Altruism | Part Three : Sacrifice

Episode Seven

"What is it?" Tim asks.

"It's -- It's a --" Ana struggles to describe it.

"A what?" Tim questions.

" 's like a mummy... in a suit?" Ana replies, softly, putting on her latex gloves

"What?" Tim asks as Ana drags the mummy from under the bed.

"Is that..." Ana asks, her face scrunched up in both confusion and disgust.

"It can't be." Tim shakes his head.

"I-... how?" Ana questions, softly.

[Skip to Interview]

"Before they became a full-blown cult, Corey turned his acting school into a burglary ring that targeted celebrities. I caught a bunch of calls back in 2018." Tim is explaining.

The interviewer glances at Ana to say something.

"I-I was still at the Academy" Ana says, softly.

"We arrested a few people, but no one would flip on Corey, so he got away with it." Tim finishes.

"H-he promised his students all they could ever want and k-kept invading his lives. H-he made the promises that he never got himself. H-he wanted to live their lives vicariously through them, c-control them." Ana pipes up, softly, when the interviewer ushers her to talk.

"What's that saying? Those who can't do, teach?" Tim chuckles, trying to make Ana relax.

Ana manages a little giggle and Tim smiles, happy that he got her to relax a little bit.

[Timeskip - Still in Interview]

"A better duo to brainwash people." Tim explains, telling the story of Charlotte.

"Charlotte would be really mean and rude to the students" Ana starts.

"So Corey could swoop in and be the savior. Together they would brainwash a student to the point where they would do anything to please him." Tim finishes.

Ana nods. "um, then he would tell them that the only way to act like a criminal is to become one, making them his minions or something"

"Including someone you know." The interviewer says.

"What?" Ana asks, softly, now confused.

[Timeskip to Airport]

"Been parked here a week, and there's a really bad smell coming from the trunk." The airport officer explains as they approach the car.

"Would you mind stepping away from the vehicle? It belongs to a suspect in a violent crime." Tim requests.

Ana puts on latex gloves and opens the trunk, wrinkling her nose.

[Skip to Interview]

"um, even though we found Charlotte's car at the airport, w-we didn't see any records of Charlotte boarding a flight at LAX" Ana says, softly, the interviewer really pushing her to speak.

"recently, there hadn't been any records of her buying a ticket for a flight from LAX anywhere in the past three months" Tim corrects with Ana nodding.

[Timeskip - Still in Interview]

"It's L.A. It's not the first time I've found a script at a crime scene." Tim says when asked about the script they found.

"t-they're all over the place" Ana agrees, softly.

"Have either of you ever written one?" The interviewer asks.

"God, no." Tim scoffs.

"I-I reviewed one that Officer Chen wrote" Ana says, softly.

"What did you think of it?" The interviewer asks about Ana reading the script.

"um, it was... dense, and very... confusing?" Ana offers, softly.

""Exterior, rooftop, day. Aurora, 19, beautiful but doesn't know it, speaks the prophecy aloud. Heed ye the Noon Star Harvesters, for they shall descend from the heavens so the Worthy can ascend. So sayeth the Prophet Jedediah."" Ana reads aloud part of the script.

"Yep. He based his freakin' cult off a bad sci-fi script." Tim nods.

[Timeskip - Still in Interview]

"Along with the video, Corey also sent Sheila a revised version of the script." Tim says.

"w-with Ms. Luster's name removed." Ana adds, softly.

"He was trying to cut her out -- from the script, the cult, and the money." Tim answers. 

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, right?" Tim smirks.

"seems a little sexist" Ana murmurs, softly, fidgeting with her hands and not making eye contact with Tim.

"I'm just saying all sorts of crimes are motivated by jealous ex-partners and most of them are men, Charlotte is just another instance" Tim says.

Ana nods, accepting that answer. 

"so, your former rookie, Officer Chen, she broke the case wide open?" The interviewer asks and Ana stifles a giggle.

Everyone knows Lucy was just scrolling on her phone when she saw the video and Tim feels strongly about it, Ana's heard him rant about it on several occasions.

Tim sends her a playful glare before going into a rant about how it was just Lucy's social media addiction paying off.

[Timeskip - Still in Interview]

"there was a lot of press about it. b-by the time Nolan and Harper had secured the scene, t-the livestream had 400,000 viewers" Ana says, softly.

"Okay. Look. The case was definitely weird. But I mean, come on. All this? This feels so exploitational. The low-hanging fruit of celebrity scandal and murder. You should be making serious documentaries about things that really matter." Tim says, annoyed and irritated.

"My last film was about climate injustice in Puerto Rico. It won a BAFTA." The interviewer responds, making Ana bite her lip.

"Oh. Well, all right, then." Tim nods, now humbled.

"um, we should get back to work, but thank you and have a good day, sir" Ana says, softly, standing up out of her chair.

"no, thank you" The interviewer insists.

Ana gives him a small smile before Tim and Ana leave.

[Timeskip]

"w-why would someone care what cops think about the whole thing?" Ana asks, softly, sipping on a peanut butter milkshake.

They're watching the documentary that was just released and it feels very dramatic and unnecessary. 

"it makes the documentary look serious" Tim replies.

"it's not a very serious documentary" Ana giggles.

"no, it is not" Tim agrees with a smirk.

"so... the climate change comment at the end" Ana starts.

"if you bring that up, you're getting no foot massages tonight." Tim threatens

Ana gives him a pouty face, knowing that's not true.

"fine, if you bring that up, you're getting a half assed foot massage tonight" Tim corrects, making Ana giggle again.