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The investigation continues, and Davin discovers something interesting. Mark continues to struggle.

Surprise motherfucker! I was taken by the urge to continue this. More Paralogues coming up.

"Xalbator Ortega?
Yes. What is it?
Are you a believer?"

---

David frowned, flipping through the next few pages. They were all blank. “Hm. Seems that was the last entry. Though from everything that’s here, I agree with Mark. She wouldn’t have taken her own life.”
Hal wasn’t so sure. “Dave… That entry was dated three years ago. A lot could have changed in those years.”
David closed the book and placed it back in the case. Hal flipped off the recorder. “From this, the only thing Leanna would have taken her own life over would be if Mark died, or left her. Plus, she had a child to look after.”
Hal raised an eyebrow, then took out the files again. David looked at him. “What is it?”
“Dave… Leanna never had any children.”
David stood. “Damn…”
“Dave?”
He didn’t respond. Hal sighed. “I think I might have a theory.”
“Go on.”
“Here’s what I think happened: Leanna lost the baby some way or another. She falls back into her depression, and eventually takes her own life.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Dammit Dave, who would kill an innocent girl who barely ever got out?! This is suicide, open and shut!”
“Your theory is noted, Hal. Lets go.”
David went for the door. Hal sighed. “I’ll indulge you a little longer, then.”
David’s face throughout the conversation had been difficult to read, and Hal was getting a seriously bad vibe from him. None the less, Hal trusted the man with his life. If he still smelled fish, there was fish to be found.

Jill practically burst down the door. She dashed into the apartment and made a beeline to Mark, wrapping her arms around his neck. She was already crying. “Mark! Mark… I was worried! You should have taken your phone with you!”
He didn’t change his posture, still slumped on the couch next to Dan. “Wasn’t my priority.”
She sniffed. “I’m sorry, Mark… I’m a mess right now.”
“Join the club.” Mark said, really wishing he had a strong drink.
She let go of him and rounded the couch so she could see his face. “I can’t stay long. My sister has to leave in a half an hour and I need to get back to Josh. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
He met her eyes. “I’m not okay.”
“I meant… You know what I mean, Mark.”
Dan watched uneasily. Mark shook his head. “I know what you mean, Jill. I’m not okay.”
Her eyes grew wider than they already were. Her ears slowly fell. She crouched in front of him. “Whatever you’re feeling, you can get through it.”
“Stop saying that! I wish people would just… You don’t know if I can. I don’t know if I can. So just, stop it. Please. I feel like I could kill myself tomorrow, so don’t tell me I can make it through this.”
There was shocked silence. Jill’s tears fell faster. Dan’s face was pure fear. “Y-you can’t mean that, Mark…”
Jill grabbed his paws and pressed them against her forehead. “Mark, please don’t! I-I don’t want to lose someone else!”
She didn’t say anything else. She just stayed there, shaking. Mark woke up from his angry flash, as tear filled his eyes as well. “God… fuck, no I really didn’t mean that…”
She looked up. He pulled a paw away and wiped his face. “I don’t mean anything I say now…”
There was another uncomfortable silence. No one knew what to say. Mark eventually pulled his other paw away and shut his eyes. “Could you both leave?”
Dan stood and nodded. “Yeah. Anything you want.”
Jill followed Dan. She stared at Mark as she walked by. “I’m sorry…”
Dan led her out the door and into the hall. She looked back at the door worriedly. “Jesus Christ almighty… To think something like this could happen.”
Dan slumped against the wall. “Who could have done it? It’s not like Leanna had any enemies. She’s the sweetest girl I know… Knew.”
Jill sat next to him. “Probably some fucking psycho who poisoned her drink. Who knows?”
Dan closed his eyes. “He’s out there right now, though. Probably plotting or running or some shit. If I just knew his name…”

Cliff climbed out of the car and kicked the door, leaving a dent. “God dammit! Junker ass car…”
He leaned against the door an sighed. He looked around the small side street he was on. It looked shady. “Better call someone…”
He phoned a towing company. After a brief exchange he was set to have the vehicle towed to his hotel. After that it was straight to the address on the little scrap of paper in his pocket. Robert’s house.

David pulled the Continental into the driveway of the quiet suburban house, speaking to Hal as he shut off the car. “Alright Hal, get that recorder ready.”
“Of course.”
They climbed out of the car and walked up the front steps. David didn’t have to knock, as Robert was already at the door. “Officers?”
David nodded. “Yes. I’m detective David Barnaby, and this is my partner, Hal Locke.”
Robert opened the door wide, and beckoned them inside. “Come in.”
Robert looked like he hadn’t slept in a while. His eyes were red and he yawned twice before they reached the couch. His wife Victoria was there also, sitting on the couch and sipping coffee, even though it was three in the afternoon. David and Hal sat in the two recliners that were faced conveniently towards the couch. David and Hal introduced themselves to Victoria while Robert sat next to her and heaved a heavy sigh. “Alright, what do you want to know?”
David nodded to Hal, who nodded back, holding the recorder up. “First I want to say I am immensely sorry for your loss. From what I understand Leanna was a good person we shouldn’t have lost.”
Robert folded his paws together and sniffed. “Thank you, officer…”
Victoria rubbed his back supportively. David smiled warmly. “Please call me David.”
Robert nodded. “Sure.”
David leaned forward. “I need to ask you if you know of anyone who would want to hurt Leanna?”
Robert shook his head. “No. No one. She wasn’t murdered, David, she killed herself.”
David and Hal were taken aback. David blinked a few times. “Well, Mr. Brown, her husband says otherwise.”
“I don’t care what Mark says. He’s lying to himself. Leanna was depressed ever sine mum and dad…”
He let out his breath and put his paws on his face momentarily. “…Ever since that fire. She’s been teetering on the edge for years.”
Victoria’s expression was pained. “Robbie…”
David gulped. “What pushed her over the edge, then?”
“Her miscarriage.”
Hal frowned and looked through his files. “There’s nothing on her file about that.”
Robert shook his head. “Your file must be out of date. She miscarried, and after that she must have fallen so hard she couldn’t get herself back up again.”
David raised an eyebrow. “Why do you say “must have”?”
Robert looked away. “Well… Leanna is good at hiding her emotions when it comes to depression. She… convinced me… us, that she was fine. She went back to work and didn’t seem to change that much after.”
He held up his paws and looked at them as he tried to explain. “But… I could feel that she had given up. It was just that, though. A feeling I didn’t know was there until it was too late. It was the most tangible when we were cleaning up the baby’s room. The look on her face when she looked at the empty crib… I should have called someone just then.”
David didn’t know what to say. He thought for a long time, then opened his mouth. “Well, Mr brown, this is compelling information… What about her husband Mark. Have you spoken to him since the incident?”
Robert shook his head. “No. I tried a few times, but I couldn’t reach him. I decided not to bother him.”
David nodded. “We’re going to continue our investigation, and if you think of anything, don’t hesitate to call me.”
He took out his card and laid it on the table. Robert picked it up and nodded. “Alright…”
David was about to speak when someone knocked on the door. Robert frowned and stood. “I’ll be right back.”
He left the room David looked at Victoria, who had acted quite shy since they had arrived. “How had Robert been holding up?”
She drank more of her coffee. Her voice was very soft. “He’s been good. I know it sounds bad, but he’s used to this. He lost his parents not that long before I met him.”
“I understand.”
Robert returned. “Excuse me, officer David?”
“Yes?”
“Someone I’ve never met before is outside. He says he knew Leanna.”
David stood up quickly. “Hal, reset that recorder. We’ll talk to him outside.”
When David and Hal returned to the door instead of Robert, Cliff was startled. “Oh… Hi.”
“Detective David Barnaby. This is my partner, Hal Locke.”
“D-detectives…?”
David closed the door. “I’d like a word with you, Mr…?”
“Cliff. U-um, Cliff Lucassen.”
David pointed to a nearby lawn arrangement. Some padded chairs and a shaded table sat under a tree. Cliff looked over and gulped. “Yeah, alright. I suppose you’re investigating Leanna’s death?”
“We’re asking questions here.”
Hal put a paw on David’s shoulder. “David, he’s a witness, not a suspect.”
“S-suspect…? I thought this was a suicide…?”
David narrowed his eyes. “Sit.”
They all sat around the table. Cliff was becoming very nervous. David leaned forward. “How do you know Leanna?”
He cleared his throat. He was young, David guessed twenty two. He was a fox, with no especially unique markings. He was skinny, and kept twiddling his thumbs. “W-we went to school together. We were both taking a few of the same courses, and she was in the film club with me. I came out from CB to visit her family once I heard what happened…”
Hal spoke up. “That’s a five hours drive. You must have known her well to come out all this way.”
Cliff gestured with his arm, paw pad up. “The opposite, actually… I kinda had a crush on her, but she wouldn’t talk to me that much… She left an impression on me, so when I heard when happened I had to come out here to find out what she was like.”
David thought about this. “Well, you should know that she was married.”
Cliff jumped. “Wh-what?!”
“You really didn’t know? She wore a ring, if I’m not mistaken.”
“S-she did… I thought it was like, her dad’s ring or something… Married? No shit…”
David furrowed his brow, then pulled out his notebook. Hal recognized it. He only took it out when he had a suspect in mind. “Do you know of anyone from her first year class that might want to hurt her?”
“Hurt her? No, she was the sweetest girl in any class.”
“Uh huh. And tell me, Mr Lucassen, what drew you to Leanna? She was rather unassuming aside from her deformities.”
It was Cliff’s turn to furrow his brow. He sat up straight and mustered his courage. “Listen here… I-I know she had injuries, but Leanna was beautiful. The moment I saw her, I knew I wanted her… for my project I was doing for the film club. I-I was going to do a film about beauty.”
“Did you ever approach her about this? Did you ever approach her about your feelings?”
“Yes, to both. I asked her out a couple times, but she politely declined… As for the film project, she said she couldn’t act and declined that too.”
Cliff seemed to be regaining some of his composure. David wanted him on edge. He reached over and took the papers that Hal was carrying around. He flipped through Leanna’s file. “Hm… Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“I wouldn’t say… beautiful, exactly.”
Cliff’s jaw dropped. “You don’t see it? Under those scars is a woman of perfect proportions. Her jawline, her height, everything. If she would have just said yes to my project, she would have seen that! Then-”
He stopped abruptly, suddenly blushing profusely. “Then what?”
“That’s it.”
“You thought if you got her in the film, she would agree to go out with you. Is that it?”
Cliff’s ear fell. “…How did you know that…?”
“Let’s just say I have experience.”
Cliff shrugged. “Yeah, s-so that was my plan. I was lonely, okay? I thought that my plan might work, but it didn’t. That was four years ago, and I don’t like to acknowledge what a, uh, creep I was.”
David wrote for a solid minute. He put his pen away and closed the book. “Thank you, Mr Lucassen. Please call me if you think of anything else.”
He handed Cliff his card. Cliff took it, and nodded. “Okay.”
David and Hal bid him goodbye, then returned to the car. The sat for a minute in silence, then Hal said: “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Stalker.”
“Yep. She’s been out of school for years, and he still remembers her. But… how did you know something like this would come up?”
David grinned and started the car. “I didn’t.”
Before pulling out of the driveway, he pointed to Cliff. Hal looked over. Cliff was crying.

Mark sat alone. Dan and Jill had since left, Jill back home and Dan off to get food or something. Mark felt his pocket become heavier. He reached inside and pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper. After doing so he realized that he had been in the same clothes for three days. The first two days being spent drinking. He sniffed his armpit and recoiled. Carefully placing the paper on the coffee table, he stood up and shakily moved to the bathroom to shower. After he finished, he went about in a bath towel automatically loading his clothes into the washer. ‘It’s about time you pulled yourself up.’ He thought.
Momentarily calm, but with a looming depression and dread still enveloping him, he gave serious consideration to his situation. He had to live somewhere, and it couldn’t be here. He would have to go back to his apartment as soon as the police were done with it. He closed his eyes. He would deal with what he told the police later. Once the clothes were spinning away in the washing machine, Mark returned to the couch and gingerly picked up the paper. He unraveled it, read it, and crumpled it back up. He lay back, and listened to the sound of the washing machine.

Mark jiggled the key in the lock, trying to get It open. As usual, he had put it in upside down the first time, and it was stuck. He sighed, letting his paws drop to his sides. “Leanna? Are you there? Let me in!”
There was no answer. Which meant she was out or asleep. Probably the later. He pulled on the lock for another minutes, eventually getting it free and putting it in right. He made sure not to make too much noise as he entered. He went to the bathroom, showered and threw his clothes into the hamper. It hadn’t been a pleasant night at work. All he wanted to do that night was snuggle with his wife and sleep until noon. He walked through the dark apartment naked, rubbing his sore back. He never did get used to crouching over a mixer all day. He stumbled into the bedroom and felt around the edge of the bed, climbing in and pulling the sheets over top of himself. Something was off. He reached out, and out, and out, trying to feel Leanna. He touched the wall. He sat up and clicked on the side table lamp. The bed was empty, though it appeared to have been occupied recently. He frowned. “Leanna?”
He stood and walked into the kitchen, turning on the light there. “Leanna?”
He looked towards the living room. There, in a pool of moonlight streaming in from the window, was a paw. Leanna’s paw. “Leanna?!”
He ran over and stood above her. “Leanna? Are you alright?”
She was silent. Dead silent. He put his paw on her body. It was cold. He began to hyperventilate as he stumbled back. “No, no no no NO NO NO!”
His paw hit something. A crumpled up scrap of paper. He picked it up-
“MARK!”
Mark kicked out at whoever was shaking him. “GET OFF!”
Lance fell back. “Jesus, Mark! You were screaming in your sleep…”
Mark sat up, then drew his legs up to his body. He sobbed, burying his face in his knees. Lance remained on the floor, sitting cross legged, not really sure what he should say. Mark eventually stopped crying. Lance was disturbed at who his friend had become. “I bought dinner… Fried chicken, your favorite.”
He didn’t answer right away. Lance stood and went over to where he had hastily placed the chicken bucket. He took it too the kitchen and filled up a plate with a couple legs and some fries. He brought them to Mark and put them on the coffee table. Mark couldn’t deny that he was hungry, and his nose was telling him that the chicken was delicious. He sat normally, and bit into the meat. “What was your dream?”
Lance knew what it most likely was. He was hoping it was just Mark getting eaten by a werewolf or something. Mark swallowed. “I found her.”
He said no more, and didn’t need to. Lance closed his eyes. “Sorry… Where did Dan go?”
“Out with Jill. I needed to be alone.”
He looked at Lance and said, none to subtly. “Maybe you should go look for them.”
Lance nodded quickly, standing up. “Well… goodnight then. I’ll try to get back at midnight, when you’re asleep.”
“I won’t be sleeping.”
“Right…”
He inched more and more towards the door, but stopped right before exiting. “Mark?”
“Hm?”
“I need to know something. If you don’t want to answer, then just don’t, and I’ll leave.”
“Shoot.”
Lance took a deep breath. “Leanna wasn’t murdered, was she?”
Mark did not answer. Lance stood there for a minute, then drooped his head and walked out of the apartment.