3.
The trip to the police station was as expected boring and unnecessary in Tris's opinion. It was even more unnecessary to place her in the interrogation room like she was one of those thugs she used to arrest back when she worked at the force. She took a seat on the chair across from the door and waited for either Four or any other detective to come inside and ask her whatever was so important and explain her how they came to the conclusion that she was suspect for killing her neighbor. She had already been waiting for someone to show up for an hour now and she needed to get back to work. Money didn't exactly grow on trees in her life, especially when your work as a tattoo artist. Still the police was only doing their job, so she shouldn't be complaining. Whatever it is they needed her down here for, she didn't like to be ordered around like a soldier or puppet with strings hanging from her arms and legs. If she was still working on the force then she was pretty she would have gotten fired for disobeying orders or something. One of those few habits that was hard to break with her.
Then the door opened and Four and Detective Pedrad entered the room and sat down on the two chairs across from her with a metal table keeping a space between them.
"Thank you for coming," Four said without really looking at her. "Hope you haven't been waiting too long."
"You know exactly how long I have been waiting here, but thanks for asking," Tris said sarcastically. Her right hand was on the table, drumming impatiently for these detectives to get started so she could leave.
"I didn't see you complaining when you tried to elbow one of my detectives in the face for grabbing your arm and lead you towards the police car," Four answered with a hint of anger in his voice. Tris didn't show any regret on her face, however on the inside she smirked how she actually managed to get under his skin.
"Hey, I warned everyone not to touch me, and you didn't listen," Tris argued. "Besides it was a reflex and you were the one who taught that move in the first place, so you shouldn't be all angry about it."
"It was an assault on a police officer and that is a criminal offense, Tris!" Four exasperated. "I can actually arrest you for that!"
"So do it then what do I care," Tris replied back and rose up from her seat, screeching the floor by the action and she stared down at Four. She knew that it was bad thing if she really did end up in prison, but at the moment she was tired and angry to care about it. She wasn't going to shut up just because he didn't like her replies and opinions.
Four was about to answer back to her reply when Detective Pedrad interrupted and yelled out, "Okay, both of you stop bickering like a couple of five year olds and shut up right now! "
Neither Four nor Tris said anything; they weren't even looking at each other. Tris realized that this wasn't going anywhere, so reluctantly she sat down on the chair she had previously risen up from and huffed in annoyance. Four did the same, except for the huffing part and just withdrew himself like he always did whenever he felt like it or when he wanted to annoy someone.
"Good," Detective Pedrad said, starting to relax that his boss and the suspect/victim weren't at each other's throat anymore, but he didn't trust that they wouldn't try doing it again. "Now can you explain to us why we found your fingerprint on the crime scene."
Tris leaned back in her seat, thinking back on when she first entered the crime scene last night if she touched anything except the doorknobs until she remembered something.
"I have been in Al's apartment once before he was killed," Tris answered, dawned by the sudden realization since she almost forgot about it.
"Why didn't you mention this before?" Four asked with a hint of annoyance in his tone. Tris turned her gaze at him for a second and almost scowled at him before she said sardonically, "A. It wasn't relevant at the time. B. Your kid didn't ask me, no offense Detective Pedrad."
"None taken," Detective Pedrad replied with a small smile on his face. Tris was glad that she didn't offend the detective that much. While she did find it fun ruffling Four's feathers, she felt bad if someone got hurt because of her words. She knew more than anyone how much words could hurt than physical wounds ever could.
"So why were you in the apartment to the victim?" Four said. "If you weren't friends or had any kind of relationship beyond being neighbors."
"A couple of weeks ago Al needed some help with his grocery bags and I volunteered to help him with a bag. He accepted and allowed me into his apartment," Tris explained wearily. "I must have left my fingerprints then."
Four and Detective Pedrad looked at each other, almost mentally talking between themselves if they should believe her story or not. Normally she would understand their distrust with her story, however there was something else that supported her story and they couldn't deny it unless they had any other evidence that supported their suspicion that she killed Al.
"If you don't believe my story, then talk to the manager of my building. He will confirm that I helped Al with his groceries because he was there when Al asked me," Tris crossed her elbows and stared them both down with defiant face.
"We will do that," Four replied and stood up from his seat. Detective Pedrad did the same as well and followed Four to the door. "Meanwhile you sit tight until we can confirm your story."
"Sure, where would I go?" Tris said sarcastically. "It's not like I have anything better to do than hang out in a interrogation room."
Four didn't respond to her comment and left the interrogation room with Detective Pedrad, leaving her once again alone.
"Damn it!" Four slammed his palms into his desk, shaking almost everything that was residing on the top of the desk. He was pissed to say it lightly. The manager just confirmed her story on why her fingerprint was in the apartment prior to murder, so there was no probable cause that suggested she wanted to harm the guy and along with her status being first witness on the scene they could cross her off as a murder suspect. Which was a good thing, but he was too angry with her to celebrate. Her attitude and the way she acted in the interrogation room just infuriated him to the point where almost wanted to arrest her, just so she would take the situation a little more serious than what she was currently expressing. However she knew that he didn't have anything to charge her with, so she was as free as a bird for now.
"I'm going on a whim here and guess that her story sticks," Zeke asked, when he sat down his chair and looked at the state of Four's desk. "Which means that we can release your girlfriend."
"Yes," Four growled and he grabbed the phone on his desk and called an officer to release Tris from custody. Normally he would take care of it himself, but he didn't trust that he could keep his temper if she was going to act that way every time they were in the same room.
"And she is not my girlfriend."
Zeke laughed at the respond he received and looked at him with a playful glee on his face, "Are you sure about that?"
"I'm very sure," Four replied sourly. "Didn't you see how we acted in the interrogation room? Anyone could see that we were about to bite each others heads off."
"Or you two was going to 'do' it on the table," Zeke continued and smirked as Four's face turned slightly red in embarrassment. The women from the department considered Four as a womanizer, but that was far from the truth as you could get.
"Zeke!" Four sneered at his best friends assumption. "Seriously? Are you that dirty?"
"Hey, at least I have a sex life," Zeke defended himself, raising his hands up. "You on the other hand are as clean as Mother Teresa."
Four looked shocked after hearing the comparison. Honestly, it was one thing that he didn't really talk about his sex life and wanted to keep it private, but it was an entire different thing to accuse him for being a goody-goody virgin. Of course Four knew that Zeke was only messing with him and he wasn't trying to be mean about the whole topic, but still it was both embarrassing and annoying hearing and talking about it, especially when it involved Tris. He didn't think the situation could get any worse, but then he heard someone coughed to get his attention. He turned around and saw Tris by the door, looking embarrassed based on her red blush on her cheek and he knew that she had heard the conversation between him and Zeke.
"I was um…wanted to hear if my story checked out, since I was just told a few seconds ago I could go," Tris began to babble. "I thought that it was some kind of mistake."
"It wasn't," Four said curtly. "The manager cleared you and we didn't find you fingerprint anywhere else in the apartment other than on the kitchen counter and on the doorknobs, which comes from when you first found the victim."
Tris nodded and put on her leather jacket, which she had taken off during the interrogation due to the heat in the room. Four had noticed her tattoo on her collarbone briefly last night, but now he could see the three black birds soaring and was curious over what it meant. However now wasn't the time or place to ask and then there was the fact that he and Tris weren't getting along much at the moment, so he doubted she would tell him even if he asked.
He waited for her to leave, but she still stood there by the door and wasn't giving any indication that she was about to leave.
"Anything else?" Four asked rudely. He knew that he sounded very rude, but he didn't have time to argue with her when he needed to find out who Al Price was killed and why he was killed.
"No," Tris answered. "I just wanted to see if you wanted my help or something."
Four thought she had gone bonkers for a second, especially when she had just told him last night that she quite being a cop because she couldn't handle it after the investigation on her parents case was shut down. So why did she suddenly want to help?
"What makes you think that you can talk to me and ask me if you could help our investigation?" Four said annoyed.
Tris looked taken back by his comment, but she didn't lose her stand. She crossed her elbows and stared at him and said flatly, "It must be because you're so approachable. You know, like a bed of nails."
He stared back, almost expecting her to look away, but she didn't. He knew she wouldn't, but she should understand if she kept doing this she was going to get in serious trouble. So he only said, "Careful, Tris."
His answer was clear and unspoken, but he knew that Tris understood that he declined her offer. Then he turned his back towards her and went back to work. He heard footsteps walking away seconds later and he knew she was gone. He looked over at Zeke, who had been present during the entire conversation and no longer held the playful look on his face. Instead it was replaced with a more serious and mellow expression.
"Smooth, bro. Real smooth," Zeke said before he too went back to work. Four shook his head and tried to focus on work.
It shouldn't surprise her that Four blew her off, but he should have at least heard her out about helping out with this case, Tris thought to herself as she took the elevator down to the first floor of the police station. Sure, she wasn't entirely sure if she could handle working murders again, but she was curious over who could have killed Al and why her neighbor had to be killed. Besides a part of her, felt that she owned it to Al to solve his murder, since he was always nice to her despite her never returning his feelings. So she decided to try and help out on this case, which was why she offered Four her help, but since he obviously declined her offer she had to do this on her own.
So when the elevator reached the first floor she pushed the button to the medical examiner's office. First she needed to know what the cause of death was and work from there. She knew that the police didn't have a murder weapon based on the fact that they suspected her because of her fingerprints was inside the apartment and they never mentioned the murder weapon. Of course they could have kept that information to themselves, but she didn't think it was likely. She only hoped that the medical examiner would at least give her an idea of what killed Al, and not question why a civilian was interested in a murder victim.
When the elevator doors opened Tris stepped out and walked down a white-walled corridor and searched for the morgue. Normally it wasn't hard to find the morgue, but every door was exactly alike and there were no signs that could show her which room it was either. So she took a guess and opened the door that was furthest down the hallway on right side. Carefully, she opened the door and entered it once she saw the medical tables and the medical equipment. Relieved that she managed to find the morgue on the first try she let out her breath, which she hadn't been aware that she was holding. Al's body wasn't on display, which was probably a good thing since she was slightly uncomfortable being alone with a corpse. She had once experienced a dead body come back to life and after that occurrence she rarely wanted to be in the morgue without the medical examiner. She shivered by that thought. However that wasn't the issue right now as she was going to do something that was pretty much she wasn't allowed to do and could actually get arrested for sneaking and poking around on an on-going murder investigation. She hoped that she would find answers in the autopsy report, so she went over to one of the medical tables where files were staked up and began looking through them. She was so concentrated on what she was doing that she didn't notice someone entering the morgue.
"Can I help you?" a woman asked. The sound of her voice made Tris yelp in surprise and almost dropped the file she was currently holding. Then she turned around and saw the medical examiner she had seen back at the crime scene. "Is there something you need from one of my autopsy reports?"
Tris wasn't sure what she should do, was it a good idea to lie or just say that she got lost on the way when she was looking for the bathroom?
"Um…I was…um you know," Tris began babbling while trying to give her a reasonable explanation why she would be in the morgue when she wasn't family or a significant other to the victim. However the medical examiner somehow knew that she really didn't belong there and held up her hand to stop her from talking.
"Okay, first of all, don't try and lie to me," the woman said. "I will know if you lie and so don't bother trying. I lived in Candor and we were taught to be completely honest and detect lies. Secondly, my name is Dr. Christina Brown. Thirdly, you will identify before you continue your explanation."
Tris sighed and placed the file she was holding back on the table. She ran her fingers through her hair, which was now in a messy ponytail. Her options were really limited, especially once she heard that the ME was from Candor. So she did the only thing she could do, told her the truth.
"I'm Tris Prior, I was the first witness on the scene," Tris explained. "However I used to be a former cop in Abnegation before I quit two years. When I got involved in this case, well…I grew curious over whom, how and why it happened. I offered to help in the investigation, but a 'very nice' detective declined my help upstairs so I figured I could solve it on my own. But I didn't know the cause of death nor did I have any other starting ground to work with, so I hoped I could peek into the autopsy report."
Christina nodded, comprehending what she was saying, while she twirled a piece of her hair around her finger. Tris was practically nervous what Christina decided to do with the information. She could either just send her away or she could have the police throw her out or worst get her arrested for obstructing justice.
But she surprised her when Christina went over to the table where the files were staked up, searched through the stake before she found a light brown folder. Then she turned her attention back to Tris and said, "I'm guessing the 'very nice' detective is the same detective who has a number as a name, who was in a bad mood earlier today, and I'm going to go on a whim and assume it is because of you."
"I guess…" Tris said, slightly embarrassed over admitting that she was probably the cause of Four's bad mood. "Depends on who you are asking."
"However you know what you are doing is against the law, right?" Christina asked with a worried tone.
Tris shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't something new that she was going to go against the rules, almost getting arrested on several occasions. Still she wasn't afraid in doing so if she knew that her wrongdoings were the right thing to do.
"I know, but it feel so right for me to work on this case, even if the other detectives doesn't want my help," Tris gave a small smile. "And if I do find something I will notify the police. I promise."
Christina smiled for a second before she began talking again, "The victim Al Price was poisoned, which was the cause of death. I haven't found out what kind of poison it was and it will take some time until I have shorten the list down, but I do know that the poison was injected behind his ear and it worked instantly. So Al died a quick and probably a painful death, which resulted in having a heart attack despite being generally healthy."
"So you are saying he was injected with a syringe and that is the murder weapon," Tris sorted through her thoughts. This was more than enough starting ground to begin poking around.
"I was just about to notify Four about my findings, but if you want to get a head start you probably should go now," Christina said with a sad voice.
Tris nodded and agreed with her, but she felt bad that Christina could get in so much trouble for telling her. She could even lose her job and Tris really didn't want to be the cause of someone losing their job.
"I'm sorry if you get in trouble for this," Tris apologized. "You shouldn't have to do this, especially when you don't really know me and I was just crossed off the suspect list. You can just call Four or any other detective to arrest me, so you wouldn't get fired. But I have to ask, why you are doing this?"
"Well, I know that I don't have to do this," Christina smiled. "But I like you and I have decided to trust you. What other reason do you want?"
Tris didn't say anything, only nodded by her answer before she gave her a reassuring smile and thanked her for her help. Then she left the morgue and headed back towards the elevator, but the moment she stepped into the elevator she pulled out her cellphone and called Tori.
"Hey, Tori, it's me," Tris said into the phone and pushed the button that lead to the first floor. "I have a favor to ask you."
Tori began shouting something in her ear, but Tris quickly tried to stop her and reassure her that she had nothing to worry about.
"Calm down, calm down, Tori. I promise you it is not something dangerous, but I do hope that you will do me a little favor."
Silence came from the phone and Tris took it as a sign that she has gotten Tori's complete attention.
"Good, now listen…" Tris began explaining and by the time the elevator reached she already knew where she should start looking for clues.
Things weren't going very well at the moment. Four was rubbing his temples and was starting to get really annoyed over the entire case. Unfortunately he couldn't blame Tris for why the entire case was heading nowhere this time. There were no useable clues that could help solve this case when the victim seemingly didn't have any criminal record or had very little social interaction with anyone other than close family and friends with alibies and no motives to kill the victim. Shauna was having problems digging up personal history, which was pretty much no existent, and Zeke wasn't getting much help in the black fiber which turned out to be from black wool from a glove that could be purchased in any clothing store. Nothing seemed to help, but he was glad that Christina managed to tell him that the murder weapon they were looking for came from a syringe. However that left them with a quite a big area to search, especially of the killer had disposed of it and cleaned it for prints.
"Argh, this is really starting to piss me off!" Zeke exclaimed and his back fell hard against his chair. It was incredible that the chair didn't tip over and him breaking his neck or his back for that matter, but Four felt the same way Zeke was currently expressing out loud. "How can someone kill this guy and not leave anything for us to work with? The killer can't be a master genius, can he?"
Four shook his head. He didn't believe it for a second that the killer was smarter than them, so they must be something else. Something they are missing, something that was staring them in the face and they just hasn't figured it out yet.
Four looked over the crime scene photos and over his own hand-written notes, while thinking about an advice his old mentor Amar once told him when he was stuck in the middle of a case. He told him that if they were low on evidence or no suspects, then they should go back to the crime scene. Walk through the events and then things would start to appear and make sense.
"I'm going back to the crime scene," Four said. He stood up from his chair and put on his brown suit jacket. "To see if we missed something the first time."
"What am I going to say to Eric?" Zeke asked, and noticed that Four stopped his movements for a second. Four thought over the situation before he shrugged his shoulders and said plainly, "Tell him I'm doing my job and that I will be back in a little while."
"You know that he is the lieutenant and our boss, right?" Zeke stated, unsure if Four was truly aware who exactly he was dealing with. "He can fire both our ass just because he can."
Four mentally groaned in pain, thinking both the insane person that was put in charge of the homicide department. He and Eric came out of the academy the same year and was one of the best in homicide cases, however when the promotion for lieutenant it was originally given to him. His solve rate, excellent work and teamwork was the reason why he was offered the position, but he declined the offer and accepted to lead his own detective team instead of being in charge of the entire homicide department. Unfortunately the position was given to the second choice Detective Eric Shaw, who was both very smart and very malicious. Neither of them had ever been very friendly with each other and after the whole promotion thing they really despised each other enough that they couldn't be in the same room. Which is why they never saw eye to eye in anything.
"Let me worry about Eric later," Four answered with an 'I couldn't careless what he says' tone. "Hopefully when I get back we finally have something to work with to solve this damn case and give the victims parents some peace for their deceased son.
Zeke nodded and grabbed the phone, notifying Shauna about the possible fight between Four and Eric before he nodded and agreed with Four's decision. Four smirked and immediately left the office and headed straight into the elevator. He really hoped that he could find something that could help him solve the case. What he didn't know that there was someone else who was thinking the same as him.
After the phone call Tris headed back to the tattoo shop and retrieved her motorcycle before driving back to her apartment. She was glad that Tori allowed her some time off, even though she didn't really explain the fact that she would use her time off to find a killer, but some things are better left in the dark. Besides if Tori knew what she was planning there was no way she would have allowed it and let her work on this on her own.
So when she got back to her apartment and dropped off her things, she left the apartment and locked it before heading up to the next floor where the crime scene remained. Luckily this time Tris remembered to bring gloves so that she wouldn't tamper with the crime scene. When she reached the hallway to Al's apartment she looked around to see if there was any cops guarding the scene, but the coast looked clear so she tentatively walked towards the apartment. The door wasn't locked with only the police tape blocking the door Tris swiftly crawled underneath it and went inside.
Her hairs began to stuck up when she looked over the crime scene, thinking back what she saw last night, but this time she didn't have to see Al's dead body lying there in the bathtub. She shook the thoughts away and began looking around the apartment. The place was sort of a mess because of the CSU, but Tris wasn't worried about it because this excluded the things they did find and leave the unnoticed clues behind. She started snooping in the kitchen when she heard someone shout from behind her.
"FREEZE!"
Tris froze up and stood perfectly still. She didn't have to turn around to see who it was, but she mentally swore to herself as she turned around and saw Four standing there a few feet away from her. She didn't have to be a mind reader to know what he was thinking and she knew that she was now in big trouble.
"Oh, crap," Tris whispered. The long day was going to turn out to be even longer now she thought to herself as she waited for what he was going to do. The ball was now in his court.
.
.
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Here's the newest chapter, just before Christmas too, so I hope you guys like it. And for those of you who are wondering if Al has a part in the unsolved murder of Tris's parents, then the answer is no. Think of it as a pilot for a crime TV series and I'm building it up from there. If you guys find this disturbing or boring then I have to disappoint you because it feels very odd that Tris suddenly gets dragged back into the murder solving world if it is the same case she had been stuck with before she quit the force.
Just to remind you, don't be afraid to review my story. Because the last chapter only got two reviews, I'm worried that I'm doing something wrong or people don't find my story very entertaining. And also if you find any written errors during story, then I will tell you that neither I make quick fixes, fix it when the story is complete or I won't fix it at all. Depends on what kind of mood I am in, but please be understanding. I'm not perfect, so live with it.
Anyway thank you guys for the reviews, favorites and followings. Please continue doing so and you will get the next chapter next year. So I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
xXrebelgirl07Xx