Lucifer

Asking Questions

"Which one is he?" Chloe asked the passing officer. Pointing their pen in the direction of a man sitting at a glossy black grand piano, they gave her an affirmative nod. "Thank you."

Chloe approached the musician, taking out her notepad and pen. "You were with the victim when she died?" she asked. The gentleman looked up to her without ceasing playing. He nodded.

Sizing him up for a moment, she started in on the usual script. "Your name?"

"Lucifer."

"There's a last name with that?"

"Morningstar." He was radiating cheek like she'd never seen before.

"'Lucifer Morningstar'. That's quite the stage name. I'll need your actual name," Detective Decker clarified, leaning against the side of the piano.

"That's it, love. It's God-given, I'm afraid," Lucifer replied, a discordant note sounded from the piano. Looking down at his hands for an instant. Puzzled, he gave up on continuing. "D'you know... you look very familiar. Have we met before?"

Chloe unconsciously shook her head. "Unless you were in the witness pool on the sidewalk five minutes ago, no."

Lucifer chuckled to himself. "Are you sure, because I'm having no trouble whatsoever picturing what you look like without your clothes on. It's really quite distracting," he declared, his gaze blatantly helping itself to whatever it was he was seeing in his mind's eye.

Chloe couldn't contain an indignant scoff. "Your usual fare falls for that kind of line?"

"They do. Quite eagerly," Lucifer said, a fleeting frown showing as he shifted on the bench to face her more directly, resting crossed arms on his knee. This one, it seemed, would require his full attention.

Chloe shook her head, exhaling a lung-full of impatience. "How did you know Delilah?"

"When I first met her, she went by Kayleigh. She worked here for... eight months or so. Occasionally, I would accompany her while she sang. It became apparent that she had remarkable vocal talent. So, I whispered a good word to an acquaintance of mine and, in short, she became quite famous. I hadn't seen or spoken to her since her last day here. Not until she appeared outside my club in a limousine this evening. Her road has been rocky lately and she... well, she needed a little encouragement. We were going our separate ways for the evening when the newly-minted daisy farm out there decided to play God and end her life, regardless of whether or not there was a collateral soul nearby. Seems someone paid him quite well to do the deed."

Skeptical, Chloe sought to clarify the chain of events. "And you know this how...?"

His smile took on a tinge that spoke of delighting in things less than decent. "We had an interesting little chat, just before he carked it. In light of having just convinced her to turn her life around, I felt compelled to understand why he stole it away."

Nodding and scribbling a concise note she took a quick look back at a previous page. "Forensics says he died on impact."

"Well, his soul hadn't crossed the threshold yet," he replied, forthright and she saw it. There was, however, still a logical problem.

"It's improbable he could breathe, let alone talk after that bus hit."

Lucifer nodded, bright eyes fixed on her. That she would think of them that way struck her as odd. They were so dark brown they might as well have been black. "Quite right. He couldn't. But... I'm a man of many talents. Some less savoury than others."

"You... what... tortured him?" she asked, giving the question a less serious treatment than the subject matter usually called for.

Lucifer set his drink back down on the piano, looking back to her wearing a self-satisfied grin that seemed near-permanently affixed to his lips. "No. I simply... asked Death to give me a minute."

Chloe started laughing, somewhat sarcastically. "Oh. All right. I get it. 'Lucifer'. The Devil himself."

"Quite so, Detective!" Pleasantly surprised, Lucifer gave her an amused looking-over. For a moment his composure broke and he gave his head a shake, blinking a few times. "This is unfathomable. Your clothing might as well not be there. We must have had sex. I'm very good with names, yet yours escapes me. An unforgiveable lapse in manners. If you'd be so kind, what is this rose's name?" he asked, suave. Leaning in closer, he executed a gesture with one hand that pointed from her head to her toes.

Chloe couldn't help it. Her poker face broke as she let out an incredulous laugh, letting her awestruck reaction through only as long as it took to utter her next sentence. "Buddy, you are unreal. The name is 'Detective' and I'm asking the questions," Decker said irritably, refusing to dignify his sexuality by insisting they had not been intimate. "Did he tell you why he did it?"

"For the money, Detective. A lot of it. You humans... you love your money, don't you?"

"Uh huh. Lemme guess. That's not a phone booth out front, is it?" she asked, leaning in as if asking him to divulge a secret to her.

A paragon of obliviousness, Lucifer responded, "I'm sorry, am I supposed to know what you're referring to?" Decker shook her and sighed, rolling her eyes. An unfortunate waste of a good quip.

"'You love your money'," Chloe mockingly repeated, adding a cringe-inducing imitation of his accent. "This from someone wearing a... thirty-five-hundred dollar three-piece, playing a piano worth..." Chloe leaned back to examine the maker's seal. "conservatively... sixty-five grand."

"Mmm! One possessed of a keen eye, Detective...?" Lucifer trailed off, taking another sip from his bourbon.

"Decker."

"There's a first name with that?" Lucifer asked, more than happy to play with words and less than content with her answer.

Chloe's head shook almost involuntarily. "Not for you. He say anything that might speak to a motive?"

Taking a moment, Lucifer replied, "Yes. He also said, 'I just pulled the trigger'. So, whatever the motives for this were, they weren't his own."

Chloe let out a scoff. "All right. I think I've entertained this long enough. Your protégé was gunned down by a drug dealer. And from what we've found on her person so far, looks like she kept him pretty busy. It's unfortunate and it's ugly... and I sincerely doubt someone like her just popped in to have a quick chat with someone she seems to have owed a great deal to. What exactly did she refuse to do for you?"

"I don't much appreciate the implication, Detective. Helpless and broken isn't my type," Lucifer retorted, his gaze taking on a vicious bent.

"Mmm hmm. And what is?"

The changes in demeanour were beginning to give Decker whiplash. From indignant to shamelessly flirtatious and sexual in a blink. "Hale, enthusiastic, vigorous and most importantly, consenting," he replied, having to keep his indignation at bay to maintain composure. Taken slightly aback, but hearing no lie in his tone of voice she marked a quick note down and decided on switching things up.

"Well, regardless of your very creative theory, this was probably a dealer-client blowout, topped off with a nice little act of God. Case closed," she said, taking down a last note, flipping her notepad closed.

Lucifer's restraint began giving way when his expression twisted in anger and remained coloured by disdain at not being given the credence his account deserved. "That's not how it played out, Detective. You know, that's quite a neatly wrapped little present for the L.A.P.D., don't you think? Perhaps a little too neat..."

"Speaking of looking a bit too neat... how did she die in a hailstorm of bullets yet you've walk away without a scratch? Did you have someone shoot her then pepper the scene once you were both down?" Chloe asked, letting her veneer of diplomacy drop.

"You're barking up the right man's tree for the wrong reasons, Detective. I didn't get away without a scratch. This is a fresh suit. Could hardly keep wearing those rags now that they've more in common with swiss cheese than cloth. As for the bullets..." He quickly glanced down at one of the places he'd been hit. "let's just say they're of no use to you now."

"Right. We'll need you to turn in everything you were wearing as evidence."

"'As evidence'," Lucifer mocked flirtatiously, scoffing. "I'll bet. Kinky one, aren't you?"

Thoroughly ticked off at the implication she shot back, "You've got a sizeable pair on you. I'll give you that."

Suddenly wearing a cocky smile, Lucifer replied, "Why thank you! Though, I think you'll find they're closer to average than you expect."

Chloe let a deep, not-so-pleasant bit of laughter escape as she flipped her notepad back open. "I'll bet. Answer the question."

"It takes much more than bullets to kill me, Detective. One of the many benefits of immortality." Lucifer had his hands out to the side in self-presentation.

"You're immortal?" Chloe rolled her eyes and subtly exhaled her irritation, taking a quick note.

"It's spelled with two ems." Mayday! Mayday!

Chloe let out a whistle that sounded like incoming artillery, making a popping sound with her tongue as she was taking down her bullet point. The moment she finished, she locked her gaze to his. "If women who appreciate that are the crop you pick from, you're going to have to make due with dumping your cream in the gutter."

Taken aback, but not above admitting a misstep Lucifer apologized graciously. "I admit, that was in poor taste. Won't happen again, Detective. You have my word."

Chloe sighed and shook her head. "No, it won't. Thank you for your time," she said, making no no effort hide her distaste and turning to go. Lucifer rose from his seat refusing to stay silent where it looked like just punishment would be forgone.

"What will your corrupt little organization do about this?" he demanded, taking steps to follow her.

Chloe stopped. "Excuse me?!" She turned back to face him.

"Will you find the person responsible? Will they be properly punished? Is this going to be a priority for you at all? Let me be perfectly frank with you, Detective. Someone willing to sweep this under the rug has no business looking down on me." All semblance of composure gone, The Devil pulled no punches.

Her one eyebrow went up as she quickly looked him over. He was right and while she took the point to heart, she was disinterested in remaining in his presence longer than absolutely necessary. Chloe monotonously replied, "We're done here."

"No. We are not! Stop! Someone out there needs to be punished for taking her life. We are not done," Lucifer insisted darkly, forcefully taking her by the arm, pulling her back toward him slightly, towering over her.

Chloe couldn't help laughing at him. Then her expression went stone cold as she upturned her face toward him and smoothly unsnapped the leather strap keeping her sidearm in place on the hip furthest from him. "Yeah. Yeah we are." Lucifer released her arm as if he'd received an electric shock. He'd never done anything so ungentlemanly in his life. Confusion was evident on his face as he took a step back, looking at his own hand as if it had momentarily grown a mind of its own. Chloe turned and walked away, casting an irritated glance heavenward as she secured her sidearm.

For the first time since the Dawn of Time, The Devil crashed and burned.

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