Okay, this is how it breaks down: the detectives, the victim, plot, and all the obscure references to the people you've never heard of-mine; regular characters, the city, and all that other crap-not mine. All that crap belongs to the company...or something like that. So, let's get going.
The
look of astonishment was priceless. She stood like a deer in the
headlights. "Lieutenant Hawkeye, would you please come with us?"
Garza asked, opening the door to her cell. He led her back to the
small room where he usually stood in the corner. Conroy was left
outside this time. It was his turn for the questions. They sat down,
and for a moment, they sat looking each other in the eye.
"What
makes you think I've done anything?" He grinned as she slowly
cracked.
"Where were you at 10:45 the night of June 4?"
"I
was in my apartment." Anyone else would have been annoyed at having
to answer the same question over and over. Not this one, though.
"And
what were you doing in your apartment?" Ah, a new question. It
caught her off guard, but she covered it well.
She paused.
"Sleeping."
"You're lying."
"Now, why would I do
that?"
"That is a good question. Why indeed? I think I may
have another good question for you. Why would you lie about seeing
Arika at the fight on the third?"
"What? What are you--" she
started, but he wouldn't let her finish.
"The third, near the
end of your shift. You said you saw her when the colonel introduced
you, then you didn't see her or hear about her until we brought you
in. Now, you don't strike me as the type of person who would forget
anything, let alone watching your boss get his ass kicked by a girl
half his size. Which, of course, leads me to believe that you lied to
us."
"And why do you think I would do that?" she asked
coolly.
Or, at least, she was trying to act cool, but he could see
her slowly crumbling. "I think it may have something to do with a
guilty conscience." For a moment, he thought she was glaring at
him. "Why don't you just tell me what happened? We have enough
evidence to put you away either way."
"What do you have?"
"We
have a witness." He watched her fall apart then and
there.
"You—you're bluffing."
"Oh, I am, am I?"
She
stared blankly for a moment, then conceded. "What did you want to
know?"
"What happened at the fight?"
She started, and
there would be no stopping her now. "It wasn't any one thing,
but…it was the way he acted around her. He was just so…I don't
know how to say it. He loved her. It became obvious that he loved
her."
"And this bothered you?"
"You can't
possibly—"
"You love him, don't you?"
"Wh-what?"
"Do
you love him?"
"What—"
He wasn't really letting her
finish, but he was okay with that. "That isn't important. So, you
saw them outside your window that night, and you just decided to kill
her?"
"They had been in that alley so many times. They walked
past my window so many times, it was infuriating. So, that night, I
guess I snapped. They were just so…it sickened me."
He snapped
off the recorder. "Thank you, I have everything I need now." He
led her back to holding. "Now," he said, facing the three of
them, "as I was saying. We've solved the case."
Mustang
glared at him. "Who did it?" he asked fiercely. "Who killed
Arika?"
Garza looked up at the ceiling. He didn't want to give
it away. "Should I tell him or would you like to do it yourself?"
he asked the ceiling. He looked down and surveyed the three of them.
Mustang was glaring, Foust was clueless, and Hawkeye couldn't meet
Mustang's eyes. She didn't have the courage to tell him. He was
about to begin the explanation when she surprised him.
"I did
it," she said, looking at Mustang defiantly. "It was me, Roy."
He
stared at her for a moment, uncomprehendingly. "You…but,
why?"
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and took the
plunge. "I hated her. You loved her and I couldn't stand it."
She opened her eyes and smiled. A weight had been lifted and she
obviously felt better.
Mustang, on the other hand, was angry.
"You're smiling! How could you? Aren't you even sorry?"
She
looked at him in astonishment. "Now that you mention it, no, I'm
not. I've killed too many people for any one to be regretted, I
guess."
He glared at her for a moment, then turned his back on
her. Garza took that as his cue. He opened the cells holding Foust
and Mustang. On his way out, Foust turned. "What will happen t
her?"
"She'll be put to trial, then probably serve a prison
sentence," Conroy told him.
Garza stopped before leaving the
holding cell. Something didn't add up. She was grinning. It was
small and he'd almost missed it, but she was grinning. He walked
back. "Odd, murder convicts don't usually smile." She looked up
angrily. Thinking back it seemed too perfect. She had led up to it,
then broken at a crucial moment. Just too perfect. "Did you really
do it?"
"I confessed, didn't I?"
"That doesn't mean
anything."
"Yes, I did it!" she shouted.
"Why?"
She
looked him square in the eye. "Do you really want to know?"
"Yes,
I do."
several years earlier
An old man stood in front of a
small girl. "Young Riza, you have defeated all my students. All but
one. Defeat that one student, and you shall enter the ranks of the
elite military warriors with my blessing."
The young girl bowed.
"Thank you, Mr. Armstrong. I am ready."
A younger Arika Ree
walked into the room.
"You may begin," Armstrong said,
stepping back.
present
"She beat me, and I never recovered.
I was shamed, humiliated, and I entered the military as a base
ensign."
"And you've blamed her all these years." Suddenly
it fell into place. That was why she hadn't mentioned the fight.
She had used love as a façade for her shame. She had killed
the girl, and that was all that was important to everyone else, but
now he knew why, and he would be able to sleep tonight.
several
hours later
A shadow fell over the sleeping form of a sleeping
woman in a holding
cell.
That's it for this episode, tune in for more!
