Chloe listened at the door for a moment then slid through the barely opened entrance, quietly shut it behind her. "Lucifer" she said with a warning note to her voice.
"Oh there you are Detective!" Lucifer's voice rang with amusement. "I was wondering what was keeping you. You see, I've assembled all the suspects in one room and we've already determined who probably was responsible for one of your crimes. Now, if you'll wait just a moment more I'm sure we can get to the bottom of the other with a minimum of fuss and blood."
Amenadiel rolled his eyes. "Brother – this is not what Chloe would want."
"No, she would want to make sure someone legally pays for the two deaths that have occurred. Well – really three if you count the druggie. Though really I'm not sure you can count someone that far along the path to self-destruction." Lucifer motioned towards Gabriel. "Once they are that far gone almost anything can trigger that last slide."
"You really don't care do you?" Gabriel commented softly. "You still see us as just your father's little science projects – not his greatest creations."
Amenadiel shot his brother a quelling look. "If he were REALLY the Devil then how else would you expect him to feel?"
Gibson smiled thinly. "Can't say as I blame him" the old gang member muttered. "Not like he's got just a great example of humanity to work with her."
Lucifer grinned. "Oh I KNEW I would like you, Mr. Mad Dog! You, at least, see the world as it really is – not that Polly Anna fiction my brother would like everyone to believe. So, that being said, we all are up-to-date with who killed who, correct? Milton killed his brother-in-law to keep him from revealing Bradley's affair with an entirely too young woman to investors who might make things financially difficult for the firm or to the girl's still very connected gang leader father. Regina here killed Milton to protect her former lover who might still get dragged into the muck by his wife's low-life Lothario. And then, of course, is our little Candice." Lucifer shrugged. "Something of a dark horse. I think our little Candice might actually have believed her husband and Annalise had been doing the dirty behind her back. She probably even complained about it to her brother, who knew exactly what John was doing and what he might have find out." Lucifer's eyes narrowed as he stared at the young widow. "So when he told her he would take care of things you expected him to find a way to take Annalise out of John's life didn't you? And then you heard John was dead and your brother's promise to "take care of things" suddenly became clear. Did you know, by the way, that he was banging your spouse's boss's wife? Did he brag about it or did you, like Gabriel here, just come across the information by accident?"
Candice looked around wearily. "He told me everything. Every dirty little detail. Every piece of the plan so that I could be of more use to them – to Bertha and himself – when things started to go south towards a divorce. He even told me about Don's nephew and how they were going to use him to set up Bertha's husband, make it look like he had killed his young lover and ended his own life."
"But everything went wrong when John was killed" Amenadiel whispered, inching towards the young woman. "He wasn't supposed to die and when he did all their plans had to be revised."
"I'm curious" Lucifer said coldly. "When were you planning to dealing with these soulless creatures who murdered you good man? Before or after they took out Donny boy and his little whore or were you planning on shutting out the truth so you wouldn't have to deal with the fact that your own brother was responsible. Because you know he was – the Detective didn't find the weapon used on John McIntyre but I'm betting if she asked you nicely you could lead her right to it. He told you everything – even when he was still running the long con on unsuspecting victims. Even when you weren't involved. It was his way of keeping you part of his world."
"Is he right?" Chloe's voice rang out from the door. "Is there something you want to tell me about the death of your husband? And about the death of your brother?"
Candice shuddered. "The gun he used on John is buried in Berth's back yard, with a stone planter over it so no one would notice."
"And what was used on your brother?" Chloe pressed.
Candice shrugged. "I don't know."
"If I were to take a wild guess" Gabriel said. "I'd look up on the roof in the new water system for the hotel." He smiled grimly at the hotel's manager. "At least a gun won't bleed out and leave your guests puking their guts out because of the taste."
"All very entertaining" Bertha snarled. "But you haven't a drop of evidence against me in either of these two murders."
"Nothing that will stand up in a court of law" Lucifer admitted with a chuckle. "But I doubt that Don and his legal team will care. Don, you see, is still alive and by now probably knows as much about what you've been up to as we do. I suspect his legal team will find that there is more than enough evidence to take you to divorce court and - if I were him - I'd consider doing a little digging in the company's financial records to see if Milton's stick fingers hadn't liberated some of the corporation's money. No doubt with a little help from his beloved." He shrugged, unconcerned. "By the way, my dear Bertha, I should warn you that Milton was probably more after the money he could pry loose from you than interested in you physical charms. He was considerably younger and frankly, my dear, you don't appear to have aged that well. Then again – it might be because of the stress of all these deaths so close to you. And then there is Mr. Gibson here who probably has more than a few bones to pick with both you and your husband about how his daughter was used in your little vendettas against one another. He might take it into his head to tap some of his old street chums to make your life and that of your spouse's very miserable indeed."
"Yeah – really miserable" Gibson agreed somberly.
"If anything happens to either of the Bradley's" Chloe warned.
"Oh I think Mr. Mad Dog will be much more creative than that! Watching people jump at their own shadows is always more entertaining than allowing them a quick death. After all, if they die then they can't really pay back all the suffering you experienced due to their actions." Lucifer flicked a hand at the door dismissively. "And if you run out of ways to make them feel fear I'm sure I have a friend who could "assist" you in figuring out ways to torture them without leaving a mark. She's really so good at that sort of thing."
Gibson's eyes narrowed for a moment then the cold smile returned to his dark face. "Send her my way, brother. I'm sure we'll get along just fine."
"You don't have anything other than speculation that I was involved with James's death." Regina sputtered. "I had no reason to want to harm Don. I, unlike his wife, love him."
"You probably did – until you realized he wasn't just using Annalise. He had no intention of dropping her when he divorced his wife. That must have infuriated you just enough to get you to go along with this gas lighting you all set up. You made sure Annalise was fired, sending her flying down to Bradley's love nest while you set up the rest of the scenario. James arranged for the blood and the car to be left in the airport parking lot…"
"Stupid thing to do" Lucifer drawled. "He would have been better off just killing the girl and using her own blood than stealing something from a company blood drive. I assume he thought that by the time the police found the car the blood would be so degraded they wouldn't be able to make much of it. So very, very stupid – but then so was much of this little plot. Stupid and ultimately quite boring." He rose from his chair and stretched, sliding around the raggedy figure of Gabriel and the now hysterical women in their chairs. The Devil waved gaily at the hulking gang figure as he passed him. "I'll have my friend come by your place of employment. I think you two will find you have a lot in common."
Chloe glanced quickly at Amenadiel who shrugged unhappily. "Lucifer, I think we need to talk."
Lucifer pulled the door open and turned. "I don't think so, Detective. I've done my part in giving you avenues to explore, All you need to do now is get your tiresome search warrants and walk down those paths to prove what we all now know is true. John McIntyre was killed to keep him from revealing his employer's sordid secret and James Milton died because he was a liability. And that druggie who my brother Amenadiel was so concerned about – well, he was just collateral damage in a war between a group of people who thought that money and prestige were more important that a life, especially one as pitiful as some nameless drug addict." He stepped out into the corridor and walked soundlessly away.
