Chapter Nine

David pulled up in front of a tiny apartment complex that practically screamed “student housing.” It had taken him most of the night cross-referencing the data base at Atlas to come up with Rosie’s last name and address, and now that he was here he wasn’t quite sure what he was doing.

He was supposed to be at the morgue helping to walk the audience through the evidence that had been uncovered during the autopsy, but instead he had driven a good four miles out of his way to find this apartment complex.

            Billy checked the lens of his camera before he climbed out of the car and began filming David as he slammed the door and stood, staring up at the building in silence. Billy clicked his tongue, “Any more pensive, and we could frame this shot as a cover for ‘The Exorcist.’”

            David scowled darkly, “This has nothing to do with the Tucker case so far. You can stay in the car.”

            “And miss the awkwardness?” Billy grinned, “Nope, I’m staying.”

            David rolled his eyes and hurried up the walk towards apartment 21b on the extreme left of the building. When he rang the doorbell, Billy slithered to his right, out of the sightline of the peephole and focused the camera in n David’s tightening jaw.

            The door swung open, revealing a dumpy man in his mid-thirties with messy, dirty blonde hair, wide blue eyes and a perpetually confused expression. He had obviously been in the middle of eating a sandwich, because peanut butter had dripped onto the print of Dr. Jamison on his shirt, which read “You dead ‘em, we spread ‘em.”

            For a second he just stared at David with an open jaw before he beamed, “Oh…my…god…it’s YOU!”

            David looked at the shirt again and sighed, “Yeah, I’m Detective David-“

            “Armstrong from ‘One Week Window’!” The man’s eyes practically bulged out of his head, “Oh my god, is Dr. Jamison with you?”

            “Uh…no. She’s not really a field-work person-“

            “Oh, no, of course not! That was a stupid question.” the man just stared again, and finally David cleared his throat.

            “Does Rosie Lund live here?”

            “Oh, yeah, she’s my roommate.” the man shook his head, “Jesus, where are my manners? I’m Steven.” he thrust out a hand coated in peanut butter, and David awkwardly shook it. As he did so, he could hear the camera zoom in on his face, and he rolled his eyes at Billy, “Come on in!” Steven added.

            The apartment was pretty much what David had been expecting, with the exception of the dozens of ‘One Week Window’ posters plastered on practically every surface of the place, most of which featured Dr. Jamison prominently. He noted that one of the few of them with his picture on it had his face wedged under a moldy coffee cup as a coaster.

            Steven blinked at Billy as the man shuffled inside after David and closed the door, “Oh my god, are you filming right now?”

            “Um, yes. That would be why I’m holding a camera.” Billy grunted.

            “Oh shit, I would have cleaned if I had known…” he trailed off as everyone looked around the place. No, cleaning would not have helped: napalm would have probably would have.

            Steven wandered over to a closed door beside the evil-smelling kitchenette and pounded on it, “Rosie! Wake up! You’ll never guess who is here!”

            There was a loud grumble on the other side, and finally it slid open, revealing a very grumpy-looking Rosie dressed in a t-shirt and baggy sweatpants, “This had better be good.” she looked over at David and her green eyes flashed with surprise and anger, “What the…?”

            David smiled at her and cleared his throat, “Rosie Lund, you are under arrest for attempted breaking and entering.”

            Her face darkened and she pressed both wrists together and defiantly thrust them at David, “Well, go ahead and cuff me then. I was unaware that I had anything to do with Darcy Tucker, but feel free.”

            “I don’t believe in coincidences.” David pulled handcuffs out of his belt and seized her wrists and, in a practiced motion, twisted it behind her back and slid the metal around her wrist.

Billy brought the camera closer and Rosie scowled into it, “How much was that camera?” he took the hint as well as a cautious step backwards.

“You have the right to remain silent,” David began, but Rosie interrupted him with an exceptionally rude noise. He shook his head, and looked back at Steven, “Sorry about cutting our visit short.”

Steven just beamed at him, “Hey man, any time. This is awesome!”

“Shut the hell up, Steven!” Rosie demanded as David cuffed her other hand into place and marched her out of the apartment.

Billy started to follow and Steven pressed something into his hand. Billy recoiled before he realized that it was a somewhat soggy business card with a picture of Steven silhouetted in front of a harbor on it, “Hey, if there are any opening in the show…call me!”

Billy nodded awkwardly and when they got outside he stuffed the card in his pocket and vehemently whipped his hand on his pant leg. 

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