[AN: Slightly unedited. Let me know if you see any mistakes.]
[LAPD]
Alex stepped into the LAPD hallway with John behind him. The other guards stayed outside, forming a wall of muscle that made half the precinct nervous and the other half rethink their career choices.
Kate Beckett met him by the door.
"Mr. Wilson. This way."
She led him into a small office that the LAPD had set up for her. Chloe and Lucy lingered nearby, watching but keeping their distance. Kate pushed the door open and gestured toward the chair across from her desk.
Alex sat down. John remained by the door.
Kate sat as well and folded her hands in front of her.
Alex folded his arms. "So. Did you find the person who broke into my penthouse and trashed my work?"
Kate opened a file, and her expression said that he was not going to like this part. She slid a photo across the desk.
Alex's breath hitched for a moment.
Janet Isley.
Of all the faces he expected to see again, hers belonged somewhere between a forgotten yearbook and a locked mental vault. Even though it's been years, that was her, except she looked like a junkie whore.
Kate spoke calmly. "We checked the CCTVs around your building and the street footage. She is the one who entered your penthouse. We brought her in this morning."
Alex set the photo down. "So that is it. She hates me now? Because that would be brand new information."
Kate explained that they questioned Janet and learned that she had been holding a grudge against Alex for quite a long time. Her life had gone downhill after they separated. Her new boyfriend abused her, drained her finances, and abandoned her, leaving her trapped in debts that spiraled out of control. Drugs became her coping mechanism. Pain piled on top of humiliation until she reached the point where anger was the only thing she had left. When she found out that her ex, who once slept on couches and juggled bills like flaming knives, was now living a life most people could not imagine, she snapped. She had grown jealous, bitter, and desperate, and she decided to strike at him.
"That's the gist of it..." She said.
Alex groaned softly. "Seriously? That is the story she is going with?" He rubbed his face. "Do you believe her?"
Kate shook her head before he even finished. "Absolutely not. She is nowhere near stable enough to plan something that clean. She was there at your penthouse. That much is true. But she is not the one who executed the break-in. Someone else did the real work."
Alex exhaled slowly. "So she is a pawn. Haha..." He gave a bitter laugh. "Guess Karma is real after all." He looked into Kate's eyes. "But I guess, you didn't call me just to tell me about my ex, did you?"
"No," Kate took out another picture from her folder and slid it over to Alex.
Kate placed the second photograph on the table with the same quiet precision someone might use when placing a live grenade.
Alex looked down, expecting to see the picture of the real culprit.
Instead, he saw himself.
Or rather, someone who looked exactly like him.
It was Alex standing beside Janet just outside the gate of his penthouse. The timestamp in the corner said 8:30 PM. The lighting was clear enough to show his face, the clothes, the posture... It was him.
Except it wasn't.
'Ah! That 3XK fucker. Haa... I wonder if Rachel caught him. Gotta act surprised.'
"What the fuck?" Alex blurted out, loud enough that two officers outside turned their heads. He grabbed the photo and studied it more closely, as if a hidden punchline might pop out. "This is impossible."
Kate watched him carefully, reading every twitch of his face. "It appeared in the security review this morning. I wanted you to see it first."
Alex set the picture down very slowly. "I have not seen Janet Isley in years. Years. The last time I saw her, my biggest financial concern was whether Taco Tuesday counted as a luxury purchase." He pointed at the picture. "That guy is an impersonator."
Kate nodded. "We questioned Janet about this, but she didn't say anything. So, I need you to walk me through your movements that evening. Between 8 PM and 10 PM. Where were you, who saw you, and what can verify it?"
Alex let out a breath and sat back, collecting himself. "I was in my office the entire time. I was looking for a new house online, clicking through listings. I was comparing mortgage options even though I don't need a mortgage anymore. It was a weirdly grounding activity." He shrugged. "Anyway, that is where I was all day."
Kate pulled out her pen. "Do you have anything or anyone that can confirm that?"
Alex held up a finger. "Oh, absolutely. My office security system records every entry and exit. The guards saw me when I arrived and again when I left. Then there are my employees. So yes. I have witnesses, cameras, time logs, and even browser history. And I think the feed should be enough. I don't want the cops going around and asking questions about me to my employees."
"Alright, Mr. Wilson, the feed should be enough. We just need to confirm your location," Kate said.
John spoke for the first time. "I'll have someone bring the footage and logs."
Alex nodded.
Kate made a note. "Good. Because the image outside your penthouse complicates things."
Alex leaned forward, tapping the picture of his ex. "Can I meet her? Just wanna ask her a question."
...
[Interrogation room]
Janet sat cuffed to the table, twitchy and hollow-eyed, staring at the wall as if it might offer her a refund on her life choices.
The door opened.
Alex walked in with Kate beside him.
John remained outside.
Alex sat down in the chair opposite Janet. He looked at her with a polite smile that would have made a saint suspicious.
"Oh, Janet. What went wrong?" he asked lightly. He tapped his chin. "Wait, no. Wrong question. That one belongs on a daytime talk show. Let me try again. How is life treating you these days?"
Janet's lip curled. Her pupils shrank to pinpoints. Her breathing spiked.
Then she launched across the table so hard the chain on the cuffs squealed.
She barely got half a foot before the metal jerked her back down to the chair. Her forehead hit the table with a solid thud. It was not elegant or intimidating. It was basically a live reenactment of rock meets scissors.
"Good to see the impulse control is still alive and well," Alex commented. He turned to Kate. "She used to lose her mind when I ate the last slice of pizza too. Now, she has lost her mind doing drugs, and probably due to regrets. Ha. What are the odds?"
That did it.
Janet snapped.
"You think you are untouchable," she spat. "You think this little empire of yours makes you safe." Her eyes twitched, and her lips curled into a crooked grin. "Tyson will destroy you. He will tear it all down. You will be behind bars for a murder you did not even commit. He can wear anyone's face. He can be anyone. He already has everything in place."
Kate's shoulders stiffened at the mention of Tyson. She finally got a solid clue.
Janet kept going, her voice rising in a cracked crescendo. "I will visit you in prison. I will stand there and ask you those same questions. All of them. Over and over. And I will laugh. I will laugh so hard." She cackled at the ceiling, a sound that carried no joy and way too much unwashed trauma. "And that blond girl of yours. The one who clings to you like a pet. She is next. He will take her and carve her up. You cannot save her. You cannot save anyone. Not even yourself. Ha. Ha. Ha…"
The last laugh sputtered out of her throat like a dying engine. The realization of what she had just confessed dawned slowly. Her face went pale, her pupils shrank, and she froze.
Kate stared at her in silence, the kind that only seasoned detectives could weaponize.
The silence that followed was heavy. The room felt smaller. Even the buzzing lights seemed to hold their breath.
Alex's hands tightened on his knees. His jaw worked once. There was a brief, dangerous flicker in his eyes. It was the look of a man imagining all the ways he could fold a human like a badly made lawn chair. He wanted to smash her face on that table till she spat out the name.
But he stayed calm.
He opened his System window internally and checked the status of every woman in his life, especially Rachel, Caroline, and Chloe, since they were blond. They were all safe at the moment.
He let out a slow breath and closed the window.
"Janet," Alex said softly. "You just gave me more information in thirty seconds than the LAPD managed in two days."
He leaned forward, his elbows resting on the metal table. His voice was calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that made people afraid. "As much as I hate you, I really hoped you would be better than this. I hoped the years would have given you peace. I hoped you would have found something meaningful to hold on to."
Janet opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The bravado had vanished. The mania was gone. She just stared at him, hollow and shaking.
"But instead," Alex continued, "you chose to help a serial killer who has been playing dress-up with corpses since before you learned how to ruin your own credit score. This is the point where you realise that Tyson does not care about you. He never did. You are not a pawn to him. You are a disposable screwdriver he will forget on the floor."
He stood up.
"Anyway, thanks for the information."
Janet's lips trembled as she finally looked up at Alex. She expected fear or pity or maybe even disgust.
Alex's phone rang. He took it out. It was from Rachel. He took the call. "Yeah."
"I've rounded up Tyson and his girlfriend. He tried to kill Caroline at her father's hearing. Don't worry, everyone is safe. He never reached her. How do you want to deal with him?" Rachel asked.
"Personally," Alex said a single word before disconnection the call. He then turned toward Kate. "Thanks. I guess we are done here. If you have further questions or want to talk or whatever... Call my lawyer."
He walked out of the room.
Outside the room, he didn't talk with anyone, not even Chloe. He just gave her a simple nod and left with John.
[Inside the interrogation room]
Kate sat before Janet with a knowing smile. "You just wanted him to get angry, didn't you? You wished he'd bash you and ended up with an assault charge within the station."
Janet simply smiled but didn't reply.
Kate continued. "With his status, you knew he'd get out easily. But it didn't work. However, the second plan was already in motion. What would he do next? He'd go after Tyson since he has power, connections, and resources, and he would probably do something stupid, right? Like killing him or someone related to him?"
Janet smirked.
"Then someone will record the incident and ruin Alex Wilson," Kate said as she leaned forward.
"Wouldn't that be great?" Janet asked.
"But here's the thing. Tyson is just a minion, isn't he?" Kate took out her phone and opened a picture. She placed the phone on the table before her.
Janet's eyes widened as she saw the picture.
"You made copies of a certain script from Alex's penthouse using his machine. But did you know, the machine has a little backup system? It keeps track of everything you copy or print. Even if you delete it from the machine, all data gets stored in secure storage. Now, I doubt you copied an old story just for fun. So, tell me, Janet... What is this Spectre?" Kate asked.
*****
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