BBDW 61 [Black Butterfly]

BBDW 61 [Black Butterfly] - Nevereverland

By noname but i'm cute || 4/18/2021 12:53:00 AM

There was no sign of the dog that Roman said is waiting in front of the gate of the apartment they visited upon Roman's request and because of the investigation. Next to his partner who opened the door with the house key he got from Roman, Tim shrugged and looked around.

"There isn’t, but...maybe, it went somewhere without the owner."

"Yeah, well, that's possible. If you want to find it, you can advertise it yourself."

It was a blasé answer. On the contrary, the leisured atmosphere, which was not much different from his usual appearance, relaxed his mind, and Tim smiled slightly. These days, he couldn't stand the nervousness in his heart whenever this crazy partner acted like he was really out of his mind. He used to spend a lot of time in a daze, but the blank face he sees these days was something different. Should he say that it seems like he has taken out a large part of his soul somewhere, or should he say that it's just a distracted face looking like the focus of his eyes won't come back? Tim sighed lightly so that Jude couldn't see it, and then stiffened as soon as the door opened.

There was someone inside. Jude and Tim exchanged glances slowly and stepped into the doorway as they touched their holster. A thin sound of music came from the living room. It is an old pop song’s warm and excellent tune.

If I were a minstrel I'd sing you six love songs,

To tell the whole world of the love that we share,

If I were a merchant I'd bring you six diamonds…….

It was not known whether the old man left the music on or if someone who broke into the house turned on the audio. Tim and Jude carefully approached the living room with their guns pulled out.

But I am a simple man, a poor common farmer,

So take my six ribbons to tie back your hair……..

Someone was sitting on the sofa in front of the music player. The petite person looked quite engrossed in thought. It looked like a woman when they saw her long hair on the back. A long sigh came out. The woman's small shoulders shrank a little smaller. While Jude and Tim looked at each other in wonder, the woman turned her head sharply. She had a wrinkled face, but she looked beautifully old. Her round brown eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.

"Ahhhhhh! Wh, Wh, Who are you guys?"

"Ca, calm down. We're the New York police."

Tim, surprised by the old woman's scream, hurriedly took out their identification cards. Her face, as she seemed to pick up a paper knife on the living room table, gradually escaped consternation. But the old woman fumbled, alternating between Tim and Jude, not erasing her fears from her face.

"What….Wh, What the hell is going on in this house?"

"We're investigating Mr Roman Stanberg's injury incident. I was wondering if you had any leads."

"Injury incident...? What do you mean by injury? Is Roman hurt?"

The old woman's voice became urgent. Jude, who was looking at her distantly for a moment, pointed at her head and asked.

"More than that, who are you? Mr Roman said there was no one in the house."

"I'm... Karen Stanberg. Roman's wife......so far."

"Oh, you're the wife who asked him to sign the divorce papers. After been married for about 40 years."

When Jude remarks it unintentionally as he put down his gun, Karen's complexion turned a little whiter. There was something like anger on her face as she bit her lips.

"Be careful what you say, young man."

"It's true..."

"By the way, what are you doing here? Mr Roman says his wife no longer stays in this house. Is there a reason why you're here again?"

Tim stepped forward, tapping his tactless partner's side with his elbow. Karen, who looked at Jude with a bad eye, cleared her throat a few times and answered.

"I'm here to pack my stuff...I forgot something. That's all. More than that, what happened to Roman? Who attacked him?"

"We're still investigating, but he's been badly beaten up by someone and now he's in the hospital."

"Oh, my God, that's... that's sick..."

Karen, who was about to ask Tim something, quickly shut up. The old woman's small face showed signs of discomfort. Tim carefully spoke to Karen, who shook her head like she had a slip of the tongue.

"Mrs Stanberg?"

".........no, no. It's nothing."

Karen, who was shaking her head, soon moved in front of the music player. She stopped the audio that was still playing and soon took out a faded CD from the player. Putting it in the case, Karen approached Tim and Jude again.

"Well, I'll get going. I've got what I'm trying to take. Well, I wish you all the best."

"Pardon me, I hope you can help us with the investigation."

Jude replied casually. The wizened old woman's eyebrows were furrowed.

"What do you mean? What can I do to help you?"

"All we need is good cooperation; you need to go to the station for some interrogation."

"What... Why would I? Are you suspecting that I did something to Roman? No way. Why would I do that?"

"Oh, I don't doubt you. We just need to get a statement from people who seem to be related. You don't have to be so nervous because we're not taking you as a suspect. Oh, but you'd better cancel tomorrow's schedule."

Jude, who spoke softly as he waved his hand, took out his cell phone before Karen could shout anything. There was no tension whatsoever seeing Jude facing the anger of the old lady, and Tim sighed lightly. Detectives face a lot of such situations, but Jude's idle voice rang out while he thought that it is rare for him to have such a thick face.

"- Uh, Reiss? Can you come here and take Mrs Stanberg? No, no, it's not an arrest yet. Yes, as an important testifier. I'd appreciate it if you could do some investigation instead. We'll take a look around later. Yes, yes."

Karen's face turned pale when he closed the phone. Jude grinned and said to her lightly.

"Can you go out and wait in front of the house? They’ll be here in five minutes. Oh, and you know that if you run away, you'll be a wanted person right? So just take a nice ride."

"They'll be here soon, so please wait outside. We can't show you the investigation process."

Karen, who was shooting glances at the two detectives alternately full of despondency, soon turned around. The old lady's back as she stomped out of the house was starkly angry. Bang, the door closed as if shouting at the two detectives and Tim gave a short sigh as he turned to Jude.

"Is it her?"

"I don't know yet."

It sounded dark even though it was a natural answer. Tim shook his head and suddenly looked at the music player. Apparently, it sounded like a pretty old song. Tim glanced at his old-fashioned partner and asked.

"But what's the song that just came out? Do you know what it is?"

Jude, who was looking around the living room nodded half-heartedly.

"Yes. Jon English, Six Ribbons. An Irish-inspired masterpiece.”

"Jon English? Wasn't that the same thing Mr Roman said earlier in the hospital?"

"Well, he told that he used it to propose to his wife, because that's kind of the way it's written. The lyrics wouldn't work for a wife who wants a rich husband though."

Lifting a frame on the shelf, Jude answered without even looking back at Tim. The frame, which Tim also looked at, displayed Karen, Roman, and a small dog. Tim, who was looking at the face of the smiling middle-aged wife, asked casually.

"What is it about?"

"Well. Did you hear that earlier? If I were someone blabla I’d do something blabla for you. If I were the emperor, I'd build you six palaces, if I were a nobleman, I'd bring you six carriages, but I'm just a poor farmer so I can only give you six ribbons. Something like that."

The old pop song's content was quite simple. The six ribbons were the farmer's sincerity, and Tim nodded but then curiously frowned.

"That's weird. Why is the woman who married him after hearing that is now going to get a divorce? I don't think it's because of the household problems. And even now, she was playing that song alone at home. She seems to love her husband, but why...?"

"That's the last thing I know. We have to investigate and ask. And I can't guarantee that the old lady was playing that song here purely out of emotion."

"What? So you think she might have deliberately manipulated that truth to clear her of the charges, right?"

His partner's face, which Tim looked back suspiciously, was just calm. The blond detective, who immediately turned his head toward Tim and made him flinch, soon took a strange pose and made Tim wonder. Legs bent as if they were sitting somewhere while pointing in the air with one hand. His eyes on Tim were getting serious. Tim, who was looking at his partner's incomprehensible pose for a moment, asked blankly.

"What? That's."

Jude replied without loosening his tense facial muscles.

"Don't we look alike? Napoleon."

Napoleon? Tim soon let out a laugh. At the thought of Napoleon's well-known painting, him standing on a horse and pointing vigorously at the sky, and the thoughtless remark that there is nothing impossible in his dictionary, Tim burst out laughing helplessly. Jude smiled along and stood up straight.

"There's nothing impossible about trying to cover up a crime, why are you acting like a rookie all of a sudden? You know how much people don't want to be judged by the law, and this is a good play."

"But... it's weird that his wife, who's been together for 40 years, suddenly changed her mind and tried to kill her husband. I can't help but doubt it, and it's not sweet to imagine that."

"You can't be sure she was going to kill him, can you?

Tim turned his head sharply when he heard those words as if they were just passing by. Jude, who had shown his back to Tim, was squatting down and looking at the lower part of the shelf. His voice was flat as he rummaged through the files and books.

"If I want to kill someone, I'll use a gun or a knife. There's less risk of getting caught doing it neatly at once. According to Mr Roman's testimony, it was something like a steel pipe, but it's not recommended for killing someone. He can scream while he was hit, and I’m not sure how much he'll have to be beaten for him to die.”

"Then... you're saying it was not meant to kill, but to assault? Is that a grudge?"

Jude, who was looking around at the native-shaped wooden dolls that took up quite a lot of space on the shelf, returned it to its place. Between the dolls, pictures of Roman, Karen, and dogs were placed a little irregularly.

"I think. If you hit someone many times and didn't take the wallet, what would that be? I don't know if he was threatened by the FBI or the CSI secret agents, if he's just a retired high school teacher, as Mr Roman said, wouldn't it be fair to say it's a personal and petty grudge? It's weird, by the way."

After a short explanation, Jude spat out in a dubious and annoying voice. Tim, who nodded at the words of his partner, headed for Jude, putting the books in his hand in place. Jude's face frowned gravely. It was like the expression of a person who found a fly inside the cereal.

"Why? What's weird?"

"They have no children."

"What?"

"They have no children. It's a family photo, but they don't have any kids in there. Were there any children between the two? I heard they've been married for almost forty years. There could be a couple of kids."