The Adventures of Two Crappy Cops

Part 3

"Annabella was so sweet. Everyone loved her. I don't know who could have done this or why they chose her." Penelope spoke as she ushered us into her apartment. "That's what we're working our hardest to figure out Miss Dayholt." Smitty said. "Just call me Penelope, Balker kept calling me by my last name and now I'm sick of hearing it. How Annabella put up with him I'll never understand. He's so slimy and expressionless." Her face twisted into disgust and I would have laughed if not for the question already jumping out of my mouth. "What do you mean 'how Annabella put up with him'?"

She looked between us in slight surprise. "You mean he didn't say anything. Go figure he wouldn't, I always told her that he was just using her for the sex. Annabella and Balker were 'dating'." She made air quotes at the word dating. Me and Smitty exchanged surprised glances. Who would have thought that Balker could actually trick someone into dating him.

"She could have done so much better." Penelope said and sniffled. Smitty pulled her in for a gentle hug and rubbed her back as tears steadily ran down her cheek. I watched them with a sad frown. Smitty was always the one who comforted people, he knew the right things to say and the right times to reach out a hand to help. If I tried to comfort someone I tripped over my words and just made things awkward.

My phone began to rang as they pulled apart and Smitty shot me a questioning look. I looked down at the caller ID and began to walk towards the kitchen. "It's Christian." I explained before disappearing into the other room and answering.

"Hey John, have you guys been thrown out yet?" Christian greeted. "Nah, Smitty's is pretty good at comforting people." I said with a proud smile. "From what you say Smitty is 'pretty good' at a lot of things." Muttered Christian And I blushed heavily. What can i say? I like to talk high about my partner. "Anyways, so it appears she died from Ricin. It's a poisonous substances that's extremely lethal to humans. Oddly it's not that effective when ingested and is only really effective when inhaled or injected. It takes a little less then 2mg to be inhaled or injected to kill a average adult and the symptoms won't show up immediately and it takes up to two days for death. In this case it looks like it was inhaled and it came in contact with her skin." "What are the side effects?"

"Within a few hours of inhaling significant amounts of ricin, the likely symptoms would be difficulty breathing, fever, cough, nausea, and tightness in the chest. Heavy sweating may follow, as well as fluid building up in the lungs. This would make breathing even more difficult, and the skin might turn blue. Finally, low blood pressure and respiratory failure may occur, leading to death." I blew out a puff of air, "Alright I'll tell Smitty. Thanks Christian." "Welcome." I hung up and walked back out into the living room.

After quickly repeating what Christian told me. "This is a bit of a odd question but do you know anything that she could have been smelling that she hasn't normally or has she recently taken to drugs?" Smitty asked his voice so so gentle. Penelope shook her head, "she was never one for drugs but she did get this a few days ago." She held up the perfume bottle.

"She would talk about how special it was and giggle about it. It showed up on the doorstep a few hours ago though now I can't figure out why or how. It honestly doesn't even have a scent to it. It just smells like water. I was going to keep it anyways but if you guys need it...well as long as if it's not important you'll return it." She held out the crown shaped bottle and I reached out and took it. "I promise on my job that if it turns out it's clear then we'll definitely get it back to you." Smitty said and gave her a dazzling smile that sure as hell calmed my nerves.

"Oh and one other thing-" Penelope started but was cut off by a phone ringing. Smitty dug into his pocket and pulled a face when he saw who it was. "Balker? Do you think Christian let it slip we're here?" I shrugged, "it's a possibility."

Smitty stepped out of the room to answer and it was just me and Penelope. I awkwardly looked around but I could feel her eyes on me and I struggled not to fidget. "Are you gay?" She asked and my eyes went wide. "I-what-no!" I stuttered and she gave me a knowing look. "So you're a closet gay then. Does your partner know?" "I-" I sighed and decided there's no point in denying it "no he doesn't know." "Well he should considering you're clearly gay for him." She said it like it was a well known fact but I was shocked. "No I'm not!?" My voice slightly louder.

She shook her head. "You might be blind but I'm not. The way you look at him, how you relax the moment he speaks. I saw you leave the kitchen and the moment he was in your line of sight you looked like you had just been given your favorite food. And don't even get me started on when he smiled. But it's ok cause he-" she stopped when she saw Smitty walking over.

He stopped next to me and I thanked the lord we had been talking quietly. "I'm guessing Christian did accidentally slip up. I got chewed out and ordered to come back right this second. What was it you where saying?" Smitty asked and flashed another charming smile. Penelope smirked at me and then turned back to Smitty. "I'm sorry it forgot, but when I remember I'll make sure to tell you."

Smitty looked between us, clearly very confused before he nodded politely. We where then shown out the door. "So what where you guys talking about while I was on the phone?" Smitty asked as we pulled into the road. I had my feet on the dashboard again but decided not to vape, just stare out the window. "It was, uh er nothing. She was just asking about Annabella." I lied. "John you realize we've known each other for years and I can tell when you're lying or not." Well shit. "But if you don't want to talk about it then I can't really do anything then." I sighed in relief and leaned my head against the window. "That's why I love ya bro." I said forcing myself not to wince as Penelope's words played in my head. "I love you to bro." Smitty said without a bit of hesitation.