Detective On Duty-Chapter 27: Adrian

They decided to pivot. Chasing Adrian could wait a few hours. First, they had to verify the core of Ava’s story with their primary suspect, they didn’t know where the stalker was, if they were to know it might help them a bit, but unfortunately they had no location.

"We go back to James," Miles stated, folding the paper. "We need to hit him thoughtfully. We need to know what he knows about that night and about Ava’s manipulation."

They drove back to James Anderson’s mansion. James answered the door looking even more haggard than before, his handsome features strained by days of guilt and lack of sleep.

"You again," James sighed, rubbing his temples. "I told you everything."

"You told us a lie, James, or at least a heavily edited version," Ethan said, pushing past him into the foyer. "We spoke to Ava. Now we know you lied about the breakup."

James flinched, running a hand through his hair. "I didn’t lie, I just... I left out the messy details."

Miles stepped closer, his voice low and intense. "The messy details being Ava drugging you so she could climb on top of you right when she knew Katherine would show up? And you blindly let her do that?"

James’s eyes widened in stunned silence. "She... she admitted that?" he whispered, his face draining of color. "She didn’t admit to the drugging, no, but we’re detectives, James," Miles countered. "We piece things together. We know Katherine ran out on you after she saw Ava in your bed."

James sank onto the nearest chair, burying his face in his hands. "God, I thought she was Katherine. She came in and said I looked sick, offered to help. I started feeling dizzy right away. I don’t remember much until I saw Katherine running out the door." He looked up, his eyes full of anguish. "Ava set the whole thing up. She made me look like the lowest kind of snake."

"And that’s why you went to Katherine’s house in a blind rage, calling her a slut and accusing her of sleeping with her boss?" Miles pressed.

James nodded slowly, his voice hoarse with shame. "Ava told me Katherine was sleeping with Mr. Sterling to get her promotion. When I saw what Ava had done in my room... I believed everything. I thought Katherine was just like me, a cheat. I lost control. I said things I can never take back." He paused, his expression haunted. "I ruined her life."

Miles and Ethan exchanged a final, decisive look. They now had a verified sequence of events for the final confrontation and proof of Ava’s calculated manipulation. They had squeezed all the truth they could from James.

"Was the ruin not enough that you went as far as to kill her James?"

"I didn’t kill her detective Miles, I know my jealousy can drive me into doing things but I didn’t kill her. I even didn’t sleep with Ava again when she tried to seduce me to know how much I really loved Katherine." James yelled at them, the accusation sinking to his brain that made him mad.

"So Ava wanted to sleep with you gin," Miles questioned again and James nodded, "thank you for the details, let’s go Ethan," they set for their destination to the Dorian hotel.

Miles and Ethan drove across the city. It was a faded establishment downtown, one of those places that saw too much coming and going for any of its clientele to be scrutinized too closely.

They approached the front desk, the receptionist, a tired woman with heavy makeup barely looking up.

"We need the room number for a man named Adrian Wilder," Miles requested, placing his identification on the counter.

The receptionist sighed, her nails clicking against the keyboard. She checked the register, her eyes lingering on the detectives’ badges. After a moment, she pointed toward the back of the building. "Room 314."

Miles and Ethan headed up. The third-floor hallway was dim and smelled faintly of stale cigarettes. They found Room 314 and knocked sharply.

The door opened to reveal a man who looked like a total mess. His hair was disheveled, his clothes rumpled, and his eyes were bloodshot. It was clear he hadn’t slept well in days. He certainly fit the description of a man trying to hide.

"Yes?" he asked, his voice rough.

"We’re with the Aethelred Institute." Ethan said, his voice flat. "We need to talk to you about Katherine Vance."

Adrian’s face immediately slackened into a mask of guilt and fear. Without a word, he stepped back and let them enter.

The detectives stood in the small, dingy room. The air was thick with tension, and the full weight of the investigation landed squarely on Adrian. Miles instantly wanted to arrest him, the sexual assault was a major crime, and it was a motive strong enough to lead directly to Katherine’s supposed suicide.

However, a wave of caution stopped him. They still had to operate under the official guise of a murder investigation. More importantly, they couldn’t risk the official police force contaminating the delicate, manipulated trail they were following. Miles glanced at Ethan, a silent communication passing between them. They hadn’t fully solved the case yet. They couldn’t trust Ava, who was a known liar and manipulator, and they couldn’t fully trust James, who still denied crucial facts and had proven his volatility.

They had to get the full story from Adrian first, no matter how ugly. "We’re going to start from the beginning, Adrian," Miles stated, his voice devoid of emotion. "Tell us about the night you went to Katherine’s house."

Adrian’s eyes went wide, a flicker of genuine shock replacing the guilt that had initially masked his face. "I went to Katherine’s house? What are you talking about? I never went to her house! She was the one who came to mine." He paused, a panicked note entering his voice. "Wait, who told you this?"

Miles and Ethan exchanged a blank look. Ava had clearly lied about where the assault took place or Adrian was lying now. They were swimming in a sea of deceit.

"We can’t reveal our sources," Miles stated plainly, unwilling to reveal that their entire timeline was built on the word of a known manipulator. He pressed the most crucial point. "We have reason to believe that on the night of the breakup, you sexually assaulted Katherine."

Adrian recoiled as if struck, shaking his head vehemently. "No! I never raped Katherine! That’s insane! Why would you even think that?" He took a hurried step back.

Then, his voice dropped, his eyes darting nervously around the room. He pointed a trembling finger toward Miles. "It was James. James is the one who raped Katherine."

Miles froze, his brain struggling to process the latest, most devastating contradiction. He looked at Ethan, the confusion written plainly across his partner’s face.

"What the hell is going on?" Miles muttered, the question aimed more at the universe than at the liar standing before him. The lies were stacking up, and the truth, whatever it was, was becoming fatal. "James was dating and inlove with Katherine how come and how do you know all this?"