Objects of Virtue

Chapter 07

"Well. I don't know what to say Harry. After you guys left Liam and I had a little date with a bottle of whiskey. It wasn't a pretty sight but I'm sure that you can check up on that from the CCTV," Louis shrugged.

"Do you happen to have the gun with you Louis?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yea, yea I do. In fact why don't you two come along so that you can see it for yourselves?" Louis said as he stood up and made his way towards the stair case, waving for the policemen to follow him.

Louis' room was large and minimalistic. His bed sat against a wall painted a deep shade of grey. The wooden floors shone in the dim lights that washed the room in a warm yellow light. A walk – in closet sat towards the right of his washroom, enveloped in darkness. A single, large painting hung on the wall in front of his bed and Louis walked over to it, quickly removing it from its hook to reveal a lock. Swiftly typing in the code, Harry watched as the a door opened out of the wall and revealed a small room inside. Louis walked into the room and beckoned for Harry and Niall to follow him in.

Louis stood stunned. On the wall stood an empty shelf, the shape and size of a GSG 1911.

It was a few seconds before Louis was able to regain his composure. It was apparent that he was clearly distressed by the situation and Harry was beginning to worry if another breakdown was slowly creeping up unbeknownst to Louis himself.

"I swear – I haven't taken the thing out in months!" Louis said, his voice drenched in anxiety.

"Does anyone else know the combination to the vault, Louis," Niall asked as he watched Louis pace up and down the little room.

"No – No, well, I don't think so? Only Liam and my sister and well you two, have seen me unlock it," he replied counting on his fingers as he them out.

"So, you say Liam was with you the whole of last afternoon and evening then?" Harry inquired "We're going to need to you to come down to the station Louis and file a report for a stolen firearm. I think we should get Liam in as well. With the CCTV footage from yesterday as well as soon as possible. I know today's going to be a long and stressful day Louis, so the sooner we get done with this, the easier its going to be for you."

"Yea, sure. Lemme just get some clothes on and give Liam a ring."

Harry and Niall waited outside in silence. The matter hung heavily in the air and the two of them were lost in thoughts. Something that Louis had said, stuck with Harry leaving a very bad taste in his mouth. Only Liam and Louis' sisters had ever seen him unlock the vault and whilst he probably wouldn't have given them the combination to it, they could have just as easily picked it up. If Louis is right, and Liam was indeed with him for most of the night, the possibilities that it was Charlotte were becoming incredibly high. But why? Why was she in need of murdering Zayn? What was she playing at? What was the purpose of all this? These morbid thoughts were swirling around in his mind as he watched Louis emerge from his room simply clad in an old Beatles t-shirts and sweats, a black jacket slung casually across his shoulders, phone in hand. He still looked quite pale and in shock but for the most parts the confusion had died down to a curiosity.

"Alright, lads. Liam should meet us at the station in a couple of hours with the CCTV footage or I could ask someone from our security team to get it for you, which you would you rather do?" Louis asked as he stood against the living room wall.

"Why don't you ask Liam to head straight to the station, Louis and get someone here to pull up the footage for us?" Niall replied as he stood up to leave.

"Yea, sure. Whatever works for you boys," he said smiling back at the duo tiredly. There was a dimness in his eyes that Harry caught on to instantly. It troubled him, like most things Louis-related had started to do. What was it about this man that did this to him? Empath or not, Harry was beginning to worry that things were becoming more and more personal to him. This really wouldn't do.