Violent Eulogy

Leo

"We need to interview everyone, that's the procedure. I assure you Miss, we don't have any suspicions towards anyone before we give them a chance." I look into her eyes and try to calm her.

She steals her looks and looks at Richard desperately, who holds her gaze and gives her a sad small nod.

And we sit in uncomfortable silence for another ten minutes before the loud steps of someone approaching is finally heard.

Leo Fitzroy looks an awful lot like his sister. Same towering figure, dark green eyes, and jutting chin.

I have never seen two people who looked that much alike and gave off such different impressions.

He had a huge smug grin on his face and wore jeans and a dark red wool sweater, strands of his wet light brown hair were stuck to his forehead, he probably just got out of the shower: "Huh. I assume the hot ones handle the robberies then." He says while he sits near his sister and drinks the rest of her cold tea in one big gulp :" I mean I've seen cops before, but never like..."

Richard quickly interrupts him before we give his douchy ass the answer he deserves: "Can I get you anything? Maybe a cup of coffee to clear your head?" he sounds genuinely worried.

Leo nods, grateful: "That would be great Dick."

Erin presses her lips into a narrow angry line: "You must be Leo Fitzroy."

He nods: "In the flesh."

"We need to know where were you last night and if you have anyone who can testify for your whereabouts. And please be as specific as you can." Erin demands, upset.

His eyes widen and I instantly know what the problem is:" Miss Fitzroy, I'm sorry but I have to ask you to leave."

She tilts her head and looks at me suspiciously.

I shrug: "That's the rule."

Erin stays silent. And for that I'm grateful.

She could easily bust me out, but chose not to, maybe we really are friends on some level.

After she leaves, he lets out a long sigh of relief and looks at me with gratitude: "Thanks, I owe you one."

"Starting with where were you last night would be a good beginning." I say with a small smile.

" I was at Hotel Sillian, and yeah, I have witnesses." There is a small wicked smirk on his face that lets me know exactly what he was up to in the hotel.

Erin starts writing:" Since when?"

He tilts his head back and starts making annoying sounds with his mouth:" Hmm, I wanna say eight? Yeah probably eight. I mean you can ask Jimmy, he's the cameraman, he must know the exact time."

I try my best not to laugh, but Erin still seems to be in the dark:" The cameraman? As in..."

He clears his throat sarcastically:" Yeah."

"Oh".

And for a second there isn't any words to say.
Me and Leo both try to stifle our laughs from Erin's distraught expression.

Thankfully, Richard's arrival with a tray breaks the awkwardness.
He didn't only bring coffee, there was butter, a plate of fried eggs and toasts.

Richard looks at him with concerned eyes:" You seemed tired. I thought a little breakfast would help."
"Thanks Dick, you're the best." He says as he stuffs his mouth with eggs.

Richard leaves the room with a pleased look.

With a quick glance at Erin, I can say she's about to burst but her phone stops her, she looks at the screen annoyed, and I see her finger going towards the red button
automatically but it lingers in the air, after a second she sighs:" Sorry, I have to take this, will be back in a minute, Detective Dawn will do the rest of the questioning."

Well, that turned out well. Few more minutes here and I bet a juicy argument would go down. I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about not seeing it.

"Hey you want some?" he asks me while holding out a toast.

There is no rule against not eating while being in an interview, in fact we sometimes do, eating bonds people and tends to create trust and...

And I haven't eaten anything sine yesterday, so I lean forward and take the toast from him:" Sure, looks good."

He stares at me for a second in awe and then laughs:" Okay, I did not see that coming."

I put some butter on the toast:" Why? you don't like to share food?"

He shrugs and takes a sip of his coffee:" Not if I'm sharing with someone who looks like that."

I glare at him:" Don't. I'm interviewing you and you can't flirt with me."

He chuckles:" Oh so you eating my eggs isn't a sign of flirting?"

I answer through my full mouth:" No, it's a sign of hunger. And by he way I'm eating your toasts not your eggs."

I swallow and lean back:" When did the shooting end?" I ask in a serious tone.

He scratches his head: "Around eleven I guess. Then we got some dinner in the room and watched it. I think they left around two."

"I see. And then you...?"

" Smoked, and fell asleep. When you came here in the morning, Dick called me, I came as fast as I could, and then he took one look at me and sends me to my room." He laughs.

"You seem close. How long has he been working here?"

Suddenly, he stops eating and pushes the tray farther on the table: "Don't even think about pinning this on him." He glares at me.

I'm taken back by his dark expression. He notices and sighs.

And when he starts talking again, he's visibly trying to sound calmer: "He's been around since I was three and before Carrie was even born. My mom got pretty sick and my dad decided to hire someone to help her around the house, she liked to check on everything and everyone. She died few years later, but by that time Dick had became family."

"I'm sorry." I try my best to sound genuine.

He runs a hand through his hair: " Don't be, it was a long time ago." He looks surprised to see the water drops on his fingers and dries them by wiping them on his jeans.

"I'll write the names and numbers for you." He says, trying to hide the bitterness in his voice.

I hand him my note book and pen without a word.

He takes out his phone from his pocket and starts writing the numbers from it while humming an unfamiliar tone.

"So your sister doesn't know you're a...um...an adult movie star?" I don't know why but I don't like to see him unhappy. I've gone soft ever since Ash died.

Guilt makes people politer and a lot more considerate.

He looks up and smirks:" Still not flirting?"

I exhale deeply:" No. This a genuine question."

He folds that paper unevenly and hands it to me:" No, because I'm not. There was this special offer... and you know since I paid for it...technically I'm not an actor." He mumbles the last words silently and quickly adds: "Although I could be, if I wanted to be. Got all the requirements and everything."

I chuckle: "Sure. It's not like all the other guys don't say the exact same thing."

He wants to protest but Erin's arrival stops him. She looks pissed.

We get up and excuse ourselves. Richard accompanies us to the door and wishes us a nice day, I brightly thank him -what a nice man- but Erin just nods.

Something's wrong.

Whatever it is, I'm staying the hell out of it, it's not like I don't have enough on my plate already.

Ten minutes later, she screams at a perfectly good driver in the road for going a little slower than the average speed, and I bitterly realize that I have to interfere, before she completely ruins the police reputation, which, after Amanda Sheffield's death, was pretty much ruined all the way.