"Is that all you have?" I asked Tanisha. I didn't see the captain of the barracks. Maybe he was embarrassed or no more on the job. Whatever the case, the in charge of this case was Tanisha.
"There was nothing in the first place. What we have is simply the details of the victims and the suspect. Nothing regarding the case has surfaced." She explained in detail and she was right, there was nothing related to the case. Just the testimonies of the witnesses. Other than that, everything in here was information on the victims and the suspects.
"How long has this case been open?" I asked after giving all the information a detailed read. "Three months." She replied.
Now that was strange. The latest murder was committed a week ago so if they had the suspect, how was that possible?
"Wasn't the suspect in your custody when the murder happened then?" I asked. She remained quiet in return. She was hesitant to reply. She knew what the reason was and she was itching to tell but for so reason, she couldn't.
"It's because the father of the suspect is a friend of a high-ranking officer in the militia. He was released due to lack of evidence." A voice answered instead of Tanisha. When I turned to see, it was none other than Desmond, my academy professor.
"What are you doing here?" He asked. He was questioning my reason for being here which ant he wasn't aware of this.
[In other words, it's a personal case]
'Seems so.'
"I have been assigned this case by the first elder. It was reported to the church and the church asked the elder council. The elder council trusted with this case." I replied with a complete lie. If it was not official, I would be ordered to be taken off this case. The only way to remain is to use an even higher authority. After all, what is he going to do to confirm my lie?
Ask the first elder?
"I see." As expected, even though he was skeptical of my explanation, he couldn't do anything about it so he just chose to accept it as is.
"Then what is your view on this case?" He asked after a while. "I will have to question everyone involved first. Also, I would need so authority on this case. I hope the authority of the higher-up can be taken care of." I stated my terms.
"It's already been done. The commander won't be a problem anymore." He replied.
Commander? That's not a small rank. Then the acquaintance of such a high rank would also be a high rank person. There was nothing about the suspect being from the noble lineage.
"The suspect is a noble?" I asked. Desmond nodded and replied, "A duke's son."
"Of which kingdom?" I asked. That was strange. Bellator City didn't have nobility living there. Only those who were employees of the academy lived here. They didn't have a rank as sa as the nobles. However, nobles from other kingdoms could live here if they paid for it.
They won't beco citizens of Bellator though.
"Shouldn't you know?" He asked, making a strange face. Even Tanisha was glancing at weirdly. "Should I?" I asked, unperturbed by their faces.
"From the empire. He is from the Cortum empire." He replied. Now it made sense why he was looking at like that. But shouldn't he find sothing else strange?
[Like why a criminal of the empire was being investigated here?]
Exactly. If the person belongs to the empire, why wasn't the empire investigating this? If it was so small-ti noble, they would have ignored it but it was a duke, the highest nobility of the Cortum empire.
"I wasn't made aware of this fact. But, then why is he being judged here?" I replied and then asked.
"That would be because of his latest victim," Desmond replied. I opened the file again and read about the last victim. This ti, looking for anything tying it to the academy, and there it was, staring in the face.
'I think I know the personal reason now.'
[Denise Ferrahfowler]
"So the kingdom of Sinefeild has requested a neutral investigation?" I asked after tying up the connections. I knew Michelle. Michelle is a major character in the novel. Naturally, her life was also covered. Also, the part where her friend's younger sister was murdered by a noble of the empire.
Since the victim belonged to a major household of the Sinefeild kingdom, the Sinefeild kingdom took it to heart. It played a very significant role in the kingdom's decision about joining the alliance of the seven kingdoms which would be one of the causes of the downfall of the Lux family.
"They have. And the empire granted that however, we couldn't rule out all possibilities." Desmond replied. "The said commander?" I asked, referring to the possibility they failed to rule out.
"Yes." He replied. I'm sure Desmond is here because Bellator ssed up. They were trusted with neutrality yet it was one of their own who favored the suspect. Their image is at stake and they sent the best person to collect that situation.
"Can you take to the victim's families? Let us begin with the first one." I asked Tanisha who nodded and we both left.
=====
Since most of the girls were of commoner lineage, so even being lower, their families were scared off to keep them quiet. I didn't get much from them. Nothing, if I have to say. I did however find out that they had no connection with each other, at all.
The pain behind their words was concealed behind the wall of fear of the greater and mighty so it was natural they wouldn't say anything. I doubt they even knew anything in the first place.
The murderer ssed up when it ca to his last victim though. And that was the family I was finally here to see.
"My daughter was innocent. She wasn't even of age to marry yet." A broken father described her daughter. Dean Ferrahfowler was the na of this unfortunate father whose daughter had been brutally murdered. I didn't know the details of the murder as I had yet to see the dead bodies but I thought visiting the families of the victims would help decide whether I would keep this case or not.
[And the verdict?]
'I haven't decided yet. I will do so after seeing the dead bodies.'
[Why?]
'Because bodies of the dead tell the tale better than those who are alive.'
While he was telling the details of his daughter, I glanced around the room I was in. It wasn't a guest room but a family living room it seems given there were portraits of the family mber. One of the portraits showed a girl with sandy green eyes and black hair along with another girl of the sa features, only older.
There was also a portrait of an older woman who had sandy green eyes but hair of a similar color as well, not black.
"I know it might sound insensitive but a father doesn't know his daughter the best. A mother does. In my opinion, daughters don't share much with their fathers but they do confide in with their mothers or sisters." I spoke once he had settled down a bit and added, "Is it possible to talk to her mother?"
"She dead." He replied after so ti. "I agree with you too. My daughters don't confide with much. I love them but I know, they have their secrets from . After all, won don't share their secrets with n." He added after a brief pause.
I nodded and asked, "You said, daughters? You have another daughter?"
I knew he had another daughter. Friend of Michelle but I wasn't supposed to know that.
"Yes." He replied and then stood up and left. He returned after so ti with a girl of black hair and sandy green eyes. He nodded towards and left. As for the girl, she took a seat in front of and said, "Ask. What do you want to know?"
She wasn't friendly.
[You expect her to be?]
'Of course not. She has all the reason to be unfriendly.'
I am from the empire after all. I could very well be here to prove the innocence of one of my subjects.
"I would like to begin by asking, did your sister know the rest of the murder victims?" I began to ask. If she wasn't friendly, I didn't need her to be. I only needed information.
"No. She did not." She replied to the point.
"Did your sister know the suspect?" I asked next.
"He is not a suspect. He is a murderer." She sternly spoke, gritting her teeth.
"Very well. Can you tell why the murderer, Jack Rodon would want to kill your sister?" I rephrased my question to her liking.
"No. I do not." She was a little taken aback at my lack of defense but nevertheless, replied.
"Is your house connected to the Rodon house in any way?" I asked next.
"No, it isn't. We have t a few banquets but we don't have any active relations with them." She replied.
I nodded and stood up to leave, "If you rember anything about your sister's relation to all of this, then please visit the eastern barracks to cooperate with the investigation. If she had sothing regarding soone troubling her. If she was lost in the last few days before her murder. Anything."
Without another word, I left. She had nothing to say to anyway except for so hate words which I didn't have the ti to listen to.
"Let us go to the morgue where the bodies are," I instructed Tanisha who was waiting for outside.
=====
"What? You are not going to co in?" I asked Tanisha who stopped outside the morgue. "I… I cannot bear to see the cruelty done to them." She replied. I was confused by her answer and went in. And there it was, the reason she was saying that.
On three beds, lay three girls of similar ages. All blondes. But why blondes? "Where is the noble girl?" I asked the morgue keeper.
"That one." He pointed to the corpse that was at last. That was strange because the portrait girl I saw back at the Ferrahfowler estate had black hair.
"Didn't she have black hair?" I asked the morgue keeper.
"How would I know?" He shrugged his shoulders and replied.
I ca closer to the noble girl and opened her eyes. As expected, they were sandy green. She was the sa girl.
Then I checked the eyes of the next girls and they also had green eyes. Either this is a hell of a coincidence or I have just found my similarity between the girls.
"Didn't her family say anything about her hair?" I still couldn't let go of the hair thing so I asked the morgue keeper.
"Well, I would think that one would focus less on hair if they saw their loved one lying there dead." He sarcastically replied. It was the most plausible explanation. I an, her face was the sa so hair color would play less role in identifying the corpse.
But this also ans blonde hair and green eyes are the main points in this investigation.
I checked how the hair was done thinking that it was a very well-done wig but it wasn't. The hair was real. Just that it didn't belong to the victims. Upon deeper checking, I found that the hair was sewn in the skin. The sewing was so small that it was almost negligible. Micro would be a more accurate word.
I checked it completely and found out that the victim was dead when it happened which ant it was done very fast. So either Jack Rodon has a speed blessing or there was more than one person involved in this job.
I removed the cloth covering the entire body of the corpses. It was a nightmare for soone not used to the sight. From closer inspection, there were incisions above every vital organ. Heart, kidney, and lungs. They were extracted.
I further checked it deeper and found out that they weren't violated so it wasn't a ra*pe cri. So it could be an organ trafficking cri.
But what doesn't make sense is why would they leave the eyes. The eyes are the most precious organs of all others. Why leave them? And why do their hair?
[You know where the answer to that could be found, right?]
'Yep.'
[And the verdict?]
'I'm taking the case'
[Ding]
[A quest has arrived]
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