The Perfect Emma

Chapter Five

Emma Mabel

"Emma, shit." Arthur practically sprinted down the sidewalk after he parked the car and caught sight of Emma. He wrapped his arms around her and tilted her head up, staring down at her face. "Are you okay? Is everything okay?"

Emma pulled her head away from his hands and immediately returned to staring at the ground again. The two investigators remained standing close by - merely watching. She felt like a zoo animal with the way they were watching her. Less Detective Todd - but far more from Detective Matthews. Detective Matthews merely crossed his arms and stood behind Grayson, watching her like she was a piece of candy.

It was uncomfortable. Extremely uncomfortable - so she merely remained quiet and stared at the ground.

Fortunately, when Arthur arrived, he managed to stand right in front of Detective Matthews - blocking his view of her. She appreciated it more than he knew. "I'm okay," Emma murmured quietly as Arthur brought her in for a hug. He rubbed her back softly and Emma kept her eyes down, avoiding making eye contact with anyone. Arthur, being the man who he was, was more than happy to take charge and speak for Emma.

Arthur always did that.

"Is there anything else you need from Emma, or can we leave?" Arthur questioned the two detectives. Considering the fact Emma just saw a dead body, she decided that she didn't completely mind being quiet.

Detective Todd cleared his throat. Considering the fact Emma's eyes were staring at the ground, she saw him shuffle his feet. "Well, is there anything left that you haven't told us that we should know, Emma?"

Arthur stepped forward. "I'm sure she's already told you everything she knows. She's not one to lie."

Grayson remained quiet for a moment, letting out a soft sigh. "I don't doubt that, sir, but I asked her that." He specified.

Emma lifted up her head and ran her hand across her cheek. She blinked her eyes a few times before eventually shaking her head. "I don't think so," She murmured, furrowing her eyebrows together. So much for date night.

Eventually, Emma lifted up her head to stare up at Grayson. He was over a foot taller than her - she felt like she was staring completely up towards the sky. "Here," Grayson reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a card. He held out the card, to which Arthur immediately took it. Emma didn't miss the detective clench his jaw slightly at the gesture. "Call if you remember something." He murmured, nodding his head away as he walked. Aaron followed after, but not before shooting Emma another look of want and a stare of distaste towards Arthur.

Odd.

Arthur, who had his arms around Emma, began to guide her away from the crime scene and towards his car. He buckled her into the passenger seat and sat in the driver's seat, staring at her with concern. "I'll take us home. We can just get dinner to go somewhere," He murmured, reaching over to take Emma's hand. "Are you okay?" He questioned with concern.

Emma nodded her head and closed her eyes. She squeezed his hand and let a frown grow on her face. "I just... I want to go home, Arthur. I don't want to be here to see any more of this." She murmured quietly.

Arthur immediately took her request and began to pull away. Driving through the downtown traffic, he eventually managed to pull into their small home on the edge of Los Angeles. Much like he promised, Emma merely curled up in bed as she let Arthur take care of ordering and getting dinner. The pair ate in silence as they watched whatever television show happened to be on. Emma didn't have the energy or the mindset to truly pay all that much attention after what she saw today.

Instead, Emma merely zoned out - her thoughts drifting back to what she saw earlier today. The woman... On top of that, Emma knew that she likely should be grading papers or doing something to prepare for work tomorrow. Being a teacher never lets you sleep - regardless if you found a dead body or not.

Hours passed as Emma merely spaced out while Arthur watched television. Eventually, Arthur leaned over to kiss Emma's temple. "I'm going to head to bed, sweetheart." He murmured, rubbing her back. He could tell that the day's events were on her mind. "Don't stay up too late, alright? Just come to bed and cuddle if you need."

Emma nodded her head and watched as Arthur stood up and made his way up the stairs to their bedroom. She continued to remain silent as he walked up the stairs and out of sight.

Letting out a sigh, Emma pushed herself up onto her feet and picked up the dirty dishes. She moved over to the sink and began to clean out the dishes, staring into the sink as she did so. She washed them out and placed them inside of a dishwasher, closing it to prepare to run another time.

After drying off her hands, Emma made her way back out into the main room. She glanced over to the curtains on the glass door and made her way over. Every night, Emma or Arthur always closed the curtains. However, considering the fact Emma could barely sleep as it was, she opened up the glass door and made her way outside, shutting the screen door behind herself.

Emma stepped over to the railing on the deck and leaned against it. She glanced up to look at the stars, hoping it would help clear her mind, but it didn't. If anything, it made her miss the country more. Emma loved that when she lived out in the middle of nowhere, she could see the stars as clear as day. Los Angeles took the stars away, only letting the bright ones shine through. Ironic how similar that sounded to Hollywood.

Letting her eyes drift closed, Emma heard some rustling. However, she merely brushed it off as a cat that frequents around their house. When the rustling continued, following by footsteps, Emma shot her eyes open. The light from within her house shined out to reveal Detective Matthews walking his way up the stairs.

"Uh," Emma took a step back from the railing, her eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. "Detective Matthews... what are you doing here?" Em lowered her hands down to her side, her confusion growing. If he wanted to talk or question her... wouldn't he use the front door?

Slowly, Emma began to make her way over to the screen door. She placed her hand on the screen door, opening it up only an inch or so before Detective Matthews placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. Emma stumbled, her eyes wide as she hit the railing with her hip, snapping the wood slightly. "What the hell," Emma said with a scowl towards Detective Matthews. She put her hands up and pushed him back - though he reached out and grabbed her wrists with one hand.

Emma's eyes widened as she saw him reach up with a handkerchief towards her face. She watched too many movies with Arthur and took a wild guess at what it was - chloroform. Emma screamed as the handkerchief was pressed over her mouth and nose. She tried to rip her head away, kicking and punching with her arms as legs as much as she could.

Throughout the struggle, Emma's wedding ring ended up slipping off of her finger as well as one of her slippers on her feet. Unfortunately, her struggle didn't seem to do much against the chloroform. Eventually, Emma found her eyes flickering closed as her body went limp in the detective's grasp.