It's been a bit quiet around here. Not sure if anyone is reading this or not. Thanks to those who have reviewed - Firebird590, CrazyWomanLovesYou and PastNeighbours and it's very encouraging! If you are reading please let me know what you think! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own City Homicide or it's characters (unfortunately). And I certainly don't own Homesick by Rai Thistletwayte …I just like the song.
This is pure fiction any likeness to real people or events, strange but purely coincidental.
On the drive to the Armedes house they sat in silence while Allie drove. You could have cut the tension with a knife. Usually they'd talk about something but today Jenn was stonily quiet. Allie snuck a glance at her. She was staring out of the window. Allie didn't think Jenn's silence was anything to do with her though. If it had been Jenn was forthright enough to say something. She was usually pretty friendly and chatty but Allie thought she'd been less talkative since she'd come back from her time off. Allie knew something was up and she had a feeling it had to do with Nick. She'd noticed a strained atmosphere between them but she had a feeling that Jenn didn't want to talk about it so for once she kept her mouth shut. She'd experienced enough of her own heartache to know that sometimes silence was a better companion.
"Wow look at this place," she said as she pushed the intercom button in front of a pair of very large ornate gates that stood across the driveway to a large Grecian style mansion beyond.
Allie parked the car on the round driveway close to the house and they walked up to the carved wooden front doors and rang the bell.
"Oh," A deeply tanned and heavily made up woman wearing too much flashy jewellery answered the door. Her clothes were obviously expensive but in Jenn's opinion ugly. She looked displeased, as though she were expecting someone else, "Who are you? Who let you in? I don't buy from door to door salespeople! Please leave." Jenn raised her eyebrow wondering what about her and Allie's appearance gave the impression they were trying to sell something. She held out her hand to stop the woman shutting the door in their faces.
"Detectives Mapplethorpe and Kingston, homicide," smiled Jenn to the woman, flashing her badge.
"What do you want?" She asked rudely.
"May we speak to Stephen Armedes please?"
The woman huffed quietly surveying Jenn and Allie judgementally, "What about?"
"His girlfriend Janice Hawkins has been murdered."
"Oh really? Well that doesn't surprise me in the slightest."
Allie raised an eyebrow and asked harshly, "What makes you say that?"
"You know what she does," she corrected herself, "did, to make a living don't you? She was a drug addict as well. She dragged my son down into the gutter with her." Ah, this must be Stephen's mother thought Jenn. She'd made no move yet to usher them inside.
"Ah Mrs Estelle Armedes?" The woman pursed her lips in the affirmative. "May we come in please?" Asked Jenn. Mrs Armedes stepped aside to let them in. "Did you know Janice well?" asked Jenn.
"Never met her," stated Mrs Armedes carelessly.
"Well this is what she looked like when we found her last week," said Allie holding up an unpleasant morgue picture. Mrs Armedes glanced at the photo and turned up her nose.
"She got was what coming to her. She was heading for a nasty end sooner or later. Good riddance if you ask me!" Jenn was slightly shocked that this woman made no effort to hide her uncharitable views especially in front of them but then again she'd met many unpleasant people during her time in the force.
"No one deserves to die like that Mrs Armedes," Allie stated, disgusted.
"We'll talk to Stephen now please," interrupted Jenn surreptitiously elbowing Allie in the side to get her to drop it, not wanting to get into a confrontation at this point.
"OK you may as well talk to him but I don't know how he could possibly help you. He's been in a rehab clinic for the last month trying to get over his addiction." She waved towards a door at the end of the hall dismissively, "He's in the kitchen." Jenn and Allie headed off in the direction Mrs Armedes waved them. "No guesses then why she didn't come forward," said Allie. "Rich bitch," she muttered under her breath. Jenn silently agreed with her.
They found Stephen in the large marbled kitchen having his breakfast made for him by a man who was, by the way he was dressed, the family chef. The omelette he was cooking smelled good, it made Jenn's tummy growl even though she'd only had breakfast a couple of hours earlier. Stephen noticed and, already creating a better impression than his mother had, offered politely,
"Would you like one as well?" Jenn reddened and Allie smirked at her,
"No thank you. "
"Coffee?" He picked up an espresso cup and proffered it in Jenn and Allie's direction. Jenn smiled.
"Mr Armedes we're Jennifer Mapplethorpe and Allie Kingston, homicide detectives. We're here to ask you about your girlfriend Janice."
The tall, lanky man's face dropped and he shifted uncomfortably on his bar stool. He might have been handsome once. His appearance now was wasted and unkempt, the sallow skin on his face made the dark purple shadows under his mournful eyes look even worse. Jenn felt sorry for him. Even though he was still young he looked much older, like he'd had a hard life. His clothes looked old, they were too big for him and it looked like he'd slept in them. He was the exact opposite of Mrs Armedes.
"I'm not sure what I can tell you. I already told them when I called that I was in rehab. I only just got out."
"Have you ever seen either of these two men?" Asked Allie holding up the photo fits of Barillaro and Marsiliani. "They were seen with Janice shortly before she died." Stephen studied the photos.
"Hmm, no I don't think so," he said sadly his dark hair flopping over his face, "Though my memory is not so good. Did they kill her?"
"We don't know," said Jenn, "Do you know if Janice had a pimp?"
"No she'd got herself out of that game because of how dangerous it was. Pimps got her hooked on drugs when she was a teen. She wanted to be a good Mum to Jason and get clean. So she managed to get out and become freelance. She had a bunch of regulars but she was going to get out completely once I got clean. She was doing a computer course so she could get a job."
"Can you think of anyone who would have wanted to hurt Janice?"
"Not really. My mother never liked her," No kidding thought Jenn, "but she didn't have any real enemies. She wouldn't hurt anyone. She was always trying to help other people worse off than herself. She got me into rehab. I was a mess when I met her but she had managed to get clean and she helped me. I've been trying to take charge of my life again. I was going to take care of her. We were going to get a house together. We wanted to get jobs so we could take care of her son, Jason, properly. Give him a decent place to live, a family like I never had. We wanted children," he said wistfully. "Jason hasn't contacted me. Do you know who's taking care of him?"
"We have people looking for him. Don't worry I'm sure we'll find him." Jenn said. She had a feeling that they weren't going to get much more information out of Stephen so she dug her card out of her satchel and handed it to him, "OK well if you can think of anything give us a call."
They wandered back out into the hall looking for Mrs Armedes to question her again. They found her sitting on the front verandah drinking even though it was only ten in the morning.
"I already told you I never met her," she said before they had a chance to say anything.
"You certainly seem to have formed a very definite opinion about someone you never met," stated Allie.
"I knew what she did. I don't need to know anything else."
"Can you tell us where you were last Thursday night between nine and midnight?" Asked Allie. Mrs Armedes snorted.
"You don't think I killed her do you?" Allie just looked at her expecting an answer to her question. "Fine. I was here. All night. I was giving a dinner party for ten of my friends. You can ask any of them or Alfredo to confirm it."
"Thanks. We'll be doing that," Allie jotted the information down in her notebook.
"Do you know either of these two men?" Jenn asked holding up the photo-fits.
Mrs Armedes looked repulsed, "You think I would have anything to do with people like that?" She swilled her drink.
"You can ask my husband," she waved dismissively in the direction of the front lawn.
Jenn sighed. Oh well they could always call her in for questioning later if necessary. She nodded to Allie and they headed across the lawn to question her husband. They saw a man they assumed was him standing by a large clump of tea roses. He didn't look like the kind of man Mrs Armedes would be married to though. He looked more like the paid gardener but there were no other men they could see in the garden. They walked up to him.
"Mr Armedes?" queried Jenn. He was cutting the flower heads off one of the larger rose bushes and Allie gave him a look that suggested she thought he must be crazy. He noticed her expression and said, "I cut the old blooms off to encourage the bush to produce more flowers. Keeps 'em fertile," he winked at Allie. Allie curled her lip as if to say yeah whatever and Jenn stifled a smile. The man held out his hand for them to shake, "It's Whittaker. The name's John Whittaker," he smiled, lecherously eyeing them both. Allie was not doing a good job of hiding her disgust. "She wouldn't take my name when we married." Somehow that did not surprise either of them.
"Did you know Janice Hawkins?" She held up a picture of Janice. His blank expression didn't really fool either of them.
"Stephen's girlfriend," hinted Allie.
"Think I might have met her once. I didn't know her though. Has something happened to her?"
"She was murdered," Allie said.
"Mr Whittaker have you ever seen either of these two men before?" Jenn asked holding up the photo-fits of the two men seen at the hotel with Janice. He moved into her personal space leaning over her to look, making Jenn feel very uncomfortable. Her first instinct was to push him away but she just stepped back slightly instead.
"Can't say as I have," he flashed his mouth full of dirty teeth at her in what he thought constituted an alluring grin, "But I'm happy to come down to the station with you and have a better look."
Not very bright either thought Jenn. "It's all right that won't be necessary," she said.
"Well if you can think of anything please give us a call."
They walked back across the lawn to the car.
Jenn sighed and leaned back against the car seat. She felt unusually drained and wanted a break before they went back to discuss their findings with the rest of the team, "You mind if we stop for something? I'm starving."
Allie looked at her watch, "Sure. It's nearly time for me to eat."
"You eat according to a schedule?" Jenn asked curiously.
"Regular meals allow for optimum digestion and metabolic rate. I eat four times a day and drink plenty of water. That and exercise helps me stay fit." Allie explained. Jenn raised an eyebrow. She watched what she ate and took regular exercise but she couldn't be bothered to be that precise about it.
"Oh." She said.
"Urghh what a pair!" Jenn stated after the waitress left them alone.
"Yeah, the husband! Dirty old bugger I thought he was going to pinch your bum or something," smirked Allie
"He was looking at you too." Jenn laughed. "But it wouldn't have been the first time I've been felt up by a suspect."
"Me either but I'd have kicked his ass and arrested him for assault police if he'd tried anything on me."
"He would have been sorry if he had tried anything," Jenn added. Allie eyed the plate of Pad Thai the waitress had just put down in front of Jenn in surprise. Jenn had just eaten a whole bowl of seafood Laksa that she usually wouldn't have been able to finish.
"You know you eat like that all the time you're gonna get fat. Then you won't be able to kick anyone's ass." Allie said with her mouth half full of sesame noodles and bean sprouts. Allie wondered if Jenn's overeating had anything to do with the negative tension she'd noticed between her and Nick.
"I don't usually. I just can't seem to get enough to eat. I'm starving all the time. Maybe I'm coming down with something?" Jenn commented and Allie raised an eyebrow.
"You know you are looking a bit pudgy around the middle lately."
Jenn felt embarrassed and gave younger girl a shocked look, subconsciously sucking her stomach in, "Gee thanks."
Allie shrugged her shoulders, "Just saying is all. It helps to stay fit in this job. Only your friends will tell you." Jenn had to smile at Allie's bluntness. She was tactless but it had somehow become endearing and Jenn liked her, she was amusing. She loved the guys but was nice to have another woman on the team dominated by men. Allie was tenacious in her pursuit of the truth, which made her a good detective and she was great at chasing down suspects! Allie took another large bite of her food. "Me I get up at five am each morning to work out." Jenn widened her eyes. She worked out a bit to stay fit but she valued her sleep time too much to get up at five am!
"I'm not sure I could be that dedicated" she replied.
