May 29

Rhiza Lake

11:25 AM

Lily Shield

"I have a quick question, if you don't mind my asking," Chrysalis piped in a few seconds later, acting as if our chat about the photo had never happened.

"What's on your mind?" Robbie asked. He didn't seem to be openly competitive or hostile like he was with others. I bet that it was because she was with me. I had seen him in court against lawyers before. Let me tell you, he can get downright terrifying at times if you get on his bad side, so definitely avoid doing that.

"You're the prosecutors on the case, so you know where the crime scene is. If you would be so kind, could you show us there?" she asked of him.

Prosecutor Cruz opened his mouth to object, but Robbie cut him off. "Right this way." At this point, I was sure that he wouldn't be this nice under other circumstances. He had this whole bad boy image going on that he did his best to keep up where possible. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't do such a thing around me. If he tried, I would usually expose him for the softie that he really is. I guess he's just given up attempting it at this point. I don't blame him.

Prosecutor Cruz and Robbie took us over to a nearby area closer to the shore of the lake. A body was drifting in the water facedown. The man wore a dark coat that floated around him aimlessly. His dark brown hair was soaked. Truth be told, nothing about the scene seemed strange. It looked like just a normal drowning case, if you can even call that normal. There wasn't any other evidence floating about in the water for us to examine, which definitely meant that we had our work cut out for us if we wanted to prove that Ms. Mercure wasn't the killer. There had to be something of note around here for us to pick up...

"This isn't even the weirdest part," groaned Prosecutor Cruz. "You'd expect that photo to be the strangest part about this, but you'd be wrong. It's not normal for someone to have a photo on them of people they don't seem to know. However, this case just loves to get worse and worse, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Chrysalis asked. "Was there another piece of evidence at the scene of the murder that you picked up earlier or something?"

"You could say that," Robbie said awkwardly. He reached into his pocket and fished out a small photo. His face was bright red as he shoved the photo my direction. I had no idea what in the world this could be of to make him get so flustered. Robbie didn't get embarrassed about anything. I'd known him my whole life. Never before had he given into that sort of behavior. It really did make a girl wonder what in the world was going on in this case...

Chrysalis took the photo from him and flipped it over so the image was facing her. Her eyes instantly went wide. She flipped the photo back over and shook her head. "I'd rather not," she mumbled, giving the picture to me. "This has got to be some sort of joke. There is no way that something like that was found at the crime scene, right?"

"You have me a bit worried now," I said nervously. I almost didn't want to turn over the photo to see what it showed if it was making everybody else get so worked up. "It couldn't possibly be that bad. I mean, there's a dead body right in front of us, but it seems that this photo is causing even more stress."

Against my better judgement, I turned over the photo. My eyes instantly went wide. I let out a sigh. "Oh," I said simply, unable to think of anything else.

The picture was of a bra sitting on the shore of the lake. It had huge cups that might fit my head. It was lacy and seemed rather expensive. I couldn't help but just blink in confusion at it. Why had this been found at the crime scene? Why was it here? Was this really necessary to do, Killer Person?

"It was found on the shore of the lake when we arrived. We didn't know what else to do with it, so we had forensics go to take a look at it," sighed Robbie. "We haven't gotten any results back yet. Things aren't looking good as of now. Forensics is saying that the chances of finding something are slim. There were no hairs found stuck on the clasps or anything like that. There really isn't all that much we can do with it if there's nothing found on it."

"Do I even want to know why this was here?" I questioned. "I don't think I do."

"None of us do," Prosecutor Cruz huffed. "God, whoever did this is going to get it after this is over..."

"So all of us are all embarrassed now because a bra was found at the crime scene. This case is already shaping up to be messy," Chrysalis mumbled with a small shake of her head. "The least we can do is look around the crime scene a little bit more. There has to be something around here for us to look at in detail."

"Good luck finding anything," Robbie remarked with a frown. "The police came up empty-handed as far as evidence is concerned. There's no murder weapon since this was a drowning. Nothing else of note was found around here either. It's a miracle we even managed to find somebody to suspect."

"Let's look around, Lily," Chrysalis told me, nudging my arm gently. "We can at least see for ourselves, wouldn't you agree?"

"We'll leave you to it," Robbie said. "We have some other things to attend to anyways. Shout if you need anything, Lily."

I nodded. "Got it, Robbie," I smiled. I waved as he and Prosecutor Cruz walked away. I swear, if I didn't already know that they were prosecutors, I would have thought they were part of a gang. What is it with prosecutors and looking like gangsters? I mean, you've got these two and Chief Prosecutor Bespoke. There are probably others too. Prosecutor Bloom looks a bit dark and shadowy. Are we sure that the Prosecutor's Office isn't just a cult funded by the government?

Chrysalis and I walked over to the body. It was bobbing aimlessly in the water for the most part, but there was a rope around one ankle that kept the corpse from drifting away. The rope connected to a nearby pole that was sticking up from a dock. I bet that boats were usually tied to it when a race was going on, but since there was nothing big happening, it was left abandoned. From what I could tell, this area was far from the rest of the lake, secluded in comparison to other sections. This dock wasn't quite as large, which meant that not many people could be on it at once. That surely was a contributing factor to its abandonment.

"Like they mentioned earlier, there was no weapon used in this case. It's not like you can use something to drown anyone anyways. You just need water for that," Chrysalis said. "All the killer really had to do was get him near the lake, push him in, and hold him down. The air loss would have killed him. If that didn't work, the water entering his lungs would have had some bad effects. He wouldn't be alive for very long after it all ended. In a way, it's a bit of a perfect crime."

"What makes you say that?" I asked. "No crime can really be perfect. There has to be some trace of evidence left behind, like the... Unique bra we saw."

"I mean that since there's no weapon, no fingerprints can be left on it. The weapon is often the downfall of many criminals when the trial rolls around. Without one involved, a criminal won't have to worry about it. The job is taken care of without anything that can become an issue," Chrysalis told me. "It's a bit situational though. You don't see many drownings these days. It's not very easy to get somebody over near water to kill them off. You need a large body of water to do it well anyways. A bucket isn't exactly reliable since it can be tipped over and provide an opportunity for escape."

"With nothing left at the crime scene, we don't have much to go off," I frowned. "I mean, there's no murder weapon for us to turn against the killer. It looks like they covered their tracks pretty well too. Unless we can make heads or tails out of that bra, which we have no explanation for, we're screwed tomorrow."

"If you ask me, that means that our killer isn't Neptune," Chrysalis remarked. "I feel like that thing is way too big for her. It's an uncomfortable subject, I know, but... It doesn't seem to fit her. If it doesn't fit, it points to her not being the killer, which works in our favor. We just need to figure out who did wear it."

"I guess it could really be anyone... Do you think Cassidy would be able to wear it?" I questioned. "You've seen her a lot more than I have, so you know better."

"No way. Cassidy is really petite. Just the measure around the chest is at least four inches too large if you ask me. She's a bit smaller than I am in stature, if that's any indication," Chrysalis responded. "We need to try and find her if we can. She's bound to be around here somewhere. She can't just witness a crime and then run off without a word. I bet somebody is questioning her now, though I can't say that for sure. We should see if she's available after we're done here. With how our progress is going right now, it won't be much longer until we've wrapped things up. I must say, this has got to be the most barebones crime scene that I have ever investigated, which is saying quite a bit. Whoever killed the victim did a good job at covering up their tracks. Even the one piece of evidence they did leave behind could easily be interpreted as belonging to anyone. It puts us at what seems to be square one, which is really unfortunate."

"Let's go talk to the detective on the case before we do anything else. I bet that they have at least something for us," I suggested. I was trying to sound optimistic, but in truth, I was mostly trying to convince myself. With as few details as we had, we needed everything that we could get from the lead detective. I just hoped that they were going to be at least a little willing to help us out on this matter. We'd be in trouble if they were stubborn and against us.

"I haven't seen a detective around here, now that you mention it," Chrysalis frowned. "Perhaps we should go and take a quick look around. I'm sure that they're around here somewhere. It wouldn't make much sense if the detective wasn't overseeing the investigation. I bet that somebody around here can point us in the right direction, assuming that they aren't going to be against us since we're on the defense."

"Ah, so you two loves are on the defense?"

Upon hearing the new voice, Chrysalis and I turned to see a woman walking towards us. She had short brown hair and hazel eyes that shone brightly. She had a navy body warmer and denim shorts on. She was also wearing a red shirt with lengthy sleeves. Dark blue leggings were underneath her shorts, though they ended just above her brown shoes. She was smiling kindly at us. I noticed a bag was slung over one shoulder. It was bursting with all sorts of case files, though I couldn't see anything specific. From what I could tell, she appeared to be our detective. No other officers were dressed quite like this.

"Yes, we are," I nodded, taking a small step forward. "My name is Lily Shield. My assistant here is Chrysalis Starr. Are you the detective for this murder?"

The woman nodded. "I'm Vera Wattson. I work as a homicide detective," she told us. "You know, you look a lot like the prosecutor leading this case..."

"He's my older brother," I told her. "Sorry about him. I know he can be a bit of a hothead sometimes. It's just the way he is, I suppose."

Detective Wattson let out a small laugh. "No worries, love. He's just fine," she assured me. "I take it that you'll be wanting the autopsy report, yes?"

"That would be great," Chrysalis smiled to her.

Detective Wattson opened up her messenger bag and began rummaging through it. After a few moments of sifting, she pulled out a manilla folder and handed it to me. The label on it told us loud and clear that this was the aforementioned autopsy report. "Thank you," I grinned, examining the folder for a moment or two before flipping it open to see inside. Something about Detective Wattson just made me feel at ease. In a way, she reminded me of my mother, though you'd never catch me admitting something so embarrassing. She'd probably find it weird that I think something like that despite the fact that we just met, you know?

Chrysalis peered at the file from next to me. I held it over a little closer so that we could both read it okay:

Name: Jules Stigate
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Cause of Death: Air loss due to drowning in lake
Time of Death: 4:25 PM
Other: Body was found drifting in Rhiza Lake. Victim suffered no other external injuries.
~ Jasper Kent

"I was hoping that the autopsy report would be able to give us at least a little something more to work with, but I suppose that just wasn't meant to be," Chrysalis sighed. "This case is turning out to be rather difficult just because of how few details there are to play around with. It's going to take a lot of work to prove conclusively that Neptune didn't do it regardless of if we're positive another suspect is out there... I'm already not liking our odds, truth be told."

"I don't blame you. There's basically nothing to work with. I mean, how can we refute a claim made by my brother when we don't have anything to refute it with?" I asked, letting out a sigh. "We're going to have to be really focused if we want to pull this off... Is there anything else you can tell us, Detective Wattson? You probably know more about this case than we do. You're the detective, and we only got here a few minutes ago, unfortunately..."

Detective Wattson nodded. "I do have a little bit for you, love. For one, I think that I'll be able to let you go through the defendant's bag. If the prosecutor is your older brother, then he'll surely allow you to see it. I have it out in my car if you want to come and look into it. The bag doesn't have very much in it that one would take note of, but it sounds like you can use whatever you can get," she said. "Follow me right this way, loves." She turned over her shoulder and gestured for us to go after her. Chrysalis and I didn't need to be told twice. We shared a quick glance of relief before following her away from the lake.

We arrived at Detective Wattson's car after around two minutes of walking in silence. It was an old Jeep that had definitely seen better days, but I could easily tell that it was well-loved. Detective Wattson pressed on her key to unlock it before pulling open the back door. She dragged out yet another messenger bag that was overflowing with all sorts of things. It definitely looked like it belonged to a young woman who didn't enjoy keeping things tidy. Detective Wattson handed it to me, though I could tell that she was struggling with its weight. As soon as it passed into my hands, I could see why. My arm instantly fell downwards due to how heavy it was. I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out in shock. How could somebody have something so heavy? I mean, I went to school for years, so I knew that backpacks could pretty much be bricks you drag around everywhere, but this was borderline ridiculous!

"Sorry about how heavy it is, love," Detective Wattson said, noting how I was battling with the bag. "We left most of the stuff in there so as not to remove anything important on accident. The only noteworthy thing that was found was a small photo of a few people that we suspect are unrelated to the case. Well, the witness is in the photo, but aside from that, it likely has nothing to do with this murder. Have you seen it? The prosecution had it last I was aware."

"They showed it to us, yes," Chrysalis said with a nod. I could tell that she was deliberately keeping herself from mentioning that she was in the photo to keep Detective Wattson from asking any questions. Chrysalis seemed to enjoy her secrecy as far as I was aware. I wasn't going to keep it from her, so I chose not to intervene. It wasn't an issue, so I didn't have any reason to. Besides, I could ask her more about the picture after this had been all tied up.

"We have no idea why that was at the scene of the murder. Apparently, it was on the ground near the lake the victim was found in. Nobody can say if it connects to this murder. Perhaps its presence there was pure coincidence," remarked Detective Wattson. "The defendant said that it belonged to the sister of her friend, who happens to be the witness. Cassidy Rinko's older sister was apparently the owner of the picture while she was still alive. We haven't a clue how it ended up in this area, but it most certainly did. Her sister has been dead for months after she was murdered back in February, so it doesn't make much sense. The police have been trying to figure it out, but no one can make heads or tails out of it. Sorry if that's a disappointment, loves."

"It's fine, Detective Wattson," I smiled. "Thank you for telling us all this. I'm glad that you're helping us. I've heard some detectives can be a bit strict as far as interaction with the defense team. We're going to be able to use all that you're telling us to our advantage, so it's really much appreciated."

"It's my pleasure," Detective Wattson told us. She shut the door on her car and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Ah, it seems that Prosecutor Cruz wants to talk to me. Feel free to look through the bag for now. I can come back and get it in a little while. I trust you not to do anything bad." She pressed a button on her key that locked the car before walking away. "I'll see you later, loves. Tell me if you find anything interesting in there, alright?"

"Bye!" I chirped with a wave. Once she was out of sight, I crouched down next to the bag. "Alright, let's get started on this monster. It's going to take ages to get through this thing at this rate. Hopefully, we'll still have time to talk to the witness and get back to Ms. Mercure after we're finished here."

"Let's get right to it then," Chrysalis said. She sat down on the ground beside me and opened up the bag. It was practically tearing at the seams sine it was so full. I had no idea how Ms. Mercure was able to carry it. I mean, this bag was probably heavier than her entire torso. Consider me impressed.

Chrysalis started by pulling out a small stack of case files. She flicked through them for a moment. There were a few labels on them, but I couldn't read them very well due to the sun overhead glaring on the folders in just the right way that the names were obstructed. Chrysalis frowned for a moment before letting out a gasp of recognition. "I think these cases all have something to do with the Oracle of the Law, she said in shock. "I mean, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Neptune mentioned that the only reason she was here to see the boat race was to speak with the victim about Oracle. He was a known researcher looking into their true identity as well. I guess it's natural for her to bring along her research if she was going to be speaking with him about who they thought the spy really was behind the mask. It would make sense."

"What cases specifically are there?" I asked of her. I didn't know all of the cases that Oracle was involved with, so this was a much-needed moment to catch up.

"The first one is for the GC-9 incident. Last month, Occisor mentioned that before Mr. Kyllar went missing. He said that it was the case to start everything off, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised on that one. Anybody looking into it would want to start there since that was where it all began," she told me. "Unfortunately, that case doesn't narrow much of anything down. I mean, there were a lot of people involved with that case. There were many factory workers who loved the victim dearly and would want to know the truth about her killer. Plus, there were the people that had to do with the case when it went to court. The possibilities are nearly endless. There have to be over 300 suspects because of the number of factory workers. Anyone who was curious about the murderers that got away could easily have started up the Oracle of the Law project to figure out who did it and to lock them up in prison. It doesn't help researchers at all."

"What about the next one?" I questioned.

Chrysalis set aside the file for GC-9 and looked at the next one. "This is for the case from last year that my brother told you about. That was the first public sighting of Oracle, so I suppose that makes sense," she said. "Next up is the murder of Venus from earlier this year. The killer wanted revenge on Oracle, who was openly mentioned during the trial. That's the extent of their involvement though, so that case doesn't do much to help out either, I'm afraid."

"Not exactly. Like I mentioned before, the witness was Oracle in disguise, assuming my brother's deductions are correct," I reminded her. "I just wonder if Ms. Mercure knew that. We probably can't ask her without endangering Oracle though. Anybody could easily overhear, you know? We'll just have to keep it hidden for now. Plus, if she doesn't know about that little factor, then we shouldn't reveal it to her. It's a big piece of information that you can't exactly share with somebody you just met, regardless of if they're your client in court or not. Some secrets were just made to be kept, wouldn't you agree, Chrysalis?"

Chrysalis nodded. She set aside the two case files that she had mentioned and held up the final one in the stack. "Last but not least, we have the file for the case earlier this year about the prison murder. You probably remember that one. It was where the killer was a prison guard, the victim was a convicted murderer, and Occisor revealed their existence. It was wild from start to finish," she went on. "This case wasn't all that big when it came to Oracle interaction up until the very end. I mean, there was a message written in blood at the scene of the murder about how Oracle would die that was written by the killer, but aside from that, it was pretty unrelated. Occisor doing the big announcement in the courtroom changed that though. Everybody realized that it was involved then. Truth be told, I'm surprised that they didn't just try to find Oracle right then. I mean, they had everyone knocked out. They were basically all right in Occisor's hands, and yet, they passed up on the opportunity. Maybe they just want to scare Oracle until they have the right moment to execute them. Maybe they couldn't do anything since it was all a bluff. As of right now, nobody can say, but I'm sure that we'll be finding out the truth very soon."

Chrysalis set down the last file as I got into the bag once again. There was a small plastic box that was filled with newspaper clippings. I assumed that they had to do with Oracle due to the trend set by the case files. I couldn't help but wonder how Ms. Mercure managed to get her hands on case files like that though. They appeared to be rather fancy and detailed judging by the quality of the folders and such. Maybe she knew somebody in the business. At the very least, she knew Cassidy, who happened to work at the Prosecutor's Office alongside Chief Prosecutor Bespoke. It would be easy for her to get her hands on something like that and then pass it on and give it to Ms. Mercure, I suppose. I had no evidence to support that, but it seemed like the most likely conclusion.

Chrysalis helped me go through the bag once she was finished with the case files. She pulled out a small purse from a side pocket of the bag. Chrysalis unzipped it and pulled out a phone. It had a cracked screen, which I assumed was because of Ms. Mercure's messiness. It wouldn't surprise me if she had accidentally damaged it due to her lack of organization. Anything heavy enough could easily crack the screen if it was left to roam.

Chrysalis also pulled out a small wallet after setting the phone next to her knee. She opened it and saw a few credit cards tucked away in the pockets. Change jangled as Chrysalis went to check the ID, which was hiding behind a small clump of folded cash. Ms. Mercure's smiling face was on it. From what I could tell, it was her driver's license, though I couldn't be entirely sure of that. We could easily ask her about it later if we felt it would be important.

"I don't think that there's anything else of note in here," I said with a small shrug. "I doubt much of this will end up being important. I could see why the victim would want to get into it thought. It has a lot of valuable information inside. As a fellow investigator of Oracle, he was probably more than a little bit eager to get his hands on it. I can't blame Ms. Mercure for not wanting that to happen though. From what she's told us, he was a really unpleasant man in life."

"It doesn't look like we'll have very much evidence to go off for now," Chrysalis frowned. "The bag didn't help us as much as we had hoped, but that's alright. We're finished going through it, which means that it's time to go on to our next order of business. We need to go and talk to Cassidy before she leaves to go home. I bet that she was here all night being questioned over the murder yesterday. Cassidy is a pretty fragile girl, so she'd want to go home as soon as possible. I doubt word has gotten around to her that we're the attorneys on the case, which means she doesn't know to look for us."

"We should get going then," I nodded. I helped Chrysalis shove all of Ms. Mercure's possessions back into the bag. I tried to pick it up once we were finished, intending to take it to Detective Wattson when we next crossed paths with her. The bag was heavy, just as I had remembered it, so it fell back to the ground instantly. Chrysalis reached out and took one side of the bag while I grabbed the other. Carrying it like this as inconvenient, but there weren't many other options we had. I was hoping that maybe Cassidy would be able to tell us something about the stuff in the bag. I was practically praying something would be useful, but none could say until we got to talk to her.

The update lives.

After a week of stress and algebra (the main cause of my stress), we have more updates! At long last, I'm updating DOD again. Thank goodness.

As for next week, I honestly have no idea what I'll be doing. I know I'll be doing only one update here, but I can't say for sure if I'll be trying to do EA or DOD, though the latter is a bit more likely. Who knows? I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Until then, I'm going to head out! I hope you enjoyed!

-Digital