So far: Lucifer has helped Chloe with two cases and neither Chloe nor Ella understand his tricks.
Lucifer has cooked for Chloe, Trixie and Ella. Trixie told him she believes him. Chloe and Ella do not.

Now: Lucifer again has information that he can't have.
Ella and Chloe visit the Lux in order to find out more about him

Chapter four: On the VIP list

A first inspection of Jan Kopec's car didn't reveal anything interesting. Ella was still busy with the body and the area around it and Chloe left a more thorough investigation of the car to Ella later. She contacted the company maintaining the garage and learned that: yes there were security cams, but pictures were deleted after twelve hours to protect the privacy of the people using the garage. She asked and got a file with the pictures of the last twelve hours, but Ella had guessed Jan Kopec was dead for at least a day, so she didn't expect much benefit of these.

Most of the parking spots were owned by people living in the apartment building on the other site. She crossed the street and tried to interview people living there. Soon she concluded it wouldn't help her. Cars have been going in and out of the garage, yesterday also of course, no-one paid attention to that and no-one remembered seeing Jan Kopec's car enter. And the entrance was just to far away to read the license plates.

Chloe was just trying to decide what to do next when Ella called. "Where are you?"

"On the other side of the street just in front of the entrance of that building. Why?"

"Lucifer is back and is asking for you."

"Lucifer?" Chloe pressed her lips together. Why had he come back. For his next magician's trick. "So?"

"He is already on his way to you," Ella told her.

Chloe hesitated, looking at the exit of the parking garage. She could just walk away, ignore Lucifer as he had done with her. He left her… But he was just some civilian that had had a tip that had helped her. He was under no obligation to help her further. She was disappointed, but knew she had no right to be. He appeared from the exit, raised his hand and beamed his patented smile. She gritted her teeth and sighed.

"You left me alone," she said.

He made a step back. "I told you I was going to question Jan Kopec."

She rolled her eyes and let her shoulders drop.

"Really, detective."

"And what did he say?" she said, her voice dripping of sarcasm.

"Jan hired a man named George Denend to steal the letter in Dallas. After George returned, he refused to give Jan the letter, he demanded more money for it, twenty grand. Jan made an appointment with George in this garage to discuss the matter. Jan had hoped to take the letter by force, but had not expected George to use a knife, with the result you know."

Fairy tale, how can you know, Chloe wanted to snap. But he looked as he was happy that he could help her, so she swallowed. All his tips up to now had been correct, although she never understood how he could know. And at the moment she didn't have any lead. "Where does this George Denend live?" she asked.

He gave her the address.

He is just making up a story, she told herself. She clenched her fists, but made a call to the precinct. She got officer Cacuzza on the line. "Do we have a file on some George Denend?" She added the street name but not the house number.

Within seconds Cacuzza told her the same house number as Lucifer had given her and added: "He was suspected for armed robbery two years ago, but not prosecuted for lack of evidence."

"Armed robbery?" Chloe asked. "Gun? Knife?"

"Knife, detective Decker."

"Thanks, officer Cacuzza. Can you check flight records. I expect he flew to Dallas a few days ago."

"I will call you back," Cacuzza promised her.

Chloe lowered her phone, took a deep breath and then said: "I'm sorry, Lucifer. I thought… well, doesn't matter. You might have a lead again. Thank you. How… No, I don't ask."

They drove to the address Lucifer had told her. "Next time we should use my Corvette, detective," he said.

"That's a two seater."

"So? I think…" He made a show of looking around. "We are with two. And you're driving like an eighty year old grandma."

"If we make an arrest and have to bring Denend to the precinct, we need three seats, Lucifer."

"Mm." He gave that a thought. "You could sit on my lap, detective."

"While your driving?"

"Details, detective." He laughed. "You never know what might come up when you're sitting on my lap."

She first didn't get the point but when he winked and looked at her with a suggestive grin, she rolled her eyes. That only made him to laugh louder.

"Denend seems to be a knife fighter," she said to change subject.

"Maybe, maybe not. Stabbing someone is not the same as being a knife fighter. Maze, you saw her when we first met, is a knife fighter. No human or demon can beat her."

"Demon?" Chloe opened her eyes wide for a second.

"She is a demon, detective."

"Of course she is. Than, what is she doing in the Lux?"

"We came to Earth together. Once or twice a month she goes back with me to hell, stays there for a few weeks and than comes back to Earth a bit later."

"A bit later?" Chloe couldn't help to roll her eyes again. "You said two weeks."

"Time in hell goes much faster, detective. If she stays down for two weeks and then use her pentecostal coin to come back, on Earth only half an hour is passed."

Chloe shook her head. "And why does she stay for two weeks in hell, if I'm allowed to ask?"

"To torture some souls. Bligh me, detective. She would be an angry and unhappy demon if she had to stay on Earth forever. This way she can blow off steam and just party during the weeks she is on Earth."

Chloe glanced at him. "I hope this is just a metaphor. You're not really torturing people somewhere in a hidden room in the Lux."

"In the Lux? No. I just told you, in hell."

"Lucifer! If the two of you keep people prisoned in the Lux I will have to arrest you."

"Oh. As I said before, I like handcuffs, detective. We can add whips or chains to the game."

"This is not a joke! I don't want to arrest you."

"Why not, detective?"

"Well…" She studied his face, his expression.

He laughed again, shook his head. "Look where ever you want in the Lux. You will find nothing, nor anywhere on Earth. On Earth is nothing to find."

"Good."

"Why, detective?"

"Well." She took a deep breath. "Despite your strange behavior, I like working with you."

He grinned. "What a confession, detective. I like working with you too. Over there is space to park."

They had reached the building where Denend should live and she parked on the spot he mentioned. It was the moment Cacuzza called back.

Denend's apartment was on the fifth floor of a building There was a gallery with doors on one side and a balcony on the other with the street down below. Chloe rang the bell, the door was opened. "Yes?"

"George Denend?"

"Yes." He looked bad, his eyes not really focussing on her, breathing quickly, pale and Chloe smelled alcohol.

She showed her badge. "LAPD. Can we come in?"

"Do you have a warrant?"

"No," Chloe admitted.

"Then you can't come in."

"You flew to Dallas last week. Two days before Paul Rice was killed."

"I don't know a Paul Rice." He wavered and had to grep the doorpost

"And airport security made a report a knife was scanned in the checked-in luggage."

"Not in my cabin luggage."

"No. But you had a knife with y…" Chloe couldn't finish the sentence. Denend came forward, push Chloe aside and tried to do the same with Lucifer. It turned out he couldn't move Lucifer. Lucifer grabbed Denend's shirt with only one hand and without any visible effort lifted him in the air.

"Let me go," Denend shouted, his feet sweeping through the air.

"You attacked a police officer," Lucifer said. "So let's go inside to find out why."

"We found a knife and Chopin's letter in George Denend's apartment, also Jan Kopec's wallet and phone," Chloe told Nancy Page through the phone. "Clothes with trails of blood. Ella is checking all that. He clearly never expected we linked him to Jan Kopec, for he was in no hurry to clean things."

"To be honest," Nancy told her. "I also don't understand how you found this Denend. Anonymous tip?" She chuckled. "Really, Chloe. You have an unbelievable anonymous tipster in LA."

"Sorry, Nancy. I also don't know how my source gets that information. He only uses metaphors when asked. Anyway. Denend claims him killing Paul was an accident. He thought the house was empty and suddenly Paul came downstairs. He also claims killing Jan was an accident. They should negotiate the money he would get, but suddenly Jan attacked him."

"Good," Nancy concluded. "Two cases closed. Well done, detective Decker."

"Lieutenant Olivia Monroe said the same: well done, detective Decker," Chloe told Ella.

Ella smiled. "Good for you. But how did Lucifer know about George Denend? Do you think he has contacts within the LAPD that did tell him? Or a private investigator that works for him?"

Chloe and Ella were preparing diner, that was: they had placed two frozen dinners in the microwave and were now waiting for the timer to expire. A frozen meal was good enough, since Trixie was with Dan.

"Contact within the LAPD?" Chloe shook her head. "How would that contact know? Private investigator? Same problem. How would anyone know?" She chuckled, let her head hang down. "You know what the only explanation is, that really make sense of what all Lucifer can do?"

"Yes," Ella said. "That he is the devil and he spoke with these souls in hell."

Chloe looked up. The microwave pinged, but she didn't move, only looked at Ella. Ella shrugged. "We already decided he is too nice. Can't be the devil."

Chloe nodded. "I don't believe in God or the bible." She reached for the microwave and took the meals out. "One day we will discover Lucifer's secrets."

Ella grinned. They ate and after that cleaned up. "Maybe we need to see more of him," Ella mused.

"See more of who?

"Lucifer. We only see him during the day working with you. Maybe we need to see what he does in the evening in the Lux to understand his tricks."

"You mean…" Chloe wavered.

"Trix is with your soon-ex. Let's go to the Lux. We stay out of sight and see what he does."

"Stay out of sight?"

Ella nodded. "I have seen pictures and recordings on social media. It's a large club with dark sides and corners. And always busy We stay in a corner. Lucifer will overlook us in the shadows and we might see him performing one of his tricks."

Chloe still hesitated. "What if he sees us?"

Ella shrugged. "Then we say hello and hope he offers us a free drink."

In the end Chloe gave in and soon they found themselves in the queue of people waiting to enter the Lux. "This will take an hour," Chloe murmured.

"I guess just half an hour," Ella objected.

"Is this worth the time? We should go home."

Ella gave Chloe a disproving look. "Do we want to find his secret?"

Chloe shrugged. She doubted looking at a piano playing, drinking and flirting Lucifer would reveal anything.

A bouncer was walking along the queue. A few times he started talking with persons in the waiting line and twice a couple left the line.

"Checking whether they are dressed good enough for the Lux," Ella whispered. Both Chloe and Ella looked at the people before and after them and at their own clothes. They both frowned. "Shit," Ella said softly. "We should have thought of this. But I do not own a dress, neither shoes with golden sequins."

Chloe pursued her lips. She was wearing old jeans. As far as she could see almost no other woman was. Three yards in front of them the bouncer addressed someone. "Hello, sir," Chloe heard the bouncer say. "I'm Jerry. Nice to see you."

"Hi."

"And who are you?" the bouncer continued.

"Nicolas."

The bouncer smiled and shacked hands. "Listen, Nicolas. Your shoes." They started a discussion about Nicolas' shoes, that were worn-out according to the bouncer and in the end Nicolas and two friends left the line. Three seconds later the bouncer looked at Chloe and came to her.

"I'm Jerry. Nice to see you."

It must be a prepared phrase. Chloe suppressed a sigh. "Hi, I'm Chloe Decker."

He froze for a moment, gave her a good look. "Excuse me?"

"Chloe Decker."

He took his phone, swiped, looked again at her. "Detective Decker?"

"That's me. Sorry, I don't have my badge with me to prove it."

"You have friends with you, miss Decker?"

Chloe gestured. "Ella."

He checked his phone again. "Ella Lopez? My apologies, ladies. You don't have to queue for the Lux. Please come with me, both of you are on the VIP list. You can go to the entrance directly."

"You came with one car?" he asked while one of his colleagues opened the rope that blocked the entrance.

"Not by car. Uber," Chloe answered.

"In case you ever come by car, for both of you a spot is reserved in our garage. B12 on the second floor for you, miss Decker. B-zero-5 on the same floor for miss Lopez. Entrance of the garage is to the left, around the corner."

While they walked to the main space Chloe said: "VIP list? Reserved parking spaces?"

"Don't ask me," Ella mumbled and then chuckled.

"You really think we can still hide at the side of the dance floor in the shadows? Or will they warn Lucifer we entered?"

Ella shrugged. They reached the balcony above the dance floor and looked down. Lucifer was playing the piano and singing. Up to now they had only heard his play on a phone recording with limited sound quality. This time it was real life and it was the voice of an angel, the play of an angel. On both sides next to him on the piano stool, a woman was sitting. Chloe gritted her teeth. Both women were so close that their leg touched his. Both in a short, sexy dress, showing legs and cleavage. On his left an African American on his right a blonde white woman.

Ella elbowed her. "There is an empty table in that corner. Not too much light around it."

"Yes, yes." They descended the stairs and turned to the mentioned corner before Lucifer had finished his song.

"He can't have seen us," Ella whispered.

Maybe he couldn't, but within minutes the woman that had phoned Lucifer the previous time Chloe was in the Lux, came to their table with two cocktails.

"Maze, wasn't it?" Chloe asked.

"Indeed."

"Sorry, but we didn't order anything."

"On the house. Welcome's cocktail. You're both on the VIP list, that means free drinks and free snacks."

"All evening?" Ella asked.

Maze had already turned away, but turned back. "VIP list is permanent. Every evening you visit."

"You and Lucifer seem very close," Chloe said.

Maze smiled. "I followed him through the gates of hell."

"I take that metaphor as a yes. He called you a demon. Is that a roll you play?"

"Play a roll?" Maze laughed. "You like roll play in the bed? I do. And by the way, I am a demon. I was forged in the bowels of hell to torture the guilty for all of eternity."

Chloe rolled her eyes. Maze gave her a last smile and went back to the bar.

"Maze found us in this dark corner almost immediately," Chloe said, facing Ella.

Ella sighed, nodded, looked past Chloe and said: "So does Lucifer."

Chloe realized the piano had stopped playing. She turned her head and saw Lucifer coming straight at them, drink in one hand and smiling.

"Detective, miss Lopez. How good to see both of you here." Lucifer took the empty chair next to Chloe. "You didn't bring your daughter?"

"Lucifer, she is eight. I expect she is in bed and sleeping."

He raised his eye brows. "But you don't know?"

"She is with Dan tonight."

He took a deep breath and looked at her with his eyes half closed. "With Dan. And when we had diner she was with you."

"Yes."

"I'm no expert in marriage. Never been married, never ask whether my bed partners are married. But I discussed this with you with Linda…"

"Linda?" Chloe interrupted him, suddenly tensed. Was that one of the two bimbo's on the piano stool? Did he discuss her with those women?

"Doctor Linda Martin. My therapist. I have sessions with her twice a week. Helps me understand human emotions and so."

"Ah," Chloe said and relaxed.

"And Linda explained it sounds as if the two of you are living apart, preparing for a divorce."

Chloe looked away, not answering immediately. Then she sighed. "I've told Dan I want a divorce. He thinks it's better for Trixie to stay together." Damned. They were here to find out things about Lucifer, not to let him learn her things about her.

He touched the back of her hand with his fingertips. "Does that mean you're on the market?"

"I don't do one-night stands."

"I know. I mean for a date."

"A date that ends in a one-night stand? No."

"A date that ends in a good night kiss at half ten. No sex. To learn each other a bit better."

Ella was looking away, but Chloe was sure she had heard the little conversation and Chloe was more than sure that later – back at home – Ella would explode if she said no.

"Why would you want a date with me?' she asked. Under the table Ella gave her a kick.

"As I said, to learn you better."

"Why me? I am a single mom, mid thirties, workaholic. You left two sexy ladies behind to talk with us."

It provided her a second kick from Ella.

"Two sexy ladies?" Lucifer asked with eyebrows high.

"Next to you while you were playing."

"Ah, those." He shrugged. "I'd never seen them before, never spoke to them. They invited themselves to sit next to me on the stool when I was already playing. Not that I objected."

"And if Ella and I hadn't come, would you have gone to sleep with them?" A third kick from Ella came.

"Possible. I had not yet decided. Oh, and not to sleep, detective." He grinned.

"Exactly," Chloe said. "But I would expect the guy I'm dating to go for a monogamous, exclusive relation."

Ella covered her face with her hands and sighed.

"Would you?" Lucifer asked. He looked at the people dancing for some seconds and then turned back to her, all serious now. "If we don't call it a date? Just spend one evening together doing nice things."

"But why me?" Chloe repeated. "I won't sleep with you."

"Because I think we can be more than friends. Because you're the only one that sees me and not this irresistible and attractive body."

More than friends. So he thinks they are already friends. "Ok, just one evening," she gave in. "No night."

His face lighted up again. "Will you have a new case tomorrow? I would like to assist you, if you want of course."

"You really do? With me?"

From the corners of her eyes she noticed Ella's furious look

"Of course," Lucifer said. "We were a great crime fighting duo during your last two cases. And I really enjoy working with you. Give me a call if you have a case."

"It would be more easy to call you if you had a mobile," Chloe said.

"But we can call the Lux," Ella interrupted. "We will do."

Lucifer laughed. "That will do." He stands up and held out his hand to Chloe. "Shall we dance?"

"Go," Ella hissed.

Next morning in the precinct when Chloe came in, Dan was standing at her desk with a displeased look on his face. Even before she could sit down he snapped: "Trixie told me he visited your house."

It was clear to Chloe to whom Dan referred with he. "Yes. What is your point?"

"Chlo'! I told you to stop seeing that crook." He lowered his voice, looked around and hissed: "They will all laugh at me."

"They?"

"All my colleagues. What do you think they will say if my wife sells herself to some criminal playboy."

"I don't sell myself," she almost shouted. "Get out of my way."

His lips trembled, his face turned red, but he looked around. Chloe did the same and saw all their colleagues looking. Dan grumbled, turned away to go to his own desk.

Before she was finished checking her mail, her phone rang. A number that was not in her contact list. "Decker?"

"Hello, detective."

She immediately recognized both the voice and the London accent. "Lucifer?"

"Indeed. I did what you told me to do."

"You did what I tol… Give me a hint. I have no idea what I told you to do."

"To buy a mobile. I did. The best I could find. So you can bookmark this number."

With the best he most likely meant the most expensive, but she smiled. "Good. Then I can reach you if needed."

"As soon as you have a case, detective. Promise me."

"I will," she gave in. "As soon as I have a case."

Just before noon lieutenant Monroe handed Chloe a file. "A woman poisoned. You can take this one?"

So she gave Lucifer a call. "… but I first have to read this file."

"No problem, detective. I'm on my way. I will look at you while you read."