A Danger That Lurks In The Darkness | A TPQ AU |

X | Shadows In An Alleyway

RUDY
Both of them stared in silence, as she continued, her voice heavy. "They used to be in love. But then it changed,"

"How do... you know he killed her?"

She sighed, and said, "Less than two days before they found her body, she came to my shop. Wanted to know who had come to my shop in the past few days, and whether he was one of them,"

Silence, as she paused, and fixed her gaze on one of the necklaces in the glass display case. "She had her ring on, then. After her body was found, he was prancing around town, ring on a chain around his neck, like it was no big deal."

Silence. "I remember it, clear as day. I was a teenager at the time, but I worked here, for my mother."

"That wasn't in the official records," he said, quietly, to Mini.

"You don't know how much enough money can get you," Mae said, darkly.

He saw Mini's fingers curl in on themselves, as she asked, "Who is Nightshade?"

Mae let out a shaky breath, and said, "A man by the name of Mark Daniels. He moved out a few months after Lissa's death, since all the evidence pointed to him, and he wanted to escape the scrutiny."

"Mark Daniels... His name sounds familiar," Mini mused.

"How do they connect to Patricia Lawtons?" she asked, her hoarse voice dipping into uncertainty with scepticism.

"It— It's confidential," Mini hedged, while at the same time, Rudy blurted, "It doesn't matter."

"Well—" she got up, to shake their hands. "If you need anything, I'm available,"

"Thank you, ma'am," Mini said, as she made her way outside.

Rudy hesitated, as Mini stopped at the doorway. "You comin'?"

"Yeah. Gimme a few seconds."

Mae looked at him curiously. "Do you have any more questions, Detective?"

His own gaze was fixed on a necklace in the display case, of a silver crescent moon, winking up at him in the flickering lights of the store.

"Actually, I have just one. How much does that cost?"

————

He made his purchase, and stuck the box inside his jacket, before jogging up to Mini, who was standing right outside the shop, leaning against the wall and looking at her phone.

"Why did you hang back?" She asked, curiously.

His hand instinctively went to the box inside his jacket pocket, as he smiled, and said, "No reason,"

She dipped her head in a nod, and said, "Well, Sheela just texted. She managed to unlock Patricia's laptop and saw that there were... several encrypted files. She's working on decrypting them, and by the time we reach the precinct, she might have decrypted three or four of them."

"Mm," he hummed, and she began, uncertainly, "Do you think this entire... Lissa thing was a wild goose chase, just to throw us off-track?"

"I... I don't know," his voice was hesitant. "But I'm not risking anybody getting hurt. Especially not you," There was something different laced in his voice, something heated, with... with rage, maybe. Or something else. A feeling he couldn't recognize.

Her gaze darted to their long, willowy shadows caused by the sunlight.

He gently bumped her elbow. "And, maybe this wasn't a bad thing. Maybe we found something groundbreaking, that blew the whole case open."

She offered him a small smile— one that barely curved the corners of her mouth, but a smile nonetheless, and a genuine one at that.

She checked her phone once more, and said, "We gotta go. It's a long ride back,"

He glanced at her retreating figure and followed suit, but in the dying sunlight he caught something else in the alleyway— a shadow, shifting, moving. He nearly slowed to a stop, but as soon as he glanced into the alleyway, he saw nothing. Nothing but several garbage cans and garbage bags.

"You coming?" Mini called, already at the car.

"On my way," he called back, distantly, before quickening his pace and returning his attention to her. Yet, some of his thoughts still strayed to the shadow. The shadow that seemed to belong to no one.

————

"It took some time," Sheela said, her fingers straying to the track pad. "Scratch that, it took a lot of time,"

"What did you find?" The both of them prompted at the same time.

She scrolled toward a row of video files, all of them named as random key smashes, with no order to their naming.

"I can't decrypt any of the earliest files, 'cause they're corrupted— they're either made with an old format, or they were saved incorrectly, or— I don't know,"

"Or they were made that way so that nobody could open them?" Mini prompted.

"Maybe. That's possible." She clicked on the first video, and Patricia Lawton's face popped up. The view was like it had been filmed from the laptop camera.

Sheela pressed play, and Patricia's voice rang out.

"—my investigations have found out who my sister's murderer is. Not just her killer, but the killer of many other vulnerable girls who trusted him."

Her lip curled in pre-sprung anger.

"He worked in the DA's office, which is why a friend of mine got me a job there as a clerk. She found out... why I wanted the job, and tried to help. But she's done enough. They're after me, and they're going to go after her, too, which is why I'm sending this laptop to the police, so they can help her. And arrest him."

She took a deep breath.

"So, to the officers watching this: put Aru Shah under witness protection. They've come after me, and they're going to come after her."

————

a/n: so my exams are going great 😃

totally not losing my sanity here <3

anyway, it's just a week left until they end, so i've gotta hang in there till then 💪

wish me luck!

also, any guesses for whom rudy bought that necklace for? 👀