6.
Most of the morning was used to update Four's co-workers, Zeke and a woman named Shauna, on the recent development in the case and calling up Al's closest circle, asking about a reason why someone might try and blackmail him. However Tris realized quick that there was no one who was close enough to know Al other than his parents, who seemed overdramatic about the whole idea that someone would do such a thing to their baby. Tris wanted to throw up in her mouth after talking to Al's parents, but forced herself to be sensible as they had just lost their child and of course they didn't want to believe that he was gone.
"Any news?" Four asked, once she hung up the phone and made exasperated sound.
"Not even close," Tris replied dryly. "They were had no clue that he was blackmailed and they really didn't understand what that had to do with his murder."
Four shrugged his shoulders and he understood why she was getting extremely annoyed with the whole case. The victim had no close friends or girlfriends, and was mostly living a quiet life and got along with everyone. So what is the motive to kill the guy?
"Guys, I think I found something," Shauna exclaimed when she entered the room. Both she and Four turned to look at Shauna, who was holding a case file in her hands. "You know how I couldn't find anything on the victim's record?"
Tris and Four nodded, but wondered what that had to do with anything since they had already established that Al was a boring guy without a life.
"Well, I dug a little deeper and found records that Al Price was not the victim's birth name," Shauna explained.
"What?" Four and Tris exclaimed in surprise. Shauna nodded and handed over the file to Four, which he took swiftly and began reading through. His eyes shifted back and forth before he turned to look at Shauna almost lost for words.
"Is this the real thing?" Four asked, apparently whatever the file said a big breakthrough in the case.
"Yep, just checked it with registration," Shauna said easily. "The victim's name was Albert 'Al' Carlson before legally changed it to Al Price when he was sixteen."
"Any reason why he and apparently the rest of his family changed it?" Tris asked. She couldn't believe that Al had been hiding his real surname. The guy was too nice to be living in Dauntless, where everyone was pretty wild and lived with the principals to be brave. What could have happened to make him change his identity so drastically?
"Yeah, I used his birth name and checked it against the criminal database," Shauna said. Four handed Tris the file. "He was arrested for attempted rape on sixteen year old girl along with two school friends."
Tris was shocked as she read through the case file. Al and two others had attacked one of their classmates and beat her up pretty badly before they tried to rape her in a dirty alley in Candor. There were photographs of the poor girl beaten up to the unrecognizable. The girl was blonde-haired with blue eyes, in many ways similar to her appearance wise that is.
"Oh my God," Tris whispered shocked, holding her free hand to cover her mouth. "I had no idea. This doesn't sound like the Al that I knew, I can't understand why he would do something like this."
"He was weak," Four answered with a hint of hidden anger in his voice. "Rape is all about control, which he didn't have in his life. So for him rape was a way to get rid of his weak side, but that allowed him to fall astray instead."
Tris nodded, agreeing with him on his view, but she still couldn't believe this was the same Al who had been so sweet to her and could barely hurt a fly. Tris sighed and said wearily, "This gives us a lot of suspects if anyone found out about Al's real identity. Then there would possibly many people who would have wanted him dead."
"I agree with you on that," Four said thoughtful. "But that doesn't explain the blackmail angle. If Al was paying someone to keep his secret then what is the point killing him?"
"What if he decided to stop paying?" Shauna suggested. "Like he finally had enough and decided to come forth about his identity."
Four nodded, but Tris didn't believe that was the reason why Al was killed. Nothing indicated that Al was about reveal his identity to anyone, especially when his financial records showed he had indeed withdrawn the money this month. The picture didn't match with the evidence and what they already knew about Al.
"What was the name of the girl who was beaten up and almost raped by Al and his friends?" Tris finally asked.
"Wait, a second…her name is Maggie Coleman," Shauna said, looking through her notes before she found the name. "After the case was finally closed, she and her family moved to Amity, where she has lived ever since. Do you want her current address?"
"Yes, please," Tris replied. Shauna wrote down the address on a piece of paper and handed it to Tris. That caught Four's attention when Tris put the note in her pants pocket before she walked to his chair where her jacket rested and started to put it on.
"Hey, where do you think you are going?" Four said sternly.
"Isn't it obvious?" Tris said flatly. "I'm going to speak with Maggie Coleman. She or anyone in her family has motives to want Al dead and I want to see if they knew anything about this. More importantly if they have anything to do with this at all."
Four sighed in annoyance and began ordering Shauna to update Zeke on the recent turn on the case and then those was going to visit Al's parents to get the full story about the attack twelve years ago. Shauna left shortly after that, leaving Tris alone with Four who was looking at her with the same annoyed expression she was used to seeing whenever she bending the rules back in the day when they used to be partners.
"And you think I'm going to just let you go and badger around. Without backup?" Four said snarky. He shook his head in disbelief and stared her down with his dark blue eyes that somehow seemed darker now than what they usually were. "You are not a cop, Tris. You are consulting on the case, which means you can't go and interrogate suspects on your own."
"Fine," Tris said exasperated. "Come with me then. That way you can keep an eye on me and at the same time boss me around like you own the place."
Four frowned, it was quite obvious that he didn't like her comment, but didn't say anything. Instead he grabbed his black jacket and put it on with ease. Then he turned to his desk and grabbed his keys and said determined, "I'll drive. I feel a lot safer driving then you riding on you motorcycle and that way you can ditch me as soon as we get on the road."
Tris glared at him sourly and left the office with Four not far behind her. As they took the elevator to the first floor and walked towards the parking lot, all she could think about is how she used to be partner with this man. He was the most infuriating man she had ever met and certainly knew how to push her buttons. The worst part was the fact that he still believed he knew her like he used to know her two years ago. She had changed from back then and she was certainly going to make it a goal to prove her point during this trip. Four should have never underestimated her, especially during a case and now it was time to remind him about that fact during the car ride to the Colemans.
Four didn't have any expectations during the car ride towards Amity, but he didn't think that she was going to give him the silence treatment the whole way there. From the moment she took her seat next to the driver seat till they were on the free road she had not said a word and just stared out the side window, not once turning around to look at him. Back in the past she had been the one to strike the conversations during the car trips, filling the silence atmosphere with her rambling and keeping him occupied with the never-ending bickering between the two of them. So after driving in silence for about ten minutes, while slowly starting to lose his mind, he finally cracked and said annoyed, "What's the matter? Am I that horrible company that you can't get a word out and talk to me?"
"You underestimate me," Tris replied flatly, after letting him wait for what seemed like an hour of his life. Then she turned around to glare at him with a sour expression on her face.
"Since when have I underestimated you?" Four asked, having no clue what she was talking about.
"Don't be stupid, Four," Tris said annoyed. "You know that you think you know me so well, but I will have you know that during these two years I have changed from the girl I used to be."
"Girl?" Four said surprised, while trying to hold back his laugh. "Not once I have ever considered you just as a girl and I know that you have changed."
"Then why did you assume that I was going to ditch you?" Tris asked annoyed. "You don't know everything about me."
Four turned to look at her for a second, and was obviously shocked that Tris was pissed off about this. It was ridiculous subject to be upset about, he knew that after how things ended between him and Tris that she wasn't going to be all the same person once they saw each other again. That fact was obvious based on their reunion and how little he knew about her life now, but there were still things he still knew about her that had not changed about her. One of those things was her independence and selflessness to help the people, which was why she wanted to help solving Al's case.
"You are right," Four said finally with a tiredly voice. "I don't know everything about you."
Tris nodded, but her facial expression didn't lift and he sighed and continued saying determined, "But I would like to know everything about you, Tris. Not just the bad stuff from your past or the hard times you went through after you quit the force. I would more than anything want to hear and learn more about you, since I think you are already an amazing woman."
After he had said that he turned to look at her again and she had suddenly become so quiet and had a blank facial expression. He wondered what was going on in her mind, especially since she didn't respond to his comment.
"The same goes to you," Tris whispered. "I would like to know more about you too. Because even if we are not together the way we used to be, doesn't mean that I don't want to know about you. After all I still hope that we could be friends and that we will always be there for each other, since you are still an important person in my life even after I cut all ties between us two years ago. It would be a huge loss for me to lose you and I don't want to live my life anymore in regret and fear of getting hurt or betrayed by anyone close to me."
Tris looked awkward and embarrassed over the whole conversation. Then she turned to stare out the window looking at the scenery with a lost expression and remained quiet. Four didn't know what to say or to do about her heartfelt confession, even though a part of him did want to kiss her senseless and never letting her out of his sight, but for all better judgment he decided to take things slow when it came to their relationship. There was no chance that he wanted to just be friends with her, especially considering the high intensity their love had in the past, it would be impossible for them to just be friends. So they were going to take one step at the time and maybe someday they would be at the same place where it was possible to restart their old relationship again. However there was one thing he was more than reluctant to tell her, since it concerned his past and was the one thing he never talked about with anyone, but he wasn't going to waste the opportunity to be in her life again. It would only mean he had to keep it even more hidden from her than anyone else, but he was confident that there was going to be no trouble in doing so.
"I would like that," Four replied before he turned to focus on the road ahead of him. And for the rest of the drive to Amity the two of them was quiet, but the atmosphere was much lighter and comfortable. Giving them both a hope that the things they talked about earlier was possible to come true.
Once they arrived at the Coleman's address, both Four and Tris walked up the front door while they quickly talked through a strategy plan how they were going to proceed once they were invited in. As Four was the one with the gun and the badge, it made more sense to let him do the talking meanwhile she was going to stay in the background and back him up if he needed her. It also gave her the opportunity to snoop around and see if there were any clues that was tied with the case.
"Let me handle this," Four ordered before he pushed the doorbell. "And please, Tris. Don't try and do or say something stupid while we are here."
"Right by catch yah, Four," Tris replied. She shifted her jacket and shrugged her shoulders. "I may not be a cop right now, but that doesn't mean I have completely lost all knowledge and have intentions in screwing up this case. If there is a chance to solve his murder and put a murderer behind bars then I will do anything to make that happen. I don't want anyone to experience what I went through."
Before Four had a chance to respond to her comment, the front door opened and a woman in her late twenties appeared. She had blond shoulder-length hair and tired blue eyes with dark circles underneath them. Tris noticed that the woman could easily be mistaken for being twice her age with her expression and appearance. Compared to the picture of the sixteen year old before the attack the person by the door seemed more sullen and depressed.
"Maggie Coleman?" Four asked with authority. The woman looked at him with a tired and sour expression on her face, like a sourpuss. Tris couldn't help, but wonder how in the world such sour person could live in Amity, the city that valued kindness and most of its residents were happy and peaceful. She probably doesn't hang out a lot with those weird hippies, which Tris could understand.
"Yeah, that's me," the woman named Maggie said annoyed. She put her weight against the doorframe and waited impatiently for the point in their conversation. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm detective Four and this is my partner Tris Prior," Four replied politely, but kept the authority in his voice. "We are here with the Dauntless police department and we hope we can ask you some questions regarding the murder of Al Price."
"Who?" Maggie asked, obviously had no clue what Al changed his name after the trial was over or at least she didn't appear to know, but neither she or Four was going to take her responses lightly.
"You might know him as Al Carlson," Tris said with a suggestive tone. She took a step forward and she took a quick side-glance and saw Four trying desperately not to grab her arm and pull her back. However she was glad that he didn't and they waited for Maggie's reaction, which was surprisingly calm for her person with that connection with their victim.
"Come in," Maggie opened up the door and allowed them in.
Once they entered the house, Maggie closed the door behind them and led them to the living room. Four took a seat on one of the couches while Maggie sat on the other one across from him, meanwhile Tris preferred to stand and began to walk slowly around the room, hoping to get a clearer picture of the woman who was strangely calm.
"I assume that you remember Al Price," Four said straightforward. He had pulled a notepad and pen and was ready to write down her statement.
"Yes, but we didn't have a special relationship before the…attack," Maggie said heavily. "I guess you have already read the case file about what happened twelve years ago. Al and a couple of his friends attacked and tried to rape me, I ended up in the hospital and the police got involved and you know the rest. They got arrested and spent some time in prison before they were released a couple of years ago, but I haven't seen or heard from them since they were locked up."
"So you wouldn't know about Al's death," Four stated. "However what I don't understand is how you can be so calm about what had happened to you, that you don't bear any bad feelings towards the guys who hurt you. I mean if it was me I would be angry and wanted to take revenge for what they did to me."
"I was angry at first. I won't deny that," Maggie shrugged her shoulders. "But I got over it, especially once I moved here to Amity. I got a fresh start and even though I'm not exactly where I used to be in life I'm getting there with the help and support from my friends and family."
Four nodded and continued with questions, while Tris noticed a backyard on the other side of the living room window. Tris walked slowly towards the window and looked out and saw a garden filled with trees and flowerbeds along with a small greenhouse closest to the hedge that marked her property. However the thing that interested Tris was the different type of flowers that Maggie grew in her backyard. Some of them she remembered from books, while others she remembered from those time her mother used to arrange flowers for patients in the hospitals, but it was the flowers with the blue-violet petals that interested her.
"Excuse me," Tris asked, interrupting Four's interrogation. "I admire you backyard with all those pretty flowers and I was wondering what exactly do you do for a living again?"
"I'm a gardener, just like my dad. He thought me all about flowers when I was growing up," Maggie answered, slightly taken back by the odd question coming up in the middle of a murder investigation. "After the whole ordeal twelve years ago, flowers seemed to be the only thing that calmed me down and made me feel seemly normal again, probably why I ended up doing it as a profession."
"I noticed those beautiful blue-violet flowers and I was wondering what they were called?" Tris continued, while something in her stomach told her she already knew her answer.
"Yeah, isn't they beautiful," Maggie said with a small smile. "They are called monkshood. Not many people can handle taking care of them, but I like a challenge."
Tris nodded. She turned quickly to look at Four, who understood what she had figured out. This proved that she had access to the poison that killed Al and most likely had knowledge that this type of plant was poisonous. In other words she had the motive and access to the murder weapon, but still that didn't prove that she was a murderer.
"I thank you for your time, Miss Coleman," Four said quickly. He stood up from the coach and signaled to Tris that it was time to go. "Sorry for disturbing you. I am sorry about what had happened to you."
Maggie nodded and escorted them out, but as they were about to leave Tris took the chance to ask on final question before they left, "Miss Coleman, there is one last question I do have to ask, just to clear you out as a suspect. But where were you two nights ago around midnight?"
The question wasn't a surprise to her, but she didn't exactly appreciate it either and became sour again and replied, "I was home asleep. I was alone. Anymore questions?"
Tris shook her head and once again apologized for the disturbance and she and Four left and headed back to the car.
"What do you think?" Tris asked once they got inside the car. "Do you think it is possible that she did it?"
"Many things link to that," Four answered nonchalantly. "But right now it is all circumstantial. We need solid proof that she had something to do with it, otherwise we are fishing."
"But right now she is our only possible suspect, which gives us a good enough reason to look into it," Tris put on her seatbelt and waited for him to turn on the engine. "There is something going on here, Four. I know it."
"Alright, but let's just run it by Zeke and Shauna first before you dive into that angle," Four sighed. "They might have some more info about the blackmail money. It can steer you in the right direction."
Tris agreed on his reasoning and decided to wait for any new from Zeke and Shauna before she and Four looked more into Maggie Coleman. Shortly after that the two of them drove back to the station.
"After you two called me about the recent development in the case along with the clues Shauna gave me, I went to the bank where Al withdrew money from every month," Zeke said the moment Four and Tris entered the office. Both of them were surprised by the sudden welcome and had to think for a minute to catch what exactly Zeke was talking about. Four was more or less used to Zeke popping up, giving him random information, but Tris was not yet used to these strange characters that worked along side with him here at the station. However she didn't seem to fluster about it either, so he didn't think much of it once he comprehended what Zeke was talking about.
"Did the bank recognize the victim? Or more interesting did they remember him being with someone?" Four asked. He sat down on his chair; meanwhile Tris sat on the desk next to him.
"Oh, yeah, they remembered him," Zeke said. "They told me that he showed up the bank like clockwork and he always seemed slightly stressed like something was bothering him, but they never took much effort in asking him what was wrong. But that's not the interesting part."
"Stop with the suspense, Zeke. Get on with it," Four said with a growing annoyance.
"Alright-alright, the bank also told me that every time our victim came to the bank he was always companied with someone else who hung out in the background and received the money he withdrew in a beige envelop."
"That's great, Zeke," Four exclaimed. "Did they manage to ID the mystery companion?"
"Even better," Zeke replied with a grin. He handed him a folder with security camera photographs from a couple of weeks ago. Four looked through the photos with Tris overlooking from the side. He stopped at one specific photograph that showed Al standing at the bank desk, but it was the person in the back that interested them and they recognized her right away.
"That's Maggie Coleman," Tris stated. "She told us back at the house that she had not been in contact with Al. So why is she with Al at the bank every month?"
"I don't know, but it gives us a probably cause for a search warrant for a pair of gloves as well bring her down her for a closer interrogation," Four said before he pulled out his cellphone and called up the judge to get the warrant. "Good job, you guys."
Without much else to be said they all began preparing for what they were going to do once the warrant got through as well planning to pick up Maggie Coleman and bring her in for questioning. Because right now things weren't looking particularly good for Miss Coleman, especially if they found proof that she had indeed killed Al Price.
Everything happened so fast that it was hard for Tris to catch up to everything that was happening. The warrant came through and they went to Maggie's house to find evidence that she really had something to do with Al's death, after some searching they found a pair of gloves that appeared similar to the fabric they found at the crime scene. One of the gloves even had a rip where loose thread was sticking out. The forensic guys compared the fabrics and were a perfect match, which gave them even a better reason to bring Maggie down to the station for further interrogation. Four took lead in interrogating her and it didn't take long before she confessed that she had indeed been in contact with Al before his death and had blackmailed him. The money was meant as payment for what he did to her as well as payment for her not exposing his past to his new life and he did exactly that until he told her he didn't want to pay anymore and was planning to go to the police, which she made her take drastic measures and she killed him in order to keep him quiet. Basically Maggie Coleman confessed to murder Al and was now going to face jail time. In other words balance was restored (not for Al and Maggie) and everything was right in the world, but still Tris wasn't relieved about the case being over. Something was missing, but she didn't know what.
"I guess now with this case is over you will be returning back to the tattoo shop," Four said. He walked into the room where they watched interrogations and stood right next to her. However Tris didn't take much notice of it due to being so lost in her thoughts and didn't react until he waved his hand over her face, trying to get her attention.
"Sorry, I was lost in thoughts. What were you saying?" Tris apologized.
"I was saying that with this case being over, you will probably be returning back to the tattoo shop."
Tris froze over the thought. She had not realized it, but now that the case was over things were going to return to the way it was before it all happened. As soothing as her life being a tattoo artist was, she had come realize that not only did she miss being a cop, but now when she had gotten a taste of it being a cop again she was very reluctant to let it go and return to her old life.
"Yeah, I guess," Tris answered awkwardly. Her gaze was on the floor and was more or less awkward about the whole conversation.
"It's too bad," Four said with fake disappointment. "You were always such fine detective. It would be truly sad to see that go to waste."
Tris knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to convince her to come back to the world surrounded by murder and death, even though a part of her truly missed being a cop and wanted more than anything to jump back into the game, but a larger part of her was worried if that was once again going to consume her and almost smothering her just like that time when she was working on her parents murder.
"I'll see you later, Four," Tris replied wearily, not really in the mood for having this conversation and she was pretty sure that even after she left the station it wouldn't be the last place she would see him.
"See you later, Tris. Call me if you need anything," Four said with a smile.
When she arrived back to her apartment she sat down on her couch and began reading her recent bought novel. The plot itself was predictable, but it was entertaining so she wasn't bored when someone suddenly knocked on her door. Tris was surprised that someone was coming over at this time of day, especially without anyone calling her as a warning. But she assumed it might be Four, so she got out of the couch and headed towards her door.
She opened the door slightly to see who it was, but she didn't get the chance to see who it was before he forced himself inside and locked the door behind him.
"Tris Prior," the intruder said and Tris immediately recognized the voice as an older man. "You need to get the police to release Maggie. If you don't I will kill you the same way I killed that piece of crap who attacked and tried to rape her."
Tris didn't take the chance to listen as she ran straight to the living room, trying to get to her cellphone she had left on the coffee table in the living room and call the police. However she didn't get far as the man grabbed her right wrist and held it tightly.
"You are not going to talk to the police until you get them to release my daughter," the man sneered. Tris had to blink her eyes a second to comprehend what he was talking about until she remembered Maggie mentioning back at her house that her father was the one who taught her about flowers and then she thought back on how Maggie's confession had come out so easily. She had been covering for her dad, which meant her father was Al's killer. "You will do as I say or else I will inject you with this syringe."
Tris tried to struggle out of his grip, but he wasn't letting go. Adrenaline was starting to accelerate and she thought quickly what to do because she was not going to be a damsel in distress and not do anything. Which was why she took a step to the left and in one movement she used her elbow and hit him as hard as she could at his throat/neck. He let go of her to catch his breath, but unfortunately for him he had been so distracted that he didn't see her knock him out and his body slumped down on the floor. Tris exhaled and didn't waste time and grabbed her cellphone to call the police. If there was one thing she was certain of was that she wasn't going to wait till Mr. Coleman woke up again.
"It isn't enough for you to witness murders, now you decide to take down intruders in your own home," Four said jokingly. He and a couple of officers arrived her place and took Mr. Coleman back to the station, while some stayed to document the scene and make a huge circus in her living room, but she guessed that she shouldn't complain. After all it was better than being dead.
"Nah, I thought I should take down a murderer because I was totally bored," Tris shrugged her shoulders. "But next time a deranged murderer stop by my place I will give you a call."
"Thanks, but are you okay?" Four asked worriedly.
Tris nodded and thought over it for a moment. Sure, it had been terrifying that someone forces themselves into her home and threatened her, even tried to possibly kill her in order to get what he wanted. Mr. Coleman wanted revenge for what happened to his daughter and didn't believe the justice system had done enough, so he killed Al without a second thought. This whole case had both brought unwanted memories and emotions, but that seemed almost insignificant compared to how Al could finally rest in peace and give his family the same peace as well despite the heartache of losing their son. It was a wonderful feeling to help and she could almost feel some of those heavy weights on her shoulders grow lighter. That was why at that moment she had made a life-changing decision and she was sure that some days she was going to wish she had not made that choice, but she was certain she wasn't going to regret it. After all it was part of who she was.
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.
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New chapter, hope you guys like it. I thought it was time to end the Al arc, since it was starting to grow tired of him. So sorry if the ending seem a little fast, but we needed to get a move on. This not the end of the story, but now we are moving to other murders and more importantly Tris's parents unsolved murder.
I also want to mention that I will be busy with school, other stories and life itself, so the updates to this story will not be as often as I would like, but I hope you all will be patient and I promise to update once I can.
If you don't know it already, I want mention I would love some reviews and feedback on this story, since it makes it easier to know if you like it or not. So thank you for the reviews, favorite and followings and please continue doing so. Until next time...
xXrebelgirl07Xx