Chapter Text
I may have placed myself in a suboptimal situation.
I have one wrist cuffed to the heavy desk dominating the 'counseling quarters'. The light dangling above has started flickering periodically since I met Sosuke here.
It's certainly a different perspective being on the other side, facing the other way.
Thankfully, I'm not here for being a killer, just a dubiously ethical lawyer. With some dubiously ethical connections. I can probably just say I was lying, 'in distress', and be able to walk out with nothing but a slap on the wrist.
But I won't. I can't.
I had got that call.
Diamani, ashamed over static.
Serra, taken into custody, taken as 'evidence'.
Do they usually need to leave witnesses to stew this long?
Am I still a witness in this situation?
The door swings open, undampened, so its handle slams into the wall.
Detective London steps in.
"Where's Ms. Bar Hopper?", I start, might as well skip the staring contest.
"She needed to let off some steam. Something about... well, something."
He slides into the chair across from me.
I readjust myself, the frigid metal of the handcuff begins digging into the skin between my sleeve and my glove.
"I assume you know how much trouble you've caused?", he says, voice low.
I try smiling brightly. "Whatever do you mean? All I've done is claim to have some information regarding the infamous Heartbreak Killer."
London just sighs, "Thats the thing, we've been starved of anything even close to resembling a lead. And you've just been sitting on this for what, weeks? Months?"
"Nothing too long". I insist, my eyes crinkling.
"Regardless, I was briefed that this information is conditional," London says, rolling his eyes. This is the first time I've seen that. Also the first time I've been interrogated, but the gesture still nags at me. "Mind telling me what you think is valuable enough to hold onto information about a wanted serial killer?"
"Ever heard of a little Bar called Kintsugi?" I feel the edges my mouth drop a little, the flickering bulb reflecting between my eyelashes.
"Sounds familiar."
It probably should, it was just sacked last night.
"It probably shouldn't, place is really niche, like a hipster bar."
"Oh, wait, I remember. That bar that had begun acting as an Ikariya hangout."
I try not to grit my teeth. That metal on my sleeve is really pissing me off.
"Oh! I didn't know that, anyway, that place holds some personal importance to me, so you can't imagine how hurt I was, finding that it's been foreclosed as result of some suspected, laundering."
London hums, closing his eyes for a moment.
"I'm not following. We can't exactly reverse a private bank's decision. Nor can we stop an ongoing investigation for some information we don't even know the value of yet."
"Well, thats too bad! must have gotten Homicide and OC excited for nothing.
"And arson if that incident last week was pinned on HK as well."
London just sighs, sitting up and pulling his phone out on his way back through the door.
"Gimme a minute, Tiger, I'll see if there's anything I can do."
I once again get to sit and try to figure out where I'm going with this. I can definitely provide info, good info. But it's a balancing act of what's valuable and what's getting me collared and dumped into some concrete pit to live out my days.
On the other hand, things are looking pretty good for negotiations. London seems upset that I may be as corrupt as the façace I've been putting up, but he does seem eager to finally have something on Heartbreak.
Even if its coming from me.
That overly friendly, slightly scummy lawyer who keeps beating the odds.
That Mob lawyer who didn't just fight for money, but the truth of a tragic incident.
The metal on my wrist has finally begun leaving a red indentation. I almost start pulling and shaking the chain, like a child.
Why the fuck am I handcuffed, I'm not going to bolt, I'm the one who came here willingly.
I face towards the lone camera.
It's a stupid bet, but nothing to really lose.
"Hey, Emma, can you please take these off, I don't think I really constitute any risk, especially with these on."
I try to position myself, leaning over the table and lifting a foot behind me into the camera's field of view.
Black 2-inch heels.
I'm stilling eyeing the lens, the dim, red LED staring unblinkingly back.
I hold that pose for maybe a bit too long, but by the time I sit back into the chair, I hear footsteps approaching the door.
Rockford is the first in, that little knowing grin plastered across her face. London is behind her, sliding his phone back into his pocket as if he had just stepped out a second ago.
Unlike when London last came in, I don't want to initiate. Winning a hand doesn't make the next round more favourable after all.
"So..." Emma says, laying her hands spread over the desk, her smile not cracking. "You know Heartbreak."
Starting a bit heavyhanded, but not really a mistake as much as a direction.
"I wouldn't say know," I match her smile, I've had practice over the last few months. "More like... know of."
"We all 'know of' Heartbreak, Tiger," London says, leaning against the wall, "I thought you weren't a fan of this type of theatrics."
"Not usually, but I'm not usually magnified under the lens of the state."
"I'd argue you're always being dissected by the state, but if you're uncomfortable," Rockford adjusts herself to sit, not moving her hands. "Why don't we start with the basics.
"Name for the record, please"
"Evangeline Morgan"
"Huh, no middle name," london pipes in, scrolling a datapad.
"Age and occupation?"
I answer.
"Date of birth, residence number?"
I'm already tired of this game, even though I'm the one who started it.
"Isn't all this information on my ID?" I say, trying to keep a light tone.
"Hmm, some of it. This part's mostly a formality, but unless you start talking about what you came here to talk about, well, we have a lot of formalities to go through."
My teeth finally start to grit, the clenching pressure superseding the enamel friction.
Might as well cut a few steps.
"Can you guarantee the freedom of the owner of Bar Kintsugi and the Android I rent out there."
Emma looks thoughtful, but we both know she already has her next words planned.
"Depends on the value of your information, might be something we already know."
I chuckle. "From what I've been hearing, you don't know anything about heartbreak."
"We know... some things," Rockford half-concedes, "but we need to be assured you aren't sitting on nothing."
"I'm not, I assure you."
Its kind of annoying having to dance around the topic, but if I don't seem a bit reluctant, it would seem I really do have nothing. I need them to think I'm outing a certified boogieman.
"Then give us a taste," Emma says.
Ugh, Phrasing.
"I'm sure you have some snippet that you can tell us that would confirm how much you 'know of' Heartbreak."
Well here it is.
Blindfold tight, wind screaming in your ears.
Cliff ahead but you don't know how far.
The first step.
No turning back.
"I know Heartbreak isn't a man."
My mind has been racing, but it comes out of my throat smooth.
"The Heartbreak Killer is a woman?" London says, eyes widened a hair.
"Sixty now," I say.
"Shit."
"And no," I keep my momentum, "I can't say if Heartbreak is a woman, or something else, but I can say they aren't a man."
More like a monster.
"How can you be sure," Rockford doesn't seem impressed. "Did you hear them speak, see their face, their build?"
"I'm sorry, but I really can't elaborate, but I insist I know for certain."
Emma is quiet for a moment, thoughtful. For real this time, her eyes darting around a point behind me.
"Are you... or have you ever... been an accomplice to the Heartbreak Killer?"
I may have overplayed my hand on this 'taste', but the question was expected. If only I could inform my heart beating drums between my ears.
"No."
Better to answer succinctly.
Not even a lie, really. Can't be an accomplice to yourself.
"Have you met with the Heartbreak killer?"
"Yes."
"Often?"
"More often than I'd like."
I think its fair for me to say that my outings have been a bit too prolific lately. The fire was a bit much.
"Will you give us a reason?"
Thats enough of this taste, a good part of overextending is no one can say your shorting them.
"I will."
"After you assure that Diamani and Serra walk free."