secondscns

[secondscns]

that tripped his train of thought, he could mentally picture it, like a cartoon train sailing off the tracks because of a tiny rock shaped like a ramp getting under the wheels. it took him what felt like ten seconds of silence to really let it sink in. "you don't think i did it? but you've been so..." bitchy "combative to me. i thought you were trying to get me to-to admit something? i mean, fuck off, i totally cared about hope, but..."

he ran both hands through his hair and then seemed to get stuck again, that little imaginary train trying to pull into the station of the point without any more issues. "you think i know who would have cared about her enough to kill her?"

ren huffed with enough force to make her bangs rise and fall in front of her eyes. as usual, theo was missing the point, and, as usual, ren couldn't find a way to explain herself in a comprehensible way. there must be a planet where people only spoke in half-sentences and hidden meanings and only wore plaid and argyle sweaters. "because i want them to figure out who actually killed her instead of wasting their time on you. you didn't care about her enough to kill her; we both know that."

[secondscns]

jack frowned, tracking her movement. some part of his brain was looking for the legal case here. did she have a deadbolt before? was it locked? is she injured? was her property damaged? is this even her property? he had to cut himself off and remember he was just a stranger who walked into her open house. "kind of young to be so calm about your door getting broken open and a stranger standing in your living room, don't you think?"

he crossed his arms over his chest. "do you want me to call the cops?"

"probably but does that mean i'll actually buy one?" she questioned, her brow raised but a smile lacing her face. it wasn't the first time someone easily got into her place - and it probably wouldn't be the last but it was an easy fix, for the most part. heading to the door, she fit herself between the man and the door itself, pushing it until it was back in the position where it needed to be. "you just gotta know how to handle it just right and it'll work in your favor," she winked. "it's kind of late for you to be running around town, don't you think?"

[secondscns]

"hey, it won't be forever. right? i'll be just some guy again in no time." he wasn't sure how much he wanted that. he liked being adored by people at parties, even if the person they adored was a façade he created. it was still being liked.

theo held a hand over his heart, "come on, you're not even going to let me pretend we're partners, but you're the brain and i'm the pinky. then i can at least pretend i'm getting half the credit for the schemes. i'll really be way more invested that way."

❝            right. ❞ though maeve understood the why behind it, that didn’t completely snuff the disappointment that came with it. growing closer to hope had subsequently meant drifting further from maeve. not that either of them had been malicious about it. simply people being people and drifting apart. it was probably stupid to believe that it would be reversed with a snap of her fingers.

she shook her head at his carrying on, entertainment clear on her features. ❝ you think you’re getting a minion out this ? ❞ her eyebrow raised in theo’s direction. ❝ please. a little cash under my belt and i’d be unstoppable. would make you my minion before you even realised what was happening, reyes. ❞

[secondscns]

jack didn't know what he expected, walking through the area so late at night. he just needed to clear the cotton in his mind and no number of cigarettes was doing it. he couldn't have said the thing he thought he'd see was a door hanging open, one hinge broken, and a set of muddy boot prints. he should probably just call the cops, but his own inability to leave well enough alone had him walking in. "shit-- looks like someone beat me to it, kid. you need a new deadbolt."

leni had lived alone since the day she turned eighteen and nothing really ever put her on the edge. maybe it was because she didn't care about whether she lived or died in the grand scheme of things but tonight she felt on edge. her body stiffened at the sound coming fron the living room of her apartment. she had just gotten out of the shower and slowly opened the door, peaking out. "if you're here to rob me, go ahead. i don't have shit to take so you might want to try a different place."

[secondscns]

he did not actually finish college just so chasen could insult his profession. he worked full days. just because he also still got a monthly stipend from his father did not mean he didn't work. "my romance is not... torrid, can't you talk about things like a normal person."

alright so torrid wasn't exactly a high score word, but still, it was just annoying. "fine. whatever. i'll tell him you were at my office cleaning up little boxes, he'll for sure believe me." the worst part was that he probably would believe chasen was cleaning up after animals.

"i know that you're grossly overpaid," chasen hummed with a little grin that was specially reserved for making theo irritated. the most 'brotherly' they'd ever been was when they were bickering. had bruce not scooped him up from the group home like some sort of turtle-necked daddy warbucks, the only interaction chasen ever would've had with theo would be him picking his pocket or jacking his tires—so, in chasen's mind, this was them getting along. "relax, i'm not the one with a torrid romantic past. i just need a solid excuse for ditching a job interview bruce set up for me." without asking, because that was, of course, bruce's way.

[secondscns]

"hey, it's not like you mean nothing." he can't refute that he doesn't really have any special love for maya. she's a person who had a desire that he shared. it was an honest using of each other. two people who understood what the other had to offer. no messy strings or hidden intentions. it was what made their whole relationship good.

"look, we came all the way out here," theo let the sentence hang, hoping she'd catch his drift. there was no reason to waste a room just because they agreed it wouldn't happen after this. "we both need to relax, blow off some steam, destress about this whole thing." his hands came up to her arms, sliding down slowly to her elbows, stepping closer to her with a suggestive gleam in his eye.

there’s a speck of anger starting to bubble inside her, like a bottle of champagne that had been shaken far too vigorously. she needs to put a stop to it before the cork pops and she says something that she regrets but maya’s afraid it might be too late. she pushed theo’s hands of her. “don’t pretend to care about me. don’t pretend like i actually mean anything to you. that this means anything.” 

but theo was right, now that hope was dead there was no reason to keep this thing going on for longer than they had to. whatever this was only started as a sick and twisted way for maya to get back at hope. she didn’t even like theo like that, but hearing him call their arrangement off still felt like a stab in her stomach. even in death, hope still somehow wins. “but yeah, i guess there’s no point in continuing this now that hope is dead.” 

[secondscns]

"what can i say, i've got a soft spot for a girl shrouded in mystery." he made a thoughtful noise, unsure that was really a tactful thing to say at the moment, but decided he couldn't exactly take it back.

jack pulled his hands from his pockets and rubbed at his chin, thinking. "in a small town like this? if they haven't found out who did it already, it might be a long shot to get any decent clues. it'll take some big breakthrough, some jerk finding a weapon or a missing phone under some leaves everyone has walked past a hundred times. a good cop making the case personal and working overtime to get past the barrier of people protecting each other. it's an open and closed in a few weeks, or its going to go cold like charity mercer's case. probably not what you want to hear."

“right,” she dragged out the word as she watched the attorney carefully, wondering how he’d fare up against the big expensive lawyers that she was sure that the mercers’ had on retainer, “you sure chose one hell of a case to take on.” she hummed in agreement. mercer hollow chronicle was maybe one of the worst things to have come from the case. it was just a bunch of people who have clearly watched far too many episodes of true detective that they suddenly seem to know everything that there was to know about solving murders. “people love gossip and that’s basically what the podcast is ⎯ theories and gossip. and that is unfortunately prime entertainment,” she shrugged, “so in your experience, how do these cases normally end?” maya couldn’t imagine that they ever ended well with a nice little ending packaged up neatly with a bow like it did in the shows and movies. 

[secondscns]

"no, of course not. still, you're a woman to watch. if hope's killer isn't you, they might be interested in her friends. or it could be an accident. and this whole town is whipped up for nothing. i hope it's that one." he reached for his beer, tapping the side of the glass. accidents weren't always accidents, though. and even if lori didn't know it she could have been accidentally involved in making sure hope was in the right place at the right time for the wrong reasons. he needed to stop seeing conspiracies everywhere.

jack sighed, leaning his hip on the pool table and crossing his arms over his chest as well, mimicking her stance. "sorry for your loss, really. but with a case like this? unless the police are keeping their lips shut tight on a strong lead, they don't have what they need to put anyone away yet and with the evidence all outdoors, it's going to get less likely every day. same thing happened years ago with charity mercer, last murder in this town from the 70s. no evidence turned up fast enough, case is still cold." he'd gone digging into it hoping for something to come up that might show how the cops were going to handle this.

" there's no pressure for me to crumble under. " lori responded plainly, folding her arms across her chest. a defensive position, yes, but also one to signify her mild irritation at the conversation. " my best friend was murdered, and i've never felt worse, but nothing i do in this situation helps me out, i can't win. " if she crumbled and broke down entirely because of the loss, there would be conspiracy theorists claiming she was overreacting to hide something, and if she kept on like everything was fine she was a heartless bitch. and she wouldn't give in to either.

" i don't want it to be years in the making, i want it to be over. " she mumbled, wishing that the process was easier, quicker, less of a whodunnit for clueless shits not even at all involved in what happened, but unfortunately it wasn't. " humor me. do you think whoever did it will be caught ? "

[secondscns]

"we both know that we didn't do this. we're the victims here. we're the only people actually defending us right now, right? so we should do it." he took lori's hand, giving it a firm squeeze the same way they had the other night in his apartment. confidence and calmness. that's what they both needed. and together they might just manage it. and they'd defend each other. maybe it was insane for him to close in with her and shut out conversations about hope with others. but he did better with people on his side.

"we can take my car, drive up to the bonfire site, and look around there." he fidgeted with the sleeve of his coat, rubbing the button between two fingers. "we could... go now? look, people are going to be here for a long time, just talking. i don't think anyone would notice if we did. they'd just think we were off being in mourning or whatever, right? and they're just going to be lying about how much they knew her anyway so they won't want to talk to us."

" it isn't insane. " lori confirmed, shaking her head in assurance. " i mean, we know hope better than anyone, right ? definitely better than the detectives on the case. if she'd hidden anything, or at least tried to, it would make sense that they wouldn't be able to find it. but we'd know where to look, she was crafty and we know it. " she and hope had found many-a hiding places for their secrets over the years, and they had been good at burying things they wanted away from the public eye. " it's definitely a long-shot, and we shouldn't get our hopes up too high, but it's worth at least giving it a look. "

lori was definitely no amateur sleuth, but she refused to leave theo alone in this, especially now that they had both been named and shamed by the podcast, they both had something to prove now, and she couldn't bring herself to feel frightened when she was around the boy who'd never made her feel anything but safe before. " of course. i wouldn't dream of missing out. " she was certain that most people would worry if they were caught together ; the boyfriend and the best friend returning to the scene of the crime, it practically wrote itself, but lorelai deserved to prove her innocence as much as theo did, and she wanted to help him.

[secondscns]

"what can i say, it's my drug of choice." since he didn't have to worry about going to court high when he stopped for a romp in a closet before his case. "you are one hell of a cop, you know? it's no wonder you close so many cases, javi."

jack stood up, smacking javi in the shoulder to encourage him to get up as well. he pushed aside a fat white binder and a filer labeled 'mercer' under the coffee table to both get it out of the way and distract them both from it. "come on, i'll drive."

" you're still thinking about the sex thing ? jesus, man. if i knew it was going to live rent free in your head, i would've done it out of pity. " he replied out of jest, nudging jack gently with a grin plastered across his face. " i do exactly that: get piss drunk and do something stupid at a bar. it's great fun. " he leaned back against the sofa, hues fixating on the ceiling. his boredom was palpable, and the idea of an adventurous night, whether it'd be out or at home, appealed to him. " we could get coke. i'd be able to pay attention if i do some. "

[secondscns]

"and you're just going to offer it up to the cops or are you going to wait for them to ask, at least?" theo felt a muscle twitch in his jaw. ren had this... threatening presence. hope made people feel intimidated, sure, but he didn't know why he didn't expect it for ren. he had hoped ren would be softer, less cruel. more sympathetic to him. "look, i don't know what you think of me. but i had a real relationship with hope, and i wanted to keep it. we had plans. her getting murdered fucks up all our plans. and i liked those. so even if we weren't starry-eyed like you want, i don't have a motive to hurt her. you famously hate her. why do you even care what our relationship was like?"

ren folded her arms across her chest and shrugged her shoulders slightly, "i never said you didn't have feelings for each other; i said you didn't really love each other, and that's just an indisputable fact, but i'd go with 'dating for show' over 'hated each other more often than not' when the cops ask." it was a weak deflection, but ren wondered if people ever called theo out on his shit. no one ever had with hope. "nope, but thankfully who i'm currently sleeping with isn't under investigation."

[secondscns]

jack had hoped something calm would keep his bones from itching out of his skin with desire to do something stupid, but apparently he'd chosen the wrong company for that. "normally, i work at home. i don't do 'relaxing' here." and it seemed like trying was just a mistake.

he let out a long exhale and tipped his head back. "well, you won't have sex with me, you don't like the movie, and i don't keep anything worth drinking in this place. so we should go out. what do you normally do for fun in a town this small, huh? everyone remembers when you get piss drunk and do something stupid at a bar."

javi had a hard time enduring moments of stillness. whether it was due to his perpetually busy lifestyle or his adhd, the notion of being stagnant triggered a wave of anxiety within him. " don't you get bored just staying in ? " he asked, his restlessness evident in his tone. " i'm not trying to be difficult, honestly, but i don't think i can make it through this movie sober. " it wasn't his intention to dampen the mood or hurt anyone's feelings, but his mind had been wondering for the past half hour, and the screen before him continued to blur into insignificance. " can we do something fun ? "

[secondscns]

"do you even know what my job is?" theo didn't look up from his phone, but he did mash at the screen more aggressively to send a text like it was personally offensive. "i'm not just going to cover for you if i don't know what i'm covering for. kind of in hot water right now."

he did put his phone down, though, looking up at chasen from his spot sitting in a chair. "i can't cover for you doing like, illegal shit right now."

chasen didn’t make asking for favors a habit. the last thing he needed was to be in debt to someone in a town so small it didn't have an expressway to get the hell out of dodge—but some emergencies couldn’t be avoided. “if anyone asks,” he glanced over his shoulder, instinctively, and pursed his lips like he was about to get a root canal. “i was in your office discussing...business?" his nose scrunched as he contemplated the plausibility this impromptu scenario before continuing, "all day. got it?”  

[secondscns]

he tilted his head, letting his eyes slide over to her and fix her with a deadpan stare. he most certainly did not want to do touchy feely anything. ever. "no, i don't. know anyone, that is. most everyone i know is a cop here." and he didn't exactly go out and meet people, hiding mostly in his house when he wasn't working.

"just paying my respects. it's not like she was a child but..." corvin sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "still too young." maybe there was no right time to die, plenty of people went before thirty-five, old age and heart disease were common ways to go, but it wasn't like random chance waited for the old.

"hoping to see if anyone acts off. make myself known in town. offer services if you decide to arrest someone on the spot. see if something dramatic happens with screaming matches or sobbing friends. wouldn't do to just not be here for an event the whole damn town is at. even if i hate it."

"Definitely not. Just trying to respect your desire to move on. Unless you want to get all touchy feely? I'm all ears, Corv." Everyone had something that they didn't like discussing. But funerals already put people in somber moods, it was hard not to keep with the theme in conversation, too.

"I mean, that would be what we'd all hope for," Kara murmured, her arms lifting to fold across her chest as her gaze pulled away from Jack and instead searched the crowds once more. If it were that simple, just about anyone could be a detective and crack the case. But when people didn't want to talk and secrets were being held close to the chest...It certainly wasn't just as hand wave-y through the air like Corvin tried to make it seem. The Mercers weren't exactly the easiest bunch to get along with, let alone put together a case for. Hope had a lot of friends - and alongside that, a lot of enemies. But who among them wanted her dead?

Probably someone standing in this very room.

"So, do you know anyone here, or you just paying your respects?"

[secondscns]

he slapped both hands over his heart, leaning back, perhaps just a little dangerously far for how much he'd had to drink. "and here i thought i was making your grim and miserable life a little cheerier with my sunny disposition."

theo never got into serial killer trivia specifically. he got into long lists of fantasy lore and old mythology. heroes and kings and champions. not much on guys who ate dead people or kept limbs in their fridge. "a face like mine? i'd be a famous statistic, i'd at least make it on evening news across the country with the story. you'd be lucky if you ever got caught, no one would give you credit for your crime. a female serial killer would never make it on their radar. they'd arrest half the town before they got to you." his chest ached with the stress that they might be overheard but it couldn't seem to put enough pressure on him to overcome the way his shoulders untensed for the first time in days.

❝            this is the moment you learn that i'm a saint. i've laughed at your jokes and it's been a painful sacrifice every single time. ❞ realistically, he probably knew her too well than to believe she'd force a laugh to spare his feelings.

maeve raised an eyebrow at theo's counter theory. ❝ you think a couple gets murdered and the first connection they're gonna make it that you're both rich ? i'll just make sure number two is a poor person. bam. pattern broken. ❞ paired with the charade of dropping the mic. ❝ besides, even if i did snap on fox, female serial killers are seriously lacking. people would love me the way bundy and dahmer got all those love letters back in their day. i'd be iconic. you going down for an oh - so typical girlfriend slashing ? just another statistic. ❞

[secondscns]

the amusement drained out of his eyes, just a little, and he slid his focus over to the gathering of people. "hope's theo has to exist, for the rest of this investigation anyway. my dad liked hope's theo better too. and as much as i hate to admit it, his approval still means something to me. even if it just means a paycheck." he couldn't afford his place on his current salary.

when theo looked back at her, he seemed to perk up. worrying less about the audience of people waiting for another performance. "how could the path of wealth be the path of evil? that like, never happens. everyone loves the rich. famously. i'm not trying to get new minions or anything."

the amused smirk lingered on maeve's face as she watched theo laugh and then quickly readjust his composure. this was still a funeral, and he was still suspect number one. ❝           some people liked you just fine before all that. ❞ i liked you before all that, hidden underneath the roll of her eyes. ❝ is hope's theo being buried alongside her ? is it too suspicious to change so soon after a murder ? what's the go ? ❞

pinecones with googly eyes. ❝ fuck, you're even gonna come up with my scheme for me ? ❞ hand over her chest in dramatized flattery. ❝ i can't lose now. i'll either get rich or be able to use you as scapegoat for leading me down a very dark path. i'll blame the entire fall from grace on you, reyes. ❞ though, truthfully, maeve couldn't even remember when grace was.

[secondscns]

"yeah well, it would help if there was like, a real fucking investigative reporter doing that shit, but it isn't like anything interesting happens in this town to mean one was already here. instead of gossip mongers who just say shit." he sighed, running both hands up through his hair. "someone who put some thought into it at least."

there were plenty of things he hoped had happened. hope got drunk and stumbled off. if they were lucky she just tripped into the water and drowned and nothing bad happened. but from the way police were acting already, it was clear something more sinister than storming off in a huff and getting lost happened. "i mean, seems like half the town was at that party, i wish i could say someone just mistook her for someone else. or that she just got drunk and walked off. but plenty of people liked to talk shit about hope behind her back and i don't think she had that much to drink."

"All anyone seems to want to do is talk about Hope and that podcast. I guess a rich girl showing up dead in the woods is a big deal in a little town like ours." It was a big deal, of course; but the reaction wouldn't have been quite the same if it had been pretty much anyone else. Anyone who wasn't a Mercer. People would've been all 'oh, that's sad' for a minute and then moved on with their lives.

He fiddles absently with his pen before dropping it back against his notebook and folding his hands together, peering up at Theo once more. "Not to ruin the whole moment by talking about Hope - but like, what do you think happened to her? I mean, the podcast is clearly bullshit and all, they probably wouldn't know the killer if they were stabbed in the back by them. But I mean, clearly you knew her. Well. So what do you think happened?" He pauses, brushes a hand against the back of his neck, "I mean, we don't have to talk about it. We could wax poetic about swimming or something if you'd rather."