Kneel

Case 23

  "You can't bribe me."

  "This isn't a bribe."

  "Sure feels like a bribe."

  "It's a sign of, uh, good faith." Lucifer rose his eyebrows while holding out the cup of coffee to me. "No vodka this time, promise." Taking it, I popped off the lid to sniff the drink.

  "Fine." Putting the lid back on, I took a drink.

  "See? We'll be back to normal in no time."

  "Mm." I hummed while walking around him and into the crime scene. "Whatcha got so far?"

  "Our victim's name is Debbie Lang." Chloe glanced up from her notepad to look at me. "She worked as the head of administrations of a very prestigious elementary school on the Westside called Starford."

  "How could a career in education pay for all this?" Lucifer popped off.

  "L.A. private schools are insane. You know, money gets thrown around." Chloe half-shrugged. "Ella?"

  "Well, poor Debbie was stabbed in the back, literally."

  "Maybe figuratively, too. There was no signs of a B&E, which suggests she knew who her killer was."

  "Has the murder weapon been recovered yet?" I asked.

  "No, not yet."

  "You'd think knife, but the circumference of the wound is unusually wide, like it was a....fat knife." Ella made a face.

  "PhD in psychology, certificate for behavioral therapy. I should have thought this woman had figured out human interaction, yet she provoked someone into killing her? Therapists don't really know anything, do they?" Lucifer said while looking at the frames on the wall.

  "Ooo, Lucifer's projecting his personal issues on the case." Chloe pointed with her pen, and I snorted.

  "Ah, man. I got into it with my shrink a couple of weeks ago." Ella sighed.

  "What? You see a psychologist?"

  "I know. You wouldn't think so, right? 'Cause I'm so upbeat all the time. But up here- lot of darkness." Ella pointed to her head.

  "Really?"

  "Hey, guys? What's this?" Chloe grabbed a frame from the wall that made Lucifer laugh from the outline over the photo.

  "Where do I start?"

  "Missing commemorative scissors. Looks like we found our fat knife. Or, didn't find it, but, you know."

  "Weapon of convenience. This wasn't planned. If she also knew the killer, we should go check out the school where she worked." I pointed.

  "Right. See if we can find some clues as to who did this." Chloe nodded.

~

  "It's like you're asking to get punched again." I said as Lucifer held out a brightly colored book to me.

  "See? That right there is exactly why you need this."

  "Did you take that from the school?" Chloe furrowed her brows as we stood in the parking lot after getting some questions answered that gave us a lead.

  "I left a hundred, should more than enough pay for this little book." Lucifer shook the book before holding it back out to me. "So, go on, Imp. Have fun reading 'Your Feelings and You'."

  "If I take the book, will you stop bugging me about it?"

  "Of course. You might find a little something in there to help with that anger of yours." I looked him dead in the eye with a flat expression as I took the book.