The wanted murderer L.S.

Bramble Cove.

"Oh. My. God. Louis." Niall said as he ran up to the bakery where Louis was playing with a conker. To Louis' surprise and pleasure, Zayn tagged along behind him, "Louis, Louis, Louis. I have some 411 for you. The hottest gossip of the year."

"What is it?" Louis asked, folding the Burberry coat in his arms.

"So, I was with Dorky Dennis who spoke with Milly Lamburg, who heard from Johnny Peg Leg, who heard from Penny, who's besties with Sean— and you're so not ready for this-there's aliens in London."

"Eh?" Louis said, raising his top lip in disbelief.
"And you believe Dorky Dennis? He told the headteacher that his parents had the plague so he could skip sport's day."

Niall put his hand out in front of Louis' face and gave him a dismissive look, "Talk to the hand, Louis. I'm not pulling your leg, it's real. It's all on the telly, isn't it, Zayn? We saw it on the way here even, on the telly in the corner shop window."

Louis looked at Zayn who was remaining abnormally silent and giving a strange look as if he knew something he'd rather not share.
"Are there photos of these aliens?" Louis asked, to which Niall shook his head.

"Cold cases." Niall said, "Hundreds of them.
There are cold cases dating from today back to, like, the Victorian times or something; and they're suddenly all being solved! Bad guys are going to prison left, right and centre! It's mad, Louis!"

Louis shared Zayn's silence for a moment, suddenly understanding why the look on Zayn's face had occurred.
"What's that got to do with aliens?"

"Uh, hello? Louis?" Niall said, "No way is it humans solving these cases, it's not possible!
There's cases like the Dianna Von Lee murder in 1937 being solved; do you know how much people talked about that case?! No one has been able to figure it out. Even the top detectives in the world couldn't find out who'd killed her."

He paused for a moment, looking for surprise in Louis' face. Louis-who knew everything-didn't show any.

"Well?" Niall asked. "It'd be one thing if one cold case was being solved; or perhaps two or three. Not hundreds. They're cold because even the best of the best reach a dead end! This is huge, Louis! Aliens!"

Louis folded the Burberry coat in his arms, wondering what answer would be the most appropriate, and hide the fact that he knew exactly who would have otherwise been able to solve the crimes.

"It's aliens, Louis." Niall said again, "Aliens have come and solved every single cold case in London.
Every. Single. One."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Louis finally said, "What do you think they did? Walked into the police station with their big heads and skinny green bodies, and handed over proof files?"

Niall crossed his arms in defence, "I don't know!
Maybe! How do you explain it, then? Because it certainly isn't a detective. No detective, or even team of detectives, can solve that many separate crimes in such a short amount of time!"

Louis leant against the wall, "Duh. I know that." He said, "You need warrants and what-not to work on cases. It is impossible."

"So?" Niall asked, triumphantly, "Who did it then, if not them or aliens?"

Louis shrugged, the corner of his lips raising,
"How would I know? My guess is that there's someone out there, hiding away in a village with a ginger tabby cat. Someone a bit misunderstood, a bit eccentric. Did ballet once. Maybe, they wanted to be a poet. I like to think they got into some trouble along the way, and they make up for that by solving these crimes. There must be someone out there like that, right?"
 
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