The apartment building was so tall it was hard to see the top from the spot where Lucifer and Chloe were standing. Lucifer's neck strained towards the sky as his one hand shielded his eyes from the bright sun's rays. "Why do human's always think the bigger the better? Actually I take that back. I've heard that quite a bit from the women in my company, but I still think the statement stands when we talk about architecture. Like why build one hundred floors instead of just a few?"
"Los Angeles is a big place," Chloe offers as an explanation while still finishing her eye roll from his statement. "It has to house a lot of people, rich and poor." She makes her way to the panel on the side of the building, searching for Olivia's boyfriends name on the panel in order to ring up for entry. Using her left pointer finger, she pushes down on the button only for a moment. Lucifer's face lights up in captivation and a sound of amazement leaves his lips.
"Detective, what is this magical device?" He goes closer to it, and begins to ring it repeatedly.
"I could see why you would have never had the opportunity to use one considering your class and money. There are many apartments in here and they keep the place locked tight," Chloe's eye begins to twitch from all the buzzing and ringing from Lucifer's repeated motion of pushing the buzzer. "And when they have visitors, they can buzz and the person in the apartment grants access and unlocks - Lucifer please stop-"
"STOP IT, god. Don't you have any decency? Leave me alone!" A voice rings out. Lucifer pulls back from the button, his hand still in the air, his face shocked before turning smug.
"Well at least I got his attention," he comments quickly, lower his arm with a smile.
Chloe shuts him up with a single look before speaking to the man again. "Fred?" She asks.
There is a long pause before Fred's voice rings out again. "Who is this?"
"This is the LAPD, we heard you wanted to speak with us about the homicide this morning." Once again there is a long pause. Chloe knows he must be feelings every emotion imaginable right now. She couldn't bare it if she lost someone close to her, so she can't say she has been where he has been, but she does feel empathy towards the man. "I know things are hard right now, but the more information you can give us, the more likely it is that we can solve this case and bring Olivia justice."
The voice is almost a whisper as it says, "Come on up. Room 223."
The door unlocks and swings open automatically. The building is dark, with what is looks to be like only three dim lights actually on. While Lucifer gets a sense of home, Chloe feels hesitant. This looks more like the scene of the crime than the actual alleyway. They reach the second floor after taking the rickety elevator, but as soon as the doors open a foul stench reaches their noses. Chloe covers her nose as Lucifer contorts his face.
"I've smelled a lot of things in hell, but this is something nasty," Lucifer adds. They begin to walk down the narrow and long hallway and the stench only lingers, and gets stronger by the time they reach the door in which behind is Fred. The door is cracked down the middle, and looks unstable. What they could both only hope is food looks to be stuck and rotten on it. Chloe wants to knock, but even second guesses that in the fear that if she touches it she might break it down, or contract a disease. She opts for shouting instead.
"Fred? Fred Sanders?"
Large pounding footsteps make their way to the door, as well as the sound of shattering glass and a shouted curse word. The door handle shakes back and forth before being swung open so harshly it hits the wall behind it with a large slam making all three of them jump. "Shitshitshitshit," Fred mutters under his breath. "I'm sorry guys, really. I wasn't expecting company," he sniffles and wipes his forehead and eyes with the back of his sleeve.
"It's alright," Chloe says. "Can we come in?"
"Yeah, for sure. Just...watch your step," Fred warns.
To say the apartment was messy would have been an understatement. Junk food boxes and wrappers were skewed all over the floor, along with countless beer and whiskey bottles. Some shards of broken bottles were also on the floor, and Chloe was thankful she wore practical shoes, even if they didn't completely match her green blouse and regular black jacket. Lucifer was shocked to see all the illegal fun spewed around the place as if it was sugar in a bakery. I like to have fun too, but at least I clean up before the cops show up, Lucifer thinks to himself.
"I haven't had much time to clean...or effort...or will to live..." Fred groans.
"Fred, we want to make things right. But we are going to need your help. Are you ready to answer a few questions?"
"Yes," he agrees.
"When was the last time you saw Olivia?" Chloe begins.
He takes a moment to think, scratching his head. "Yesterday around 4pm. We got into a fight, and she stormed out. That was the last time I saw her."
"What was the fight about? Do you both live here?" Lucifer offered. Chloe swung a look his way, glad he is picking up on how to do this job, and glad he is trying to be so helpful.
"Yeah, we share the rent on this place. Olivia was upset about finding out Royal's death. She was crying most of the day, drinking a bit and going through tissues like crazy. I was giving her space most of the day, until I heard her shouting. I rushed into the room to find her throwing around our liquor stock, screaming repeatedly that she knew it. I asked her what she knew, but she wouldn't say. Olivia was hysterical, she grabbed her car keys and I tried to stop her. She pushed me back, and I fell off balance onto the floor, and a piece of glass went into my back, so I was too stunned to get up. She paused at the door frame and apologized but said that there was something she had to do. She never came back, and I got the call this morning."
"How bad was the cut?" Chloe asks.
"Not bad enough for stitches, but I think there might be a scar," Fred admits.
"What did you do while she was gone?" Lucifer asks.
Chloe adds, "Yes. What did you do? Why shouldn't we suspect you ran after her and did something to her?"
Fred's face morphs in shock. "Are you kidding me? I loved her! I was going to propose to her! Olivia was my everything! And if you must know, I know this isn't a great alibi, but I was here in the apartment."
"Doing what?" Chloe asks.
After another pause he admits once again, "Getting high."
Lucifer rolls his eyes. This guy wasn't just an emotional drinker, but an emotional druggie too no doubt. "Did you know Royal well?" Lucifer asks, hoping to move the conversation along and past this awkward rut.
"Knew her? God, it was like we were married. Olivia and Royal were tighter than most best friends ever should be. You would think they were sisters or something. Nothing was a secret between them. So yeah, I knew both of them."
"Is there anyone you could think of that might want to hurt them?" Lucifer asks.
Fred takes a second to ponder. Squinting his eyes at the roof. "I mean, Royal did piss off a lot of people, but don't think I could think of someone with a gigantic problem with her."
"What about Brent Hare?" Chloe asks. "Her old professor. She had intercourse with him in order to pass the class. Led him on to think it was something more, and then dumped him like a pair of broken heels."
"No. No way. The man was never overly violent," Fred begins. "Not to mention there is a lack of motivation considering if he does such a thing they would investigate far enough to pull the scandal out and he wouldn't ever have a teaching job again."
"What about Thomas?" Lucifer asks hopefully. Just once he would like to have guessed the right culprit.
"Actually," Fred's voice rises. "Now that you mention it, yeah. He would want to hurt Royal, but I can't see why he would have wanted to have hurt Olivia."
Chloe's eyebrows furrow, and she holds up her finger to stop him. "Hold up, why do you think he would be violent towards Royal?"
"Well they weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend-"
"What?" Chloe questions. "Thomas told us three months ago they dated but they just weren't fitting so they had a mutual breakup."
"Let me clarify that lie right now. It was anything but mutual, nor was it even a relationship. You have to understand, Royal was a pretty and popular girl. Wanted by many suitors, but nothing is comparable to Thomas. He worked at what he claimed was a manufacturing agency, which was something way out of Royal's league. Yet at first, Royal really liked him. But he quickly became creepy. Following her around campus, taking every seat next to hers, and demanding that they should be together all hours of the day. She had her own personal stalker. Except one night, I think two weekends ago, Royal went back to her apartment and the windows were smashed. Her lipstick was smeared all over the wall in the letters s-c-r-e-w-y-o-u. Not to mention all of her undergarments were missing, like he stole them or something. She was planning to take out a restraining order on him when..."
His voice drifts off, and it's like he goes into another world of thinking. Lucifer waits a couple seconds before shouting, "when what?! Don't leave me hanging!"
"Sorry, it's just...when she was murdered."
"Thank You, we will be in touch," Chloe says. "If you remember anything else, call us."
Lucifer follows Chloe on the way out but pauses for a moment. "Can I use your restroom?" He asks.
Fred just shakes his head. "Be my guest, but I'm just throwing this out there. If the lights don't work, what makes you think the plumbing does too? Believe me, every resident knows about the smell."
Lucifer walks out quickly, trailing behind Chloe like a lost puppy. When they leave the building it feels like clean air once again, and they both take a moment to breathe it in before Chloe suggests that they should walk to the parking garage. When they reach there it doesn't take long to find Olivia's car, which is still in it's stall matching the corresponding room number.
"You know what this means?" Chloe asks Lucifer.
"That they were so poor they couldn't afford a nice car and they wouldn't have even have been able to afford the wedding?"
"No," Chloe snaps. "It means she was abducted before she could even leave. Her killer knew that she was onto him."
Lucifer thinks about that statement for a moment. "Just saying, my guess is looking pretty guilty."
Chloe sighs. "Yes, I will admit. But however while we have a motive for Royal, we don't have a motive for him killing Olivia. While his alibi of being in his apartment can't be confirmed giving him time, we don't have concrete evidence."
"But he has motive and is the clear killer!" Lucifer argues, pleading with Chloe.
"I agree he is suspicious, but it's out of our control. There is nothing to put him away in a court. Let's head back to the lab, see if the results are in."
As Chloe walks away back to the car, Lucifer not only admires his view, but let's himself indulge in a satisfying thought.
Nothing to put him away...for now.
Lucifer makes a vow right here as she walks away. He looks up and silently asks his father for a single favor. He knows his father owes him nothing. But Lucifer needs this piece of mind. He asks to keep Chloe safe, if only until this case is over. Something about this case was sending a chill down this devil's spine. He could feel that something was wrong, he just didn't want to admit it yet. It was like he was having a premonition around this case, and an overwhelming feeling of danger and anticipation. Something bad was going to happen, Lucifer knew it. What Lucifer was unsure about was if he could keep her safe this time, because maybe right now they both couldn't admit it, but he felt like he was most certainly her partner. He wondered if she felt the same way, and until he knows, the only thing he wants is reassurance for the chance to find out.