I hope you kids are still finding this interesting. I'm really trying to keep the action intriguing and keep our detectives in character. If anyone has any suggestions or anything, don't hesitate to tell me. Thank you to everyone for the great reviews!
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Furious
by
Fashionably Stupid
Chapter Six: Heart Like A Wheel
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Both detectives were grateful to leave the school. For all of its architectural grandeur, it was rotting on the inside, patriarchal and secretive. In Goren's mind, it was really no better than a common cult, led by an all-powerful Caucasian male who sorted out the worthy and the unworthy. As they drove away from the place, Goren silently entertained a suspicion that Dr. Guffey was the real mastermind behind the crime, but the very idea of it made him laugh out loud.
"What's so funny?"
"I was just thinking back to Dr…Prufrock back there spearheading the…Down With Clare club."
Eames laughed at the thought. Goren seemed to be fairly light-spirited considering what they had just been witness to. It was clear, though, that he was still very troubled.
"What did you…turn up with her teachers?"
They made a right turn into the pleasant suburban community where Clare's Adam lived.
"Just that no one was sorry to see her go. Maybe they didn't want it to happen quite as violently as it did, but even then they referred to it as a blot on the school's record."
"Hm."
"What do you think?"
They pulled into Adam's driveway when Eames answered her own question.
"Personally, I think we're at the right place."
They walked up to the door, rang the bell and waited. Adam himself answered.
"Oh, hey."
"Hey, Adam." Goren's mouth turned up into a friendly smile.
"You guys wanna come in?"
"That'd be great. We just need to…ask a few more questions, no big deal."
When they had first interviewed Adam, it had been at the crime scene, in Clare's house. Adam lived with is parents in a luxurious five-bedroom single family home. Its furnishings were plush and overstuffed in deep greens and burgundies. Goren breathed deeply of the air in the house and was almost choked by the amount of oxygen. The house smelled like a jungle for all the plants; they were everywhere, hanging from the ceiling, decorating every piece of available floorspace.
"There are...a lot of plants here, Adam. It makes the air...heavy, rich. Very healthy."
"Yeah, my mom's a botanist, that's what she does. That rose right there," he pointed to a particularly stunning red and yellow rose, "she designed that rose. It's up for Best Hybrid Rose at some botany awards thing. I'm not making that up! They give awards for these things."
Goren let out a small laugh through his nose and shot a glance at his partner who was looking less amused. His laugh faded and his dubious, curious, vaguely professional demeanor returned. He continued to look around the house, now with an air of suspicion.
"What...does your dad do, Adam?"
"He teaches anatomy at NYU. He's up for tenure in a year. Can I get you guys anything? Like, food or something."
"No, that's okay, I think we'd just like to get down to tacks and get out, stop bothering you."
Eames was speaking at a clip, clearly determined. They took their places on the living room couch, Goren still looking around, taking in the very richness of the house, Eames staring right at Adam.
"Did you know Clare was trying to kill herself, Adam?"
"Wha-"
"She had made it clear to her lover, Samuel Bruyard, that she was going to kill herself. That was just before she was murdered."
"Oh, my God." The boy's head drooped despondently, not as ferociously as Goren would have thought, almost as if Adam had been expecting this news. "Did he kill her? I mean, he must have."
"We're not sure of...anything just yet. Was she having...sex with both of you, then?"
Adam's face grew bitter. "She screamed almost every time I touched her. We never...she and I never..."
"So the subject never...came up." Goren suppressed a smile.
"Yeah, that's it. I didn't think she was...with Sam...I thought she hated him! She never had anything but terrible things to say about him. She even wrote those three poems about him, you know?"
Goren and Eames looked at each other, trying to decide which one of them should just say it. He nodded. She spoke.
"There were twelve poems, Adam. Twelve poems about Sam. The last of which was her suicide note. D'you mean to say you didn't know any of this?"
Adam now looked appropriate dumbfounded.
"Huh." It was all he could manage. "Huh."
"Could you...show me where your kitchen is? I could really go for a glass of water."
"I'll get it for you, uh, sir," Adam looked like he was about to cry and wanted to get out of the room to avoid embarrassment. "I'll be back in a sec."
He left the living room and headed downstairs to the kitchen.
"You're really...gung ho about this, ar'n'tcha, Eames?" They spoke in hushed tones now.
"How would you feel if your girl was giving it up for a slimeball like Sam Bruyard but screamed every time you touched her? Wouldn't you feel like killing her?"
Goren stopped short a moment. "Yes."
Adam returned with two glasses of water, giving one to Goren and one to Eames.
"Thanks." Eames was a little taken aback by the gesture of politeness.
"Yeah. No problem." Adam was plainspoken, to the point. His statements were abrupt, but always sincere. "I miss Clare, detectives. I want justice to be served. I loved her. She taught me so much."
Goren nodded and glanced at Eames, who had now taken a more relaxed posture on the couch, letting her eyes search the room.
"What'd your parents think of Clare, Adam?" Her gaze had found its way back to the boy.
"You'll have to ask them, detective. I don't think they liked her very much, but my parents are, like, really classy people. Clare was an animal compared to their circle."
Goren let out another small laugh. "Yeah, I know the types. But she was a...beautiful girl. Yeah, she had very...pretty...eyes."
Adam's back went straight and his hands suddenly clutched to one another. Goren and Eames looked at each other, Eames' eyes wide, Goren's eyes saying "you were right."
The boy's mouth opened and closed, not widely, but silently. When the tears began to fall, both detectives softened their expressions slightly.
Adam tried to speak through his sobs. "She. Was the most. B-beautiful thing I've e.ver
s-s-s-eeeeeeennnn." His shoulders shook with the force of despair.
There was a commotion from the foyer, as if on cue, that made the detectives jump.
"Adam, darling? I'm hom – Who are you people? What business do you have with my son?"
