paper love | edward nygma

Chapter 28 ○ Temper

Edward's POV

It was a tremendously busy day. I had to run back and forth to get files and get harassed by people along the way. The male officers would spit insults at me. I wasn't bothered by it anymore. It was strange, but I didn't care to worry about it. I went over to a cabinet near the holding cells. I didn't enjoy going near the cells as prisoners would yell at whoever stepped in the vicinity of them.

"Hey, aren't you that Nygma guy?" I looked over at him, and I immediately recognized him. Grace had shown me pictures of him and had talked about him before. It was James, the same man who abused her. "I'm not going to talk to you, I don't talk to men who do the things that you did." He chuckled deeply and stared at me. "I wouldn't have done it if you weren't in Grace's life. You caused the whole thing, you are the reason she has the bruises."

This guy is trying it. First, he hits our girl and then he blames it on us. I wish I could just grab him through the bars and strangle him alive.

I agreed with him for once. This man was being a complete ignoramus. I ignored the man and walked over to the forensic lab. There was a note on my door, and I stopped upon seeing it. It was a sticky note, and on it was the word "Yes." I smiled after remembering the dinner invitation I left on Grace's door. I felt remorseful after everything that happened, especially with the Commissioner dying and her boyfriend getting arrested.

After opening the door, I sat down to review case files. I was investigating a murder where a person was killed by being frozen alive. It was a bizarre death but it was also worth researching on. An officer had been frozen like this too. I was reading the file for about twenty minutes before there was a knock on my door. The knock was not patterned, so I knew it wasn't Grace.

I walked over to the door and opened it. The people outside of it were Detectives Bullock and Gordon, who seemed frustrated. "Hey Ed, do you have any leads on what the murderer is using to freeze people?" Jim looked at me with curiosity. "I believe so." I walked over to a container with liquid nitrogen which was a substance I was testing with for a while. 

I grabbed a rose from the side of the cart. The rose had moisture in it, so the freezing time should be short. I carefully dipped the rose in, freezing it in the process. "Interesting, it took nearly five seconds to freeze this rose in liquid nitrogen." I looked at the rose in detail, examining the small ice crystals that had formed on each petal. "So?" Jim said. "So it would take a human body significantly longer depending on mass and body fat."

Detective Bullock looked at me in frustration. "Why would a cop stand around for hours waiting to be frozen?" He was truly an idiot. "She wouldn't, which means your suspect wasn't using liquid nitrogen, he was using super cooled liquid helium. It's one of the most effective substances in the world for rapid temperature reduction." Jim looked even more curious.

"This liquid helium, where do you get it?" I looked up at Jim with suspicion. "Why do you need it?" Detective Bullock looked at me with an annoyed glare. "He doesn't, dummy. He just wants to know where it comes from so we can track down the guy that blasted our colleague with it." He had changed his tone, and it had risen heat up within me. 

He was the "dummy" here. A man that smells putrid and doesn't shave clearly is no judge towards me. I didn't realize what I was doing until I felt my hand clench. I was crushing the rose, and it's sharp frozen petals did nothing towards my gloves. I was angry at how these people come to me for help and this is the way they treated me. 

"I don't like being called names, Detective." His expression turned to worry. He was clearly nervous towards my backlash. "Easy Ed, I'm sure Harvey was just being colorful." Detective Gordon nodded towards Detective Bullock while he was stammering for an excuse. The tension was growing heavier. 

A/N 

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have good old writer's block! I hope you all understand and enjoy this chapter.