There were sirens in the distance, echoing the beat of her heart, but Lydia wasn't scared, she knew they'd never catch her. It wasn't because her car was faster, but because her alibi was stronger. There was only one entity on the entire island, a demon to be exact, who knew the whole story, but he wasn't going to be spilling the beans any time soon. There was only one thing he wanted to know…
"You never struck me as the "murderous fiend" type, always figured you were too busy riding around in that old hotshot hotrod of yours."
Because he didn't seem to be too much of a threat, it didn't seem to be too much of a risk to tell him.
LD's a friend of mine. We meet up every Tuesday night for dinner and a glass of wine. LD's been losing sleep. Her husband's acting different and it smells like infidelity.
"What's up, LD? What's on your mind?" Lydia rested her elbow on the bar table, legs swinging casually from the stool.
"What?" the detective was guarded, narrowing her eyes at Lydia. Lydia only shook her head and smiled disarmingly.
"C'mon, LD, you can't fool me. We're best friends! Besides, I can sense when something's wrong in paradise…" She gave Lady a knowing look.
"How do you know it has anything to do with that?" Lady's tone was still guarded, fist tightening around her glass.
"What else would leave you looking so troubled?" Lydia shrugged. "There's a mystery afoot, isn't there, Detective?" Her eyes gleamed.
It took a while, but after a few more of Sam's world (or rather, island) famous drinks, Lady's lips loosened.
"It's… about Isaiah… When he came home last night, there was something on his breath. Whatever it was that I smelled, it didn't come from Sammy. I've been around both of you long enough to know what his brews are like, and it's the only place on the island that you can get alcohol. Someone else has been smuggling him something…"
Lydia didn't miss the way Lady tapped the bar table with her left hand, nervous, her ring clacking against the wood. No, there wasn't any doubt. Lydia didn't need to be a detective to know, and neither did Lady, though it was clear that she desperately wished her theory wasn't so plausible. But she was never one to shy away from the truth or the facts, no matter how unpleasant.
"I think I'm gonna call him out."
At present, they had no evidence of anything wrong, only a sneaking suspicion. No body, no crime. But that was exactly why Lady needed to investigate this. She had to separate truth from fact, for the sake of herself and her marriage, even if it destroyed them both.
She made an oath to Lydia that night, "I ain't letting up until the day love dies."
ooo
"Oh, how passé! An illicit affair turned murder case? I swear, you Syndicate members are all the same, just as bad as any Citizen. You tout yourself as holier than them, but your crimes always manage to be far worse, don't they?"
"Not one murder case. Three. You know that."
LD wasn't there Tuesday night at Sammy's old bar, at the court, or anywhere. He reports his missing wife, but I notice when I pass his house he's been wearing a real smug smile.
Nobody else seemed to notice or care. Casual sex was common on the island, especially among the Syndicate, but what else were they supposed to do when they were only allowed to fraternize with each other and they, literally, had all the time in the world? They were ageless, and new acquisitions were very, very rare. As such, they were a small circle, and everyone knew each other, sometimes all too well.
"And I know that Madam Complex moved in," Lydia whispered to Sam one night as they were curled up in bed together. "Sleeps in LD's bed and everything!" Lydia cursed herself. She may not have been the investigator, but she should've seen this coming a mile away! No, she did see this coming. When she told Lady that she could always sense when something was wrong in paradise, she wasn't just referring to the island, or even to Lady, but rather, to marital problems in general.
Maybe it came from being a wife herself, but Lydia knew there was trouble as soon as Lady walked in. Who else but Isaiah, someone Lady loved dearly and deeply, would be able to make her look so shaken? But Lydia played it safe at first, calling it a mystery rather than an affair. She wanted Lady to admit it herself, and she did! But then Lydia had done nothing else. She wasn't sure what she could do! And now…?
"No, there isn't any doubt," Sam agreed grimly. Whether he was aware of it or not, he pulled Lydia deeper into his bony embrace. As Lydia, herself, had thought last Tuesday, he didn't need to be a detective to know what happened. Their minds ran the same track: somebody had to catch him out. There was only one problem. I think he did it, but I just can't prove it.
There was no body. Lady had only gone missing, after all. That meant anything could've happened. Maybe she ran away. Maybe she was hiding somewhere on the island. Maybe she was trying to escape the Syndicate. Maybe she was involved in crime herself. Maybe it was suicide. With no body, there was no crime; and with no detective, there was no way to investigate.
ooo
"Hahahaha! Oh, what delicious irony! This is the greatest scandal in about a century, and our dearly departed investigation freak can't even be here to investigate! She manages to be at the heart of it all, while simultaneously being the only one gone! The only one who could've helped you uncover the truth is the one who was lied to and silenced in the first place. The one who would've done anything to see how the story ends is the only one who will never know!"
Lydia didn't like how gleeful he sounded, but unfortunately, he had a point. Since no one else on the island knew how to investigate, let alone as well as Lady, that left them all at a dead end, pardon the pun. But just because the island no longer had a detective, that didn't mean there wasn't still a way to execute justice. Lady wasn't the only one who would've done anything to see how the story ended. Perhaps the absence of the truth and fact-seeker could work in their favor, for once…
"Why not bring my own skills to the table?" Lydia asked. "I'll solve it my way." Once an assassin, always an assassin.
Good thing my hubby made me get a boating license at Island 15. And I've killed enough targets to know how to cover up a scene. Good thing LD's best friends are gonna swear they were with me.
The ferrywoman was no more a lawyer or judge than she was a detective or marshal, but she still knew she needed a strong alibi, and the more people that backed her up, the better. Sam was already in on it, of course, but with witness from the likes of a doctor and the island's favorite celebrity, that gave her even more credibility. She didn't tell them all the details, just that they were going to drink in Lady's honor, but so long as they were all at Sam's bar, that was good enough. The best part of Lydia's alibi didn't come from her or her friends, though. It came from Madam.
Good thing his mistress took out a big life insurance policy.
Although the Syndicate was immortal in the sense that they would not age or die of natural causes, they could still be killed. Because of that, things like life insurance policy did still exist on the island. In the rare event that a Syndicate member did pass away, that always left a power vacuum, and those closest to the deceased always swooped in like vultures to take their pound of flesh from the dead.
Madam may not have planned for such an early demise for Isiah. She may not have ever even planned on him dying at all! But that didn't matter. What did matter was that after they got together, she made sure to stake her claim to him in every way possible. Now, Lydia was going to use that against them. It was time for Mr. Bullet to bite it.
ooo
Without a detective, the next best thing the island had was Judge, but even they were not as omniscient and infallible as they liked to believe. They could not be everywhere all at once, despite having multiple faces. That left the rest of the Syndicate to try to piece together the story without Lady's help. They all thought Madam did it even though there wasn't any official evidence. Lydia's alibi was just too good. She watched from her podium with a dry smile. Madam was in a frenzy.
"SHE did it! SHE did it!" she wailed, pointing wildly at Lydia, panic in her eyes.
"Show me your truth," Judge replied, voice as empty and expressionless as her three faces.
"It's your word against ours," Lydia agreed grimly, gesturing to Sam, Doom Jazz, and Crimson. "You have no alibi, and no one to testify for you, but they all saw me at the bar when the murder took place. I did slip away for a time, but not nearly long enough to sneak out, kill someone, hide all the evidence—including getting rid of a body and cleaning up any mess I may have made—and sneak back in without anyone noticing at any point."
"And where did you slip away to?" Judge asked.
"Sam's wine cellar, under the bar, where he stores ingredients and brews he's not currently selling. Not only can we all show you that the cellar exists, but like I said before, the time checks out. I was only ever in that cellar. I wouldn't have been able to leave or return without someone seeing."
"But why did you go there?"
"I just… needed some time alone." The tired grief on Lydia's face was, unlike the rest of her testimony, genuine. It was enough to sway the rest of the courtroom. Judgement was passed.
"The court finds Madam Complex… guilty." It was punishment time.
Conviction: The murder of Isaiah Bullet.
Verdict: Execute.
For a third time in only the past few weeks, an immortal's life was taken. It was time for Madam to join her lover and the wife he betrayed.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Four bullets. One for Lady, one for Isaiah, and two for Madam, for good measure. Justice, vengeance, was sweet.
ooo
"Tee-hee-hee! What a riveting story! Are you happy with your truths? Did you get the convictions you wanted?" the demon sneered. In his opinion, Judge took the old adage "justice is blind" far too literally. Sure, Madam had a motive, but so did Lydia, but apparently Judge played favorites. They believed that Lydia would be incapable of committing murder and then hiding all the evidence so perfectly, but apparently they believed that Madam was capable of it.
"I'm not the truth-seeker. LD was. But when she died, all that remained were facts, and facts are not always the same as truths," Lydia replied. "It was fact that Isaiah killed her. It was fact that I killed him. It was fact that I killed Madam."
"Then what was the truth?"
"I… honestly don't know. But what I do know is that I wasn't letting up until the day he died."
Lydia didn't realize how long she'd been talking to the demon until he vanished in a puff of smoke and fire, leaving her alone with a bloody red sun breaking up the blackened night sky. It reminded her of Lady's uniform, and Sam's bones. Speaking of, it was time to get back to him. They had to make sure the tunnels under the wine cellar would never be found… The ferrywoman hopped into her "hotshot hotrod" and breathed a small, rueful sigh as the engine roared to life. Suddenly, she was speeding down the highway, but the whole time, her mind was back in the courtroom. Was this justice? Was it even the justice that she wanted?
Yes. She wasn't the truth-seeker. She didn't mind getting her hands dirty if push really came to shove. Maybe it was not something she wanted to do any longer, maybe it was a life she thought she'd left behind, but after Lady's life got left behind, Lydia felt like there was no choice but to take matters into her own hands. With justice blind and love dead, that left Lydia to discern fact from truth, and to draw upon all the skills she did have to avenge her fallen friend. As she'd told the demon on the docks…
I wasn't letting up until the day he died.
AN: Thx to Penguinfangirl611 for inspiring this fic!