Ignore this

[KingOfNowhere]

deleted

 

[Artemidorus]

Audra Muller stepped out of her car, lowering her aviator sunglasses so her green eyes could take in the scene. Forensics was looking over the blood on the door with confused expressions; never a good sign. From what she had heard on the radio, there was a caucasian male down. Cause of death? A door to the nose. Motivation? Supposedly robbery.

But a door was a strange ass weapon of choice.

She walked over to the medical examiner. "What do we have so far?"

Eric Leaner stood up, brows furrowed. "The vic was hit in the face so hard, his lateral septum pushed his maxilla into his frontal lobe."

Audra put her hands on her hips. "You're telling me the cause of death was a nose bone to the brain?" Eric nodded in disbelief. "So it was an accident." She asked.

He shook his head. "I don't think so. His wallet and keys are 'accidentally' gone. And besides, there's evidence the guy was squatting in there all night, waiting to take him out when he opened up in the morning."

"Anything else?" Audra asked.

"No witnesses. This place is in the middle of nowhere. His boss found him. He blames the vagrants that live in that abandoned factory over there." Eric crossed his arms.

"That's the closest place to run to, after commiting a murder, right?"

Eric nodded. "Surveillance doesn't record back here, but it does record the only road out. No cars came in or out at the time of the murder. The perp left on foot."

Audra thought for a moment. "Then at the very least, maybe someone in that factory saw something."

She headed over, acknowledging the needles and broken glass in the grass, thankful she was wearing boots today. She pulled her gun, just in case, and used her flashlight to stead it. She could knock, but the door was already only on one hinge. "Police! Detective Muller! Open up."

 

[Artemidorus]

Audra crossed her arms. "I don't see any reason to cuff you, if all you did was steal some toilet paper." It wasn't suspicious he knew she was here from the gas station- from the third floor it would be impossible not to see the lights of the squad cars at the scene. "But since you were there last night, its. Likely you were the last person to see the attendant alive. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

She asked him all the basic questions. He was polite, funny, and to top it off, handsome. He was so starkly out of place among the other vagrants, that she was gonna bring him in for questioning. If one if the other vagabonds had admited to being at the scene, one that stank of booze or shuddered from drugs, she'd just question here. But there was something... Odd about him. Nolan, he said his name was. He didnt seem the type to murder anyone, but he did seem sharp enough to remember something from this morning.

There was sonething else, too. A... Need almost. To help him. He wasn't like the others. No booze on his breath or marks on hisbskin. He was clean, at least in the figurative way. Not drunk or high. So why was he here? "Lets talk more at the station, shall we?"

She took him in her car, and it wasn't a far drive. Audra didn't want to put him in a room, draw unnecessary attention to him, so she sat him at her desk. She pulled out a report, filling out his name and a few other details he gave. Then she laid into questioning him about the events of last night, how late he was at the gas station, if the attendant was acting suspicious, and if any of the other squatters in the factory seemed especially dangerous or violent.

It became clear that he didn't know much anything that would be of help. She jotted down all his answers, and ran a quick background check on the computer. He was clean. Squeaky clean. Something that was NOT common among vagrants.

"I'm gonna address the elephant in the room. Why are you squatting in that decrepit building when you're smart, good looking, clean, and have no criminal record?" She threw up her hands, then leaned back in her chair. "I'm sorry, but if you want to go back to the place you'll have to walk. I'm not taking you back. I could find you a shelter- or a rehab or-" she sighed, unable to believe the words about to come out of her mouth. "Or you could stay with me a few nights. But I can't have it on my conscious if i take you back there and let you fall into that life style."

 

[Artemidorus]

He was odd, but a light sensitive skin condition wasn't the strangest thing she had ever seen. It wasn't even the strangest this week. "Audra Muller." She had told him. She let him ride shotgun, as she was... Between partners at the moment. There wasn't any other female detectives, and they said she didn't work well with males. The truth was, males didnt work well with her.

So, she was stuck without a partner, and on stupid cases, like the gas station murder. Or homicide. Whatever it was. It didn't matter, the clerk was someone's son or dad or brother, and Audra would take any case, big or small, and she'd take it serious. So she sat down with Nolan and asked him all the usual questions. And she took notes.

He had no history, despite having his prints in the system. That was a good sign. No pick ups for suspicious activity, no drug busts. She'd expected at least a couple trespasses. Zip. Zilch. Nada. She excused him, saying "Just give me a sec."

She had a few things to finished before she packed up her things- being a detective, she had no set hours, but she finished the report on the incident, and did some more research on the vagrants in that warehouse. After a few seconds turned ti a few hours, Audra headed to the hall to look for Nolan, who was looking for the vending machine. "Uh- we can stop on the way home for real food?"

They took her car through the drivethrough at the nearest restruant, and she let Nolan get whatever. She got a kids meal for Sammy, and a diet coke for herself.

Her home was old, but modest, with two floors and a nice kitchen. She had inherited from her parents, who moved to florida in an RV. It was way too big for her, but the rent was free. At the moment, it was sparse, like she didn't have enough furniture to spread around the place, and never bother to get any. She had a couch and a tv, and all the kitchen essentials, but none of the decretive pillows and side tables everyone expects to see.

She showed Nolan around, to the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room. She welcomed him to her Netflix account and to anything in the fridge. Then she showed him the guest room. The bed wasnt made, and there was a few cardboard boxes still unpacked, and rather dusty.

"The uh- sheets and stuff are in that closet." She pointed. "I know I woke you up earlier, so I'll let you get settled in and get some rest."

She left him, heading to her study. Audra opened her laptop anf checked to see if there was any other robberies close by, or if anyone had been released from prison recently with a similar MO. It wasn't long before she head a knock on the door. "Shit!" She shouted, almost spilling her wine on herself. "Is it Friday?"

She ran to the door, to see a dirty blonde little girl and a frowning man. She took a deep breath before opening it. "Hi- I-"

Steven shoved his way inside. "We came by at 4 like we agreed and you weren't here." She said, crossing his arms.

"I know, I'm sorry. I was busy. There was a-"

Steven cut her off again. "Sam told me you left her here alone last week."

"It was only for a few hours I had to-"

He interupted again, bearing down on her. "If it happens again, she's gone. I can pull a few strings- younknow that. And you'll never see her again."

Sammy looked scared, and Audra tried to stay calm. She eanted to scream at her ex, throw a punch, but she took a deep breaty. "It won't happen again."

"We'll see." He huffed. Something on the table caught his eye. "Fast food for dinner? Mom of the year."

He finally left, and she locked the door behind him. She put her palm to her forehead, thinking about how much she hated Steven. Then she forced a smile. "Sammy, you want nuggets for dinner?"

Audra got her daughter fed, cleaned up, and then in bed. It felt like the rest of the afternoon was tied up in her mom duties. She almost forgot about the stranger she was letting sleep in the spare room. She sighed as she closed Sam's door, and headed to the kitchen for another glass of wine. She poured two, then brought them to Nolan's door. She knocked, offering the booze. "It's no dark brew but here." She glanced at the living room as the house grew ever darker. "Do you wanna watch TV with me?"

 

[Artemidorus]

"Done a little research?" She asked, with a cocked brow. She was going to press him for more, but she stopped. She had already questioned him so much today. She turned back to the program, and it was actually interesting. Even if her company was noisy and derivative. Though, she liked it. It was charming.

She bit her lip, chewing over his questions. "You heard all that? I'm sorry." She looked down at the ground. "Her name is Samantha, or Sam. Or Sammy." She took a sip of her wine. "Steven is an attorney. He's... also an asshole." She sighed, leaning back into the couch and looking at the ceiling.

"It's less about my job and more about who he knows. Which is pretty much every judge in this district. He convinced the state that Sam was better off with him, and at the time I left him, I had no money of my own. I was staying in a tiny apartment. He had this big house, good job, and all the people in charge under his belt. I barely even saw the time in court to try to fight him."

She swirled her wine around in her glass. Her work shirt was mostly unbuttoned now, and underneath she wore a sheer tank top. She pulled her legs up so she was sitting crosslegged. "My parents left me this house, they moved to Florida. Still it's..." she looked down into her wine. "Hard doing all this alone.

She had no idea why she was telling him all this, but his presence put her at ease. She felt like she could trust him, be it her gut instinct or something else entirely. She liked him.