The wind flew through Chloe's hair as Detective Mitchell drove to Mr. Kumar's apartment. They had been driving in silence, despite the fact that Chloe was practically bursting at the seems wanting to ask questions.
"So," She tried, hoping that Beca wouldn't shoot her down. "That's a cool model you got on your desk. Were you in the military?"
Beca pulled into the other lane. "I was."
"That's awesome." Chloe kept her gaze out the window, trying to keep the detective talking. "Airforce?"
Beca considered answering the question before shaking her head. "Navy pilot, assigned to the Teddy Roosevelt." She made another turn, a little too quickly for Chloe's comfort but the redhead kept her mouth shut. Beca drove a little fast for Chloe's liking.
Encouraged by Beca not immediately shutting her down, Chloe figured she might as well try to get in a few more questions. "That's awesome! I bet you were one of the hot shot pilots in Top Gun weren't you?"
Beca allowed the briefest glance at her passenger. "You know about stuff like that?"
"About Top Gun?" Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I think everybody does. Especially after that movie."
"They made a movie about it?" Beca made another quick turn.
Chloe's second eyebrow joined the first. "You've never seen Top Gun!?"
Beca managed not to role her eyes, but just barely. "No."
"It's like," Chloe flailed her hands around in front of her. "One of the best military movies ever! Especially that beach scene."
"I don't really watch movies." Was Beca's only defense.
It didn't work, if Chloe's indignant huff was anything to go by. "That's, like, not possible."
Beca groaned. "You're not going to start telling me how misguided I am and try to convert me to your movie cult now are you?"
"What?"
"That's what Jesse tried to do when we had this exact conversation." Beca explained. "Except he was upset that I'd never seen Star Wars."
"YOU'VE NEVER SEEN STAR WARS!"
Someone blared their horn as Beca jerked the wheel at Chloe's outburst. "Okay. Rule number one, no yelling in the car."
"I don't know if I want someone protecting me that hasn't seen Star Wars." Chloe crossed her arms, playing up her acting skills to look offended.
"Well," Beca pulled up to the curb in front of a run down apartment building. "You have a choice. You can have a cop that has seen your silly movie or you can have me. The one with two police woman close combat trophies and a sharpshooting medal on my dresser."
Chloe's eyes widened in surprise and her mouth worked but no noise came out. Beca took the opportunity to slip out of the car, she didn't really care about Chloe's opinion of her. After this case they would go their separate ways and Beca would never have to think about this stupid assignment again.
She opened the door to the apartment complex, holding it open for Chloe as the actress hurried to catch up. The inside was just as derelict as the outside, the wallpaper was peeling, the rug was a mess and Beca was pretty sure she saw a rat scurry off as they closed the door.
"Lovely place." Chloe stated the obvious.
"Not the worst spot I've ever been to on the job." Beca headed for the elevator. Donald lived on the fifth floor so she pushed the button, hoping that the extroverted redhead wouldn't start a conversation.
"So what is the worst place you've been too?" So much for that idea. "You know, as a cop."
Beca let out a long sigh through her nose. "I don't know, it was either the meth den or the brothel."
"Wait." Chloe looked surprised. "You actually found a brothel?"
"You'd be shocked at how many there are." Beca wondered why the elevator was talking so long. Finally, there was a pleasant ding before the doors squeaked as they lurched open.
With no hesitation, Beca got on the elevator while Chloe looked at the thing suspiciously. "Sure this is safe?"
"You can wait in the car if you want." Beca hit the button for the fifth floor and suppressed a grin as Chloe ducked inside just as the doors closed. The elevator made a clanking sound before jolting upward, making Chloe gasp and grab the railing. "Jumpy much?"
"I don't like tight spaces." Chloe breathed deeply as the elevator lurched again. "Especially if that tight space is a death trap."
The buttons flashed one by one with each floor they passed. Beca decided to use the time to lay down some ground rules. "Alright, when we get there I'll do the talking. I don't need you trying to butt in while I try to get this guy to talk."
Chloe seemed to consider that before nodding. "I guess that's fair."
"Don't care if it's fair or not." The elevator stopped and the door opened with more grinding noises. "That's how it's going to work." Beca left the elevator and started walking down the long hallway, looking at the numbers to find the right apartment. Chloe followed along behind her, a little put off at the detective's dismissive attitude.
They walked a good way down the hallway before Beca stopped in front of a door. "Remember," She said to Chloe. "Not a word." She pounded her fist on the door three times. "Donald Kumar! Barden P.D. open up!"
They waited but there was no response. Beca tried again but again nothing.
"Can't you just kick the door down?" Chloe asked.
"Not without a warrant." Beca shook her head but stopped mid shake. She lifted her nose, sniffing the air for a second before taking a step back. "Or probable cause." Beca lifted her leg to kick in the door but winced halfway up. "Damn leg." She rubbed the spot on her leg over the bullet wound.
"Can I do it?" Chloe asked a little too excitedly. "Please?"
"No." Beca slammed her shoulder into the door, splintering the frame and opening the apartment. "You stay here." She drew her gun before walking through the splinters. Her police training kicked in, moving gun first and checking every room she passed to make sure no one could sneak up on her from behind. The further into the apartment she got, the stronger the smell grew. The smell of gas. She was about to enter the living room when she heard the floor squeak behind her.
"Find anything yet?"
Beca spun around, dropping into a crouch with her gun coming up on instinct. Luckily for Chloe she had enough sense to wait half a second before pulling the trigger. The redhead jumped and held up her hands. "Hey! It's just me."
"Damn it." Beca lowered her gun before glaring at the actress. "Never sneak up on a police officer that has their weapon drawn. Actually, just don't sneak up on a cop ever. That's a good way to get shot."
Chloe lowered her hands. "Sorry."
"I told you to wait outside." Beca chastised. "I haven't cleared the place yet. Someone could be in here."
Chloe's eyes went wide and her face paled as she looked over Beca's shoulder. "Someone like him?"
Beca spun back around, her gun at the ready but there was no need. Laying on the floor was Donald Kumar, with a pool of dried blood around his head.
"Huh," Beca did a quick final look around before holstering her gun. "Wasn't expecting that." She walked over to the body, pulling out her phone and quickly hitting a few numbers. She knelt down next to the body, placing her fingers against the neck to check for a pulse. "This is detective Mitchell," She said into the phone. "I need a C.S.I unit at my location. Forty two Wallaby Way apartment five thirteen." She looked up and finally saw the source of the smell. Against the wall was an old fashioned radiator with a part broken off of the side. It was hissing and she could actually see the gas escaping.
She hung up the phone, her eyes scanning the room for anything else that was out of place. There had obviously been a struggle, the couch was at an odd angle with the cushions askew, there was a shattered vase on the floor and the TV flickered around a crack in the screen. Standing up, Beca opened a window to let the gas escape. The last thing she needed was a crime scene exploding on her...again.
"Beale, I'm going to need you to step outside." Beca turned back to her companion and stopped. Chloe was breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating, and her skin had turned sickly pale. She hand't taken her eyes off the body. "Okay, calm down." Beca grabbed Chloe's arm and led her out of the apartment. "Easy now, just breathe. In. Out. In. Out."
Chloe did what she was told. They made it to the hallway where Beca gently pushed her against the wall. "That's it. Just sit down." Chloe slide down the wall with a *thump*. "There you go." Beca sat down next to her. "Just breathe."
Through the panic Chloe managed to listen to Beca's instructions. Breathe in. Breathe out. She was a little surprised at just how attentive the detective was. It definitely didn't fit with the usual attitude.
"There you go," Beca said quietly once some color had returned to Chloe's face. "Take it easy, keep breathing." She pulled out her phone again. "Hey, Jesse. This case just escalated to a homicide. Yeah, get down here with your boot to do some canvasing. Of course she's going to be here Jesse, she's the coroner, coroners go where the dead bodies are. I don't care if she freaks you out get your ass down here."
She hung up and turned back to Chloe, who was breathing evenly with her head tilted back. "You good now?"
Chloe nodded, sitting up straight before running a hand through her hair. "I'm fine, just wasn't expecting that." She blew out a long breath. "Little embarrassed, can't believe I almost feinted."
Beca sat down next to the actress. "Don't worry about it. I puked the first time I saw a dead body."
That earned a chuckle from the redhead. "And here I thought nothing phased you."
"I was green back then," Beca said with a small laugh. "You get used to it."
The elevator whirled to life and three men in blue forensic jumpsuits stepped out. "I got to go deal with these guys. You gonna be okay?"
Chloe nodded her head and watched as Beca stood and talked to the C.S.I unit. They talked for a second before Beca led the way inside the apartment. Chloe took a few more calming breaths. At least her vision wasn't blurry anymore and the hallway stopped spinning.
She'd watched cops shows on TV before but that did absolutely nothing to prepare her. TV wasn't even close. Donald wasn't laying calming on his side while detectives walked around the room. He had been sprawled across the floor, his limbs going every which way. On TV it was always an actor, surrounded by other actors who had clearly never seen a dead body. And then there was the smell. No one ever mentioned that even a fresh corpse could have that sickly sweet odor on TV.
Just thinking about it made Chloe's stomach turn so she tried not to. Instead she thought about what the heck was going on. How had this gone from a simple break in to a full blown murder investigation? Who was so desperate for a glimpse of her bedroom that they were willing to kill?
She wasn't sure how long she sat there but it must have been a while because the elevator made it's terrible groaning noise, opening to reveal a concerned looking Jesse and Benji.
"I'm telling you man," Jesse said as he jumped into the hallway. "One of these days I'm going to catch a case on one of these things and that will be the end of the line."
Benji nodded. "I'm cool with taking the stairs if you are."
"Done." Jesse finally noticed Chloe sitting on the floor. "Whoa, You okay there Miss Beale?"
Chloe nodded before slowly standing up. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I just wasn't expecting that." She gestured to the open apartment.
"Don't worry about it." Jesse shrugged his shoulders. "I peed my pants at my first homicide."
That made Chloe smile a little. "Really?"
"Oh yeah," Jesse laughed.
"I passed out at my first scene." Benji said. "Didn't help that she was missing her head." Chloe and Jesse both stared at him before he bashfully looked at his feet.
"So has the coroner shown up yet?" Jesse asked in an attempt to change the subject.
Chloe shook her head. "Just some forensic guys. Who's the coroner?"
"Me." Jesse nearly jumped out of his socks. Standing behind then was a petite asian woman, with a body bag under one arm and pulling a stretcher with the other.
"Hi," Jesse said after collecting himself. "Doctor Onakuramara, its been a while."
"Two weeks, four days and five hours." The coroner spoke so quietly that it was hard for Chloe to hear. "Please move, Detective Swanson. My patient is waiting."
Jesse scuffled to the side as the doctor pushed past them. After straightening out his jacket Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. "Man, she scares the crap out of me."
Benji looked just as shocked as Jesse. "How did she manage to get that gurney up here without any of us hearing it?"
"That," Jesse held up his hands. "I do not know." He gestured for Benji to follow him, stopping before entering the apartment. "Are you coming with us or do you want me to call in an ambulance?"
Chloe shook her head. "I'm fine now." She joined the detectives at the door.
Inside, the three forensic guys were going over everything with a fine tooth comb. Literally, one of them had a comb and was using it on the shag carpet.
"What's he doing?" Chloe asked Benji.
"He is looking for fibers," The detective explained. "Clothes, hair, even carpeting from a suspect's car. Any piece of evidence we can find could be useful."
"Oh," Chloe nodded sagely like she understood. She pointed at the other C.S.I guys who had tiny brushes. "And them?"
"Dusting for prints."
"Cool," She was pointedly ignoring the corner of the room where Detective Mitchell was taking pictures and the coroner was kneeling over the body.
"Here," Jesse handed her a pair of surgical gloves. "Never enter a crime scene without gloves." He cracked a smile. "Hate to find your finger prints in here and have to arrest you."
Chloe smiled back, "No one wants that." She slipped the gloves over her fingers. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Try not to touch anything." Beca called from the corner. "You probably shouldn't even be in here."
There was a retort on the tip of Chloe's tongue but before she could speak someone knocked at the door. Jesse stood up from his spot in the kitchen to look down the hall. "Uniforms are here Becs."
"Good," Beca stood up herself. "Have them start questioning the neighbors. See if anyone heard anything."
"You heard her boys," Jesse stepped out of the apartment to lead the new arrivals. "Let's get to it."
Chloe tried to stay as out of the way as possible. She was shocked at just how chaotic the apartment was becoming, with uniformed officers moving in and out. At one point someone had put police tape over the door so she was cautious about leaving. It reminded her of an ant hill that had been kicked, with the little workers scurrying around.
In reality there was never more than five people in the apartment at the same time, the police knew not to compromise the integrity of the crime scene.
Eventually, Dr. Onakuramara wheeled the body out of the room, now safely in a body bag, much to Chloe's relief. The forensic guys were still going over the room but Detective Mitchell finally made her way over to Chloe.
"You doing all right?" She asked.
"Yes," Chloe nodded while meeting the detective's gaze. "This is all very cool."
Beca expression dropped. "A man is dead Miss Beale. There's nothing cool about that."
Chloe's eyes widened in shock. "Oh no - I didn't mean-"
Beca cracked a smile. "I know, I'm just messing with you." She pulled off her own pair of gloves, "We can go now, the forensic boys will handle it from here."
She led the way out of the apartment where Jesse was waiting for them. "Hey, the next door neighbor said her heard some commotion last night around eleven thirty, maybe midnight."
Beca nodded along, "That's within the time frame Lilly had. She'll have more information once the autopsy is done but it was pretty clear." She crossed her arms and stared at the wall. "Blunt force trauma to the head. But there was also evidence of a struggle and there's bruising on Mr. Kumar's arms."
"So he argued with whoever was paying him to plant the camera." Jesse mused. "Probably over money, and a fight broke out."
"Exactly what I was thinking." Beca turned to Chloe. "Do you remember this Donald guy being particularly aggressive?"
Chloe shook her head. "I don't think so but this would have been four years ago. Plus, he wasn't around very long before he got canned and he wasn't the one who did my hair."
"So maybe this mystery employer was the aggressor." Jesse suggested."
Beca thought for a second before shaking her head. "We can't know that for sure." She looked back at the apartment. "Have the boys send any evidence to Stacie, she's covering this case for us."
Jesse's smile grew, "I'd be happy to take the evidence to Stacie."
"I didn't mean- and he's gone." Jesse was halfway down the hallway before Beca had even started her sentence. "And that's why I hate working with Stacie."
Chloe giggled. "I'm guessing Jesse likes her."
"Jesse likes every girl." Beca groaned. "Made it really annoying when I was trying to interview a witness."
They stood in the hallway kinda awkwardly. "So what now?" Chloe asked.
Beca sighed, "Now I get to go explain to my boss how you wound up at a murder scene."
Later that evening Chloe was sitting on her couch, sipping a cup of tea while scrolling through apartment listings. Suffice it to say she wasn't feeling all that attached to her current home. Although, it had been fun to watch Detective Mitchell dig into her landlord about the hole incident. Looking around the room, she felt a bit of nostalgia. This had been her first, real, apartment after her big break. All that being said she was definitely looking for a building with better security.
Suddenly her ringtone started playing, with Chicago's face appearing on the screen. It made her smile, it was just like Chicago to call after such a hectic day. It was actually kinda surprising that he hadn't called already.
"Hey Chlo," His voice sounded tired.
"Hey Chicago, thanks for calling." She leaned back into the couch. "You will not believe the day I've had."
She filled him in on everything that had happened, trying not to be too graphic with the details. There had been more than one occasion where the makeup artists on set decided to be extra gory and Chicago had...well it was better not to think about it.
Chicago whistled on the other end of the line. "That sounds pretty intense. You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine." Chloe took a drink. "I've got my tea and I'm currently window shopping for a new apartment."
"You know if you need a place to stay my couch is pretty comfortable." Chicago offered.
Chloe scoffed. "My knight in shining armor. Can't even offer me the bed."
"Hey," Chicago laughed back. "Cut me some slack."
"No," Chloe teased just as her phone pinged again. "I'll have to call you back. My agent's calling."
"Alright, see you on the flip side." He hung up the phone just in time for her to pick up the other line.
"Shaun. What's up?" Chloe asked, trying to sound casual.
"What's up!? Baby, the entire blog-o-sphere is talking about your break in! We've got to get you on some talk show immediately!" Chloe held the phone away from her ear. Shaun had a tendency to talk really loud over the phone.
"How did you even hear about all this." She asked. "The cops I talked to told me to keep it quiet."
"Chloe, sweaty, you really think anything stays a secret for long in this town?" Shaun had a point, although everything that the tabloids printed was wildly exaggerated. She remembered one time when she and Chicago had been out to dinner after work and suddenly everyone thought she was pregnant with his baby.
"What's the lead this time?"
"Just about everything." Shaun stifled a laugh. "But my personal favorite has to be the one about you being in the Russian mob."
"Oh boy, not again." Chloe groaned.
"Well, you do speak russian."
"That was for school!" Chloe countered. In between acting gigs Chloe had gone part time to a local college. Mostly she took classes that would help her acting career but had wound up with an actual degree.
"It doesn't matter. What does matter is using this for a big publicity boost." Shaun sounded giddy at the prospect of finally having some drama. Chloe, despite being an up and coming actress, kept a relatively tame private life. Something her manager had complained repeatably about. According to him she needed to be out there dating every other actor on the planet so the glamour magazines kept her on the front page.
"I don't need a publicity boost." Chloe was really starting to get tired of having this conversation over and over again.
"You just wrapped up a long running show." Shaun pointed out. "We've got to strike while the iron is hot and get the ball rolling on the next big thing!"
Chloe rolled her eyes. She had actually been hoping for some down time before her next project. But then she remembered the idea that had slowly been forming over the past couple of days.
"About that." She said into the phone. "Do you think you could arrange a pitch meeting with Avalon's head producer?" Avalon was the studio that made 'Love in the Apocalypse'. She had a good reputation with them so hopefully they'd hear her out.
"Um," There was a shuffling sound as Shaun looked through his calendar. "Should be easy enough to do. So long as it's not an inconvenience to him."
"It wont be." Chloe assured him. "I've got an idea for a show."
"Really?" Shaun sounded excited now. "I'll get it done. Call you tomorrow with the details."
"Thanks Shaun, you're the best."
"Damn right I am." He hung up while Chloe laughed. Her agent was a bit extreme but he did an excellent job.
Looking back at her computer she decided that apartment shopping could wait till tomorrow. She stood up, turned off the laptop and went to the door. After triple checking that it was securely locked she went to bed.
Locking her bedroom door just in case.
Beca leaned back in her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose while trying to sort out all the evidence in her head. She looked down at her empty coffee mug and wondered how much damage a fifth cup would do to her.
"Hey," Jesse rolled his chair up to her desk. "Any luck with the finger prints?"
Beca just shook her head. "Stacie hasn't even started on them yet."
"Well it is eight in the morning." Jesse slid a magazine over the desk. "Have you seen this?"
On the cover was a head shot of Chloe. The title said, 'Chloe Beale faces break in! What could the actress be hiding?'
It earned a groan from Beca, "Why do we live in this town again?"
Jesse shrugged, "The weather?"
Beca had to concede that point. The rest of the town may be nuts but at least they had nice weather. "Did you guys get anything else from canvasing."
"Nope," He shrugged again. "The neighbor we talked to was the only one close enough to hear anything."
"That's convenient." Beca grumbled. They were going nowhere fast with this investigation and it was starting to piss her off. "What about his financials? He must have been getting paid, why else would Kumar break into the apartment?"
"Benji's running that down now but I wouldn't get my hopes up." Jesse said solemnly. "Apparently this guy didn't even have a bank account. So if he was getting paid it was in cash."
"But we didn't find any cash at the apartment." Beca mused, more to herself than to Jesse.
"Maybe he was killed before the money drop was made. Or the killer took it with them." Jesse suggested. Those were really the only two options.
"Maybe." Beca looked at the time on her computer. "I've got to go check on the airhead."
"She's actually pretty smart." Jesse said while picking up the magazine. "According to this she's got a degree in Russian literature."
That stopped Beca in her tracks. "Really?"
"Yup," He showed her the line in the magazine. "Shouldn't judge a book by its cover Becs." He teased.
"Then what's the point of the cover." Beca finished getting ready. "Don't suppose you want to go down to the morgue and see if Lilly has anything yet?"
Now it was Jesse's turn to groan. "Do I have too?"
Beca smirked. "Kinda sounds like you're the one judging the book's cover now."
"No," Jesse defended himself. "I've seen the cover and read the rest of the book. And the book is creepy."
"She's also the best medical examiner this side of the Mississippi." Beca pointed out.
"Can't you do it?" Jesse asked desperately.
Beca was about to say no when an evil grin spread across her face. "Alright. But you have to look into Kumar's personal life, see if there's anyone else in the picture."
"Already on it." Jesse pushed off the floor and rolled back to his desk as fast as he could. Why he couldn't walk like a normal human, Beca did not know.
She made her way to the parking lot and found her car. It was a quick drive over to Chloe's apartment, especially with the way Beca drives. Waiting for her outside the building was the actress in question, surrounded by a mob of paparazzi. Cursing under her breath, Beca pulled up to the curve. She honked her horn, garnering the attention of the hoard. Suddenly her car was flooded with the flashes of the cameras, luckily she was wearing her sunglasses so she wasn't completely blinded.
It looked like Chloe was trying to make her way to the car but the crowd was blocking the path. Chloe was clearly trying to be polite, making dismissive gestures and shaking her head, but Beca was a lot less patient. She flipped a switch on her console and the siren started blaring, causing the whole group to jump and back away.
God she loved being a cop.
A gap formed in the crowd allowing Chloe to make her way to the car. The redhead opened the door, slid inside and buckled her seat belt. "Thanks for that but you do know that me getting picked up by the police is only going to make it worse. They're a bunch a vultures."
Beca snickered, "Well that seems appropriate, given where we're going."
"Where are we going?" Chloe asked.
"How do you feel about the morgue?"
