[i]With [@nightmare medx][/i]


“I’ll be the bad cop and you’ll be the good cop,” Blythe said. [i]Sweet-talking[/i] wasn’t exactly her thing, but people were. Their every desire or fear or irritation would be as open to her as a library catalog, and nowhere near as fixed.

[i]“Open to us, you mean,”[/i] Kolratheth purred into Blythe’s thoughts. [i]”I hope you find someone especially corruptible. That could be enough to satisfy me… for a short time.”[/i]

Blythe mentally rolled her eyes, even as something deep in her belly relaxed. She had an out. For now.

“Let’s try the corner store first. They're probably open late.” She pointed out a pharmacy with rows of sunglasses and cheap tchotchkes in the window. It was a block away on the corner with a bright red and white sign that read Darcy’s Pharmaceuticals in curling script.

“Drug stores usually have good cameras, too… with the drugs and all,” Adri said, pulling the strangely modern strap to Al’s camera over her head so the camera rested on her hip, throwing her sweatshirt over top. It saved her from taking a trip back to her car, or trying to juggle everything in her arms.

She patted herself down before they left as if something might have gone missing while she was standing there. “With any luck, they’re the owners of the closest camera to the body so we can narrow down who’s best to talk to next.” Of course, she was already looking ahead, mapping out the rest of the investigation. They needed information to figure out this scene, of course, but supposedly there were previous victims, which raised the question of whether this was a spree killing or a set of serial murders…

“So all we know is that this isn’t the first victim, not when the previous ones happened?” she asked, pulling herself out of her head.

“Unfortunately—or possibly fortunately— mysterious, divine voices aren't always the most forthcoming,” Blythe said dryly. “Until we have something more tangible to go on, you'll just have to bug Teajay for any details she can get. Not that heaven will answer. They don't exactly have a direct line.”

[i]“One the many added benefits of going the route of demonic possession.”[/i]

[i]“Oh yeah? Are there others?”[/i]

 Without waiting for an answer, Blythe swung open the door to the pharmacy, taking in the chaotic array of toys, medicines, useless decorative nonsense, and small useful items like umbrellas and reading glasses. The counter was at the back, the uninterested slouch of a person just visible behind the counter. She held open the door for Adri and then followed her in, gesturing towards the cashier with a nod.

“After you.”

“Thank you. Yeah, they aren’t forthcoming until they want to mess with your head at which point… you hear many things. I don’t know how many of the things I’ve learned are real things, but they [i]are[/i], nevertheless…” 

Adri walked in with an air of authority as always, a friendly but not overly happy smile on her face. Her eyes darted around, assessing the room as she marched directly to the counter. Leah, assuming the name tag was correct, straightened up and tapped her glossy blue nails on the counter as the duo entered.

“Hi there. How can I help you?” Leah was pleasant, although it was clear from the tone of her voice and the slump of her shoulders that she did [i]not[/i] want to be here. 

“Hi. I’m Detective Blake. We’re investigating an incident that occurred in the alley next to the store and need to see if the cameras here caught anything. Can you get your manager or whoever would be able to help me with that?”

“Uh. Yeah, of course, just, uh… wait here, I’ll go grab my manager.” Leah followed along her counter, heading through a door to a back room.

“So… 240229-1003,” she muttered to herself. It was usually the bigger businesses that wanted a case number, but you never knew.

“240229-1003,” Blythe repeated precisely, cataloging it in her memory with customary efficiency. 

She was sure she didn't look like a cop. Maybe a Fed, given the business clothes, but a lifetime of peering over tomes and at computer screens didn't exactly give one a cop-like stance. Subtly, she eyed Adri, placing her feet a little farther apart and mimicking her expression. Blythe shook her head and gave it up just as Leah returned with her manager. Bart, by his name tag.

The stench of worry and lust hit her before he even reached the counter. The man was average looking—not particularly greasy or well-groomed. He was maybe in his thirties, with an unfortunately recessed hairline despite his young age, a slightly hooked nose, and the physique of someone who had a gym membership but didn't spend more than a cursory amount of time there. The idea of police in his store had sent a jolt of anxiety through his belly that Kolratheth was already greedily breathing in, and… other stirrings pointed towards a distinct interest in both his visitors.

So predictable…

“Officers,” Bart said, putting on a flimsy show of good manners, “How can I help you?”

Blythe pulled back, allowing the professional to go to work first. She would just [i]assist[/i] a little. From behind Adri, she smiled at Bart and began to dampen his worry. Maybe it was true that everyone felt a little guilty in the presence of a cop. Maybe he had a bit of drugs stashed somewhere in his car or had lifted something that didn't belong to him. No matter. He wasn't feeling it now. In its place, she gave his lust a little nudge.

His breathing slowed a little, his pupils darkened. Bart's smile left off being something strained and started being something he couldn't quite get off his face. “Anything you need.”

Kolratheth purred.

“Hi, Bart?” Adri said, offering her hand to shake. Bart’s handshake was sweaty and firm. “I’m Detective Blake. We’re investigating an incident that happened in the alley and your security cameras might have caught footage that we need. So, we’re here to see your cameras.

“Ah. Mmmm. Well, we’re not [i]really[/i] supposed to do this without a requisition order, but why don’t you two come back to the security office and you can… fiddle around, find what you need?”

He gestured for them to follow. “Thank you, Bart.”

Blythe and Kolratheth sighed in unison. It was a little disappointing that he had been so easy to convince. She hadn’t really had the chance to show off her skills in front of the Sunday group.

They followed Bart to the back, Blythe glancing around curiously at the employee-only section of the pharmacy. It felt a little strange. Like being somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be even though they had permission. Or else like looking into the guts of a computer or dissected frog. Maybe a combination of the two.

She smiled at Bart when she caught him glancing back, and he started chatting away, evidently no longer concerned about company policies. “Is this about all the noise last night? I got a frantic call from one of the employees last night talking about screams.”

“Oh yeah?” Blythe asked. “Did they wake you up?”

“No, it was only around eleven. I offered to drive in to investigate, but she said it didn’t last long.” 

[i]“I’m sure he did…”[/i]

Blythe let some of her laughter show in her smile. “That was brave of you. What did they hear?”

“A crash loud enough to shake the windows—a few of the lucky cats were broken this morning, having fallen off their display— and screams. She said it sounded like someone fleeing the scene of a crime but she didn’t see anyone.”

He stopped in front of a dingy door leading into an even dingier office, home to a tiny desk and a computer showing several camera angles in and outside the store. Papers covered most of the desk, and it had been a long time since the small trash can in the corner had been emptied if the odor was anything to go on. A few empty togo boxes half spilled out of it, and the desk sported a number of cold disposable coffee cups all bearing the name Bart in cheerful sharpie scrawl. 

Bart seemed to have forgotten about the mess because now he blushed. “Sorry. I keep meaning to get the other manager to clean up her mess, but you know how it is.”

“It’s all good,” Adri said with a wave of her hand. “May I?”

“Absolutely, go right ahead, right ahead.”

She didn’t sit down- she wasn’t sure she wanted to. The software was one she had dealt with before; with practiced ease she was shuffling the feeds she needed onto the screen. “You said around eleven, are you certain of that?” she asked, not looking up from her work. She could feel his eyes on her backside and resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

“Yes, one hundred percent. I have cable and… a particular… show… that I watch had just come on.”

She rewound the tapes to 9pm, just to be safe, letting the video play at a rapid speed as she patted her pocket before pulling out a flash drive. “This’ll just be a minute,” she said with a glance over to Blythe. “You all good?”

“Unequivocally,” Blythe said and then stiffened as a slouching, ill-dressed form briefly crossed the screen. “Wait. Who was that?”

“Oh him?” Bart said it in a way that suggested that they couldn't possibly be interested in that person. “Just a homeless guy that hangs around the area. I haven't seen him today, but I'm sure he'll be back. He's like a roach that way. Impossible to get rid of.”

Blythe exchanged a glance with Adri. “And he was here yesterday? Before the late night call?”

“Like I said: he always is.”

[i]Except not today.[/i]

[i]“Excellent choice for a victim, don't you think?” [/i]Kolratheth asked. [i]“No one to miss him.”[/i]

[i]“Why? Are you taking notes?”[/i]

[i]“As if you'd let me go after someone not assuredly guilty of much worse crimes than loitering….”[/i]

He sounded petulant, but Blythe was glad her demon hadn't pushed her this time. With a thought, she turned down the lust ramping up in Bart’s imagination. “I think that's about all we need, don't you, officer?”

“I have no further questions, so… once we get the footage…”

And there it was. “I think we have something here.” Once the file was copied to the flash drive, Adri pulled it out, jotted it down, and flashed a smile at Bart.

“Thank you for your assistance.”

Blythe squashed any emotion in the pharmacy manager but paranoia and he ushered them out without a second thought. Together, they turned away from the pharmacy and back towards the others.