Too Hot to Breathe

No Progress Means Progress

The rest of the night went smoothly. Maggie was a truly interesting woman with a lot to tell, and I had a great time. We actually agreed to a second date, we just didn't settle with a certain date. However, it was a great experience, even though I still missed Hannah. But I tried not to think about it. 

After that, I went to the hotel and prepared to go to sleep. I slept like a rock that night, even though my dreams seemed to want to make me feel guilty about preferring justice over Hannah. But with Maggie, it seemed to be different, and I'm one of those people that don't believe in love at first sight. 

The first thing I did when I woke up the next morning was schedule a meeting with both of the people Spiegel had been talking with. We met in a coffee shop, mainly because I had no official office at the moment (bank problems) and meeting in the hotel would give an unprofessional look to the two people I was about to meet. 

They showed up at the same time, but I can't exactly blame them. If I were a robber within a group of others, I would want to agree with a story to tell a detective before meeting him. Still, I didn't want to bring them in, unless they had murdered Spiegel. It wasn't my business, and it also wasn't in something I wished to do.

I saw the two people and got surprised. While the man, which I would later identify as Ulric Fern, was a predictable middle aged man that was probably broke, and so committed such crime to continue his life, the woman was about 30 years younger than him. Alexandra Simmons, as I would later find out, was about 18 years old. Her body was covered in tattoos, and her dark hair matched her dark eyes. She reminded me of Lisbeth Salander, both physically and psychologically.

They sat down at my table and said nothing until I spoke to them:

- Relax. I don't want to arrest you. I know about the whole theft thing. - They looked at each other with guilt in their eyes. - What I am interested in is this: what happened during such robbery and how did you kill two people. 

- Two people? - The man said.

- Don't say anything, Ulric. The man is bluffing, obviously. Why would he want to know all of this information? - Alexandra said while taking a bite out of the pastry I had ordered before. - He's obviously here to arrest us.

- Well, unless you killed the only one that isn't here, I doubt it. 

- Oh my god, Simon is dead? - Ulric said. - What happened?

- I'm sorry, what did you say? "Simon is dead?" - I repeated. - His name was Casey. Casey Spiegel.

- No, it wasn't.

- Ulric, shut up. - Alexandra said again. 

- It was Simon Becky.  

- Good... Well done, you idiot. Now he knows we're involved in the theft. How dumb can you be? - She said.

- I told you I'm not here for the theft. Your friend was murdered.

- Hardly my friend. And I still don't believe in you. - With a big smirk on my face, I took my phone out of my pocket and almost shoved it in her face, showing her a picture of Casey or whatever his name was dead. She was in shock.

- Oh my god, what happened?

- He was poisoned with something called benzene two days ago. I'm still trying to figure out what happened since the Police thinks he just crashed, even though the coroner told them otherwise. Bloody idiots. 

- Calm down there, mister. - She said with sass. - What do we have to do with this?

- Well, I believe he was killed as a way of silencing him because he wanted to come clean. So I must ask you where you were two days ago in the afternoon.

- I was working on my mom's gas station. - Ulric said. - She can verify that and there are also security cameras there. 

- Where is the gas station located?

- At the beginning of the highway. 

- What about you, miss?

- God, don't call me that. It's Alexandra, Alexandra Simmons. And I was with my boyfriend. 

- Alexandra, what do your parents do?

- I... They died when I was little.

- Oh sorry to hear that. Who lives with you then?

- I live on my own. - She said, disguising a sad face with a shy smile. 

- Who hired you to rob the bank?

- We don't know man. - Ulric said. Alexandra looked at him begging for him to shut up. - He or she sent us an email saying he knew about our difficult situation, and that we could help ourselves and him if we robbed the place.

- What difficult situations?

- Well, I'm going through a heavy lawsuit... - Ulric said. - Alexandra, on the other hand, has to pay for her college tuition, and she lacks the money. 

- How much did you rob?

- We were instructed to steal 750 K dollars. - Alexandra said. Casey had way more money in the bag than you would think, having to split the money with his partners. He had at least 500 thousand there, and his boss would have let him keep almost 70%

- What bank did you rob?

- No way man, I ain't telling you that. - Alexandra said convincedly. 

- The one close to the Domino's on the big avenue. - Another furious glance erupted from Alexandra. 

- Why wasn't it reported on the newspapers? 

- He found a way for us to sneak in. - Ulric confessed. -  Still, one guard surprised us, and he...

- Ulric, stop talking, god damn it!

- He died of a heart attack. - He finished.

- Fuck sake, Ulric... Can't you keep your mouth shut? - Alexandra complained.

- Wait... One guard? He told me two people died...

- Well, maybe he was talking about something else. - Alexandra said. - We didn't know his name, and we sure as hell didn't know him. Maybe he was hired for some other reason.

"Alexandra is right." I thought. "He was probably doing some other thefts. So much for the two theft buddies... No god damn progress." 

As I left the coffee shop later, all I could think was "Who is Casey Spiegel?".