Work Text:
10 years ago:
It was Rex’s first day in his new unit, and he was supposed to meet his new captain, Mace Windu. But when he had arrived at the precinct, almost everyone had already left. Only one detective, Quinlan Vos, sat by his desk waiting for Rex to arrive. He was a muscular, dark-skinned man with dreadlocks. He wore a leather jacket, tight jeans and boots. Once he had seen Rex, he had broken into a wide smile and introduced himself. He had explained that they had received an urgent call of a woman found dead and they couldn’t wait for Rex to arrive.
“The victim is a 40-year-old female, Dr. Nala Se. She had not shown up to work even though she was extremely punctual. When she hadn’t answered any of their calls, her coworkers had called 911. When the uniform officers arrived at the apartment, they found her dead in her bedroom. She has been shot to her head with a gun that was registered in her name, and a suicide note was found on her nightstand. This should be an open and shut case.” Quinlan explained as they drove through the city.
When they arrived at the scene, they saw that the CSI was already there. It was a modern two-bedroom apartment in a nice neighbourhood. All the furniture, floors and the walls were white, and it reminded Rex of a sterile laboratory more than a home. The style was minimalistic with little pictures or personal belongings. The apartment was buzzing with detectives, forensic technicians and forensic doctors. Quinlan told him that this was going to be a very high-profile case. Apparently, the victim was a close personal friend of the mayor who wanted the case solved as quickly as possible.
Although the apartment was crowded, Rex froze as he saw the man standing in the middle of the room. He had his arms across his chest, and he kept stroking his chin deep in thought. He had an auburn beard, hair that was parted from the side and bright, intelligent, blue eyes. He wore a well fitted slacks and a blue dress shirt under the police jacket. Rex heart starting to hammer in his chest, there was something captivating about the man. He quickly turned away and focused on the case.
It all seemed pretty straightforward. The victim had been found in her bedroom and the door was locked from the inside. There were no signs of forced entry or a struggle. The forensic technicians were finished gathering the evidence and photographing the apartment.
Captain Windu nodded finally, “I think we are done here. This was clearly a…”
“Murder. I couldn’t agree more.” The man fished for him. Everyone, including Rex, stared at him surprised.
Captain Windu turned to look “No, Kenobi. This was a suicide. The gun was registered in her name and the room was locked from the inside. There are no fingerprints, or signs of forced entry. Her coworkers and friends said that she had been more stressed than usual.”
The man, Kenobi, sighed and said almost as he was bored, “Well, someone tried to make it look like a suicide, but it was clearly a murder.”
“What do you mean ‘clearly’?” Captain Windu asked frowning.
Kenobi raised his brows like he was surprised that no one else had come to same conclusion. But he said patiently, “She was left-handed. The bullet hole is on the right side of her head and if you look at the entry wound, the angle seems that the gun was fired from behind her.” He kneeled down and pointed the entry wound. “Look, the barrel had been slightly tilted. It’s a little unnatural position to kill oneself.” He demonstrated, trying to twist his hand into the position the barrel of the gun had been.
Kenobi got up and lifted the note with a pair of tweezers. “And then there is her suicide note. The pen is on the right side, while the mug holding the rest of the pens, is on the left side. The note was written with an ink pen, but there are no ink smudges on her left hand. Besides, you saw the food on the kitchen countertop. She had taken the ingredients out, so it looks like she was about to make herself dinner. The rest of the apartment is spotless, she wouldn’t have left food laying around.”
Rex frowned wondering how everyone had missed that. Himself included.
Windu raised his brows and said with sarcastic tone, “Well, you don’t happen to know her killer too, do you?”
Kenobi ignored the teasing tone and answered seriously, “It was his coworker, Dr. Rampart.”
Another detective asked surprised, “How could you possible know that?”
Obi-Wan smiled at her, “He mentioned that he had been in the bar called the Outlander in Coco Town last night, but the bar relocated three weeks ago. If he had been there, he would have known that.”
“But what about the motive?” Quinlan asked with an amused smirk. Rex had a feeling that he enjoyed seeing Kenobi walking them through his deductions.
“They were about to realise some highly sensitive research. Maybe that could be the reason?” Another, older detective with a goatee offered.
“I think it’s much more personal than that. They were secretly in a relationship. But Rampart is married, you saw the ring on his finger. I think it’s likely that Nala Se threatened to tell his wife if he didn’t leave her. But the woman Rampart is married to is the of sole inheritor of the famous businessman, Mass Ameda. I think 200 million is more likely the motive of the murder.” Obi-Wan said.
“How could you possibly know that they were sleeping together?” The older man asked.
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? The apartment. Rampart must have known the layout very well to plan the murder. No one, himself included, mentioned that they were close, so there is a reason they chose to hide seeing each other outside work.” Obi-Wan said, and his eyes glinted mischievously.
Windu raised hid brows, “And the locked room?”
Kenobi flashed his bright smile and Rex’s brain froze. He was the most beautiful person he had seen in his life. “You can easily open this type of lock from the outside using a screwdriver to turn this bolt in the middle of the lock. You can see the fresh scape marks here.” He pointed at the lock mechanism and, sure enough, there were marks around the lock. “We are not dealing with a criminal mastermind here.” And yet the murderer almost managed to fool a room full of detectives. All except one.
“That’s brilliant.” Rex breathed, and as Kenobi turned to look at him, he realised that he had said that out loud.
Kenobi’s eyes lit up with interest as he noticed a new face with them. “Oh, hello there.” He said with a bright smile.
“Hi.” Rex said awkwardly, feeling his cheeks burning.
The man said with pleasantly, “I’m Obi-Wan Kenobi. Nice to meet you.” Rex extended his hand, and his heart leapt as Obi-Wan took it. A mischievous smile spread on his face when Rex could do nothing but stare into his bright, blue eyes. He didn’t know what the matter with him was, he usually was quite confident. “Do you have a name? Or should I just come up with a name of my own?” Obi-Wan finally asked with an amused grin.
“Rex. My name is Rex. Fett.” He felt like an idiot and wanted the earth to swallow him. He couldn’t have made a worse first impression. Blush started to spread on Rex’s face, but Obi-Wan smiled only wider when he said, “Well, nice to meet you, Rex Fett. I look forward working with you.”
Rex’s heart pounded only faster in his chest when he saw the dimples on Obi-Wan’s face and how his beautiful blue eyes sparkled with amusement.
He was pulled out of his ruminations, when Obi-Wan cleared his throat and asked raising meaningfully his brows, “Could I have my hand back now?”
Rex had been wrong. It was possible to make even worse first impression than he already had. He looked down mortified and realised that he was still holding Obi-Wan’s hand. He quickly let go of it and apologised.
“Oh, nothing to be sorry about.” Obi-Wan said with laugh. The sound made Rex’s stomach swoop. He was truly a goner. Rex wondered how soon would be too soon to apply a transfer to a different precinct. Preferably to one where he hadn’t made a complete fool of himself on his first day. Rex couldn’t imagine that Obi-Wan would want to work with him after this.
But once again, Rex was proven wrong when Obi-Wan asked with a hopeful smile, “Would you like to garb lunch together? Maybe we could get to know each other a little bit.” Rex heard himself agreeing the moment Obi-Wan had finished his sentence.
5 years ago:
Rain droplets hit the window, and the drumming sound filled the silence. It was late October afternoon, and Rex was swamped at work. Halloween usually caused more headache for them when half of the perps were dressed in costumes. Rex had spent the past hour going through CCTV footage trying to find the Shrek that had robbed the grocery store nearby. He heard someone walking into his office and he raised his gaze, grateful for the interruption.
Obi-Wan approached Rex’s desk with a sheepish look, and Rex grinned already knowing what Obi-Wan had come to ask. He leaned back on his chair and Obi-Wan soon proved him right when he asked, “Can I borrow your car?”
“I told you it was going to rain.” Rex said with a wide smirk. They had the same conversation every year. Obi-Wan insisted riding his bike as long as the roads were not frozen, and Rex told him every year that it was too late to ride it anymore.
“You might have mentioned it.” Obi-Wan said with a wide smirk, “I will bring the car back before you get off from work. I promise. I just have some things that I want to quickly check out.”
“What did you find?” Rex asked with a smirk. Obi-Wan’s eyes gleamed like they always did when he had figured something out. He loved puzzles. When he was thinking, he always crossed his arms and stroked his beard. Rex loved to watch him deep in thought, but his favourite part was when he solved the case. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he explained what had happened, and Rex couldn’t help but admire how his mind worked.
But this time, he only frowned pensively. Something flashed across Obi-Wan’s face, but it was gone before Rex had chance to recognise what it meant. “It’s just a hunch. I need to make sure of something.” He said with an oddly tense tone and the worry must have shown on Rex’s face when Obi-Wan quickly added with a wide smile, “It’s a shot in the dark, but I just found something on one of my old cases.”
Rex let out a warm chuckle and dug the car key from his pocket. “Very well then. But you owe me.”
Obi-Wan walked to Rex’s desk and said in a low voice that always made Rex’s stomach twist, “I will make it up to you.” He wasn’t playing fair. It was rare for Obi-Wan to be wrong about something, and he seemed quite determined to distract Rex from that.
“Oh? How would you do that?” Rex asked with a wide smirk, but his voice was a little tight making Obi-Wan smirk victoriously. He leaned closer so that their lips were almost touching and whispered, “I have something in mind.” Rex closed the distance and kissed him. Obi-Wan responded eagerly as he cupped his face and deepened the kiss. Rex was very grateful that all the detectives had their own offices, as he almost forgot that they were at work. He fingers tangled in Obi-Wan’s hair and he licked the seam of his soft lips. Obi-Wan let out a quiet moan as he opened his mouth, letting Rex slip in his tongue. Eventually, they remembered where they were, and they broke apart.
“I can hardly wait.” Rex said breathless. He took Obi-Wan’s hand into his and brushed the golden wedding band on Obi-Wan’s finger.
He still couldn’t believe that he had been lucky enough to marry Obi-Wan. Every time he thought he couldn’t possibly love him more, he found a new side of him that made him fall in love with Obi-Wan more than he already had. Rex had never been happier in his life than he had been for the past five years.
“I love you, dear.” Obi-Wan said and gave him one last kiss before he leaned back.
Rex smiled at him and said, “I love you too, sweetheart.” He watched as Obi-Wan walked out the door. He turned to give Rex one last wide smile before he disappeared behind the corner.
Rex returned to read the witness statement. He had been interrogating so many drunk Shreks that day, and he couldn’t wait to go home with Obi-Wan. He took his coffee mug from his table and sighed as he started to go through all the evidence.
Suddenly there was a loud explosion and the whole building shook. Rex could hear the fire alarms going off in the distance. He quickly got to his feet and walked out of his office.
“What was that?” Rex asked joining everyone in the bullpen.
“It was probably a gas explosion from that construction site.” Windu said with a frown. The construction site across the street was infamous for breaking the safety violations and it had been only two weeks ago when they had struck a powerline causing a blackout to the whole block. “I will go see what is going on. You stay here but be prepared to evacuate just in case.” He strode across the room and entered the lift.
From the open window they heard sirens howling as the paramedics and firefighters hurried to the scene. Rex watched them round the corner, speeding towards their street. But they didn’t stop at the construction site on the other side of the street but outside the precinct.
Rex had a bad feeling about this.
“Something’s not right.” He said already on his way to the staircase. “I will go have look.”
He rushed outside where the uniform officers had already started to secure the area. Raindrops kept falling on his face and he could feel the cold water sliding down on his neck. The streets were suddenly full of people curious of finding out what was happening. Rex walked across the street to get a better view of the situation.
He saw a thick cloud of smoke coming from the second floor of the parking garage next to their building. The blue lights of the emergency vehicles flashed through the thick cloud of smoke and Rex could hear the people yelling over the sirens. His stomach dropped when he realised that it was the same parking garage that the Police department used, and… Obi-Wan had been there. He needed to go make sure that he was alright.
He quickly ran across the street, not even caring as a car almost hit him. Rex could distantly hear the car honking and someone yelling at him, but he didn’t care. He kept running as fast as he could. The water from the puddles splashed as he ran through them, making his feet wet and the cold rain soaked through his clothes.
When he reached the lobby, he hurried to the stairway and ran upstairs two steps at the time. He didn’t notice the burning in his muscles, he was too distracted to care about anything else except getting to Obi-Wan as fast as he could. As he reached the second floor, he pushed the heavy metal door open, and it slammed shut behind him with a loud bang as he entered the parking garage. It was hard to see anything through smoke. The firefighters were still trying to put out the fire, spraying dry chemical powder into the source of the explosion. Windu stood staring at the situation, his shoulders oddly hunched.
“What’s going on?” Rex asked breathing heavily.
Captain Windu turned to look at Rex with an alarmed expression, “Rex…” He said and tried to block his way. “You should probably not come here.” Rex frowned and tried to move past him, but Windu stepped in front of him with a serious expression. He seemed more shaken than Rex had ever seen him before, and dread started to gnaw on him. Rex looked over his shoulder and his eyes landed on two familiar figures: his brothers Kix and Cody. Kix worked as a paramedic and Cody was a chief of fire department. They both had heartbroken expressions on their faces and Rex tried to understand why. They turned and once they noticed Rex, their eyes widened in horror. Something was seriously wrong.
He glanced past them and saw smouldering wreckage of a car. The smoke was still rising from the burnt and mangled remains. Rex’s stomach dropped when he realised what he was looking at. That was his car. The one Obi-Wan had asked to borrow.
“Obi-Wan?” Rex croaked looking around, trying to desperately find his husband. Then his eyes landed on a cloth covered body. A hand was peaking under the fabric and there was a familiar gold band on the ring finger. And Rex realised that he recognised that ring. He had been the one to put it there.
“Obi-Wan!” Rex yelled but Obi-Wan didn’t get up. Why didn’t he get up? He had to. He couldn’t be dead. Obi-Wan would wake up any moment now and everything would be alright. Rex tried to rush to him, but Windu held him back. Panic rushed through him. The more he tried to fight against the hands holding him back, the tighter Windu’s hold became. “Let me go! OBI-WAN!” He yelled desperately.
Others started to walk towards him. Why were they coming to him? They had to help Obi-Wan. They had to save him. Rex kept calling for Obi-Wan, his eyes filling with tears.
But Obi-Wan didn’t get up. And he would have never not responded if he heard that Rex was in distress. “No! No! Obi-Wan!” Rex’s heart shattered into tiny pieces as he realised that Obi-Wan was gone. The love of his life was gone. He sank to his knees, hitting the ground hard. But he didn’t feel his knees throbbing, he was already in the worst pain he had ever felt in his life.
“Obi-Wan,” He sobbed repeating his name like a mantra. The world seemed to be spinning faster than usual. The dizziness didn’t ease even when his eyes became so clouded with tears that everything seemed blurry, and unfocused. His ears were ringing, and he was aware that people were talking around him, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. None of it made sense anymore. But it didn’t matter.
What did anything matter when the worst had already happened?
Today:
The first two months after Obi-Wan’s death Rex had been catatonic. He had barely eaten or spoken. He hadn’t been able to sleep because every time he closed his eyes, he returned to that parking garage staring at the flaming wreckage and Obi-Wan’s dead body. His father and brothers had taken turns living with him and had tried to take care of him when he couldn’t do that himself. He had somehow made it through the funeral feeling numb, still unable to truly comprehend that all of that had really happened.
It hadn’t helped when the day after the murder, a note had been delivered on Obi-Wan’s desk saying: ‘You took everything from me, so I have taken what you most love.’ It was like a new punch in the gut. The murderer hadn’t meant to kill Obi-Wan; he had wanted to torture him. The real target had been Rex.
The first Christmas had been the hardest. It had been Obi-Wan’s favourite holiday, and he used to decorate their home and hum Christmas songs to himself. Rex had cried so much that his eyes had been burning, and his head had pounded painfully. He had found the Christmas present Obi-Wan had already bought him, hidden in his study. He always bought Rex’s present months in advance, and he always knew exactly what Rex would like. He was caring like that, he noticed things. What other people liked and what he could do to make them happy. But to this day Rex hadn’t been able to open it. It sat on his bookshelf, still perfectly wrapped in blue paper.
Eventually after a lot of therapy, he had been cleared to return to work. He knew that it might have been better for him to transfer to a different precinct and move, but he couldn’t get rid of the last reminders of the happiest times of life.
What bothered Rex most was that Obi-Wan’s murderer was still on the loose. He was still breathing, living his life when he had taken the life from the person that mattered most to Rex. The guilt ate him, knowing that it should be Obi-Wan who was still alive. And he would have been able solve the case that Rex had failed to figure out.
But Rex had finally realised that he had to keep going. It was what Obi-Wan would have wanted. He wouldn’t have wanted for Rex to wither away and miss out on living his life.
So, Rex tried his best. He saw his friends, went to the weekly Sunday lunch with his family, he had hobbies, and he tried to fill the void Obi-Wan had left behind. But no matter how much he tried, he felt numb. He couldn’t really enjoy any of it. Sometimes he laughed genuinely, and he had fun for a moment. But he couldn’t say that he was happy. There was something missing.
The day Obi-Wan had died, part of Rex had died with him.
But work kept him busy, and although he couldn’t solve the case that mattered the most to him, he could help others to get closure. Helping others brought him genuine happiness, and it was one of the things that helped him get up in the morning. Though, not all the cases brought him the same level of satisfaction. Halloween had once again come around and Rex was trying to find the perp that had broken into someone’s home dressed as Lord Farquaad. Rex sighed and wondered if all the criminals had seen just that one film or if they got their costumes from the same store.
Rex sipped his coffee that Ahsoka had brought him earlier. It had been a nice gesture, but he suspected that it had been a ploy to stay in his office and keep him company. Ahsoka kept looking at him concerned when she thought Rex wouldn’t notice.
“I’m fine, Ahsoka. You don’t have to babysit me.” He said with a humourless chuckle.
“Can’t I just hang out with my favourite coworker?” Ahsoka said with a smile but then her smile faded, and a concerned expression took its place. “Have you heard of the… Of the…” She asked hesitantly not knowing how to phrase the question. But Rex knew where this was going.
“The renovation of the parking garage? Yes, I did.” They had received the notification earlier that week. They were going to tear down the parking garage. Apparently, the old one was in such a bad condition that it was just cheaper to build a new one in its place.
Rex hadn’t been able to go back there, but still the thought of tearing down the place where Obi-Wan had died filled him with heartache. It was as if all evidence of Obi-Wan was disappearing bit by bit. And to add an insult to injury; they were starting to tear it down today, on the anniversary of Obi-Wan’s death.
Some of what he was thinking must have shown on his face because Ahsoka looked at him, her eyes wide with worry.
“Ahsoka, I’m fine. Seriously.” Rex said, trying to keep his face neutral. “Just go home, I will be okay.”
“I’d hate to leave you alone. Maybe Anakin could...” She said hesitantly. Anakin had been Obi-Wan’s best friend. They had known each other since childhood and were nearly inseparable. He had taken Obi-Wan’s death very hard, and his family had most likely been the only reason he hadn’t gone completely off the rails. Anakin had been one of Rex’s best friends too, but since Obi-Wan had died, they hadn’t seen as much of each other as they used to. It always reminded them what they had lost. Maybe someday they could see each other without it being a remainder of their shared grief.
“Anakin is probably trying to drown himself in beer right about now.” Rex said with a sigh. He usually did on the anniversary of Obi-Wan’s death. Ahsoka let out a sad sigh and reluctantly got up. Rex guessed that she would most likely go to check up on Anakin next. They had met years ago when she had applied a job from the garage where Anakin worked as a mechanic. She hadn’t had a degree, but she had been very eager and had needed money for school. Anakin had taken her under his wing, and she had become like a little sister to him and Obi-Wan. They had helped her to fund her school, and she had lived with them for some time. Obi-Wan had been ecstatic when he had heard that Ahsoka had been accepted to Police Academy, and he would have been proud to know how amazing she was at her job.
Ahsoka stood by the door, looking Rex with a serious expression. “Just call if you need me. At any time.”
“Thank you, Ahsoka.” Rex said with a genuine warm smile. “I appreciate that.” He was grateful that he had friends like her, he didn’t know he could have survived without them. Ahsoka smiled at him one more time before she left, but Rex could see that there was worry in her eyes.
As soon as Ahsoka was out the door, Rex abandoned the B&E he had tried to solve and opened one of his drawers. He pulled out the case file of Obi-Wan’s murder and started to go through the material. Five years later and the case was still open. The detectives who had been originally assigned to the case had given up after months without any new leads. They had avoided Rex for weeks after that, and when Rex had confronted them, telling them that he wasn’t angry at them, they still looked at him apologetically for months. But Rex couldn’t allow for the case to grow cold. He had to find out who was the murderer.
He just couldn’t figure it out.
The only lead they had was one witness statement of a man who had worn black clothes and a black and red mask with horns. But the man had disappeared, and there were no traces of him, no CCTV footage, no prints, nothing. The man had apparently used the service tunnels running underneath the parking garage, changed his clothes and got rid of all the evidence. They had figured that he might have worn a Halloween costume hiding his features and blended in with the parade few blocks away from the station.
Rex stared blankly at the pictures he had seen hundreds of times, and the reports he had read so many times that he probably knew by heart by now. The same pictures of the flaming car that haunted him almost every night in his dreams.
Before the murder thinking of Obi-wan had always brought happiness to him. No matter what was going on in his life, he had been the one constant that never failed to make him happy. But now, every time he thought of Obi-Wan, even the happiest memories of him, he could feel nothing but loss and grief. It was one more thing the murderer had taken from him.
Rex picked up the picture he had of Obi-Wan on his desk and brushed it with his finger. It was his favourite picture Obi-Wan. They had been on a hike, and everything had gone wrong that day. It had started raining after the first mile and they had hiked for hours in the pouring rain, and when they had finally reached the destination, it had been too cloudy to see anything. It had been raining so much that their clothes were soaked through and Obi-Wan had stepped into a puddle that was so deep that the water had gotten into his shoes. Once they finally reached the car, they realised that they had forgotten the keys inside it and couldn’t get in. There was no cell service, and they had to walk to the main road to call Cody to bring the spear keys. But Obi-Wan hadn’t gotten angry or lost his temper. He had just burst in laughter. They had laughed so hard as they had walked in the pouring rain. Rex had snapped a picture of Obi-Wan who was laughing his eyes closed, the water was flowing down on his face. And that had been the moment Rex had known that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him. He had gone to the jewellery the next day and bought the ring. Little did he know that Obi-Wan’s life was cut short only three years later and now the only time he saw Obi-Wan laughing was through these frozen moments from the past.
Five years. He had had only five years with him. Five years of happiness and five years of unimaginable pain.
He set the picture down next to their wedding picture and tried to refocus on the case. But his mind felt blank.
Rex knew that he wasn’t going to get anything more done today and he closed all the open files and locked them inside the desk drawers. He shut off his computer and gathered his things before he headed towards the lifts. While Rex waited, he saw the notice reminding everyone to move their cars before tomorrow morning. He stared blankly at the piece of paper, the thought of returning to the place where his life had come crushing down kept nagging at the back of his mind. He was pulled of his ruminations when the lift doors opened suddenly in front of him. He shook his head and got in.
When the lift doors closed behind him, Rex hesitated what to do. He hadn’t driven a car to work since Obi-Wan had died, but he stared at the button that would take him to the parking garage. The thought of going back there made his stomach turn. But this was his moment to get closure before the building would be torn down.
Minutes passed but Rex couldn’t decide. Suddenly, the lift moved, someone else had pushed a button downstairs. Rex secretly hoped that the person was on the ground floor.
But as he had feared the lift stopped on the level P2, leading to the second floor of the parking garage. The doors slid open revealing a surprised cleaner. She hadn’t expected anyone to be inside the lift, especially not someone who stared at her like he had seen a ghost. The cleaner looked at him, her eyebrows raised, expecting him to get out. Rex forced his legs to move. His heart hammered in his chest seeing the familiar heavy metal door leading to the parking garage. He pushed it open, and the screeching sound of the rusty hinges brought back the memories of that fateful day. He could almost still smell the burning metal and hear the crackling sounds of the last flames licking the remains of the car.
Rex’s steps echoed as he walked into the now empty parking garage. The harsh fluorescent lighting illuminated the dirt covered walls that had once been white. He could see the dust floating in the air against the light. His legs shook, but he forced his muscles to cooperate. He walked until he reached the pillar B-5. This was where Obi-Wan had lost his life. This was where Rex’s life had come to stand still.
His vision became blurry with tears and his chest tightened.
“It should have been me.” Rex said, his voice trembling. Tears were now flowing down his cheeks and his voice broke. “I’m so sorry, Obi-Wan.” He whispered as the sobbed helplessly, not caring if anyone heard. He felt so much grief that it was physically painful. It was as if there was a hole in his chest that would never heal, no matter how much time had passed. Rex didn’t know how long he stood there crying, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like there was someone waiting for him to come home.
When he opened his eyes, something drew Rex’s attention. A metal object was laying in the middle of the parking spot. He wiped the tears away with the sleeve of his jacket and took in a deep breath. Rex took a closer look of the object.
A circuit board.
They had never found the power source of the explosive. But could it be possible that this would be the piece of evidence they had been searching. He picked it up carefully with a handkerchief and studied it. The edges of were burned and covered in sot. The there was an oily smudge in the middle of the circuit board that was just the size of a fingertip. But how had it ended up here?
He glanced around and noticed that up on the ceiling there were narrow cracks between pieces of the concrete. Could it be that this had been jammed up there after the explosion and once the demolition crew had started to drill the concrete upstairs, it had been dislodged at the impact.
Rex carefully wrapped the circuit board into the handkerchief and pocketed it. He needed to get back to his office. He rushed out of the parking garage, and quickly made his way back upstairs. The offices were now empty, only the uniform officers were in the downstairs at this hour.
As Rex waited for his computer to open, he took the circuit board from his pocket and started to examine it. He knew that it would be wiser to let the boys from the forensics do it, but he couldn’t wait for them to arrive. He had been patient enough. He had lived for the past five years not knowing who had killed his husband and he would not wait any longer.
His heart hammered in his chest as he found one fingerprint from the circuit board. The murder had been careful not to leave any traces at the scene of the crime, but now there was a fingerprint. Rex had a lead.
Rex ran the prints through the system. His hands shook as he waited. Could this finally be the clue that led him to Obi-Wan’s murderer?
Every second felt like minutes as Rex waited for the program to analyse the print. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply trying to prepare himself in case this wasn’t going to give him the results he wanted. The computer beeped when it had cross-referenced the fingerprint with the ones that were entered the system. Rex slowly opened his eyes.
A match. There was a match.
Rex’s heart hammered in anticipation as he opened the results. He had been waiting for years to know what had happened to Obi-Wan. But when Rex saw the results, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be.
Maul.
He had once been one of the most feared criminals, leading a crime syndicate. But Obi-Wan had caught him and had arrested everyone else connected to his organisation. But Maul had died. When the police had raided the warehouse they had been using, he had kidnapped one of their detectives, Qui-Gon Jinn. Obi-Wan had found them, as Maul had waited a helicopter to pick him up from a top of a building. When Maul had realised that he had been cornered he had shot Jinn and then had tried to attack Obi-Wan. But he had been too slow. They had watched him fall from a top of building after being shot in the chest. Or so they had thought.
And then Rex realised. Obi-Wan had somehow found out that Maul had faked his death. He had found something the day he had died. That’s why he had left in such a hurry.
Rex was filled with new determination, his anger now fuelling him. He knew what he would do.
He was going to find Maul and make him pay for what he had done.