Murder in a Small Town

[Platipoo]

Ava was a female surgeon living alone in the city. Her life was fast-paced, but rather quiet, until Louis's call ID showed up on her phone. It's been years since Louis called Ava, the close-knit bond between them had dissolved when Ava left their small town in search of something more than being a fisherman's wife for the rest of Ava's life. Louis took it as an act of throwing away the memories of their mother who died on an accident in their childhood years.


Something must've happened, and Ava was right. Their father, the lifelong Mayor of Greylakes Town had just died in a car accident. Unfortunately the town's only elderly physician has been showing signs of dementia for months now, so there's no one in town who could perform an autopsy. No autopsy, no funeral. Louis asked Ava to come down and see their father one last time.. On the morgue table. The sooner the better. Just a routine procedure for accidents so the burial permit could be issued. The local Sheriff was even willing to look away from the fact that Ava was a close kin. Everyone loves the mayor, after all. Otherwise, it'd take weeks at least to wait for a proper medical examiner from the nearest major town to arrive.


Ava came back home to do the autopsy and found out that the 'car accident' might not have been an accident after all. Ava told Louis about the autopsy results, but they agreed to keep quiet because they didn't know who was behind this, assuming Ava's suspicions were indeed true. Ava signed the papers, officially writing the cause of death as an accident, and the funeral was held.


On the night after the funeral, the town lawyer gathered about a dozen people for dinner, and announced the contents of the mayor's will. It turned out that the mayor owned most of the town and it's neighboring area, including the lucrative Grey Lake. Ava and Louis weren't aware of both the existence of this will and the expanse of their father's wealth. They realized it might be the motive for their father's supposed murder, what with the prolonged pressure from some prominent townsfolk who thought turning the lake into a tourist destination would bring in a fortune to the town, halted only by the mayor's reluctance to compromise nature for profit.


It turned out their father had passed down ownership of the lake, along with the land surrounding it to Louis. Ava inherited the small island in the middle of Grey Lake and their father's old house, including the makeshift bar on it's first floor. Most of their father's money was split in two between Ava and Louis, the rest were given away to various townspeople along with varying miscellaneous gifts and charitable donations.


In the aftermath of the division of the will, Ava and Louis decided to try and dig out what really happened to their father. Ava moved back to town under the cover of devoting herself as the new town doctor, though Ava's real aim was to reopen their father's bar and gather information from the unsuspecting patrons. While they work together to uncover the secrets of Greylakes Town and their family, Ava and Louis might also find out whether their broken bonds could be mended again.


@Zediah47

 

[Platipoo]

Ahava Grey





Halfway towards the secluded small town, Ahava Grey already regretted her choice of transportation. She knew she shouldn't have driven back home. She should've taken the train instead. That way she'd have the luxury of a proper arrival scene at the train station, some sort of a reunion with the big brother she hadn't seen since her early years in medical school. She realized now how much she needed a formal transition from her busy life in the city to the gloomy grieving days in her hometown. She sighed as she passed the front gates of said station, gone now any chance of reconciling differing opinions as she rode in her brother's car from the station to their father's house. Gone now her wish of a comfortable silence filled with mutual understanding and unspoken emotional support before she had to leap towards a hurricane of tiring courtesies with the townsfolk.


Oh God. Her father just died in a car accident, and all she could think about was dealing with fake condolences and unwanted attention from random grannies. Was she always such a bad daughter? She did leave town as soon as she graduated high school, but it wasn’t for a lack of love for her father. Her dead father. It has been half a day since her brother woke her up to tell her the news, and still it didn’t feel real.


She took her time parking her compact city car, an oddly mismatched addition to her father’s driveway. Her brother’s probably inside the house right now, waiting for her to show up. She had agreed to perform the autopsy on her own father, however reckless that might sound. The relevant authorities had agreed very easily to look the other way, everybody seemed to agree that this was an accident, and nothing else. A horrifying one, surely, but the autopsy’s just a routine thing so the burial permit can be issued. Everybody loved Mayor Grey, nobody wanted his body to hang around the morgue for weeks waiting for a proper medical examiner from the closest big city to come to town. Not to mention the pile of paperwork required for such an unnecessary ordeal.


She drew in a deep breath, then slowly let it out. Groaning, she dragged her duffel bag out of the front passenger seat and locked the car. She fumbled with the house key only to find out that the front door wasn’t locked, so she stepped inside reluctantly and called, “Hello? I’m home.”

 

[Zediah47]

‘She still has her key…’.


Louis was sure Ava had just entered, there was no doubt about this. She had been the last one he called, and as of now she was the last one he had expected to see. She had never made it to any other family events she had been invited to, and a funeral was just another opportunity for her to miss.


‘I guess people are full of surprises.’


He hadn’t been sure if he should actually invite her. He hadn’t invited her to his wedding (what a train wreck that had been) nor had he invited her sympathy when they had finally divorced. She had missed his daughters’ baptism, an event that scratched her as the child’s godparent, though he was glad she had not been present for his final moments. Death was a normal part of life, and as it was, their family seemed the most normal out of everyone. He secretly found himself wondering how long it would be before he went. Maybe he would have the chance to see his daughter again.


“Hello, I’m home.”


Her voice broke his train of thought. He dropped the papers he had been fondling, and looked to the door.


‘She looks older,’ he thought to himself, studying every aspect of her,’ looks like time was not kind to her either’.


He smoothed back his hair which he was sure was beginning to prematurely whiten, and casually glanced at her.


“Hey.”

 

[Platipoo]

"Lou," Ava turned her head towards the sound of her estranged brother's voice. She failed to compose a proper sentence to complete her calling his name. His face.. She couldn't read Louis' face. He looked.. Pained? Angry? He wasn't the least bit happy to see her, that's for sure. He hadn't agreed to Ava's going away from town. Ava had kept in touch with their father and called from time to time. Well, their father was always the one who called first, but they still talked. It was different with Louis. She couldn't recall the last time they actually talked. Their father had informed her of her brother's wedding. Ava had been so excited, she even moved her hospital shifts around to make time. When the invitation never arrived though, it had crushed her. Her father had called months later to boast about his beautiful granddaughter, but she wasn't even asked to attend her baptism. It only sunk into her when she was scrolling through Karma's old baby photos in social media and found out about her niece's funeral by chance that Louis didn't seem to think that Ava would care that her only niece passed away. She cried then for the little girl she never got to meet and spoil, but by the time she heard that Louis had divorced Lakshmi, she wasn't surprised that Louis didn't tell her himself.


She closed the door behind her and looked around the place. The house didn't change much. Well, her father had converted the first floor into a makeshift bar of some sorts, which explained the sign that read 'Greylakes Tavern' hung above the front door. Though it wasn't exactly a major conversion. Her father probably only served beers and fried stuff, so their old kitchen island must've been sufficient. She imagined that her father's patrons not made of the choosy kind, they'd surely be okay with sitting and drinking around her father's old living room, the few kitchen island stools, or her father's old dining table.


Furniture choices and her father's whims didn't seem like quality conversation material though, not even the photo on the wall of their father standing next to Louis with baby Karma in his arms. This didn't seem like the right time to protest about Louis erasing Ava from his life, so she walked slowly towards him and opened her arms slightly. A very awkward way to offer a hug, she realized. But Ava really needed one, even though she hadn't cried - yet, "How are you holding up?"

 

[Zediah47]

It was an easy enough question to answer though every bone in Louis’ body told him to retaliate somehow.


How are you holding up? How did she think? Their father had died. He had died and he wasn’t coming back, just like their mother. Their family was dying and soon they would join their parents. They had no one: any remaining family would only come for any inheritance, and even then the amount of family they had was few. They had no one but each other, so in a sense, they had no one.


‘I’m trapped in a room with a shadow’.


“Fine,” he shrugged,” I could be better. Thankfully this is a bar so I have the option to drink my problems away.”


He noticed her hand. She wanted something from him, sympathy, a hug. He couldn’t give it to her. There was no sympathy in him, only emptiness.


He stood up.


“I’m going to get a drink; you want anything? I make a mean margarita, at least I’ve been told. I’m usually never sober enough to tell for myself.”

 

[Platipoo]

There. Her last bit of hope that they could grow back together lost. Bitterly, Ava thought to herself that she should've known better. She let her arms fall on her sides and plopped her bag on a random couch, "No thanks, I don't really drink," she rubbed her face in defeat. Now she felt like crying.


Ava threw another look at Louis' face, they haven't met for years, but she wasn't sure that her brother was supposed to look that aged. Right now, he'd easily pass for a man quite a few years older than he really was, "And I don't think I should drink before the autopsy. When did you say I should go down to the morgue?" Ahava took the picture frame on the wall and stroked lightly on Karma's peaceful sleeping face. The years she had lost and would never get back.


"I didn't know you drink much, Lou," just one of the many recent details on her brother's life that she would have no idea about, Ava was sure, "Never really imagined Dad would open up a bar either. He didn't tell me when he phoned.. He used to be against alcohol so much since mother's accident."

 

[Zediah47]

“I know,” he muttered, “and then he went and opened up this place. You really have to admire the way that man stuck to his morals.” Using a few parlor tricks he mixed his drink with more pizazz than was needed. He never had the chance to show off his skills.


“I hope you don’t mind if I drink a little. I’m not used to bodies like you are, especially…”


He didn’t finish. He would have been disgusted with himself if he had.


“We can leave now if you want, Ava. There isn’t much of a reason to stick around.” He looked up from his mixing and saw her stroke the image of Karma and their father. Without her noticing, he quickly down half of his unfinished work. It tasted bitter, sharp and bitter.


“No one else should be arriving,” he choked. “I can drive you there myself if you want.”


‘Damn it, that was stupid to say’.


“I mean you can drive me, though I have been told I am a very good chauffeur while under the influence. What do you say?”

 

[Platipoo]

He must be kidding. Though Louis didn't seem like he was just joking, which terrified Ava at least a little bit. She put back the picture carefully, almost lovingly, but her face was straight when she turned to reply to her brother, "That doesn't sound like a good idea, Lou. There's something fishy about our family and car accidents, don't you think?"


Ava wondered whether that joke was inappropriate, but she couldn't care enough to even consider spouting out an apology, "I'll drive, but you need to show me the way. It's been years since I go around this town." Louis apparently had changed so much - maybe even too much - and that made Ava uncomfortable. The man in front of her was merely a shadow of the reliable big brother that Ava used to cling to so much, "My car has a flat tire though, can we take your car, please?"

 

[Zediah47]

“You’re looking too deeply into this,” Louis called as he rummaged for something to get rid of the awful taste in his mouth. “It was an accident and he may have been drinking. They said the car contained a lot of broken bottles of alcohol, though that may have been from when he crashed.” He closed the fridge.


“But yeah, we can take my car if you don’t mind driving too far. It’s in the need for some interior decorating, so try not to mind all the stuff lying around.”


He ran his hands through his pocket, and slowly made his way towards her.


“Try not to total her, we already have enough death in this family.”


He winced at his joke. ‘What the hell is wrong with me?’


He turned away from her.


“It’s nice to have you back, Ava. It’s been too long.”

 

[Platipoo]

Ask her just a couple days back, and Ava would've been the last person to believe that her father would ever drink and drive. Now, though.. She didn't even know that he had been running a bar. So she just shrugged, not really in the mood to question her memories about her father, "That's okay, we've always been messy kids anyway."


Ava ignored Louis' gloomy joke. She was already making her way towards the door when she heard Louis' last sentence, and she couldn't process what she heard. He thought it was NICE having her back? She was having a hard time believing him, what with him acting quite distant today. She weighed whether or not to trust him and threw him a quick glance. She couldn't make out his expression, though a faint smell of booze was coming from his general direction. Bitterly, she decided that he was just drunk. It would hurt too much to trust him now and have him deny her existence again later, "Yeah, it sure has been a long time," so long that she could barely recognize her brother, "Let's go, Louis." Ava stepped out of the door and held the door for her sibling.

 

[Zediah47]

The drive to the morgue started off distant and awkward. Louis had never been one for a family drive in the short time he had actually had a family, and now they seemed nothing short of unbearable. Maybe it was due to the fact that he enjoyed being the driver, but for the life of himself he could not enjoy his time.


‘We are going to visit our deceased father.’


He zoned out and enjoyed the scenery on the way there. He always enjoyed the rustic nature of their little settlement. Secluded from larger areas and yet oddly modernized in a distant way, it was a nice blend of the environment and man. A few new buildings could be seen sprouting amongst backdrops of green, and trees sprung up every day as if it would never get out of fashion. The hilly area added much to the backdrop and even a short drive like this was nothing short of majestic. Louis spotted the lake out of the corner of his eye and smiled. It was these brief moments that he always enjoyed.


‘This place sure is beautiful... too bad we’re almost there.’

 

[Platipoo]

Ava wasn't comfortable in the least bit with Louis' initial demeanor back at the house, but she couldn't say for sure that she'd prefer this silent man with an unfocused gaze next to her. Taking Louis' car to go to the morgue appeared to be the best choice she'd made today, though. The car reminded her of the first months of Louis' driving life. Warm memories of the days Louis had taken Ava out to drive around town - to fetch some ice cream or complete random errands for their father - flooded her. Those memories, maybe with some help with the fresh air, calmed Ava down. Her brother was so sweet back then, he had laughed so easily and patted Ava's head often.


"Don't you listen to the radio when you drive now, Lou?" Ava stole a glance towards Louis while fixing the rearview mirror, "I've been away for so long, I don't even know which stations air around here anymore," she wasn't sure whether or not Louis was listening, "And which turn do I take on the next intersection?"

 

[Zediah47]

“Wait, we’re at an intersection?” Louis stole a glance from his window and realized they were nowhere near where they were supposed to be.


‘No wonder I saw the lake.’


“Take a right on the next street, go straight for a mile, and then take two lefts on the street after that.”


‘I really wish I could drive,’ he thought to himself. Louis wasn’t a proud person, but there would be no way conceivable he would tell his sister they had missed the exit a long time ago.


‘She’d grill me worse than she had when we were kids,’ he smiled. Realizing what he was doing, he stopped before she could noticed. ‘She’ll think I’m weird if I keep doing these random things. I have to stay quiet.’


Louis could feel any ease he felt slowly slip away.


‘I’m not sure how to act around her anymore. Was… it always this hard?’


He hoped the trip would end soon.

 

[Platipoo]

Ava frowned at Louis' surprised answer. He wasn't paying attention after all, "We missed an exit, didn't we Lou?" She turned her face away, hoping that her brother wouldn't see her childish pout. For the rest of the drive she stayed quiet, rather annoyed with her brother's mind wandering away when she had asked him to point out the way before.


Ava parked Louis' car just a few yards from the town's only small hospital's morgue entrance. A brunette man in a grey shirt and black leather jacket was smoking next to the door. Ava noticed a law enforcement badge strapped to his belt, but only later when she exited the car she'd make out the man's face, "Really, Lou? The sheriff that you said was willing to overlook my relationship with Dad so I can perform the autopsy was your high school classmate Lucas Morgan?" Ava sighed, tired with the surge of unwanted flashbacks of her awkward teenage years. She protested in a low mutter, "I thought you were talking about old man Crayton. What happened to him anyway?"


The sheriff looked up as Louis' car halted and waved at the siblings. He put on a sympathetic smile, but it was easy to see that Lucas was in his business mode.

 

[Zediah47]

“Crayton died a while back, and Morgan is the only other sheriff we have. Don’t worry, he always thought I was the prettier one anyways. Let me do the talking.” Louis jumped out of the car before Ava could complain, which he was sure she would do.


‘Time to engage kiss-ass mode.’


“Sheriff Morgan, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Louis spoke,” this is my sister, Ahava Grey. She’s here to perform the autopsy. She is quite skilled in her field, might I add, one of the best. I’m sure her expertise will be quite appreciated, especially in a small settlement like ours. I am sorry if we kept you waiting long. We took a small detour before arriving. It has been a very long time since my little sister last arrived.”


“Oh,” he chuckled, trying to seem as casual as he could,” but you know this. I forgot, we all went to school together. Ava,” he said, pointing at her,” do you remember Lucas Morgan?”

 

[Platipoo]

Ava rolled her eyes at Louis for painting rainbows about her expertise. As if he'd even know whether I specialize in surgery or pediatrics. She still gave Luke a halfhearted smile as she waved him hello, "Sure. I'm not sure whether we've been introduced properly, though, Sheriff," Luke had broken too many girls' hearts years and years back. Even when they never personally interact, Ava had learned to hate him because for weeks on end whenever Luke had gotten a new girlfriend, all the girls would only talk about him and Ava wouldn't be able to get her lunchmates to change the subject of conversation.


"I think I remember.. The school librarian?" Ava nodded politely and only commented inside her mind: Yeah, the one whose shhhhhs you ignored whenever you made a ruckus flirting with girls in the reading area. Luke tossed the rest of his cigarette to the ground and stomped on it without looking down, "I'm really sorry for your loss. Trust me, it was a hard decision to ask you to do this, and I'm also very sorry for this. I know this is severely inappropriate when you both should be able to grieve peacefully, but everyone agreed that Mayor Grey deserves a proper burial. A speedy one. The old Doc started showing signs of dementia, so we're out of local doctors to perform the autopsy."


"Ah, yeah," Ava didn't expect Luke to not act like the annoying jock she always imagined that he was, "I understand. Dad never really liked waiting anyway."


Luke nodded, brushed his messy hair back with his fingers, and walked towards Louis, "No need to be so formal, Louis. We've been classmates for practically our whole childhood. We've talked on the phone about calling your sister home, but let me tell you again how sorry I am for your loss," Luke pulled Louis into a brief hug and frowned, "Wait, have you been drinking too much?"

 

[Zediah47]

“Oh, not much, Sheriff. I’ve taken less shots than you have in your whole career.” Louis wasn’t sure, but he could swear Ava was giving him a dirty look.


Morgan chuckled. “I supposed you’re hammered then?”


“I can walk.” Louis smiled. “Don’t worry, I only drove in spirit. The Doctor here was always a better driver anyways. But I’m sure you remembered that…”


Louis was never one to dwell on the past, especially when it came to any shenanigans he may have caused, but when it came to the exploits of others he was always one to remember.


‘Hopefully he remembers, and let’s this slide for now’.


“That aside, I feel like we should pay our respects. Can you show Ava and I to… can you show us to his room, if you don’t mind?”

 

[Platipoo]

"You deserve a break," Luke shrugged casually, "Just don't go overboard this time.. Well, after me, if you will."


Ava followed Luke in silence. She wondered what kind of mayhem Louis had gotten himself into to get the town Sheriff to know her brother doesn't mix well with alcohol. It wasn't a very long walk, the building was old, small, and rather straightforward. There was only a single straight corridor, to their left was some kind of seating room with a clerk's desk, probably a place for the families to take care of paperwork. At the end of the corridor was a metal door that seemed to connect the morgue wing with the main hospital building, but Luke took the three of them into the room at their right.


There was two autopsy table, and only one of them was occupied. Their father's body was covered with a white plastic sheet, but there was no mistaking it. The Sheriff halted for a bit, he must've not been sure how to do this right, but in the end he decided to walk closer, "The autopsy tools are stored in that drawer, Doc. I had somebody from the hospital clean them," Luke pointed as they neared the body, "But first, I'm going to need identification by his next of kin. You just need to look at his face and later sign some papers declaring that you're sure he's your father. I know it's hard, but it's required."


Ava stopped in her tracks, "I-" she gulped. It was harder than she thought it would be, "I think I should only see him later when I'm alone. I'll just prepare the blades over there, if that's okay," her face suddenly lost color. Ava turned her head towards Louis, pleading, "Can you please do the identification, Louis? I'm not sure if I can do that.. One close kin is enough, right, Morgan?"

 

[Zediah47]

“They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,


Love and desire and hate;”





Louis starred at the vacant eyes of his father, the shining beacons he once held blurred, the lifeless gaze of undilated pupils the final image he would ever have of him.


“I think they have no portion in us after


We pass the gate.”


His tan skin now white, his clean hair now sullied, his long life now ended…


“They are not long, the days of wine and roses,


Out of a misty dream”


His arms, which had once held him, as they had once held their family together, were now limp and pale.


“Our path emerges for a while, then closes


Within a dream.”


Louis didn’t know whose body this belonged to. This was not his father, this was a dead man, a dead, rotting, man.


“Louis, is this your father?”


There was no answer.


“Louis?”


“…it’s him. This is Aaron Edgar Grey, our father. I can contest for that.” Louis felt tremors shoot through his body.


“I’ve done my part, and now Ava has a job to do. I’ll leave you to it.”


Without further notice he left. Louis didn’t dare look at any of them before he left, he could not bear it.


Quietly, he walked outside, closed the door, and slowly, fell apart.

 

[Platipoo]

Luke shook his head as Louis scrambled out of the room and Ava scurried towards the tray of medical blades. He apologized silently towards Aaron and fixed the plastic sheets again so the former Mayor's face were covered properly, "I'll be outside, Doc. Take your time."


Ava nodded, not realizing that the Sheriff wasn't able to see her answer since she was facing a wall. She donned protective apron and latex gloves before moving the tray of tools next to her father. She almost dropped the rather light tray because of her hands trembled so severely. She took deep breaths, knowing that no amount of medical knowledge is going to prepare her for dissecting her own father. She could take a thousand years trying to calm down her nerves and she still would never be ready for this. She turned the voice recorder on to start recording her wavering voice, "Monday, 1pm. I'm Ava Grey, starting my autopsy on Aaron Edgar Grey, 62 years old, male."


Luke closed the door behind him with a soft thud, finding Louis even more broken than before. He felt like he was a devil or something worse, but Luke had a job to do. He walked towards the empty waiting room and started filling out a form on the clerk's desk, "I need you to sign this whenever you're ready, Louis."

 

[Zediah47]

“Can I get a quick smoke in?” Louis stuttered. His voice was shaky, much like the rest of his body. At first it seemed like the Sheriff would say something against this, but he sighed and let him go.


It was a little cooler than it had been earlier that day, and this was the first thing Louis noticed. There was a zephyr blowing, thin patches of grass moving with the wind, and all around things went normally. Louis pulled out a cigarette.


What originally was a rare occasion grew into a practice, something Louis was not proud of. He had tried quitting a few times before, but each time he found himself back on the bandwagon. It had been two weeks since his last cigarette; he could taste the disappointed as he weakly began to inhale.


He pressed himself against and pillar and slowly fell till he hit the ground.


“At least the day’s nice.”


He took a deep inhale and wondered when this would all end.

 

[Platipoo]

A couple of hours had gone by when Ava finally tossed her gloves and apron into the medical wastes bin. She didn't like what she found, and she wasn't sure how she should handle it. Ava was still deep in thoughts as she ran into Luke on her way out of the room, "You done, Doc?"


Ava gasped, currently too jittery to handle surprises, "Uh, um- yeah."


"I see, then if you could just-" the Sheriff rummaged through the folder he was carrying, "-fill out this autopsy report form.. I can turn it into the town hall and the Mayor could be buried as soon as tomorrow afternoon."


"Actually-" Ava cut Luke's train of thoughts, "I'm sorry for being so troublesome, but I really need some rest right now. Seeing Dad like that.. It was harder than I thought," it wasn't all lies. It was hard, "I think I need to go home first, how about I find you in a few hours?"


"Oh, damn, take your time! Sorry for being too pushy," Luke closed his folder and put it on the waiting room's table, "You know what, you can just catch me at the Sheriff's office tomorrow morning. You probably won't get a chance to write your report until after the reading of the will at Mr. Jefferson's house tonight anyway, huh?"


Mr. Jefferson? Reading of the will? Ava hazily recognize the name of the middle-aged town lawyer, though she didn't know her father had a formal will drawn up. Aaron Grey was rather well-off, but Ava thought all that her father bothered to own was their childhood house and a rather decent bank account. Maybe a small fishing boat docked at the lake. She wasn't sure why that would require a lawyer-guarded will to divide between Ava and Louis.. Which made her feel suspicious. She really needed to talk to Louis, "Where's my brother?"

 

[Zediah47]

It had been some time after Louis was finished smoking that he received a call from someone he would rather not talk to. As he stared at the phone he debated whether ignoring the call or denying it altogether. He sighed. He knew he could never do such a thing, no matter how much he wanted to.


“Hello,” the voice called.


“Hello,” muttered Louis.


There was a pause on the other end. The caller was obviously surprised that he had picked up.


“Louis, are you doing alright?” The voice was feminine, more than likely mid to late twenties, though only Louis knew for sure. Her voice was sweet yet firm, like candy with a strong taste, and Louis knew he would not be able to escape her if he tried.


“Yeah, I’m fine. Listen, can we talk later. I’m sort of busy right now.” There was another pause.


She knew he was lying, she always knew when he was lying, but she never dared call him on it.


“Fine, Louis. Take all the time you need. I’ll be working my shift if you want to come on over later.”


“Thanks, Eve.” He muttered. “I’ll see if I can make it.”


He hung up and waited for the autopsy to finish. He didn’t plan to make it if he could help it.

 

[Platipoo]

Luke shrugged his head at the direction of the door, "He's outside."


"Thanks, I'll catch you later, Morgan," it wasn't hard to find Louis. Ava was uncomfortable because Morgan was hovering on the morgue door, waiting to see the siblings off. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, Ava grabbed Louis' arm as soon as she reached her brother, eager to get away from the building, "Louis, there you are. We're done here, let's go home."


As Ava tugged at Louis towards his car, she pulled her brother close enough to whisper, "We need to talk. Alone." She waved goodbye at the Sheriff, hoping that they were out of his earshot.

 

[Zediah47]

‘Yes, because that’s just what me need, more alone time with each other.’


Louis wasn’t quite sure why she grabbed his arm, a “hey Louis, we’re going” would have worked just fine, but pointing this out wouldn’t help. Her arms were bigger than he remembered, but then again, they may have been kids the last time she did this.


‘She sure has a way of bossing me around.’


“What’s the matter, Ava?”


He could think of a number of things that mattered. Their dead father 50 feet away, their dead father, having to perform an autopsy on their dead father all came to mind, but he could never be quite sure with her. She seemed shaken, more than he had been, which came as quite a surprise for him. He would never grow used to death; he thought she would.


‘Not when it’s someone important.’


“It’s alright, Ava,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders,” I know, it must have been hard. Seeing him lying there…”


Louis didn’t know what to say.


“It’ll be okay, I promise… it’ll be alright.”


‘No, that’s not the right thing to say! Do better, Jackass!’


How could he do better? Without thinking he hugged her.


‘I hope this makes you feel better,’ he thought.