Objects of Virtue

Chapter 04

The trio were pleasantly surprised when Louis himself opened the door, especially Harry. He caught his breath for a moment when he saw Louis, clad in a simple short sleeve black tee and joggers, his arms covered in an array of various tattoos, little doodles sitting prettily against his honeyed skin. Harry was partial to tattoos, he himself sporting an interesting number of them under his professional garb. Louis looked a little paler in the face than when they had first met, a hint of worry emerging somewhere within Harry's feelings. But his eyes were the same brilliant ocean blues.

"Good afternoon Dt. Horan, Harry? And?" Louis said, looking questioningly at Grimmy.

"Grimshaw, Sir. Nick Grimshaw, I will be your Family Liaison Officer," Grimmy said extending his hand to Louis who took it promptly and shook it firmly.

"Nice to meet you Officer, please- do come in," Louis said as he moved aside to usher the policemen in. If Niall thought the exterior was impressive, he certainly flabbergasted when he saw the interior. Harry almost laughed out loud at the astonishment plainly written across Niall's face as he took in the details of Louis Tomlinson's sitting room. The room was tastefully decorated in warm shades of browns, a fire place stood handsomely against a cream wall and beautifully crafted furniture was scattered across the room. Large pieces of art hung from the walls adding pops of color and livening the room. A large wooden coffee table sat in the middle on a fur carpet, which Harry honestly hoped was faux. Liam sat on a brown leather arm chair, laptop in hand, waiting for the officers to settle down.

"I've pulled up the footage from two nights ago. Lou, if you'd get the TV going mate?" Liam said looking at Louis who swiftly clicked on a remote causing a TV to emerge from above the fire place. Harry couldn't resist the urge to glance at Niall, whose jaw had now hit the soft, carpeted floor. Grimmy too looked as if he had been smacked hard in the face. Niall's astonishment hadn't escaped Louis' attention, Harry noticed as he watched Louis struggle to keep a straight face.

"My father was a little bit of a gadget freak to say the least," Louis said looking at Niall who had managed to some how recover from his shock.

"Well, I must say – it's very impressive." Niall said as he watched Liam connecting his laptop to the TV, as the CCTV footage popped up on the screen.

"There we are. Do you want me give you the footage for the entire day or?" Liam asked glancing around the room.

"That should do just fine, so to clarify – you two were in and around the property the entire day?" Niall asked as he watched figures moving around the large screen, split into multiple sections for the different parts of the house.

"Yes, actually. Liam did spend the night here – we were both pretty hungover the previous night. Bit of a night out with the lads, you know what I mean?" Louis said smiling and winking slyly at Harry.

To say that Harry was taken aback was an understatement. No one had ever winked at Harry whilst on the clock and never so boldly. So, Harry just stared at Louis and nodded in silence. Not that he knew very much about nights out and such but he assumed it must have been pretty rowdy. Harry wondered what Louis must be like drunk. Surely, he was the fun drunk. The one that got on top of tables and bought endless rounds of shots for everyone until he passes out in the middle of the dance floor. He probably looked pretty hot too. His long brown hair a complete mess, his shirt unbuttoned, his tattoos glimmering in the strobing lights. He was getting carried away when he really should be focusing on the images of little people moving around in their little squares on Louis' obscenely large TV that magically appeared.

"Well, that's most of you accounted for, all except for your sister Lottie," Niall responded as he mentally counted out the members of Louis' family. "Any way that we can get in touch with her Mr. Tomlinson?"