Chapter 221: Matter of the Heart

[Edward POV]

A helicopter ambulance came to the mansion and swiftly carried out an old man to get some help in the hospital. He had fallen unconscious while clutching his heart, and it triggered the emergency procedures in the estate.

"Can any of you tell me what happened? Why did James have a heart attack?" Eve Saltzman's secretary, a middle-aged and charismatic lawyer dressed in a brown suit, with a full head of hair, turned to us 'witnesses' to get the answer. 

Denise, Taylor and I shook our heads together. "We don't know." Denise said with a shrug. "He opened the door, and that's it." She added.

"Did he happen to encounter anything that could have caused a shock or distress when he opened the door?" The secretary asked again with ignorance in his expression.

Panic seized Taylor, causing her words to stumble out in a frenzy. "Nothing! We weren't doing anything! Absolutely nothing at all!" she exclaimed, her anxiety palpable. I cast a disapproving glance her way while slightly shaking my head.

"I believe what Taylor was trying to express is that we have no knowledge of anything that might have triggered such a severe reaction in his heart. Moreover, he's stable now. I've checked on him, and it seems to be a fainting episode. He'll be back on his feet soon." I said, calmly dismissing the man's concerns.

The secretary finally nodded and then said, "Alright. I believe you Ed."

"Why only Edward!? I answered too!" Denise asked with apprehension.

"Yeah, but Edward never lied to me, he didn't tell me he' be bringing a single guest to his 16th birthday party, but invited the entire circus to the house instead, while also trying to ride an elephant straight into his room–"

"Shut up!" Denise cupped the secretary's mouth in panic before she glared at the both of us, "You two have heard nothing, Understand?!"

"No. I heard everything. And I want to know more about the elephant." I said mischievously. Denise looked at me in disbelief, her expression a mix of astonishment and exasperation.

The secretary left the estate a few minutes later and we could finally breathe in relief after he was gone. Vader the black cat jumped into my arms as I walked to the kitchen with the girls to get something to eat after our 'strenuous exercise'.

While we were eating, Max suddenly rushed into the kitchen, with a face full of worry, "What's going on with James? Why is he in the hospital? And where is the hospital they took him too? I keep asking and none of the people here can answer me."

"We were doing nothing when he found us!" Denise replied with a touch of disdain on her face. However, her mistake soon cost her.

"Huh?" Max caught the panicky gazes of the two girls immediately. Her lips curled into a teasing smile and she said while raising her eyebrows up and down, "So. Did he catch you guys doing it or something– Who was doing it with who?"

I grabbed some fries while Denise and Taylor tried to cover up. Taylor said, "Wh-What? No one was doing anything with anyone. The three of us are just talking in the room."

"Yeah, and all of our clothes were on." Denise added while I face-palmed myself.

"That's a weird detail to put in there. Wait…ALL 3?! EDDD!! YOU DOG!!" Max exclaimed proudly as she punched my bicep. I laughed and said to the duo, "Why are you guys so nervous about it? You guys were the ones moani–"

Denise and Taylor cupped my mouth together while Max laughed. Max then asked, "So, when the three of you are together, James walked in? That's why he's in the hospital? He must've seen something very shocking."

"Don't think about it Max." Taylor warned. "Or I'll take back my money."

"What money?" I chimed in.

Max laughed and said, "You can't threaten me Barbie. I only took 20 bucks and made the accountant put the money back into your account. I'm invulnerable to your threats!"

"And unexpected integrity moves from you Max." I said with an impressed expression.

Max smiled and said proudly, "Yeah, despite me being poor, I'm not the type to take advantage of people. And also, I'm kinda afraid to walk around with that kind of cash, so I gave it to the accountant to keep it. He was mistaken because when he asked me, I said it's 'Taylor's money' instead of 'money from Taylor.' Before I knew it, he had already given the money back to her. But I digress." Max fixed her hair and said it as if it was nothing for her.

I smiled and said, "Did you hit him?"

"With a shovel if I could, but I can't if I want to keep my job here." Max replied. She shook her hands and said, "Anyway. Back to the three–"

"NO!" x2 Both Taylor and Denise interrupted her. "Calm down whores. Why are you still acting like you guys were innocent little girls? Innocent little girls wouldn't make James have a heart attack." Max said without a filter.

"So what is it? Was Taylor standing, and both of you were down there?" Max asked.

"More like, all of us were down there." I replied as I knew that Max wouldn't let the matter go.

Max gasped as both of the girls blushed and hid their faces. Max asked, "On the sides, in a circle?"

"How else would we do it?" I shrugged casually, causing me to get beaten up by both Denise and Taylor.

Max laughed and said, "How are they?"

"Can we not talk about this? Like, Ever!" Taylor exclaimed and pulled me away from Max.

An hour later, James returned to the house, having regained consciousness but with no memory of the events leading up to his fainting spell. In his mind, Denise remained the innocent young girl whom he had nurtured and cared for since she was a baby.

For him, she was definitely NOT a sex deviant who didn't even discriminate between genders. But that was just my personal opinion. Who knows if he had already known about it before, but just had never witnessed it in person. 

…

It was almost 2 am. Taylor and I decided to go on a night drive together as she wanted to escape being in the mansion and Max's snorting and snickering every time she saw her. 

I drove one of the cars in storage, something that had caught my eyes the moment I saw the collection of luxurious cars there, a black, sleek Audi R8. 

"Why are you stealing my jacket?" I asked Taylor as I saw she was wearing my brown vintage leather jacket as she adorned a casual style of white shirt and jeans. 

"Hey I made your wish come true today. One jacket is cheap enough for the cost already." Standing next to the passenger side of the car, she added, "Aren't you going to open the door for me?"

Smiling, I responded, "No, there's no need for me to do that." With a press of a button, both seats automatically slide upward, welcoming us into the luxurious vehicle.

Taylor scoffed, teasingly jabbing at me once more. "Now that you've gotten what you wanted, you don't feel the need to be a gentleman anymore?"

"Innovation and science embody the true essence of being a gentleman. It's not just about being chivalrous to others, but also to the world itself. Take, for instance, the invention of the automatic door opener. A gentleman's ingenuity… and contribution… in creating such a device immortalise him in the act of opening doors for others. No one else could beat him in the world anymore. He's top of his game. I couldn't even try. He would win everytime. "

"You're so full of crap." Taylor said before she burst out laughing.

I pressed the pedal and drove through almost half a mile before finally getting out of the gate. "There's a waterfall nearby, a 10 minute hike–"

"I don't like hiking." Taylor interjected before I could finish inviting her. "Oh, I need to ask you about something."

"What is it?" 

She turned towards me and placed her hands on my arms before saying, "So. I've been talking to Selena, and she said that Miley Cyrus is making a Hannah Montana movie. The director there wants me to act in it!"

"By 'act' you mean singing a song right? Because dear…You can't act."

"Shut up! I can!" She scowled before sitting straight again. I laughed and said, "I'm just kidding. You're good. Not great yet, as you have a certain awkwardness when you're facing the camera that prevents you from seeming natural, but for a cameo, it's good enough."

She rolled her eyes and said, "Can't you just say that I'm great? I can become a great actress one day? What's with the passive aggressive comment?"

I chuckled and said, "I was being honest. Do you want me to lie to you? Cause if I did, and you go on to try out to become an actress yourself, it's only going to hurt you, not me."

"Ugh. Fine! I don't want to be an actress anyway!" She said with a sulk.

"Oh, that's too bad though. I was thinking of casting you in my new movie." 

She suddenly turned again in excitement and grabbed my arms, "What kind of movie?"

"A movie about a group of Disney girls who went bad, they robbed a laundromat to get some money to spend on cocaine and booze on their spring break, but got entangled in some gangster mess. It ends up with two of them having pool threesomes with the rapper and killing everyone before running away with the money."

Taylor scrunched her face in confusion and disbelief, "What the hell is even that? It's like you're TRYING to explain the movie badly."

I burst into laughter and said, " I was."

She giggled and pretended to be angry, "Wait. You didn't want to cast me, just for the pool scenes, right?"

"Well you auditioned for it just now. NO! Don't, I'm driving!" I had to stop her as she was trying to grab my arm and bite it. "Stop!"

"No YOU STOP!" She said angrily. She fixed her hair while exclaiming, "Ugh!" and pulled her face away from me as she pouted.

"Alright. I was wrong." I said after she wasn't responding to me calling her names for a while. She reluctantly turned her head towards me before pulling it away again.

"Damn it." I mumbled underneath my breath as I focused back on the streets..

"What did you say?!" She asked me angrily as she felt that I was cursing her.

"Oh, not you, there's a cop's barricade in front." I said while gawking at the crime scene in front of me. Then, I saw a familiar figure standing nearby the barricade, clad in a brown leather jacket too, and was holding a paper file in her hand.

I rolled down my car window as I abruptly stopped next to the detective, which earned me multiple questions from Taylor, "What are you doing? Are you crazy? Why are you even stopping?"

"Calm down. There's no paparazzi nearby. They are only interested in the death of popular celebrities, not everyday people."

"Still!" She scolded me.

"Mr Newgate. How interesting it is that you're lingering around a crime scene. Maybe after your kidnapping, you lost every ounce of fear for your own safety and decided that you're invincible?" Detective Chloe Decker said with a not so subtle warning.

"He is! Well at least he really does think that." Taylor interjected and spoke to the detective. 

"I don't think THAT." I said, defending my honour. "Oh Hi. Taylor S. Right? My daughter is a huge fan of yours."

"Aww. Told her I said Hi." Taylor replied.

"What happened here Detective?" I asked.

"It's official police business Newgate." Detective Deckard said, obviously trying not to spill anything about the incident. "Oh, by the way, did you guys see any suspicious people around here?"

I chuckled and said, "Detective. I know that you're worried, but I am a man who was given a medal by the President himself for recapturing national secrets and even stopping said secrets from getting leaked. Maybe, I can give some insights about the case. You know, I wouldn't even have stopped the car if I didn't see you looking so troubled. You do want to get back to Trixie early tonight right? The sooner you can close the case, the better it will be…for you."

My words placed the Detective in a difficult decision. Taylor widened her eyes as she saw what I did and muttered, "Wow. You're the devil. A master manipulator."

"Yeah, so don't even try me with your childish games lady." I said teasingly as I flicked her forehead gently. 

She giggled, and our attention was reclaimed by the detective who said, "Alright. I've been stuck with this case for weeks now. I sure do hope that you can actually see something useful. Something that an entire group of detectives in a large scale task force failed to see." She handed me the case files, which was so thin there was barely anything in it.

"Yeah. If you don't see anything, then you are going to jail! You can do that, right detective?" Taylor asked playfully.

Chloe chuckled and joined in, "I sure can."

"There's no need to threaten me with a good time." I said while flipping through the evidence. Chloe briefed me while I was reading, "There are no apparent connections or shared characteristics among the victims, but the killing does share the same M.O."

"What's an M.O?" Taylor asked.

I explained before the detective could, " 'MO' stands for "Modus Operandi." It refers to the characteristic method or pattern of operation used by a criminal to commit a particular type of crime."

"Essentially, it describes how the perpetrator carries out their criminal activities, including the specific techniques, tactics, or behaviours they employ. The MO can provide valuable insights into the criminal's habits, motives, and potential identification. Wait. You said that there isn't a common connection between the victims?" I turned to the detective.

"Yes…Why? Did you see anything?" The detective bent her spine a bit as she peeked her head into the car to look at the case files.

"Yeah. See here. On the victim's head. There's hair on it."

Chloe scowled with disappointment as she hit her head on the roof of the car as she did. "Oww. That's IT!?" She exclaimed while rubbing her sore temple.

I laughed and said, "I should've worded that better. I mean, on their hair. See here at the lines between the skin and the hair? You can see traces of chemicals on it."

"Hmm?" What do you mean?" Chloe asked, confused.

Taylor looked at what I pointed at and said, "Oh yeah. I know that line. It happens when you dye your hair with some cheap chemicals– WAIT! I AM NOT SAYING THAT I DYE MY HAIR!" 

"I don't care! You were saying? They dyed their hair just before they were dead?" Chloe asked.

I chuckled and said, "Yeah. And Taylor doesn't dye her hair! She bleaches her hair, there's a difference."

"NO! I'm a natural blonde!" She said angrily.

"I'm not interested about your hair!" Chloe exclaimed in exasperation. She took the files from me and said, "So you were saying? They all dyed their hair, just before they died?"

"I'm not saying anything. It could be after they died. Because those lines only appear for a few hours. It'll disappear in a day or so." I said casually. "So you might want to look at the salons around the areas that the victims frequent, maybe you can get more information." 

"I will. Thank you Ed. You may have saved lives here today." the detective said while flashing a satisfied smile.

"I'm always saving lives. If I wasn't an artist I'd be Batman. It was always a coin flip." I said coyly, causing both the girls there to roll their eyes. "If you want to ask me anything, just give me a call, detective. Who knows, maybe I'll actually pick up and help you solve some cases if I'm bored enough."

"Ugh. So pompous." Taylor muttered. I heard it and shrugged it off without reacting.

Chloe smiled and said, "If I needed you every time I couldn't solve something, it wouldn't mean that you were actually that good, it'd just mean that I suck at my job. So, you can be at ease, Newgate."

"Aww… I got rejected." I said before pulling up the windows again. "Goodnight Detective. Remember to say goodnight to Trixie for me."

"I will– Wait. No, I won't. Or else she won't go to sleep." Chloe said, but the window was already all the way up. 

"So, back at the mansion, you decided to add one more girl to our time together, and now on our drive, you decided to do that, again?" Taylor said with annoyance the moment the window was closed.

I was startled and said, "It was a homicide! A serial killing!"

"Oh yeah. You would rather go on all night with the detective solving crimes rather than being alone with me, right?" 

"Is this going to turn into a fight?" I muttered.

She looked me right in the eyes and said, "Yes."

"Alright then. Bring it on. I know that I haven't done anything wrong here." I said with a cocky smirk. Suddenly, I received a text from someone. I placed my phone on the small space near the handbrake, and the screen lit up. "Oh shit." I widened my eyes as I saw the name handle of the text.

"Who is that? Another girl that you want to–" Taylor said and grabbed the phone the second she heard it chimed. She froze for a bit and then turned to look at me. Her eyes almost became bloodshot and she gritted her teeth as she said, "You're still texting Abby? Your ex-girlfriend…Abby?"