Chapter 14: What Happened?
About 1:00 A.M. in the morning, I woke up to the sound of a loud thud coming from the hallway outside. "What the hell was that... did you you hear it too, Ringo?" I asked. "Yeah, maybe we should go see what caused that noise." She replied. The hallway lights would turn off around midnight, so we both knew that it would be pitch black. I decided that the best course of action was to use my phone as a flashlight. I opened the door to let us outside. We looked around to see whatever we could find. "It looks like no one else was startled by whatever we heard." I said. "Yep, seems to be that way." Ringo responded. I had her come with me through the left side of the hall, then shortly after, I notice something within the darkness. I went on ahead while she stayed put. Upon closer inspection, I found a thing that horrified me. "! Oh… my… God… R-R-Ringo…? I think you may want to l-look at this." I said, shuddering violently. "What is it, and why do you sound so scared… Dave…? N-no… it can't be… A D-DEAD BODY?!" A shocking event had hit the both of us like a truck. Neither of us ever imagined that a murder would happen here of all places. This dead person had laid down in a pool of blood on her side and a knife embedded in the back. I couldn't identify who this person was because it was so dark, even with a light source. "What should we do?" Cried Ringo. It took me sometime to think of a game plan. "...We go back to our room… Who knows whether or not it's safe out here right now. Whoever is our mystery murderer, they are likely still hiding somewhere in the shadows nearby." I hypothesized. She nods and we entered to lock ourselves to sleep in until the sun rises.
We woke up again and got ready, to where we heard a scream. Expecting this to happen, we both rushed to the scene while all of our friends came. "MURDER! THIS IS HORRIBLE!" Amite screamed. Jace suddenly came too. "Out of the way, I need to see the body for myself!" He slipped past everyone. "! I can't believe it… Mari has been dead for several hours. The dried up blood on the ground proves this very fact. When I find out who has done this, I swear to God…!" I was shocked to learn that secretary of the student council was killed. "Pss… Dave, wasn't she a member of the student council?" Ringo asked me. "Yeah she was, a bright and cheery one at that. The question is though, who would do this to her?" "I dunno, it just doesn't make sense…" I decided to talk to Jace about this murder. "Hey Jace, I think that there is something important that you should know." I told him. "*sigh* What's that, Dave?" He asked. "Me and Ringo were the first ones to discover the body like this, from around one in the morning." I explained. "WHAT?!" He exclaimed, glaring at me. "Tell. Me. Everything!" He demanded. "Alright, jeez… We woke up to a sudden loud noise that no one else heard, so we decided to check it out on our own. When we discovered the corpse, we got scared went to our room to wait until morning." "You let the criminal get away, whoever they were! Why did you wait?!" He questioned us. "We figured that we would get ourselves killed if we stayed outside. So we didn't want to risk it and locked the door to our room after entering." Ringo said in response. "Hm… Fair point. But still, everyone needs to be notified of something like this immediately. Anyway, is there a detective that can help me investigate? As long as we are isolated on this island, proper authorities will take too long to arrive." Jace requested. "I'm not really a detective, but I'm probably as close as you can get. I can perform forensics and whatnot, so I could make an autopsy for you if that's what you want." Risukuma said. "Fine enough, you'll be the leading detective in this, so I guess that makes me prosecutor." He replied. "Wait, you have prosecuted before Jace?" I asked. "No, not officially since I am too young, but I have shown the legal part of this world that I possess a great deal of promise." He said. "I see" I said. "Now Detective uh…" "Risukuma." "Right… Risukuma, we must now investigate." Jace said as he and Risukuma began to look around the crime scene, and the surrounding area.
A few minutes came and went, Ex comes into the picture. "What happened guys? We came here as fast as we could." He said. "Oh Ex, it's awful! A murder happened last night." I said to him. "My God…" Tee said in disbelief. "What?! Where's the body?" Ex asked me. I pointed to the body's location. "It's currently being looked at by Jace and the leading detective chosen for this." I explained. "*sigh* At this point, this is going to have to go to court…" He trailed. "But we're stuck on this island until the last day… how will there be a court case soon after the initial investigation?" Ringo wondered. "OH! I just remembered you two, I think I saw an area in this resort that looked like a courtroom. Plus, I used to be an active judge for courts. I still have the qualifications to be one too." Ex said. "Well that's certainly a tale, you used to be a judge… argh! What am I thinking? That can wait, this murder is far more important." I muttered. "Is there an actual suspect in all of this?" Tee asked me. "No, not yet Tee, but that is currently being looked into. But… just gaze at that body… It's quite a depressing sight, no doubt about that." I said. "Yeah… it makes me feel so… oooh, I can't think of the perfect word to describe this." Ringo spoke. "Empty?" Ex helped her. "Yes, empty… it makes me feel empty inside." She finished. I hugged Ringo in empathy. "There, there… We'll find out who has done this, and they'll get what they deserve. Justice will be served by the time this fully resolves. For now though, all we can do is wait Ringo." I told her. "Thank you, Dave." She smiled. We waited for whenever we heard anything else back. Jace and Risukuma come back about an hour to announce to everyone about something. "Alright everyone, we have found who seems to be the suspect in all of this. She is currently being detained and pleading not guilty of this atrocity. She goes by the name… "Draco Centauros", a half human and half dragon hybrid being." Jace reported. "!" My body broke down, not believing it for a second, I wondered about the reason why Draco was seen as the potential murderer. "D-Dave?" Ringo spoke, worried. "What the hell...? There's no way that Draco would have a reason... or any gall to murder an innocent person. I may not know too much about her… but she was primarily why I am still alive." I muttered. "So you think that she didn't do it?" Ringo asked. "No Ringo, I don't just think that, I know for a fact she didn't do it. I intend on seeking out for the truth to save her. If there isn't anyone to defend her, then I'll be her defense. I may have never stepped foot into a courtroom before, however I have the knowledge of what it means to be defending a defendant. I will stop at nothing to make sure that I can get an acquittal… Can you help me with that Ringo? It would mean the world to me if you could." I asked of her. "Why of course, I'll help you in any way I can." She responded. "Thank you, let's talk with Jace about this afterward." I said.
We got our chance to speak to him about what was on my mind. "Jace, can we talk? This topic will only take a minute or two." I asked. "Very well, speak." I spoke my thoughts about his findings as the prosecution and believed not being the full truth. "Tch, don't you see Dave? This case is clear, cut, and dry. There shouldn't be anything else to it, just a simple murder with no strings attached. Why are you so opposed to the outcome?" He wondered. "Because I know that Draco would NEVER do something like this." I said. "Pah, do you have evidence that says "She didn't do it"?" He asked me. "W-well… that's besides the point, I want to know the truth of what really happened last night Jace." "Well you can't, you don't have investigative authority since you are not serving as either prosecution or defense." He argued. "Funny you should say that… I HAVE had experience as a defense attorney, but like you, it was more like showing promise that I could serve as one." I told him. "Wh-what…? I see, I guess you can investigate… but only after we finish doing so. Prosecution and defense are not supposed to be working together outside of the courts." He gave in. "You have my gratitude." I thanked him. "Save your breath, I never wanted you to be involved in this... you'll just get in my way." He finished. Before he walked away, I asked one last question. "Wait, where is Draco being held at?" "If you see Kassandra, she'll tell you where." He replied.
We looked for Kassandra for a while until stumbling into her. "Kassandra hey, I need to know something. It's about the suspect, I want to talk to her. So, where is she exactly?" I asked. "Oh yeah, that dragon girl, ugh… if you insist, then I suppose I'll lead you to her." "Thank you." Draco appeared miserable and seemed full of innocence. She sat down with her hands cuffed, unable to move around very well. Her and the misfortunes that she has, it was unlucky to say the least. "Draco, it's me Dave…" "D-Dave? Oh thank God, I need you to help me outta this jam. I didn't have anything to do with it!" She panicked. "Don't worry, I'm already certain that you had no rhyme or reason to kill the victim. But, I still need information… what were you doing at the time of the murder?" I asked her. "Argh… I dunno, my memory of last night was foggy after the hot spring stuff. … uuuh… OH! I did notice something unusual. It was two girls conversing with each other. I don't know who but they seemed to be arguing in private." She said. "Do you know who those two might be?" "Nah, one voice sounded familiar to me, but once again, my memory was screwed up." "Why was your memory like that to begin with, Draco?" "Someone must've laced me with a drug of sorts, because I passed out in a hallway. Next thing I know, I woke up, being taken into custody, without knowing what the fuck had happened! In fact, I still feel light headed and confused right now." I knew that her words were going to be important, but without her complete recollection of the time, me and Ringo were stuck with a fragmented testimony. "Was there anything else that you recall?" I asked. "Not really, that's about it.. ugh why is it always me that ends up in bad situations?" She wondered. "Looks like we aren't able to get anymore from her, Dave…" Ringo said. "Yeah, you're right Ringo… Draco I swear, I will prove you innocent in all this… just hang on alright? You saved me, now it my turn to do the same for you. It's only fair since you were so kind to me." I told her. Draco starts sniveling in relief. "*sob* *sniff* Thank you so much Dave…" I waved to her goodbye, and left with Ringo at my side every step of the way.
Author's Notes: Dave and Ringo set off, preparing to investigate not just the crime scene, but the entire resort. They learned of who was assumed to have murdered the victim Mari, Draco Centauros. Dave was fully intent on proving Draco's innocence no matter what. Just what secrets lie around for these two to find? It was only a matter of time before they go discover the truth behind this murder, but what could this very truth be? Next chapter, Chapter 15: Investigation.