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The car ride in the Lieutenant's Oldsmobile to the crime scene was sufficiently awkward. Hank had insisted that Elodie take the front seat in lieu of Connor, which had sent Elodie's nerves into a haywire. She hadn't been in a car with an actual driver in years, and so she spent the entire ride with her body pressed against the side of the car and her feet wedged against the floor in a vain attempted to brace her body against the possibility of an accident. This had caused instant offense with Hank, who'd launched into a rant that had ended with threatening to make her hitchhike the rest of the way. To make things worse, Connor had attempted to lull the tension in the car by listing off all of the facts it had managed to learn about Hank during the day.
Elodie hadn't put the pieces of the puzzle together, too frazzled by her experience with Gavin Reed to do more than to let the android know that she was leaving for the day. It was only whilst sitting in the car that she realised the desk Connor had been pouring over was Hank's. Much to the horror of both Elodie and the lieutenant, the android had begun to quickly rattle off the items it had analyzed for information. Hank remained completely silent until Connor broached the topic of his dog which Connor had discovered by analyzing the hairs on Hank's coat.
" It's a Saint Bernard, right lieutenant? I was unable to acquire the dog's name but if you would allow me th—"
"Silence! Silence! I need silence."
Elodie hadn't realised until that moment that he was gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were bright white. Connor obliged, and the interior of the car fell into an uneasy quiet.
After a minute or so, Connor spoke again.
"Would it be ok if you were to play some Knights of the Black Death? I really enjoy their music. They make a lot of interesting sounds and noises."
Hank sighed in resignation, rolling his eyes. Without another word, he fiddled with the car's stereo. Moments later, the car filled with the sound of aggressive heavy metal. Elodie clenched her jaw, resigning herself to endure the cacophony for the sake of peace.
Ten minutes later and they were pulling onto a street filled with news vans. Despite the sleet of rain, a crowd of people were gathered outside one of the houses, the front yard of which had been fenced off with yellow tape. The bright light from one of the vans illuminated the house in stark white, harsh shadows thrown on the weatherboard, the silhouettes of police standing guard.
