I gave the cosmological constant a wrong value

Alternative universe:

* Delilah was never murdered… So Lucifer and Chloe didn't meet.

* Forget session two and beyond: in this AU mum was never in hell, Lucifer didn't retire as king of hell

We enter this history the evening before Gillian Taylor was found, killed by Bobby B. That was the first episode of season two in the canon. The cases of season one? Some never happened, some where not assigned to Chloe, of a few we will hear in this story: the reader will learn at least one has a different outcome than it had in the canon.

To set the scene: Chloe is still the pariah of the LAPD, Olivia Monroe is still the lieutenant of the homicide detectives. When Chloe gets the Gillian Taylor case, she is without a partner, but it will be her first case with Ella as forensic expert.

Chapter one: Looking for Bobby B

"Why do you give up again?" Penelope asked, almost shouting.

"Mom," Chloe answered. "I did what I could to make it work. But Dan hasn't changed. His career comes before me, before Trixie. We tried again, for two months, but he is making the same mistakes over and over."

"Nonsense. It's you, that doesn't try hard enough. I invited Dan for diner tonight."

It had been a long day in the precinct with only paperwork and the last thing Chloe wanted this evening was diner with Dan. "You can't just plan a diner in my house, mom."

"Your house? As far as I know it is my house, pumpkin."

Chloe gritted her teeth. Not for the first time she decided she should look for her own space to live in. But she knew the prices in LA and she knew anything decent and close to Trixie's school would be too expensive. So in the end she sat through the diner with Dan, Trixie and her mother, a diner during which her mother and her daughter did most of the small talk.

The next morning lieutenant Monroe handed her a case file. "A murder on a studio set, Decker. Don't feel nostalgic."

"No, lieutenant," she answered and faked a smile. Thinking back to her Hot Tube High School days was the last thing she wanted.

A girl was found on a studio set. The victim's name was Gillian Taylor Chloe was told by a uniformed officer. The girl was a stand-in for the lead actress on Leave It To Leslie, a show her seven years old daughter loved. The forensic specialist on the case was Ella Lopez, a new colleague Chloe had met yesterday for the first time.

"Hi, Ella, what do we have?"

"Hi, Decker, something weird." Ella was studying the body. A young woman laying in a merry-go-round with two pieces of metal sticking in her forehead.

"What's weird?" Chloe asked.

"Well…" Ella pointed. "You'd think cause of death would be the giant chunks of metal sticking out of her head, but no, she was strangled. Look. You can see the contusions on her neck."

"So, the horns were added postmortem?"

"Yeah, soft tissue at the point of impact is yellow-pink," Ella answered. "That means that there was no blood pressure when our killer went all stabby-stab."

"The killer wants to send us a message," Chloe mused. "To push us in the wrong direction?"

Ella shrugged with a grin. "In which direction does it push you?"

Chloe went to search the place were Gillian lived: a cabin the girl rented from a woman called Roberta Beliard, a sturdy, plump lady with red hair. "Gillian rented from me for four years," Roberta told her. "Such a sweet, strong girl. You know, she got so close on so many auditions. I... I really thought that she was gonna break in."

Chloe looked around in the cabin. The usual furniture, movie posters, a bit of a mess.

"This is my fault," Roberta continued.

"Why do you say that?" Chloe asked.

"Well, I work as a set nurse," Roberta explained. "I pulled a few strings. I got her that job. If she hadn't met Amy… Amy Dodd plays Leslie. Gillian is her stand-in."

"Do you think Amy did this?"

"That girl's a bad influence," Roberta answered. "She has so much cocaine up her nose, it would snow if you shook her."

Chloe nodded and looked around. "What is this?" From under a cushion of a chair she pulled a large pile of dollar bills. "How did Gillian get this?"

Roberta looked with amazement at the money and shrugged.

Chloe interviewed some members of the crew of Leave It To Leslie. "A few days ago Amy and Gillian got into a big fight while they were setting up a shot," someone told her.

"About what?"

The woman shook her head. Chloe gave it a thought. Roberta had told her Amy was using drugs. Had Gillian found out and was she blackmailing Amy? That would explain the money. So her next visit was star actress Amy Dodd.

"I haven't seen Gillian yesterday," Amy told her.

"Day before yesterday you and Gillian had an argument. Why?"

"Does it matter?"

"Gives you a motive, maybe?" Chloe said. "I found a lot of cash at Gillian's house, so if she was blackmailing you…"

"She wasn't blackmailing me," Amy interrupted. "She was my sober companion."

"What was the fight about?"

"I was getting tired of her treating me like a child," Amy shouted. "I'm an adult! I can make my own decisions." The girl started sobbing. "I'd gotten a new supply in. She was trying to take it away from me." She opened a drawer and took a small plastic bag out. "The drugs. Take it, take it away."

Chloe took the bag. It had a devil emoji sticked to it.

"Who is your dealer?"

"Three months ago I found a new one. I only have a phone number that I text when I need drugs."

Chloe had the phone traced, but it was soon clear to the dealer was not the killer, so she ended in Ella's lab, head in her hands and thinking.

"Sorry for disturbing you, Ella."

"No problem, Decker. Just think loudly and I comment." Ella grinned. "Cacuzza and Woodridge told to me about Palmetto and why those gorillas don't accept you. But on this case: no DNA trace, no fingerprint on anything. Not on that bag, not on the metal chunks."

"Those metal chunks." Chloe looked up. "They looked like the devil's horns."

"Well. Kind of," Ella admitted.

"The bag with drugs has a devil emoji on it."

"But the dealer is not the murderer."

Chloe nodded. "But the murderer tried to suggest so. Amy said she had a dealer before the current one, but she broke with him. Called Bobby B."

"This Bobby B murdered Gillian and tries to frame the current dealer," Ella said.

"Exactly. Amy left signs for this Bobby in the toilet on the set. Mark on of the mirrors with a lipstick."

"So he works on the set?" Ella asked.

"Or he has someone working for him on the set," Chloe mused and sighed. She opened the file. "No one called Bobby on the set."

There was a knock on the already open door. Chloe looked up. "Officer Cacuzza?"

"There is a visitor for you, detective Decker. That priest, father Frank."

"I will come."

"A priest?" Ella asked. "You're religious?"

Chloe chuckled. "No. Sorry Ella. I noticed already you are." She pointed at the cross hanging around Ella's neck. But, sorry, I can't believe in God, the devil, all that Bible stuff. But I met Frank two months ago on a case. May be you should say hello to him."

While they walked to Chloe's desk, Chloe told: "Father Frank was the victim of a murder attempt. He was trying to keep children out of a drug ring and the man leading the drug ring had him shot. Frank was hit in his shoulder that day, when he left his church, but survived. Shooting from a driving car is not that easy. I arrested Conner, the shooter, and later Doyle, the boss."

Chloe introduced Ella and Frank to each other. "I came last week to LA, father. From Detroit. Raised catholic, my aunt Rose is a nun. I am still looking which parish to join over here in LA."

Frank smiled. "Good to hear. You're welcome of course in my church. And I'm sure you're also welcome in each parish of my fellow priests in LA."

"I would like to join your church," Ella said, "But I also prefer a church not to far from my home. And I'm still searching for an apartment. LA prices…" She sighed.

Ella was looking for a place to live, Chloe thought and pursed her lips. But before she could react, Frank continued: "Yes, LA can be expensive, depending on your wishes of course."

They talked a bit more about houses in LA until Chloe asked: "How is your shoulder doing, father?"

Frank touched with his left hand the spot on the right shoulder were Connor's bullet had hit. "All well, no pain anymore and I can use my arm again for playing the piano.

"Piano?" Ella said.

"Yes," Frank replied. "Before I became a priest, I was a musician, piano player."

"Piano player," Ella echoed. "Sorry, father. Work. Wait." She raised from her chair and almost ran to her lab.

"What did I say?" Frank asked Chloe.

"I have no idea, father," Chloe answered.

Ella came back already with a phone in her hand. "Gillian's phone," she said to Chloe. "Sorry, father. This is about our case. Chloe, Gillian had metal chunks as devil horns in her head and there was the devil emoji on the drug's bag."

"Yes."

"Father Frank's words reminded me of a short video on Gillian's phone. Whatapp message she sent with the video included. Here, it says: 'The devil plays piano in the Lux. Best performer I ever heard.'

Chloe did take a look. The video showed a handsome man, in fact a very good-looking guy, playing piano on a stage with a dark background.

"Gillian says the devil," Ella added. "As the horns and the bag."

"When was this recorded?"

"Four months ago. The Lux. No idea what that is," Ella answered.

"A nightclub," Frank told them. "I've heard of it. LA's top trending club, expensive, popular. The owner calls himself Lucifer Morningstar."

"As the devil?" Ella asked.

Frank shrugged. "Never been there. Not the place a priest should go," he added with a grin. "But I heard this Lucifer Morningstar is a great piano player."

"Lucifer Morningstar?" Chloe asked. "Is that his stage name?"

It was not a stage name. Chloe checked the name and the man in the police records and city administration. He was really recorded as Lucifer Morningstar, appeared six years ago, seemingly out of nowhere. The man himself was a rich playboy, the Lux was checked by Narcotics, the tax office and the FBI, but was as clean as a nightclub could be.

Chloe entered the Lux at four in the afternoon. It was certainly not busy this early, maybe twenty guests were in the booths and at the bar, drinking, talking and listening to the music. She went to the bar and showed her badge to the bartender.

"Police? What can we do for you, miss?"

Chloe took at her phone and showed a picture of Gillian Taylor. "Do you remember this girl?"

The bartender looked for some seconds at the picture and then shrugged. "Sorry. No. Should I know her?"

"She has been in the Lux."

"Maze," the bartender said with raised voice. "Please, can you help us?"

A woman came to them, long, dark, slim but with muscles and moving like a panther. "What the issue, Patrick."

Chloe showed her the picture. "This woman is killed and she has visited this club."

The woman named Maze pointed at the phone. "She was in the news this morning. She is the stand-in for Amy."

"Yes."

"Of Leave It To Leslie." Maze sang the words as was done in the opening tune of the TV show. "I love that show, makes me laugh. You have to find the killer, officer. I want that show to continue!"

"I'm looking for the killer. Gillian was at the Lux four months ago. She taped this video." Chloe showed Maze the short recording of Lucifer playing.

"I haven't seen her," Maze said. "Didn't have sex with her. Maybe Lucifer did. I will give him a call. Four o'clock. He must be back from hell by now."

She used the landline phone on the bar, pressed a single digit to make the call. "Lucifer you're back? Good. A police woman…" Maze stoped talking and gave Chloe a questioning look.

"Detective Decker," Chloe said.

"A detective Decker to question you about a dead woman…Yes she is hot… Yes, I mean the detective… We can take her separately or have a threesome, I don't mind. What she prefers… You come down?"

"Lucifer comes down to talk with you," Maze told Chloe. She smiled at Chloe and licked her lips. Chloe felt a shiver low in her belly and made a step back.

"I'm her for business. Thank you."

"Whatever you desire, sweetie." Maze grinned. "Doing business with Lucifer will end in his bed."

Chloe did another step away from the bar, trying to ignore the woman and looking around, waiting for that Lucifer.

She recognizes him when he came downstairs to the floor of the Lux. In real life he was even more good-looking then on the video. He was wearing a perfect-fitted, expensive three-piece suit and he gave her a smile as if he was exited to see her. "You must be the detective Decker."

"Yes, Chloe Decker, LAPD detective." She flashed him her badge.

"Lucifer Morningstar, the devil," he said with only the shortest possible look at her badge. He grinned and gestured at one of the booths. "Please join me. Care for a drink?"

"No, thank you. I'm working."

He laughed. "My drinking is work, detective. I'm always testing whether the quality of the liquor is matching the standards of the Lux." He winked and looked expectant at her. When she didn't react he frowned.

Chloe took out her phone. "Do you remember this girl?"

"Really no match to you," he said after a quick glance.

"We are not talking about me at the moment."

"At the moment? Ah!" He smiled, bent over to her and whispered: "So we can talk about you later?"

"No, thank you. I'm married." Which was technically true. She had filled in the divorce papers, but it would take some five months before the divorce was official.

"You are? But tell me…" He bent his head even closer. "Does your husband fulfill all your needs? What do you desire, detective Decker. What would you want more than anything else?"

She sat back as far as possible in the booth. "My husband or my needs are not your business. Can you please take a look at this picture?"

He flinched, moving back a few inches, confusion all over his face. With an uncertain voice he asked: "What are you?"

"An LAPD detective." She bite her lips. This was useless. Was the guy so drunk or high that he hadn't heard that?

"Yes. Badge number 64983. You just showed me."

That shocked Chloe. She had shown him her badge for not longer than a second and he had hardly looked at it. "Then what do you mean with what are you?"

"Are you an angel procreated after my fall? Did me father send you?"

"Listen mr Morningstar, I have no idea who your father is. I'm pretty sure I was never introduced before to someone with family name Morningstar."

He studied her for a few seconds. Then he raising his eyebrows before asking: "Can I see that girl again?" He gave the picture a look. "She was at the Lux a few months ago."

"Did you talk with her?"

He shook his head. "She took some pictures while I was playing, but I already had two girls that came to the penthouse with me afterwards and I didn't pay this girl any attention."

"But you remember a girl after months that only took some pictures?"

"Yes, detective. I'm the devil, remember. Biologically an angel: perfect memory."

"I do not believe in the devil or angels," she said. And neither in perfect memories she wanted to add, but hold back: he had remembered her badge number after hardly looking at her badge.

"An atheist? How interesting."

"You never saw the girl again? Never spoke with her?" she asked.

"Never and never, detective. Why do you think I should know her?

Chloe hesitated for a second. "You play to be the devil…"

"I am the devil. Part time ruling hell, part time running the Lux."

She snorted. "Ruling hell, whatever." If he was involved in the murder, his future lawyer would easily plead insanity defense. Not her problem. "Listen. The girl was killed. This is how she was found." She showed him a picture of Gillian with the metal chunks in her forehead. "And there are drugs involved." She showed him the picture of the bag with the devil emoticon.

"I don't have horns. That's a the stupid fable to bash me."

Chloe rolled her eyes and his angry expression changed to a wide grin.

"You're so cute when you do that with your eyes, detective." He emptied his glass, filled it again and gestured with the bottle at an empty glass.

Chloe shook her head. "Still working. Can you tell me where you were in the afternoon and evening of the day before yesterday?"

"In this building. Mostly here in the Lux as all the staff members can tell you, just as dozens of patrons can tell you." He grinned at he, head tilted.

She would check with a few, but had no doubt they would confirm his story. She realized this visit was only to check a vague connections, she had no indication he was involved in the murder. "You use drugs."

"Every day, detective. Lots. Took my third shot of cocaine of today only half an hour ago. You're going to arrest me for that? I love handcuffs when a woman plays cop."

"I don't play cop, I am a cop. Do you know a dealer called Bobby B?"

"Sorry, detective. Never heard of."

Back in the precinct she updated Ella. "… and the guy will soon have some health problems. His liver won't survive another year. I talked not more than fifteen minutes with him and he emptied two glasses of whiskey in that time."

"Too drunk to talk?"

Chloe gave it a thought. "Claimed to be drinking and on drugs but if he hadn't told me, I would have thought he was completely sober."

Ella raised her brows. Chloe shrugged "Can't explain it. Never mind. He has no connection with Gillian and we will never see him again."

"Is he in reality as handsome as in that video?" Ella asked.

"Even more."

"And you stayed professional?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Ella! He is a player, drugs addicted, nightclub owner, insane guy thinking he is the devil. Please."

Ella took another look at the video and chuckled. "For one night who would care?"

Chloe decided to ignore that. "You said to father Frank you are looking for a place to live."

"Yes, I do."

"I do the same."

"You?" Ella asked. "You have a house."

"It's my mother's. I want something that is not her's. Maybe…"

"We can share?" Ella grinned. "You have a daughter, right? One room for me, two for the two of you."

"And a spare room. Four bedrooms."

"Five, so we both can have a guest at the same time."

"Can't we do with four? Each extra bedroom increases the rent."

Chloe checked with the man to who Gillian had send the whatapp with Lucifer, but the man told her Gillian had never mentioned the Lux or Lucifer in later apps. The search for Bobby B didn't bring much results either. Next morning Chloe asked Narcotics, but they had almost nothing on him. "Not a big dealer," a colleague detective told her. "I heard the name two or three times. He is selling prescription pills, so we assume he is in health care."

When she walked back to the homicide department she noticed a buzz. Several groups of two or three female officers standing around, whispering and giggling, looking …. in the direction of her desk. Ella was standing in the doorway of the lab and raised a thumb when she saw Chloe. What the hell? She walked closer. Someone was sitting in her chair, reading the file on her desk. His back in her direction. It looked as a tall man. A man that was wearing a suit.