The Bars Between Us

36. 'Good Cop'

Piper reaches out and presses a buzzer again, hoping someone will answer and allow us in from the cold. I look around, trying to gauge whether people actually still live here. The name-tags are still beside the buttons on the intercom system, and the area we're standing in seems to be kept well, with no rubbish littering the floor. I move back slightly, to try and have another look at the building, to see if I can see any movement at all. I don't, however, my eyes fall onto a CCTV camera pointing at the path behind us. That might be useful.

"Piper," I say, getting her attention. She turns, and I point to the camera I noticed. She moves beside me so she can see what I can. I watch her reaction.

"That could help if they've still got the footage. We would be able to see what the police saw with the footage of Nixon arriving. But it all depends on whether they're willing to show us," she says, moving back to the intercom. "We're going to abide by the law, so no breaking in like we used to," she reminds me, shooting me a look mixed between seriousness and humor.

I let out a small laugh, shaking my head at her. "I don't think I'd be able to fit through a window anymore." I return my gaze to the camera. This is the thing that incriminated Nixon, by placing him at the scene of the crime at the time of death, so I want to see it with my own eyes, hoping I find something that the police possibly missed.

"Yeah?" a woman's voice inquires over the speaker, crackling slightly from the poor quality. I return to Piper's side as she answers.

"Oh, yes. Hi, would you be able to let us in? We're doing a follow up of an investigation. We've been trying to buzz everyone, and you're the first to answer," Piper says, slipping into the voice I only hear her use when she's working. It makes her sound authoritative and like she knows what she's talking about - which she does. Hopefully, Piper sounds enough like the police that the woman won't question us.

"Ah, half of the people in this building don't answer their phone because they're either too lazy or deaf. May I ask who you're here to speak to?"

"Anyone who is willing to speak to us."

There is a pause on the other end as if she's thinking it over.

"Do you mind me asking what this is about?"

Before Piper can get any sound out of her opening mouth, I jump in.

"We would really like to talk to everyone about this in person," I say, hoping to sound authoritative like Piper, who shoots me a look but doesn't say anything.

"Oh OK, sure. I've just got out of the shower, so could you leave me to one of the last people you talk to, so I am able to get dressed?"

"Sure. Thank you for allowing us in." After Piper replies, and we've got a mental note of her apartment number, there's a buzz, and I push the door to find it open.

Once we're inside we see that is much more presentable than the outside, although it's not the cleanest of places.

"We can't impersonate cops," Piper says as we make our way to the stairs, leading up to the apartments.

"We aren't," I answer, turning back to look at her.

"Good."

"It's not our fault if they think we are," I say cheekily, knowing that it'll annoy Piper.

"Dee-" I cut her off before she can finish the nickname, and so I don't allow her to believe it for too long.

"Piper, stop worrying. We've not told anyone we're cops, and if people ask, we'll be truthful. I just didn't want to be turned away at the door, because they don't want to talk about what happened. Someone might be able to give us more information than we have. Anyway, where's the Piper who would climb through windows with me?"

"She's here, just being pushed down by the party pooper who went to law school, and asks people before climbing through their window." I laugh. "She's also being pushed down by the concerned friend who doesn't want to give a reason for the case to be thrown out if something is found," she says, pulling on my arm to stop me walking. "I've seen so many cases go through our firm, where someone has done something unethical or illegal while investigating or prosecuting the case, and the whole case has been dismissed as a result. I see how much you want this to work, and how much you care about Nixon, no matter how hard you try and deny or hide it, so I want this to work for you. Maybe that way you can leave Roman."

I give her a small smile, feeling touched by her concern over the case for me.

"Thanks, Piper," I say, stepping down a step to hug her.

"Now, let's go and grill some witnesses. You can be good cop."

*^*^*

We have been knocking on doors for the last half an hour, and we have been either greeted with questions about who we are, and then being turned away when we're not cops, or not been greeted at all. We had skipped over the door of the woman as she asked, and we are now on the floor that Grace lived on. We had been working our way up, hoping to get anything from anyone about what she was like, and any titbits they might have about Nixon and Grace's relationship or the day of the murder.

I pause in my step, taking everything in. I had only seen everything in crime scene photos, and now to be here is almost eerie. I see the door with the number of Grace's apartment on, and my mind flashes back to the photos of the room covered in her blood, and the image of her body unrecognizable from the mutilation it had experienced. Bile starts to rise in my throat, as my dream of being in Grace's shoes flickers past my thoughts. I swallow it down, focusing on the fact that all of this could help release an innocent man.

I move to the closest door and knock loudly. Piper stands beside me, giving me a concerned look.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, it just feels a bit weird to be here." She nods as if understanding, before the door in front of us makes a scraping noise of a chain being slid across it. The door eventually opens to reveal a man stood almost hunched over, his bald spot the main thing we can see. He looks up, showing us his wrinkled face, his eyes holding curiosity.

"Hello, we're looking into the murder of Grace Logan, she used to..." Piper starts.

"I know who she is," he says, his voice strong, a direct difference to his look. "Why are you looking into it again? It was two years ago."

"We believe that Nixon is innocent," I say. "We just want to hear from you what you told the cops, and talk to you to try and understand what exactly happened better."

"You're not cops," he states.

"No sir," Piper answers. "We're just two women who are trying to find answers." He looks at both of us, a calculating look in his eyes. He turns his back on us, and my hope dissipates, thinking that he's going to close the door on us.

"Nixon's always been a charmer. Come in." 

Sorry for the longer wait than usual - if you saw my announcement on my conversations tab you would know that I had a reminder to post this part on Wattpad, but it didn't go off, so I thought I had an extra week, I only remembered, due to looking at my reminders, on Friday, and was meant to post it then, however, I forgot again! How amazing am I?! You will also know that I have decided, to give me time to write the rest of the book, that I will be posting the next 7 parts on Radish, leading up to Christmas (the seven days before). I do not know whether those seven parts will be the last ones, but it gives me a chance, and a head start.

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