"Excuse me."

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave. The agency won't be open for-"

"You aren't supposed to be here either... At least, not like this."

"Please leave. We aren't open yet, and we don't accept clients this early in the morning."

"I know what I came here for, and it isn't for a case."

"I don't care why you're here. All I ask is that you leave. Right now, you're trespassing, and I have half a mind to call the authorities to make sure that you back off."

"I dare you to try. You won't get far. I am the one in control here. You are the one who listens to me."

"Step away right now."

"Not until you stop causing problems for the people that I care about. You know exactly what you're doing, and if you won't halt this on your own, then I'll simply have to make sure that this is no longer an issue."

"Leave. You aren't welcome here, and I will call the authorities if you don't-"

"I told you that I'm the one in charge here! Quiet!"

"What are you-?!"

"I warned you, but since you refused to listen, you had to face the consequences of your actions... Absolutely pathetic. Never again will you cause issues for those I care about... As it should be."

"..."

November 20

Morix Law Offices

8:45 AM

Lily Shield

It was another regular day at the agency, and I was heading into work as one would have expected. This was the last day that I was working for the week, and I was pretty excited to get off. As much as I loved spending time with the crew at the agency, I was more than ready for a vacation that I was planning on taking with my brother and mother. We all needed a break from the hustle and bustle of daily life, and I couldn't have asked for a better time. With all that had been happening recently at the agency, I was ready for a chance to kick my feet back and have some fun.

Ever since the case at the school, there had been an aura of stress around the agency. The culprit behind the victim's attack still hadn't been found. We knew who had caused the domino effect that ended with the victim's death, but the one responsible for all of the chaos in the first place still evaded our grasp. We didn't have the slightest clue as to who could have sent the victim off to cause problems, and the prosecution involved with the case had been digging constantly.

Then there was Mr. Morix. He had been beyond paranoid in recent times, always wanting Chrysalis to stay where he could see her. I supposed that the cases within the past few months had finally started to get to him, not that I could particularly blame him. I was sure that Robbie would have treated me the same way if something similar had happened with me. I knew how similar the two of them were despite their vastly different temperaments. They were as protective as it got, and trying to convince them to relax was a lost cause.

I knew that it would be another few hours before Mr. Morix and Chrysalis came into work, so I was left with the task of opening up the agency for the day. I slid my key into the door's lock and walked inside, humming to myself all the way. I was ready to see what the world had to present to us during the day. We hadn't received any larger cases in quite some time, though I thought that was more than fine. After all, we couldn't constantly run without expecting to stumble a time or two, so we needed a chance to step back and let out a sigh of relief.

I made my way through the entrance of the agency, but I was assaulted by an awful and rotten smell a moment later. I let out a hiss as I clamped my hand over my nose, not caring about how the metal of my keys graced my skin along the way. I didn't know what the hell that smell was, but I was positive that it was absolutely disgusting.

It was only after I managed to muster the courage to remove my hand that I got a truly strong whiff of what it was that was making the lobby of the agency stink so much. I could tell that I had gone pale without even needing to check my reflection. After all, there was no mistaking that disgusting aroma.

Blood.

I glanced around the area hesitantly, unsure of what could have happened for the stench to be so powerful and awful. I was already nervous about what was to come, and I could feel my stomach twist. I was supposed to be the first person at the agency this morning. Nobody else was meant to come by until at least eleven, and since mornings were usually slower, I would be able to get away with being the only one there as everyone else dealt with other miscellaneous business. I didn't understand who would be here so early. Mr. Morix and Chrysalis would be the regular suspects, but they had already told me in advance they were going to be late.

I found the responsible area in front of the entryway desk, and I felt myself stumble backwards by a few feet as soon as I saw the large puddle of blood. I leaned down to examine it closer, and I cringed upon seeing that it was still wet. This had been a recent incident. There was a lot more blood than I would have expected, and I absolutely hated this. Who could have been hurt? How did anyone even get into the agency at a time like this?

However, I knew that this wasn't the time to be investigating on my own. I had to call somebody to figure out what was going on. I fumbled through my purse, shoving my keys in haphazardly before my fingers closed around my phone. I yanked it free and pressed down on a few buttons on the screen to bring up the emergency call screen. I could feel my heart starting to beat faster under the influence of adrenaline. No matter how hard I tried to look away from the scene, all I could see was the blood on the floor, and the idea of glancing at anything else seemed too daunting for me to even consider.

"What's your emergency?"

As soon as I heard the voice on the other end, I swallowed dryly, not having noticed how nervous I was until I actually had to open my mouth. Still, I couldn't be caught up in my nerves forever. I had to explain what was happening. I nodded to myself even though I knew that nobody would be able to see. "I-I need to report something..."

November 20

Morix Law Offices

11:00 AM

Deirdre Brigit

I don't know what I was expecting when I started to approach the agency, but I can promise that the last thing I anticipated was a large crowd of police officers to have surrounded the area.

I could see the various cars scattered about the parking lot as I got closer, and I did my best to remain calm as I slid into a parking space. My heart was already starting to pound with anxiety, and I scrambled out of the vehicle as quickly as I could manage without tripping over myself. This was not a good sign, though that was obvious from the outset, I suppose.

As I drew closer, I did my best to see through the crowd of officers that blocked my way into the building. I found that it was impossible to get much closer than I already had though, and I could feel my nerves growing worse with each passing second. Why were they here? What had happened to make them come here in the first place? I already had an awful feeling about all of this.

"Deirdre!"

I turned upon hearing the familiar voice of Mr. Morix, and I walked over to him slowly. He was leaning against the outside of the building with his arms crossed, and he was watching me with an oddly dull gaze. I hadn't seen him looking this serious in a long time, and it was beyond unsettling for me. Mr. Morix was normally such a warm man, but when he got down to business, it was borderline terrifying. His protective nature was not something to be trifled with, to say the least.

"What's going on?" I questioned as I walked closer to him, though part of me wondered if I even wanted to know what was happening. For all I knew, this would be something awful that pointed to the agency facing disaster. What if somebody had been hurt? That would certainly explain why there were police cars here. There had definitely been a crime, and all I could do was hope for the best that nothing too awful had taken place.

"I wish I could tell you," Mr. Morix replied. "I know that it's something bad though. Nobody here will tell me anything. I haven't been able to find anybody that we know either. It's just too chaotic for me to try and track anybody down... Lily was supposed to open the agency this morning, but I haven't been able to get in contact with her since I came here. It's worrying that she suddenly isn't doing anything to reach out to us..."

I felt my throat grow tight with the idea that something could have happened to her. I already had an awful feeling about this. What if she had been hurt somehow? I didn't want to believe it, but given the fact that there were so many people here, it seemed clear that something awful had taken place.

"I don't know what's going on here, but as soon as I can find someone I trust to give us reliable information, I intend to find out," Mr. Morix said darkly. I could tell that there was something else on his mind, but I didn't know how to go about getting him to talk about it. After all, Mr. Morix was very good whenever it came to hiding things that he wasn't ready to share with the world. It was one reason that he had been such a strong component of the Oracle project since its inception. He was a secretive person by nature whether everyone chose to acknowledge it or not, and I didn't want to press the issue when there was so much happening around us as it was.

I fell silent as I looked out over the crowd of police officers. I was desperate to hear about what could have happened to cause such an uproar. The fact that Lily wasn't answering any of Mr. Morix's calls was worrying me, and I hoped that nothing bad had happened to her. I didn't know what we would do if she was hurt or something similar. I felt like I was going to be sick just thinking of all the negative outcomes that could reveal themselves to us.

Normally, I was a rather composed person. I knew how to keep calm when I absolutely had to, but this was far from being something that I was able to control. It came out of nowhere and surprised me in ways that I hadn't anticipated. There had been no way for us to prepare for this, and suddenly needing to cope with it didn't sit well with me in the slightest.

I could see the crowd start to shift, and I rose to my full height once again when I realized that there was someone moving in our direction. Mr. Morix did the same, his gaze remaining that strange haunted shade all the while. I was desperate to ask him what was going on, but I persuaded myself to keep from saying anything while waiting in the silence.

Soon afterwards, a pair of figures emerged from the group of police officers. I recognized them immediately as Detective Erikson and Detective Wattson. They both looked rather stoic, though Detective Wattson allowed herself to relax as she caught sight of us. "It's nice to see that some of you are here," she explained. Her eyes remained somewhat tired and weary, and that only made the sickening feeling in my stomach worse.

"What's happening?" Mr. Morix questioned. "I got here about half an hour to try and figure out what was going on, but nobody has told me anything. I've been trying to get in contact with one of our coworkers for quite some time as well, but she hasn't been answering any of our calls."

"If you're talking about Ms. Shield, we can tell you that she's safe," Detective Erikson started. His words sent a wave of relief crashing through me, but I could tell that there was more to it than simply being sealed away with the knowledge of her safety. "Well... She hasn't been harmed physically if that's what you're worried about. She's been taken into questioning, and there are some here at the scene of the crime who believe that she was responsible for what happened."

"What did happen?" I asked. The way that he was dancing around it made me even more nervous than usual, and I found myself shifting on the spot with anticipation. I didn't understand any of this, and while I was curious about the sudden chain of events, part of me wondered if I wanted to understand in the first place.

"We don't know," Detective Wattson confessed after a moment of silence. "All we can be sure of is that there was something bad... Ms. Shield walked into the agency to open it for the day, but she found a large pool of blood in the entryway on the floor. She didn't know what happened, so she called the authorities. That's when officers started to show up, and the investigation began after that."

"A large pool of blood?" Mr. Morix echoed, his eyes going wide. "Do you know who it belongs to? Someone must have been attacked, but we need to know who was hurt and why..."

"We don't know that, I'm afraid," Detective Erikson said with a shake of his head. "There was a pool of blood there, and a few small objects were left behind. Still, that's all that we know, and I'm afraid that not much evidence could be found from the scene of the crime. We don't know who the victim is, why they were attacked, or where they could have gone. We can't say if the victim is alive or dead at this point either given the fact that the body, assuming that the victim did die, is gone. There's next to nothing for us to go off, and it's causing quite a few problems for our investigation as we try to get to the bottom of what could have taken place."

"This case is all about a disappearing victim then," I murmured, frowning to myself. "Regardless of if the victim is dead or alive, we need to figure out what happened to them. Surely at least something must have been left behind at the scene of the crime that we could use to identify the person in question."

Detective Erikson and Wattson shared a brief glance before the latter gestured for us to follow her as she started walking towards the building. I already had a sneaking suspicion that I knew what she was going to help us with, and sure enough, I was correct. She and Detective Erikson started to find a way into the building by parting the crowd of officers. It was a crowded operation, but at least it gave us a chance to arrive at our destination.

There were a few officers in the main lobby when we arrived, but it was far less crowded inside than I would have been expecting. I glanced around the area with a frown on my face, trying not to cringe at the overpowering stench of blood. I almost feared that I was going to be sick if I had to stay in the area for much longer. The air was hot and thick due to the fact that there were far too many people in the lobby, and I couldn't help but wish that we could simply kick out the lingering officers.

"Here we are," Detective Erikson said, finding a place to stand beside the large pool of blood. He gestured down to it with a sigh. "Like I said, we don't have any ideas as to who could have been hurt, and we don't have any suspects regarding the culprit either. We'll need to continue putting time into all of this before we can find an official answer."

"The officers involved with the case are likely going to try and claim that Ms. Shield was responsible, but we can make sure that somebody from your agency winds up on the defense. I'm sure that would put your mind at ease," Detective Wattson told us. "Feel free to look around to your heart's content. I don't know how much you're going to find, but we trust that you'll be able to figure something out. We'll be over there talking to a few of the officers on duty if you need us." She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder to show where she was going to be waiting before taking a step away. Detective Wattson waved before she and Detective Erikson retreated to the location in question.

I glanced down at the blood on the ground with a frown, trying to pull the pieces together as to how this could have happened. I didn't know how anyone would have even been able to get into the agency. After all, Lily was the one who was meant to open the business that morning, but she was clearly not the one who had been hurt. She had likely discovered the scene, and that was why she was a suspect in the first place. That still left the question of what had happened unanswered, and my curiosity started to eat at me all over again.

My gaze found the desk behind the splatter of blood. It was surprisingly free of crimson stains, and it looked as if nobody had even touched it. It was so strange to have something that was so normal standing tall and proud next to a giant pool of ruby blood. I couldn't help but shudder at the unsettling sight.

Mr. Morix didn't seem to mind the blood as much as I would have expected. Instead, he walked past the pool to examine the desk. Everything there looked normal as could be to me, but there was something about it that seemed to strike him as odd. Mr. Morix reached out his hand to the area behind the upper segment of the desk. There were two layers of the piece of furniture; the lower one was where a laptop was often set to manage who came in and out while the upper shelf contained other miscellaneous objects such as a box of tissues and a few leaflets about our agency and what sort of cases it took on regularly.

Mr. Morix pulled his hand away from the lower shelf, and I saw that he was holding a candle. He examined it with a shaded frown that told me there was something more going on than he was telling me about. He rotated the candle before he set it down, but he didn't return it to its original place. Instead, he picked up a small card that looked like an identifier of some sort. There was a silver necklace beside the card, and a small butterfly charm could be seen on the end of the chain.

Mr. Morix stared down at both objects, and I saw something dark overcome his vision. He shook his head soon afterwards before he dropped the locket and card into his pocket. He kept his hands pressed firmly into his pockets even after the objects had been positioned properly, and his lips remained tightly sealed. I couldn't tell if he wanted to explain the story behind what they were to me or not. It was too chaotic in the room for us to even hope to have a private conversation, so if we wanted to communicate without anyone listening in, we would have likely had to go outside.

Still, he didn't seem to want to follow up on it. Mr. Morix gave me a solemn glance as he took a step away from the desk. "I trust you and the others at the agency to handle this. I have other business to take care of. As soon as I have answers for you, I'll tell you what's going on," he explained darkly. His words made it clear that he wouldn't be tolerating objection, not that I would have tried to protest in the first place. He had changed, and I had an awful feeling about whatever was written on that card.

I watched in stunned silence as Mr. Morix walked out of the building, his hands still firmly pressed into his pockets. I decided to look down to the desk, and I found myself staring at the candle that had caught his attention in the first place. I picked it up cautiously and examined it on all sides, hoping that something notable would stick out to me and offer me with the answers needed to understand Mr. Morix and his cryptic departure a moment prior.

In all honesty, it was strange that there was a candle in the agency at all. Chrysalis had made it clear a few times that she hated candles, and Mr. Morix wasn't fond of them either. The candle hadn't been burned at all. The plastic seal around the lid had been removed, but aside from that, it hadn't been touched. What was the point of having an unused candle on the desk? I hadn't ever seen it there before, and the clear disdain that Chrysalis and Mr. Morix, the two most prominent figures at the agency, had for candles only made me wonder more what could have motivated them to keep it around.

I figured that I wouldn't be able to learn much more about the case if all I did was stare at the candle though, so I shifted my attention back to the pool of blood. In all honesty, there really wasn't much to see. I didn't even know what sort of injury could have caused all this since there wasn't a weapon anywhere in sight. I didn't see any bullet holes in the lobby either, so if it was a shooting, the culprit had likely taken the gun with them and made sure the victim absorbed the shot.

In my eyes, chances were high that the victim was dead. That was what I thought of all this at the very least. After all, we would have heard something if the victim was alive. They would have gone to the hospital and reported what happened, but we hadn't heard anything of the sort. Unless the police had yet to learn about the victim in question, they were likely dead. Then again, there were too questions surrounding the case for me to say for sure, so I wasn't going to jump to any conclusions prematurely. It would be best if we took our time and waited before we could see all of the facts before figuring out what we believed to have happened.

That reminded me that it seemed as if I was alone on this case. Mr. Morix had been very clear that I was meant to take care of this case with others at the agency, making it seem to me as if he wasn't going to be helping me out with this. I didn't know why he wanted to stay away, but I assumed that it had something to do with the card and necklace that had been hiding near the candle. Given that the crime took place in the agency he owned, one would have expected him to want to learn as much as possible, but it seemed that he had other intentions. I wasn't sure as to why this was, but I wasn't going to press it either. After all, if he wanted space, then I was going to provide it. I didn't want to push him when we were in a stressful enough situation as it was.

I decided to reach into my pocket and pull out my phone. I sent a quick text to the other members of the agency to see if they would respond, saying that something had happened and that I was going to need help. Felicity immediately asked what had happened, but I didn't explain what I knew right off the bat, knowing that it was only going to confuse and frighten her further. Instead, I asked that she and Sky go to the detention center to see Lily and keep her company. Yuri and Victoria agreed to come meet me at the agency since they were curious about the events that I was referring to. Nobody commented on it, but Chrysalis never answered, and neither did Mr. Morix.

I allowed myself to put the phone away before I turned my attention back to the crime scene. There really wasn't much here to go off, and I didn't know where to start in figuring out who the culprit could have been. I was sure that somebody would have needed a way to get into the building in the first place, and the keys that all of us agency members had would have been the best way to do that. I was sure that this would be one of the ways that the prosecution attempted to finger Lily as the culprit since she was able to get into the building without rousing any suspicion. Still, I knew that she wouldn't have done anything like this, and I was going to do everything that I could to prove it to everyone else too.

The lack of a weapon was what bothered me most. Since the crime was so recent, it wasn't as if there was a way for us to know who the victim was based on reports of disappeared people. All that we really had to work off was the pool of blood and the fact that it had taken place in the agency. The identification card found under the candle was something of note as well, but I wasn't going to ask Mr. Morix about it until I could see him in person and press for details.

I had learned all too well how Mr. Morix functioned two years prior to this case, and I knew that the best way to get him to talk about something was to confront him in person with lots of evidence. The Oracle project had taught him how to be secretive, and if he wanted to dodge a question, he would do it. Mr. Morix was deceptive in his behavior seeming open, relaxed, and laid back at a first glance to hide the truth of how secretive and quiet he truly was. He knew when he wanted to keep something quiet, and the Oracle project had been the example of the hour when I first came to work at the agency. If he was as desperate to keep this quiet as I was thinking he would be, I was going to have to confront him with as much proof that he was involved as I could possibly pull together.

Until I could find traces of what was happening though, I was going to have to concentrate on investigating the case. I wouldn't be able to go and talk to Lily until after her questioning had finished, and I was willing to bet that she had only been taken into custody a few hours ago. Besides, Felicity and Sky would be more than willing to tell me when she was free to talk if they went to the detention center as they said they were going to. I didn't seem to have time to wait for Lily to be available, so they were going to help me instead. I made a mental note to thank them for their help as soon as I had the chance to do so.

A sigh left my lips as I gave the rest of the room one final scan. This case was odd in a way that I didn't know how to describe. I mean, the reasons for its strange nature were clear as could be between the missing weapon, missing victim, and unknown identity. Were there even any witnesses aside from Lily that we would be able to receive testimony from? If she was the only one who had seen anything, then we were certainly in trouble because the prosecution would encourage the judge to not trust her. The logic would be that she could lie to get out of the defendant's chair, and without evidence, we wouldn't be able to refute their claims.

I hoped with everything I had that Yuri and Victoria got there soon. There wasn't anything to do but look around the scene of the crime, which was as bare bones as it got. Maybe they would be able to find something that I was missing out on. I prayed that was the case at the very least. I didn't know if I would be able to find a way out of this unless they were able to point something out that had slipped through the cracks in my initial examination.

This was going to be an interesting case, to say the least.

I've been so excited for case six you have no idea

-Digital