Miles flipped through the folder that had all the images that the CSIs had taken of both the garden and the bedroom of Wesley's house. Miles paused at the picture of Wesley's corpse, burnt to the same extent as his own father's corpse. He took a glance at the autopsy and it held results almost the same as his father's. Both of them died as a result of inhalation of toxic fumes and thermal injuries arising from fourth degree burns. Miles felt the same shudders pass down his arms as he leaned forward in the wooden chair in the conference room.

Could that mean they were both connected somehow?

He moved to the next picture which showed a large window that had its long thick velvet drapes drawn apart. The window pane had a sheen of frost, just like in his father's case, strapped to the glass. Miles took a deep breath as he took out his notebook and began to jot. The possibility that liquid nitrogen had been utilized was still a variable factor given that it hadn't been used to kill both victims, that was sure from the autopsy results, neither had it been used to break any possible locks. Miles flipped through a couple more pictures of various parts of the bedroom. Like in his father's case, there was apparently no struggle whatsoever, no furniture had been out of place, nothing was broken.

The only disturbed part of the room was the bed sheet that was rumpled, possibly due to his erratic movements and was stained with swathes of that same ashy line. Now that he thought of it, how come the bedsheets and bed didn't burn while they did? It seemed almost intentional that the person had just wanted them burnt and didn't want to leave a trace of their actions anywhere. Maybe that's where the liquid nitrogen had come in, in quelling the fire maybe? But Miles knew that if that had been done, it would have shown in the autopsy.

So that led Miles to jot down a new question. How exactly had the fire been put out? Especially with the degree they were burnt to. The autopsy had shown that they had been alive before they were set ablaze and they had died rapidly by the fire. That meant that the fire had been super hot; fires hot enough to cause such damage in such a short amount of time would be oxygen-acetylene fires which was used for welding, but the main question would still remain the same. How would such a fire have no impact on even the bed that the person lay on? Such a fire should have spread and at least burnt the bed if not even the whole house.

And from his father's case, nobody had mentioned anything about calling the fire department. All they had said was that his burnt corpse had been found on his bed, his room still as neat as ever. Miles pushed his head to the table and let out a groan. How was this possible? A headache started up again, he suddenly felt dizzy as the tiredness seized his bones. His heart began to burn in his chest as the world blurred around him.

He gritted his teeth before he shook his head. He remembered what doctor Doris had told him a few weeks ago, after he had gone to the hospital for tests.

"Your coffee intake is slowly killing you, Miles. It always starts from  headaches, dizziness, heart burn which could progress to gastritis, cardiovascular diseases and other things you would never have dreamed of having. Miles, this has to stop, now."

Miles looked at the coffee cup across from him, emptied of all its contents. Like other times, he stayed over at the station with several cups of coffee in hand. Miles knew that doctor Selene genuinely cared for his well being, she was one of the few people that had always looked out for him ever since he was a teenager. But Miles knew that despite the present health challenges it posed, he still couldn't stop. His eyes felt heavier than they normally did, the burning sensation in his heart spiking a bit.

He wanted to sleep so badly. He wanted to lie down like he used to, before the divorce, and get a peaceful night rest. But now, that was no longer the luxury that he had. Now, peaceful sleep was something that had eluded him as his night terrors were never ending. And not only that but he had sworn himself to this line of duty, to be the best detective he could be, and even if it meant driving himself to the brink of exhaustion, he would. As long as he could bring temporary relief to families that had had a member murdered, or the dead themselves that needed their stories to be uncovered, he would, even if it meant he would be overworked.

With that, like every other time, he fought through the headache that had begun to nestle in and soon it became a rhythmic pulse that he was able to silence. The heart burn soon faded to the background, his chest feeling a little lighter and the haze washed away. He knew that living in his condition alone with all of its downsides required him to shun all societal expectation and pass all his limits. Something he knew how to do.

Miles looked at his watch and saw it was almost 10am. He knew Alice would be here around this time. True to the thought, the door slammed open and Alice strode in. Her red hair was tied up in a high ponytail, she wore a white button up shirt and dark vest with black trousers. Alice looked up from the phone before she stashed it in her pocket. Once she noticed him, her cerulean eyes narrowed.

"I see you've gotten the autopsy from the forensics, yes?"

Miles nodded although warily, the earlier exhaustion still eating at him as he eyed her. Alice stopped at the table before grabbing the folder from him. Miles just watched her flick through it, definitely not in the state of mind to argue with her.

"How did you know that the girl would be by the fountain?"

Miles knew this question would eventually come up. Miles knew it from the look that she had given him as soon as she had arrived on the scene. Miles wondered how someone so immature had gotten this far but of course, he already knew. Connections. The woman had family members in high places so she had risen through the ranks more quickly than most. Even though she was brilliant and great at reading people, it was still obvious there were other things a detective should have that she lacked.

"-I'm talking to you!"

Alice had that same look that he had seen on Bella during their first encounter, one that stated that they still needed others to justify that they were where they were supposed to be. One that spoke of only insecurity. Miles felt that familiar flair of irritation that he tried hard to suppress. If he were working alone, he would have been more efficient, it wouldn't be taking so long to round up all the witness statements and put their stuff together. And of course he wouldn't have to wait, something that made him even more annoyed.

"Mi-"

"I didn't kno-w the girl wou-ld be there.  I never even kne-w I would find a bod-y in that garde-n. But I observ-ed and paid attention to the little details in my surroundin-gs."

Alice's eyes blazed with anger.

"Well then, when you find something after your observing, report first to me, got it?"

Miles almost rolled his eyes at that childish behavior. Of course she was only concerned at who got the credit. There shouldn't even be anything to be proud of at the moment, bearing in mind that there were already too many loose ends.

"Fine."

Alice looked away from him before she continued flipping through it.

"The girl? Has her autopsy come in yet?"

Miles nodded and took  out the document from the very bottom of the folder before handing it to her. Alice accepted it from him wordlessly before scanning it.

"It said tha-t she died of injuri-es caus-ed by sexual assau-lt." As Miles said that, he couldn't stop the clench in his fists or the foul taste that filled his mouth. When the DNA the forensics collected was checked with a number of databases, it was discovered that her name was Tina Moore, a citizen of Oakland. So neither was she from Rivera city or any other state in the whole of Vistra. Instead she was from Oakland, which was at the other side of the continent. Miles inhaled sharply to try to stifle the pain in his chest. She was only 13 years old and yet she had been killed, raped to death by an animal. Miles gritted his teeth, this was why he had no faith in these social media heroes, the celebs.

Alice gasped. She must have seen it now. With wide eyes, she met Miles' gaze.

"Wesley Kyles' raped her to death." The shock on her face was almost amusing if not that it left a knife in his heart.

It was always the most likeable ones that did the darkest things.

Miles nodded, unable to talk over the lump in his throat. He felt the pain of this girl even more now. How could someone be so cruel? Miles hardly knew. By the time Miles took another glance at Alice, she still looked deflated, unable to hide the disappointment that those few sentences had given. That's how it always was, you would never have thought them capable of so many things. Until you heard news about them that shattered their image in your eyes.

Trust, so hard to build yet easily broken. Keeping your distance is the best thing you could ever do.

Miles finally remembered. "Did you get an officer to bring in the homekeeper?"

Alice was jolted out of her reverie and looked lost for a few seconds before she nodded. After about ten more minutes of absolute silence, there was a knock on the door and a policeman entered. An old woman followed after, her face the leathery image of disdain. Alice passed over the autopsy and folder to him after which he put the autopsy back in the folder to avoid ruffling the other papers. The old woman sat on the chair opposite them. Miles noticed that she wore an expensive looking, long sleeved, purple dress. Even with its grandeur, it failed to hide her obviously frail body which gave away her old age.

Alice ran through the initial formalities by asking for her name and everything before continuing by asking,

"How long have you known him?"

The homekeeper adjusted the glasses perched on her pointed nose before pursuing her lips.

"Since he was little."

"That means you practically raised him, given that his parents died in an accident, if I am not mistaken. You two must have been close."

The homekeeper almost winced at that, her eyes twitching. Miles leaned forward, watching her closely.

"Yes. We were.... close."

"How was he like when he was growing up?"

Miles shot a look at her. She was doing a good job hiding her apparent disappointment and news of what she had heard mere moments ago.

The woman, Lilian, frowned at her. "I don't understand how this concerns his death."

"Any information counts in this line of work."

Lilian gave a disapproving grunt and started to eye Alice as though she were an annoying pest that was disturbing her nap. "I can volunteer reasonable information to you, detective. But I can not comprehend why his childhood would be of any concern to you."

Alice chuckled lightly.

"Ma'am, would it be surprising if you ever found out he got involved in anything bad?"

Her stern look faltered and her brows creased, her lips pinching downwards.

Interesting, Miles mused.

"He is a fine young man, I do not expect any foul record on his part."

Alice was quiet for a moment and he noticed that the old woman kept on smoothening down her gown multiple times. She was nervous.

"As homekeeper, you are the one that oversees the rest of the employees' pay, their duties and everything else relating to them, correct? By assuming that, I can say you know how many employees you have and the ratio from male to female, am I correct?"

Lilian blinked a couple of times, obviously thrown off by such a sudden change in subject. She nodded after many seconds as if deliberating whether to answer truthfully or not.

"Would it be okay if I asked you to bring the list of your employees with possible contact addresses?"

"I beg your pardon, whatever do you need that for?"

Alice paused again. "You see, Mr. Wesley was killed in his home. Burnt to death while on his bed. There were no signs of struggle meaning that most likely he was asleep when it happened. Who works by night in the house?"

Lilian narrowed her eyes again, her gaze turning to steel. "Are you suggesting I or any of my handpicked staff are to blame?"

"I never said such."

"But you implied it."

"Well then, since you came to the conclusion yourself, where were you at the time?"

Lilian looked aghast. "I would never do such a thing!" She boomed, her hands hitting the table with a ferocity that Miles would never have known existed in her frail looking frame.

"Then let me ask you this, would there be any reason why someone out there would want to kill him?"

She went silent.

"I have no idea." The ferocity in her voice was less now, it was quieter than usual, lacking its sharp edge.

"I-"

"Di-d yo-u eve-r have a gardener?" Miles butted in.

The woman regarded him slowly as though trying to know what to make of him. Her eyes lingered on his face and that usual same curl of her lips and scrunch of her nose that people used whenever he passed contorted her weathered features.

"Why would we not have a gardener, you silly child?"

"So yo-u presently have a garden-er?"

The woman blinked a couple of times again and bit her lip. "Well, we actually don't have one now. He was fired a couple of days a-"

"How many days ago?" Alice asked this time, catching what Miles was silently trying to deduce.

"A week."

Miles and Alice shared a look with each other.

"And one more thing, when last did you see Tina?"

She raised her brow. "Tina? I know many Tinas. Please clarify."

"Tina Moore. The maid."

Miles watched her reaction to that. Her mouth formed an 'oh' at that and she stopped smoothening her gown.

"About the time the gardener was fired. I had just come back from a short trip with my husband to hear that Mr. Wesley had fired her. I don't know why anyway, but I'm not so concerned about such."

"You aren't? You aren't concerned about an underaged maid under your care just fired out of the blue? I'd think you would at least try to find out why given that they are still privileged to their own rights."

The woman laughed, a cackle that reverberated through the room. "Privileged? Rights? They're nothing but scullery maids, rights don't come with their kind. Besides, she isn't even the first."

Alice smirked and Miles sighed, he had to give it to her. She knew how to get people to admit things they weren't supposed to.

"So you're saying she isn't the first to be fired out of the blue without your notice?"

The color drained out of her face.

"Well i-"

"I think we've heard enough, ma'am. Please turn in the list of all employees in the residence that states how long each has worked for Mr. Wesley and when they were first hired, with their contact addresses. If possible bring one that shows all the employees that have worked there since you started serving as homekeeper. Please, we want it at most three days from now. Thank you ma'am for your co-operation, if we have further questions we would call you."

I want to thank God for giving me the Grace to write this. So how was this chapter? It was really exciting to delve deeper into this, we'll be giving our girl her well deserved spotlight by the next chapter. Anyway if you liked it, vote and comment.