Thomas Prest: A Simple Magician

"I already told you, I don't know! I am not a nanny for my brothers, alright!?" Richard Jasin, the fourth and youngest son of Jason Jasin, exclaimed in great irritation at the police officer prick who was trying to interrogate him as if it weren't his brothers who died!

"Mr. Jasin." Detective Higgs sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his right hand while sliding a photo in front of Richard, "Your oldest brother was shot to the head."

The photo was not nice and Richard grimaced when he saw his oldest brother's brains splattered all around the backdoor of a van while a bloody mark showed exactly how his body slid down to the ground.

Detective Higgs ignored Richard's expression and pressed on, "Let's omit the fact the van of your brother was full of illegal stuff for a second, okay?" He frowned in distaste, "This happened only an hour before your second oldest brother died in your restaurant of poisoning." He gave Richard a meaningfully suspicious look.

"Look, as I already said, I know how this might seem bu-" Richard once again tried to defend himself but Detective Higgs just raised his tone and continued speaking, this time bringing up something Richard was not supposed to be aware of, trying to get a damning reaction out of him.

"On top of that, the wife of your third oldest brother was unlucky enough to have an unfortunate meeting with a bomb that was just coincidentally planted in the car of your third oldest brother. Lucky, man, that. Apparently, he forgot something in the house so she went to start the car engine while he went to search for it." Detective Higgs flatly said, expecting a surprise from Richard but...

It wasn't the kind of surprise he wanted.

"Wait, Maria is dead?" Richard gaped like a fish, anger slowly filling him that someone dared to kill another member of his family. Under the table, his hands clenched into fists, and he gritted his teeth.

Yes, Maria was an A-grade bitch and everyone in the family knew it except his third brother who still thought the two-faced slut was the most innocent woman in the world, but she was still family!

Detective Higgs took a deep breath to calm his growing frustration. He didn't want to be an asshole. He would love to believe the man in front of him had nothing to do with him but... "Mr. Jasin, as you can see, each of your brothers was attacked with the intention of killing them. All but you. How do you think this seems from my side of the table?"

"I have no idea how it seems from your side of the table, but from mine, it looks like some piece of shit is killing off my family!" Richard exclaimed, his face reddening in anger. "And you are wasting time by interrogating me instead of trying to catch the culprit!"

Of course, he knew his family would not depend on freaking cops to serve them their just justice. No. They will catch and torture the fucking culprit to the death themselves!

"Ha~, this is going nowhere." Detective Higgs mumbled. "Could you at least tell me where you were when your two brothers died? Give me something, Mr. Jasin. Please." He almost pleaded but Richard just looked away, staying silent.

The dipshit was not even trying to lie! That's why Higgs was so frustrated.

"Mr. Jasin," Higgs tiredly drawled, "this won't end until you give me at least some proof that you-"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the doors and Higgs blinked, turning his head towards them.

"Come in." He said, expecting Richard to get a lawyer. It was a bit too fast but... whatever.

Unlike his expectations, the door was opened by a twenty-something pretty petite blonde in office clothes, "Er... Detective Higgs, sir?" She unsurely asked, fidgeting a bit.

Higgs raised his eyebrow at her, giving her a searching look because he didn't remember seeing anyone like her in his work, "Yes, who are you?"

"Ah, Maria Willow, I am new here, sir." The blonde awkwardly answered, completely polite and with anxiety written on her expression.

'Ah, that explains why I have never seen her.' Higgs inwardly nodded to himself. His workplace was hiring and firing new people on a daily basis so he couldn't really keep up but he at least tried.

Honestly, he would have chuckled if he wasn't in his stern interrogation mode right now. The woman reminded him of his daughter when she first dragged her boyfriend for a family dinner. She was also so nervous and frantic... he got the urge to pat her on the back to encourage her.

Resisting the endearing smile that threatened to appear on his face, Higgs donned a bit more pleasant tone, not trying to scare her off with his stern persona, "Well, Maria, how can I help you?"

"Uhm, the big boss said he wanted to speak with you, sir." Maria timidly said with a weak smile as if hoping for him to not question it. It was obvious she was uncomfortable.

Higgs looked at Richard who was quietly observing the conversation with a weird look on his face, "Right now, sir." Maria pressed and looked down.

"Alright." Higgs sighed. "Fine." He put his hands on the table and pushed his body up into a standing position, frowning a bit in annoyance.

Frankly, if the woman didn't remind him so much of his dear daughter, he would have a few words with her for interrupting an official interrogation... before he would have a choice of words with his boss.

Friends or not, he should freaking know the protocols!

But Higgs understood that as the new gal, the poor girl got the unwanted job of alerting him of these summons while the pricks in the office were probably laughing their asses off, awaiting her to come back in tears.

Well, he might or might not have done something similar in the past so...

Anyways...

Higgs pointed at Richard, "You stay put."

Richard just snorted and gave him a glare, clanging with the handcuffs that bound his arms behind his back and to the chair in a show that he can't move anyway.

Higgs then looked at Maria and a complicated expression appeared on his face, "Could you look after him for a moment, sweetheart?" He asked and instantly chuckled at the frightful face of the girl, "Don't worry. I will send you backups in a minute. Just stay near the door and wait for someone to come and swap you out."

Higgs grinned and patted the shoulder of the astonished uneasy girl who was speechless at being left alone in the room with a criminal on the first day of her new job and walked out of the interrogation room, causing silence to ensue as Richard and Maria awkwardly stared at each other.

"So..." Richard eventually started, "My father had sent you to get me out of here?"

He naturally saw through her magical disguise the second she walked into the room. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together, and realize why she tried to get the investigator away with her meek act.

He smartly assumed that his father must have hired this illusionist to get him out of the police station first so he stayed obediently silent to let her manipulate the investigator away.

This wasn't anything unusual, albeit... it was usually his oldest and dumbest brother in a situation like this, and every time for a crime he indeed did commit.

Natasha blinked for a second before an easy-going smile spread on her face, "Oh, God, yes. I am so happy we understand each other and this doesn't have to be more awkward than necessary." Natasha visibly relaxed as she walked around the table, behind Richard who leaned forward a bit to give her easier access to his handcuffs...

Only to feel something slashing through his neck, causing him to widen his eyes in astonished surprise as Natasha grabbed him by the air and yanked his head back.

Richard could feel his blood flowing down his neck, onto his chest, and soaking his shirt, but he also watched in terror as his blood was spraying in front of him, all over the photos of the corpses of his brothers on the table.

Too late did he realize the second option... that she could have been the person responsible for their deaths.

"Eww." Letting go of her victim's hair, Natasha's expression scrunched in disgust as she wiped her hand on her skirt. "So greasy." She cringed before helplessly smiling, "Well, at least I didn't get any blood on me."

Indeed, the blood was spraying in front of Richard, not behind him, so despite half of the room being messily red, Natasha was completely clean. That was the whole point of holding him by the hair as he bled out in the first place.

That, and prevent him from doing some hocus-pocus bullshit.

Fortunately, he had conveniently restrained hands so this job was easy.

Stepping over the parts of the floor covered in blood, Natasha exited the room, back in her previous role of Maria, the new meek intern, as she timidly walked towards the elevators.