Adell recalled the hug. The soft arms of a girl around his body felt warm, and nice. Even with the padding.<br/><br/>"Oi, 'Dell, who you're thinking of?" said the grizzled, brown-haired man with the nine o'clock shadow, nursing a glass stein of yellow-brown beer.<br/><br/>Adell picked up his own glass of cola and raised to his lips, downing it in a gulp. The little cold jolt to his throat woke him up, and he answered. "Just a girl, O'Hara."<br/><br/>"That's O'Hara with a pay-rise, 'Dell!" he laughed, slapping Adell's shoulder with the back of his hand. Composing himself, he leaned forward on the bar counter and looked him in the eye. "So, why are you looking for what you're looking for, 'Dell?"<br/><br/>"Because I have a feeling that the two murders have a connection."<br/><br/>Detective O'Hara raised an eyebrow at Adell. "You're damned right, 'Dell." O'Hara plucked out a large docket from his jacket, placing it on the bar counter.<br/><br/>Adell plucked out a smaller, fatter envelope and placed it on top of the docket. "3 grand, in hard cash," said Adell, smiling at O'Hara. "Looks like you have a gift for the newlyweds."<br/><br/>"Yeah..." murmured O'Hara. "My daughter sprang that on me. I mean, I always suspected, but I guess I wasn't prepared to hear it straight from her mouth."<br/><br/>"What did you do?"<br/><br/>"Well, the usual sort of reaction. I shouted, of course." O'Hara covered his face with his palm and let it slide down to the table. "Regretted it about five seconds later, but she was already in her room, crying. She even showed me a picture of her fiancée. She's beautiful."<br/><br/>Adell sighed, and patted O'Hara's shoulder. "At least you're not like my father."<br/><br/>"Well, maybe I can hook her up with you?"<br/><br/>Adell grinned awkwardly. "It doesn't work that way, I think. It's about what's inside, not outside."<br/><br/>O'Hara guffawed and slapped Adell's shoulder. "I'm joking, 'Dell!"<br/><br/>He opened the report, on the side, silently acknowledging O'Hara's laughter beside him. A quick scan told him two important facts: both victims had their hearts torn out of them after death, and their chests were savaged in equally brutal manners. A smaller envelope labelled 'photos' was left unopened. Adell still wanted to eat dinner after this.<br/><br/>"Both hearts... torn out."<br/><br/>O'Hara stopped laughing, and his face turned a little grim. "Yeah. I don't know who would do such a thing to two girls in their prime. The killer may strike again, though, but we don't have anything much beyond questioning a girl we found at the scene."<br/><br/>"Tomika Marias?" asked Adell. He heard that name before. A girl that was pretty good at fencing. Other than that, nothing much.<br/><br/>"Yup. I'm sure she has nothing to do with it, though. In the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess," replied O'Hara, downing his stein in a single gulp.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>The girl's dormitory. Adell had a pass to go in ($50 to the security guard was the trick. All the guys knew it. And if they got caught by someone else, $5000 went to the principal.), and he waltzed right to the door he guessed was Tomika's.<br/><br/>With a loud, authoritative knock, courtesy of weight-training, he drew attention to himself.<br/><br/>"Hey! I'm the guy earlier today. You okay?"<br/><br/>He held the docket by his side. If she wasn't interested in the murder, maybe he could ask for a date?