Kings Gambit

Chapter 51 - Behind the Curtains

When did my life become hell anyways? Think... From the memories, I've remembered so far, what seems to be the first event in the timeline... You could say that meeting Elizabeth was the first encounter with these people. But I think the answer lies in the one memory I have yet to uncover—the two people I have yet to remember. If we go backward in the timeline, I must have met Matt last, as Jessy was heavily wounded on duty. I don't remember Jessy being injured in any other memory thus far, so that marks the latest memory. I suppose seeing the memory-altering device was right before then, probably shortly after encountering Leo at the psych ward.

Encountering Alex and Tristan and joining The Machina was before that, and I only figured that out after blackmailing George and hiring Annie as a private investigator. That was placed shortly before meeting Angel and Willow... In my memories, Jessy mentioned meeting Jasper on a homicide case in Colorado... So that had to have been the first memory. The only people I haven't directly met have been Jasper, Claire, Isabelle, and Tyrone. But Tyrone was mentioned when I met Leo, and Isabelle was a member of The Machina. I wouldn't have met them first. It had to be Jasper and Claire... At the circus.

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I looked out upon the large purple tent surrounded by caution tape with a haze in my eye. The sky was a deep crimson, the clouds shadowing in a foreboding nature. The lights of cop cars wrapped around the tent as an officer stood at the front.

"Were we assigned to this case? This is far outside our jurisdiction, Hank," Jessy asked while scratching his neck.

"Call it personal interest. This case has some interesting people involved." I smirked.

"And who might these interesting people be? They must be interesting enough to cause us to drive this far," Jessy sarcastically replied.

"I told you that you didn't have to come with me," I replied while straightening my tie, "You should have spent your time with your family," I looked over at him.

"Wellll, I'm sort of in a fight with my wife at the moment. So I needed to step away." Jessy chuckled nervously.

"Must be nice," I replied, avoiding eye contact.

"Sorry, didn't mean it," Jessy sighed.

"Don't sweat it. She died at childbirth, couldn't do anything about it." I replied with downcast eyes as I stepped toward the crime scene. Before Jessy could answer, an officer stopped me by the entrance.

"Hold it. Show me your badge," He replied, halting us from moving forward. I took my badge from my breast pocket.

"Hank Anderson, Chicago, I have authorized access to this case due to the victim being a Chicago resident," I replied.

"All the way from Illinois, huh? And who might you be?" He pointed to Jessy with his pen.

"Jessy Parker, Chicago, the boss said that this man is of utmost importance and needs their best detectives on the case," Jessy winked. Thanks, I can always rely on you to bullshit our way through.

"Must be if they've sent you this far. You may enter. Beware, the scene is plenty gruesome." He handed back our badge after writing down the ID numbers. I gave a slight nod before walking in. We were immediately greeted with a hallway of purple. Cushioned floors and purple curtains hung above our heads as the hallway twisted and turned. Other officers were looking around in the hall as we hurried by.

"Might I ask who the victim is? There's quite a crowd here," Jessy whispered to me.

"A performer by the name of Conner Soar, he was an acrobat at this circus. It's said that lead performer Jasper Cooper and his girlfriend and fellow acrobat Claire Peirce discovered his body this morning." I replied as we pushed past the long hallway.