No Rest for the Wicked

Chapter One

Chapter One

Raven POV

A body on a slab of cold metal. Dead. Cold and lifeless as all the others, but this one was a bit more intriguing. The body of the young singer, Delilah, was before me.

Cause of death: Multiple gunshots to the lower abdomen and chest. Time of death placed around three hours ago. Several para-mortem bruises covered her body, approximately five days old. Definitely in a violent and passionate manner. Could possibly indicate this to be a crime of passion or a disagreement with an acquaintance.

To think I came in at midnight for this. I thought to myself as I jotted down my notes onto the clipboard. Honestly, it felt like any other case for me. Nothing ever phased me these days. I've seen worse than this on even younger victims.

Though, not even that phased me anymore.

I was putting the corpse back into the storage fridge when my phone rang. I shut the door and locked the latch before I picked up, looking at the name.

Chloe.

I hit the little green phone icon and held it to my ear,"Hey Chloe, what's up?"

"Hey Ray. You busy? I could really use some help down here. You might be able to help me get a good read on the witness," she said in a tone that suggested she was probably multitasking. Having to juggle many things at the crime scene.

"Nope, just finished the autopsy. And why not call a psychologist? You know that I don't do well in social settings, especially ones that involve human interaction," I say in my usual serious monotone.

"What social settings don't involve human interaction?"

I sigh, rolling my eyes. I ponder a moment,"Fine. Where am I going?"

"The Lux. The club right down the street from your apartment."

"Okay. I'll see you in ten minutes tops," I end the call and remove my lab coat.

I put on my leather jacket and headed out of the morgue.

(At Lux)

I made my way down the staircase, observing my surroundings with a keen scientific point of view. My eyes wandered to the center of the club. A man with rather impressive bone structure in the face was playing the piano, talking to Chloe with a smile.

I walked over to the scene as Chloe turned to look at me,"Finally, Ray. I've been waiting for you."

"There was traffic due to the crime scene," I say with blank features as I glance to the man. I approached him and extended my hand,"Dr. Raven Poe."

The man grins and takes my hand as he stands up, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. He looked into my eyes before introducing himself,"Lucifer. Lucifer Morningstar. I didn't expect a psychologist to be working with the LAPD on this case."

"I am not a psychologist. I have two doctrines. One in forensic pathology and one in forensic anthropology. I don't believe in psychology one bit. You can't get accurate information through a psychological analysis of a person. It often leaves things out," I reply in a flat tone,"Scientifically speaking, people are far more complicated than what psychological views dictate."

Chloe sighed and went over to a table, taking a seat as she knew where this conversation was headed.

Lucifer paused a moment, clearly at a loss due to his mouth being agape at the current moment. He place his hand in his pocket as he looked me up and down.

"It would appear I've caught you off guard, Mr. Morningstar," I stated as I examined his features. He seemed extremely familiar to me.

"I believe we may have met in Washington D.C. four years ago at a gala held in the Jeffersonian," He smiled charmingly,"And as I recalled, we ended up in my hotel room that night. And I woke up the next day to see you gone."

"Yes, I recall that. It was merely a one night sexual encounter. Nothing more. Now I would like to return to the matter at hand."

"Ah. Yes. Of course, Doctor," He maintained his smile while I kept a stone cold poker face.

"Excellent. The victim had several para-mortem bruises that occurred approximately five days before her death. Did she make any mention of a disagreement taking place with anyone?"

"None whatsoever, darling. Although, this had nothing to do with the drugs she had been using. Someone hired the gunman."

"Yes, I had formulated a theory like that due to the pattern of bruising. She had covered the bruises on her face and shoulders with concealer, suggesting she didn't want anyone finding one. That indicates she knew the attacker and it was most likely out of passion possibly linked to her vexing this person. I believe that someone who was romantically involved with the victim hired the gunman to kill her in cold blood."

Lucifer's smile spread out into a wide grin,"Oh, Raven, darling. You are absolutely magnificent at what you do. Now I remember what the second reason was that I slept with you."

"What would that be?"

"That fire you get in your eyes when you're explaining your thoughts out. Have to say, it's rather sexy. Why don't you stay and have a drink with me, dear? Let the detective do her research," he said as he stepped towards me.

I took a step back and crossed my arms,"Unfortunately for you, we will not be having any sexual contact tonight, Mr. Morningstar."

He raised an eyebrow in confusion,"And why exactly would that be, Dr. Poe?"

"You are currently a suspect in the investigation due to the fact that you don't have a single wound on your body from the attack. That leaves a possibility that you could have hired the shooter to kill Delilah. You could have placed yourself at the scene of the crime you paid the man to commit so that way we normally wouldn't suspect you."

Lucifer chuckled and inched closer to me,"I don't do horrible things to decent people. I punish the ones that do."