Sorry about being technically challenged last chapter! Hope you enjoyed my Chelsie fic anyway. Hee.
Arm in arm, Bill and Laura breezed into the Hall of Justice at dawn.
"We'd like to see a detective," Bill announced to the desk sergeant.
The bulldog-faced man squinted at them. "Let me get Detective Tyrol on the horn," he replied.
They went over to wait on the long bench along the wall. "I'm exhausted, but I couldn't possibly sleep," said Laura, sitting with a huff of breath.
"We'll make our statement and go home," said Bill, sitting beside her.
"That's no fun!" She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Do you think they'll be able to find the doctor?"
"Let me do the talking," said Bill cautiously.
She turned her head slowly to stare at him.
He back-pedaled. "I'm just sayin', you gotta be careful with the cops. Don't give 'em more than they need."
"The police are here to help us," protested Laura.
Catching the couple unaware, Sergeant Tyrol came up beside them. "Excellent attitude."
Bill stood. "You're here awfully early," he said, uneasy.
Tyrol smiled. "Will you come with me?"
Instead of leading them to his office, he punched the button for the elevator.
"Where are we going?" asked Bill, putting his arm around Laura's waist protectively.
"District Attorney Adair is here as well. He's very interested in what you have to tell us."
Reluctantly, the Adams entered the elevator car.
Richard Adair was seated behind his desk, sipping a cup of coffee. He stood when he saw Laura enter the office.
"Please, take a seat." He motioned to two chairs before his desk. Laura sat, but Bill chose to remain standing beside her chair, his hand gripping the back.
Richard looked over Laura's crumpled clothing and raised his eyebrows. Suddenly self-conscious, she tried to smooth her wrinkled skirt. Noticing a blouse button was still undone, she quickly slipped the pearl button through its loop.
He glanced away, embarrassed for her. "So we understand you have some information for us."
Laura started to speak, then closed her mouth and glanced up at Bill. Her husband's lips were set in a harsh line, his eyes glinting.
Tyrol leaned against the desk and folded his arms. His gaze stayed on Bill. "Well, Mr Adams?" he prompted.
Bill raised his chin and spoke briskly. "We've come to believe that someone was targeting Mrs Adams, not Mrs Tigh."
"Really," Adair said encouragingly, peaking his fingertips.
"Mrs Adams was attacked three weeks ago, shortly after purchasing a bracelet. The seller was subsequently murdered with cyanide."
Tyrol got out his notebook and scratched a few words on it.
"A Mr Wu, from the Happiness Day Shop," Laura said, pointedly waiting for the detective to note the name. His pencil remained still, his plain face placid.
"You were attacked, Laura?" Adair said with concern. "Did you report this?"
"Well, no," she admitted. "They didn't get anything and Bill chased them off."
"Your husband was with you?" asked Tyrol.
"He wasn't my husband yet," explained Laura. "That was the night we met, actually." She glanced up at Bill and they exchanged smiles.
Adair and Tyrol's skeptical gazes met.
"Did you get a good look at your attacker?" said Tyrol.
"No, not at all. It happened so fast. First one man grabbed me, tried to take my bracelet. Then Bill appeared and ran him off."
"How convenient," drawled Adair, leaning back in his chair.
Confused, Laura tipped her head. "Yes, Bill was very gallant. We were parting when two men appeared and beat him to a pulp." She shuddered at the memory.
"Did you get a look at your attackers?" Tyrol asked Bill.
"Say, what's with this?" Bill stepped before Laura, shielding her from the two men. "We're here to give you information about the crime and you're giving us guff."
Tyrol held up his hands. "We just want to get to the truth."
"Don't you, Mr Adams?" said Adair, a small smile on his lips.
"Yeah, yeah." Bill fumbled for his cigarette case.
"So, what leads you to believe you were the intended victim at the club, Mrs Adams?" Tyrol asked.
"Both Mrs Tigh and I ordered martinis."
"Probably half the club ordered martinis," Tyrol shot back immediately. "Who would benefit from your demise, Mrs Adams?"
Laura sat up straighter in her chair.
"You have drawn up a new will since marrying your husband?" Adair asked, keeping his eyes trained firmly on Laura. Bill growled his displeasure at the direction the questioning had taken.
Laura leapt up from her chair. Shooting a harsh glare in Richard's direction, she firmly grasped Bill's arm. Giving her husband a quick nod, she signaled him she was ready to go. They turned in unison, preparing to leave the office.
"We've got a bullet stuck in the wall at the Number One Lychee Club, Mr Adams," Adair said before they reached the door. "Would you care to explain to us how it came to be there?"
Bill paused and slowly turned back to Adair. He squinted at the DA, his voice lowering a register as he spoke. "People shooting off guns usually end up with stray bullets in uncomfortable places."
Adair scraped his chair back, placed his hands flat of the table and peered at Bill. "We might need you to come back downtown with your gun."
Opening the door, Bill tossed over his shoulder, "I don't know what you're talking about; it wasn't my gun."
After the door closed, Tyrol turned back to Adair. "I'll search their house and find that damn gun-"
Adair waved him off. "Leave it." He sat heavily in his leather chair and smiled grimly. "Let's give Mr Adams plenty of rope to hang himself."
~~AV~~
The ride down in the elevator was silent, each lost in their own rapidly turning thoughts.
When the doors opened in the Hall's foyer, the young reporter, Billy Keikeya was waiting. He jumped forward at the sight of them.
"Mr and Mrs Adams, may I have a moment?"
Bill held up his hand. "Kid, it's not a good time. Mrs Adams is very tired-"
"Hello, Billy, how nice to see you," Laura said with spirit, cutting off her husband.
"Are there any new developments?" asked Billy.
Bill gripped Laura's arm firmly. "Nothing."
Laura glared at him. "There're a number of developments, Billy."
It was Bill's turn to interrupt. "Have you got any new dirt?"
Billy looked over his shoulder. "Well...as it turns out..."
Laura and Bill took a step closer. The young man leaned between them like a long-legged crane feeding. "My source tells me that a snitch told the Chief you-" He glanced quickly at Bill. "-were at the Lychee club; that you broke in through a window-"
"I didn't!" Bill put his hands on his hips. "I broke in through the front door," he grumbled.
Billy blinked.
Bill narrowed his eyes. "I wonder why some snitch would lie about something like that?"
"Or who this snitch is," said Laura practically.
"Thanks, Billy," said Bill, quickly shaking the young man's hand.
"Wait," said Billy. "I need something back!"
Bill tugged his Fedora down low on his forehead. "I didn't do it."
"Do what? Are they accusing you of something?" Billy's fair cheeks flushed with excitement.
"Billy, please, you're going to need to trust us," said Laura. "We'll call you later, all right?"
Dissatisfied, Billy nonetheless nodded in agreement.
Bill led his wife away before the young reporter could change his mind.
~~AV~~
Once they'd entered her bedroom, Laura kicked off her shoes and flopped down fully clothed in the center of her bed.
"I can't remember the last time I was awake all night, can you?"
Bill shucked his suit's jacket and stripped off his tie. "About two weeks ago. Don't tell me you've forgotten already, darling."
After tipping off her shoes, Laura wiggled her toes in delight. "Mmm. At least I was laying down for most of that."
Bill pulled off his shoes as well. "So, you want to sleep now."
"I might have some energy I need to release before I can possibly sleep." Laura peeked up at him through her disheveled hair.
"Really?" Bill sat beside her on the bed and cupped her well-shaped knee. "I would think that driving would have wrung you out."
He watched her breasts heave as she said: "Oh darling, that was just a warm up!"
"So you want to go for another spin?" he asked, grinning.
Pushing back her hair, she returned his smile, her tongue darting out to wet her lips.
Looming over her, Bill warned playfully: "I get to be in the driver's seat this time."
His kiss cut off her laughter.
~~AV~~
Bill carefully lifted Laura's arm off his chest and rolled out of the bed. She murmured and her brow furrowed, but she was too deeply asleep to see him dress quickly back into his discarded clothes and slip from the bedroom.
After giving the door a quick knock, Bill walked into Saul's bedroom. His friend was sitting by the window, staring out sightlessly at the sunlit view. An overflowing ashtray and whiskey-filled tumbler sat on the sill. The room stank of stale smoke and booze.
The double bed had been replaced by a narrow single, but it didn't appear to have been slept in.
"Saul, we gotta talk."
His friend turned in his chair, blinking as though waking.
Bill pulled the gold bangle from his pants' pocket. "How'd this get outside Jonathan Cavil's office at the Lychee Club?"
Saul's face crumbled and he slumped in his chair.
~~AV~~
Bill carefully opened Laura's bedroom door and crept in.
The light snapped on. "You don't need to sneak around," Laura said. She was sitting up in the bed, supported by a pile of satin pillows, her arms crossed. Dark shadows under her eyes showed she still wasn't well rested.
"I wasn't sneaking; I just didn't want to wake you." Bill approached the bed slowly.
"I woke and found you were gone. Couldn't sleep?"
He shrugged. "Yeah, thought I'd get some air."
"A lot on your mind?"
Bill stalked closer to the bed. "Say, what is this about?"
Before he could get to her, Laura flung back the covers. Nude was not the best way to have an confrontation; she spotted her satin wrap on her vanity chair and slipped it on.
Folding her arms, she turned to face him.
His face was set in its most obstinate expression. "Are you thinking about what that Adair fellow said?"
She raised her chin to look him in the eye. "What do you mean?"
He shrugged and glanced away. "Maybe thinking you made a mistake with me."
She shook her head, setting her hair into a whirling nest. "It's not that at all! But you're keeping something from me!"
"It's not important," he grumbled.
"So you are!"
"I tol' you, it's not important," he repeated stubbornly.
"Don't you trust me?"
He turned away and started picking up her discarded clothing from the floor.
Fury welled up, nearly blocking her throat. "Well?" she rasped.
He peered up at her as he lifted her burgundy skirt from the carpet. "Trust is a two way street, you know."
"What do you mean?" she asked, even as she sensed she didn't want to know the answer.
"If you can't trust me enough to admit you love me or not, why should I give you my full trust?"
Carefully folding her skirt, he laid it on the back of a chair.
When she didn't reply, he headed to the door. "I gotta take Jake for a walk."
Laura stared at the closed door for a long moment. Elosha came out of the dressing room and breezed past her to gather the garments Bill had picked up.
"You've done it now, Miss Laura," she said.
Recovering from her maid's sudden appearance, Laura shook her head again. "I haven't done anything."
"True, seems like you haven't done something important."
"He's hiding something from me, Elosha," protested Laura.
Elosha shrugged. "He's a man. They always say us women folk are the ones for secrets, but men have a way of forgetting plenty of details."
Laura snatched up her hairbrush and started brushing her hair vigorously. "This isn't some silly domestic spat, Elosha; this is murder!"
"Silly domestic spats are more important," pointed out Elosha. "You gotta learn to live with that man, my child, or he's gonna get tired of being treated like that dog of his."
Laura whirled around. "I do no such thing!"
"You've given him his own bed, haven't you?"
"It's his own bedroom and dressing room! My parents had separate bedrooms..."
Elosha only cocked her eyebrow at her charge. Gazing around the opulent, feminine bedroom, she pursed her lips. "This room needs redecorating."
Laura huffed indignantly and started brushing her hair again.
"You shouldn't have been listening in on our conversation. Why didn't you tell us you were in there?"
"Sounded like you two had some fighting to do. I waited for you to finish." Elosha noticed a loose button on the blouse and clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "You two are playing like two kids. He probably never was a boy. Who knows, maybe he's just humoring you; maybe he wants to finally be a boy. But now things have gotten serious and it's time for you to grow up, sugar."
Sinking into her vanity's chair, Laura twisted her hairbrush in her hands, tears filling her eyes.
Elosha stood over her, and tipped her gold-turbaned head to the side. "That Daddy of yours spoiled you girls rotten. I tried to do what I could, but I was nothin' but the nanny."
"No, Elosha!" Laura reached for the older woman's dark hands but the garments filled her hands.
Elosha gave her a smile; Laura wasn't sure it was in comfort or pity. "I better get these things cleaned and pressed," her maid murmured.
Laura watched her leave through a sheen of tears.