Chapter Five
The silence was palpable as Lex's gaze oscillated between the unwelcome visitors and his foster parents, his eyes wide with a mix of fear and bewilderment.
Victor's voice, laced with a hint of irritation, pierced the air, "Who is at the door?"
Lex's head turned to him, his lips parted, but words failed him. He then faced the cops back and stepped aside, allowing the detectives to enter, their piercing gazes scanning the opulent living room like hawks on the hunt.
Victor, his eyes narrowed, rose from his seat, his tone laced with a subtle hostility, "And how may I help you guys?"
"I am Detective Conan," Conan introduced himself to victor. "And this is my assistant, detective Julia." He pointed to his assistant.
Victor's mind was immediately filled with questions, his eyes darting between the officers, suspicion etched on his face.
He had probably thought they were here for him. Maybe Lex actually went to the police station the previous night, maybe that was where he wandered off to. Maybe he had reported to the cops about the maltreatment he was facing at home. Maybe they were actually here to arrest him. All these thoughts ran through Victor's mind as he took the cops in with his eyes, a disdainful look evident in his eyes.
Rachael, who was hearing some voices in the living room, stormed into the room, her eyes flashing with indignation, "What's the meaning of this? What's going on here?" She asked as she took a look at the detectives.
Detective Conan's gaze locked onto the couple, his voice firm. "I take it you two are Mr and Mrs Miller."
Victor's response was curt, "of course."
"We're here regarding your foster son, Lex." The detective announced.
The air was heavy with tension, the silence that followed, oppressive.
Lex, who was watching the scene unfold before him, just stood there, speechless.
The couple looked at each other, their eyes passing messages.
Detective Conan cleared his throat, "We are here to ask him some questions regarding the deaths of some gangsters." He added, clearing the tense atmosphere.
Lex's eyes popped out in shock. Death? Of some gangsters? Was the detective talking about Blake and his gang? So it wasn't a dream after all?
Khaos' voice came, interrupting his thoughts, "Of course it wasn't. How many times do you want me to tell you that?"
Lex didn't say anything, he just decided to discard the annoying voice of Khaos in his head.
"So now you're rolling with gangsters?" Victor's voice pierced the silence. "Oh, was that why you came home late last night?"
The sentence Victor made caught the attention of Detective Conan immediately. "You came home late last night?" He directed the question to Lex as he turned to face him.
"Ye- yes." He knew he couldn't deny it. His father had already spoiled everything the moment he spit out that sentence.
He couldn't help but wonder if they were going to arrest him. His mind ravaged with wild questions immediately. What if he truly goes to jail? Would he allow Khaos to take over his body and break out of jail?
"If I may ask, why?" Detective Julia finally spoke up, looking into Lex's eyes.
The silence became thick and awkward. Then Rachael spoke, "would you mind taking your seats please?" She asked the detectives who quickly sat down on the nearest couch as if they had been waiting all the while for permission.
"Sit down too," Rachael glared at Lex who also sat, facing the detectives.
The family and the detectives all settled down in the living room, the atmosphere thickening.
Then Lex started, "It's true that I came home late yesterday's night. But I'm not rolling with any gangster, I only closed late at work." He explained.
"Of course we know you're not." Conan said, "we actually learnt that these gangsters were such a constant thorn in your flesh. They've attacked you and beaten you up many times, including yesterday." He added, laying emphasis on "Including yesterday."
Lex looked at his foster parents who had a surprised look on their faces, probably because they were just hearing that information - that Alex gets attacked and beaten up by these supposed gangsters.
Lex actually never told them about the bullying he always faced. He knew it wasn't going to change anything since they were not so different from the gangsters. They were only going to remind him about how weak and stupid he was.
"Lex?" Detective Julia spoke, breaking him off from his reverie.
"I don't know what you are talking about." He denied.
Julia sighed, "You see, we have a witness who to have seen how they ambushed you yesterday in the alleyway although they claimed to have not witnessed what happened after that.
Lex immediately realized he had made a mistake by denying that he was beaten up. But he continued,
"Y..yes you're right. But I don't know anything about what happened to them. Infact, I'm just hearing about their deaths now." He immediately denied any accusation that might come from the detectives.
He knew cops and he knew how cunning they were with getting the truth from their suspects.
"So you mean you don't know what killed them? Their time of death and the time you were ambushed are not so far from each other so tell me something I don't know." Detective Conan said.
"Immediately they were done beating me, I rushed off and came home, I don't know what happened after that." Lex pressed on.
"See, we are not claiming you killed them because basically, you can not take on all four of them. We just need you to tell us what actually happened." Detective Julia interfered.
"I've already told you all I know. I don't know how or who killed them." Lex wasn't ready to say more than that.
The two detectives sighed and looked at each other. "Okay then, we'll contact you if we need any more information." Conan said as they both stood and left.