Chapter 2: The Investigation
A police car stopped at the side of the pavement leading to the abandoned warehouse. A policewoman got out of the driver's seat, opens the door, steps out of the car and glances at the abandoned warehouse ahead of her. A police line is hanged in front of the entrance and two knights stood each side of the entrance, armed with halberds.
The policewoman has long blonde hair that goes all the way down to the back of her waist, green eyes and wears a sleeveless green zipper shirt, a sleeveless white shirt underneath, a brown belt with a silver buckle, grey shorts, black stockings and white boots.
"So Herschel's last known location was here, Alicia?" A woman who just got out from the passenger seat and closes the left front door of the car said to her.
The blonde-haired woman, now known as Alicia, turns around to her partner. "That's right, Amelia." She said as she places her left hand on the left side of her hip. Amelia has long chocolate brown hair, at the end of it tied with a band, blue eyes and wears glasses, a grey sleeveless sweater, a white short-sleeved shirt underneath, blue skirt, white socks and white shoes.
Alicia gestures her partner to the warehouse. "Let's get inside."
The two walk their way to the entrance of the warehouse. They show their identification to the knights and they allow them inside.
When they enter inside, they see two officers examining a wooden chair. One of them is taking photos at the chair and whatever is on it. The other officer is examining the camera placed in front of the chair which its lens is broken.
When Alicia and Amelia are near the chair, they turn their heads and widen their eyes. Sitting on the chair was Herschel's charred and lifeless corpse. His eyes were left wide in fear and his mouth is left agape.
"Holy Maxwell…" Amelia said, shaking her head in disgust.
"Herschel may be a jerk…but nobody deserves to die like that." Alicia added, folding her arms. "Judging by how badly burnt his entire body is, third degree burns no less, he was definitely killed by electrocution."
"Inspector Alicia?" The officer who is examining the camera called Alicia. She and Amelia turn to the officer and they walk over to him.
"Found anything in the camera?" Alicia asked him.
"Nothing, ma'am. The camera's disc slot is empty and the lens is broken. Otherwise, there's nothing else about it." The officer replied. "Why would there be a camera here?"
"Perhaps the killer wants to record every second of Herschel's death." Amelia said, stuffing her hands into her pockets.
Alicia looks up and sees there is a mirror above the camera and where they are standing now. "Why would there be a mirror above us? Does it belong to the killer?"
"The mirror looks like it's installed recently, so it should be." Amelia said, looking up at the mirror as well. "And judging by the gears and pivots that are installed at the sides of the mirror, this thing can be brought down."
"I guess maybe the killer is so insane that he or she installs this adjustable mirror, makes Herschel looks at his own reflection, then records him and electrocutes him." Alicia said, turning back to Herschel's corpse.
"Only thing now is how did the killer electrocute him to death?" Amelia said, turning back to the corpse as well.
"Inspectors!" A knight said as he runs over to Alicia and Amelia. "We got someone outside the crime scene. Mind if you deal with her for us?"
Alicia sighs, turns to her partner and gestures to her by tilting her head to the side. "Let's go check out what's going on."
"But I'm a reporter! I have the right to cover what's going on!"
"Ma'am, press or not, you are not allowed in the crime scene."
"What's going on here?" Alicia asked as she and Amelia came over to see what the commotion is about. As they stood at the entrance, they see a woman standing in front of the knight. She wore a black cap, has dark blonde hair, dark green eyes and wears a yellow blouse, a white long-sleeved shirt underneath, a blue tie around her neck, brown shorts, black stockings with white checks and white and black shoes with pink laces.
The knight turns to the inspectors. "Ma'am, this reporter insists of entering the crime scene."
"Are you the inspector here, ma'am? I would like to ask you some questions!" The woman asked.
"Silence!" The knight turns back to the reporter.
"Hey!" Alicia said, placing a hand on the knight's shoulder. The knight turns back to her. "Let her question us."
"Oh." The knight said, softening his tone. "Very well." He nods his head before moving aside, allowing the reporter to step forward to Alicia and Amelia.
"Thank you very much, inspector. And did you say 'us'?" The reporter asked.
"Yes. I'm Inspector Alicia Ribery." Alicia introduced herself. She gestures to Amelia. "This is my partner, Inspector Amelia Greenleaf. Both of us are assigned to investigate the death of Major Herschel."
"Major Herschel…that's the victim." The reporter nods her head. "He was recognized for being the one who helped arrest Kyle and Tanner, both Elympions guilty of murdering a Rieze Maxian soldier. They would have been executed for murder by Rieze Maxian law and this incident could have cause tensions between Elympios and Rieze Maxia-"
"But King Gaius managed to negotiate with the ministers to extradite them to Elympios and punish them via Elympion laws instead. And they were both sentenced to life imprisonment. Everyone in the police knows the story, kid." Amelia said, placing a hand on the left side of her hip.
"What's your name anyway?" Alicia asked the reporter.
"Leia Rolando!" Leia smiled at the two as she lifts up her cap. "Senior reporter for Elympios Times! But one day, I'm going to the next chief editor. Just you wait."
"Oh we will." Amelia deadpanned, rolling her eyes. Alicia extends her hand and Leia shakes it.
"So how did you two find out that this is where Herschel's body is located?" Leia asked as she takes out her pen and notepad.
"We received a call yesterday morning from 29 Zuckerburg Street. The caller claimed her brother was kidnapped. Herschel was assigned to go there to meet our caller and investigate the kidnapping case. But he didn't return back to HQ for eight hours." Alicia explained. Leia writes down what she said to her on her notepad.
"When he still didn't come back, Alicia and I are called by our chief to go there ourselves. When we arrived at the caller's home, we can't find Herschel or the caller. What we did find though was a broken syringe lying on the ground. We collected a sample and we learnt from our forensics expert that what the syringe contained was a liquid with spyrix minerals." Amelia added.
"Sadly, our police forensics aren't professionals when it comes to spyrix. The only people who can look into spyrix and its technologies are people who work at Helioborg Research Center." Alicia said.
"Don't worry guys." Leia looks up with a smirk appearing on her face. Alicia and Amelia look at Leia puzzled. "I got a friend who can help you two out."
"You want me to look into this sample?" Jude Mathis asked as he sat at his desk and holding a plastic tray with a drop of the sample placed on it. He is dressed in his white lab coat, a black and orange jacket and black shirt underneath, grey belt, dark and light brown pants and dark blue and white shoes as usual. Leia, Alicia and Amelia stood beside him.
"Yes. The sample contains spyrix minerals inside it and we want you to help look and study what they are. It's important because we are investigating a murder." Alicia said.
"Sure thing." Jude said, nodding his head. He turns back to the front and carefully places the tray under his forensics microscope. He then places his eyes in front of the visor and magnifies the sample on the tray.
"Gotta say, I'm glad your friend is a scientist working here at the Helioborg Research Center." Amelia said to Leia.
"Jude here is the best. He'll find out what spyrix inside this sample you found is in no time." Leia smiled.
"Quiet! Let me concentrate." Jude said to Leia and Amelia. Alicia turns to the two girls and places a finger in front of her lips. Leia and Amelia both sighed.
"Whoa…this is rare." Jude spoke. The three girls turn to him.
"What is it?" Alicia asked, widening her eyes. The scientist backs away from his microscope and turns to the three.
"This spyrix is tetrodotoxin." Jude said.
"What's that?" Leia asked, scratching the back of her head.
"It's a spyrix extracted from a spirit fossil of a Poison Lily. It's poisonous enough to paralyze an entire body system of a human being within seconds. But it leaves all the neurological functions perfectly intact. Basically, when you get injected by this, you can't move but you can still feel pain inside your body." Jude explained.
"Wow. Herschel's death is more painful than we thought." Amelia said, pushing a strand of hair away from her left eye before turning to Alicia. Alicia nods her head in agreement.
"Rarely do I ever stumble across this one because spirit fossils of a Poison Lily are rare." Jude rubs his chin. "I think the murderer you inspectors are looking for is both a spyrix-making expert and an archaeologist."
Suddenly, Alicia's cellphone rang. She takes it out from her pocket and answers it. "Hello?" She remains silent for a moment. "What?!" She shouted and widens her eyes. Jude, Leia and Amelia look puzzled at her outburst. "Okay. Understood. We're on our way." Alicia then puts back her cellphone into her pocket.
"What's up?" Amelia asked her partner.
"Our chief said that another murder has happened." Alicia said. Everyone else gasped. "The victim's name is Lieutenant Alex Quigley, a member of Elympios' knight division."
END OF CHAPTER