Chapter Fifteen

Hidden Discoveries

Athena sat across from Ageire in the Criminal Affairs interrogation room. Despite the cold, impersonal nature of their environment, Gavin seemed determined to engage with the witness in a friendly manner. His first questions had nothing to do with the case, focusing instead of Ageire's job, car, and personal health. The whole process took about three minutes, and it warmed the witness up to Athena immensely.

When they finally did get around to the case, it was Ageire who brought up what happened. Not Gavin. "My car is a fresh, exotic beauty. A convertible! I would never scratch her up on the side of an old taxi cab."

"Of course. Could you tell me what you remember about that accident yesterday?"

"You wanna know what I told the cops?" Ageire squinted, head tilted up in suspicion. He turned to the police officer who had been questioning him earlier. "Can she do that?"

The cop shrugged, adjusting his cap. "Not every prosecutor likes it when the defense talks to the witnesses before trial, but there are no actual rules saying they can't. Prosecutor Gavin asked me to hold you here. He didn't tell me to keep anyone out... so I didn't."

"Thank you for allowing me to come in, officer. Not all police officers are as kind to the defense as you have been." Gavin smiled using Athena's face, causing the officer to both blush and roll his eyes at the same time.

"It's nothing. I just don't care, really."

"I'm glad nonetheless. Back to yesterday's incident." Gavin turned back around, shifting into serious mode. "Could you tell me what you remember about the accident yesterday?"

"I was driving in a hurry to get to my ex-wife's place. My kids wanted to see their dad on Christmas, and the party I'd been at the night before was a bit of a rager, if you know what I mean. I woke up late."

"Were you hungover, Mr. Ageire?" the officer asked from his place by the door.

"I don't think that's an important part of Mr. Ageire's statement, officer." Gavin dismissed the question. Athena, on the other hand, wanted the witness to answer it. If he'd been hungover during the incident, it would affect the way he'd experienced (and later remembered) the event. Gavin, based on how things had been going for the past five days, probably iced the officer out so he could control the interrogation himself. "Would you continue, Mr. Ageire?"

"Yeah, sure. I nearly missed my turn on the road where it happened. When I noticed which intersection I was at, I made my left without thinking. That was when the accident happened."

That matched with what Piercen had told the two of them earlier. It definitely sounds like this witness is responsible for the accident.

Gavin ignored Athena's comment. "Did the taxi swing wide while turning?"

Ageire latched onto the explanation immediately. "Yeah! Driver was yelling on his phone too. I could hear it through the closed windows of the taxi. Then he went silent, and then window glass flew everywhere."

The details about the phone conversation matched what Piercen had said as well. This was a good sign. "You didn't catch anything the victim said, did you?"

"Not a word. I just know he was mad."

Gavin turned Athena's head to look at the officer. "Do you know if the victim's phone was recovered intact?"

"Nope. I'm not part of the car investigation. Ask the Chief Prosecutor's assistant."

They would have to do that later, then. In the meantime, Gavin led the conversation a different direction. "You said the victim went silent before the crash occurred, not after. Are you sure this is the correct order of events?"

"Yeah. He was dead at the wheel when we swiped each other! I didn't do nothing to cause this accident, and I don't know why insurance won't believe me. It's dangerous to have a dead man driving on the road."

Kristoph nodded sympathetically. "If your insurance company had any sense, they would at least transfer some of the fault onto the taxi service. Their late driver bears some liability for the damages done to your vehicle. Or at least, whoever killed him does."

Really? Athena didn't know that. She didn't have a car or a license to drive, and her memories of non-criminal law were fuzzy at best. She hoped no one approached her with a civil case any time soon.

"That's what I'm saying!" Ageire leaned back, ruefully impressed by what he'd seen from the lawyer opposite him. "You know, if I could afford it, I actually would make you my attorney. We could fight this thing and get me off the hook for these giant bills."

"Perhaps we could make arrangements once this murder case is complete. In the meantime, Piercen Payne is my only client."

Ageire frowned at the mention of Piercen. "That's the kid who was in the back seat, right? Green hair?" Gavin nodded. "Kid would have to be stupid to be the killer. Who would murder their driver while the car is moving? That's asking for trouble... course, I don't know who else would have done it."

"I'm still investigating to determine the police's reasoning, Mr. Ageire. Before I get back to doing that, is there anything else you remember about the incident?"

Ageire paused to think about it. "I remember the wind being really bad yesterday. I could feel it while I was driving. Made me wish I'd put the top up on my car, but I was rushing when I left and forgot." He hesitated, then started. "Oh, and the bug!"

Widget switched to yellow from its spot on Athena's neck. "A... bug, Mr. Ageire?"

"Yeah, right as I was turning. some really big bug whizzed past my face. It distracted me while I was turning. Next thing I knew, there was shattered glass and people screaming. Now I can't even have my car back because the police are looking for murder clues in it."

As Gavin kept the face blank, Athena fumed from the inside. This man hit another car because a bug flew past him?! How bad of a driver do you have to be?

"I... see. Thank you for your time, Mr. Ageire. I shall see you in court whenever the prosecutor gets around to setting a date." Gavin stood, waved goodbye to both witness and officer, and stepped out of the interrogation room.

Athena tried to converse with Gavin as he walked back to the lot where the cars were being kept. You didn't ask the witness very many questions.

"I lacked the both the information and the evidence needed to ask him more detailed questions. At this time, I have yet to see the cars for myself. If the possibility is present, I shall speak to Mr. Ageire again before trial convenes," Gavin answered under his breath. He looked around to make sure no one could see or hear his musings. "You don't have a positive impression of the witness."

No, I don't. He sounds like he was impaired when he was driving and reckless on the road.

"Neither of those facts render his account untrustworthy. Your hearing tells me the man was irritated throughout our conversation, but he lacked emotions indicative of guilt or deceit. Unless evidence presents a compelling case otherwise, I suspect he has no reason to lie to us." Pause. "I must say, your hearing adds a certain edge to interrogation. I can see how it has been of use to you."

Gavin had listened to the voice of Ageire's heart to make his deduction? Athena didn't know whether to be impressed or uncomfortable. Wait until you use the Mood Matrix for the first time. It visualizes the subject's emotions to make judgements like this even easier. You can even use it on the witness stand if the judge agrees.

As they stepped out into the lot, an exasperated voice called out for attention. "Athena!"

Athena's vision turned sharply to the side. Apollo stood by Kay's left, his horns drooping. "You said you would be here investigating the cars. What were you doing inside?"

"Talking to a witness the police have in questioning." Gavin didn't reveal anything beyond that. "What did you find on the badge?"

"Nothing exciting. There's only one set of prints on it. Probably the victim's. Trucy and Mr. Wright weren't in when I was at the office, so I did the dusting myself. I didn't find any blood either."

"Did you do any research on the victim while you were there?"

"...No. You didn't ask me to." Apollo hesitated, then sighed. "But we probably could do that after we finish investigating the cars. Piercen doesn't know the victim, but someone else might. It's rare for somebody to be murdered by a stranger."

"Right. Now that you're here, Apollo, let's crush this investigation!" Athena's fist met the palm of her hand in a believable gesture of enthusiasm. "Vamanos!"

"You can crush the investigation alright, but don't do any more damage to the cars or their owners will sue." Kay stepped back so she could observe them from the doorway. "I'll be here to watch you guys, okay? I'm not helping you investigate, but we can still chat if you need anything."

"Before we begin, Miss Faraday, I did have a question for you." Gavin shifted Athena's expression into one of thoughtfulness. "Our client mentioned the victim was on his bluetooth during his last drive. Did the investigation recover the victim's phone intact?"

Kay beamed. "We sure did! Bluetooth not so much. That got crushed. The phone, on the other hand, is being examined by police as we speak. I'm sure Prosecutor Gavin will show it to you when the evidence on it is ready."

If it was as important to the case as Athena expected, he almost certainly would. Without recovering that phone for the defense, the next best thing would be to question Piercen again. The victim's last conversation could shed immense light on how he'd actually died. Athena doubted it would be something unrelated to the case.

While Athena ruminated on the missed opportunity, Gavin thanked Kay for her insight and ushered Apollo towards the cars. "I'll search the taxi while you search Ageire's car. Let me know if you find anything. Sound good?"

"Why would I find something in this car? The taxi is where the victim died."

A flash of irritation surged through Gavin. He did his best to hide it. "Think, Apollo! The police must have taken the witness's car for a reason. They were side by side during the accident. A piece of evidence could have moved between cars in the moment."

"I guess." Apollo turned to investigate Ageire's car without further complaint. With the division of labor settled, Gavin opened the driver door of the taxi and began his investigation in peace.

The first thing he took note of were the windows. Only the front passenger window had been shattered, but its damage was immense. Tiny pieces of glass still littered the passenger seat, with small bits even spreading into both the back and the driver's seat. Lines of blood streaked across the driver's seat, perhaps indicating where glass had broken Danver's skin.

The broken glass must have really hurt the victim. The police said he died from blunt force trauma to the neck, though. What could have caused that?

Gavin eyed the victim's seatbelt. It would have been near the victim's neck at the time, but seatbelts weren't supposed to cause that sort of damage. They were supposed to prevent serious injuries from happening in the first place. He muttered to himself. "Would that the police would give us a copy of their autopsy report. This investigation would benefit from further knowledge about the victim's neck injury."

Both Gavin and Athena kept their eyes peeled for something in the car that could cause a neck injury. They found an ice scraper in the back, but someone would have to swing that with a great deal of force to do lethal damage. In a space as cramped as the taxi cab, Gavin doubted any killer had the space to pull it off. If his brother attempted to paint the scraper as a murder weapon in court, that would be the counterargument Gavin led with.

Nothing else in the car seemed like it could be the murder weapon. While that was good for Piercen's case, it also meant the defense had no idea what could have killed the victim. Without a compelling alternative scenario, the courts were unlikely to let Piercen go free.

Well, if Gavin couldn't find the method of the murder, he was going to search for the motive. Did the victim have anything in his taxi that would explain why someone was after him? Any personal effects at all, for that matter? Seeing as the car wasn't Danver's personal vehicle, it was entirely possible he didn't keep such things around with him. Then Gavin opened the glove box, and that line of logic leapt out the broken window.

Inside was a whole cluster of Danver's personal papers. Gas receipts, lunch crumbs... medical bills. Gavin pulled the last item out for further examination.

"Hm. It seems Travis Danver had returned to his job only recently."

The medical bill was less than a month old. It laid out the charges of getting a pacemaker installed without insurance. The medical device rested on the side of Danver's left lung, wires trailing into the heart itself to regulate its beat. The cost of the procedure was five figures tall.

Dios mio! I forgot how awful this country's healthcare costs were.

"I doubt our victim was able to forget. His debt must have weighed heavily on his mind as he drove passengers around the city." The next logical question was how the victim had intended to address his debt obligations. It was doubtful his salary as a taxi driver was enough to pay this bill by itself. Had Danver taken an illegal second job to cover his expenses? Had he robbed a wealthy passenger?

The answer to their questions came from the second paper Gavin pulled out of the glove box. This paper was small and laminated. A business card for a loan company. Tender Lender? I've never heard of that place.

"I have," Gavin replied, a dark thrill rising out of his core. He was careful to keep her voice down so Apollo didn't hear. "They are a thoroughly disreputable loan company owned by an organized crime syndicate. If our victim turned to them in his hour of need, he would have died the second their boss discovered he could not pay her back."

So he was trapped inside a nightmare by an obligation he couldn't take back. Athena related to that feeling. You should tell Apollo what we found. See if he found any evidence of his own.

Gavin hesitated, then obliged Athena. He explained his findings to Apollo, adding Athena's comment about American healthcare for good measure.

Apollo lit up at the mention of Tender Lender. "I know that place! They were in one of Mr. Wright's old cases. How are they still in business?"

"Evil never dies, Apollo. It changes with the times." Gavin got a weird look for his response, so he brushed past the subject. "What about you, Apollo? Did you find anything in the witness's car?"

"I don't think anything in there is related to our case," Apollo said. "Most of the crash damage is on the outside of the car."

"Do you think anything from the victim's car might have hit the witness's car?"

Apollo scratched the back of his head. "Maybe? Here, take a look at the driver's door with me."

Apollo led Athena over to the witness's car. He pointed to a circular indent just below where the driver's window would be if it were rolled up. "See this? It looks like a piece of debris made an actual dent here. The rest of the damage is all scratches... on this car, at least. The taxi's broken window looks pretty bad."

Gavin filled their vision with the dent. The shape of the dent was interesting to him, for some reason. "Are we sure this dent came from the crash?"

Shouldn't we be? Mr. Ageire said his car was new. Do you think he got into a different crash with it in the past few weeks? ...Wait, I believe that.

Apollo's response was no more decisive than Athena's. "I don't know how we could be certain. I'd ask Miss Faraday, but I doubt she could be any more sure than we are." Apollo paused, studying Athena. "Why, do you think it's important?"

Gavin stood back up to Athena's full height. He didn't answer Apollo right away. "I think we should remember everything we've seen in the investigation so far. There's a lot we don't know, and you never know what evidence will be useful in court later."

"True. Was there anything else you want to see here, Athena? Did you want to switch spots and make sure neither of us missed anything?"

"Actually, could you two wrap it up here?" Kay called out to them. When the lawyers turned to face her, her green eyes were on the sky. "I think it's about to rain. I need to preserve this crime scene so Prosecutor Gavin can investigate it for himself later."

"We're done. Thank you for letting us investigate, Miss Faraday! You've been a great help."

Apollo followed Gavin's words with his own thank you. As they departed from Criminal Affairs, Apollo asked Athena what she wanted to do next. "Do you want to research the victim now? We could confirm his loan from Tender Lender."

"I do want to do that, but first, let's talk to our client again. I want to know if he remembers anything else about the victim's last words."

"Whatever you say." Apollo followed after her as they turned towards the Detention Center. "You seem a lot more sure of yourself this investigation. You've made a lot a progress as a lawyer since you first worked a case with me."

Gavin froze for a second. His mind churned, working on what he'd say to erase the potential for suspicion. "Thanks, Apollo. I've... been following a good example."

Apollo accepted that answer. "Mr. Wright can be a great mentor, huh?"

"Oh... yeah. Him too, but I was talking about you, Apollo."

"Really?" Apollo face lit up. He beamed at the complement "Thanks, Athena!"

Gavin wasn't totally lying in his portrayal of her. It's not that Athena wouldn't have said those words. The problem was she knew Gavin didn't mean a word of it.

She was the only one who knew that.

A/N's: Sorry I made you all wait so long for an update. I always meant to come back to this story, but the case we're in now had me stumped for a good while. I didn't get unstuck until I went to my beta (The Scollard) for advice. He helped me come up with the murder scenario that makes this case possible while still fitting inside the greater narrative of the story.

Thank you to everyone who waited for this chapter. I hope you liked it, and I shall endeavor not to make you wait as long for chapter 16. Until next time!