Eyri Pharliis and Detective Leena, Coruscant Apartments, the next morning.
Cᴏʟʟᴀʙ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ Wʏʀᴍ ᴀɴᴅ Bᴇᴀ
Eyri was unable to talk to the officer without choking up every few seconds. Her closest friend, her advisor, one of the most important people in her life, dead.
They were supposed to talk that morning, to meet in Eyri’s office. Afterwards, Eyri was going to offer a trip into town for breakfast and maybe a little shopping, like old times. She should’ve offered to walk her home, or perhaps even just dinner the night before. Something, anything. Eyri regretted everything now. She should’ve spent more time with her friend, she should’ve accepted Iri’s offers to eat out, or for a hand-delivered meal, anything.
The officer Eyri was talking to was trying his best not to make her say more than was needed, or to ask repeating questions, but the Pantoran senator wasn’t being very clear in between her sobbing and choking up.
“All she said- she just- she wanted to meet me in my office this morning to talk. Just to talk about something… I don’t know what for- she didn’t show up and I was worried so I came down here and-” Eyri was trying, she really was. She dared not look in the direction of her friends body, not now, not again. Then Senator wiped tears that were flowing down her cheeks, her sleeves wet with them. It had been a very emotional morning.
Leena stepped from the apartment and found herself relieved to see a victim services worker stepping off the lift at that very moment with a musical “ding”. She waved the worker over and gave the bothan a quick rundown on what had happened. The bothan nodded and the pair walked over to the Senator.
“Excuse me, Officer, sorry to interrupt. May I speak with the Senator for a moment please?”
The human nodded. “Not a problem Detective, I think we have as much as the senator is able to tell us.” He glanced at his datapad. “Statement concluded at 10:37 hours.” He thanked the senator and then walked away with the droid humming in his wake.
“Hello Senator, I am Detective Mala, with the Coruscant Security Force, Homicide division. I am terribly sorry for your loss.”
Eyri took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. She noticed two more individuals approaching her. She took the time to quickly wipe any tears from her face, yet the wet sleeves made it hard to absorb them, the tears just being spread around on her cheeks. Eyri nodded to the officer as he thanked her before turning as the detective introduced herself.
She took another deep breath in an attempt to regain her composure.
“Uh, thank you, Detective,” Eyri began, using her hands now to wipe a few small tears from her eyes. “I just… I can’t believe she’s actually-” Eyri had to stop herself again, trying to maintain her composure as she quickly wiped forming tears from her eyes.
“I wanted to speak with you before you come to any conclusions about your friends death. I don’t believe it was an overdose, senator.”
Eyri looked up at the detective for a second, her eyes still wet but her facial expression changed. She was very confused at that statement.
“If it wasn’t an overdose, then what happened?”
“I can’t say for certain, but there is going to be at least one other being I would like to speak with. My officers are canvassing for information on this individual at the moment and I can assure you that we will do whatever it takes to find out what really happened here.” Leena offered a small smile. “As we go forward, please keep in touch with Danian, our victim services worker. He will be your point of contact and can keep me informed of any questions you may have.”
This was almost a relief in Eyri’s mind, almost. When she had found Iri, the spice had caught her eye. Iri was never one to dabble in drugs and narcotics. The thought of her friend hiding such secrets had hurt Eyri deeply. But now, hearing it might not have been an overdose, Eyri had more questions now.
There were one or two other possibilities that Eyri could think of. Murder was one of them, and Eyri almost wished it wasn’t that. She wasn’t a professional at all, she didn’t see the signs. All she assumed was that her friend had overdosed, a selfish thing indeed.
“I’ll make sure to keep in touch.. But- if it’s not an overdose then what else? You must have other ideas?”
“I do indeed, but I find it best not say them out loud until I am certain.” Leena smiled again. “Good day Senator.”
Eyri took a long, deep breath as she wiped her eyes one more time. She nodded politely to the detective before looking towards her bodyguard. He nodded back to her and Eyri started down the hallway. She needed to leave the apartment, for fear of not being able to overcome the grief and loss she felt anytime soon.