"The evening of the fifteenth of September, where were you?"
"Really Inspector, you need to ask that again?"
"Please Miss Hale, answer the question."
Joan sighed, her fingers tapping against the table in annoyance. Before her was a middle aged man with a beard and glasses, a severe expression on his face. He watched Joan with unblinking eyes occasionally flickering down to the papers in his hands. The man was Inspector James Glade and he had been paying Joan regular visits over the past week.
"Do you want me to get rid of him?" Avander offered, leaning over to whisper in Joan's ear. "All it will take is the snap of my fingers and I'll make him stop bothering you.""Don't" Joan murmured. "Things are bad enough as they are."
"Did you say something Miss Hale?" Glade asked, arching a brow questioningly.
"I said nothing Inspector." Joan replied, keeping her voice clam and monotonous. "And as I have told you many times before, that evening I had indeed met Mr. Maxwell at The People's Park before he died. It was upon his request. He had hoped to come to an agreement regarding the case we were fighting over. Unfortunately we did not find any common ground and parted ways. The next morning I found out he had taken his own life."
"I see. And this was the letter he sent you for the meeting?" The Inspector held up a letter, upon which there was an untidy scrawl. "This was the letter you showed the authorities right after his death, correct?"
Joan stared at the letter and felt a smile tug at her lips. She had indeed shown that letter to the authorities, addressed to her by Maxwell. However, it was not the real letter she had received. That and all its contents had been incinerated long ago. The one the Inspector held was in fact forged.
"Indeed." Joan nodded. "I'm surprised they still kept it.
"We do not throw away evidence Miss Hale." Glade muttered, placing the letter on the table. "I wonder though, is this really the note Mr. Maxwell sent you? Are you sure there wasn't any additional information along with it?"
"I don't believe so." Joan lied, allowing confusion to register on her face momentarily, followed by a thoughtful expression. "The letter did not seem to hint such a thing either. What makes you think there was any additional information with it?"
"It's just a hunch." He shrugged. "At any rate, your story remains exactly as it was a week earlier, not a trace of change. Most guilty people would inadvertently withhold information they previously stated, or add something new in order to prove their innocence."
"Why should I make any changes when what I say is the absolute truth?" Joan asked, raising a brow. Glade ignored this and moved on.
"Now, how about recounting what happened at the opening of Brycend Theater?"
Joan resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She was sitting in the great room with the evening scenery visible from the large glass windows. The door was closed and the mansion was silent, for all the servants were busy and Heidi was fast asleep. This had become a routine as for the past week .Glade had been visiting and interrogating her regularly. Somehow the police had taken it upon themselves to investigate the recent rise in the deaths. That led them to investigate Maxwell and Colton and subsequently her, given that she was the common link between the two men. While it was obvious they had no solid evidence against her, the interrogations continued and Joan had a sneaking suspicion that all their efforts and interest were indeed concentrated on her and not the need to investigate the climbing death toll. This was not the first time she was being question, but it was indeed the first time she was made to feel like a suspect.
"Again, Inspector my story remains the same as it was before." Joan said testily. "I was invited to attend the opening and was in the audience when Mr. Colton burst into flame. I panicked and rushed out of the theater with all the other guests."
"I see." Glade nodded, looking down at his notes. "Tell me Miss Hale, are you aware of the fact that a month or so after Mr. Colton's demise his son Thomas disappeared? Around the time he disappeared there was a fire in a church near Harding road. I believe you were well acquainted with him. Do you have any idea where he may have gone to?"
Joan's stomach gave a lurch. Glade had never before discussed that incident with her, nor had he ever questioned her about Thomas Colton. The fact that the Inspector's leads were fitting together so cleanly put her on edge. It was impossible for them to trace all these incidents back to her. However, the fact that he had somehow connected the death of Maxwell and Colton to Thomas and the Amaki headquarters gave Joan the nagging feeling that there was another force at work in the background.
"H-he disappeared?" Joan's voice ringed with shock as she appeared distressed."I-I knew him but I never knew he–oh my goodness. I don't know where he could have gone to. You see he and I had a disagreement over a personal matter. I did not have any contact with him since then. I have no clue where he could have disappeared to."
Behind her, Avander chuckled darkly and muttered "Good riddance."
"Ahh, so you have a story for this too." Glade thought out loud, scribbling something onto his notebook. "So, you have no clue of the man's whereabouts,nor do you have anything more to do the other two men other than being an unfortunate witness."
"Is there a problem?" Joan asked innocently.
"Indeed there is." The Inspector said, snapping his notebook shut. "Your recounts are too clean to be true. It's a bit had to believe you know these men only by coincidence, two of whom have died and one who is missing, possibly one of the charred bodies found at the church. What is more, quite a lot of prominent personalities have gone missing around this same time. One of them is a certain Mr. Alastair who has also disappeared without a trace."
"I know Mr. Alastair only by reputation." Joan replied calmly. "And pardon me,but it seems you have the notion that I am somehow responsible for all this."
Glade laughed humorlessly. "It seems? Miss Hale, you are indeed a prime suspect. I have a feeling you are behind all of this, I just need solid evidence to arrest you."
"Oh really." Joan fought to keep a straight face, resisting the urge to accept Avander's earlier offer. The man was proving to be a pest.
"If am truly behind all those deaths, do you care to explain how I accomplished all of this? Mr. Maxwell's death was suicide, you tell me his own servant saw him return home before it happened. Mr. Colton died due to a freak accident and If am really responsible for Mr. Thomas Colton and Mr. Alastair's disappearance, what do you propose I have to gain from it?"
"Ahh well, that's an interesting argument." Glade said, getting up. "I'll let you explain all of that when we take you under police custody."
Joan's temper had reached boiling point. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from giving Avander the order to kill. Glade gathered up his things and Joan was glad he was leaving.
"I shall take my leave now. Good night Miss Hale. I hope you will not have disappeared when I come to see you tomorrow."
I think that is exactly what you want.Joan mused, although she did not give voice to her opinion. "Inspector Glade,rest assured, I have no intention of adding fuel to the fire." She said. "I am innocent and therefore have nothing to worry about. You shall find me here as always, waiting to answer your repetitive and useless questions."
"I'm glad to hear that." Glad said with a smirk before he left.
As he settled into his coach and set off, a human form materialized in his coach. The change over Glade was instantaneous. He stiffened, eyes going blank and unmoving. The form solidified and the next moment, Lucifer took a seat before his puppet.
"How is our little game going?" He asked with a thin smile.
"The girl continues to resist. She does not confess her sins." Glad said in a dull, mechanical voice. "She is constantly being tailed and watched however,and we wait until she gives us an excuse to arrest her."
"And how is our propaganda coming along?"
"The press print degrading reports in the newspaper relating to her family." Glade answered. "The police is providing them with false snippets of information. Already all the aristocrats are aware she is under interrogation and suspicion. Her family name will soon be tarnished. "
"Ahh, so all proceeds well." Lucifer chuckled, leaning back. "I warned you Joanne Hale, you better watch out. You will soon see what forces you chose to meddle with."
***
"You look concerned." Avander said as, back at the manor Joan remained seated,fists clenched until her knuckles went white.
"How could I not be concerned you fool?" She snapped, banging her fist on the table. "They are putting together the pieces. All my actions have been carefully concealed and yet unlike ever before there are chances my activities will be discovered. "
"The humans aren't smart enough to figure this all on their own." Avander pointed out. "They had help. I have a feeling those Angel bastards are the ones pulling the strings."
"My thoughts exactly." Joan murmured. "But what do they hope to accomplish by defaming me and having me arrested?" As she spoke, she picked up a newspaper in which a section was dedicated to reports of her activities, how she was under investigation by the police. The report hinted foul play and scandal, and this was just one of the many she could find scattered through the black and white pages. Before her eyes the family reputation she had so carefully maintained was being sullied. She could not stand for this.
"What do you plan on doing now?" Avander asked.
"We do nothing." Joan said simply. "We are not sure what the Second Faction's plans are and given my unstable position at the moment, my hands are tied. If they really intend to get me arrested, I must try to make sure that does not happen .I have to keep y head down and avoid trouble."
"Doing nothing huh?" Avander said with a disappointed tone, as though he had hoped Joan had some other plans. "We are doing a lot of that lately."
Joan hated to admit it, but she agreed with him. Frustration gnawed on her insides everyday as she tried to come up with some sort of plan but to no avail.
But there really isn't much of a choice at this point. She told herself, trying to calm the restlessness she felt. We're cornered, yet we cannot engage in unnecessary battles. Waiting,watching and waiting some more, which is all we can do now.