Chapter 2: Interlude
Cole opened the door and let Elsa in. They were at her apartment, Cole's residence since the news of his affair broke. She had a letter in her hand, having picked up the mail before retiring for the night. The apartment felt cozy, Cole thought, even though he missed his house in the suburbs. He missed all of them, his wife and his two daughters, and he would perhaps never see them again. It wasn't fair, he thought to himself, losing everything at the worst time. He still had Elsa though, the German had stuck by him, and frankly, he didn't care anymore about what people thought of him. They could call him names, ostracize him from the department, and talk about his fall behind his back. Well, at least they couldn't shuffle him to somewhere where the police thought he couldn't do anything significant, now that he changed his profession. He still hadn't told Elsa, though; he was trying to find the right moment to break the news to her. She had walked into the hallway, opening the letter. Maybe now was the time…
No, he thought to himself. His interest was piqued by the letter, so maybe after he found out what the mail contained.
"What is it?" he asked.
"A letter from Lou." She said, "His insurance policy named me beneficiary."
He could immediately tell she was saddened by this reminder of her friend's death. He looked at her and grabbed the letter to read it himself.
"California Fire and Life. He worked for Elysian?" He said, with Elsa resting her head on his shoulder.
"The roof that he was working on collapsed" she said through sobs.
He read that the settlement was $20 000, which seemed a little too generous for an insurance company.
"It's a very generous settlement…" he said.
He thought about the collapsing roof that killed Lou. The settlement seemed a little too generous for someone killed in a construction roof collapse. He thought back to the Elysian houses he and Herschel saw at Rancho Escondido the day before. The concrete in between the bricks just crumbled away, and that shouldn't have happened, even if the building had burnt down. For some reason, Lou's death gave him even more reason to look into Elysian.
"Elsa," he said, "I'd like you to do something for me". "I think there's something dirty about Elysian Fields".
She grabbed the letter.
"What has that got to do with Lou?" She said, her voice filled with sadness.
She walked away from him towards the table.
"I want you to reject this settlement" he said, "and I want you to hire me to investigate his death."
She turned to him, eyes wide with shock.
"What do you mean, Cole, hire you?" she said, "You're a detective with the police"
"Umm, I was going to tell you" he said, "I quit the force"
She gasped.
"Why would you do that?" she said, "How are you supposed to make a living?"
She shook her head.
"How are you supposed to help us?"
He went over to comfort her.
"The police force was filled with too much corruption" he said, "It's amazing I was even able to solve so many crimes seeing how much the higher ups try to protect their friends"
"Isn't what you're asking of me police work?" she said to him.
"Elsa, you could take this money and let them get away with it, or we can find the truth" he said.
He looked her in the eye.
"Elsa, I promise you I will try my hardest to do something for you I would have never been able to while on the force" he said, "I will find the people who caused Lou's death, and bring them to justice"
He turned and leant on the table.
"I mean, it shouldn't be that hard, seeing how Herschel quit with me" he said, "Biggs and Phelps, private detectives, what a combination".
He smiled, feeling slightly more optimistic about the days ahead.
A/N: Sorry for the wait since my last update. I've been bogged down with school work and end of year projects, and thus haven't had much time to write. Now that it is summer, and I have a lot more free time, I think my updates should be more regular, with less time between them.