The Venus

Chapter 2

The Beginning of the End

The hands of the large clock indicated that it was just after eleven o'clock. Officer Melissa Xanders had been waiting at Captain Paschall's desk for nearly three-quarters of an hour. Just before he had left the scene of the crime, he had told her to meet him in his office. He himself was in what they called a bubble. A space surrounded by thick glass walls, where the rest of the world's bustle and noise could not penetrate. Or at least very, very hard. Paschall had said he needed such a space. The administration had said they had no budget for it, so Paschall had done what he was good at. He had taken care of it himself. A contractor with a small army of workers had worked hard on it one weekend, which happened to be the time when the administration was never in the building. She had glimpsed that the room had a conference table with eight very comfortable chairs, a giant flat screen on the wall, and a hammock tucked away in a corner. Melissa had briefly considered that this was a very strange piece of furniture to find in a police station. She quickly pushed the thought aside. She thought that if even ten percent of what she had heard about Paschall was true, a hammock might be the least strange thing. Paschall slowly worked his way through a ring binder. She was here to give her account of that morning and what she had found. It would be an interrogation of sorts, ending with the preparation of an official statement to be added to the file. She knew that it was important to the investigators that the information still fresh in the officers' minds be extracted from this head in its raw form. Small, trivial things that civilian witnesses might miss completely had a greater chance of being noticed by a trained officer's eye. That's why it was necessary to have an interview, even if it sometimes took the form of an interrogation. Paschall came out of the bubble. He tossed the ring binder onto his desk and sat down with a thud. Within reach of his desk chair was a small refrigerator. He pulled out an energy drink for himself and pointed at the contents as he looked at Melissa.

"Something soft, or would you prefer coffee or tea?"

"A Diet Coke please."

She watched him wrinkle his nose for a moment, then pulled out the can and slid it across the desk to her. She leaned over to take the can and suddenly saw that the ring binder was her extensive personnel file. She found it odd that the Captain seemed to have to read her file before he could start writing a statement. He opened the can, took a few big swigs and looked at her with his piercing, bright green eyes. She felt like the man could see right into her soul. As if none of her secrets, small or large, could be hidden from those eyes. She began to feel a little uncomfortable under his gaze. The slight irritation she had felt after he had kept her waiting for more than half an hour surely played a role. Especially now that not even a small apology seemed forthcoming. As he looked at her piercingly, she watched him in return. She thought he must be about six feet tall, half-long wild blond curls that fell to his shoulders, very well built, neatly dressed in what looked like an expensive tailored suit. Most striking, however, were his green eyes. She had never seen such green eyes, and they radiated a deep intelligence. From one of his drawers he took out a Dictaphone. Paschall picked up his fountain pen from the desk and played with it for a moment. She saw that it was a Mont Blanc pen and guessed it was a very expensive edition, since the manufacturer had gone to great lengths to make the pen look inexpensive. Paschall pointed the pen at her:

"I know your face from somewhere, but I can't place it yet."

Of course he knew where he had met her before, but it was a little white lie to put her at ease, to get into the questions more relaxed. Melissa wanted to say something because she knew damn well where he knew her from, but a hand gesture silenced her:

"No, never mind. Just let my brain crunch, I'll get to it in a minute."

He looked over her shoulder for a moment and said to the only other detective present: