Chapter 2
When Pete and Myka arrived at SeaTac Airport, they got off the plane, and went to get their bags. They picked them up, and went to catch a taxi to Bellevue. On the way to the house, they registered for a room at the hotel they were staying in. Then the taxi took them on to the house where the man was found. When they arrived, the first things they saw were a police squad car, and yellow crime scene tape around the building. The taxi dropped them off at the curb and drove off back towards the city.
"Here we are," said Pete. "Let's see if the cube is here."
"Alright, we'll go talk to that detective over there," said Myka. They walked over to the detective. "Agent Myka Bering, Secret Service," she said. "This is my partner, Agent Pete Lattimer."
"A pleasure. I'm Detective Preston."
"Well, Detective, have you and your team found the cause of death yet?"
"No, we sent the body to the forensics lab for testing. Some guy there thought there was something odd about it, so they agreed to let him study it. Is there a particular reason why the Secret Service would be interested in a seemingly random death?"
"Classified, sorry," Pete said. He always felt like a jerk when he pulled that on someone, but it was part of the job.
"Yes… Well, would you two like to look around inside? I would be happy to show you where he was found."
"Sure," Myka said. "Have you by any chance seen a Rubik's Cube around anywhere?"
"Why, yes. The victim had one by his hand when we found him. Strange too, when we found it, it was glowing, as if it was expending some internal energy to do so. It was made of wood and looked to be pretty old. It also had symbols to match instead of colors. I've never seen one like it before."
"Is it still here?" Pete asked.
"No, they took it with them to the lab. It's been put into the evidence testing sector."
"Alright, thanks. Could you give us a quick look around the scene? said Myka. The detective took them around inside the house. It all looked neat, not as if there had been a struggle, or anything of the kind. There was, however, an area marked off with yellow tape in the living room. Inside of it, there was an outline of a body, drawn in chalk. Next to it, by one of the hands, was a small square, also drawn in chalk.
"I assume the square is where the Cube was?" asked Myka.
"That would be correct, Agent Bering. Found right by his hand, as I said earlier. He must have been holding it when he died."
"Well, thanks for the tour," said Pete. We have to go check out the body."
"I'll see you around, Agents," said the detective.
When Pete and Myka arrived at the morgue and identified themselves, they were ushered into a room. There was a table in the middle with a sheet over it. As they were looking around, the examiner came in.
"Hello Agents, my name is Doctor Caldway. I heard you needed to take a look at the body here."
"Correct," said Myka. We were also wondering about the cause of death."
"Alright, the cause of death, so far as we can tell, was dehydration. We also found a lack of nutrients in his body, which lead us to believe he hadn't eaten in at least three days."
"How could he have starved?" asked Pete. "There was plenty of food and water in his house."
"That's what we don't know. It seems like he just committed suicide by fasting, with the added effect of not drinking. However, three days is much to short a time to die from lack of nutrients."
"Strange. Would dehydration kill you in around that amount of time?"
"Yes, three days is around the time it takes for your body to start to fail due to lack of fluids."
"Well, thanks for your help, we might be back soon."
Once they were out of the building, Myka said "Dehydration? What does it do, suck all the water out of you?"
"I doubt it," answered Pete, "He said there was also a lack of nutrients in his body."
"Well, I think we should call Artie, and see if he knows anything about it," said Myka.
"Alright," said Pete, already pulling out the Farnsworth.
So, what do you guys think? Continue? Please review, it really helps. :D
Thanks to ms17thst for inspiring me to write this story.