Officer Gregory Roussos enjoyed his office in the Richmond Police Station. Outside his window, Goji bushes caught the daylight on their red berries and green leaves, and beyond that, he could make out a red-painted jungle gym that sometimes attracted the neighborhood children. His office was small but appointed with furnishings protected as a historical landmark. An old polished oak pedestal desk held Roussos's feet when he wanted to put them up. An armoire that could have belonged to the president now contained Roussos' least cold case files in the corner by the door, the entry itself an oaken work of master carpentership paned with foggy glass.

A rap came on the glass and Roussos stood and went out.

"Adoni Rex has been booked," said Officer Zophres, unnecessarily; Roussos was already walking down the hallway toward the interrogation room.

It was 6 p.m., and the light filtering into the cottagey precinct was fading quickly into dusk. Inside the windowless interrogation room, Adoni Rex sat next to his lawyer, Tom Dolin. Roussos watched them a moment before entering through the clear glass window, where Tom could easily see him back, which didn't bother him.

Adoni Rex stared straight ahead while Tom spoke incessantly, seeming to ply him with advice. To give Tom a heads up, Roussos knocked on the door with his knuckles before he came in. This lawyer wasn't the kind you wanted against you from the get-go.

It seemed it was too late for that. As soon as Roussos entered the room, Tom Dolin stood right up and began to yell at him. "What are we doing in Richmond, and what the heck took so long booking? I was told two hours, and it's been almost ten."

"One question at a time, Mr. Dolin," said Roussos. "Listen, we booked him as fast as we could. In most cities, you could expect to wait twelve hours at the minimum. But of course, being new to San Francisco, you know that. Didn't you come here from New York? Doesn't it feel good to talk to your client within twenty-four hours of his arrest?

"We're in Richmond because this is the arresting precinct, which shouldn't surprise you — it's the closest to Mr. Rex's house, for one thing. And an additional reason, I'll be honest with you, is because I've asked to take the lead on this case, and my office is here. It's for my comfort as much as that of your client.

"Now I have a question for you. Why are you making this so confrontational, Mr. Dolin? Are you sure that's the foot you want to start this off on?"

"I'm not here to answer questions," said Tom, and he folded his arms over his chest. Seeming to calm down, perhaps satisfied with Roussos's answers, he sat back down, arms still crossed but looking thoughtful. He had been the picture of patience through Roussos's reply, and he became a man of few words now.

Roussos sat down and put his palms up on the table. "I took this case because the mafia killed Senator Rex, and I'd like to put away the guilty parties. Bottom to top. The question for me becomes whether Mr. Rex is in any way affiliated with the mafia. I find it unlikely that Mr. Rex would have murdered his wife in the office of a private detective for purely personal reasons. Unless the Senator was having an affair with Ms. Alafogiannis​."

Despite the unlikeliness of that scenario, Adoni Rex broke from his stupor and heaved a bellowing moan, loud like cannon fire. It startled Tom Dolin, it was so sudden and loud, and while the lawyer patted his sobbing client, he said to Roussos, "Would you mind how you speak of the deceased, officer? My client has just lost his wife."

"I have evidence that your client has just murdered his wife. I say evidence, not proof, and I think we ought to talk it out and consider what kind of bargain we can strike. If your client is innocent, he surely knows some things he can tell me about who did kill his wife. If he's guilty, I'm going to want the names of every person involved in the deed. Unless he wants to spend every day of his life waking up in Federal prison. I'm sure he'll be celebrated there for getting rid of the greatest threat to organized crime in Northern California. But I can't say I'm jealous of a king living his life in a dungeon. Freedom is better, even if that's in twenty to thirty years. So let's get down to it, shall we?"

Next to his open palms, he had put down his folder. It contained the crime scene evidence, including a thumb drive of the contents of James Lambetti's hard drive. He waved the removable storage around to show Adoni Rex and Tom Dolin, to get their attention. It was also a signal to Officer Zophres to hit play on the digital projector set in the interrogation room wall, which played a video file for the men in the room to see. A short man in a fedora entered the detective office of Malyssa Alafogiannis​ and James Lambetti after Adoni's wife in a perfectly tailored suit and a white cloche hat. The video paused, the figure in the fedora holding a Glock down to the side. When Roussos looked at Adoni Rex, the man had stopped crying, his face glistening quietly with wet, and watched open-mouthed.

Roussos pulled out a pair of slacks and a dark caramel sports jacket from a package. "Are these clothes yours, Mr. Adoni?" Roussos asked. The suit looked at first glance to be identical to that worn by the figure in the video. "We couldn't find the hat, unfortunately." Adoni Rex didn't answer that, which Roussos didn't seem to care about. "We attained a search warrant for your place and found these clothes in your laundry. No blood on them, luckily, but as you would be able to see were I to continue to play the footage, the murderer was able to stand far enough back from Athena Rex to avoid being splattered. Our analysts have watched the video sufficiently to conclude that no blood would have gotten on the perpetrator's clothing. But these appear to be the clothes, do they not?"

There was no answer, but it was less than a second before Roussos continued, "Don't answer that, answer this: Did the mafia hire you to kill Athena Rex, or did you kill her because you believed she was having an affair?"

Surprisingly, rather than breaking down into sobs and wails again, Adoni chose this opportune moment to become coherent and speak. "It wasn't me, it was Harry Sotira​, the man with whom she was having the affair. That's him in the video wearing a suit identical to mine in an attempt to impersonate me. Unless he could have borrowed my suit. I recommend you check that one for Harry Sotira's DNA. Perhaps you will find the hat at Mr. Sotira's house."

Roussos sat back in his seat, allowing his feelings to run loose all over his face. Surprise, disbelief, wonder. "An interesting lead," he said after a moment of shaking his head roughly as if trying to overcome a shock and get his mind together. "How many hours ago did you come up with that one, Mr. Rex? Now I wish we had processed you more quickly."

Adoni started to protest, but Roussos held up a hand and said, "Hold on, I'm being hard on you. I will look into this lead. I'll check out Harry Sotira. The more you can give me on him, and how you think he did it, the more helpful it will be. But Mr. Rex, if this is a wild goose chase, you will regret it. Innocent or guilty, if you're sending me after the wrong criminal, we're going to have a problem you won't be able to make go away."

A/N: Thank you for reading Constellations. This book updates often. While you're waiting for the next chapter, why not check out another Constellations story? Please see my profile for more in the series: Stars Rise and Inyanga's Star and Other Constellations. The series can be read in any order, and it should be a good time to read them together. Your support means the world to me, not to mention each and every star you leave behind <3