100 Ways to Solve a Murder-Chapter 194 - 26th of October 2015

26th of October 2015

Sam arrived at Eastbourne Rd. at noon, exhausted, straight from an all-nighter in Guy’s. She walked in the Agency, nodding at the boys as she passed going towards Levi’s office. She knocked, swinging the door open before hearing a response from inside.

Marco looked up from the small coffee table he was setting for lunch to look at the person entering. "Hey Sam, just in time" he greeted the redhead, while Levi gave her a dissatisfied look. She could see he wasn’t in a great mood, visible by the scowl on his face.

She did call hours before saying she’ll be joining them for lunch after her work.

"Hey, Marco. I take it all your clients were leadránach." she commented, hinting on Levi’s expression of distaste. Marco grinned, his eyes darted from Levi to the redhead. She was right, of course, the very reason the slicked blond was in a foul mood. They had not received any case the psychologist deemed worth his precious time for the past two weeks, to add up to the Irishman’s frustrations, the redhead hadn’t been around to entertain him, and all of it was her demon assistant’s fault.

"It’s that obvious?" the bearded man asked. Sam shrugged approaching the slicked blond, "Well, I happen to bump into a teary-eyed woman on my way in." she said as she stood beside the blond. He shot her a glare as if hinting he was one of the reasons he was in a foul mood.

"I take it you’re responsible, Mr Jackson?" she accused teasingly, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.

"The woman dared to come and waste my time with a case even her pea-sized brain could solve." the Irishman retorted, peeved that half their day was wasted already with dull cases. Sam walked towards the couch in his office, flopping down.

"Oh, the classic ’I think my boyfriend is cheating on me’ case then", she commented, earning a nod from Marco who took the seat opposite her. "With her cousin", he remarked in slight amusement.

Slicked blond pushed himself off his chair and made his way towards his office couch set, scanning the redhead before sitting beside her.

"Still on Elle’s nerve, I see", he said, noticing the crease on her sleeves and the red, calloused spot on the side of her fingers. "This is your third night taking an all-nighter just to complete your paperwork" he commented.

Marco’s brows shot up as he grabbed one of the take out food on the table. "Elle?" he questioned. Sam sighed, "She’s still angry. I left without explanation last time, and because I haven’t given her a reason yet, she’s taking the passive-aggressive approach by making me do my paperwork by myself." she replied, slumping on the couch, stretching her neck.

"Oh, I see", Marco said thoughtfully. "But mostly I think it’s because I’m dating this guy." Sam joked, half-serious, gesturing to the psychologist beside her.

"I need not her approval." he simply commented, digging in pleased with himself.

Marco smiled between chewing. "Well, Lisa and I are happy that you two decided to date ’officially’, if it’s any consolation." he commented, emphasizing ’officially’ playfully.

Minutes later, after lunch, Marco cleared his throat for a moment, deciding to break the silence. "By the way, Sam." he started, getting the couple’s full attention. Something had been bothering him.

"I am curious, regarding last time." he started, ’last time; hinting on the reason for her disappearance. The redhead waited patiently, "I still don’t fully understand why all of the sudden you started investigating on your own where Tom Florence was, when Ivan, all along, had been keeping him in the Facility?" he continued in hush tones.

Sam nodded, understanding his confusion, "Aah, yes, it’s a bit of a long story." she started, looking back. And the two remained quiet, giving her the floor to speak.

"Years ago, when I was younger, after some things.." he decided not to get into too much detail. "..my repressed memories started to resurface." she started.

"Everything that was buried when I was three years old below." she continued, earning both Levi and Marco’s attention. Levi, who since she returned didn’t ask her any questions, for he knew the general gist on his own. However, he listened, taking notes of the little details he wasn’t aware of.

Her eyes darkened recalling her 13-year-old self, "I was hell-bent on revenge when I had regained those memories, and I sketched all of it, all their faces for years."

"My brother took those sketches away, and promised he would be ’dealing’ with it." she added, quoting the word ’dealing’. They all knew what she meant by that.

"So, I believed him, and I decided to continue my life without him and all the Fredricksen Family drama hanging over me", she said.

"Then a couple of years after that, I received an overseas call from him, he didn’t say much, he simply said ’It’s over, I took care of it as promised.’ And I knew what he meant by that. I felt relieved, I was satisfied, and I moved on." she said, she did move on. She was able to live her life, the life she chose for herself.

"So when I took on Wilson’s case, I was, to say the least, perturbed. So, I went to the man I knew would have the answers." Sam recalled, looking back at the month before when she visited her brother at the company.

....

A Month before, Fredricksen Co, Waterloo London

Ivan unbuttoned his jacket as he leaned against his office table, watching his sister. She handed a folder to him, one he took notice of the moment he saw her.

He opened it casually after putting on his reading glasses. Photos of corpses, her notes, test results, and autopsy results were there. It was a case she was working on from what he could see. He grimaced at the sight of it. Then his eyes narrowed, recognizing the M.O. immediately.

"You told me you took care of it," she said, her voice even, but her tone spoke volumes. One Ivan heard clearly.

Calmly, he looked at her, standing 3 feet away from him; she did not bother to sit down, Just standing there, balling her fists.

"I did." He replied confidently, at the back of his mind, baffled himself. He did take care of it in his sadistic way.

"Then, explain that to me," Sam demanded, gritting her teeth in anger; no, it was madness. Her body shook as she reined in the rage.

Ivan looked at her earnestly. "Sammy, when I said years ago that I took care of it, I.took.care.of.IT.," he said, emphasizing each word. But she did not believe him, something Ivan could clearly see. Since their major confrontation ages ago regarding her discovery of the cover-up. She never trusted his words completely, something he couldn’t blame her for.

"Whoever did this, I swear, is not one of them. That would be impossible. I personally made sure of it. This is merely a coincidence." he said, self-assured. He had no doubt in his mind that all of them had been dealt with. He did so, personally.

Sam took a step forward, fisting her hands. She wasn’t one to ever lash out of anger, and right at that moment, it took too much of her will to rein in the urge to strike her brother. "Bumping into a high school classmate in a concert years after a graduation is a coincidence, this is far from it." she spat, green eyes assessing the man before her, gauging whether or not he was telling her one of his many lies. From what she could see, he wasn’t telling her everything. If that was the case, she decided to figure it out herself.

"You clearly have no plan on telling me everything, some way or another you have failed to take care of it. This time, I’d deal with it myself, personally. Don’t get in my way." she said, turning her back to him immediately. Ivan watched Sam go, pondering on whether or not he should reveal the truth.

He wasn’t ready for it.

For her to realize that he was an even bigger monster than she initially thought. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

....

"After that, I did my own investigation and was able to see the connection between Florence and Pattin, and you know the rest", she explained.

She turned to look at Levi beside her, "Then I realized upon seeing Tom Florence myself, that he was in my brother’s own demented way, a Trophy." she said, recalling the visitation records in Hope Valley. "He visited him regularly, most likely for his own sadistic pleasure." she further explained.

Marco nodded in understanding, "With all that said, I’m still glad you didnt kill him." he expressed.

"I’m really relieved that your hands are still clean, Sam." the bearded man added. He’d seen several shits in his life; the cruelty humanity was capable of. The evil within everyone selves people battle with everyday. And those who let it win.

And as tolerant as he was when it came to breaking some of the laws, like trespassing, impersonating an officer or petty theft. He was not impervious to the real evil existing in the world. He was after all just human,

Marco’s eyes darkened, "You’ve had so many chances, so far two incidents that you had the option to end the person, with justifiable reasons to do so. And I would have understood it if you did it, especially with Czar before, the torture you went through." he clenched his jaw remembering that terrible New year. The woman almost died in their arms. Holidays he knew would have never been the same if it did, it would have changed him, and more so, Levi.

"But this time, it really bothered me. Knowing you might do it for revenge." he continued, eyes resting on Levi for a split second. And the images of that terrible afternoon seven years ago, the loud sound of a gunshot filled his ears. The next, Jason Murdoch falling on his back, and blood gushing out of his chest. And the image of Levi holding a gun in his hand.

Marco’s eyes returned to the redhead, "And I know, with your track record, one day you might just have to face that same situation, to pick between the same choices...I just..I just hope it’s never for revenge." the bearded man revealed, his heart suddenly on his sleeve.

Sam stood up and grabbed Marco’s hand, pulling him up, and she wrapped her arms around him into a hug.

Levi watched silently; his friend was something else entirely. And if he weren’t entirely in love with his wife, he would have been threatened by his constant presence around the redhead. Nothing turns women on more than Honesty after all. And Marco had always been a very honest man...unlike him.

Sam patted Marco’s back, smiling up at his towering height. "You really are the most incredible person I’ve ever met Marco." the redhead said, realizing just how big his heart was, how pure he actually was, how understanding, and brave, and open, how he was so incredibly human.

He really was a breath of fresh air, Sam thought with a smile.