Anna pushed open the door to the club, surprised to see how empty it was. She knew that people didn't go to clubs to party in the daytime, but since The Southern Isles was the only nightclub that served alcohol that didn't taste like complete piss, she expected at least a couple of people to be in there drinking away their sorrows before all the college kids came in to rave.
"You take the lead," Detective Snow ordered, "I'm not good at this questioning stuff. Just ask the bartender where Hans is so we can get out of here."
Anna paused. That was the second time that Elsa had mentioned Hans. Nobody even mentioned Hans back at the scene, so where did she get the idea of him even being there?
"I can't ask him that," the redhead rebuffed, "there's no proof that Hans was even at the crime scene."
Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I know there's no proof, but he's been in trouble for this sort of thing before. Four years ago, before you joined homicide, he was nearly convicted of murder but was let off because of lack of evidence. The weapon used in that murder was a baseball bat. This new victim was bludgeoned to death and was last seen at this bar, owned by Hans' family. Coincidence, I think not."
Anna shrugged. She had a point that was for sure, but still, no proof. She pulled out her badge and approached the bar, where the bartender was busy drying off a glass.
"Excuse me, sir," she acknowledged, holding her badge up, "I'm Detective Bjornstad, and this is Detective Snow, we're here-"
The bartender sighed and set his glass down. "I already told the chief that the girl told me she was twenty-one, I didn't know she was fifteen. I mean, come on, you've seen the way these teenagers are dressing nowadays, right?"
Anna blinked at the man in front of her. "As fucked up as that is, I'm surprised this place is still even running. Anyway, we aren't here for that… we're here because a girl was murdered last night, and the last place she was seen was in this club."
"Oh shit," the bartender whispered. "Well, I'd be happy to help, Detective's. I'm Aksel Arnesen, I work the bar Thursdays, Friday's and Saturday's. My twin brother, Abel, is a bouncer, he's here in the back if you wanna talk to him."
"That would be great, but we'll start with what you have to say first."
"All right," Aksel agreed.
Anna flipped open her notebook. "The victim was a brunette by the name of Belle Faucheux, twenty-three-years-old, five foot seven. Now, I've got a picture if you-"
The bartender held up his hand. "No need, Detective, I know, er, knew her. She came in here alone last night after work and left with my little brother. That's all I know."
"Which brother?" she asked.
"Hans."
Anna set her notebook down and glanced over at Elsa, but abstained from saying 'you were right' in front of the elder Arnesen brother.
She wrote Hans' name down in the book, and turned her attention back to the bartender. "Can you tell us where he might be at the moment?"
Aksel nodded. "He's at work."
"Where does he work?" Anna asked impatiently.
Aksel pulled out his wallet and handed over a laminated card.
"Mother Gothel's Daycare? What does he do there?"
"Be damned if I know," the bartender said with a shrug. "If you ask me, the fact that he's twenty-five and working around children, is really fucking creepy. Out of all the brothers, he was always the strangest and the most secretive."
Anna closed her notebook and put it back into her pocket. "All right, that's all we needed. Thank you for your help, Aksel, we'll be back if we need any more information."
"Yeah, I'm always happy to help out. I love cops," he said, giving Anna a wink.
Anna gave the bartender a quick smile after getting off her barstool. When she was halfway to the exit, she turned to face her partner. "Hans works at the same daycare that Faucheux worked at."
"I caught that, too. We should get down there and question the other people that work there," Elsa suggested, puffing on a freshly lit cigarette.
Anna wrinkled her nose. She hated the smell of a burning cigarette, but she hated how such an attractive woman like Elsa could stand to even smoke them even more.
"You think Hans will be there?" she asked, waving a small cloud of smoke out of her face.
"It's ten in the morning, daycare gets out at four, so probably. The only reason he wouldn't be there is because he's guilty and he's trying to make a run for it." Elsa tossed her cigarette and opened the car door, sliding into the driver's seat.
"Do you really think he killed her?"
Elsa huffed. "You're kidding, right?" she asked brashly, as if Anna was deaf. "He's been accused of a crime similar to this one before and was almost charged for it. I'm telling you, someone either tampered with the evidence or the people that work at the station don't know what they're doing."
Anna shook her head at the thought of an officer tampering with evidence. "I don't think so, pal, if-"
"Hey," the blonde interjected, "I told you twice, we are not pals, buddies, friends, BFFs, or anything like that. We strictly talk work and nothing more," she informed frostily.
"I didn't mean in a friendly kind've way; I was just gonna say that there is no way an officer would tamper with evidence."
Elsa let out a riled breath. "This is Arendelle, Detective Bjornstad. It's a small town… you never what could happen behind closed doors."
The redheaded detective shook her head. That girl's got her head screwed on too tight.
After a long, quiet car ride across town, they had finally made it. Apparently, Mother Gothel's Daycare was, no doubt, one of the most depressing places for a child to go. It was secluded, and the children were rarely allowed to go outdoors, unless Mother Gothel herself felt like going into town and one of the other caretakers let them go out for a few minutes. That's what she heard from her brother, anyway.
Anna pulled her badge out and glanced over at her blonde partner. "I do the talking?"
"You do the talking," Elsa confirmed.
Anna opened the door the daycare, and looked around for a caretaker.
"Can I help you?" a tall woman with long black hair asked.
"Um, no… I mean, yes. I'm Detective Bjornstad, and this is Detective Snow. If you don't mind, we'd like to ask you a few questions about a few of your employees."
The dark hair woman cocked a brow. "Belle, I assume. I heard about the poor girl this morning. It's a shame, really, she was one of my best workers; I don't know what I'll do without her help."
Anna flipped open her notebook. "That's correct, ma'am."
"Oh, please," the woman breathed, "call me Ms. Gothel; ma'am makes me feel old. That's why I started a daycare; the children make me feel… surprisingly young."
"Right," Anna nodded. "Last night, Ms. Faucheux was last seen leaving a nightclub with another one of your employees, Hans Arnesen. Tell me, did the two ever interact in a… contrary manner?"
Ms. Gothel shrugged her shoulders. "Not that I could tell. You could ask him yourself, Detective, he's in the other room reading to the children."
The redheaded detective shared a glance with her partner. "That would be great."