The Golden Rule - Outlawqueen

A table for four

On Monday evening, Regina and Emma sat in a bar, discussing their case. The wooden counter was smoothly polished and cold under Regina's palms. Her fingertips stroked over the bottom of her glass of whiskey, while she tried to ignore the smell of smoke and alcohol.

"Can you believe that the victim is a professional stage actor?" Emma, who was obviously impressed by the fact, asked.

" Apparently, he has done well in his career " the black-haired woman answered, staring at the brown liquid in front of her.

"Tony interrogated Andrew Dickens' colleagues. There is a woman, Aubrey Martin, who seemed to be interested in him."

"So, they had an affair?" she suggested and took a sip of her drink. The burning alcohol ran down her throat, filling her cold body with a pleasing warmth.

"Not exactly. According to Tony, he wasn't aware of her emotions" the blonde replied. Her green eyes looked at her, her glimpse was clear.

"Unfulfilled love" Regina combined. "What about his brother? Did he tell you something I should know about?"

While Regina had spent the day with finding some agents who wanted to sign the victim on to perform in theatres in Europe, Emma had driven to Philadelphia, visiting Joe Dickens.

"Actually, yes. He had a girlfriend."

"A girlfriend" the raven haired woman repeated thoughtfully and crossed her legs. Her knees touched the chilly counter. Now, it really got interesting. Although they were only able to hypothesize, a few motives of murder came to her mind. A despaired woman was capable of anything.

Isn't it always jealousy?, she thought. In her job history, she had seen so many deaths. A woman who killed the man she loved, because he betrayed her. An employee who thought he deserved a better treatment and killed his principal. It was just a shame that these people did not realize that murder was not an option to solve their problems.

"Yes... It's your sister. Zelena."

Hearing her name let her blood run cold and a queasy feeling appear. It was like someone was stabbing her with a dagger right into her heart.

"Are you sure that it's her?" Regina broached the subject again. Her fingers embraced the glass tighter. Zelena had always been a difficult person. Nevertheless, they had a very good relationship and managed to see each other once a week. But she had not told her about a man, she might wanted to be with, not to speak of having a boyfriend.

"I'm sure" Emma reinforced. "Joe Dickens showed me a picture of the two of them. They were together for about a month."

She sighed and drank the whiskey down in one. Normally, she would not take to the bottle, but she was still in shock. She had to find a killer and as things turned out, Zelena was the main suspect right now.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow" Regina mumbled, ordering another glass of whiskey.
"I'm sorry" Emma answered. "Surely, this isn't easy for you. But we don't even know if it was her who killed him."

"No, we don't. All the same, she is involved into the case. And I refuse to believe that she would have the ability to end a life."

Suddenly, the door opened and two men entered the bar. The first one Regina had not seen before. Dark hair, that matched to his black clothes, fell over his forehead and emphasized his brown eyes. Beard stubbles decorated his angular face. There was no doubt that he was handsome.

The other one, who was right behind him, was a completely different type of guy. His hair was much lighter and his eyes reminded of gleaming sapphires. It was Robin Locksley, her neighbor.