AUTHOR'S NOTE: Nothing's mine. And beware. English is not my first language, but I hope the story is readable. The title is taken from Elbow's lyrics to "The Night Will Always Win".
Nick slowly circled the body. The dead woman's name was Linda Evans. She had been 35 years old and had worked as a teacher. One of her colleagues had found her this afternoon. Linda hadn't shown up at work or called in sick, so they had checked on her and discovered her. She lay sprawled in the middle of her living room, a large puddle of blood under her. Her head had been smashed in with a bronze ornament, which was lying beside her. Close to her outstretched left hand lay a broken wedding picture. She and her husband looked happy and radiant on the photo. Nick felt a pang looking at the picture. Another bright future destroyed. Nick's thoughts veered against his will towards Juliette. Their break was rather fresh and it still hurt terribly. He almost wished he could be mad at her, but their failed relationship was mainly his fault. His secrets and lies had destroyed the trust between them.
Hank came out of the kitchen and thankfully derailed Nick's gloomy thoughts. He said, "The backdoor's open. Our perp most probably came in this way and surprised her."
Nick nodded. The house looked ransacked. Probably a robbery gone wrong. "Have we got hold of the husband already?"
"He's on his way home."
The poor guy was in for a heartbreaking surprise. Nick didn't look forward to talking with Mr. Evans.
-o-o-o-
The talk with Mike Evans had been less harrowing than Nick had expected. The man had appeared grief-stricken and shocked, but Nick couldn't help doubting his sincerity. There was something off in his reactions and he wasn't the only one who didn't buy Evans's story. Hank was suspicious too. So they had decided to talk to the Evans's neighbors to get a better picture of the involved people. At least so far there seemed to be nothing Grimm-related about this case.
Nick thanked Mrs. Sims, the elderly neighbor next door, and slowly made his way to the next house. Apparently Linda and Mike had had their problems. The last few months they had fought a lot and Mrs. Sims thought that Mike had an affair. Of course she had no proof, but she was sure nonetheless.
Nick walked up to the next house and knocked. A young woman opened the door and Nick showed his badge. The woman straightened her posture and asked, "Yes? Can I help you?"
Nick flashed a quick smile, introduced himself, and asked her about her name.
"I'm Millie Fields."
"Ms. Fields, can I ask you a few questions about the Evans's?"
"Oh. Okay, I guess. Why, though? Did something happen?"
Nick quickly explained what had happened to Linda and asked, "How well do you know Mr. and Mrs. Evans?"
Millie shrugged. "Not very well. But…"
"But?"
"Well, they were fighting almost constantly. They were screaming at each other all the time. And one evening I saw Linda sitting in her car in the driveway crying her eyes out. I mean, I don't want to gossip, but I don't think they were very happy together. Did… Did Mike kill her?"
"We don't know yet. We're just asking a few questions." Nick smiled again. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Fields."
Interesting. Nick took some notes and made his way to the next house. Maybe it hadn't been a botched burglary at all.
-o-o-o-
A few hours later Nick and Hank had cracked the case. Mike Evans had folded during his interrogation and he had confessed everything. He and Linda had fought like so many times before but this time the fight had gotten out of hand. He had grabbed the nearest object and hit her with it. According to him it had only been a reflex. He hadn't wanted to kill her, which Nick actually believed. Mike's remorse was genuine. After he had gotten over his first panic, he had tried to stage a break-in to save his own hide. Then he had cleaned himself up and drove to work. The last part of his confession was barely understandable, because he was crying so hard. In Nick warred conflicting emotions. On the one hand he was disgusted by Mike's actions, on the other hand he felt almost sorry for him. Mike's tearful last sentences played themselves over and over in Nick's head, "I love her. I love her so much it hurts, but I couldn't live with her any longer. She drove me crazy, but I still love her. Love is terrible. It hurts and it destroys everything."
Nick couldn't help but agree to some extent. His own experiences with love so far had been quite painful as well.
TBC.