The Wicked Ones

3. Girls night out : the detectives get a life

Asterin Black's eyebrows rose as her colleague lost patience and started screaming at a possible suspect. She had observed through the tainted glass the interrogation go on pointlessly for the last half hour and she was now certain that her partner would not go far.

"Reez, get back in here. I will handle the rest." she said through the mic.

The man came back into the room with a look of vexation painted on his face. "

That fucking arse won't speak ! I swear there's nothing to get out of him !"

Asterin resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This was the reason she did not have an assigned partner. Idiots like the one in front of her were regrettably numerous. "I will talk to him," she said as she passed by him. "And avoid swearing, it's unprofessional."

The woman walked into the interrogation room and sat down, staring straight into her suspect's eyes. Andrew Loung was a young man of nineteen years old that may had been involved into a series of burglaries. The boy had not uttered a word since the interrogation had started. He raised his chin and looked back at her defiantly.

"My apologies for my colleague's behavior," she began. "How about we play a game ?"

Black had the boy's interest now. She had heard from his neighbors that Loung was addicted to games and that he lost more often than not. She set a deck of cards in the table. "Each round I win, you answer a question. If you win the game, you are free to go without being questioned further."

Of course, it was completely against procedure and would never happen but it did not matter so long as they got answers. Asterin could hear Reez getting agitated in her earbud, so she took it off. Andrew hesitated for a few seconds before nodding.

Half an hour later, Asterin had all the information she needed and a new case waiting on her desk.

-

Elisabeth had come back home two hours ago and after an hour hunched over her computer on her sofa she had stopped working. It seemed odd to the woman to have to get dressed to go out instead of simply putting on a large sweater and studying the forensics report while eating a bowl of reheated pasta. Maybe that feeling of unease was the tell tale sign that she definitely needed to get a life, something that wasn't related to work. Elisabeth stared at her reflexion in the large full body mirror that laid against her bedroom wall. She didn't particularly like what she saw but it wasn't as bad as some days, at least this time her ginger mane wasn't misbehaving too much. She'd tied up her hair in a crown braid, one more complex than what she usually wore at the precinct, some of it was out of place but overall it looked rather neat. Her outfit wasn't particularly extravagant either but it was more thought out than her work outfits : short black top, rather simplistic but with a flowy kind of cloth that seemed to float around her, skin tight dark blue jeans, small black leather boots and an ankle length navy blue trench-coat. It would have to do. There wasn't much time to get changed, particularly if it meant she had to search through the deepest parts of her closet. Out of spite she grabbed a throw blanket from her bed and threw it over her reflexion. She didn't wish to see herself longer than needed. Blythe slammed the bedroom door behind her and grabbed the shoulder bag that was hanging miserably from the coat rack. As she closed her apartment door behind her, she checked one last time to see if she'd received any texts. Lis sighed at the absence of notification, that man was slow working. Well it no longer matter, she couldn't wait around for him, she had to leave if she wished to be on time. One motorbike ride later, slaloming through the London streets and flipping off the pesky and aggressive motorists, she reached the Ripper. The woman stepped into the pub, frantically looking around for the sight of her friend.

-

Asterin did not have time to go back to her appartement to change before going to the pub so she changed out of her work clothes in the bathroom. She was now wearing a black dress with lace sleeves and her usual black brock work shoes. She took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. Cool golden eyes stared back with an expectant look. Asterin released her hair from their messy bun. She frowned when she realized one silvery white lock was slightly longer than the rest. She had tried cutting them on her own which meant that although the front was neat and reached just under her chin, she regularly found some abnormally sized stands in the back. Asterin made a mental note to try evening her haircut out when she came back home before swinging her bag on her shoulder her coat over one arm as she made for the exit.

Of course, it had to be pouring outside. Asterin considered waiting a bit for the rain to die down a bit before heading out but one glance at her watch told her she was already going to be late. She let out an annoyed huff and began searching her bag in hope of finding an umbrella.

"Well, well. Someone's going out." a voice drawled.

Asterin slowly lifted her face only to meet Thronhood's stare. Great. Things could not get any better.

"Don't you have things to do ?" she said in exasperation as she resumed her search.

In her peripheral vision she could see him shrugging and stalking closer. "Nothing of importance. So where are you going ? And with whom ?" he added, raising his eyebrows.

Asterin sighed in relief when she finally managed to find an umbrella.

"Hold this." Asterin muttered stuffing the umbrella and her bag in his arms as she put her coat on. If he was going to stand there and annoy her, he might as well make himself useful. Alexander smirked slightly as he watched her fastening the buttons of her coat and before he could think of looking through them she took her belongings back. Asterin muttered a small "Thank you." before walking around him and towards the door when he called after her.

"You still didn't tell me what you were doing !"

Asterin didn't even look back. "Why, do you want in on a girls night ?"

"Well, I was feeling quite feminine today..." he said, chuckling.

She rolled her eyes as she opened the door. "Goodbye, Thornhood."

And the sound of his laughter followed her on her way out and towards the tubs.