"Damn, who woulda thought there'd be this many cops?"
"Shut up, Max," Fledge whispered, "we don't need to give them any reason to throw us out. Especially on something as big as this."
Max nodded, and sighed a quiet sigh.
"Okay. Sorry. I'll be quiet, Fledgeling."
Max gave a tiny, unconvincing smile as Fledge grumbled as quietly as he could before the two continued on, nervous about the impending investigation.
Fledge looked around anxiously at the swarming presence of all of the NNYPD's officers, seemingly in every nook and cranny within the gala. The place was nearly spotless, aside from a host of scuff marks, bloodstains on the carpeted floors, stains from spilled drinks, lost articles of clothing and accessories, and the occasional wallet. Near the door Fledge had run through when the screaming began was a taped off section, with a multitude of officers present, all seemingly investigating the same small area.
Apparently, Fledge wasn't the only one who was feeling out of place. Max was already beginning to sweat, constantly wiping his forehead, and quietly clearing his throat with every step.
As the two walked up to the officers, a younger Terran woman wearing glasses and neatly combed hair turned towards them, adjusting her glasses as if adjusting her own eyesight. She set down the clipboard she was holding and folded her arms at the pair.
Fledge turned to Max and smirked.
You know what? Let's embarrass him a little.
"Go ahead, Max. You seem to do so well with the ladies."
"You're right, Fledgeling. About time you learned!"
Max smiled a confident smile, and adjusted his non-existent necktie as he cleared his throat, approaching the woman.
"My friend and I are here on official Universe Media Corporation business. We're here to help assist with the investigation, and release it to the press. And might I add, that uniform looks stunning on you, ma'am."
The woman adjusted her glasses again, clearly unfazed by Max's power. With an emotionless expression, she turned back to her paperwork, scrawling away as she gave a cutting response, her silky smooth voice making it sound all the worse.
"Fine. Investigate and prowl as you'd like, but you're not my type. I'll issue you a harassment fine next time you speak to me like that, are we clear?"
Max cleared his throat, and a look of confusion spread across his face. He raised his arms in defense as he moved to be in front of the woman again.
"Maybe we didn't start off–"
"I would hope not. Here's a one hundred credit fine for harassment. Your next fine will be five hundred, and the following, arrest."
The woman took out a slip of paper, scrawled away on it, and handed it to Max, who looked dumbfounded to be receiving a fine for trying to flirt.
"Sorry. My name's –"
"I don't care. Here's your next fine. You do it again, I'll arrest you. Are we clear?"
The woman once again scrawled on another slip before handing it to Max, who lowered his tone of voice to convey his clear frustration.
"Crystal."
The woman gave a slight smile, and Fledge knew she had won.
"Nice to meet you, Crystal. Now get to work before I arrest your ass."
The woman then turned and walked away, leaving behind a dumbfounded and speechless Max, stuttering over his words, her heels' clicking filling the silence with something other than the occasional cough or sniffle.
Max groaned and walked back to Fledge, sighing heavily.
"Great work, Max. You really showed her your charm."
Max shrugged defensively.
"I-I don't know what happened. Usually I at least get a friendly response, but it seems she didn't even react. Like, at all."
Fledge threw up his hands in sarcastic confusion.
"I don't know. Maybe her warnings were just bluffs after all."
"Sh-shut up, Fledge. We got work to do. …Fucker."
Fledge chuckled as the two walked up to the tape, before looking at the mess before them.
Taped off was a body Fledge had seemingly stepped over in the panic the other night, a few things scattered around him. A small notebook, barely small enough to fit in one's pocket, rested on the ground, the book split open with the spine facing the ceiling. Nearby was a small box of cigarettes, a box Fledge instantly recognized as Vice, a slightly more concentrated cigarette, meant to slow chainsmokers. In his hand, a small communication device, long since dead.
"Holy shit," was all Fledge managed to croak before another Terran officer walked up.
His dark, smooth brown skin was a sharp contrast to the other Terran Fledge and Max had seen earlier. His hair was kept in cornrows, and he had a silver necklace around his neck, and a ring on his left hand, which he extended for a handshake.
"Afternoon, fellas, and welcome back to the gala. If I'm not mistaken, the two of you were also here during the incident?"
Max and Fledge both nodded, prompting the officer to continue.
"Excellent. Then you boys wouldn't mind me asking y'all a few questions then, would you?"
Max shook his head, and Fledge let out a simple, "no sir."
"Great," the officer continued, pulling out a notebook and pen out of his breast pocket before clearing his throat.
"Tell me, when the incident occured, what did you two see? Were you able to catch a glimpse of the suspect?"
Fledge began to recall the events of the night, trying desperately to remember who had knocked him unconscious, but as the room was pitch black, Fledge turned up with nothing.
Max, however, was the first to speak.
"No, sir. We'd been tasked with interviewing Madam S on her recent victory being voted galaxy's hottest woman, when we all heard a gunshot. Then, panic ensued, and Fledge had run off. I tried to follow, but damn, Fledge was fast. I ended up losing him in the crowd, only to find him a few minutes later in this room knocked out, and not breathing," Max pointed past the officer at the door.
As Max spoke, the officer quickly jotted down everything he was saying, and nodded occasionally.
"Thanks. A gunshot, you say? That's odd, this man was killed by blunt force trauma, right to the side of the head."
The officer pointed at his left temple, as if indicating the exact spot the man was hit.
Fledge shrugged, confused.
"Maybe there's a second victim around here?"
The officer nodded as he wrote down Fledge's statement.
"That's a possibility. Alright, next question. I was going to ask where the two of you were, but if you both were with Madam S, then odds are you were on the opposite side of the gala, near the VIP lounge."
Max nodded, and wiped more sweat off his forehead.
"That's correct, sir," Fledge offered, adjusting his collar.
"Great. Then, with that in mind, did either of you see Madam S during the incident?"
Fledge shook his head.
"No, I was talking to her when the gunshot occurred, but she was gone when I turned to tell her I was going in. Why do you ask?"
The officer didn't respond immediately. Instead, he continued to jot down Fledge's response, before sighing and groaning in a defeated manner.
"Well, fuck. Okay. She was our prime suspect, because everything on this man's body suggests he was going to kill her, and it seems everything points to her. That book was full of diary entries of how much he hated her. We found that the cigarettes were laced with a paralyzing toxin. And he has traces of her perfume on him, but not enough to suggest he put it on himself, but rather, that he was in her presence for a short while.
"I can't make any sense of any of this. There's clearly something we're missing, but I don't know what."
The officer then put away his pen and notebook back where he'd retrieved it from before continuing.
"Unfortunately, with your testimony, that means our killer is not only still at large, but is unknown. But she's as good a place to start as any. At the very least, a motive could help. Say, you boys were already going to interview her. Can you ask her a few questions for me, on behalf of the NNYPD? Hell, I'll have Sergeant Jones go with you so she understands the gravity of the situation."
Fledge looked at Max for a response, who wiped more sweat off his forehead. Fledge noticed that, at this point, Max's underarms and hairline was soaked in sweat. Max had grabbed his collar and began waving it in an attempt to fan himself, but clearly that wasn't doing much. Fledge himself felt a little hot, but he felt fine otherwise.
Max nodded as he continued to fan himself, and Fledge turned back to the officer, whom Fledge could tell was also sweating.
"That's fine. Also, is it hot in here?"
The officer sighed as he wiped sweat off of his philtrum and upper lip.
"Yeah, it's been slowly getting hotter in here since we started investigating. The heat's almost unbearable at this point, and everyone's grouchy because of it."
Fledge nodded slowly, lost in thought.
Sounds too convenient. The air conditioning's out, but it's taken at least a few days for them to feel it. Something's clearly not right here. Purposeful? Maybe. Annoying? Absolutely.
"Have someone check it out. There's a chance someone tampered with it prior to or after the incident," Fledge offered as he looked around at the other officers, some of whom were wiping away sweat, others dealing with it as best as they could, and still others fanning themselves with papers and clipboards.
The officer looked at Fedge, confusion clearly marked on his face.
"If that were the case, that'd suggest a whole team instead of one individual. One person who fired a gun, one who messed with the lighting in certain areas, another who beat this man to death, and another who strangled you. Logically, that checks out. But we'll have to find evidence to support that theory. We'll continue to investigate here. The two of you should go talk with Madam S. Oh! The questions. Right."
The officer pulled out his notebook again, opened it to a page, and tore it out of the book, the ripping sound echoing within the gala. He then folded it in half and offered it to Fledge, who took it and stuck it in his pocket.
"Make sure you ask those questions, both for your sake and my own. Thanks again for your help, gentlemen. You've added more insight to this case than any of the detectives here. And good luck!"
"Of course," Fledge responded, a small, polite smile resting on his face, "and good luck with the heat."
The officer rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"It won't be long now before we all start getting at each other's throats, so let's hope we can solve this issue. Goodbye, gentlemen, and I'll see you upon your return."
Max and Fledge nodded before the officer turned away, resuming his duties. Max then gasped for air, feigning desperation.
"Fledge, it's hotter than a sauna on Mercury. Can we please leave?"
Fledge chuckled at Max's analogy, and nodded.
"Agreed. Let's get out of here."
The two of them walked back out the gala, and just as they were about to leave, the Terran woman from earlier walked up.
"Excuse me, you two."
Max turned around and his composure fell, seeing the woman who defeated his charisma with such ease standing there, preventing them from escaping the hot nightmare.
"I wanted to apologize for my remarks earlier, and offer you my number. Maybe we can get lunch together sometime soon?"
Max's confidence returned as he straightened up.
"Of course! I w–"
"Not you. Him."
The woman gestured to Fledge, who was surprised to hear her invitation, as he didn't speak a word to her earlier. Cautiously, Fledge stepped forward and accepted the small slip from her, which was an unfilled ticket, and on the back had her name and number:
Madeline Rose. 80-90100-5387
Fledge smiled at the woman and nodded.
"We'll be in touch then, I suppose. I'll let you pick where we eat."
The woman nodded, smiled, adjusted her collar, wiped a bead of sweat off her eyebrow, and walked away.
Max crossed his arms and pouted like a toddler as the two finally exited, the sweet embrace of cooler air welcoming them to the outdoors.
"No fair," Max pouted.
"Why am I always the wingman? Your ass always seems to catch the feminine gaze, while my ass struggles to have anyone even look at me."
Fledge smirked, and shrugged.
"I don't know, man. Maybe you should practice your one-liners in the mirror."
Fledge nudged Max with a soft punch, who retaliated with an elbow jab of his own before laughing at Fledge's tease.
"Ah, fuck off, would ya? It ain't easy being this handsome."
"Sure thing, bud."