Chapter 14: Feeling your siblings
Chloe's excuse to Detective Beckett was a true one. They did need to pick up the rental car Lucifer had organised. However Lucifer could see that there was something she wanted to ask him, Chloe was not good at asking those questions out in public. So with an agreement to come to the precinct within the hour, Lucifer and Chloe were dropped off at their hotel.
It hadn't been hard to find a nice hotel in New York. It was one thing the horribly cold place had in abundance. Lucifer had booked the presidential suite. The hotel staff has been polite on the phone, but when he showed up with a fist full of cash and a virtually limitless credit card they were falling over each other trying to help out.
Chloe looked overwhelmed. She wasn't the glitz and glamor type so Lucifer handed out several hundred dollar bills and closed the door on the eager staff.
He threw a quick look around, noting the extensive minibar, luxurious couches and two separate bedrooms. Something Chloe had insisted on.
Lucifer strolled over and checked out the alcohol options. He had half an eye on Chloe. She was frowning intently at the view from the window. Lucifer poured himself a drink, he had been irritatingly sober today, and waited. It was something he had figured out, with a great deal of help from Linda, it was better to let Chloe ask the questions and not to push too hard. Linda still got a slightly nauseas look on her face when he dumped too much celestial information on her at once and she had a year's head start on Chloe.
"Our killer isn't an angel is he?" Chloe asked with a note of pleading in her voice.
"Of course not detective. Angels can't kill humans, it's a big rule. We're dealing with a human. Admittedly a human with a lot of interest in the divine." Lucifer took another mouthful of whiskey and waited for the next question.
"There's something else though, isn't there. Something you didn't mention in the church." That wasn't so much a question as an accusation.
Lucifer grimaced. He had only caught the faintest sniff of it, he hadn't even been sure there had been anything. However he had nudged everyone a little more towards the angelic side of things just in case. "Just a feeling detective. Our killer isn't an angel, but the whole church felt like…" Lucifer hesitated while he considered how to phrase this so it would make sense. "It felt like one of my siblings had been there recently."
"You can feel your siblings?' Chloe looked confused.
Lucifer made a face at the wording of that. "Angels can sense each other detective. Kind of like recognising a perfume if someone has been around." He wasn't entirely sure that made sense, but since Chloe nodded and looked less confused it must have made enough sense.
"So which sibling?" She pressed. "I mean, how many do you even have?"
There was a question. Lucifer thought, he'd never actually counted how many brothers and sisters he had. Technically Lucifer had a whole city full of relatives. "A lot, and it's not that specific."
"Would it make a difference?" Chloe asked, she had finally turned around and was watching him seriously.
"Probably not. Most of my family are insufferable asses, you should know, you've met Amenadiel." Lucifer finished off his drink, the thing was that there weren't that many of his siblings who came down to earth and only the smallest of minute numbers (count 'em as three) who had actually spoken to him in the last few thousand years.
Chloe was rolling her eyes at him again, a look which curled Lucifer's lips into a smile. He enjoyed teasing her and it was nice to get back to the feeling of normalcy where he could do it without worrying that she was going to freak out on him. "Ok, so there may or may not have been an angel in that church, and even if there was they probably didn't have anything to do with the murder anyway."
"More than likely." Lucifer agreed as he watched Chloe pace in a slow circle around the couch. "Any other questions?"
Chloe shook her head. "You know all this angel and devil business makes thing so much harder."
Lucifer raised an eyebrow; Chloe hadn't voiced this particular opinion before. "How so?"
"It's fine if you talk about it, everyone just assumes you're really dedicated to your persona. If I start talking like I believe it I'm going to get locked up." Chloe explained, running her fingers through her hair. "It doesn't matter, come on we should be getting back."
Lucifer got to his feet, sliding the glass back onto the bar top. "I wouldn't let that happen detective."
"I appreciate that Lucifer, but I do have to think about these things." Chloe gripped his arm and smiled up at him. Lucifer returned the smile with relief.
Driving in New York traffic was horrendous, however the slick new model Corvette Lucifer had rented glided nearly into any available gap he could find. Chloe was navigating with one hand on her phone and the other white knuckling the door handle.
Lucifer wove through traffic expertly, only cheating a little. His mind was whirling over the case. He hoped they could find an explanation and a killer soon, because if they didn't find an earthly reason behind this case then Lucifer was worried it would have a supernatural basis. In that case the detective would be spot on the mark. Things would be much harder.