Part 73: Good Cop, Bad Cop - Part 4

Do you have any idea what we all went through to try help you that day?

Save your breath, Hilda. There's no talking to this deranged fool.

Very good, Justin. Just occasionally you have a useful insight.

Why don't we start with you? Tell us what happened that day.

Hmph. Well, it was four years ago to start with. We heard they'd tracked down the suspected serial killer responsible for the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings.

To here, were it? To Forbodium Castle, you mean?

That's right. Hilda, myself and the Commissioner were getting ready for a raid.

But then we heard Al was already on his way there. Acting completely on his own authority, I might add.

So we had to forgo the rest of our preparations and head after him.



It made searching the place all but impossible.



Up until then we'd been working our way around together.

But after hearing the shot, we decided to split up in order to locate Al as quickly as possible.

It wasn't too long before Justin found them.

Yes. I was on the roof of the East Tower. I spotted Al and Makepeace on the roof of the West Tower.

To be honest, I couldn't believe my eyes.

Why? What were going on?



Alfendi is apparently the only person who changed their clothes in the past four years.

What, the Prof were closing in on Makepeace, not t'other way round?

Yes. And he was grinning in that way he does when he knows he's won, gun trained squarely on his quarry.

Makepeace was trying to fight back. He was waving his own gun at Al. But his side was clearly too painful.

Eh? How come?



I shouted out as loudly as I could. 'Don't shoot, Al! Stand down!' I bellowed.

That doesn't seem like the sagest of advice, considering Keelan was still up and armed.



I'd just reached the top of Central Tower, and the Commissioner was in the castle grounds.

The Commissioner couldn't have seen what was happening from where he was.

But I saw everything from up where I was.



Two witnesses. Ee, it doesn't look good.

What have you got to say in your defence, Al?




What happened after that, then?

I let the Commissioner know where Al and Makepeace were.

Then we all made for the West Tower.

The Commissioner reached the floor below the room before Justin or I did.




So that were when...

Yes. That's when Al and Makepeace shot each other.

And where were you two at that point in time?

I was coming down the external staircase from the East Tower when I heard the shots.

And I'd made it as far as the bottom of the West Tower.

The Commissioner was still breaking down the door when I reached him.

So you arrived on the scene at the rooftop together then, before Justin?

That's right. Like I said, he was still breaking down the door when I reached the third floor. Eventually he hacked through it, and we climbed the final set of stairs to the roof together.



Neither of them were conscious.

I arrived at the rooftop just a few moments after that.

They were both lying there, not moving a muscle.

I'd gladly erase that scene from my memory, I can tell you.

I see.



Eh? W-wait a minute, Prof.

Hey! You can't just wander around!



Conducting an investigation, of course. What else?

But this all happened four years ago.

There's no Statute of Limitations on criminal crimes such as murder in the UK, only on civil crimes.



Hey, that's mine!

What are you doing with files that don't belong to you, Al?

Why is this only questioned when it's a fellow police officer with the file?

I just had a feeling it may come in handy. So I decided to borrow it.

When did you...?

You should be pleased. After all, I'm going to lead you to the truth of this case.

You? The truth? Those two things are incompatible.

The details of all the evidence found at the time are in this file.



And how exactly are they supposed to do this? Is the crime reconstruction machine so small that Alfendi can carry it around with him? And if Alfiendi is using the crime reconstruction machine, why did everyone have to go to the top of the tower, when the room below would have worked? And why am I trying to make some sense of this?