Murder is Murder

They all made the mistake of watching Aredian's every move at the bar while he nursed his drink. When the superintendent was finished with his pint, they all made eye contact with him. After much hesitation, it was Leon who waved Aredian over.

Gwaine decided to start up a conversation. He tried to joke, asking if Aredian was waiting for a special lady. Aredian had no reaction to Gwaine's humor and flatly told them he was meeting a former colleague to offer them a position as another medical examiner.

Alice isn't going to like that, everyone thought.

It was Aredian's turn to ask a question. "Where's Pendragon?" It sounded more like he demanded an answer rather than have casual interest in why Arthur was not with the group.

Merlin answered while scooting closer to Freya. "He's, uh, working! Probably makes us look pretty lazy right now." He saw Aredian's eyes flick to Freya, and wondered if his boss even cared who she was. Merlin took a chance and introduced her. "This is my girlfriend, Freya."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Freya greeted, pushing through the nerves she felt from Aredian's stare.

"Hnn," Aredian eyes went back at Merlin, "Interesting."

Freya and Merlin shared a look. What did that mean?

The cell phone between Freya and George vibrated loudly on the table. It was Gwen's phone. Everyone stared at it until it stopped. Then it went off again.

"Is anyone going to answer that?" Aredian was mostly speaking to Freya and George.

Morgana reached across George, who blushed, and grabbed it. "It's mine." Aredian glanced at the phone in front of her that also went off. "My work phone." Morgana hoped Aredian left before they did so he wouldn't see her with two purses as well. Making Gwaine claim one as his own crossed her mind.

"You're Pendragon's half-sister," Aredian stated. "And you were at the station this morning with Guinevere Leodegrance."

Morgana didn't like that he pointed out the specifics of their relation. That was something only she and Arthur did when they were annoyed with each other. "I was there to pick up Elena. Is that a crime?"

"Definitely a Pendragon," Aredian remarked.

Morgana took it as a compliment.

After an excessive amount of awkward silence, it was broken by the upbeat tune of Merlin's ringtone. Seeing Arthur's name on the caller-id, Merlin answered it right away. Arthur asked if Aredian was still there. "Yeah, are—" Merlin shut up because his partner told him to. Just listen, Arthur said.

They all watched Merlin until he said, "Okay, see you soon," and hung up. "Duty calls," he told them, and kissed Freya goodbye.

"Emrys," Aredian stopped him from leaving. "What is it?"

After Merlin let Arthur know that Aredian was still with them, Arthur told him not to tell their boss what he was about to say. "Nothing, sir. My partner just needs an extra set of hands."

Babysitting was the last thing Gwen thought she'd be doing tonight. Arthur told her that he'd tell Morgana to come to his so she can bring her home. With no form of communication, it became a waiting game.

She glanced at the stairs for what felt like the hundredth time, wondering if she should go up and talk to Morded. She should at least let him know that Arthur's handling an emergency and that she's stuck there. It was easy to find his room because all the doors were open except for one. She knocked on it and didn't get an answer. She decided against trying again and moved away from the door.

Gwen took the opportunity to look around. What caught her attention was the office. It was bigger than his old one which allowed for more clutter, but there appeared to be an organization to the chaos. There were stacks of files across the floor and on the futon, but each were in their own spot with purpose. She migrated to the bookcase, stepping over another stack of files, and saw it was filled with criminology books. There was a gap on the row above her eye line, so the row was collapsed like dominoes.

By the wastebasket next to the desk, were three books stacked in a haphazard pile. Gwen crouched down and picked up the one on the top. Murder is Murder, by Francis Aredian. She remembered saying the same thing to Arthur. "And it's your job to put murderers away," Gwen repeated her words to herself.

The other two books were also written by Aredian. She flipped through the pages of Murder is Murder; they were filled with highlighted paragraphs with notes in the margins. She didn't have to crack open the other ones to know they will look the same.

Gwen put the book back and made her way back down to the kitchen. A refrigerator is the equivalent of a medicine cabinet. She opened it and found nothing but condiments and a large pizza box with one slice left in it. She wasn't surprised. Her brother and father would've starved to death if she didn't do the grocery shopping and cooking. A wave of sadness washed over her as she thought about her family for the first time in a while.

She sighed and closed the refrigerator door, revealing Mordred behind it, which surprised Gwen. "Jesus!" she exclaimed, and was secretly pleased that Mordred was also startled by her reaction.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"It's okay." Gwen's heart rate slowed back down. "Arthur had to step out."

"Is he making you babysit me?"

"I'm stuck here too," Gwen said, not completely answering Mordred's question. "Morgana has my purse, which has my wallet, phone, and keys, so I'm waiting for her." They moved to the couch. "So, was tonight your first time in the back of a cop car?"

Mordred remained tightlipped. Gwen figured it was the wrong question to break the ice with.

Not wanting to push the teen, Gwen turned on the television to add noise to the quiet room. The late night news was on. BreakingNewswas in bold red letters underneath the reporter. "…velopment in the murder of Franklin Gates."

The camera zoomed in on Arthur and Merlin coming out of the house. Right when the reporter vocalized her intent to approach them to ask questions, Arthur purposefully walked in the opposite direction and Merlin waved them off. The reporter faced the camera again. She looked uncomfortable after being thrown off from her plan. "Um, uh, we'll report back immediately should there be any new developments."

The sudden bang and curse against the front door caused Gwen and Mordred to jump for the second time. Gwen got up and put herself between Mordred and the door, her heart pounding as she stood her ground.

The door opened to reveal Morgana. "Miss me?" she beamed, coming in and handing Gwen her purse. "I tripped on the top step. Your bag saved my face from the door," Moragna laughed. Gwen cursed her paranoia, but smiled at Morgana's story. "By the way, you have an obscene amount of messages from a Janis."

When Morgana saw Mordred, she joined him on the couch and hugged him around the shoulders. "How are you, Mordred? I almost didn't recognize you with all that hair," she said, ruffling the dark mop on top of his head.

Gwen skimmed Janis' text pestering her about how her daughter deserved more attention than the other students because she is better, and then she deleted them. If Janis asked later, which she will, Gwen will say she never received them. She put her phone away and turned her attention to the couch. She watched Morgana try to coax Mordred out of his brooding. "Maybe you can get more words out of him than I could," she joked with Morgana.

Mordred pouted and Morgana pinched his cheek. "You weren't so shy the last time I saw you." Morgana laughed as he batted her hand away.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Morgana," he said, crossing his arms with a huff.

Morgana sighed and got up. "I'm taking Gwen home. When I get back, we're going to talk about what you did tonight." Mordred looked shocked that she knew. "Arthur told me," she explained. "I trust you won't sneak out before I get back."

Gwen adjusted her purse and waved at Mordred. "Nice meeting you."

The teen slouched deeper into the couch. "You, too," he mumbled.

That was a nice surprise for Gwen.

Patricia, Mrs. Gates' sister, was frantic. "I'm not letting my sister dump her hellspawn on me! I put sleeping pills in his tea just so I can go out without him being suspicious."

"You think Robert killed his father," Arthur inferred.

"I know he did. My sister told me!"

"She already confessed, and it's your word against hers."

"Robert's never been right in the head." Patricia chewed on her thumbnail, thinking about the stories her sister shared. "Meg always told me how he would get teased in school. They called him Norman, she said. Norman Bates. Bates rhymes with Gates." She began to shake. "Christ, even Frank was scared of his own son!"

Arthur put a comforting hand on Patricia's shoulder. He needed her to keep her composure "What else did your sister tell you?"

Arthur and Merlin moved Robert's bed, and felt along the floorboards. Merlin pressed against one board and found it to be loose. They looked at each other and nodded. Merlin lifted it and underneath the floor was the fractured bat stained with blood.

They called in forensics to do the examination on the spot. It as dusted for prints and only Robert's were found.

Sometime between their arrival to the house and forensics confirming Robert's prints, a news crew arrived, probably tipped off by the neighbors. Arthur overheard the reporter wanting to do an interview, and walked away from them, even though his original intention was to gather the officers over there.

Patricia was waiting anxiously in her car. "Did you find it?"

Arthur could hear the worry in her voice. Had the bat not been there, they would be back at square one. "It was exactly where you said it was." He thought she would relax a little, but she still sat stiff in her seat.

"What if he wakes up before I get home?" she said. "What if he's waiting and watching the news? What if he knows? What if he gets away?"

Arthur glanced over at the officers doing crowd control. They are supposed to come along with them to escort Patricia home and arrest Robert, but now they were being held up. "Don't worry, you won't be alone," he assured her. "I'll be right back."

As he made his way over to the news reporter, the camera swiftly pointed at him. He may or may not come off as an asshole on camera. He'll find out on the morning news.

Author's Note: Threw a little Psycho reference in there, haha. And Mordred's night out will be revealed in the next chapter!

Thank you for reading and reviewing!