Trade City East Police Station, East Circle
The three doctors were led upstairs to three separate interrogation rooms and left to stew in there for a while. Jerome himself was back with Sergeant Roy Sharpe and Senior Sergeant Robert Deacon, what a constable was doing with senior authorities of a station on a personal level, no one knew but he did get some weird looks as he discussed with the two of them. Now that they were somewhat on the same length, bar Roy's attempts to kill him, he found that it was somewhat easier to work in this station. It also helped that Robert was somewhat frightened of him as well.
"Who all are doing the interrogations?" Robert asked Roy as he sipped on a mug of coffee that he received from another officer.
"I've asked a couple of officers from our detective squads to come in," said Roy as he put a cigarette to his mouth and it lit up.
This did somewhat surprise Jerome since it was the first time he saw Roy smoking and he didn't take this somewhat stringent rule follower to be smoking, inside a police station of all places.
"Three doctors," said Robert with a sigh. "All three of them are connected in very high places."
"Yes sir, they are," Roy agreed.
"Then why on earth did they come in, couldn't they have just stayed at home dialed a few phones, it's not like we have anything solid on them anyway," said Jerome with a snort.
Roy threw him a dirty look, "They don't know that and it's good that they came in."
"I'm still wondering," said Robert with a long look. "They could have sorted this out without coming in…constable Hall is somewhat right."
"We have got them here anyhow sir," said Roy as he puffed out a cloud of smoke which Jerome waved away.
If he could get some alone time with them individually, with Eckhard he could figure out the exact truth. The fact was Eckhard was still an AI that was learning and it was hardly omnipotent. It could scan a person's surface history but anything hidden would be out of his reach and anyhow Eckhard's primary concern was him and his body but still…He sighed as looked up at Robert and Roy and the three simply stared at each other with thought.
"Well best get to it," said Robert finally finishing the final drop of his coffee.
Roy nodded, "I'll see if the detectives I've sent for have come."
They both then looked at Jerome and he simply shrugged. "I'm a constable, I can't interrogate, the best I can do is wait for the information you give me, unless you want me to do something?"
"Can you do anything?" asked Roy pointedly.
"Well right now I can do whatever I want," said Jerome. "I would like to have some alone time with those three suspects, Dr. Crane, Dr. Maria and Dr. Hawthorn, I could make them speak."
Robert's eyes suddenly turned stern, "No, we never…ever use magic during interrogations of civilians, it's even forbidden to show magic in front of civilians."
"There's a law like that?" asked Jerome with a raised eyebrow.
"No…" Roy said quietly as he took another puff. "It's just an unwritten rule, something everyone follows by, you do something that breaks it and hell comes down from several different directions on you."
"Are you speaking from experience?" asked Jerome with a smirking smile.
Roy looked at him, his maddening confident behaviour gone, now replaced with a somewhat haggard and haunted look, "Yes."
Jerome's smile disappeared a little and he looked towards Robert who looked at Roy with an apologetic look. Sensing that he wasn't going to receive an explanation, he sighed and decided to walk off. Perhaps he could talk with Blake's parents, maybe that would have some insight into all of this. He was greeted by a quite a few people on his short walk to the stairs and several more on his way down to the break room which housed both Blake parents. When he reached the break room, the mother was still out of it, the father was looking deeply at the windows like he wanted to go through it. Standing watch over the both of them was Constable Lefebvre. He knocked and entered causing the father to turn and look at him. As soon as the father saw him, tears began falling and Jerome stood there in a slightly awkward before slowly walking forward and sitting down next to the older man.
"I'm sorry for your loss Mr. Blake," he said, he closed his eyes as more tears fell freely.
"He-he alway-always looked up to you," said Mr. Blake, another awkward topic for Jerome.
"Ah…yes," he said with a strange laugh at the end of it, something Mr. Blake didn't notice or he chose to ignore.
"He would come home to tell us all about how you were so focused and driven and solved any cases you were put on but usually your superiors would end up taking the credit for it," Mr. Blake said again and this time he looked at Jerome.
Jerome himself thoughtfully looked down at the floor, it seemed a stranger, Mr. Blake knew more about him than he did about himself.
"Wh-why, why him?" asked Mr. Blake choking up with sobs. "We were so happy he got in…of course were also worried about him, his mother more than anyone else but now…this happened."
"It's part of the job," constable Lefebvre suddenly said from where she stood and Jerome turned to her, he had for a moment forgotten she was even still here and she raised an eyebrow at him as he shot her a questioning look.
As soon as constable Lefebvre had said that, the man quieted down, his sobs could still however be heard. He wasn't at all good with such emotional situations, doubly so now that Eckhard had tampered with his emotions. He couldn't feel a damn thing and he didn't feel any empathy or even sympathy for the man crying in front of him, if anything he wished the man would stop. Though he showed his emotions on his face, his eyes were dead.
"We see it happening on the news," said Mr. Blake quietly. "But we never expect it to happen to us but now Leonard's dead."
"Again Mr. Blake I'm sorry for your loss," said Jerome trying to make his voice as vulnerable and raw as possible. "But we will find the person responsible for this and we will punish him."
Constable Lefebvre gave him a pointed look as if to ask, on what basis he was giving such a promise to Mr. Blake. He shook his head and turned to stare at the same place Mr. Blake was staring at now.
"Uh before I forget," Jerome said, changing the tone and topic. "Was Leonard working on anything new, any new cases, new information anything like that?"
Mr. Blake frowned as he thought about it before some glimmer came back into his eyes.
"Yes," Mr. Blake said suddenly. "He was working on those files you gave him a week or so prior, studying it carefully, day and night, some days he wouldn't have any sleep at all, just staying in his room, making phone calls and typing on laptop."
"Oh…" said Jerome, something he gave Leonard, what on earth had he given Leonard, he really did not like his memory giving him blanks, if he could have gotten that old Jerome's memories, this case would be a piece of cake.
"Do you know what he was working on?" asked Jerome.
Mr. Blake again thought for a moment before shaking his head, "I would ask him but he would say that it was confidential."
Jerome grit his teeth, why on earth would Blake work alone, why wouldn't he share his information with someone, he was at this point just internally voicing his frustrations, there was not much else he could do. Wherever he touched froze up and crumbled without leaving any traces behind, he was no closer to his revenge than he was to finding the person that constantly set the East City Hospital on fire. Was East City Hospital such a place that when you saw it you wanted to set it on fire? He was snapped out his thoughts by more choked up sobs from Mr. Blake, something that he found annoying at this point but he still put on his best sympathetic smile.
"It'll be fine Mr. Blake," he said gently patting Mr. Blake on the back as he had seen in many movie comforting scenes. "It's painful now, but you'll move on."
At those words Mr. Blake's tears came flowing freely, he looked at constable Lefebvre in what he hoped was his 'please help' look but she turned her head.
'Eckhard can we put him to sleep?'
<
Jerome thought about it, seriously considering it for a moment, 'No.'
***
Trade City East Police Station, East Circle
It was at this moment a BMW pulled into the parking lot of East Circle Police Station and the driver's door opened. Out stepped a woman in an ash suit dress with short cut dark blonde hair. Her pale gray eyes scanned her surroundings. He stiletto heels made clipping noises on the tarmac as she confidently strode forward ignoring the gazes of both men and women. She climbed the stairs to the station causing some people to freeze as they looked at her. She did indeed look completely out of fit in the station and more at home at a fashion parade. He angular jaws tightened as she glanced at the TV screen displaying news about the death of constable Leonard Blake. She walked up to the reception with a confident strut causing many people to immediately move out of her way. Her demeanor could best be described as the 'coldest day of a snowy winter'. Indeed cold was radiating off of her in a physical capacity causing the people that came by her to shiver. She reached the reception and receptionist simply stared at her silly. She tapped her knuckles on the counter before setting her eyes on the receptionist causing her to gulp.
"My name is Lillian Blake and I got a call from this station at ten past twelve saying my brother was deceased, my parents have already arrived so if you could lead me to where they are that would immensely helpful," whilst all of this sounded polite her voice sounded exceptionally monotone and a little creepy, that combined with her morbid looks led to a frightening situation for the receptionist who had already been manhandled and was handling the trauma at present.
Lillian Blake had an exceptionally pale complexion, indeed one would mistake her for snow if she stood next to it and all in all she just looked unnatural with her exceptional height as well. The receptionist stammered something out trying to make heads or tails of the woman and trying to register what she just said, she was getting a very suffocating feeling from this woman. Lillian waited for a while before sighing.
"Point me in the direction you took my parents," she said and this time the receptionist registered and immediately pointed in the direction.
Lillian turned on her stiletto heels and moved in that direction finally allowing the receptionist to breathe. On her way an officer put out his hand.
"Excuse me, you can't-."
He was immediately silenced by a withering look and he backed off with a gasp. She stepped in and moved forward and as she made her way down, through one of the windows she saw a figure she recognized, her father. She stopped at the windows then moved back to the door pushing it open and immediately the two officers in the room came on alert. Both Jerome and Sofianne noticed Lillian only after she came in through the door and with her height she stood over Sofianne who took back with wary. Jerome himself felt a little unnerved as he looked at her.
"Constable Jerome Elliot Hall?" asked Lillian.
Jerome snapped into attention and stood up, he asked warily, "Do you know me?"
"Yes…my brother could write songs about you," she said but he sensed a hint of derision.
"Brother?" but then he understood. "You're Leonard Blake's sister."
Lillian nodded and Jerome apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't-."
He was however cut off by Lillian, "It's fine, we've only met once and barely."
Lillian then turned towards Sofianne and she extended a hand, "Lillian Blake."
Sofianne clutched the hand and then her eyes widened as she ripped it out of Lillian's grasp surprising Jerome.
"Cold…" Sofianne muttered but then she introduced herself. "Constable Sofianne Lefebvre, you can call me Sofi, if you wish."
Lillian gave her a once over before turning to Jerome again and he noted the fact that there was something deeply unnerving about her.
'Eckhard, can you do a scan on her?'
<
Jerome turned to face Lillian properly and she seemed mildly surprised.
<
Jerome almost did a double take at that final word before he grew extremely wary.
'Vampirism…?' Jerome questioned.
<
'Oh…f*ck me!' he thought. 'Really Eckhard…magicians and now vampires, are there werewolves?'
<
Jerome simply sighed but then he thought further, 'Why isn't Leonard a vampire or her father and mother for that matter?'
All this while Jerome just kept staring dumbly at Lillian who simply stared back at him.
Finally Lillian spoke, "May I spent some time with my parents…in private."
Jerome glanced at Sofianne who also seemed as unnerved as him and they both nodded. Soon after they exited the room, still waiting outside.
<
'Oh…you mean to say all human beings carry this trait?'
<
"Oh…" he groaned audibly.
Sofianne turned to him and he realized he had said that audibly.
"Is there a problem?" she asked.
Jerome shook his head and peered inside to see Lillian sitting next to her father with a hand around his shoulders.
'You're also telling me Eckhard that one of the richest corporations in the world is run solely by vampires?'
<
'And they feed on blood?'
<
'They kill innocent people?'
<
'They can turn others into vampires by biting?'
<
'Legends have it wrong.'
<
He needed to deal with this now? With all that was happening, this was the last thing he needed to deal with and she didn't seem to mighty pleased to see him either. To top it off she had the Mezzanotte Group behind her, he was seriously under-powered, his best backup was Eckhard and that AI only functioned inside his head.
"There's something up with her," said Sofianne suddenly and Jerome coughed before smiling wryly. "Her hands earlier, they were freezing, it's like she stepped out of Antarctica."
Jerome absentmindedly nodded.
"And that skin, it can't be natural," said Sofianne again. "It look bleached for god's sake."
Jerome nodded again and then suddenly wondered why Sofianne was being so talkative all of a sudden, he glanced a side-eye at her and then thought back to her information. She had connections to that duchess who was also an electromancer. These relationships were all sorts of messed up. He smiled helplessly as he looked inside wondering what it would be like to face a vampire, would he be able to beat one. He was barely able to hold his own against Roy and he had reset himself now, becoming an apprentice nanomancer. Then through the windows he felt Lillian's gaze and his heart thumped, he could clearly hear the beats of his own heart thumping at a high rate and all of sudden Lillian's gray eyes turned shiny and his breath caught as she widened her mouth for a smile, he caught sight of what he could only assume were her fangs.