AN: Hello again! It took me unbelievably long to finish this chapter, but here it is finally. I know it probably doesn't make much sense mentioning this, as only my two most faithful reviewers are still reviewing (thanks again!), but anyway, here I go again: Feel free to leave your opinion, good or bad ;) Doesn't hurt!
And now ... have fun!
Chapter Sixteen
"Good morning, officer! Find anything so far?", Lightning heard Amodar beside her ask one of the men currently busy searching the room where they'd found the drugs for any clues.
She and Amodar had just gotten here, so naturally it was one of the first steps for them to go and learn every piece of information their colleagues had found so far.
"Lieutenant Amodar? What a surprise ... the biggest cases even get you from your desk, yes?", the man replied humorously, followed by a chuckle as he turned more to them.
"Yes, kind of ... you know how it is. In such a big case, you gotta show the press Bodhum police is sending out only the most experienced policemen to investigate. So the Commissioner sent me here", Amodar explained, chuckling himself as he shrugged.
"I see, I see. Figured as much.", the man nodded with a smile. "So about the case: Actually, you won't like what I'm going to tell you. Because plainly, there isn't much we've found", he went on, going over a few steps until he stood in front of the bookshelf where they'd found the drugs hidden in a hollowed-out book. The man took the book and opened it, showing it to Lightning and Amodar.
"As you can see, the drugs have been in here. We've already taken them to the labs, but I can already tell you it must be ecstasy, 20 grams of it."
"20 grams? That's an awful lot to use yourself, even with four people, I'd say. Seems like they wanted to sell the stuff..."
"If it were their drugs", Lightning corrected him.
"Yes, of course", he nodded to the pink-haired woman before turning back to the investigating officer. "So ... what else do you have? What about fingerprints?"
"That's about the first thing we did and analysed right away. Not much to anyone's surprise, we found fingerprints all over the room from every band member, which doesn't prove anything since this is their private room. But we also found some of Yaag Rosch and their sound technician, Samuel Rygdea. You should probably check what they did in here", the investigator explained.
"We'll do that. What else do you have?"
"Really not much, sorry. There were no fingerprints on the drugs or the book they were in, so I assume the one putting them there used gloves.", the man went on, "Oh yeah, and we also found a cigarette under the shelf, the brand is Borlmaro. Looked like it couldn't have been under there for long", he added, pointing roughly to the place where they'd found the cigarette.
"I see. We'll check whose that could be. Alright ... what else?"
The investigator looked away for a moment, biting his lip. "As I said, we didn't find much. That's really all we got. Nothing else was out of order or gave us any hints that could help, sorry. You're on your own from here", he shrugged his shoulders in apology.
Amodar slapped the man on the shoulder in a friendly manner, chuckling. "That's alright. If anything new comes up, just let us know, okay? We'll go interrogate some people"
And with that, he shot the man another friendly smile before turning and going to get info on where to find Yaag Rosch, the first person he wanted to talk to. He was followed closely by Lightning as they took the stairs up - Amodar always insisted on going instead of taking the elevator, for his health, he said, though Lightning believed he actually was afraid of being in the small space of an elevator.
When they finally reached Rosch's office, Amodar knocked against the door and they were let in. "Good day, officers. How may I help you?", the silver-haired man greeted them with a polite smile while going back to his desk and sitting down, gesturing for the two to do the same.
"We're here to talk to you about the case we're investigating. I assume you already know well enough what this is about, so I come straight to the point. Alright?", Amodar started, and Lightning took this is as her sign to take the small notepad and pencil from her breast pocket and prepare to take notes.
"Of course", Rosch nodded, licking his lips as he placed his elbows on the desk, leaning forward a bit. He seemed a bit tense.
"What is your job here in the studio?"
It didn't take Rosch long at all to answer that. "I'm the studio manager. That means I supervise the studio, its finances and the staff for the record label. I'm responsible that everything here runs smoothly and the bands can work properly."
"Okay, so you're basically the boss here. I assume this also comes with access to all rooms in this facility, correct?", Amodar continued.
Rosch frowned in irritation at the question, yet nodded. "Correct. I am allowed to enter any room at any time, without exception. For safety reasons, I have a master key for all those rooms that can be locked, here in my safe." He showed himself cooperative, not wanting to attract much attention.
Amodar nodded, and Lightning scribbled a few notes down. "I see. Have you been to Fighting Fate's private room recently?"
Again, Rosch frowned, more deeply this time. "I'm really hoping you are not implying anything with that question!", he responded in restrained anger, pressing his lips tightly together as he swallowed.
"I'm not implying anything, Mister Rosch. Please answer the question", Amodar replied professionally, used to this kind of reaction all too well.
"If you must know, I have indeed been in there recently. Before the contest last week, I met up with the band to deal with some organisational matters. So yes, I was in the room", he answered still a bit reluctantly.
"Alright. So for now, I only have one more question for you. How is your point of view on the situation now, with the band and the drug scandal?"
"It puts the studio under an immense pressure. Of course we're terrified to have had drug dealers here with us, under our roof! I can only express my strongest disgust for these so-called 'artists' now, and I'm certain they will be imprisoned for long for having possessed such an amount of drugs and having hidden them here, in our decent establishment", Rosch spoke in anger, a deep frown on his face as his voice lost his normal calm and became louder, harsher.
But there was something else despite Rosch's obvious anger and his solid certainty of the band's guilt that caught Amodar's attention. "How do you know the band has had such a high amount of drugs here?"
Taken off guard by the question, Rosch clasped his hands, rubbing over the knuckles. "Well, of course I have heard of it", was his reply, his voice a bit smaller now, all anger faded as he tried to regain his composure quickly.
Amodar smirked, and Lightning took another note before Rosch took out a small packet with 'Borlmaro' written boldly on it. He pulled out a cigarette, and of course it didn't go unnoticed by the two officers, though Amodar decided not to mention anything to Rosch.
"I see", Amodar replied, "One last thing: Did you notice anything out of order recently? Like, for example, people behaving suspiciously, especially around Fighting Fate?"
Rosch leaned back in his chair, still holding the cigarette stiffly in his hand without lighting it. "No. Why would I? Everything was alright"
"Alright, Mister Rosch. That's it for now. Thank you very much for your time, and please don't leave the city in case we need you again". With that, the officers rose from the chair and left, leaving a not so composed Rosch to himself.
The morning quickly went by as police continued to investigate the case that was currently in the centre of public attention - media constantly tried to get police to give them interviews or permission to take a few photos. They were denied, of course, even though they still got hold of bits and pieces of information as there was apparently always some officer who secretly gave away confidential information in return for payment.
But currently, Lightning couldn't care less. She sat in her office, going through the case and the clues they'd found so far over and over again. Her colleagues had already talked to Fang and her band, confirming none of them smoked - therefore, the cigarette they'd found must be from someone else.
Having seen Rosch act suspiciously and also smoke the exact same brand of cigarettes earlier as they'd found under the bookshelf where the drugs had been found gave her a first suspect, sure, but she knew as well as Amodar that all they really had was a hint, which was basically nothing. It wasn't even proven that the cigarette was Rosch's, and Lightning inwardly hoped the labs would find any traces on it revealing more.
But even if they found evidence it was his, it would only manage to prove he'd been near the bookshelf, which was far, far away from a crime. They had to focus on the drugs, really.
So ... wait a minute! Why ... yes, why hadn't she thought earlier of this? Lightning immediately picked up her phone and dialled a well-known number.
It didn't take her contact long at all to pick up, and she quickly explained the situation and asked of the man what she wanted to know. A few months back, the drug dealer had agreed to help Bodhum police out occasionally in return for them turning a blind eye on having caught him red-handed selling illegal drugs in the streets.
Though Lightning sometimes still wasn't sure if she agreed with that decision, she couldn't deny the man had indeed more often than not proven himself a valuable contact person if they needed to get information regarding the drug scene. Hopefully, he could also be of help this time.
"Uhm ... let me think. As ya can imagine, there aren't just like five people stoppin' by to buy stuff, especially ecstasy. Buuut ... you said this were like, what, 20 grams, yeah?"
"Yes, 20 grams. Did someone buy that amount recently?" She really hoped if someone had planted the drugs there, of which she was more and more certain by now, that he'd been stupid enough to buy all twenty grams at once and at the same seller.
"Actually ... Yeah, yeah. I think there was someone, just last week. Just one guy got himself twenty grams recently", the man replied.
"Can you describe the man? I need to know as much as you can give me", she went on, getting a little impatient.
"Well I didn't really pay attention to the dude, but uhm ... yeah, I think he had, like, longer hair. Yeah, it was a little longer. He was average height, I'd say, and he seemed kinda jumpy, ya know. Like these guys that are doin' this the first time"
Lightning nodded to herself. "Okay. So it was a man, nervous, average height and he had long hair. Long hair like in a ponytail? And what about the colour?", she summed up and continued her questioning while making notes. She was in her element now, completely and utterly focused on the case and the case only.
There was a moment of silence as her contact seemed to be in thought. "Uh ... ponytail? No. There was none of that. And yeah, the hair colour was brown.", the contact went on. "Oh, and he wore average clothes if that helps ya. Ya know, like jeans and a leather jacket"
Lightning frowned in thought as she processed the new information. It was clear that from the description, the person buying drugs couldn't have been Rosch. Sure it wasn't said the buyer her contact had seen must automatically be responsible for the twenty grams found at the band's, but it was possible.
"Ah yeah, don't know if it helps ya, but I saw that guy smokin' as he left. Not smokin' as I do, haha, but like cigarettes, ya know", he laughed about his bad joke, and Lightning found herself wondering if there was actually much brain left in his head from all the time - probably years - of taking drugs.
She shoved the thought away. "That's actually very helpful, yes. Did you happen to see which brand he smoked?"
"Afraid not, ma'am. But the package was red, that I saw. So could've only been Borlmaro or Unfortunate Punch", he remembered.
This could be it. Nothing was proven yet, sure, but Lightning had a feeling she was on the right track, following a path that would deliver her the person that placed the drugs in the room. Still, there was a way to go, as they still had barely nothing. Maybe Amodar had an idea, or any news from the labs or so?
Lightning said her thanks and hung up before stopping by the policeman's office, briefing him on what she'd learned from the contact. He agreed that the information could possibly be a good lead, but also saw how vague everything they currently had was and how they basically did not know much at all.
Seeing that they still had to interrogate a few people, they decided to go on with that. Amodar proposed talking to Rygdea next. Maybe the band's sound technician had any new information for them? After all, he would have to explain why his fingerprints had been found in the room.
"That's simple, of course you have found my fingerprints in there. The band and I are close friends, and they often invite me there to have a laugh and stuff in their breaks. You can ask 'em if you want", was the technician's explanation as the three of them sat in one of the small interrogation rooms of Bodhum Police Department.
"We'll do that", Amodar nodded, directly instructing Lightning to go and ask Fighting Fate. "So, saying you were close with the band. Tell me, what do you think about this scandal?"
Rygdea averted his gaze for a second as he gulped. "Well, I was shocked to learn they had drugs in there, really shocked. I feel sorry for them, but I also would've never expected them to be into ... this", he continued, staring at the table as he spoke.
He lifted his gaze then, meeting Amodar's dark brown eyes as he opened his mouth. "And ... and I think the press shouldn't go so hard on them. They tear them apart, it's really not fair. I mean, sometimes life goes hard on people, and then it's not so much their fault when something like drugs happens to 'em"
Of course he was sad and felt for his friends. It was understandable. But it was interesting how he phrased his compassion. "This almost sounds a bit like you believe it wasn't their doing with the drugs"
Rygdea blinked, thinking for a moment. "No, no. I just wanted to say they might've had hard times that kinda, you know, made them take drugs. Some people do when life gets out of hand one way or the other, and I'm still shocked I never noticed anything", he explained more self-confidently once again, focusing his gaze on Amodar, who intently listened to him.
"Okay. One more thing: have you noticed something out of order recently, like people behaving oddly, someone sneaking around or so?"
The sound technician scratched his neck, shaking his head. "No, everything's been just as usual lately"
Not a moment later, the door went open and Lightning entered. "The band has confirmed what he said"
She sat back down, with her colleague nodding to her. "Good. Then actually, there isn't really much more I could ask you right now. But please stay in the city and be available should we need you again for further questions. Officer Farron will see you out", Amodar concluded, smiling to the man before him.
Rygdea nodded, wiping a strand of brown hair from his face before getting up. Lightning led him back to the exit and they said their goodbyes before the man turned and walked outside, reaching into his pocket.
Lightning turned slightly and was just about to walk away herself when she noticed Rygdea standing outside, lighting a cigarette before putting the small package back in his pocket. Brown hair ... long, no ponytail ... cigarette ... Her talk to her contact this morning suddenly rushed back into her mind accompanied by a dark suspicion. What if ...? She had to know, now.
Before she could think about it further, she was already outside. "Hey", she said, forcing a smile.
"Hey, again", Rygdea nodded, smiling back, his eyes sparkling briefly.
"Actually, it's coffee break for me. Thought I'd join you", she lied, smiling as sweetly as possible. Oh, this'll be disgusting. "Have one for me too?", the policewoman asked, pointing at the cigarette in Rygdea's hand as she inwardly cringed at her own words.
"Oh, sure", he agreed, taking out the small red package from his pocket again. Lightning tried not to stare too obviously, but it wasn't really necessary anyway. The bold 'Borlmaro' letters on the package could be read clearly. It was all she needed.
"Here", he gave the cigarette to her and lit it. There's a first time for everything, I suppose. She exhaled before taking a drag. She had to restrain herself so as not to cough madly. Never in her life had she been even barely attracted to cigarettes, and now she knew why. This was disgusting beyond anything she'd ever tried, be it food or drinks.
"Not your brand?", Rygdea chuckled, noticing Lightning's pained expression as she failed to hide her disgust.
The pink-haired woman chuckled rather artificially. "Yeah, I like Unfortunate Punch a lot more". She took another drag, trying to act cool. How can people get addicted to this?
Rygdea let out a laugh. "We all have our favourites"
There was a short silence before Lightning decided to end this. She had her information and had played her role, she could go. "Alright, I really have to go now. Break's over soon. Thanks for the nice company and the cigarette"
"Was a pleasure. Bye-bye", he nodded with a wink, and Lightning quickly went inside before dumping the cigarette right away. Never again.
She swiftly followed the familiar corridors to Amodar's office, wanting to tell him what she'd learned right away. Maybe the experienced policeman had any idea as how to go on now, since Lightning herself, admittedly, wasn't so sure what to do next.
It wasn't really something she could see herself getting used to, Fang thought as she entered the big, sterile-looking room and saw Vanille sitting at the only table in there, smiling to her as she was led inside and sat down before her after the officer had opened the handcuffs.
Vanille had visited her every day since the arrest, and still Fang felt like this was so wrong, like they shouldn't have to be meeting in here, as she was damn innocent. But as it was now, nobody cared - and if police couldn't prove she and her friends were innocent, they would spend the next years in here and could on top of that kiss their band career goodbye.
Despite everything, Fang smiled to the girl before leaning over to kiss her. They knew they only had a few minutes, so they made every kiss, every touch, every word they could share last.
"I miss you so much, Fang", Vanille whispered after their lips separated, her smile sad now as she gazed into Fang's beautiful jade eyes.
"I miss ya too, love", the brunette returned lovingly, looking away momentarily when her gaze suddenly fell upon the tv that for some reason sat in the room. The sound was muted, but she could clearly see Lightning, of all people, giving an interview to reporters. It must be about her case.
Vanille noticed her staring, turning on the chair so she could see what Fang was looking at. "Hey, could you turn on the sound of this? We'd like to hear it", Fang called over to the officer, speaking for both of them as she knew Vanille was just as interested in every bit of new information on the case as her.
"If that's what you want", the officer mumbled, a little irritated by the request to spend the visiting time together watching tv, but obliged.
"-found new evidence just today that point very clearly in another direction, namely giving us the strong impression Fighting Fate has been set up and the drugs were planted by another person. We can only say more once we've brought the evidence to our labs to analyse them, though. Until then, I cannot give you more details", they heard the pink-haired woman speak, not showing the slightest emotion in her face, just as usual.
The new information made both Fang and Vanille gasp. This sounded promising, and for the first time in days the redhead couldn't help but laugh as she turned back around to Fang, who had a happy smile on her face as well.
"I wonder what they found out ... maybe I'll be outta here sooner than we thought", the brunette said with a bit of confidence in her voice, and Vanille nodded her head quickly, enthusiastically, as she stretched out her hand on the table to touch Fang's.
"Alright, you know what to do", Amodar reassured Lightning with a pat on the back as he handed over the briefcase.
Lightning nodded, making her way out of the studio. The annoying reporters were gone by now, and the policewoman liked to think they'd simply given up for today. It was already dark outside, and even though she liked the night, it didn't make her feel any better right now, on the contrary.
She opened the car door, throwing the briefcase on the passenger seat before sitting down behind the steering wheel, starting the engine. She drove off, headed towards police headquarters, looking around nervously while driving.
She twitched unexpectedly when she heard a loud noisefrom behind her. She immediately recognised it as someone releasing the safety catch from a gun, not that it was really necessary, though, as she suddenly felt a pistol pressed against her head from behind.
"Stay calm and hand over your weapon", the manly voice commanded, and Lightning only nodded as she pricked up her ears to try and identify the voice. She reached down to where the weapon holster was and did as told, blindly holding up the gun for the man to take.
"Follow this road until I tell you otherwise", the kidnapper said coolly, and now, Lightning was more than sure she knew who it was. That bastard.
She'd been trained for situations like this, and so she stayed calm, doing exactly what the armed man demanded of her. "Make a right"
She obeyed wordlessly and couldn't help the bad feeling in her stomach as they followed a dark, empty street that led them right through a thick wood.
"Pull over now, then turn off the engine and get out", was the next command and Lightning complied while carefully looking for anything that could help her.
As she finally stood in front of the car, her masked kidnapper had already taken the briefcase in his free hand as he walked towards her.
He stood still for a moment as if in thought, as if waging what to do next, but finally lifted the other hand, pointing the gun at Lightning, who immediately raised her hands.
"You don't have to do this", she tried, and somehow she managed to make it sound like she was not currently staring back at someone who could shoot her any second, ending her short life within a heartbeat.
"Oh come on, don't try that on me. You think I find that easy? You think I want to kill you?", came the unexpected answer from the kidnapper, and there was regret obvious in his voice.
"I have to do this, okay? I'm sorry, really. But I fucked up, apparently, so I have to correct that mistake. Otherwise, I could be next". Any other situation and Lightning would've inwardly laughed dryly at how a guy pointing a gun at her even apologised to her beforehand for, well, wanting to murder her. As if that would make it any better.
"So first placing drugs at the band, calling police to have them arrested, and now you want to take the next step and add murder to that list? Really?", Lightning provoked, trying to sound more accusing than she felt. She hated to admit it, but there was fear inside her, sure. She was facing death itself, only about two metres and a finger movement away from her.
She was gambling, and she knew it. Not only could she lose her life, but more importantly, Serah and Vanille could lose their sister, or adoptive sister, respectively.
"I didn't plan it that way, I told you! If you cops hadn't found whatever you found there today, everything would've gone smoothly with everyone thinking it were the band's drugs, and we wouldn't be standing here now!", the kidnapper answered, his voice becoming louder as he felt himself getting more desperate and angry at the fucked up situation he found himself in, faced with killing an innocent woman.
"Do you really think you can get away with murdering me? We found evidence today, and I can guarantee you my colleagues will go and investigate as long as necessary to find some again to get you for murder. They'll get you, and if they don't, then your own conscience will", the policewoman didn't let up, growing more confident as she noticed how torn and troubled the man seemed over everything.
She quickly saw she went too far, though. The kidnapper gripped his gun harder, moving it threateningly before hissing "Enough, now! Shut up, shut the fuck up!", he burst out, anger engulfing him, fuelled by the woman's words.
"You said too much already, I should've pulled the trigger right away! Goodbye, Miss Farron", the man added, his voice a harsh, aggressive sound. He made step forward, pressing his gun directly against Lightning's forehead.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you"
The voice came from the left, and both Lightning - sighing in relief - and the kidnapper turned their head in the direction. Slowly, a quite big figure came out of the woods, nearing them.
"Put down the weapon, now", Amodar ordered as he was merely a few metres away from them, pointing his pistol at the man. "It's over"
There was a long moment of silence as the kidnapper didn't know what to do. He repeatedly looked at Lightning and then Amodar, and then back. When Amodar moved his gun a bit, demonstrating he was serious, the man sighed in defeat, stepping back and dropping his weapon to the ground, raising his hands.
Lightning was the first to move, swiftly closing the distance between herself and the kidnapper, pulling the mask from his face. "I'll be more than eager to learn why you did this to your friends", she hissed with an icy voice, shooting Rygdea a just as cold gaze as Amodar put him in handcuffs, meeting no resistance from the young man. He was broken.
A few days later at Farron's...
"I still find it so hard to believe our friend did that to us... We trusted him, would've never thought him capable of doin' stuff like that, even goin' so far as to try and kill ya, Light", Fang commented a bit sadly as she, Vanille, Lightning, Serah and Snow sat at the dining table.
"Well, in the interrogation after his arrest he always pointed out how much he needed the money, that he was deeply in debt with the wrong kind of people. He said it was either doing that job and earning enough money to pay off his debts quickly, or getting into serious trouble with the kind of people that know no boundaries", the policewoman explained before taking a sip from her wine.
"Yeah. It's just ... all so much for the band, ya know? Realising we didn't know our friend as well as we thought we did. Seriously, we never noticed he was in such trouble. And in trouble or not, you can't just betray your friends like that...", the brunette responded, anger mixing in now as she once again like so many times before in the last days realised, understood their friend would've willingly sent them to prison for several years to pay off his debts.
"It's much to take, I can imagine. But it's over now, that matters, right?", Snow piped up from Fang's left, patting her on the shoulder with his massive hand, smiling to her in an attempt to cheer her up.
Fang nodded, "Yeah, I know. We're just still a little shocked, that's all. But we'll get over it, just takes some time."
She then turned to Lightning, "Talking about time, by the way ... do you think you'll manage to get the people behind Rygdea? Obviously he was just a pawn, paid by someone who desperately wanted us out of this contest and off stage for a while"
Lightning swallowed, putting the fork back on her plate. "Well, to be honest, I really don't know. We'll try, but it's hard, as these people usually make a big effort to stay in the shadows. We think they were also the ones providing Rygdea the voice distortion program to stay anonymous when he called to give the tip. So you see, these guys think of everything.", she explained before a little smile found its way on her face.
"Their mistake was just that they didn't pick the smartest guy for the job, and therefore Rygdea failed when trying to get the evidence from me and shut me up", she said amusedly.
"What kind of evidence did you find that would've proven it was all Rygdea's doing, anyway? You haven't told us yet!", Vanille pointed out, all curiosity and sunshine as she leaned over to Lightning to her right with wide eyes. The reaction was as close to 'Tell me everything, and now!' as it could get.
The older Farron found herself chuckling softly, a rare reaction. "Well ... actually, there was none. We just claimed we had something to hopefully make the right person nervous and lure them out. I actually only had an empty briefcase with me, and Amodar followed my car when I drove off. That way, he could easily hear Rygdea basically confessing everything, and could interfere when things got dangerous", she explained while leaning back in her chair.
"Wow, clever idea, sis! It was really only fair from Amodar to promote you for that!", Serah exclaimed enthusiastically, her eyes glowing as she stared at her sister.
"It was his idea", Lightning corrected, "and he said after being so helpful with this case and even putting myself in danger for it, he really saw no trouble at all directly promoting me to detective", she recalled what the man had told her this morning. It was one of the reasons why they sat together for dinner tonight, the other being Fang's return from prison.
"I'm glad ya believed in me enough to help me, Light", the brunette turned to Lightning, smiling appreciatively. "This won't be forgotten", she added with a nod, and the older Farron returned the nod with a soft smile.
The rest of their evening went by quickly, and they had enough fun to make Fang forget about everything for now: that their good friend had betrayed them, that her band was out of Cocoon Song Contest and had no chance of going back this year, and that there was still someone out there that apparently had been willing to take any means necessary just to have them out of the contest. It was unsettling to know this someone was still out there somewhere, possibly ready to hit the band again should they get in this someone's way once more.
There was also the question of how they would go on from now; sure, they would just try and continue from where they left off before their short 'vacation' in Bodhum's prison, but it goes without saying that going through something like they experienced changed people, and Fang had a feeling they all learned something from this, be it to be more cautious towards their staff, or be more thankful for the freedom they had, as they saw how easily it could be gone just like that.
But for now, for tonight, she wasted no more thoughts on these things and just enjoyed her renewed freedom together with Vanille and her family. This was what mattered tonight, and nothing else. Worries about the future wouldn't get her any further anyway.
And who knew, maybe fate would strike back one day should police not find the people behind Rygdea.
AN: I think it's interesting how this became more of a crime story in the last few chapters - I can tell you, it wasn't quite planned as such, but rather I took a reviewer's idea and worked with it. I think it turned out quite alright so far for a first step into the crime-story area, though I really noticed it was harder for me to write crime than the other stuff before. So ... I hope it turned out to be good and you like it!