Elisabeth smiled slightly as her friend entered her office, her second cup of tea had grown cold on the desk. She had gotten distracted by her messages and completely forgot to finish it. The detective looked both increasingly more tired and more rested than she had in the past few days.
"Hi, Aste. Did something happen ? You look much more at peace than last time I saw you."
Asterin perched on the side of Lis' desk and took a sip of her coffee.
"Not much. I cleared things up with Alexander."
"That's already a whole lot," the detective leaned back into her chair, "the person I met a few years ago at the academy would have found the idea of 'clearing things up' appalling. And most definitely not soothing." She smiled and studied her friend for a few seconds. "It's fascinating how much you've changed and remained the same at the same time. I feel like a proud big sister."
Asterin rolled her eyes.
"Do not get ahead of yourself. You should tell him congratulations, by the way. He got the promotion," she said taking another sip of coffee.
"You look surprisingly okay with that fact... Although I guess this means you are about to get even more intense about this job."
She dropped her head backwards and closed her eyes, after a few seconds, she spoke with barely contained annoyance.
"Might I inquire as of the the reasons given in regards to the choice of this promotion ?"
"Johnson said I did not have enough experience since I am two years younger than Alexander and apparently it is such a huge gap."
Asterin paused.
"That and because my brother was a suspect. It would not look good for the service, I suppose."
Blythe brought down her fist and hit her desk in a mouvement of rage, she took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself.
"That's idiotic. Johnson has been making a lot of these biased, reckless decisions lately. I don't appreciate it. At all. If this keeps going I may just have to give him a piece of my mind. I don't get it, he seems to care more about his image than the efficiency of the precinct. I consistently brace myself with low expectations and yet every time I find myself disappointed... It's astounding."
Asterin finished her coffee and looked over to Lis.
"Yes, indeed. Not that matters much. I will outrank him one day or the other and things around here are going to change," she said with a smirk. "How is James doing ?"
"Awake and annoying. So I'd say quite fine." She nodded towards the phone that was laying on her desk. "I was texting him before you came in actually."
Asterin raised a knowing eyebrow.
"Have I interrupted something ?"
"Oh no don't worry, he's just joking around." She settled down and took off her cardigan. "Was there anything else you wanted to talk about chuckaboo ?"
Asterin shrugged.
"Nothing much... You know, I actually quite like that homeless woman. She has filthy living habits but she is amusing enough. I will be forced to stop at her place to get some cleaning done."
"Now I fear for her life. Try to keep her in good shape, she's quite fun. And smarter than she's given credit for. I'm certain that with a little help she could become a functional human being."
Asterin smiled a bit.
"Yes she is quite fun. Fancy going to the pub tomorrow ? After the interrogation and all that mess. We could invite Selwyn, she did get a deal for her help in the case so she will released from custody."
"Sure, as long as it doesn't end the way it ended last time. If you get drunk, I'm letting Alexander handle you."
"You got drunk too, dear. Do you want me to remind you about some of the things you said ?" Asterin asked with a lazy smirk.
"No. God no. He said he remembered everything you know ? It's terrible... But I wasn't so drunk that I couldn't drive so I guess I still 'win' in this situation."
Asterin jumped off the desk.
"No, you do not," she stated flatly as she headed towards the door. "It is late. I should go home. Try not to text him too late," she added with a slight smirk.
She shouted out to her friend.
"What are you, my mom ?!"
"God no. If I were, you would have better cleaning standards."
Blythe walked into the prep room, she looked rested, much more than she had looked in the past few days. Even her clothes looked neater than they had before. Asterin was already there, sorting evidence files in the case folder, organising pictures of the multiple crime scenes and adding Selwyn's witness testimony to the mix. Elisabeth sat down next to her friend and colleague as they spent around a quarter hour revising and memorising every small detail of the past events. Even though this interrogation, was nothing more than a formality, it still had to be done, and they would do it well.
"How do you want to do this ?"
Asterin glanced through the tainted glass. Raziel's face was blank of all emotion as toyed with his handcuffs.
"We do not need much. This is just procedure. You can start asking about his motives and I will carry on with the targets. What do you think ?"
"I'll follow your lead, interrogations are more your thing than they are mine."
She got up, left the room and headed to the interrogation room. Raziel turned to her slowly and smiled.
"Nice scar you've got on your neck detective."
Blythe grabbed a chair, twirled it around and sat; one leg on each side of the seat and her elbows resting on the back.
"Why did you kill those men ?"
"Oh please, as if it'd be this easy. I know you don't really need this interrogation so why would I give you the pleasure of getting direct answers."
"Don't play smart with me. I always win. What were your motives in killing these people ?"
He leaned in and stared intently at her before whispering.
"Go to Hell, that's where you belong."
Asterin slapped her folder against the table. The man's green eyes settled on her. They hardened a bit, perhaps remembering her punch. Asterin held his gaze and smirked at him.
"You want to play the good little church boy ? Because I believe murder is considered a sin. Quite a big one might add. So you must have good reasons. Tell us about them."
He stood up as much as he could considering he was still handcuffed to the table and stared into her eyes as he spat out his next words.
"No. Go to Hell alongside your colleague. I was helping clean this place of filth like you."
Asterin raised an eyebrow. She never thought anyone would ever call her filthy.
"I see. Care to enlighten us on our filth ? What is there to clean ?"
He let out a dismissive laugh and threw his free hand in the air.
"Everything ! This entire city is rotten. No... This entire country is. But I'm not an idiot, I know I can't cleanse all of London. So I'll be satisfied with just a district." He fell back down on the chair.
Asterin noted that Raziel did not directly answer her question. She was growing a bit annoyed at the man's vague answers. Still, she kept a composed face. If he wanted to dance around the subject, then fine they would. "Yes, cities tend to not be the most hygienic places. Now, where did you grow up ?"
"Everywhere and nowhere. What, do you want to unlock my sob story ?" The man scoffed. "Too bad. I don't have one."
Asterin leaned back in her chair. "From your accent, I would say south London. Do you think you could be friends with yourself ?"
"Has your filth gone up to your head or do you just ask senseless questions for fun ?"
Asterin leaned back forward and stared into the man's slightly confused and annoyed face. "What about me precisely is filthy ?"
"I'd say it's like second hand smoking. Spending as much time as you lot do around low life scums is bound to leave a trace. You reek like dark alleys of London, like these scumbags who sell themselves, who desacralise our city."
Asterin nodded as if in understanding when she really wanted to slap him. He was the one who smelled like he had not showered for days.
"Do you consider yourself more religious or spiritual ?"
"I consider myself an Angel of Death sent by the Lord to execute his will until the day the Apocalypse comes."
At the sight of Black's wide eyes he barked out a laugh. "Did you really expect me to say this ? I'm not religious, I'm not spiritual. I just see what's in front of me and I have the guts to do what should be done."
"Yes, we saw that. Do you like games ?"
"No." He raised an eyebrow. "Oh I'm sorry did I step on your moment ? Were you about to try a bonding experience and trick me into giving you answers. Well too bad. I'm nowhere near as stupid as all the other sinners you've interrogated in this room."
Asterin smirked. "In all honesty, I would have been disappointed if you had said yes."
"Oh goody. So what now ? Are we all just friends and can I leave on a rainbow with unicorns running around and marshmallow hearts in the air?"
Asterin frowned. "Now you are just being petty. Did you receive a religious education ?"
He leaned back and sighed in contempt.
"I consider myself a self taught artist. I'm a self-made man. Everything I am I owe it to myself. It's quite funny to look back on my own growth. I considered creating a blog about my path through life but I thought it might have been a bit tacky... What do you think detective ?"
Asterin nodded with a carefully crafted polite but slightly sympathetic smile. "Yes, indeed. What kind of art do you make ?" she asked. Ripping bodies into pieces ? she refrained from adding.
"Oh please. I don't need to answer that question. You quite literally have a folder full of examples right there. Pictures and all... I'm flattered really, you two are my first fans."
Asterin forced herself to stay stoic. She simply raised an eyebrow. "I am afraid we are not actually the ones who took the pictures. So do you think carefully about how exactly to... handle your art or do you simply work with inspiration while you are at it ?"
"It's hilarious to me that you think that just by flattering my ego I'll get distracted and tell you things. I don't know if you've noticed by I thrive in no giving you what you want. I said "art", to see how you would react. But it's not art, it's never art. I'm not trying to create anything, I am annihilating, purging, cleansing."
Asterin regretted not having a cup of coffee to deal with him. She hummed and rested her hands on the table. "You are getting a bit repetitive. How about you tell me how you choose your victims ? Apart from the fact that they are dirty."
"Oh this one I can answer. I chose the first one quite randomly, I saw him doing his little mule thing one day and I got mad. It was so casually amateur, how he thought he was good at this the poor man... He didn't even have the elegance of being good at being dirty. The others... Well I knew you band of buffoons thought it was about this new drug so I went with it. Rehabs are soooo easy to get into. You'd be surprised. They really should invest in security systems considering how many freaks they lodge. And then there was the pesky little ex-gang leader... I didn't chose him, no... He just got in my way." Blythe tensed visibly and glared at the man.
Asterin threw a warning glance at Lis. "When have you begun thinking about killing the filthy ?"
"Oh man. We're back to the questions I won't answer. Too bad, I liked this conversation."
"About your victims ?" Asterin asked as she taped on the table with one gloved finger.
"No, just you thinking you're leading me on when in fact I'm telling you only what I wish to tell you."
Asterin rolled her eyes. "I do not actually care about your life, Raziel. I see a lot of people go through here and you are not the first smug idiot I have interrogated."
"Oh I know. I don't even understand why you're still here. You don't need me to confess, you already have what you need."
Asterin shrugged. "I have nothing better to do. And it is protocol. So that strange sentence you wrote on the wall of your first murder. Blessed be the dead that can no longer be wicked. You tried poetry out ? "
He waved her comment off. "You're starting to bother me. I did it for effect, for style, for drama. To fit the atmosphere I was going for. Are you done ? I'm getting bored."
Asterin rose an eyebrow in distaste as she took the file and wrote down a few notes. She took her time filling in the information she needed before shutting the file and looking at him. His nose was in quite a state after her punch and their was still some died blood around it.
"Yes, I am done." said as she and Lis got up. Asterin's nose wrinkled in disgust as she drew out a tissue from her pocket and tossed it to the killer in front of her. "Do us a favor and clean that up." she said gesturing towards his nose. "It is revolting." she added as turned over to Lis. "Shall we go ?"
"Yes." She waited until the door closed behind the two of them. "God I need a break," she noticed her friend's tired expression, "Correction. We all need a break."
Asterin smiled a bit. "That one was annoying. But at least, it is over." she said with a sigh. "I am going to get myself some well deserved coffee, are you coming ?"