The Starling Saviour

Chapter 82

The SCPD were soon at the crime scene, the detective duo that were Quentin Lance and Lucas Hilton scanning the area while Helena examined the bodies for answers.

'This is one strange crime scene, I'll tell you that,' Quentin opened our conversation as I entered the office, his face crumpled as he tried to figure out everything. 'Why would the copycat archer kill this Rosenburg's murderer? I know he's connected to Merlyn Global somehow, and now he kills someone from that exact place, but we thought that he was helping them, not against them.'

'Maybe he just gets a thrill from murder,' I supposed, trying to cover up any knowledge I or the SCPD had of Malcolm being the archer. 'Or maybe he came by to kill Samuel and because he couldn't, killed the other guy in anger?'

'Pride,' Quentin concluded with a nod. 'Like little kids fighting over who gets to play with murder.'

'Exactly!' I nodded a bit over the top. 'The guy's a psycho, he's probably just killing innocent people at random.'

'Anyway, enough of that, how are you?' Quentin checked in with me. 'You did just witness a double homicide and could've got caught up in the crossfire yourself.'

'It's not like I haven't seen stuff like this before,' I reminded the detective, but I quickly filled in the gaps before any more questions arose. 'I worked at the SCPD for a long time, I've seen worse. And I'm alive.'

'Still, it's okay to be scared,' Quentin smiled at me with sympathy, feeling sorry for me. 'You always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, don't you, Miss Coleman?'

'You're right about that,' I laughed nervously, knowing fully well that I had been in too many of these situations, and that some clever detective would soon join up the dots and realise who really killed Samuel Rosenburg. 'Do you mind if I go talk to Tommy? He's... Pretty shaken up.'

'That's fine, your boyfriend needs you right now,' Quentin nodded, knowing something I had definitely not told him.

'How do you-?' I almost gasped.

'I'm a detective, Aria, if it's obvious, I'm gonna know,' he chuckled, but that just scared me more; would Quentin be able to figure out what really happened at the crime scene too?

Finally having come to terms with everything, I didn't hold back as I hugged Tommy tightly, it being the only right thing to do. He looked back at me after I withdrew, a confused look on his face.

'I thought you would hate me, after what happened,' he whispered, leading me outside where no cops could hear us. 'I just... You know, and you hugged me?'

'I was shocked, and scared of you, frankly,' I explained, not holding back on this either. 'Now I understand why you reacted to me like you did when you found out I was... Her. But, because of what you did, we're safe from any threats or danger, just like when I shot the Dodger for the same reasons. You're a hero, Tommy, not a villain, and please remember that when you think about today. In the past, I have tortured myself about what crimes I committed, but now when I think of them, I know I did it all to protect the people I love and save this city. Just, please don't make this a habit, okay?'

'I won't,' Tommy smiled, looking slightly less upset. 'I told the police that the masked dude shot Rosenburg and then the copycat archer took the masked dude's life as an eye for an eye thing. Oh, what did you say? I really hope we didn't give two different stories, because-'