'm bringing the same fate as my mother, he'll get the death-sentence. And I've fallen for him.
What am I supposed to choose? Love, or justice?
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