❛𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃, 𝐈'𝐌 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐀 𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐗...❜ | 𝐍𝐨. 𝟏

Chapter 16- Not Safe For Work...

(MENTIONS MURDER)
The amount of times i've been told 'Happy Birthday' today is maddening.

I blow out the previous sparkling lighters, and everyone at the department takes a slice of cake each.

Birthdays in Police Department's are a lot more of a deal than you'd think they are.

I sit down at my desk with my feet elevated as i enjoy my cup of coffee and chocolate cake, when Andy punches in the door with his index knuckle, "Happy Birthday."

"Mm, sure. Have a seat, i'll make you a brew."

"Cheers." i pour in the piping hot liquid from my rose gold kettle, "We gotta keep the Melanie Thorne case under wraps. Lauren almost caught that text you sent me when we were in Santorini."

"Did i get you in trouble with the Mistress?" he jokes.

"No, Andy. I just need to make sure she doesn't find out in an ugly way...we had so much fun in Greece..." i glimpse over toward the photograph of me, Lauren and Maxy snorkelling just a few days ago that is sat on my desk in a wooden frame.

"I don't want to ruin what Lauren and i have."

"Why not tell her? I told you, we have an address for Victor Thorne, so let's go and question him."

Apparently a rookie intern from the Police Department in Oxford let slip the personal information that was lost in the files.

I don't see there being much chance of Lauren introducing me to her father; she labels him a 'stuck up old white man'.

I hate him already.

"If i tell Lauren, a professional dominatrix, that i am working on a case about her parents, one who supposedly killed the other, when she'd rather let sleeping dogs lie, it's hardly going to end well, is it, mate?" he scratches the back of his neck in regret, "Yeah, i see your point now."

I set down the mug and collapse back into my chair, "How much of a case do we even have?"

"It's not always about the evidence we do have, it's about the evidence we don't have. The police never found any evidence that the place was burgled."

"Mm, that's true...and, the detectives down at Oxford did a shoddy job of interviewing Victor. The tape was no longer than 10 minutes, and the most obvious questions were asked. Any good detective knows that you don't go straight to the point when interviewing someone."

"Exactly. The guy was loaded too, right?"

"Lauren did say she came from a well off family...the bastard bribed, didn't he?"

"My initial guess. No detective lets a guy under the speculation of murder off the hook that easily. Let's listen to the tape again. Maybe there's something we missed." i fish out the tape recorder device that contains sacred information about the night that Melanie Thorne died...

I hear a soft thud sound, faintly. They probably offered him a glass of water, as they do with everyone. It's not long after we hear the opening and closing of a door, click click.

A metal chair scrapes across a rough floor, searing through our ears. Was the silence meant to intimidate him?

No fucking clue.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr Thorne. I'm sure you're very distraught by your wife's death." distraught, my ass. "How long is this going to take?"

"Not long. We've taken a look at your security tapes, Mr Thorne. There's no sign of any break in."

"The buggers must've had the key. An inside job." the detective on the other line takes a short pause before speaking, "Are you a detective, Mr Thorne? Or do you just watch true crime documentaries?"