Chapter Fifteen

Chloe's heart pounded as she stared at the image of Chet Owens on the screen. Chet was the bartender who'd gone to the movies with Keith, Rose's lover, on the night of the murder. Chet was Keith's alibi. "You're saying that this man, right here, is transgender? That he used to be a woman?"

Lucifer said nothing. She looked over to find him with his eyes closed, snoring softly under the oxygen mask.

"Lucifer," she said sharply. He didn't stir, so Chloe dug her elbow into his ribs.

His eyes snapped open. "That hurt," he accused.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, "but this is important. You said you've met this man before?"

"Yes."

"And he was a woman named Cheyenne at the time?"

"Yes." Lucifer sounded irritated at having to repeat himself, especially when it took most of his effort just to breathe.

"When was this?" Chloe pressed.

Lucifer sighed. "Before Lux opened."

"Okay, so like eight or nine years ago."

"I suppose." Lucifer seemed bored with the conversation. His eyelids were drooping again.

Chloe, however, felt more awake than she had in hours. She zoomed in on Chet's face, trying to mentally erase the stubble and hollow out the full cheeks. Trying to picture him with his shoulder-length blond hair hanging down, rather than trapped in its current ponytail.

She glanced at the whiteboard. An unidentified blond female hair.

If Chet really was transgender, then his DNA would still be that of a woman. No amount of surgery or hormone therapy could change that. And if the police didn't know he'd changed sexes, they never would've thought to test his DNA. They'd only checked the women who'd been present at the bar that night, not the men.

In the interviews, Chet claimed he hadn't ever been near Martin or Martin's car. If Chet's hair had been ripped out at the root inside Martin's vehicle, that meant Chet was lying. Which meant that other things they took for granted about the case might also be false.

If Lucifer was right, this might be the break that could crack everything wide open. But could he really be trusted in his current state? Less than an hour ago, he'd been completely out of it with fever, not even remembering where they were or what was happening.

She looked sideways at her partner, who was dozing fitfully. Chloe didn't need the thermometer to see that his temperature was already climbing again. It was written in the furrow of his brow, and the way he shifted slightly every few seconds, as though he couldn't quite get comfortable.

With the Tylenol gone, he would only get worse from here on out. She needed to get every bit of info she could from him right now, while she had the chance. Then, she could decide if any of it was credible.

Reluctantly, Chloe nudged him awake again. Lucifer blinked groggily at her.

She pointed at the close-up of Chet on the screen. "How can you tell he's the same person? I know you're good with faces, but his face would've looked a lot different back then."

"His ears are the same."

Chloe's eyebrows shot up. "His ears?"

Lucifer smiled slightly under the mask. "Oh, yes. I never forget…a nice, suckable pair of earlobes." His eyes shifted from the screen to the front of Chloe's shirt. "Or a nice, suckable pair of—"

"Okay, got the picture. Too many pictures in my brain right now, actually, so thank you for that."

"You're welcome," Lucifer said, still smiling devilishly.

"So, you're absolutely sure he's the person you knew as Cheyenne?" Chloe pressed.

"Yes."

"And you didn't say anything about this earlier because…?"

"I only just saw the picture, Detective."

Chloe's mind raced. She distinctly remembered going over every single one of the stills from the movie theatre surveillance footage. But, she realized with a sinking stomach, Lucifer hadn't been with her at the time. He'd been in the bathroom, getting cleaned up. If she'd simply waited for him, rather than pressing ahead with the investigation on her own, they could've had this breakthrough hours ago. Chloe tried not to let the despair of that fact overwhelm her. What was done was done. They had the information now. That was the important thing.

"Okay," Chloe said, her voice crisp and business-like, "I need you to tell me everything you remember about Chet."

"Besides his earlobes?"

Chloe fought back a smile. "Yes, besides those."

"Well, I only met him once…there's not much to tell."

"Anything you can think of might help," she assured him.

Lucifer sighed, looking like all he really wanted to do was put his head down and go back to sleep. "Very well."

Chloe waited while he gathered his thoughts. When it seemed to be taking too long, she gave him a little prompt:

"You said you met before Lux opened, so where were you? At another nightclub?"

He shook his head slowly. "No…we were at Lux. I'd already refurbished the building. We just hadn't…opened for business yet."

Chloe nodded her encouragement. "Okay, so what happened?"

"I was holding auditions. Chet was on the schedule to perform."

"He was a dancer?" Chloe asked, remembering what Lucifer had said about Chet being too thin.

Lucifer gave a minuscule shake of his head. "Musician. But he was a no-show. We finished the auditions and everyone headed up to the penthouse for an after-party. One of the men wanted to play…a little game, so I came back downstairs for a pair of tongs and an extension cord. That's when I heard the piano."

Lucifer paused to catch his breath. All this talking was taking a lot out of him.

"Was it Chet?" Chloe asked.

He nodded. "He was playing an original he'd written, singing lyrics…about demons and ghosts. The melody was haunting. I had to stay and listen. It had been ages since I'd heard anything that beautiful."

His gaze turned wistful, and Chloe knew he was probably thinking about what he referred to as "The Silver City." Heaven.

"When he finished the song, I asked…why he hadn't auditioned. He was more talented than all the others combined."

"What did he say?" Chloe asked.

"Well, first he jumped off the piano bench like it was on fire. He hadn't realized anyone was listening. After I assured him he was not in trouble, he admitted he'd been hiding in the bathroom during auditions…trying to work up the nerve to come out."

"But he never did," Chloe said softly.

Lucifer shook his head. "He was a very…nervous creature. During our whole conversation, he kept looking at the door, as if he meant to flee. I offered him some fruit from a bowl on the bar, and he looked as if the food might be a snake, ready to rise up and bite him. At first I thought perhaps he sensed my…Devil-ness…but I came to realize the fear was just his nature. It fascinated me. A soul brimming with music, but too inhibited to set it free into the world. A body desperate for food, but too afraid to take a bite." Lucifer gazed at Chloe with sad curiosity. "Why do you humans do that?"

"Do what?" Chloe whispered.

"Starve yourselves."

Chloe swallowed and shook her head that she didn't know. "What happened next?"

"I looked into his eyes, and asked him what he desired most of all."

"And what did he say?" Chloe asked.

"To not hold back any longer. To be his true self. So I asked what his true self wanted to do, right at this very moment."

"And?" Chloe prompted.

"He pushed me up against the piano and kissed me." Lucifer's eyes held a faint sparkle of pleasure at the memory.

"I think I can guess what happened next," Chloe said flatly.

"Oh, if only." Lucifer sighed dreamily. "Well, the penthouse was occupied so we made our way into the supply room. For one so timid, he was surprisingly skilled. I'll never look at those little martini umbrellas the same way again. And he only got bolder as the evening wore on. He might've been going by the name 'Cheyenne' at the time, but by the end of the night, there was nothing 'shy' about him."

"So, you spent the night together," Chloe summed up. "Then what?"

Lucifer shrugged, resting his head against Chloe's shoulder once more. "Then nothing. He left early in the morning. We had trouble locating all of his clothing, so I loaned him a few of Maze's things. I told him the singing position at Lux was his if he wanted it, but he said he needed to think it over. He kissed me goodbye, and I never saw him again."

"He never called you about the job?" Chloe asked, surprised.

"No, but he did send a note in the post when he returned Maze's clothes."

"What did it say?"

"Oh, he just thanked me for a wonderful night, for making him feel free in a way he never had before. He said he appreciated the job offer, but couldn't take me up on it because he'd decided to take…my advice instead. He was starting on a journey to become his true self. At the time, I didn't know what it meant."

Chloe nodded. "Now we know he didn't take the job because he was beginning the process of changing genders. His true self was a man."

Lucifer looked over at the computer, where Chet's face still filled the screen. "I suppose this explains why he always had to be on top."

Chloe frowned. "Always? I thought you only spent one night together?"

"Oh, Detective, you must know by now…one night with me involves many, many instances of pleasure." He blinked lazily at her. "Surely you haven't forgotten the night of eleven orga—"

"Nope," she said quickly, trying and failing to stop the heat from rising in her cheeks. "Didn't forget. Will never, ever forget." And now she felt heat somewhere else, too. Chloe shook her head, forcing them back on track. "But that's beside the point. The point is, Chet used to be a woman. Which means, the unidentified hair in the car could, theoretically, have come from him." She looked toward the ceiling. "Bethany, we're going to need to speak to Chet Owens right away."

There was a long pause before the speakers finally crackled.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," the kidnapper said.

"We won't tell him we're being held captive, I promise. We just need some information."

"I'm sorry, Detective Decker, but—"

Chloe fisted her hands in frustration. "Fine, then you talk to him. I'll give you a list of questions to ask."

Bethany sighed tiredly. "It won't be possible for anyone to speak to Chet…because he's dead."