The urchin sees what the devil doesn't see


"I never told anyone, but I always wanted to call my second daughter Aurora," Chloe told Lucifer and Trixie the next morning at breakfast.

"Well, it is a daughter and I like the sound of the name, so why not?" Lucifer asked, sliding the fourth omelette he made so far on Chloe's plate. "Another one, spawn?"

"Yes, please. But not too much green in it, Lucifer," Trixie answered.

"That is called vegetables, urchin. And you are a human, well just a little one, so your body needs vegetables."

"Maze says she never eats vegetables."

"Maze is a demon. Demon bodies work different, she doesn't need them."

"That is not fair," Trixie complained.

"Complain with dad." Lucifer shrugged. "Why not Aurora, detective? If you like the name."

"The name Rory, what do you think the full name is? Also Aurora. You have a niece with the name already."

"In my class we have four Jasons," Trixie said. "It's not forbidden to use a name that someone else also has."

"No." Chloe gave it a thought and shook her head. "But with only two half-angels in the universe it would be weird to give them the same name."

"Do you have an alternative name?" Lucifer asked.

Chloe shook her head.

"I like Aurora," Trixie said. "And we also say nana and abuela and abuelo, so we can also use ayaya and amagal. And is this Rory now my step-niece or does step-niece not exist? Will she come to my birthday party?"

"A lot of questions, monkey," Chloe said. "Eat your omelette. We first have to find out why Rory is here."

Trixie started to eat but after two bites she said: "Linda was not happy when you told about the baby."

"Linda?" Lucifer asked. "Later she was a bit..."

Trixie shook her head. "When mommy told she was pregnant, Linda looked just like miss Morrison when another woman in the street is expecting."

"Who is miss Morrison?" Lucifer asked.

"She lives three, eh four, houses to the left," Chloe waved a hand in the direction. "She had twice a miscarriage and no children. She always reacts… angry? irritated, when she hears someone is pregnant."

"Could Linda have something like a miscarriage?" Trixie asked.

"I never heard about that, monkey. She is a friend, but we know her not that long, yet."


First thing in the precinct was a call to the clinic where Anil Nassar's wife Jyoti was treated. "Between ten and half past eleven she goes through some medical examinations," a nurse told them. "Some rest and time to eat, it would be best if you came in the afternoon."

"The victim's wife Jyoti have to wait until later," Chloe said to Lucifer. "Maybe we first talk with Anil's sister Sharmila and with his father Nilam Nassar."

"He was my big brother," Sharmila said. "He protected my in the school yard, he gave me my first cigarette to smoke secretly, mother didn't want me to smoke. How could this happen? How could I loose my big brother?" She didn't sound sad, she sounded angry.

"That is what we try to find out, ma'am," Chloe said. "Did your brother have problems, any enemies?"

"Well, Jyoti is ill and the treatment is extremely expensive."

"That is a problem," Chloe agreed. "But I mean problems for which someone might want to kill him."

She shrugged.

"We heard you had some words with your father," Lucifer said. "Can you tell us about what you had a discussion?"

"Money," she said.

"Ah. Yes, you humans you love your money, don't you?"

"To love it, you need to have it. Dad should spend less of the company's money."

Lucifer smiled, stepped closer and whispered: "What do you wish for? What is your deepest desire?"

"That the company stays within the family. No strangers in charge." She blinked her eyes and stepped back. "No strangers. My and Anil should inherit the company."


Anil's father Nilam Nassar was an old man, fragile, bald, shaking hands. He hardly looked at them and kept repeating that no one could have reason to shoot his son.

"You had words with your daughter about spending money," Chloe said.

He scoffed. "Spending money? I pay for Jyoti's treatment. It's my money. Sharmila wants me to loan it to Anil and Jyoti, so it doesn't decrease her inheritance."

"Ah," Chloe said. "Sharmila said she loves her older brother."

"O, yes. Sharmila and Anil have always be very close."

Lucifer bent over to old man. "And Sharmila and Jyoti? Tell us about them. You want to tell us."

"Sharmila doesn't like Jyoti. Jyoti is not from our varna."

"What?" Chloe asked.

"Caste," Lucifer explained. "Would Sharmila kill her brother for marrying outside his varna?"

"Of course not. She has always adored him."

"When did they marry?" Chloe asked.

"In 1985."


During lunch they thought it over. "Killing her brother doesn't make sense, not after more than thirty years," Chloe said.

"Apart that Anil's wife is now costing money Sharmila hoped to inherit," Lucifer said

"Then it would make more sense to murder the wife Jyoti."

Lucifer nodded. "That is true. But she said she didn't want strangers in the company."

"Again, then she should have Jyoti killed, not her brother," Chloe said.

They finished lunch and were ready to go to Jyoti's clinic when Chloe's phone rang. "Amenadiel?" she said.

"Yes, Chloe. It's me. I need your help, or Ella's of Maze'."

Chloe had put the call on the speaker, so Lucifer could also listen. "Well, you have me on the phone, so I can offer you only my help."

"What? Yes. Thanks. It is Linda. She is crying and doesn't want to say why."

"Crying all the time?"

"Yes. No. Yes. If I say something and she doesn't answer any question. Maybe you can talk to her. Or Ella, or Maze. I called Maze, but she didn't pick up her phone."

"I will come, Amenadiel. Are you at Linda's place? We will be there in thirty minutes."

Chloe ended the call and they hurried to their car. Lucifer shook his head. "Ella ok, but I doubt Maze would be the right person to talk to a crying Linda."


Linda was surprised when they came in, Amenadiel clearly hadn't told her he called Chloe. Chloe had only been in Linda office, never in her apartment. It was normal, not big, not small, average furniture apart from two large bookcases, some pictures and a drawing on the wall, but to Chloe it didn't look as really valuable art. A door stood ajar and behind it, she saw a glimpse of a kitchen.

"What… why?" Linda frowned. "There is nothing."

For a moment everyone was silent. Then Amenadiel cleared hid throat and asked: "Do you want something to drink?"

"I can always use a good bourbon," Lucifer reacted.

Chloe pushed both brothers in the direction of the kitchen. "If you two move to the kitchen to find a good drink and drink it there, I can have an undisturbed talk with Linda."

"You want us out of the way?" Lucifer asked.

She smiled, gave him a kiss and said: "Indeed."

Chloe turned to Linda to sit next to her. "Linda…"

"Don't tell me," Linda snapped. "I have problems and I need to talk about them."

Chloe gave her a small smile. "If you want, I will listen."

"I can't talk to you about it. I… I'm sorry."

"Because it's my pregnancy that made you upset?" Chloe asked.

"How do you know?"

"Trixie noticed you were not happy when I told everyone I was expecting."

Linda stared at the wall, lips tight, fists clinched. Then she sighed. "Good therapist I am. I always tells my clients to talk about it."

"I can call Ella or Maze if you prefer to talk to someone else," Chloe said.

Linda shook her head. "It's true. I was upset about your pregnancy. I still am."

"Trixie thought it was because you would like to get a child yourself, but you couldn't."

Linda gave her a glance eyes wide open en then laughed for a second. "I wish that was true. No." After a few seconds she continued. "The opposite. When I was sixteen I got pregnant. The father? Glen. A man that rebelled against everything. I did the same and thought we were a great couple. I broke with my 'good citizen' parents, walked out of school, lived with Glen and admired him. He was twice my age. When I told him I was expecting, he kick me out and found himself another girlfriend, she was fourteen. I got the baby and was desperate, in panic, lonely, living on the streets. I gave her up for adoption, never seen her, never touched her."

"It was a girl?" Chloe asked.

Linda nodded. "Born August four. She will be twenty-three now. In my nightmares I see her adopted, abandoned by her adaption parents, wandering from shelter to shelter, being a wretched child, unhappy, blaming her unknown biological mother for her miserable live."

Linda was crying. Chloe took her in her arms and rocked her softly.

"And then you told us you will be having a baby. Also not planned, not married to his dad. O, God. His dad is the devil. But you were happy, Lucifer is happy and the two of you are looking forward to this child. I feel so bad for having abandoned my girl. And I don't dare to tell Amenadiel."


"And she will tell Amenadiel?" Lucifer asked. They were on their way to speak with Jyoti. Chloe had – with Linda's permission – told Lucifer Linda's story and Linda had promised to tell Amenadiel.

"I hope she does."

"Shouldn't Linda try to find the girl?"

"She said she tried, but the agency that arranged the adoption was accused of fraud years ago and it seems their paperwork was a mess and incomplete. They went bankrupt. That shows you the value of getting the paper…"

"Yes!" he interrupted, raising both hands. "I really see. To me it proves paperwork should be done by a competent person that knows how to do it." He gave her a triumphant look.

She just grinned. "Becoming competent can be done by practicing more."

"Sharp, detective."


Jyoti was very clear. "...yes, the Nassars are brahmins, of the highest caste. Sharmila never accepted her brother married me." Jyoti was sitting in a chair, looking at pictures of her deceased husband without looking at Chloe and Lucifer.

"I understand she and your father-in-law had words over paying for your treatment," Chloe said.

Jyoti scoffed. "That was the last detail in a long lasting discord. Father wants to bequeath the firm directly to his three grandchildren, so not to his children. He changed his will to arrange that. Sharmila was furious when she first heard it. She doesn't accept me and she doesn't accept our daughter Adriana."

"But your daughter is also your husband's daughter. Sharmila said she wanted to keep the company in the family," Chloe said.

"Indeed. That is the problem," Jyoti said. She still hadn't looked up from the pictures. "She doesn't accept Adriana as family."

Of course Chloe and Lucifer had noticed Adriana was blond, her parents had almost black hair. "Adriana is?" she asked.

"Adopted," Jyoti answered.

Although expecting that, it made Chloe holding her breath. Her eyes flashed to Lucifer and back to Jyoti. "Adriana is twenty-three?"

"Yes." The woman was focused on a picture of her husband, touching his face with a finger.

"Do you know the biological mother?"

Jyoti shook her head. "Adriana has tried to find them. We support her. Of course we do. The child has the right to know where so is coming from. But the agency that arranged the adoption doesn't exist anymore."

Chloe checked her notes for Adriana's birthday: August four.

"Sharmila didn't want Adriana to get half of the company," Jyoti continued. "The half of Anil should go to Adriana. The half that is hers, should go to my nephews Nilam and Varun."

"You think Sharmila had Anil killed?" Lucifer asked.

Jyoti shrugged, holding a next picture close to her eyes.

"But how would killing Anil help her? Your father-in-law's will doesn't change by killing her brother," he said.

Jyoti took a deep breath and shrugged again.


"Adriana is…" they both started as soon as they left Jyoti's room. They looked at each other and Lucifer gestured Chloe to continue.

"… Linda's child?" she finished. "That is an impossible coincidence. A coincidence that can't happen."

He growled. "No coincidence, detective. All manipulations. I have a dad, remember, who is also Amenadiel's dad and Amenadiel and Linda are seeing each other a lot nowadays."

"And why is your dad revealing this now? Does he want to drive Linda and Amenadiel apart or closer together?"

Lucifer scoffed. "Be sure he will never explain to us. He likes to keep everything mysterious and load us with the burden of telling mother and daughter. How do you want to tell them?"

On the stairs down to the entrance hall of the clinic Lucifer all of a sudden put his face in his hands, seconds later folded his hands as praying and than looked up, bursting out: "Why not tell them yourself, bloody bastard. A bit more words, maybe?" He waited for a moment before cursing again and all time standing silent, now face in his hands again for at least a minute. People around looked at him eyes wide open

"Sorry, detective," he whispered. "He didn't talk to me in a billion years and now… Come, outside."

They left the clinic and entered their car.

"Dad talked to me."

"How?"

"Just as you have seen me praying to other angels, dad can pray to us, we can pray to him. He never reacts. But now he prayed to me. He! To me!"

"What did your dad say?"

"If Chloe wants me to explain, boy, it's simple. As you guessed Linda is Adriana's mother. Linda needs to come to terms with Adriana's adoption before she and Amenadiel can move on. That was what he told me. I asked 'move on to what', but he remained silent."

Chloe nodded, hands on the steering wheel but the engine still off. "Linda needs to deal with her trauma."

"Detective! As if it is our job to deal with that. Why does dad tell me? Why not talk to Amenadiel directly?"

She grinned, took his hand to kiss it and said: "God works in mysterious ways. I wasn't raised religious, but even I know that expression."

He grumbled and gave her an angry glance, then shrugged. "Ok. And now? Call Linda?"

Chloe grabbed for her phone, but the same moment the thing rang. "Decker?"

"Hi, detective Decker. This is Adriana Nassar. I… There is something I think you need to know. I was too confused yesterday to realize… But I…"

"Are you in the office? At home?"

"In the office," Adriana answered.

"We're on our way to you. Then you can tell us," Chloe said.

"Couldn't we do it by phone?" Lucifer asked, while Chloe started the engine.

"Yes, but I also want to talk about her and her adoption. But we first call Linda during the ride."

"Should I drive, so you can call?"

"My car has handsfree, Lucifer. It not some old 1962 model."

He grinned while she pressed the right buttons on the steering wheel to select Linda's number.

"Yes, Chloe?" Linda said.

"You're on the speaker, Lucifer is sitting next to me," Chloe said. "That's ok?" She didn't expect problems, but she asked just in case Linda was still too upset to have Lucifer listening in.

"No. No, problem. I talked with Amenadiel and he is also listening. I… I have to live with it, Chloe. Maybe I should find a colleague to help me. I don't think I can…"

"Linda," Chloe interrupted her. "Wouldn't it be better to talk with your daughter instead of a therapist?"

"As I told you I have tried to find her, but that agency went bankrupt and their files were…"

"Linda," Chloe interrupted her again. "Her name is Adriana and Lucifer and I will see her in twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes. What…"

"She is the daughter of the victim in our homicide case. She is adopted, blond, 23, birthday August four."

"That can't be," Linda whispered. "It can't. Coincidence."

"God told Lucifer she is your daughter," Chloe added.

"What?" Amenadiel shouted through the phone. "Father talked to Lucifer? What did he say?"

"Linda is Adriana's mother, those were his literal words," Lucifer said. "Linda needs to come to terms with the adoption before you two can move on, you and Linda."

"Move on to what?" Amenadiel asked.

"I asked the same. You know dad: no answer."

"Why did he talk to you and not to me?"

"I did ask. No answer."

Amenadiel stayed silent after that. Chloe waited a few seconds before asked Linda: "Is it ok if we tell Adriana about you? She has tried to find her mother, but didn't succeed."

"She will believe us, but still need a DNA-test," Amenadiel said on the other end of the call to Linda. "That is ok. A DNA-test will show Adriana she is your daughter. Dad just told me. Lucifer?"

"I heard," Lucifer said, eyes wide open, shaking his head. "Dad just told you. What is happening?"


"I was too much in shock to realize yesterday," Adriana told them. "But my father took over my agenda. My mother went to the clinic on Wednesday. The appointment was made Monday and originally dad should go with her. On Tuesday we decided I would go with her. Dad took over the two appointments I had on Wednesday to show that house."

"And when were those appointments made?" Chloe asked.

"Days before. One on Friday, one on Saturday."

"So whoever made that appointment, thought he would see you." Chloe frowned and thought that over.

"But he must have seen it was someone else who show him around," Lucifer said.

Chloe shook her head. "If it was a hired killer, it might be he was just told to shoot the realtor. The murderer didn't know who should be there. He just killed whoever showed up." She turned to Adriana. "Who knew you and your dad swapped agenda's?"

"I didn't specially tell anyone." Adriana shrugged, tears appeared in her eyes. "You think it is my fault? If dad had gone with mother, he would still be alive?"

"It was not your fault. Whoever hired the killer is to blame and we will find him or her for you." Chloe took Adriana in her arms and gave her time to calm down. "You have been looking for your biological mother."

Adriana looked confused, opened and closed her mouth a few times before answering. "I did, but there seems to be no way to find her."

"We know who she is. A good friend of us. She… she will tell you her story herself. Linda Martin. She has been trying to find you, but also only found dead ends."

"How do you know?" Adriana asked.

"Just talk with Linda."


They left while Adriana was on the phone with Linda. "Sharmila?" Lucifer asked.

"Of course," Chloe said. "She doesn't want Adriana to inherit. She hired a hit man to shoot Adriana during the viewing of the house. She just didn't know Adriana would visit her mother and Anil would receive the clients. But how do we prove it?"

"Interview and mojo once more," Lucifer proposed. Chloe nodded.

It only turned out to be a bit of a problem. Sharmila was not at home, no one knew were she went and she didn't answer her phone. Chloe looked at her watch, called the precinct to issue a search warrant and decided to go home to have diner with Trixie.


"Vietnamese pho," Lucifer said to Trixie.

"Again with green things?"

"Of course there are vegetables in it, we discussed that before and it's still not fair. But you will like it."

Chloe was sitting at the bar and smiled while watching the two doing cooking. The preparations for the pho had been done the Lucifer-way. When he had proposed pho yesterday while walking through the grocery store, she had said fine and reached for canned broth. He had played to be hurt and offended, had selected the right meat and bones, which had been simmering during the whole day. He was now finishing beef, vegetables and noodles, letting Trixie do parts of it.

A text from Amenadiel came: "They are embracing each other, crying. Should I do something?"

Chloe grinned, thought 'celestials' and typed: "That's ok. Make sure they have something to drink, not too strong."

Despite the 'green things' Trixie liked the pho and asked for more. While Lucifer was filling her plate, someone rang the bell. Chloe went to open the door and raised her brows. "Ella? Come in. We have pho, Vietnamese, if you like it."

"O, yes. Decker!" Ella grabbed Chloe arm and almost dragged her to the dining table. "I need to tell you what happened. Hi, Trix."

Ella took a deep breath. "I was driving home and waiting to turn left for a traffic light. I looked right and what do you think I saw?" She looked left and right to Chloe and Lucifer before taking a seat.

"Please, do tell, miss Lopez."

"To the right was an open sport car with a young woman, black hair with pink highlights. I thought I recognized her from the picture you had shown me, so I opened the right side window and asked: are you Rory?"

Lucifer put a plate with pho in front of Ella.

Ella took a spoon, tasted and smiled. "Good. The girl looked at me and now, guess what she said."

"Yes, I am or no, not me," Lucifer guessed. "What else can one say on that question?"

"O, no, something completely different," Ella said.

"Tell," Chloe demanded.

"She said: aunt Ella, good to see you. I had to look twice to recognize you without wrinkles. That is what she said."

"What? Aunt Ella? Do you know her?" Lucifer said. "This doesn't make sense."

"I swear to your dad, I've never met her before," Ella said. "I couldn't ask more. The traffic lights for her lane turned green. She waved at me and pulled up. I was in the left lane with a car before me and after me and couldn't follow."

"Rory visited your mom, her amagal, without anyone knowing," Trixie said, her elbow on the table, her chin on her fist. "Her amagal doesn't know her. She visited her ayaya but no angel has seen her in heaven. She knows Ella with more wrinkles and calls her aunt. Don't you see what that means?"

"Calling me aunt?" Ella asked "What that means?"

"That you're older than Rory is," Trixie said and nodded. "I know where she is coming from."