"Isn't the reason why you're acting so nervous?" Abel respond to the Larissa's question with one of his own.
He didn't want to admit that it was because he thought that she had told him that herself since it seemed like he was the only person who had heard what she said. He wasn't even sure himself what was going on.
"How about we had to one of the questioning rooms for now and we can continue this conversation there?" Ray suggested, interjecting himself in what was going on in hopes of preventing further uncomfortability for Larissa and risking her changing her mind about giving her statement.
"Okay." she agreed quietly, glancing over at Abel as though she still wasn't sure if she could trust him or not.
"Ray why don't you take her back there and I'll bring some waters?" Abel suggested as he stepped back and to the side so that he wouldn't be in there way.
He wanted to be the one to lead the questioning but he knew that he was going to need another minute to collect himself after what had happened.
"That sounds good." Ray replied as he stepped in front of Larissa so that he could lead her back to where the questioning ones were.
"Right this way please if you would. My partner will only be a minute and then we'll get started with the questioning." he reassured the nervous woman as he began to go over all of her rights since she was going a voluntary statement rather than a forced one.
Once the other two were a ways down the hall, Abel closed his eyes and took a deep breath to try and recenter himself. It had been a while since something like that had happened and he had no idea what triggered it this time.
'Prose, have you awaken?' he asked mentally as he headed back over to the front desk so that he could inquire as to where the water for guests were kept.
Rachel kindly showed him to where it was and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder while explaining that some people who come in to give statements can be a bit easier to spook than others and he keep in mind next time to take a less direct approach. He didn't feel like it was something he needed her to lecture him on, he already knew that himself.
It hadn't been his intention to startle the woman. The words had slipped out before he had properly processed whether he had heard them or just thought she had said it out loud.
'I'm still waiting for some type of response' he thought to himself rather annoyed that no response followed his mental questioning as he headed back to join his partner so they could start the interview.
The woman seemed slightly more relaxed than she did before Abel had left he noticed as he stepped into the room that she and Ray were waiting in.
Being hardly 5' he guessed on the way she looked and being overall small in build and aura, it didn't Abel wonder much as to why she came across as nervous as she did. He imagined that anyone who was around her size would be intimidated in this type of situation.
"I apologize for what happened earlier. I should've waited until we were back here before speaking so plainly." Abel apologized as he set the cool bottle of water in front Larissa who immediately grabbed it with both of her hands and began rubbing the bottle's label nervous with her thumbs in an up and down motion.
"It's okay. I was just surprised that you were able to guess so accurately what was making me nervous." Larissa replied as she glaced up through her bangs and the two men who were now sitting opposite of her.
"I think it probably had something to do with news that we had heard prior to you coming here that made the dots connect for me." Abel reasoned to her. It was the best he could think of that seemed plausible to believe in this situation.
"But you really do know something about drugs that Victoria was taking?" Ray inquired. He had taken it upon himself to write the notes for this interview.
"Yes or rather I think so maybe." Larissa replied. Her nervousness made it hard for her to voice properly what she wanted to explain.
"Take your time. It's safe here and you have as much time as you need to explain everything." Ray told, trying to help her feel less stressed out.
"Why don't you first explain your relationship, how long you've known her and what you think about her?" Abel suggested, sitting further back in his seat as he waited to see what her response would be.
"We actually had both a working and friend relationship. We've known each other for a little over three years and I was kind of her personal assistant who occasionally helped with some of other work she needed assistance with." Larissa began to explain.
"We actually got along really well and I quite enjoyed working with her. She was always kind, patient and reasonable when it came to work and always was flexible with what she asked others for help with but never her own work."
"So you enjoyed working with her and you'd say she was an easy person to work with?" Ray clarified as he continued taking notes.
"That's right. I am sure that lot of people have told you that, but it was true that she was easy to work with and did her job well." Larissa confirmed as she took the top off the bottle of water and took a small sip, sitting it back down but not bothering to put the lid back on it.
"What made you think then that she had gotten involved with drugs?" Abel asked, wanting to get the answers to what he thought was the most important question to hear the answer to.
"It was because over the past few weeks her behavior suddenly changed." She paused for a second after she said this, her eyes averted as she looked a slightly downward angle as though trying to figure out how to explain.
"Compared to the normally efficient yet patient she was, she had suddenly began to slip behind on some of her work or forget meeting she had said. When this had happened, she would yell at me for not reminding her or if she was in the office, she would blame it on Ace or someone else who she thought was at fault for not telling her."
"You knew Ace?" Ray interrupted.
"Of course, he was her second assistant. Only hired recently, but he was a great help in evening out and taking over some of the extra work that needed to be done around the editing that Victoria did."
"And you sure it wasn't just stress building up that was causing this problem?" Abel then asked, but Larissa shook her head.
"No because it wasn't just a personality change. There was something about her appearance that changed as well. Sometimes it would be slight jitters she blamed on coffee or odd twitches. She never seemed paranoid or nervous though like some drugs would. But there was something about her eyes I noticed. She had begun to wear sunglasses more when she went outside which is something she never did before. When she forgot them though and we were walking closer together, it looked almost as though-"
"As though her eyes looked pink?" Abel interjected. Larissa paused for a second before she dropped her head and nodding.
"Yes. There was something unnerving about it. Her eyes also didn't hold the same kindness they did before, there was something else there that I can't even begin to explain, but I don't think that I was the only one who noticed it. Especially since she had also begun to get harsher about the work her clients submitted and would ridicule them if their submission was below the level of professionalism she thought that it should be."
"Did you ever see her taking anything or noticing anyone who you didn't recognize hanging around her or that she was meeting with people you didn't know?" Ray then asked.
"No one comes to mind, but I only worked with her part time and most of the time we worked together in the office. Rarely did she work from home and if she had me come over it was always in the morning never later in the day. If she needed something, she usually ask Ray for it or put it off until the next day. She was on the phone a lot, but most of it sounded like calls to work clients and or colleagues at the office."
"Hold on. Ace came to her house before?" Ray clarified as he and Abel exchanged a glance.
"Um, yes. Only on a few occasions when I was there though." Larissa confirmed.
"Interesting news. But back on the topic of the drugs- did you ever see Veronica taking anything, pill, powder, shot that you didn't recognize?" Abel pressured. It was the one important piece of information that he needed confirmed.
"I never saw her take anything. But there was one time I came over and I remember that there was a flat plastic case I didn't recognize sitting on the table next to her. It looked like it had a blueish hue to it but when I asked her about it she said a friend had given her a sample of a new makeup powder they had gotten for her to try before she bought some herself. That was the only time I noticed it though."
"That's okay, we just needed to confirm what we should be looking for." Ray told her.
"Of course if there is anything else that you know or think would be of assistance in finding out what happened. Please do continue or if not, I can give you a phone number to call." He continued as he took a piece of blank piece of paper off of the pad and wrote down his and Abel's cellphone numbers.
"You won't tell anyone about this right?" Larissa asked as she took the piece of paper.
"Of course not, this was be completely confidential. None of this information will be connected back to you and if there is anything to worry about with that, we'll reach out to you beforehand. Is there something you're scared of?" Ray asked noticing that the woman had started to get nervous.
"No. It's just, I don't know. I feel like there is something to be worried about, but I don't know what." She replied.
"Well, that's what we're here for. If there's anything you're worried about or think you're in danger, you give either of these numbers a call and we'll be there or we'll send someone out." Ray assured her.