Royalty in Death - an In Death series fanfic (J.D. Robb)

Chapter 4

Spotting Afef was not difficult for Eve. He was sitting solemnly on the corner wearing a white chino and dark pants. The man slowly stood up as if acknowledging her presence, and that time she was able to analyze his dark eyes, white hair, and bony structured body.

Like somebody I used to know, she bemused.

He might be sensible and controlled but Eve saw the different emotions swirling in his eyes. At first, there was a shock, followed by amazement, until it flickered to indifference.

"Lieutenant Eve Dallas-Roarke.", he greeted with a very thick accent.

It was a bit rare for her to be called using her complete name. Since she deemed it useless to flash her badge to the man, she decided to sit on the chair facing him then placed her recorder visibly on the coffee table.

He gave it a side eye. "I am not obliged to follow your country rules here, Lieutenant."

"I never recited a Revised Miranda on you, and I am not dim-witted not to know some international laws, Afef."

His lips pursed when she went on a first-name basis. He knew it was her usual tactic of intimidation.

Eve was fuming that his pruned face reminded her of him.

"You are a witness to a crime in New York so no matter who you are or what planet you came from, you have to abide the rules for civil liability. Why are you on that floor, Afef?"

"Mr. Howe informed me that he will be on the premise for a short meeting. It was none in importance so I prioritized Royal Highness' necessities first before I addressed his request. When I walked in there, I immediately saw the grotesque scene. So I called Mrs. Dwight about it."

"Did you enter the room?"

"I don't think so. Possible. I forgot."

"You don't strike me as a forgetful type."

"I am only but a mere human, Lieutenant. I may be conserved but I do have flaws."

"Such as?"

"I don't think you're here to discuss such mundane matters."

He was right.

"What did you see inside the room?" she asked, trying to gain the momentum of their conversation.

"Mr. Howe and the lady Mathilde. We stayed here for almost a week, just enough for me to have interactions with these pleasant attendants. I did not touch their bodies."

All of his answers were delivered in a calm and concise manner, and Eve didn't like it.

"So you didn't enter the room then."

"Perhaps yes. When they called the police, I retired to my bed and took a soother to ease my mind. I let myself open for communications in case there will be a need for my statement, which I believe, is what I am doing right now."

She stood up. "Okay then. I will need your Royal Highness' statement."

Before she could retrieve her recorder from the table, an ebony hand stopped her.

"I will never allow it!" he fumed. "You're an impertinent to our Royalty for accusing her of some blasphemy!"

"I never said that you did." she wrung her hand away as she grabbed the recorder. " Do you know what an alibi is, Afef? It is essential to know whether you are lying or not."

Eve moved closer until her face hovered over his. "You might pull some piece of shit you call sovereignty to me but I will do everything, anything to tear it off like a piece of junk. Two of New York's citizen have been killed with a missing one yet to be discovered, and it's an insult to my profession to allow that son of a bitch escape. I might be a lowly Homicide, but the red tapes on this? It can cause media and federal frenzy. You don't like that, do you?"