CHAPTER SIX – DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE

AHSOKA

"The victim's name is Vern Kassel."

I cast my eyes down to the body covered by a white shroud, blood staining the sheet. "Single gunshot wound from a slugthrower bullet?"

The militiaman nods. "Straight through the heart. Vern didn't have a chance."

"Rassk was shot in the head and the other Twi'lek in the heart again. Whoever's holding the slugthrower is taking deadly aim."

"Then they definitely intended to keep Saw alive. If Clyde can shoot like this, I wouldn't wager it was just a bad shot." Lux chews his lip. "Ahsoka, do you think they have military training?"

"I can't speak for Bonnie, but Clyde? Maybe. The military isn't the only way to learn how to hold a gun; considering the brutality of the recent crimes, I'd say he's definitely a criminal." I kneel down to inspect Vern Kassel's face. "He died with his eyes open. Poor guy. Officer, was anything missing from the house?"

"Not much. Some food, clothes, and credit chips. If they were trying to rob him they didn't do a very good job."

"Just like Saw's apartment. What information do we have about the victim?"

"I can do better than that," the militiaman says. "I knew him. Vern worked down in evidence. Quiet guy, lived alone. He made small talk whenever we went to check something in or out."

That means every militiaman in Iziz had at least a casual relationship with Vern. Great. The last thing we need is the militia's objectivity to be compromised. No one likes cop killers.

"Did he let on that he lived alone?"

"Besides that he was on every dating site known to the universe?"

Lux retraces his steps back out the kitchen and out the front door.

"Lux, what are you doing?" The Force isn't giving me any helpful hints as to what Lux's intentions might be leaving the crime scene, but most of his ideas have been solid. I turn my attention back to the militiaman. "Was there any sign of a blaster in here?"

"Nope" he confirms, pointing to a slugthrower round low on the wall. "My guess is whoever made it tried to shoot Vern, missed, and then got their nerve back up."

"Clyde was always holding the gun," I muse. "Officer, this mark, what type of slugthrower do you think it was made by?"

The officer gives me a pitying look. "If you think I can identify slugthrower bullets without a microscope, you might as well call me an expert on lightsabers. Those guns are older than dirt; nobody uses them anymore."

"Ahsoka?" Lux calls from outside. "Look at the front walk. He definitely let on that he was single."

How? "It looks like a normal yard to me."

"For starters there are no decorations."

"So?"

"Soka, if you think back to my yard, you will remember there are also no decorations. My mother had these statues she liked to put in the gardens, and I loathed them. When I had both my own place and a reasonable chance of staying put, I deliberately avoided lawn decorations. It's something for couples and families to do, not single people."

"Okay, so he's not going to win any decorating awards. What else?"

"In the garbage," Lux segues, flipping the lid open. "Instant noodles, TV dinners, and takeout containers. That could mean anything, because rare is the person who works a ten-hour shift and wants to cook, but there's only one of everything. It's clear there's only one person eating here and by extension, there's only one person living here."

"Nice job," I have to commend him on his sleuthing, even if I wouldn't have left the crime scene immediately.

"He didn't hesitate last time," Lux says. "Maybe they're having a change of heart?"

"Not enough for my taste. It hasn't even been two days since they attacked Saw. I don't even want to know what they'll do next."

"General Tandin has ordered an all-points bulletin for these two," the militiaman speaks up. "And His Majesty's offered a hefty reward for anyone with information. If anyone's seen them, five thousand credits should get them talking."

Five thousand credits. "I'm surprised the tip lines aren't ringing off the hook."

Another militiaman finishes affixing crime scene tape around Vern's fence and announces "They are."

"On the chance that doesn't turn up anything useful, what else do we have? A slugthrower bullet, shady transport tickets, and stolen heirlooms." I rub my temples. On the way here, I thought this would be an easy mission; I've hunted down criminals before. None of them, however, have been so very good at covering their tracks. If they hadn't spared Saw, then we would never have caught on to them.

"In terms of physical evidence, yes," Lux agrees. "But we also have behavior."

I mentally count to ten. "Behavior? Lux, is it possible you watched one too many crime procedurals last night?"

The look on his face gives me all the answer I need. "It is a sound science, Ahsoka. We've been working with it ever since we figured out why they left Saw alive."

"Yes, but that's different than switching the entire track of the investigation!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

I think for a while.

"Not really. Officer, please finish packing up the scene. Senator Bonteri and I have some investigating to do."

Lux rubs his temples in frustration. "Ahsoka, has it occurred to you that the last few days have been straight out of a bad crime procedural?"

"Last I checked, characters in crime procedurals don't do their work at your kitchen table," I point out, blowing on my steaming mug of tea. "All right, from the top. What do we have?"

Lux sips his tea and begins to read from his datapad, where we've cobbled together our absolute best guess at who these criminals are.

"The people responsible for this spree murder are a romantic couple consisting of a Twi'lek male and a human female. Based on Saw Gerrera's witness testimony and the rash, disorganized nature of the first two crime scenes, we believe they are in their late teens to early twenties.

"They're in possession of a slugthrower. Since slugthrowers don't show up on weapons scans, we believe this is a precaution on their part, and if we were to find this gun either the serial number has been filed off or it too is stolen." He looks up from the datapad. "Is that everything?"

"Everything about their demographics and their weapons. Keep reading."

"All right," Lux nods. "Continuing. So far the male has been doing all the shooting, and considering his aim he either has military or law enforcement experience, or more likely a long criminal record. He's probably committed violent crimes like assault, battery, or even homicide."

"And his girlfriend?"

"I was getting to that; I just had to scroll down." He clears his throat. "The female of the group is a thief who probably has a record of petty theft, pickpocketing, shoplifting, or burglary. So far she hasn't killed any of the victims, but as she becomes more comfortable with weapons and killing, she may become as dangerous as her boyfriend. And that's it. That's all we can theorize about these criminals." He stirs his own mug of tea with one hand and sets down the datapad with the other. "We need to go over the physical evidence again; maybe they slipped up and left a fingerprint in one of the crime scenes."

"We know Bonnie's too smart to go in without gloves and Saw said Clyde didn't touch anything but the gun and the box. Fat chance there, they're definitely making it hard…" a lightbulb goes off.

Lux notices. "What is it?"

"Something isn't right here," I note. "Everyone knows Ryloth's police force is a joke; you can practically get away with anything. Why would they go to Onderon if they're getting away with murder on Ryloth?"

"Evolution?" Lux suggests. "Maybe they perfected their method and they wanted to try it out in a riskier setting for the thrill of it."

"This isn't thrill-killing; it's too cautious. Saw says that Bonnie didn't show her face until Clyde had completely subdued him. If Clyde was so concerned about Bonnie, then moving to a place where they could be arrested makes no sense."

Lux nods. "They go after bachelors who they think won't be missed. Bonnie waits outside while Clyde does the dangerous part. She does the thefts so no one will connect the crimes. They only steal low-cost items so insurance companies don't egg on the police in an investigation. She wears a man's shirt as a disguise. Everything is set up so they won't get caught, unless they were caught pawning the heirlooms, which I don't think they want to."

"But why does someone move from a low-risk area to a high-risk area if they don't want to get caught?"

Lux's mug freezes in mid-sip.

"Soka, you said they committed two murders on Ryloth?"

"Yes," I agree, my fingers already scrolling through the files. "There were two, a bachelor named Rassk and a second victim, an apothecary named … oh, no."

On planets like Ryloth, finding medical help is like finding a snowflake on Mustafar. Bottles of over-the-counter antibiotics are priceless, and basic bacta treatments saved many a life during Cham Syndulla's campaign. Someone with medical knowledge, even basic apothecary skills, would be the town hero.

Lux catches it too. "I'm going to make a wild guess here and say that the locals were scouring the town for whoever killed their apothecary."

"If a whole town transformed into an angry mob isn't a high-risk environment, I don't know what is."

"This isn't good," Lux frets. "If they're concerned about the locals heating up the investigation, then they've attacked the worst two people possible! No one likes cop killers – and Saw Gerrera?"

"Turn on the news."

"What?" he chokes.

"The news, Lux! They would hear about it through the news!" I cry, scrambling for the television remote and switching it on to the HoloNet news while shooting a prayer to the Force. Please Force, please let the news be covering salacious celebrity gossip. I'll even take a slam story about the Jedi or the GAR – anything but the murder! Just please let them go on and on about nothing instead of announcing that –

My hopes are dashed on the headline rolling across the screen: BELOVED OFFICER SLAIN IN BRUTAL HOME INVASION.

"I hate my life," I groan.

Lux is way ahead of me, already dialing his comlink. "Advisor Cree, give me General Tandin … yes, now! It's an emergency. Thank you … General Tandin, we need a full media blackout. Under no circumstances should any of your men release information to the press."

"It's too late now," I shout, hoping Tandin can hear me through Lux's comlink while I dial my own. "Tandin, ground all flights. No one gets offworld unless they've been cleared, and use the strictest protocols you have. Alert security that they should look out for a Twi'lek man and a human woman traveling as a couple."

"You think they'd try to leave the planet?" Tandin asks.

"They'd have better odds killing on a planet that isn't actively investigating the attack on a beloved idol and the murder of a cop!"

"I'm calling it in immediately," Tandin says and ends the transmission, presumably to free up his comlink to ground the flights and shut up the media.

Perfect for us. "Lux, call the king and tell him what's going on; Tandin might needs a royal order to ground the flights. Do you know how old this news story is?"

"For all of you just tuning in, Officer Vern Kassel was brutally murdered in this home this morning," the anchor says. "We are the only channel with live coverage of the event as we arrived here on the scene approximately ten minutes after leading detectives left…"

I look at the clock. Four hours have passed since Lux and I left Vern Kassel's home. If Bonnie and Clyde are trying to get offworld, they're not getting tickets at the moment – they're already getting on their flight.

"Lux, to the spaceport. Hurry!"

The lines of disgruntled passengers snake around the airport. Security officials and militiamen try to calm the masses.

An angry Rodian has dared to ask Tandin "Do you know who I am?"

But the anger, or Tandin's snappy comeback, doesn't matter.

Bonnie and Clyde are gone.

Ahsoka and Lux are in double trouble for sure now. There's a whole wide galaxy these two could have gone to.

Thank you to Starwarshobbitfics, RoseRavenclaw (oh, and thanks for my new title! I'll have to put my Epic Master of AUs scepter with my Theory Queen crown), TessaFred and Johnt12345 for your reviews. And speaking of which, please review!

Until next time,

LS