Chapter Text
Eliza bit her lip as she stepped out of the police station. She pulled out a cigarette from her pack, put it to her lips, took out her lighter, and watched as it began to burn. She breathed it in before taking it away from her lips and sighing.
The cool fall air brushed past her, the green leaves from the trees being no more, a vibrant orange in their place instead. It reminded her of her school years. After all, this was when the new school year began.
That’s how old he was, right? Finally going back to school after years of working. Barely starting college, and he was already dead. Murdered by someone who had supposedly been in love with him.
Adam Rivera. He was 21 years old at the time of his death. He had been valedictorian and had just about everyone loving him for his apparently amazingly kind heart. After caring for his brother for 3 years, he was finally ready to go to college. He’d always gone out of his way to help anyone who needed him. He was a saint, to the point that it was almost irritating to some people. If anyone hated him, they sure hid it well. Well, maybe except for that infamous Versailles kid. What a strange name.
She’d heard all about him from her brother, who was now set to rot in a cell for his crimes. Eliza had never been particularly fond of her younger brother. He was a pathetic narcissist who had no shame whatsoever most of the time. Maybe she should’ve been bothered, maybe she should have felt hurt, betrayed, something.
She didn’t. The only thing she felt was confusion.
She wasn’t stupid. There was a reason she was a detective, after all. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she was constantly overworking herself, but she just couldn’t wrap her head around the case. Wasn’t it obvious that there were too many inconsistencies?
First off, he willingly turned himself in. Samuel was too much of a coward to willingly take responsibility for his actions, especially if it meant jail time. Her coworkers didn’t know that, though. They didn’t have to deal with him for 19 years, so they really couldn’t have known.
Putting that aside, the story overall didn’t make sense to her. Samuel did not hesitate to answer during his interview, not even a small pause. His eyes seemed so… tired. As if he didn’t care what happened to him.
She took one last drag for her cigarette before letting it go and stepping on it after it fell to the ground.
“Hello there, gorgeous.” Henry stepped out, giving Eliza a good-humored smile. He kissed her cheek and noticed the crumbled remains of the cigarette and gave her a slightly disappointed look. “You know I don’t like to see you smoke. It’s bad for you.” He cupped her chin with his hand and looked into her eyes. Eliza turned her gaze away, nodding in agreement.
“I know, I know. But you know I smoke when I’m stressed.” A nasty habit she had gotten from her father. She was more like him than her mother. Maybe that’s why her brother and her hated each other so much. Like father, like daughter.
“C’mon, don’t feel bad. How come you're stressed in the first place?” He let go of her chin and put his hands in his coat’s pockets, looking at her with all his attention. She loved him for that.
“It’s just…it doesn’t make sense to me. I know my brother, and he isn’t like this at all.” She spoke, almost as if she was struggling to get the words out.
“You’re such a workaholic, Elizabeth. Besides, you barely ever spoke to your brother, even before he went ahead and decided to play genie with his friends. You shouldn’t worry, okay? I don’t like seeing you this way.” Henry grabbed her hands and gave them a tight, reassuring squeeze.
“Maybe you’re right, but just hear me out.” She let go of his gentle embrace, her hands turning into fists resting at her side. “Samuel, from what he said during the interrogation, had supposedly gone to confess his love for Adam. He had been madly in love with Adam for years, which is true. Adam, being the saint he supposedly was while he was alive, gently turned him down. Samuel, my piece of crap brother, kept on begging despite the clear rejection. When he finally accepted he had been rejected, he couldn’t take it. He grabbed the nearest glass bottle he could find and smashed it into Adam’s head. He was scared out of his mind after realizing what he’d done, and ran away to a friend’s house. It was only after we arrived near the site where it happened that he turned himself in, full of remorse.
“But it just doesn’t line up. Samuel has always been obsessed with Adam. Samuel just wouldn’t hurt him like that. He’s a bundle of issues, yes, but never towards Adam. He always went out of his way to, well, at least attempt to pass as a decent person with Adam. Not only that, but he’s just not the type of person to take responsibility for his actions. I mean, I’ve dealt with this guy all my life, so I would know. And maybe he did have a change of heart, but why only after going to his friend’s house? If he really cared so much for Adam and was so horrified at his own actions, why didn't he just immediately turn himself in?
“And here’s what confuses me most: what could his supposed ‘friends’ have told him so he turned himself in? And when did that asshole ever have friends? As long as he’s known Adam, that’s been his sole focus. Adam this, Adam that, always Adam. Why would he waste his time on anyone else? Why… no, who could have possibly been the reason he took the blame?”
Henry nodded, understanding somewhat where his partner was coming from. “Okay, that does make sense. You’d know better than the rest of us, since he is your brother.”
He gently grabbed his partner’s fists once more, intertwining their fingers together, before giving her a gentle smile. “But you’ve been working a long time, Eliza. You know just as well as I do you tend to overwork yourself a lot. What matters right now is for us to get home and take a break.” His gentle smile turned into a good-humored one as he spoke the next sentence. “If you promise to take a break, I might, just might, consider doing all the housework for this week. But only if you promise me.”
She smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Alright, I promise.” With Henry, it seemed like all her worries melted away at the blink of an eye.
But the question still remained. Who’d been responsible for Samuel’s turning in, and what had led up to Adam’s murder?
The last thing she would have expected was six love-struck teenagers to be the answer.