Electricity

By LMR

Disclaimer: When I worked the haunted house circut, I dressed up as someone who owns CI. Now that would be really scary.

A.N.: Thanks to Claire (guitar73girl) who finds time to Beta in her busy life as supermodel, neurosurgeon, astronautical engineer, and Scotland Yard agent.

A.N.2: And thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who give me such wonderful (and helpful) reviews! You make kitty happy.

Chapter 5: Living Dead Girl

xXx

Cryptkicker Creations - Monday, July 2 - 2:04 p.m. Doink, doink.

When they arrived at Justin's studio, there was heavy metal on the speakers and a young woman standing behind the counter. Her sleek black hair was short, and she'd spiked and curled it up around her head. She wore punk clothing and a rainbow wristband.

"You're in charge here, Miss...?" Goren asked her.

"Koto Su. Yes, this is my studio. Can I h-" She dropped off as the detectives showed their badges.

"I'm Detective Eames, this is my partner, Detective Goren. We're here about Justin Buck," she said, looking her over for a reaction.

Su's eyes were red, they noted. She'd obviously heard the news. She made a little "Oh..."and her shoulders slumped. "We're sorry about your coworker, Miss Su," Eames continued. "How well did you know Mr. Buck?"

"I started the factory in 2001. He's -he'd been with us from the beginning. We're - we were tight. He was always so enthusiastic in everything he did for the house. He loved the studio, of course, but the house was his passion," she explained. "He jumped in with gusto, always. You should see his psychopath." She smiled, apparently reminiscing.

"We'll take your word for it," Eames said simply. "Can we see the possessions he left here?" she wondered.

"Um-hm." Koto gestured for them to follow her.

As they followed Su, they saw her nonchalantly step over a trip wire, smiling mischievously as she did so. Goren shrugged at Eames and tripped it anyway.

Just to see.

Su scowled as they barely noted the wailing specter that swooped down only an inch from the top of Goren's head. He ducked to let it pass. Neither one flinched as an evil clown threw itself on the floor two paces in front of Eames, giggling diabolically. She simply stepped over it, paying no attention.

Koto pouted. If there was one thing she hated, it was people who refused to be scared by her trappings.

That and sauerkraut.

"He was so devoted," she continued as she went deeper into the studio. "The idiot hyperventilated himself till he passed out once, he was so determined to make a mad scientist routine look real for some teenagers." She sobbed a laugh. "And he's the best zombie you'd ever see," she said, emotion in her voice. The detectives sensed this was a compliment and nodded accordingly as they were accosted from the left by a headless groom. Eames brushed passed it; Goren followed.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Eames wondered.

She turned to face them, casually leaning on a mummy. "Three weeks ago. He was here when I was doing test make-up for Radioactive Zombies from Hell. It was my job to make them look nuked. Nice healthy radioactive glow, you know." She pantomimed covering her face with make-up. Goren could see that she was hinting for them to act impressed. Eames gave the girl her patented I'm smiling but I think you're an idiot look. "The last thing he said to me was that my zombies were the most hellish he'd ever seen." She smiled sadly. "I'll miss him."

"Were you and Justin involved?" Eames asked abruptly.

"Huh? No, he's not my type," Su said simply, leading them again. "Especially not now," she added seriously after a moment of consideration. Seeing the look on the detectives' faces, she hastened to add, "Justin would have laughed at that. He had a sick sense of humor."

Bobby grinned at Alex and got a fake scowl for his trouble while Koto walked ahead of them, oblivious to the exchange. "What is your type, then?" Goren asked as Su turned back to face them. He had a suspicion... She gestured toward a young woman standing in the corner, animated, talking with a group of friends and made up as a dead girl scout. "Did Justin know about your... type?" Goren wondered, turning back to her.

She shrugged. "Sure. I mean..." She re-thought this a moment. "I guess so... maybe not. It never really came up. Why?"

"We need to know how he was connected to everyone in his life," Eames clarified. "Get the whole picture. If he had a girlfriend, or was in love, we'd want to know."

"Um, not that I know of, but like I said, he was all about the work. Most of our casual conversations involved movies like The Killer Shrews, The Giant Gila Monster, and Killer Klowns from Outer Space." She shrugged.

They arrived at a dingy locker room, Eames rolling her eyes when a vulture spread his wings in her path. She ducked under it easily; watched with some amusement as her partner tried to fit his ample frame either under or around it. "Could you hit the light?" the young woman asked. "I've still got make-up on my hands from yesterday's shoot of The Thing That Won't Die Until We Make Eighteen Sequels, or something like that. Doesn't matter how much cold cream you use, it just doesn't come off for about a week." Goren flipped the switch. "Top row, third locker from the end," she instructed. "We left it as is."

"We appreciate that," Goren told her.

His partner started rifling through the magazines inside, passing each to him after reading out loud the title and headline. "'Your Organs Quarterly: Pamper your pancreas and preen your spleen!' 'Darners' Digest (Not just for socks anymore!),' 'Quantum Physics for Your Everyday Life: Why Antimatter matters.' Bobby, stop reading the evidence."

"I'm not, I found..." he opened the top magazine to a page that wouldn't settle with the rest. There was a photo in it, propping it open. "Hey Alex, look at this picture."

Wait, what did he call me? Alex froze, trying to wrap her head around what she'd just heard. Okay, Bobby likes patterns. Bobby likes routine. Bobby likes status quo. Bobby won't like for me to mention it.

And I should probably hold off on the Snoopy dance.

"Yeah?" She looked at the photo he was holding out. It was a picture of a swimming pool. The lens had been aimed at some clouds, but clearly captured the side of the pool as well. It took a moment for Eames to realize what she was seeing. There was a huge stereo at the side of the pool.

A wet stereo.

"It wasn't an accident, and he had proof," she surmised.

"He must've realized recently, maybe he just got the picture developed. He took a picture of the sky..." Goren pantomimed as he talked.

"And caught a picture of a crime scene," his partner finished.

"Detectives?" Su poked her head into the locker room. "Are you about-"

"We're done, thank you," Eames answered. "We'll need to take some of these with us."

Koto nodded; bit her lip, uncertain of how to continue, still hanging tentatively in the doorframe. Finally, she led them back into the studio and toward the exit, and asked the question she seemed to be dreading. "Are you here because you think that someone..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

"Yes," Eames answered frankly as a bat nearly smacked Goren in the nose. "We do think that someone."

"But everyone loved him." The words rang in the detectives' ears as they left the studio, slipping calmly past a vampire as it popped out of a coffin near the exit.

xXx

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Next Time:

"'Power's out,' Rodgers said needlessly. The two nudged their way around various bits of medical equipment that they both could have sworn had never been there in the light and had obviously been placed there for no reason but to make them trip all over themselves."