Case of the Murdered Lovers Ch. 05

"I want a lawyer." Jeanine Olivet replied, her beautiful eyes blazing with hatred for Ikea.

"You killed Jack Burke, didn't you. Why? To keep your husband from finding out you were screwing his brother behind his back?"

"You're full of shit." Mrs. Olivet replied.

"Answer my questions, bitch!" Ikea roared, his face red with furious anger. "We know you were sleeping with your brother in law. Did you kill him, or your husband? Why did you kill Jack Burke, Mrs. Olivet? Tell me why you murdered your lover!"

"You go straight to hell! I want a lawyer, NOW!" Jeanine Olivet fired back, worn to anger herself.

"Listen, you bitch, I'm going to get the evidence and you and your husband are going to prison. For life. For LIFE, bitch!" Ikea leaned over her menacingly

Jeanine Olivet spat in Ikea's face, hitting him in the eye. I moved quickly, but only got there as Ikea hit Jeanine with a hard backhanded slap, knocking her to the floor.

"You fucking bitch." Ikea growled, moving in on her. "That's an assault on a police officer, and I'm taking off the gloves. You better confess or I'm going to beat the shit out of you, and I'll get away with it, too."

But he didn't get the chance. Like lightning I was in the room. I grabbed Ikea by the collar and pulled him out into the anteroom. Slamming Ikea against the wall, I punched my fist hard into his already-bruised face, then drove my knee as hard as I could into his balls. I moved in on Ikea as he collapsed, but just then the Chief walked in, followed by the young blonde officer, Patrolman Inga.

"That's enough, Crowbar." the Chief said to me, stopping me from doing what I really wanted to do, which was to finish off Ikea-- permanently.

Chief Griswold sent Patrolman Inga into the interrogation room to help Jeanine Olivet. He then turned to Croyle and Ross, who were standing behind me. "What happened here." Ross told him what had happened, that Ikea had hit Mrs. Olivet and threatened her, and I'd stepped in. Teresa just nodded when the Chief looked at her.

"This bastard assaulted me." Ikea said, getting slowly to his feet. "Arrest him! Tell them, Croyle!" But Teresa would not lie for him.

"Shut the fuck up, Ikea. You assaulted a witness." the Chief said, his face nearly purple. All this was killing him, I realized, and I had contributed to it with this morning's humiliation of Ikea.

The Chief continued, loudly, "Besides, I don't see any marks. Your face is already fucked up, so there's no evidence. And nobody saw anything. Why is anyone even in this area?" Officers took the hint; the hallway was clear within seconds.

"I'm getting tired of your shit, Ikea. You're on notice. You," the chief said, pointing at me, "come with me now."

"Detective," the Chief said, following me as I exited the anteroom, "you better get this case solved quickly. I can't cover for you, not after today." I gasped in surprise, looking at the Chief, but he continued, "Look, I know you were right to defend Mrs. Olivet, but it's starting to get ugly. Captain Malone outranks you and he has friends-- shit, we'll discuss all that later, but for now get the case solved, pronto!"

"You're right, we can't wait." I said. "We can't let Ikea arrest or harass anyone else. We've got to arrest the killer now, no matter what."

"Who? Who is it?" the Chief asked.

"Joe Arruzio, of course."

"WHAT? Doesn't he have an alibi?"

"I'll explain on the phone on the way!" I replied as I rushed down the hallway to MCD to gather the team.

Just then Lt. Britt Maxwell of the University Police rushed down the hall to meet us. Her words totally shocked me.

"I've just heard from the City Police. Joe Arruzio is dead!"

To be continued...

Dear Readers, you have now seen all the clues. Can you deduce who the killer is, and what really happened?