chapter word count: 377

noir heart: twenty-four

He's had enough of her games.

Offering her nothing more than rolled eyes and a curt grunt, he brusquely rises from his chair and exits the room to be met with Captain Moor's cocked eyebrow of not-impressed, and Aster's amused and slightly cocky smirk – and decides it's not worth inquiring into their expressions.

"Tell me I'm wrong."

Aster slowly shakes his head, chuckling slyly. "Either she did it, or you just pulled one of the kookiest witnesses ever, mate."

"I must admit," Captain Moors adds, "I was under the impression she was sizing you up, too."

"S'cause she was." Jack shrugs as he scratches his temple, "she was trying to work out if I was worth her time and attention."

"Is that what malignant whatsits do?" Aster frowns, and adds "What makes you think that's what she is, anyway?"

"She's got zero empathy. She has no remorse for her husband's murder. Did you notice how she didn't yawn when I did? Yawning's infectious—see?" he gestures between them, as both Aster and Captain Moors valiantly stifle yawns of their own. "Even talking about it sets one off, but not for her. On top of that, she didn't jump when I slammed the table. Sociopaths are insanely hard to scare – pun intended."

"And you gleaned all that from one interview?" Captain Moors gives him incredulous.

"Pretty much—'cause I've seen it once before." He shrugs, and then thumbs back to the closed door. "She did it."

"Be that as it may," Captain Moors declares with an air of superiority, "there's nothing we can charge her with, so Kozmotis Black's homicide is going to be treated as a Ripper case."

"Bullshit." Aster snaps irritably.

"Prove it then. Find me a smoking gun…or knife, in this case. Put the knife in her hands, or connect her inextricably to the crime. Until you can do that – let her go, and take her home." She announces tersely, before sweeping haughtily out of the room.

Jack doesn't know why it comes out so easily, but it does nevertheless – and in a strange way, there's a flicker of excitement within him.

"I'll do it."

...let the Jelsa begin.

heartonfire: I rarely blow my own trumpet but I really did like that ending. Thank you for your kind words :)
k j mcdaniel: you may be right, you may be wrong. We'll just have to see how things play out.
lunasnoir: She's so much fun to write. So much fun.
e-teens: at the start of the interview, during Aster's PoV. He states his name, the date, the witnesses name etc.
kira: we shall see - and Merida is a maybe.
miki fubuki: foreplay, borderline verbal domination :D
jpbake: She's more of a Grey Elsa, if that makes sense.
ekalfwons: Hai! Thank you for reviewing! Yeah, I tried to make her different, but to stay within the confines of "OOC" (though, pretty sure I'm well out of the OOC zone). Self-assured, confident, and very aware of what to say (and what NOT to say).
hornedgoddess: Naughty Elsa indeed.
stefalove: Hell yes. Chemistry and other things.
riverfall: Hai! Welcome to the story - and the first thing I thought of when you said "dark, smooth Elsa" was chocolate. Now I want chocolate.
oninoko: Ah, Indominus Rex. Clever little (big?) thing. And yeah she does, haha.