I watched the slightly smiling expression of the man in front of me, feeling the muscles around my body become taut, ready for combat.
I accepted his invitation nonetheless.
"How nice of you, you recognized me. I don't need to show you my badge once again." I greeted calmly, acting relaxed like I hadn't just heard the debating voices play out inside his house.
"Yes. It was rather easy. I haven't seen anyone else wear that shirt today." Revanche said, pointing at the white shirt that was peeking through the scarf that it was hidden underneath.
"Please come in." He stepped back a little to make some space for me to come in, which I did as my eyes scanned around his single room, while the door closed by itself behind me soundlessly, the only indication being the lights in the room automatically brightening up in response to the dip in light levels.
I watched the speakers built into the walls all around the room and asked a question that might reveal to him, I heard what he was listening to so that he'd drop his acting, "Real world speakers? Where did you get these? Are these what were just playing the sounds? They sounded quite good."
"Haha~ Believe it or not, I actually need them for work." He said, deliberately ignoring the more important underlying question.
"Work?" 'Didn't he work in photography?'
"Yes, I work as a consultant for things like Soiree's and parties. The sound part helps me test out the final recommendations before I actually bill the customer for my time. And, I'm not that attached to the newer technologies, I feel humans should remain clean like they were made. Like you do, don't you Mr. Dave?"
"I see." I stated without really saying anything, since I didn't want to make any unnecessary dialogue with him. Time was of the essence, and I was running out of it.
*swip*
A sudden sound attracted my attention, which led me to the golden retriever that was trying to stand itself by holding onto the white metal gate which kept it separated from the rest of the room.
"The poor fella doesn't get to roam around freely?" I asked with some pity for the dog that was wagging its tail and panting while looking at me.
"Haha! No. I was just working a few minutes ago, and it's almost his time to go out for a walk, which is why he's so excited."
"That's good, if you didn't, who knows, maybe I'd have to arrest you for neglecting cuteness." I said in a joking manner while turning back to him and looking into his eyes.
"Should I be worried? Do I have a reason to get arrested, Sergeant Dave?" He asked, raising his hands lightly in a surrender with a soft smile on his face.
"No 'I' do not." I said unassumingly and then diverted the topic by asking him a question, "Could you tell me where you were on the day Mr. Waltinger died?"
"...Oh? Is this an investigation, Mr. Dave?" Revanche questioned me without giving me a proper response, with his hands dropping slowly and his face getting serious, probably trying to trick me to increase the time I spent inside his house.
"Oh! No. Definitely not. I'm just working on fixing all the loose ends before the case is shut and closed for good. You remember? During the day? With Mrs. Mórrígan. This is the same thing." I said in a polite way giving my best comforting smile.
"I see. Then I can tell you. I was right here. I hadn't left my house for all the three days before the incident. You can check my Wavelength ID on your public scanners, you'll see."
"Oh? And after?"
"That was because Vera had called me up to help her through the death of her neighbor since she was afraid that the people from the police department would, no offense to you sir, harass her for information. She's already been through enough harassment for once, you see." Revanche said as he fixed his coat and adjusted his cuffs.
'Was that a jab at me, you slick boy.'
I looked around the house, trying to keep my expression normal, and recorded all the pictures on the walls and the various hairs of the pet golden retriever all around the house when my eyes met with Revanche again.
We stared at each other intently for a few seconds as I decided to ask him another question in spite of the ticking timer had on me which had begun the second I had stepped into the house, "Where did your wife work, Mr. Revanche?"
"Am I required to answer that, Mr. Dave?" He asked in a pointed manner with his eyes dangerously narrowing.
"No. But I would appreciate it."
"Then I would appreciate it if you could give me a time and location so that I could meet you along with my lawyer there for further questioning."
'So the cops are going to be arriving any second now.'
"Hmm….I see." I nodded and spoke once again in a polite tone, "Thank you for having me, Mr. Sterling, that will be all for now. I wish you the best in whatever ventures you'll be picking up in the future."
I turned towards the door and tried to open it but it wouldn't budge so I looked back at Revanche who looked into my eyes deeply but didn't question anything until I said, "Could you open the door Mr. Sterling? I need to go back to the office. I'm sure plenty of people are looking for me by now."
"Oh. Yes. Sure." Revanche said and nodded as I turned towards the door that was now opening on its own along with him, and only when I stepped out did I hear him call for me from behind.
"What will happen to the investigation, Sergeant Dave?"
"Oh? Of course, it will be closed successfully, Mr. Sterling, since there are no loose ends. Unless you have information contrary to the prior conclusion?" I asked with a polite smile and watched him try and evaluate me until he too broke into a soft smile and spoke with a slight shake of his head, "No. I do not. I'm just happy officers like you can serve Mr. Waltinger's killers with the justice they deserve."
I nodded with a two finger salute as I spoke while turning around and walking to my AeroStrider, "Stay safe, Mr. Sterling."
Mounting my AeroStrider I began to merge with the traffic once again as I heard the distant rush of sirens behind me, clearly landing in front of Revanche's house, searching for me.
'The bastard did call the officers on me.'
'I knew he would the minute he started acting so nice after watching the news and pretending like I hadn't heard anything.'
As few of the sirens started to get closer and closer I turned the gears in my brain to think of where I could go to escape the ones in pursuit.
'Who knows what nonsense was fed to them before they all were sent after me like hound dogs.'
I quickly looked around myself and found my eyes drift to the distant skyline of the skyscrapers and their glowing signs all around.
'Hiding….a place for hiding….'
Multiple places ran through my head as I thought up the various laws the police could use to get to me easily, so I decided to find a place that would leave me anonymous and would require the police to do actual hard foot work before they could really figure out where exactly I was at even if they knew the general location.
'Anonymous Casino.'
I shifted my AeroStrider to glide into the lower lanes and began making a rush to it by cutting through both the traffic and the set speed limits to get to the casino I had in mind faster as the sirens started to get closer and closer to me.
It wasn't long before I was cutting corners around turns and ducking in between peoples landing decks to get over and across streets as I began to reach the single Skyscraper that was my target destination.
The skyscraper in question was not tall when compared to the rest of the nearly two hundred stories tall modern skyscrapers and was only about a hundred floors tall, covered in various flashing neon advertisements that depicted everything from money, women and parties as I pushed through to it and finally arrived at the landing deck where I promptly jumped off my AeroStrider and set it to auto park itself while I made my way to the grand entrance that was eligible to be used only by the big whales.
The entrance had a simple sign up top which read, 'Quants' in golden letters that flashed to appeal to the greed of all those who might even happen to just glance at it.
'Shit. This is going to be expensive.' I thought as I began walking.
I stepped along and moved in a confident stride until I reached the door where I stopped and held my hand out as the private guards by the sides looked at me and tried to judge my actions, but my confidence kept them quiet and forced them to bring out a small square box that they placed on my hand.
The box buzzed for a few seconds before the small ring on its top flashed a warming green, which both the bouncers noticed and nodded towards me as the doors in front of me slid open.
The inside was the most lavish I had probably ever seen even in all the crazy places I had been in my life as a police detective.
The ceiling was embedded with several diamonds in perfect angled patterns so that they all reflected the light in the same way and formed spirals around the chandelier of diamonds hanging from the center which combined with the purple gold that was covering everything else gave it all a secretive and relaxing feeling.
I could feel the air get chillier and more full of oxygen as soon as I stepped into the place with my boots clicking on the black marble floor that was encrusted with iridescent pearls that glowed differently as my eyes traveled along their edges.
I moved up to the counter and spotted the most flawless looking woman who was seated on its reception, no doubt an Android I decided as I watched her precise movements.
"What may I get you today, sir?" She said without any confusion at my non-regular appearance when compared to the other guests.
"I'll be needing a wardrobe change, a chair at the high table, with a shade."
"The wardrobe will be down the hallway on your right but the chair-"
"Tell the rounders 'Vintage', they'll know what to do." I said as I began walking towards the hallway on my right.
As I stepped through the hallway, I found myself in front of a wooden door that opened automatically as I stepped closer, leading me to a dark room that lit up with small lights built into the frames of the furniture holding up the several rows and rows of articles of new posh clothing lying there, waiting to be used.
I walked to the nearest terminal to me and allowed it to scan my Wavelength ID as I used the model it generated of me to personalize and customize my selection and style before placing an order for all the clothes I selected.
A single drone moved around the large warehouse like wardrobe as it picked up items from all around the room and brought them to me, which I gratefully picked up and changed myself into.
Finding the door to move to the next area I gave one last simple look at the white shirt that was being burnt away in the incinerator along with my old pant, I stepped through it into the casino where continuous loud clinking sounds assaulted my ears as a waterfall of vintage coins came in view in the background with people betting on exact amount of money in the pile along with the several rows of people moving around on jackpot gambling machines that were spinning around with various numbers, stopping just long enough on the jackpot ones to give them the illusion that they almost had it.
The air was filled even more with oxygen as a single whiff sent me into a mild high with my vision brightening and the flashing lights trying to allure me with their sweet whispers of victory.
Just as I was about to take a step towards the other side of the casino and move towards the private gambling arenas, a thick stubby hand emboldened with multiple thick solid rings grabbed my shoulder from behind as a rough, unfiltered voice that smelled of smoke and cigars whispered right in my ears.
"You think you can just waltz in here like nothing happened?"