Spotlight Star (Solo)

The charge was brought about for many reasons.

Motive. During interrogation, Andrea didn't talk. The other suspects did. Andrea Hart was accused of killing Mr. Gabriel Lafleur by Adam Wertz, because she was close to him. Emily Lafleur's testimony backed that closeness up. She also raised them a further reason. She said Andrea's relationship with her husband had seemed icy recently. For whatever reason, they'd been on edge. Ever since Adam Wertz had come along, she'd added. Maybe she was jealous someone else was vying for Gabriel's attention? Or maybe, that had caused a falling out. The apprentice was getting attentions the assistant to the magician desired.

Next, came alibi. Andrea's alibi for the time of the crime didn't matter much. When he died, she'd been with friends. That was confirmed. Yet, the cause of death was poisoning. The poison could have been set up long before that. Thus, Andrea's alibi was no good.

She'd been seen with the victim several hours before his death. Andrea had been the one to discover the body. She'd reported the crime. She could have concealed evidence.

She'd had a possible motive, and she had no alibi. The means weren't immediately identifiable. She could have hidden them. There had been no item to trace the origin of the poison to, on the scene of the crime.

She should have convened with her lawyers further, before the interrogation, and understood what would happen if she kept her poker face on, and refused to talk.

Her bail trial was set for April 16th.

Aurum and Lonnie weren't very happy when they found this out.

"And so, you're to report on..." Lonnie rattled off a date. The brown-haired man with slicked-back hair looked slightly somber, relating the news to the woman in the bed. Andrea Hart bobbed her frazzled head in understanding as Aurum looked about the room.

It was a sparse hospital room. A temporary fit for her. There were no 'get well soon' flowers, no family members milling about. They'd spoken with her doctors already. Andrea was shaken. She'd inhaled a bit of smoke, but she would be fine. Andrea Hart had gotten lucky. According to her story, the fire alarm had done its job. She'd been sleeping. When it went off, she'd made her way for the exit. She'd gotten out before the burn had grown out of control. She'd escaped the destruction of the fire. Her apartment hadn't been so lucky. That was unimportant, though.

"What happened?" Aurum swung his attention back to her. There was a hint of suspicion in his voice. A fire, burning the apartment of their client the same day as she was to appear in court regarding her bail? That was a bit suspicious. Had someone wanted her out of the way...? Or maybe he was reading too much into it.

Mental note: Three leaping steps back. No jumping to conclusions.

"I don't know..." Andrea replied sullenly. Her face fell as she tried to piece memories together. "I was sleeping, and then... the wail of the alarm. Everything blended together. My life, my things... oh god. My things. I left everything in the apartment. Should I go get--?"

Lonnie steadied her, keeping her in the bed. "It's okay." He coaxed. Slowly, Andrea eased back. Lonnie shot Aurum a disapproving look. "There's no need to get worked up. Things will be fine, Miss Hart."

Aurum inwardly sighed as Lonnie's focus returned to their client. Something was still nagging him. He had to see her place. Once this was through...

Her eyes were blue, tired. The same color of her distressed tie-dyed dress. Her pace was manic, yet uneven, like she had to be somewhere fast, but was taking her own sweet time. Red lips were pursed, purse was clenched. Its single strap hung on her shoulder uncertainly. It seemed like it was caught in a decision on whether on not to jump ship. It never got the change to choose.

Aurum caught up with its owner, and flagged her down.

"Miss?"

She looked at him like he'd made a mistake. Surely, nobody would call her a miss? "Yeah?" She didn't quite look at him, body turned slightly away. Maybe she could still escape him. The pose seemed poised, poisonous. Intent on communicating that thought. "You need somethin'?"

"Do you have a minute?" Aurum asked. "I was wondering if, maybe, you knew anything about that apartment over there...? Do you live around here?"

She glanced over her should. "Around 'here'? Huh."

"Yeah... more importantly, were you around earlier, before or after the fire?"

A one-shouldered shrug. "Eh. 'Around'. I don't remember... I have to go somewhere. Excuse me." She turned away, took a step, then paused. She swung her focus back to him with a paranoid utterance. "Why?"

"The fire..." He said, after a minute.

She stared at him. Whether it was confusion or disbelief wasn't readily apparent. The purse slipped. She caught it, pushing the strap back up. She shook her head sadly. "Nope. Just that it happened, and there were fire trucks..."

"Around what time was this?" Aurum asked her.

She hesitated, tapping her chin. "What time was it, again...?" She thought out loud. She tilted her head, and stared at a pretty cloud. It took all his patience not to interrupt her with grade-A snarkiness. His patience paid off. She swung her focus back to him, certainty in her voice. "A little past eight this morning. 8:30? I remember hearing on the radio, a specific program..."

"What program?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"Benny and the Jett. It's on station number..." She rattled off the station. Aurum filed it away in his memory banks for 'never', or 'later', under 'u' for 'useless'. He smiled at her hopefully.

"Is there anything else you saw? Anything interesting...?"

"Nope," She smiled back. His smile vanished. "Wait!" She suddenly exclaimed. "There was a woman..."

"A woman?" Aurum said.

"As I was sitting in my car, I saw her leaving the apartment... it was just before the fire trucks came. I was kind of into the program, so I don't quite remember if I saw anyone else after her, but... she was wearing shades, and kind of shifty. Wait... you don't think she started it, do you?"

He hadn't even known she existed. "I'll have to get back to you on that," Aurum replied. "Do you have a name?"

"Leah Arnett. Do you need my number...?" Out came the cellphone. She stared down at the screen seriously. It seemed like she was getting that this was serious now. That, or she was serious about giving him her number.

"Uh. Yeah," Aurum nodded. "Yeah, that'd be okay." He supposed if he needed to talk to her again, that'd work... somehow. She was kind of goofy, but... "What is it?" Here's hoping she got less goofy after she had a bit of time to herself to think.

She told him. He entered the number into his cell.

The thing about leads was this: they came and went. While Aurum may have found a woman who said she thought she'd spotted a strange woman leaving the building at a certain time, that didn't guarantee the sighting would be mentioned in each and every story. People would have differing reccollections. Some might not have seen her, and some might have been more focused on something else.

One man, for instance, had been focused on his car. He'd ground on the brakes when fire trucks sped by, and nearly rear-ended the vehicle in front of him. He had the coffee burn marks on his thigh to prove it.

Yet another reason why it isn't smart to drink and drive.

One woman had been focused on her hair. Another, her make-up.

One thought she may have seen something. For a moment, Aurum had had a glimmer of hope, but then... it turned out she'd only noticed a charming fireman, the first on the scene.

More and more, it looked like the person the woman had mentioned might have been a mental ghost, an imagined figure, drummed up due to misconceptions, or some vague motive. In her case, it might have been dinner.

Oh, Leah... She wouldn't have, would she?

Aurum questioned one more person, then called it quits. Nobody seemed to know anything, and... the police were still guarding the apartment. Oh well. He'd hit a snag. The lights had been on him to find something amazing, and... nothin'.

He hadn't found a thing.