"What?" Mira eased up a bit.
"Her name was Claire Tucker. She had been working toward this for a long time and changing her name was part of the plan, she lived to shake the very foundations of Aldric."
"Why? She lived her whole life to destroy something, especially something as large and unmovable as the Aldric Group, she knew the danger, yet she still went ahead with it. She must have had a reason, were you that reason?"
Susan stared at her, "I was. I used to work for the Aldric Group, always putting in honest effort. They wanted people who were smart, but only to a certain point. Working there left me deeply depressed, so I walked away from the job. Claire saw it all, she witnessed everything. She was just like me, only braver."
"Did she mention she might get killed?" Mira asked after a moment's hesitation.
"She called me about fifteen days ago and said she had enough resources to drag Aldric to hell. She told me she'd found enough evidence and might've found a detective she could trust." Susan met her gaze, "She was talking about you."
Mira let the silence sit for a moment, "Did she ever mention a name? Anyone else she trusted?"
"No one, the moment you bring other people in, you've created a chain and a chain is only as strong as whoever Aldric gets to first." Susan was holding herself very still, "She learnt it from my mistakes perhaps."
"She did her homework." Mira put her gun back.
"She did everything carefully and they still got to her."
Mira said nothing, there was nothing useful to say to that, she took the drive and left.
The street outside was wet, though she hadn't heard it rain, some things just happened without announcing themselves. The thing Aldric had been trying to find through her was already in her possession. Diane's leads had run their course and now it was her turn to work alone on a case that would cost her everything. She destroyed the burner phone and walked into it anyway.
"Claire Tucker?" Chen believed he had mastered controlling his emotions, but he was clearly shocked, "Born under different name, lived under a different name and died under it."
"She looked at the Aldric Group, at its size, its reach, its demonstrated willingness to make problems disappear and decided that wasn't a reason to stop." Mira sipped the coffee Chen had brought in the parking lot, "She was from her last conversation with her mother very well sure that she is going to make it through, but they got to her. Either she had made a mistake somewhere in all that carefulness or someone close to her had made the mistake for her."
"Are you suspecting Miller or Percy?" Chen hesitated before speaking last name.
Mira's mind froze as the thoughts she had pushed down after the shocking revelation began to resurface. She drifted back to last night... the coat still on the chair, Arthur clearing the table, the way he looked at her without offering an explanation. She remembered his hands on her waist, the moment he slipped off her dress, the way he held her temples to deepen the kiss, his fingers tracing down her body.
She shook her head to get rid of his thoughts, "I am suspecting everyone related to the case."
Chen nodded and finished his coffee without another word on the subject.
"The evidence..."
"I need to work on it to find it." Mira had subtly hidden the fact that she had the drive, though she didn't know why. She had told a half-truth and with Jones gone, she felt the need to do something to understand the evidence on the drive, which was technically a finding.
Chen said nothing for rest of the day.
Mira did not go home after work hours; she drove to the bridge without realizing, then turned around and took the route home once she noticed. The lights were off; she lingered at the door for a moment before unlocking it with her keys instead of knocking. The living room looked the same, the couch cushions were tossed on both sides, the kitchen drawers were shut, and her book was still open but to page forty-nine.
She stood in the middle of it, Morse and Miller weren't in here, bedroom door was open. She was torn between stepping inside or heading back to the car when her phone buzzed. It was Arthur, she declined the call and returned to her thoughts. He called twice more, each time she ignored it, when the calls stopped, she had already made up her mind and had called the police.
Arthur arrived half an hour later, he had taken the stairs fast, she could tell by the way he stopped in the doorway with his breath coming short.
"Are you hurt?" His eyes found her first, then moved to kitchen counter, "Morse?"
"He's gone. Miller too."
She turned back to the officer, finished what needed finishing and when the last one left, it was just the two of them and the empty house without Morse.
"Mira..."
"I'm not hurt; whoever did it, have done it before I got home."
He exhaled slowly and ran a hand through his hair; the body relaxed from something the mind was still processing; he reached out for her twice but stopped both times.
"You ran all the way here to the fourth floor." She looked at him with amusement and particular look only her understood.
He pulled her into his arms, "I thought I lost you. You have no idea how I've spent the last twenty minutes, from when I heard someone broke into your apartment, to the moment I ran up four floors to see you safe, I have died a thousand times."
Even though Mira was still upset with him, she couldn't stop herself from hugging him back. He loved her despite everything and she loved him despite everything, even if she hadn't forgiven him yet.
"I am safe."
"I can see it."
"Your mind doesn't, it still thinks I am not, so I am telling you, I am safe."
He pulled back just enough to see her face, "You are safe, we will get to whoever did it and we will find Morse."
"You know who did it."
"You shouldn't be touched; I've made that clear." Arthur's eyes had turned a bit darker, "They clearly need another reminder."