Gavin and Richard made their way up the staircase as Professor Davis followed from behind. "She's in the master bedroom," Aiden pointed out as the pair reached the top of the stairs. "Alright," Gavin rubbed the back of his neck, "Let's see what we're dealin' with here," he walked into the room with RK900 closely shadowing.
The first thing the detective noticed was the word "Swine" smeared above the bed in red paint. "Hm," Gavin brought his sprained hand to his lips, "Doesn't look like an android wrote it," he examined. Using his accompanied technologies, RK900 proceeded to scan the paint and the way in which the word was sloppily written, "Correct, detective," he picked at the dried paint and placed it in his mouth, "the way in which the letters are painted suggest our culprit was a human."
"Jesus fucking Christ," Gavin grimaced in disgust, "What in the actual fuck are you doing?" the detective asked, clearly repulsed by his partner's actions. "Sampling in real time," Richard responded as he obtained information about the paint. "Ugh, I'll never wrap my head around you fuckin' androids," the shorter of the two shook his head, "At least warn me next time," he sighed. "Behr Ruby Red paint and primer in one, intended for interior use only," Richard expressed, eyes fixated on the bed. "Behr is a common brand sold in almost all furniture and home décor stores across Detroit. I was hoping that analyzing the paint would prove more fruitful," the android peered over his broad shoulder to the big bin near the wall.
Gavin followed his counterpart's gaze, eyeing the box that was a few feet away. He shot a glance at the professor who was biting at a finger nail in the doorway, "Professor, you mind if we take a look in the box?" the detective asked, attempting to be respectful. Aiden jolted up when addressed by the officer then hesitantly nodded and let out a worried sigh. The pair proceeded to walk over to the bin, "Perhaps I should do this, detective," Richard suggested as he lifted up a hand, "Androids don't have fingerprints, remember?" he continued as he bent down and opened up the flaps. Gavin grumbled, slightly peeved but allowed his partner to continue. Richard exhaled as he surveyed the remains of Odette before taking out her torso from the box.
"Dear Lord," the professor whimpered as he turned away. Gavin kneeled and looked at the rest of the body parts in the bin with focused eyes; he took out a napkin and used it to take an arm out of the bin. "The only prints on Odette are those of Professor Davis'," Richard stated as he turned the body part around to further investigate, "Seeing as the prints were likely from moving Odette's remains, I've ruled them out of the inquiry," the android concluded, placing the torso on the floor. "No signs of damage on her arms," Gavin said handing the parts to RK900.
"Interesting that there are no other identifiable prints," the machine's brows drew together. "So you're saying it was an android who did it then," the detective folded his arms across his chest. "No, I know for a fact it wasn't an android based on the slapdash writing on the wall," Richard motioned to the area above the bed frame with his head while combing through the rest of the remains. Gavin quickly looked to the painted wall then back to his partner, "Okay so what're you sayin'? That it was a person," he paused as revelation struck, "a person with gloves."
Richard smiled at his colleague, "Exactly, detective."
"What makes you so certain that the writing wasn't done by an android?" Aiden asked, his voice trembling a bit. "Androids come built in with various fonts, Professor," Richard looked to the anxious gentleman, "The writing on the wall doesn't match any of them. Plus, even when in a state of high stress, an android's writing is more refined than that of a human's," the machine concluded.
"Hey, look at this," Gavin tapped Richard's shoulder, "Look at the indent," he continued, showing his partner the back of Odette's severed head.
"Oh God," Aiden covered his mouth, "I—I can't watch this," the professor took a few steps back, entering the hallway. "I'll be downstairs. I just…I can't see her like this again," the man stated, evidently distressed. "That's fine, Professor. We'll continue our investigation and meet you downstairs promptly after," Richard reassured with a nod.
The professor quickly left the area, scuttling downstairs. RK900 turned towards Odette's severed head, observing the large gash in the center of the cranium. "This was done by a crowbar," Richard declared, pointing to the wound, "See how it's caved in here? Only two weapons are capable of leaving markings like that. One is a crowbar and the other, a steel bat," the machine deduced. "And how'd you determine our guy used a crowbar and not a bat?" Gavin asked with a sardonic cadence. "Bats start out fat then narrow out as they reach the hilt," Richard demonstrated with his hands, "The shape of the dent on the back of Odette's head suggests the weapon was thin throughout but strong enough to inflict a fatal blow."
"Hm," Gavin traced the scar on his nose, "Okay so suppose it really was a crowbar, where do we go from there?" the detective raised his shoulders, "This guy was smart enough not to leave his prints around, he didn't leave any clues behind and nothing on the body tells us anything useful," he went on. Richard looked to the ground, a bit perplexed himself, "So far we can assume that the culprit is physically fit and on the heftier side of the spectrum given the force of the hit to Odette's head. They also are likely unemployed considering the crime was conducted during the day," the android motioned with hands, "In addition, we can infer Odette was left immobilized by the singular blow to the back of her skull and was then dismembered and placed in the bedroom," he continued. "The weapon was a crowbar, the suspect was a human, and the paint branded, meaning it was purchased from a store," the machine's eyes darted from floorboard to floorboard. "And?" Gavin shrugged, "That doesn't tell us shit," he stared at his colleague. Richard fiddled with his collar, adjusting it a bit, "We tell the professor what we know. That's all we can do."
"Wait," Gavin closed his eyes for a moment then smiled in disbelief, "so you're saying we walk up to the dude and tell him we couldn't find jack shit about the person who murdered his robot wife?"
"We will simply tell him what we could conclude from the investigation and reassure him that we will continue to look further into the case," Richard said with determination. The detective chuckled, "Good luck with that," he got up from his knelt position and exited the room. Richard watched as his colleague walked into the hallway. The machine took one last glance at Odette's remains before letting out a small sigh, following the detective downstairs.
"Well? Did you find anything?" the professor asked as he watched the two men slowly make their way down the steps and into the foyer. "Unfortunately, we couldn't gather enough evidence to identify the culprit, Professor," Richard explained with a disappointed expression. Aiden's face changed to one of shock then very quickly, to one of misery. He dropped to his knees as the last ounce of hope that kept him going disappeared. Gavin pursed his lips and looked to the ground as the professor began to whimper. "Aiden," Richard bent down and placed a hand on the crying man's shoulder, "We will find the person responsible for Odette's death. I promise you that," the android said with what seemed like sympathy.
"Get out," Aiden hissed, tears streaming down his face.
Richard shut his eyes and drew his brows together, upset at himself for the inconclusive outcome of the investigation. "Come on," Gavin motioned as he started toward the front door, "Let's go."
RK900 waited a few seconds before heeding his partner's words. The machine got up from his crouched position and caught up to his colleague. "We'll get'em," Gavin pledged, looking back one last time at the broken man before walking out of the main entrance.
Both men stayed quiet, dejection eating away at them as they entered the vehicle. They remained frozen in their seats as the AC blew cool air. "I mean, how the fuck were we supposed to come up with a suspect?" Gavin shattered the silence as he slammed his left hand on the steering wheel. "We had almost nothing to go on! It's not our fuckin' fault," he continued, gritting his teeth. "It's strange," Richard expressed through squinted eyes, "I have never left a crime scene knowing so little about the culprit."
"Relax," Gavin started the car, "We'll just haveta shelf this one for now," he shifted gears and prepared to drive off into the street. "Ah," the detective snickered, "fuckin' great," he brought his hand to his forehead, "It's raining."
It took over an hour to get back to the police station. With vision clouded by heavy rain, driving was almost impossible and traffic was far beyond unbearable. Even with Richard's guidance, the wet streets coupled with three times the amount of collisions reduced their car's speed to a snail's pace. Gavin complained the entire ride.
The rain died down to a light drizzle as the two approached the station. "We're here, detective," Richard stated as the DPD's sign came into view. "Jesus Christ, thank fuck," the officer groaned as he entered the parking lot and parked in the first open stall he saw. "God, I think my ass is plastered to the goddamn seat," the detective winced as he opened the driver's side door and placed a leg on the ground. "The roads were quite congested," Richard stated, stepping out of the vehicle. Gavin let out sounds of discomfort as he stretched his back and twisted his spine, trying to provide circulation to his stiffened muscles. "I'm fuckin' done for the day. Gonna pack up inside then head out," the shorter of the two stated as he headed to the station entrance. RK900 brushed off some lint from his uniform before trailing from behind.
"You know," Gavin started, "For a second, you seemed like a pretty nice guy back at the professor's place." Richard's eyes widened as he tilted his head to glance at his partner. The detective's eyes shot open as well, startled by what just came out of his mouth. "I-I mean, it's not a compliment," Gavin's face reddened. The android let out a hushed laugh. "You know what, forget I said anything!" the officer quickly dismissed with his hands. Richard turned to look at the ground with a smile, "Thank you, Detective Reed."
"Shut it," Gavin shoved his hands in his pant pockets, face riddled with embarrassment.
Both men walked into the station only to come face-to-face with a very angry Captain Fowler. "I've been waitin' for you, Gavin," the higher ranking officer growled with arms folded across his chest. Before Gavin could even utter a single word, the Captain motioned with his hand to stop. "In my office," Fowler demanded, "Now."
The detective cupped his face and moaned into his palms. He then looked to the ceiling, pressing his lips together while nodding his head. "Of course, Captain," Gavin expressed with a defeated smile. The two men began walking to the briefing room; RK900 took a step forward as he attempted to follow the officers but the captain stopped the android, "I only needa talk with Reed." Richard cocked his head in confusion but abided and watched as the two walked off into Fowler's office.
Richard looked around the station, surveying the other officers as they were working closely with their androids. The machine glanced at the ground, processing the compliment that slipped out of his partner's mouth before walking into the station. His thoughts were quickly clouded however by the fact that the two weren't able to identify Odette's killer. Aiden's painful expression seared into Richard's brain, causing the android's LED to turn yellow. Richard caught himself stressing out and abandoned his thoughts, quickly returning to a blue state.
After gazing around for a few more minutes, the android decided to investigate his partner's workspace to find out more about the brunette's hobbies and mannerisms. He walked over to Gavin's desk and eyed the items littering the countertop. The first thing that caught the machine's eye was a yellow notepad containing erratic writing. Richard slowly picked up the object, scanning the words scrawled on the paper. The android shook his head in confusion; it was a diary of sorts but not a very standard one. The first and final entry began "writing out my feelings? The fuck is this pansy-ass shit? Ok fine, therapist told me to write out my feelings so here…I fuckin' hate everything, the end."
Richard curved his brows inward as he placed the notepad back on the desk, blinking a few times before looking for more things to analyze. As he turned his head, he noticed a framed photo placed in the corner. The android grabbed the picture and examined it. It was a photo of a younger Gavin upon graduating from the academy; and next to him was a taller, older gentleman. Using his facial recognition features, Richard identified the other man as retired sergeant, Johnathan Miller. He served in the DPD for twenty five years and mentored Gavin throughout his time in the police academy. RK900's eyes shifted to Gavin who looked to be in his early twenties in the picture. The android brought his hand to the photo, memorizing every detail of the detective in a police uniform. Richard lifted the corners of his mouth into a small smile and placed the photo back onto the desk before resuming his posture.
He then spotted a mug with "#1 Asshole" written on it; it was filled with cold coffee. Upon closer examination, Richard noticed "Love, Hank" was scribbled at the bottom of the ceramic cup, suggesting it was a gift from the Lieutenant. RK900 then eyed the desk drawers. He proceeded to open the first drawer only to find the detective's spare handgun—a standard Glock 22—which hardly looked like it had been used. Next to the handgun was a receipt from a local animal shelter confirming the adoption of a 3 year old stray Tabby cat named Cleopatra, implying that the detective has a love for felines. Richard closed the top drawer and tried to open the other two but both were locked.
The android then glanced at the terminal, debating on whether to browse through his partner's perhaps more personal interests. He ultimately decided to tap on the screen which illuminated his face. Richard noted that in addition to having android-related case files open, Gavin also had iTunes open and running. The reserved machine tapped on the iTunes logo which opened up the detective's recently played list of music. The first track on the list, which was already played halfway through was Right Now by American heavy metal band, Korn. Richard looked up the song and lyrics, then cringed. He scrolled through the remainder of songs in the playlist, concluding that Gavin is an avid rock and alternative enthusiast who admires bands like Linkin Park, System of a Down, Limp Bizkit and Korn.
Then a loud crash followed by shouting was heard from the briefing room. Gavin stormed out of the Captain's office, infuriated. "Get back here, right now!" Fowler ran out of his office. "Oh bite me, Fowler. I'm fuckin' outta here," Gavin stomped down the ramp. Richard approached the detective but Gavin leered at the android, walking into his partner's shoulder as he stomped toward the station's exit.
On his way out, Gavin took out his phone and made a phone call, "Hey, Serg. Yeah it's me. I'll take you up on those drinks you mentioned last time. Boy, do I got a lot to tell you, old man," the detective smiled as he exited the station. Richard turned to look at Fowler who was incredibly upset. The Captain glared at RK900 then charged back into his office.