Chapter 4
I'll Solve Your Riddle
Is this enough evidence? I ask myself, looking through my notes. The glass, the smell... So familiar. If I realize what it is, I might... Well, anyway, I'm sure this isn't enough to convict a highly-respected detective.
Besides, I don't even know for sure that he did it.
Right now, we're walking our way to a restaurant in town. He said he was out of food, and didn't want me to have to cook, so he would take me out.
I didn't object, of course, but I don't feel comfortable wearing this frilly black dress. He bought it for me, and somehow knew my size, so I'm guessing he did a bit of snooping himself.
I glance over at him, staring straight ahead with a small smile forever-plastered on his face. It's as if he hasn't a care in the world. But after all the things he's seen, even if he isn't the murderer, shouldn't he have some sort of unhappiness of some kind? I mean, he's seen murders. He saw one yesterday, and acts as though the world were this wonderful place.
"How can you keep smiling after all that you've seen?" I ask suddenly, and he laughs. He actually laughs.
"Well, it's better to see the good in the world when that's what you're trying to bring into it than to focus only on the bad." He turns to me as we walk through the half-melted snow.
"I... I never saw it that way. I suppose I mostly focused on the bad of all of it. I don't see how anyone could kill someone else, it's just..." I drift off, awaiting his reaction.
"Well, sometimes, it's necessary to get things done." He says, then glances at me quickly before adding; "Such as, if a criminal is running from you, what else can you do but to kill them? They're dangerous."
I make a mental note to write down the first statement when we get back to his home.
"Indeed." I reply, looking up to the sky as we walk.
The sun is out, but it's still so cold out. I realize right then, as a cloud passes over the sun, dimming it for only seconds, that the world isn't always dark. Only when you let something 'fog' your vision of it, like a cloud over the sun. Maybe he's right, maybe...
Suddenly, I realize we're there. He holds the door open for me, and I smile. "Thank you." I say as I enter.
He doesn't reply, leading me to a small table in the back.
The place is crowded, and for some reason the atmosphere is tense.
I pick up the menu for something to do, and scan over it quickly. Then, I realize something and lay it back down. "I'm so sorry, but I haven't enough money for-"
"Don't be silly, I'm paying for it." He replies, not even glancing up from his menu.
I feel blush tinting my cheeks, and I frown, picking up the menu to hide it. Isn't that what people do on dates? I mean, the guy pay for the girl?
I'm living in his house, I eat his food and drink his tea, he buys me clothes. He must be very wealthy, but where does it come from? Inheritance, or is he really the thief I'm looking for?
I search for the cheapest thing on the menu. "I'll have the roast-beef stew, then." I state, laying the menu down. He rolls his eyes and looks at me.
"Don't get the cheapest thing just because you're uncomfortable with me buying it for you. It's no trouble, just pick something you like." He commands, the smile still on his face.
I smile, sort of, and pick up the menu.
After we order (I got the mushroom soup, which is actually more expensive than the other and looked good, and he got some roast-beef platter.), and after we eat he seems to notice something.
I turn around to see two customers yelling at a waiter, and who I imagine is the owner of the small business. "I payed for entertainment with my meal, and there hasn't been!" It's a young girl, probably 16. She has long, aqua hair in pigtails, and her eyes match. "I want my money back, unless you have someone play music right now!"
Len rises from the table, and I watch curiously as he goes up to the manager. "I can play the piano, good sir." He has that ever-charming smile upon his face, sealing the deal. "I'm rather talented, if I do say so myself."
"I don't know, we had someone hired, and we've already payed them so we're short on-" The manager begins, but Len shakes his head.
"I don't require pay, I'm simply a fan of piano and wouldn't mind playing."
And with that, the manager nods. "Please, do. And hurry, if you will. We're losing business."
Len smiles at him, the moves to the small stage in the corner of the restaurant.
Everyone turns to him, both curious and simply bored with the bland meal.
He begins to play, and I gasp. The melody from the violin, he's playing it and I know where I've heard it before.
"We hired him to play for your birthday, and he agreed to do it without pay when he saw how adorable you are!" My mother coos, taking my hand and motioning towards a boy.
A young boy, only a year or two older than I, with blond hair and bright but tired eyes. He smiles at me, a charming smile.
"Happy birthday." He says, then laughs. "I heard you liked music, right?" He asks, and touches my cheek. "I'll make sure to play my best tonight, okay?"
I laugh, and then smile at him. "Okay!"
And then, the same melody begins.
He used to play for me, at my house. My parents had hired him...
Those were the best years of my life, the years before my mother was murdered by a criminal. A criminal I worked hard to put behind bars.
Later, after we've returned to his home, he takes my hand and pulls me up the stairs.
"Come, I want to show you something. I doubt you've seen it yet, even while you were looking for the bathroom." He teases, and I laugh, running so that he's not dragging me.
I wonder, if I'd known he used to play the piano for my family... Would I have still taken this job?
He pulls me down the hallway and pushes open a door.
It leads to a small room with only a small chair, and a bookshelf.
And on the wall, a glass door.
Past that, a balcony. He pulls me through the room and opens the glass door.
I step outside, and he follows. The sky is dark grey... It's about to rain.
It smells sweet, but sort of... Spicy. I glance around for the source, and it hits me suddenly. Oleander... The nectar, the smell, the vial... This is only supporting evidence, not enough to convict him, but this proves to me that he's the murderer. It all adds up.
He's leaning over the edge of the stone, white-painted rail, looking up at the cloudy sky.
I watch him, not caring that my face has fallen into a frown. "L- Len?" I ask, and he turns to me. As he does, it's as if it's in slow motion. Lightening strikes, thunder follows quickly behind, and soon after that is the rain.
The rain pours, soaking us both in the instant it hits.
I realize, I don't want him to be the killer. I want it to all be coincidence, and yet... I know it isn't.
The smile stays on his face, never leaving. It's as if he's faking the happiness, but it seems so real. "Do you ever regret your past?" I ask, my voice low.
For a second, I don't know if he even heard me, but he smiles even wider before answering; "Not really, I mean... Everything I do, I do for a reason."
"What if those reasons are wrong... In the end?" I ask, and he reaches over to me,
grasping my hand in his.
"Anything you do is 'just', if you do it for the right reasons."
"Why would someone kill another person?" I ask, studying his response.
He laughs. Laughs. "Money, to become an infamous. To protect someone."
I half-smile. "It's weird how you work so hard to put away the people you seem to understand." I state, and his charming smile seems to falter.
"Of course, reasoning doesn't make it okay."
I pull away, stepping back. "I think... I think I'm going to bed early, okay?" I smile. "I'm a bit tired, I might be catching something. Goodnight." Without waiting for a reply, a spin around and leave.
Once in bed, I stare at the ceiling, thinking hard about what I'm going to do.
Somehow, in some strange way, I feel like something big is going to happen soon.
I glare at nothing in particular. "He's going down!" I whisper in the dark.
Him. The flowers, the nectar, the wine glass, the way he seems to almost look up to the people he convicts. I know it's him, I just know it.
Len, detective, I will bring justice to you.
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