Crackling electricity sparked along the image, fingers digging into the edge as the man on the other side blinked a few times. He adjusted his glasses, then looked to Cooper behind it.

"Yeah, we have that piece of evidence," Johnson said, moving back behind his desk to grab a key. "You think I'll get to pull the switch if this ends up helping the investigation?"

"No, you know that honor goes to the leading officer," Cooper said, grabbing the key from him.

It was considered an honor to be a police officer, a person of the law. The world rejected sinners, and the way they rejected them was through the government. Particularly the police who convicted those that broke the law.

Murder by far was the worst sin, and sending a murderer to death was considered a high honor. To condemn a sinner to hell was as high as a saint, it was what every police officer strived for. To get a confession from a murderer, to send them to the chair and be the one to take a sinner from the world.

No wonder Johnson wanted to be the one to pull the switch, it would advance his career. The act of him even participating in this crime would boost him, anyone who was even slightly involved in solving a murder case this size was bound for a decent reward. And even if one didn't pull the switch themselves, they were still held up as being a protector of society.

Gwen was one of the highest police officers around, her accomplishments were astounding. She was an amazing detective, one who had pulled the switch on a number of cases. Cooper himself had managed to get in a good number himself, and they had become partners due to it.

In the end, they were a good team. Gwen dealt with the people, and her ability to understand the suspects helped get confessions. And in certain situations, even when they got a confession, she delved deeper despite the evidence and found the true murderer whenever someone would confess despite their innocence. She was good with the people, and Cooper was good with the evidence and technology. It was a good balance. Though, in the end, it really was Gwen who carried their investigations. She had more of a passion for this then Cooper.

There wasn't much in the evidence room for this case. The murder weapon was enclosed within a sealed bag, wrapped carefully. As was the machine, set next to the jar of dust.

It was an odd looking machine, with the power source connected to the side. It was built pretty well, and it looked really advanced.

But there was one problem. It was utterly destroyed.

Pieces were cracked, others bent, and a few left as just scrapes. The only thing in tact was the power source, and that was due to the protective covering to ensure no one would get shocked from it. It didn't matter to Cooper, he was electricity. An electrical monster only got a power up from a shock, it wouldn't do anything but give him more energy.

From the looks of it, it had been thrown to the ground before it was smashed repeatedly from the top, likely from a blunt object. A light bat, or maybe a shoe would be a good option. If it was something with more force, like a heavy weighted bat or a crowbar, there would be far more damage.

But there wasn't, and Cooper could still see the parts. His husband worked with some of this stuff, so he could easily replace a few parts. It would be a little difficult to find the right router, though, but the coding was intact it seemed. That was good. Once he gave it a little boost to the battery, and once he fixed it up, all he would have to do would be reactivate the code and give it a better covering.

Well, time to get started.

~~~~~~

If Gwen had thought the first skeleton was worse, she was wrong.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Sans."

Okay, he has to be joking.

She let the folder flap fall to the table, looking up at him with a deadpanned expression. The skeleton gave a toothy grin, flashing off his sharp teeth.

"Your name is not also Sans," She said.

"Yeah, 's actually," He said, low voice rumbling as he leaned back. "Comic Sans Font."

"What is your real name?" Gwen asked.

"Yer can call me Red."

"Last name?"

"Red."

Gwen blinked at him. "Your name is Red Red?"

"Nah, it's okay Red," He said.

"Fine, Red..."

Gwen wrote down his name on the notebook paper, placing down the pen afterwards.

"Oh man, this is a fun room," The skeleton snorted, tapping his chuffed hands against the table. "We ain't got any of these interr' rooms, not where I'm from."

"Of course you had interrogation rooms, everywhere has interrogation rooms. It's the law," Gwen said.

"Not where I'm from."

"Let me guess, from another universe?"

Gwen hadn't bothered to observe him for his reaction, assuming he would make some comment or start laughing. He seemed like that type of man, one who probably said how 'manly' he was but would scamper to the floor like a puppy when he encountered the first sign of danger. Gwen had met a few of those in the same room, a few females like that too who were confident until the first signs of danger flashed. All show, no action. Not that Gwen really cared, as they didn't need to learn how to fight. Not with her protecting them, keeping the murderers at bay by sending them back to their maker. She didn't care who was in her room, she just wanted to find the truth.

The lack of a response, though, was what made her look up. Her assumptions of him, like the other Sans, was quickly proven wrong. His smile had fell, his cocky and amused attitude dropping the moment she had finished her sentence. His red eyelight focused on her as if she had just told him that she was going to kill him.

"Who told you that."

His voice was dead serious now, almost as cold as the air that prickled at her skin. His slouched posture was gone, and his words were pronounced more properly.

An act. His cocky and dumb attitude had been an act, he was planning on playing stupid. No doubt the reveal of what Sans had said quickly dropped that idea faster than his fake smile had dropped.

He was just as worried about this case as Sans was, he had just been hiding it.

"A different suspect," Gwen said, "Say, why is the universe thing so important? Are you actually from another universe?"

"F*cking... I'll kill him," Red hissed lightly, twisting his wrists. "He goes and finally f*cking proves he ain't a wimp, then he f*cking rats us out? The hell?"

"No one is killing anyone," Gwen said, "And are you saying what Sans said is actually true?"

"Wait, Sans said that?" Red clarified, "Not the other one, with that thing... Sans? Blue hood, covered in blood? He's the rat?"

"No one is the rat, Sans mentioned universes before he shut down," Gwen said, "And I don't believe something like that without proof. Why are you so adamant about the alternate universe statement? Is it true?"

Red didn't respond, shifting his wrists again as he moved. The guy didn't seem very comfortable in the room, constantly shifting his wrists under the handcuffs.

Gwen took a glance down at his wrists, catching sight of his bones. They looked worn down, a few fingers lightly chipped here and there. What really caught her attention, though, was the indents and red marks on his wrists. They were too wide to be from the handcuffs, but they looked to be marks from being restrained, from him struggling against the constraints.

Like chains.

"You were chained to the wall inside of the house too, weren't you?" Gwen asked Red.

Red didn't respond, moving to pull his black hoodie sleeves over the marks. Gwen made a small reminder to look at Sans' wrists when he was brought back in.

"Where were you when Papyrus Font was murdered?" Gwen asked.

"Chained to the godd*mn wall," Red said, waving around his wrists with annoyance. "D*mn, I thought you were a detective."

Out of the suspects, he was the middle most suspicious. The first was Sans, who was covered in blood from the attack. He had been close enough to be covered in blood, which could mean he was the murderer. Red came next in the suspicion, as he looked like the violent type. The last suspect seemed the most innocent, but he could possibly be the murderer. It was just unlikely.

"So you were constrained when he was murdered?" Gwen clarified.

"No sh*t."

Red gave her a look like she was an idiot. Gwen returned it.

"Did you see who did it?"

"No, I was f*cking chained to the wall."

"Constraints don't affect visibility, unless you were blindfolded. Were you blindfolded?"

"No. Didn't see it, though."

This wasn't going to go anywhere, either. Red likely witnessed the murder, like Sans, but wasn't going to say anything to protect the murderer. Just like Sans. He might even be the murderer, and might be lying to protect himself. It would explain why he was mad Sans had spoken at all.

"I'm assuming you were kidnapped as well, then, by Papyrus," Gwen said, "And that he had rented the house to keep you and the other two suspects as hostages without any interference. Sans had also previously mentioned a first location, a first house. Did he kidnap you three there originally?"

"Yeah, he wanted us to all be 'the best brothers' in that dump. It was terrible, house was old, he didn't even bother to hide the godd*mn bloodstains."

"The bloodstains?"

"Yeah," Red said, leaning against his hand. "Where I'm from, us f*ckers at least sweep aside the dust. But no, that other Papyrus didn't even notice the goshdarn bloodstain near the stairs, f*cking moron. Too busy prepping us up for his weird fantasies for his stupid obsession."

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked.

"Oh, don't you know?"

Red leaned forward towards her, grin stretching out.

"The guy yer trying to get 'justice' for is a bloody murderer, just like me."