who killed Annie? [luke hemmings]

chapter two: dream house

yo, guys. I got into a really, really good medical school! I have an entire month before I start, so I'll finish at least, two books before I leave. 

[IMPORTANT!] 

NOTE: this story is set in different timelines, and every single chapter will have at least, two. to avoid confusion, I'm going to put a date and time before the flashbacks. if there's no date or time mentioned before a part, it means that it's in the present timeline.

I'll also put "unedited" before the chapters that I haven't read thoroughly, or re-edited to my heart's content. this does NOT mean that they're unfit for reading. there will be just a few mistakes here and there, that I'll correct once I've finished writing the book.

PS: I've changed three cast members, namely for Det. Ross, Det. Nordström and Officer Murphy, in the previous chapter. make sure to check them out. 

**UNEDITED**

CHAPTER TWO: dream house

Luke sighed, for what felt like the hundredth time, that day, his warm breath unintentionally blowing over the cup of tea that he had been holding, for quite some time. His eyes flickered from one cop to another.

There were dozens of them, suited in blue, in every corner, turning Luke and Annie's beloved dream house upside down. Less than forty eight hours ago, everything seemed to be fine — at least, to the orthodontist.

[forty seven hours ago]

It was around ten past five in the morning, on the 25th of December, Christmas Day, and Luke was pacing around, from one room to another, shoving things into his suitcase, that lay wide open on the bed.

"You know, Luke, scampering to and fro won't really make it any easier for you to find whatever you're looking for," the feminine voice in the room, commented.

"I know, I know. I just—" Luke halted abruptly, running a hand through his neatly combed mane. "I can't find my card."

"Which one?"

"Wells Fargo. The debit card you got me for my birthday." Luke sighed.

"What a husband you are," Annie jested, beginning to chuckle, but the second she noticed Luke's poker face, her smile faltered. If you were to ask, neither of them would be able to state when, and why even the mildest jokes had turned into potential imitators of arguments in the Hemmings household.

"Where did you last see, or use it?"

"I.. I don't know. At the bookstore on Saturday, maybe? You know, when I was buying a gift for Dr. Duquette on my way to his retirement party." He paused for a couple seconds. "Or was it on Wednesday?"

"Wednesday, on your first bowling night.. Hm," Annie trailed off, tearing her gaze away, folding the last piece of Luke's clothing and carefully placing it above the rest, inside the suitcase, before closing it shut, and placing it on the carpeted floor. "Maybe not." She exhaled deeply. "Wherever it is, I'll find it for you. You should get going, now. It's almost five-fifteen. You'll miss your flight. Use your other cards for the time being."

Luke was quiet for another brief period of time, before nodding in response. "You're a babe, Annaliese."

As the lady let out a faint laugh, the dentist leaned in for a kiss, that vaguely lasted for more than a couple seconds. And the very next moment, Luke was gone, exiting the premises of their property in an uber, while a rather dead-eyed Annie watched him depart from the balcony, without even a trace of the smile that hugged her lips earlier.

[present]

"Dr. Hemmings! Dr. Hemmings! Are you oka—"

Officer Murphy's tone was interrupted by a startled "huh" from the doctor.

"I'm sorry, I.. I just—"

"Uff da! It's okay," Peter replied, batting his hand dismissively in the air. "My mammy often had these periods of... flashbacks, where she'd zone out like you, after my dad went missing."

"Oh.. er, wow.." Luke cleared his throat, attempting to look, and sound as sympathetic as possible, although he didn't mean even a fraction of a percent, of it. He didn't care, and had it not been for the circumstances that surrounded him, he wouldn't have even made the effort. Hell, all this time, Luke had been trying to figure out the chap's accent. His best guess would be Minnesota. "I uh.. I'm really sorry.." He wanted to add more, but royally failed to do so. It didn't matter, though. His inability to frame a heart touching sentence with the perfect words would however, seem apt to many, owing to the whole wife-goes-missing situation he was in. Nonetheless, he didn't have to wait for long, because Murphy was quick to respond.

"Oh, geez. Don't be," Peter said. "He was presumed dead, 'cause they found a charred body on the highway, burned beyond recognition, just three days after dad went missing. They couldn't even ID the guy for the next four weeks or so, and everyone just assumed that it was my dad. Heck, they even said that the fella's teeth did that popcorn thing, while burning. You know, when they put dead bodies in an electric crematorium, and the teeth pop—"

"They don't exactly 'pop' like popcorn, but yes, I get what you're trying to say," Luke answered.

"Yeah, well, a month later, they found out that the teeth were manually removed, while the guy was alive. They were able to finally identify him, and surprise, surprise. It wasn't dad," he paused, chuckling to himself. "The moment we found out, the hotdishes we had been receiving every day from someone or the other, stopped."

"I was one heck of a rebellious teen back then. Snuck out of the house in the middle of the night, stole my mammy's Cadillac, and drove all the way up to Fargo, and found the bastard — who happened to be pretty fuckin' alive, by the way — pimping at the very first bar I walked into."

"Ah, geez. That's terrible. I'm sorry." Although the lack of interest was clear in Luke's tone, Peter failed to pick that up.

"Yeah, thanks," he sighed, heavily. "The point being... although the evidence, and that artwork on the wall says otherwise, there's at least.. a two percent chance that your wife is still out there."

"Well, that's reassuring," the dentist scoffed, something that was followed by a dozen seconds of silence, and Peter was forced to look away.

"So.." This time, Luke was the one to break the ice. It wasn't like he had anything else, anything important to do. Moreover, Peter was the only chap who didn't gape him like as if, he were some wife-killer. "Who was the other guy? The one who burned to death."

"Oh, he?" Peter's gaze shifted back to the dentist's profile. "Some dead, lonely, old guy. Turns out, he died of cancer. They were trying to burn his' and another body, but there was a power cut off, somewhere in the middle. Something about the owner of the crematorium not paying his electric bills. So, a worker loaded his truck with the half roasted bodies, and one fell off, on the way. By the time he realised that the body went missing, the cops had already found it. He was afraid of losing his job, or getting thrown in jail, so he never went to the Sheriff's Department."

At that, Luke burst out laughing. A laugh so loud, that it made every single police in the house halt, and turn back to take a look at him.

A guy jesting, and laughing the day after his wife went missing.

However, all that giddiness did not last long. Before Luke could comment on the story, he found himself staring into Detective Ross' eyes. Ones that drilled holes into Luke's.

"Care to explain this, Dr. Hemmings?"

Rita held up the object she had been holding, and it just so happened to be a blood stained paper cutter.

"Ah, fuck."