A Suspect Still

The next days were filled with interviews, with more and less random remarks, conspiracy theories, and finger-pointing. Having Ethan with her worked like a charm and saved her a lot of time, not having to tiptoe around the inhabitants of this small town. Some were more than wary of her as a stranger, some plain appreciative, that she was there to take care of everything. But it seemed all the same, they respected and genuinely liked Ethan and happily handed over every piece of information they could give to both of them.

Victoria sat at her desk in the station, frustratedly massaging the back of her neck with one hand. It was not much she had been able to piece together, too many people saying too many different things.

It all had come down to the same thing. Sheriff Carter had been acting more than unusual before his death. He was skittish and evasive, rambling about the case he had been on. He wanted to find enough evidence to 'show everyone what was going on'.

She remembered the day she met him and was glad that her gut feeling had indeed been right about his erratic behavior.

There had been a few minor incidents with different people in town, as he had gotten himself into minor quarrels with friends calling him out for the way he was behaving.

One of those witnessed conflicts had been between him and the supermarket employee Caleb Moore. If they had fought shortly before his death it would be worth following up on. Ethan had told her to not mind it, but the fact that he put it off so vaguely piqued her interest even more. He really did not hold a high opinion of this Caleb, and yet he did not want it to be followed up. Now she wanted to know why.

Thinking about killing two birds with one stone she threw on her jacket and made her way to the grocery market.

When she parked in front of the small store the sun was about to set. She knew she was here shortly before they closed up but she wanted to test her luck. Caleb was visible through the window, wiping the counter of the register. "We will play this smart," Victoria mumbled to herself before entering the store.

"I am sorry but we are closing now," a polite voice said loudly from behind the register area. Caleb had kneeled down behind the counter, cleaning, and had not seen her right away. He straightened and looked over to her, his face beaming a smile when their eyes locked. "Deputy! Apologies, I was about to lock up, but I will be more than happy to help you if you need anything?"

Victoria walked up to the counter, putting on a soft smile. "Sorry for the late drop-by, it has been a long day. I thought I stop and grab a coffee on my way home, but I guess you already cleaned up?" She looked at him with a pleading look, driving her hand through her hair.

His eyes went over to the sparkling clean coffee machine and an innocent smile grew on his face. "You know what? I could use one too, let's make an exception and I throw the machine back on."

He playfully winked at her and flicked the power switch on the coffee maker. "It is going to take a few minutes though, hope you don't mind it?" She could feel his eyes back on her. "Not in the slightest," she answered and smiled. He had taken the bait.

She gracefully maneuvered her way through lighthearted small talk about this town, about her switch here to get a casual change of scenery, and about him. He seemed as normal as anyone in this town could. When he remarked that she came here just in time, with the unfortunate events that happened, she jumped on her chance.

"Bears are scary, never saw one where I used to live. But people said the Sheriff had been quite distraught for a while. Maybe he knew that one was just trotting about town?" Victoria took a sip of her freshly brewed coffee and looked over at him through her lashes.

Caleb was clearly enjoying himself, sitting on the counter, also taking occasional sips from his cup. "Yeah, he was a little weird towards the end," he answered, shrugging one shoulder.

"Yeah, I heard that too. Some people saw you two arguing. He must have been a difficult person I assume?"

His face darkened in an instant. He looked at her with a more than interested expression, tilting his head like a child that proudly pieced a puzzle together.

"Oh, this sounds more official all of a sudden. I thought he was mauled by an animal?" he said but continued to answer her question. "Yes, we argued about a messed up food delivery, but that's all I can recall, to be honest."

Victoria had straightened up, observing him, and then smiled a calm smile. "He was killed, not mauled," she then began, looking straight into his face, searching for any kind of change of expression, "and I just remembered you looked like you were hurt when we met. Rather ask you here than pull you into the station. You seem like a decent guy to me." Her voice was relaxed, slightly tilting her head like he had moments before.

"Decent," he said with a scoff but kept his warm tone, "but a suspect still." He playfully raised his hands in the air like she had pointed a weapon at him.

Her face stayed unimpressed. "The Sheriff fired his gun and I was able to find blood at the crime scene. So I guess I am looking for somebody with at least a good graze."

Caleb took his arms down again, taking another sip of his coffee, before sliding off the counter. "I see. Hurt my shoulder working out a while back, if that is what you are asking." He then smiled again. "Victoria... I promise you, if somebody killed our Sheriff I would be just as eager, wanting the murderer to be found," a sigh made his chest rise, "but let me show you. I have nothing to hide." He slowly straightened up, looking into her eyes as he slowly removed his shirt. Another step and he stood right in front of her, proudly showing off his athletic body. "No gunshots. No scratches, nothing." Her eyes wandered from his face down and back up to his shoulder, mustering his indeed perfectly unharmed body.

"...Can I?", he politely asked, hinting towards putting his shirt back on. "Except you want me to lose the pants too. As I said, I don't have anything to hide." His eyes rested on her. She wasn't sure if he enjoyed this. But his attempts to flirt stayed unanswered.

"This is not a strip search. No need to lose anything else."

"Shame..." he giggled and put his shirt back on, but after a moment of silence, it seemed like a thought grew in his brain. His eyebrow slowly rose upwards.

"Say, am I really a suspect or did Ethan make me one?" He leaned back against the counter, reaching for his cup to take another sip but hovered it in front of his lips.

"That is a very particular question," the blonde countered. "What makes you think that?"

Caleb let go of a short amused breath. "I think you know what I am talking about. But let me just give you one piece of advice." He took a big sip of his coffee, emptied his cup, set it down beside him, and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Ethan has had his fair share of lying and hiding things. The people here like him, that is his only advantage. And it's not hard to put words into other people's mouths. Just ask yourself if maybe, just maybe, he had a part in this narrative."

She looked at him, something whirling in the back of her head, her mouth opened to say something but calmly closed after she made the decision to be quiet about the remark.

"I see," Caleb then said, looking her in the eyes with sparked interest, "You don't know a thing."

Victoria looked at him, trying her best to not seclude the growing amount of questions she had. He had managed to gain the upper hand in this conversation and she did not like it.