Attempted Murder Is Still Illegal

Chapter One

Alfie crossed the road, his arms laden with bags of shopping.

He hadn't seen the need for a car when he'd realised he was out of cheese and, unfortunately, couldn't make dinner without it - the shop was only a five-minute walk away, after all - but he had come to regret that decision after the quick pop-to-the-shop had turned into the weekly supermarket run. At least he lived nearby.

Pulling his key out of his pocket while attempting to keep ten bags from hitting the floor, Alfie opened the door to his apartment and wrestled with his shopping to step through it. He dumped the bags on the floor and grabbed his phone, hitting play on the first podcast he saw as he reached for the closest items and worked his way around the small kitchen putting everything away.

"Now, I know everyone's talking about the Oscar Brady situation... so I'm gonna do exactly the same and jump on that bandwagon while it's still relevant," the presenter was saying. "So, what do you think actually happened?"

Alfie sighed, rolling his eyes to himself. The presenter was right; the 'Oscar Brady situation', as the presenter had so eloquently dubbed it, had become a popular theme with everyone: the news covered it at least twice a day, every radio station had had their say in the matter, one TV show had even had a special episode based around the entire ordeal.

In another life, perhaps Alfie would've been honoured. As it was, he just wished everyone would forget about it and move on; if he had known his disappearance would be such a massive issue, maybe he would've reconsidered.

At the time, it had seemed the right thing to do. When he had only narrowly escaped the attempt on his life, he'd freaked out and acted impulsively. He had thought the best thing to do would be to give whoever had wanted him dead what they wanted and go so far underground he would never be found - he'd had the contacts, after all.

He had wanted to vanish so thoroughly that whoever had ordered his death would leave him alone but with all the publicity the whole thing was getting... someone was bound to uncover the truth eventually and then he'd be in danger again.

Every time he heard his name mentioned on the radio, or on TV and every time he read it on the front page of the weekly magazine, he felt just a little bit more stupid because he should've expected that the sudden disappearance of a billionaire, even one that had been famous only in name, would not just blow over so easily.

Sighing, Alfie unlocked his phone and pressed pause on the podcast, flicking instead to some music to fill the silence. That was one thing he missed: the manor he used to live in was never quiet, there were always people milling around, always some music playing somewhere... but he'd had to give up those people along with the manor when he'd gone underground.

His music cut off suddenly, pulling him out of his thoughts. An irritating, repetitive buzzing replaced what had been his favourite playlist on shuffle: a phone call from his PA.

Alfie frowned, snatching his phone from where he'd dropped it on the table and taking a seat in his armchair. Why was Carrie calling him? He had yet to find any leads on his current cases and he really didn't feel up to taking on a new case while he still had two others to wade through.

"Alfie Sawyer," he said once he accepted the call.

"Hello, Mr Sawyer. A new case just came in,"

"Carrie, you know I'm not really in the position to be taking any new cases right now-"

"I know, Mr Sawyer and I apologise but I really think this one is one you're going to want to take."

Alfie paused for a moment, considering it. He knew, logically, he shouldn't take it - he didn't really have the time with the other two cases still hanging over his head and he had, technically, made a rule to himself about taking on more than one case that he'd already broken, if he took on another case on top of the other two he had already, he would be breaking it twice and... yeah, he was going to take it. Curiosity had always been his downfall.

"Alright, I'll be there in a bit."

***

He had been hired to investigate his own death... of course.

If he was entirely honest, he couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed: he had been looking into it privately anyway, but he had worked quite hard to keep himself out of the official records of someone working on the case, just in case.

He'd changed his hair colour and made a habit of wearing coloured contacts but he hadn't had the time nor money - and hadn't that been a shock? Going from having all the money in the world to giving it up when he went into hiding - to physically alter his appearance any more than that.

There hadn't been many photos of him in the media to begin with so he'd hoped the minor differences would be enough, but there was always the chance that some up-and-coming sleuth would end up looking into him and realise that Alfie Sawyer hadn't existed until a few months ago, coincidently, around the same time Oscar Brady had disappeared and Alfie would have to run again.

"Mr Sawyer?" his employer said uncertainly, a hint of something not unlike concern in her voice. He'd been staring into space, he realised. He shook his head as though he could shake away his thoughts, composing himself. He glanced over the table at the young woman sitting on the other side of the table. He recognised her, he realised with a jolt - he'd employed her not long before his disappearance.

Briefly, he scanned her face - did she recognise him? But if she did she showed no sign of it. He hadn't seen most of his employees much after he'd hired them, preferring his own company to that of others so there was a good chance that she really didn't know his face well enough to recognise him from just that. He let himself relax slightly, slipping into business mode.

"And what reason do you have for pursuing this case?" he asked her, watching her reaction from the corner of his eye. "You realise so many people are looking into this? It's not the usual, low-profile case I get."

"I know, Mr Sawyer and I apologise for that but Mr Brady... I was his employee. I didn't know him all that well but he didn't deserve what happened to him. I just want to know he's safe." Alfie considered her request for a moment, holding her gaze calmly.

"Employees aren't usually the ones who wish to investigate their bosses' disappearance - usually it would be a partner or, at least, someone further up. So, why you?" Alfie stated, his voice low, level but with the hint of a warning: tell the truth.

"I..." she began then she looked down, suddenly finding her hands very interesting.

"You suffered some injustice under him perhaps?" Alfie continued, studying her reaction. Her expression didn't change. "Or... you liked him?" Her eyes widened, and he heard her breath catch.

"How did you...?" she asked, voice quiet. Alfie leant back, a small smile on his lips.

"It's my experience that nothing is ever done without reason, Ms Langley. Why should a simple employee care for the loss of her boss - you still have your job, do you not?" she nodded hesitantly, a look of awe gracing her features. "Well then," he flicked his notepad closed. Truthfully, he never really wrote anything but had it more for show. He'd found people responded much better to his questioning if they felt something would become of it. He stood up, pocketing the notepad and turned to the door.

"Wait, Mr Sawyer," He turned back to look at her, watching her expectantly. "So... will you take it?" Alfie paused for a moment, considering his options. Should he take it? Throwing himself head first into one of the biggest investigations of the decade didn't seem like the wisest idea, especially while he was trying to keep a low profile but, that being said, becoming a part of an official investigation would give him access to data he wouldn't otherwise be able to get a hold of, and his personal research into the situation had given him nothing but dead ends.

"I'll look into it for you." Then he turned on his heel and swept out of the room, leaving his PA to look after the woman.