Twenty minutes later
A very rumpled and tired looking Pablo Vergara sat across from Dan and Chloe, an unreadable look on his face. He didn't look much like the photos Ella had found of him during the investigation of the Elisa Lam death almost eight years previously. Then his Goth makeup and death metal music had made him a terrifying sight on the internet, someone who could easily be blamed for the death of a young, innocent woman then created a music video to glorify his crime. Never mind the fact he hadn't actually even been in the country at the time of the death - his look had told the online community all they wanted to know about him. Now, almost ten years later, he just looked like a tired 40 year old with long, dark hair going grey and tired eyes. "It's been a while since I spoke to American police."
"During the Elisa Lam investigation" Dan replied sympathetically. "That must have been a nightmare walking."
Vergara shrugged. "I had to retreat from the world for a while, get away from all the people online blaming me for something I hadn't done. Spent some time in a hospital, got some help, moved from music to film making. It's gotten better but sometimes…" his heavily accented voice drifted off as he stared down at the interview room table.
Chloe glanced up at the two-way mirror, knowing that both Lucifer and Ella were watching the interview intently. Her consultant had been annoyed when Dan had insisted he NOT join them for the discussion, claiming Lucifer's instance on introducing himself as the Devil would only make this harder. Chloe had admitted that sometimes Lucifer's attitude might have made this a much longer, much more complicated conversation, but for a moment she wished he had been here to move this discussion along. "Mr. Vergara – you said you were looking for Gabriel Bradley. Is there a reason you are concerned he might be involved in something illegal?"
Vergara sighed. "The kid was always a little strange, too quiet for his own good. Didn't help that his mother was always pushing him to join the Church, trying to get forgiveness for her sins by offering her only child on an altar. Don't know how much you know but his mom ran off and got pregnant by some gang-banger she met on the road. He messed her up pretty good so she tried to run home but her parents were not having any of it and neither was her brother. She told them crazy stories about who the father of her child was so they would at least take her in and give her shelter if only to keep her quiet about what she had done. My friend married her and took her and the kid to Mexico which I always thought was better than that puta deserved. When Gabriel's step-father, died, he and his mom moved to Rome. I was worried about the kid but what could I do? He wasn't a relation and she thought my style of music made me a creature from Hell." He fished a piece of paper out of his pocket and slid it across the table. "Hadn't heard from the kid in years then, a few days ago, I got this from here in L.A. Seeing the Cecil as the return address gave me a start – but not as bad as reading what he had sent me."
Chloe snatched up the crumpled letter and smoothed it out on the table, quietly reading as he did so. "It doesn't really say that he's going to kill anyone" she murmured. "Just that he felt like the hotel was up to its old tricks. What did he mean by that?"
"That the hotel was causing people to kill one another" Vergara replied. "I think he knew that wasn't true but it still concerned me that he was poking around that place. I know he remembered the stories about what had happened to me because of that girl's death and I know he was caught up in all the "other" horrible things that had happened there recently. But after he left for Rome I thought maybe he would just forget about it all, let it pass. Seeing him write about the Cecil gave me bad vibes so I called him at the number he sent me in the letter."
"You called him?" Dan said quickly, scanning the letter on the table for the phone number. "When?"
"A few days ago. He said someone he knew had died in the Cecil and others would be following in his wake. Something or someone evil had taken root there and was blaming the reputation of the hotel for their sins so that they wouldn't have to take responsibility for their actions. I begged him to go to the police but he said that you would be no use to him since you worked with the Devil himself."
Chloe stiffened slightly. "The Devil?" she asked cautiously, hoping Lucifer wouldn't decide to jump into the conversation out of hubris.
Vergara shook his head. "Something his mentor from the Vatican told him about some club owner here in L.A. actually being the Lord of Hell. His momma always told anyone who would listen that she had slept with the Devil and that Gabriel was the product of that union. Before that last conversation with him I believed he thought both his momma and that old priest were insane, trying to erase their bad deeds by pushing the blame off on the Bogey man." He sighed and pushed his longish hair out of his face. "Now, I'm not sure what I believe. He said he had met a girl doing some sort of study about the reputation of the hotel for a podcast and that the man helping her had just been found dead. He said he knew what had happened, had seen it from the shadows and suspected it was only the first of many such horrors to come. "
"Have you spoken to him since?" Chloe asked urgently.
"No" Vergara admitted. "I tried calling the number again the next day but it never made the connection."
"Probably a burner phone" Dan muttered. "Maybe we can track it by GPS."
"Get Ella working on that" Chloe replied, handing the letter to her ex-husband. "Is there anything else you haven't told us?" she asked the man across the table from her. "You came all the way from Mexico City to try to find Gabriel based on one conversation and a vague letter."
Vergara looked down miserably. "Someone else called me, asking about Gabriel. Someone that I suspected knew what he had seen and was trying to find him."
"Do you know who called you?" Chloe asked urgently.
"He said his name was John Milton."
Behind the two way mirror
Ella looked at Lucifer in surprise. "Milton? Our second victim?'
Lucifer crossed his arms, staring into the glass intently. "Or so he said. For all we know it might have been Bradley trying to pretend he was innocent of anything that was happening. Which, considering our brief conversation with the man, would be totally in character for him."
"Totally in character?" Ella asked, inching her way to the door.
"Conniving sod" Lucifer replied. "Probably looking to hedge his bets and get rid of both his useless nephew and his treacherous employee."
"If you say so" Elle murmured, darting out of the room.
Lucifer stared for a moment at the now silent trio huddled around the table. "Little miss innocent had been pulled in, the big bad wolf Bradley is still in the wind and both his and his dead employee's wife are still out there, plotting and scheming with that horror of a hotel manager. Reminds me of the witches from Macbeth but not as bright." He smiled wickedly for a moment. "Not as bright. Yes – that's the ticket. That's how they must be dealt with. The Detective would never approve, but then again – what she doesn't know won't hurt me. And it might just give me a moment to talk to this Gabriel creature. I doubt he's any spawn of mine – but you never know, do you?" He turned and quickly left the precinct.
