Double Deal

Chapter 9

After carefully putting the tarp and gloves back, Ajax and Lola raced over to the cafe. Tom was standing behind the counter talking to the police who were still at the cafe. The coffee shop was now empty. Tom finished his conversation right as Lola and Ajax walked in.

“Lola,” Tom said, before a puzzled look appeared on his face, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m just-” Lola said thinly, “Queasy.”

“Oh,” Tom said simply.

“They really arrested Hyram?” Lola said.

“Yeah, he had just finished making a coffee for one of the last customers of the night rush before they stormed in and arrested him.”

“Do you think he killed her?” Ajax asked him.

Tom looked at Ajax, “I don’t know, but presumably yes since that’s why the police arrested him.”

Ajax and Tom looked each other in the eyes. They were both thinking the same thing: He knows.

Hyram was handcuffed to the table arguing with the cop.

“Do you know why we arrested you, Hyram?” The officer asked.

“No, I’m telling you, I have no idea what you’re talking about-”

“When’s the last time you saw Kharis Wilson?”

“I don’t know, the other day.”

“When the other day, Hyram.” The officer said in a strict voice.

“On Tuesday. At night,” Hyram said.

“What were you doing there?”

Hyram hesitated. “Hyram. You are the suspect for her murder,” The police officer said.

“We were hooking up,” Hyram said, unable to look the officer in the eye.

“Does anyone know about it?”

“No. Kharis wanted to keep it a secret from everyone.”

“And how did you feel about that?”

“I didn’t want it to be a secret anymore,” Hyram said honestly.

“And did you ever tell Kharis about it?”

“Yes. We got into an argument about it.”

“Where?”

“At work. Before our shift started. Lola walked in and we stopped.”

“And because she didn’t agree with you, you killed her,” The officer said.

“No!” Hyram said, “Even though we disagreed about it, I still cared about her. I would never do anything to harm her.”

“Is there anything to prove that you're telling the truth?”

“No, I just told you. Kharis wanted to keep it a secret.”

“There was no time you almost got caught?”

Hyram sat there silent, before realization dawned on him. “Yes there was. We were in her room… and someone walked into the house. She dropped a cup off her nightstand and it broke. She got up, quickly put some clothes on and walked out the room. It sounded like she was arguing with them. I just assumed that Lola had come home.”

“And what happened after that?”

“She walked back into the room and told me I should go home. So I did.”

“Did you have a key to her apartment?” The officer asked.

“No, whenever I came over, she would open the door for me.”

The officer sat down in silence and looked at Hyram. “I don’t believe a damn word you're saying.”

“I am telling the truth!” Hyram said back angrily, “I loved her.”

“I think Kharis and you started to hook up, you wanted more and she didn’t.”

“No-”

“You were upset that she didn’t feel the same way about you-”

“No, that’s not how it is-”

“And because of that, on Tuesday night, she invited you over.”

“It’s not like that-”

“You tried to get her to agree with you, and when you didn’t, you got physical with her-”

“No-”

“And you murdered her because you were fed up with her.”

“No!” Hyram said, defeated, “I loved her. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”

The officer sat there, silent, before a knock came on the glass panel behind Hyram. “I’ll be back when you’re ready to talk more,” The officer said before walking out of the interrogation room.

Over half an hour later, a different officer walked into the room and took Hyram to a holding cell. “We’ll bring you back to the interrogation room later to ask you more questions,” The officer said before locking the cell and walking away.

Minutes later, Lola was sitting in the interrogation room too. “Hi Lola. My name is Detective Cowell. I’m the lead investigator for Kharis’ murder. I just wanted to ask you a few questions, is that all right?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“So, I know you were roommates with Kharis. How close were you guys?”

“Pretty close, I think. We’d known each other since college. We had the same major and became close friends. That’s when we started working at the cafe. Turns out, Tom had already worked there and got us the job,” Lola said.

“Alright, and how well do you know Hyram Phillips?”

“He was on the same shift with Kharis. Just one of our co-workers. He started working there a couple months after Kharis and I. I never really learned too much about him.”

“Did you ever notice anything… weird between Hyram and Kharis?” The detective asked.

Lola sat and thought about it. Notice anything weird between them? “Once,” Lola said, “I remember being upset with Tom that day, and as soon as my shift ended, I walked into the back room. Kharis was saying something to Hyram, but she looked upset. When I asked what happened, she said that she was scolding him for being late to his shift. He had smiled at me awkwardly, but Kharis just glared at him.”

“Were you able to hear what they had been talking about?”

“No, Kharis was talking quietly.”

“Alright. Any other incidents?” Detective Cowell asked.

“Not that I can think of.”

“Okay, well I have one last thing to ask. Did you ever come home at night and hear something break inside Kharis’ room?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Can you tell me what happened that night?”

“I was over at Ajax Ross’ house that night. When I got home that night, after I shut the front door, I heard glass shatter from her room. I asked her if she was all right and she told me that she dropped a cup. I asked if she wanted me to bring her the broom and all she told me was not to come into her room. I listened, and then I walked into my room.”

“She never came out of her room?”

“No, not while I was outside of my room. She might have after I had gone to sleep.”

“Alright. How many glass cups did you guys own?”

“Maybe like six. I broke one because I dropped it by accident in the living room. And then the one broke when Kharis dropped it in her room. Another one of them did go missing, but I don’t know what happened to it.”

Detective Cowell asked her a few more questions before eventually he led her out of the room and let her go.

Hyram sat in front of the detective in the interrogation room again. “You’re not telling me the truth Hyram.”

“I’m not lying about anything,” Hyram said.

“Tell me the story of the night you and Kharis were hooking up and she dropped the cup.”

“We were in her room. Then the front door closed, and in shock, she knocked the cup off of the nightstand and it broke on the floor. She got up, got dressed, and walked out of the room and talked with the person who walked into the apartment, before walking back into the room and telling me that I should leave.” Hyram repeated.

“The first time you said it was Lola,” the detective pointed out.

“I never said that. I told you, I don’t know who came into the apartment. I assumed it was Lola because it was her apartment.”

The Detective sat there quiet. “Look, Hyram. You can stop lying. I already had a conversation with Lola and she said that Kharis never left the room. Lola called out to Kharis to ask if she was alright. You would have known it was Lola who walked in.”

“That never happened! I’m telling you the truth. Kharis left the room.”

“And so Lola is the one who’s lying to us then?”

“I don’t know what Lola is telling you, but I am telling the truth. I didn’t do anything to hurt Kharis.”

“And so, it's just a coincidence that one time when Lola came home late, she heard Kharis drop a cup, that broke, and they had a conversation through the door, and Kharis never left the room. But you also were in Kharis’ room late at night, where someone closed the door and Kharis dropped a cup, where she proceeded to get up, leave the room, and have a private conversation with the person who walked in. And what, these are just two separate occasions where Kharis happened to drop a glass cup that broke in both instances?”

“If that’s what you think-”

“I don’t believe that because that has to be the biggest stretch imaginable.”

“If I wasn’t there, then how would I know about the broken cup?”

There was a knock on the glass panel. The detective sat there annoyed for a second before getting up and walking out the room. Moments later, Hyram was taken back to the holding cell. He sat down on the bench, his face in his hands.

Hyram heard a noise and looked up in the direction of it. His eyes filled with fear. He stood up and back up until he hit the wall. “They-” He struggled to find words. “B-but they said you were-”

Then, they pulled a knife out, and laughed.

“Are you absolutely certain that is what happened that night?”

Lola was sitting back in the interrogation room. “Yes, I'm positive that Kharis never left the room, much less come talk with me privately in the living room. Her door never opened because she didn’t want me to go into her room. I assumed that she had someone in there that she didn’t want me to see. Kharis was always talking about ‘hooking up.’”

“Did she ever tell you who she was hooking up with?”

“No. The whole point of hooking up to her was to keep it a secret to everyone, including me.”

The detective stood up, said thank you, and started to walk out the room. When he opened the door, however, a scream of pain came from the direction of the holding cells. Lola stood up, “What was that?”

The detective started running over to the holding cells, Lola close behind him, followed by another officer. They walked into the hallway where the holding cells are to see Hyram slumped on the floor against the wall, a pool of blood on the floor surrounding him. There was writing on the wall in blood. Hyram’s blood. Lola gasped. Detective Cowell quickly unlocked the cell to check if Hyram was still alive, but he slammed his hand on the wall in frustration. “He’s dead,” Cowell said, standing up.

“Get her out of here, and get forensics,” He said, walking out of the hallway back towards the interrogation rooms.

Lola looked at the message written on the walls, tears welling in her eyes.

I’m still here - Deiros Momus

“What happened?” Ajax said, standing up as Lola was brought to him, “I tried to go over there, but they wouldn’t let me-”

“He’s dead,” Lola said quietly, “Hyram’s dead.”

Ajax covered his mouth with his hand in shock. “How is that even possible? He was locked up, right? Only Detective Cowell should have had the keys to open the door, so that must mean-”

“Whoever killed him used magic to get to him,” Lola finished his sentence.

“We need to find Zephyrus,” Ajax said.

The two of them left the precinct. “Do you know where he went?” Lola asked.

“No, all he told me was he was going to find his sister.”

“His sister?” Lola asked, “He has a sister?”

“Yeah, apparently. I just found out about her yesterday. She’s honestly terrible,” AJax said, turning the corner.

“Where are we going?” Lola followed.

“Holly’s. She seems to know the most about Zephyrus.”

“Who’s Holly?” Lola asked.

“Oh right. One of the girls Zephyrus has been with,” Ajax said, making another turn.

“One of?” Lola repeated.

“It’s a long story,” Ajax said.

Eventually they turned onto the street where Holly’s was. As they got closer, Ajax noticed the handle to the door was broken. He stopped.

Lola, who was half-paying attention, ran into him. “What are you-”

Ajax turned and put a finger over his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. He pointed to the door.

Ajax pulled out a flashlight, and slowly opened the door. There was glass on the floor that crunched as he walked. He tried to turn one of the lights on, but the electricity was out. He kept walking around carefully. Ajax didn’t exactly have a weapon on him so if there was something here that could harm him, he would have to figure it out as it happened. Zephyrus hadn’t trained him enough with magic for him to use his stele.

Ajax had pretty much gone through the whole building and didn’t see anything. He turned around to say something to Lola, but she wasn’t there. Had she stayed outside? There was no way, he had heard her walking behind him-

The hair on his arms rose. Ajax quickly turned and moved, barely dodging a dagger. “What the-”

Ajax didn’t have much time to finish his sentence since the person with the blade swung again. This time, they barely got Ajax’s arm as he backed up, drawing blood. He didn’t notice. “Who are you?” Ajax said, dodging once more.

Ajax realized that the person was right handed as they swung again. He grabbed their wrist and pulled them close, but they kicked him in the gut before they got too close. Ajax let go and winced. They punched him across the face, sending him to the floor.

Ajax was trying to process what was happening, but it was all moving too quickly. Before he knew it, they pinned his hand behind his back and held the dagger to his throat. “Get up,” They ordered, “And if you try anything, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Ajax stood up slowly and put his hands up. It was a girl’s voice. He had heard it before but couldn’t associate it with a face.

“Walk back to the dining room.”

Ajax listened. The blade moved from his neck and instead a sharp point pressed against his back. The dagger had turned back into a stele. It was like Zephyrus’ sword. A special weapon.

Ajax reached the dining room, where he was tied up and gagged, before being thrown into one of the booths. The lights turned on, and the person who had brought him there was… Emmaline. The girl that Zephyrus hated. Ajax made a confused mumble before Holly walked into the room, grabbing the stele from Emmaline. “Hi Ajax. I didn’t expect you to come back here, honestly,” Holly said, putting the stele away.

It was her dagger. “Did you know that Emmaline is the best fighter in this room? One of the reasons Zephyrus disliked her so much was because she beat his ass,” Holly said, pulling the cloth that was tied around his head out of his mouth.

“And while I know you almost beat Zephyrus, it’s really not that much of an achievement. He’s not as strong as he looks,” Holly said.

“He’s full of tricks.”

“Where’s Lola?” Ajax asked.

Holly sighed, “You’re like a puppy. Adorable,” Holly smiled, “She’s on her way to Dexter at the moment, or should I say Astraya.”

Ajax glared at her. “So what, you’re evil or something?”

“Evil is such a harsh term,” Holly frowned, before putting the gag back up, “I prefer,”

Holly’s eyes filled with hate as she fetched her stele from her pocket. It turned back into the dagger. She twirled it around, and hit Ajax hard with the blunt end of it, making him pass out.

“Getting revenge.”