I want to give big thanks to Wavebreeze, AccessBlade, and Mandrakefunnyjuice for reviewing the last chapter. So we got the big revelation that Death Angel may not be the actual killer. Well, in this chapter, there will be yet another big twist, one that will have all of you talking. Look for it as Zelos gets involved in the investigation, Jade and Gil (and later on Presea) find shocking details from the mall chase, and Luke fon Fabre gets a mention in this story (courtesy of a fan's request).
Namco owns Tales of Symphonia. AccessBlade owns Cameryn Lachance. Fenrir of the Shadows owns Azul Kharlan. No Pain No Gain owns Oni Sheikah. I own Cabalina Ashton and Robert Ross.
"So Zelos, what brings you to Iselia?" Gil asked, taking a seat back behind his desk. His fellow mole sat across from him, his hands clasped in front while shooting the goofy grin back. "Don't tell me you came all the way here just to meet girls," Gil snickered.
Zelos shook his head. "I'm here as a representative of the Tethe'alla military. We want to harmonize some new intelligence gathering procedures with Sylvarant. I'll be discussing this with people from the Triet military base all afternoon. Since I have nothing to do until then, I thought I'd drop by your office to see how you're doing," he explained, his eyes soaking in the surroundings. It was the first time he visited Gil since Gil's promotion, and Zelos was taking every chance to check out his friend's new room. "I just didn't expect you'd be doing some crazy police chase at a shopping mall. Seriously, what happened?" Zelos asked.
Gil winced. "I'm not supposed to reveal too much, but with the ethics commissioner making the case public, I'll tell you some stuff." Gil went on to describe his latest novel, and murders were committed using the very techniques he included in the book. Gil also mentioned that the mall operation was to trap the suspect, who had been a loyal follower of Gil's through Lloyd's website. "It ended with the unfortunate incident that you witnessed," Gil concluded.
Zelos pursed his lips and nodded his head, not sure what to make of it. "I was at the food court grabbing a bite to eat when that maniac charged in, tripped over a couple of times, and then threw a bowl of food at an officer," Zelos recanted, his head slightly swaying along to the details, "I was on the opposite side of the hot dog place, and saw a couple of officers taking in their injured colleague. Seeing things were getting nasty, I decided to skip food and got out of there."
Hearing Zelos' account, Gil immediately whipped out his notebook and snatched his pen. "You don't mind me writing some of this stuff down, right?" Gil asked, scribbling down some details, "I think this may go towards building our case, one way or another."
When Zelos insisted he didn't mind, Gil asked the redhead to continue his account of things. "I was halfway to the exit when I heard the suspect rumbling through," Zelos recalled, his eyes tilting around almost melodramatically, "That was the blond guy with the laptop bag across his torso, right? When I saw him rushing in like a tractor trailer, I just dove to the side and hoped he didn't hit me. I almost hit a guy using the public computer just to avoid that freak!"
Gil cocked an eyebrow. The public computers were an area of interest before Lloyd spotted their suspect. When the team was chasing Peter Cook through the mall, what was going on at the computers then? "Can you describe what the guy you ran into look like?" Gil asked, pausing his writing and lifting his head from the notebook.
Zelos scratched his head. "He actually looks kind of like me, although nowhere near as handsome," he half-stated and half-boasted, "He's around my height, although not nearly as well built. He has shoulder-length red hair, but nowhere near as neat as mine. He also wore similar clothes, with a purple vest and cargo pants. But of course, my fashion sense is way better than his, and I never walk around in those rags. Seriously, with our similar appearances, I think it's best he takes some looks advice from me!" Zelos ended with a puff of his chest.
Gil chuckled. If there was one constant with Zelos, it was his narcissistic streak, which was something unsuitable for those with weak stomachs. When they were still undercover, Zelos used flirtatious words as code language to keep in touch with his superiors. Gil had to seriously block out those words, just to avoid losing his meals every time they were uttered. "So after running into him, what did you do afterwards?" Gil queried.
"I just made sure he was okay, and then I left the mall. I didn't really notice anything unusual until I saw a van pull up to the entrance," Zelos replied, rubbing his face gently, "I did notice there were two ladies rushing my way, one of whom I recognized as Colette. That would be your son's girlfriend, correct? Other than that, I can't say there was anything suspicious."
Gil bit his lower lip as he finished his notes. With Zelos' account of things, it could be a good enough defence against Cook should he file a complaint against Gil's unit. It might show that Cook was a threat to the public, meaning the ethics commissioner had to back off. "Can I count on you to come in if my team or I have other questions?" Gil asked, closing his notebook.
When Zelos didn't object, Gil decided not to keep his friend any longer. "You should probably get some lunch before your meeting with the military officials," he suggested as the two former moles got out of their seats, "By the way, how is Seles doing? Is she in school now?"
Zelos nodded. "Seles is finishing her sophomore year at Meltokio," he answered. Seles was Zelos' younger sister who was kidnapped by Cruxis, which ended up being the trigger event in getting Zelos to go undercover. It was an eerie similarity between him and Gil, who went undercover due to the death of his wife. It was this steadfast dedication towards their families that allowed Gil and Zelos to bond so well, even after their undercover missions were over. "She told me it's kind of hard to pick up on school again after spending three years as a Cruxis prisoner, but overall she's managing it," he commented, stepping out of the office.
Gil nodded. Shaking his friend's hand one more time, he led Zelos out of the unit and into the foyer. He watched from the top of the stairs as Zelos strode off, his confident swagger oozing out of his body with every step. Gil made sure Zelos disappeared from view before turning back to his unit, which had been awfully quiet for the day. The mood had been sombre since the ethics commissioner demanded to have Noishe attend his press conference, and there were still no signs of their captain returning yet. With their investigation hanging in the balance, there wasn't much more they could do other than scouring through what they already have.
Gil's eyes landed on the unit secretary, who slowly pushed her head back. Her eyelids were squeezed shut but pointed to the ceiling, a result of the immense stress and anxiety that resonated through the unit. "Cameryn," Gil gently called, taking a seat across from her desk, "Do we still want to make arrangements regarding Frank Warner?"
Cameryn tiled her head back to Gil, staring at Gil through her glasses with a set of fatigued eyes. "Do you have a day and time in mind?" she asked, reaching for the day planner.
"I'm thinking about Wednesday, just to avoid the ethics commissioner," Gil replied, leaning back slightly and tapping his chin. With the press conference being held today, the ethics commissioner would probably demand more answers tomorrow. To make sure Warner didn't have to see that, Gil decided to book one day after. "Just tell Frank Warner to drop by our office at a time that's free for him. I prefer late afternoon, but it's up to him to confirm."
Cameryn nodded. Jotting down the date on her planner, she then turned to the phone and dialled Warner's cellphone number. "By the way, the DA office just called. They told us Peter Cook has been released and all charges are dropped," she informed Gil, waiting for the call to connect, "I think we're pretty much back to the beginning."
Gil cursed under his breath. Even though Lloyd's website was still a source, it was a blow to have someone who might have contact with the real killer go free. With the DA releasing their suspect before more interrogation could be done, all of Cook's property must be surrendered back to him. Where would they turn to for leads now, with Cook back into the public?
Just then, Presea jolted everyone like a lightning strike with her return to the unit. "I got the visitor's log from the university," the Ozette native announced, waving a folder around in her right hand, "This should see if Frank Warner was part of the renovation crew that was there."
Gil excused himself from Cameryn's desk, allowing the secretary to leave a message on Warner's cellphone. Gil took the folder from Presea and skimmed through it before giving it to Cameryn for logging in. "I also got tapes, Gil," Presea informed the goateed man, showing him the objects in her left hand, "These are the security videos from the mall yesterday, highlighting the chase sequence with several cameras. Let's see if we can pick up some clues from this."
"The plainclothes unit has made a mess of this investigation, causing countless innocent bystanders to be harmed in that irresponsible chase through the mall," a bespectacled man haughtily pointed out on television. Lloyd Irving was paying attention to the evening news while waiting for his father to come home. Colette, as usual, made another visit to Lloyd's house after school, and was waiting for her father to pick her up. But this time, instead of cheerily doing their homework, both teens were anxiously glued to the evening news.
"As the ethics commissioner, I find the leader of this operation, Captain Arthur Noishe, to have exercised poor judgment and used questionable tactics in apprehending our suspect," the smug man continued. From the couch, Lloyd could feel his fingerless-gloved hands squeeze into fists, like every word was a dagger directed at his heart. After all, he was part of the mission to flush out Death Angel as well. How could his efforts be dismissed that quickly?
Lloyd and Colette watched for a few more minutes, hearing the ethics commissioner describe the suspect's background as a humble deliveryman working for a small logistics firm, all the while making it sound like the police went out of their way to harass him. "Due to the excessive risk placed upon the mall patrons, plus the public humiliation the suspect went through when he was apprehended, I have no choice but to recommend all charges be dropped for now. Until the investigation produces clearer evidence, Mr. Peter Cook will be a free man."
Lloyd could barely react to the shocking announcement when the door leading to the garage slammed shut. Both teens turned in time to see a tired goateed man trudge into the house, hanging his jacket in the closet and plopping down on a chair at the dining room table. "Are you really paying attention to that guy?" Gil muttered, weakly gesturing at the television screen.
"Dad, they just dropped all the charges on the suspect! All that work setting up the ID system, trying to get him to talk to me in a chat room, and even the chase afterwards, now it won't count because some bureaucrat said he doesn't like your methods!" Lloyd exclaimed, shooting out of his seat. He hurried to his father while waving his arms like a bird. "How can you take such a nonchalant approach towards this, and let that guy go free?" the teen demanded.
Gil turned to face his son with a helpless expression. Colette followed Lloyd into the dining room, her eyebrows creased in worry. "Cameryn and I were outside the mall, but even then we felt uneasy about what was going on inside," she commented, clinging onto Lloyd's left arm, "I don't know how you narrowed the search, but surely you guys didn't make a mistake. Is that suspect who posed as Death Angel really the wrong guy?"
Gil shrugged. Right now, there were too many issues in play, and they were no closer to getting to the truth. After analyzing Jade's IP maps and hearing from Zelos' testimony, there seemed to be someone other than Cook who might have known something about the deaths. "The only new things we can go with are the visitor logs from your dad's department at the university," Gil stated, pointing at the blond girl, "and the security tapes from the mall. I hope to take a look at both of those tomorrow, if nothing drastic happens then."
Before the teens could say more, the doorbell sounded off. Gil strode over to take a peek before turning back to the teens. "Colette, your father is here," he called, unlocking the front door, "Do you have your stuff with you, or is it upstairs in Lloyd's room?"
"It's upstairs. I'll get it right now," Colette responded, bounding up the stairs with Lloyd. Even though they were watching television earlier, Lloyd invited Colette to his room when they first arrived. While they retrieved her belongings, Gil held the door for the blond-haired archaeology professor, who also heard the news about the charges being dropped on his car radio. Before long, Frank's expression was similar to Colette's earlier one as Gil filled him in.
"So are you out of leads now, or is there anything else you can turn to?" Frank asked, still finding Gil's details hard to digest. How could a dangerous chase through a mall, including hot soup and hot dog condiments being tossed about, end with the suspect being released? "Don't tell me the killer is still on the loose, Gil. What are we going to do then?"
"Well, the ethics commissioner got one thing right," Gil conceded, his arms slightly open and his shoulders helplessly shrugging, "Everyone in Iselia, as well as the towns and villages nearby, are very concerned about this case. If the released suspect truly isn't related to all those deaths, then it means we'll have to focus extra hard just to get it right."
Frank winced just as a chilly breeze whisked through the open door. Lloyd was directly involved, and Colette was outside that mall when it happened. With the killer still at large, it would be something that would keep him up at night. "I know I can't help you much in this case, but you don't mind if I give you a small tip, do you?" he suggested, gently rubbing his arms.
When Gil didn't object, Frank took a deep breath before he began. "When Raine and I do our research, we focus on a certain hypothesis. Sometimes we get closer to the truth, but other times it's a dead end," he described, slowly spitting out each word, "When something doesn't work, Raine and I usually go back to see what our original idea missed. Often there are hints telling us if we're in the right path. Maybe you can try the same and go through the clues again?"
Gil tilted his head back and forth like a metronome. While he accepted Frank's idea, he also had no clue where to start. There was so much evidence from each death, some of which seemed almost illogical. While he could still go through all of it again, he had a feeling it might only stall the case. "I'll tell my team to look into it, but right now I'm not sure if that's the way to go," he replied, his gut churning like a cement mixer, "Either way, thank you for the advice. I'm sure it'll come in handy once we sort through a few of these messes."
Just then, Colette trotted down the stairs and to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Lloyd," she called to her boyfriend, who now positioned himself behind Gil. She leaned closer to her father, who in turn wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Despite all the crazy shenanigans going on with the case, it was good to know that Colette's optimism had not dampened much.
Gil watched Frank and Colette drive off before slowly closing the front door. Ambling back to the kitchen, Gil watched Lloyd pull out ingredients for tonight's dinner from the fridge. The spiky-haired teen laid the items on the counter while turning to his father to ask, "Is there perhaps another clue in the investigation that you may have missed, as Dr. Brunel kind of pointed out earlier? Maybe you should look through some of the evidence again."
Gil sighed once more. The whole case had him going around in circles, and his team was also getting stressed out. "The only saving grace is that Cameryn is planning a meeting with a guy who has evidence clearing him," Gil explained, his eyes emotionless and almost dipping, "We've interviewed him once already, and we found him to be a bit uncooperative. Let's hope he won't be like that with Cameryn, and can actually provide stuff that helps the case proceed."
"And we've reached your destination, Sir," the taxi driver informed the red-haired client at the back seat of his cab. It had been a taxing day for Zelos Wilder. After meeting with military officials through the afternoon, he stayed a while to entertain requests by strategists from both nations asking about his time undercover. Some members from Sylvarant knew of Gil's exploits as well, meaning Zelos was asked to comment on working together with his policeman friend. Now, after a quick dinner downtown, he could finally go back to his hotel for a relaxing evening.
"How much do I owe you?" the redhead asked the driver, fishing out his wallet. The hotel Zelos was staying in was just outside the downtown core, with a large front door being serviced by at least two valets. Above that, nearly twenty floors of rooms towered over the street, most of them brightly lit and filled with guests, both recreational and commercial. It was one of Iselia's larger accommodations outside of the tourist area near the airport.
However, neither Zelos nor the taxi driver could say another word before the whole building before them flickered. Both men stared at the tall building, which turned completely dark. Both men gazed out the cab windows to see a sense of chaos descending onto the streets. "Is there a power failure?" Zelos muttered, glancing around the blackened tower.
"I don't think so," the driver murmured, pointing to the streetlights and other buildings. Indeed, the surrounding areas were still quite lit, meaning there was something wrong inside the very building Zelos was staying in. Both men in the cab took a gander at the hotel once more, seeing the two valets wandering around and looking at each other in puzzlement. With the automatic doors now jammed, there was no way for them, or any other guests, to get inside.
"Looks like I'll have to go in from a back door or something," Zelos hissed, paying the cab driver the stated amount, "I'm really not in the mood for this." Thanking the driver once more, the former military mole stepped out of the vehicle and onto the sidewalk. Zelos stared at the helpless valets, shaking his head at their confusion before marching off around the building. Being undercover for years meant Zelos was used to going into alleys and through back doors, and he knew there had to be an area where staff could enter. If he could at least get inside the hotel, then maybe he would not have to wait in the streets for the power to resume.
Zelos tugged on his jacket as he entered the alley to the left of the building, away from the corner of the intersection. A brisk wind whistled through the narrow passage, tugging at the redhead's clothing. If he remembered correctly, this alley was wide enough for trucks and other delivery vehicles to drive through. Assuming there was a delivery bay at the hotel, then that meant there was a possible entrance. "All I have to do is find it and get in," Zelos muttered to himself, "Not too hard to do, with the talented Zelos Wilder on the task."
Zelos took a peek at every nook and cranny, hoping to find some type of back door leading into the hotel. His feet clopped against the cold asphalt pavement, splashing into the occasional puddle while his eyes darted back and forth. He doubted he was in the alley for more than a few minutes, but it felt like hours. He slipped in and out of the shadows like a mouse in the grass. Beside him, the dark hotel leaned itself on Zelos, pushing him further into the shadows and confounding his every effort to find a way in. If hearing Gil's story about the wild police chase through the mall yesterday wasn't unnerving enough, now he had to go through this crazy navigation through an alley. Why did it feel like the world just wouldn't give him a break?
Then, in the distance, Zelos spotted a lit area. Despite the dim lighting, he could see a delivery van of sorts. Inching closer, Zelos noticed a tall individual stepping out of the van and hustling away. Surprisingly, this individual did not enter the building, opting to slip to the side and back out to the main street through the other alley. Cocking an eyebrow, Zelos crept closer to the van, trying to make sense of this strange scene. Why would the driver of this delivery van leave the alley instead of making the usual deliveries to the hotel?
Zelos slipped past the parked van and into the other alley, where the mysterious figure went into. The Meltokio native pressed his back against the wall, feeling the cold concrete freeze up his spine. Zelos craned his neck to observe the shadowy figure heading for the main road, where the streetlights could illuminate some parts of his body. Like Zelos, the figure was a man was close to six feet tall, and had strands of red hair sticking out from under his hoodie. Seeing the stranger, Zelos somehow had the feeling that he ran into this mysterious man before.
Zelos observed the individual for a few more minutes before stepping back into the alley. The man wasn't doing anything illegal, but it unnerved Zelos in that he would climb into a van parked in the alley, only to wander off into the night. Perhaps that delivery van was his, and he just went off to grab something to eat? Whatever the case, the sooner Zelos got back into the hotel, the better. It didn't help that the power was still unrestored, meaning the former military mole had nothing more than his sense of touch to work with in navigating back.
What greeted Zelos when he returned to the delivery van was an unexpected sight. A different man had entered the vehicle, taking a swig of water from a bottle. Then suddenly, the new man convulsed uncontrollably, rumbling in his seat and shaking the large vehicle nonstop. Sensing that the man was in danger, Zelos rushed to the van and pulled at the door. "Hey, are you alright in there?" he shouted, pounding on the glass, "Can you hear me?"
Zelos struggled to pull the door open as the man inside bounced and flopped around involuntarily, making it difficult for the redhead to reach him. Despite the dimness, Zelos could see the man had blond hair, wore a denim coat, and had several boxes and packages in the back. It finally hit Zelos that this was probably the true deliveryman, and whoever that he saw entering the van most likely did this to him. "Hey, hang tight! I'll get you out right now!" Zelos yelled.
Zelos frantically pulled on the door handle, hoping to yank the door open. The blond driver now nearly collapsed against the side. "Stay awake, buddy," Zelos murmured, hearing the groans and creaks of the old door echo through the alley. Taking a deep breath, he tugged with all his might, finally forcing the door open and getting to the convulsing man.
Unfortunately for Zelos, it was too late. The driver of the van collapsed in the seat, rolling out of the vehicle and lying in an unconscious mass at Zelos' feet. "Stay with me, stay with me," Zelos called fearfully, figuring that the water bottle the driver drank from might have been the cause. Whipping out his cellphone, Zelos quickly dialled 9-1-1.
Then, without warning, the driver collapsed once more, this time staying completely motionless on the ground. "Oh no, this can't be happening!" Zelos exclaimed, grabbing the side of the blond man's neck. There was no pulse to speak of, causing all blood to drain out of Zelos' face. Last summer, something similar happened when he was on vacation with Gil in Altamira. The victim was a family friend of his, and he found her dead at the bottom of the staircase. It almost got Zelos charged for her death, and the same thing was happening again right before him. Zelos could barely react when the operator greeted him, asking him what the emergency was. "Why am I still running into dead people?" Zelos ranted, his own body now shaking.
"You just can't seem to get out of trouble, can you, Zelos?" Gil asked, his tone a mix of sarcasm and concern. With the forensics team taping off the van and the dead body, Gil could only pull his friend aside for the interrogation. It was quite a shock for both men, as Zelos never expected himself to see another dead body. Hovering over the crime scene, Gil never expected to see another death happening, especially so soon after the mall incident.
Zelos wiped his brow with the back of his open-fingered glove, the traumatizing event and the initial testimony that he gave Gil still fresh in his mind. The flashing lights from the police cars against the dim building placed Zelos in the spotlight, making him small and weak. "He was dead by the time I got to him, so I couldn't rescue him," Zelos emphasized, wringing his hands in worry, "You won't arrest me like the Altamira Police Department did, right?"
Before Gil could respond, the forensics team lead beckoned the goateed staff sergeant over. Flipping open the deceased's wallet, he showed Gil the man's ID, which drained the colour out of Gil's face. "Peter Cook?" Gil eked out, his throat tightening and becoming coarser than the desert sand, "The same guy we chased down at the mall?"
Gil watched the forensics team placed the deceased onto a stretcher and into the coroner's vehicle. Gil's heart sank to his feet, wondering how the one they believed to be the main culprit met such an untimely end. As a cool breeze howled through the alley, Gil pondered what went wrong. With the person who most likely had passes with the killer dead, where did they go next?
Silently, Gil turned back to Zelos. Gil's body was hard as cement, his every move made with great difficulty. "Can you repeat again what happened when you approached the delivery van? You said you saw someone climb out of the van, leave through the other alley, and then the deceased boarded. Did you notice anything unusual happening at that time?" Gil asked.
"All I know is that the mysterious guy came out from the hotel and went into the van. I couldn't see what he did inside the van, but he did leave after less than a minute," Zelos reported, his eyes tilting back and forth between Gil and the alley, "After exiting the van, I saw him head out the other alley, which I found a bit weird, so I followed him for a while."
Gil pursed his lips, shakily flipping through his notebook. Despite his partially petrified body, Gil found something unusual about the mysterious individual, and was convinced a hint might be found there. "Given how dark it is, with the power failure at the hotel," Gil suggested, gesturing at the now-lit building, "I wonder how well you could have seen that person's face."
"I didn't see it very well," Zelos replied, pointing back to his observations that the man was wearing a hoodie and had his face away from the former military mole the whole time. It struck Gil as an eerie similarity to a certain other death. After all, Ruffin's demise at the martial arts dojo also featured an individual with that description. For the longest time, Gil and his team thought that person was Death Angel. But with the actual Death Angel now dead, and a similar person showing up at this crime scene, did Gil and his team miss something along the way?
Nonetheless, Gil steered his friend back on topic. "So after you chased him for a while, you then went back to the van, right?" Gil asked. The Iselia native slowly rotated his shoulders and shifted his weight between his legs, trying to stay loose amidst the glum and sombre mood, "You saw the deceased taking a sip from his water bottle before the convulsions began?"
Zelos nodded. "I don't know if there's something inside the bottle or something, but it definitely seemed unusual," he pointed out, again gesturing at the van in the back, "I wouldn't rule out the stranger snooping around earlier putting something in the drink."
Gil waved his hand. "Let's not jump to conclusions yet, Zelos. The forensics team must chemically analyze the water first. If there is something in there, I will let everyone know in due time," he assured the redhead, flipping through his notes and adding comments here and there.
Zelos tapped his right finger on his chin and his right foot on the ground. Glancing at the hotel before him, he found it very unusual that it was the only building in the block to lose power. What's more, the hotel lost power right in the middle of the death, which would have made it very difficult for anyone to detect. Had Zelos not pulled up in the taxi cab at that very moment, everything would have gone unnoticed. Wasn't that almost too coincidental? "Maybe check into what's going on with the power in the hotel," Zelos suggested, his eyes peeled for Gil's notes, "I think the outage and the death may be connected in some way."
Gil pursed his lips. While it might be too soon to connect the events, he felt it was still worth it to take a look. Glancing back at Zelos, he made one more request. "Given what you said, it's likely this killer is still on the loose. Your eyewitness account may really help us if who you saw is connected to the other deaths. If I ask you to help us again, when will you be available?"
Zelos was noncommittal, claiming he had to check his schedule first. Since it meant going back into the hotel, Gil decided to go in with his friend, hoping to discuss the power issue with the front desk. If the former military mole was right, then something weird was going on in that hotel, and it might just put Gil on a new track in investigating this latest death.
"So where does this leave us, with the most likely person of interest dead?" Gil's team discussed amongst themselves in the quiet unit. It was the next morning, and the group was still stunned from knowing Peter Cook also became a homicide victim. With their only potential lead to the killer gone, and the ethics commissioner refusing to back down, morale was low. Now, even going through old evidence from the previous deaths was becoming an irritating task.
"So Cameryn, other than the forensics report stating there were strange substances in the water, there's no other lead available?" Azul asked the secretary, who received the findings from the lab analysts earlier this morning. The elf's hair was usually unruly, but today it felt like his scalp was the victim to a hurricane, with strands blasted all over and some draping over his face.
"I'm afraid so," Cameryn replied, her shoulders slumped as well. The report indicated the presence of cyanide in concentrations lethal for a human in the water. The chemical composition also suggested it was not a natural source, given cyanide was rare in this part of the world. Even a small concentration in Iselia's water supply was unusual, let alone having astronomical levels in a deliveryman's water. "It points to what's obvious, but nothing more," Cameryn commented.
"Darn it! Another lead wasted, just like that!" Cabalina vented, slamming her hands on the table. The fiery brunette teetered on the brink of insanity right now, with her arms shaking and her eyes sharp enough to pierce through metal. "It feels like no matter how hard we try, this killer is always one step ahead of us. How do they keep escaping?" she ranted.
Amid the tension-filled room, a certain blond half-elf made a gentle proposition. "I know we aren't doing well with hints right now, but we can't give up that easily," Oni stated, his blue eyes flickering in worry, "If we follow the hints and keep going where the evidence tells us, we will solve this case. Didn't Sergeant Irving tell us what a famous fictional detective's approach was to solving crime? Once we eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. I'm sure that's how he wants us to approach this case."
Azul chuckled at his trainee. Oni's comments had an almost child-like innocence to it. They were refreshing to hear, but most likely unrealistic to achieve. "No offence, but this isn't some novel," Azul replied, glancing at Oni with yearning but helpless eyes, "If things in real life are as smooth as a novel's events, we won't be doing this job in the first place."
"But what if we haven't eliminated all the impossible choices yet?" Oni challenged, his back straightening while the office lights twinkled off his blue eyes and loop earrings, "I may not have read Sergeant Irving's book, but I read enough mystery stories to know there is always a clue hiding somewhere. What if the clue allows us to eliminate more impossible choices, leaving us with a bunch of improbable, but still likely causes? It's still worth a shot to look at, isn't it?"
"We've combed through all the possible records from the previous three deaths, and there is nothing there that we haven't considered," Cabalina retorted, throwing up her hands in defeat, "What other clue is there that we haven't thought of yet? If you know, then please tell us, Oni."
From her desk at the back of the unit, Cameryn chimed in as well. "I've logged in all the evidence, and I skimmed through some of it too," she insisted, pushing her glasses back on her nose, "This killer made moves that no ordinary person could make. I want to say we still have a chance against them, but with only what we have right now, it's just not our case."
Just then, the only person not to have spoken raised her point. "I agree that we have no case with the current evidence, but what if there is evidence not in our possession that may be of use?" Presea suggested, slowly getting up from her desk. Despite her petite frame, she marched to the centre of the unit with confidence and flair, involuntarily capturing everybody's attention. "Cameryn has been trying to get Frank Warner to hand over his evidence, but until he does we don't know his full story. Likewise, Gil told us Jade is still analyzing the IP addresses from the mall operation, including the lines written by Pirate King. Maybe there's something from that excerpt we haven't considered yet? And don't forget the tapes from the mall as well," she added.
Presea whipped out a folder, flipping through the pages and gesturing at her colleagues to join her. "This is the visitor's log from the University of Iselia, which I got yesterday when the ethics commissioner was with Noishe," the pink-haired officer explained, pointing to several lines of interest, "Frank Warner was present on the day of the second death. The renovation team recruited him to help out after he made deliveries to them. It means he might have come across the actual killer. Isn't that a new lead we can go after in a new interrogation with him, assuming Cameryn can get him back into the unit?"
When the unit glanced at each other, looking for possibilities, Presea flipped the page again. "If my guess about Frank Warner is true, then it's likely him and Peter Cook are similar in that they both travel around town a lot," she continued describing amidst the team looking on, "The third death, the one by the martial arts dojo, requires someone to track the deceased from the hospital to the dojo. We don't know if Warner knew about Kent Ruffin's situation, so it may not be a huge lead. But what if Warner may have been doing supply runs that night, and went near the hospital or the dojo? Surely this is another possible lead to ask Warner about, right?"
Excited murmurs now resonated through the unit, the team feeling rejuvenated with the Ozette native's revelations. "Just out of curiosity, how did you manage to figure those out when none of us did?" Oni asked, "Is it because of the fictional detective Sergeant Irving mentioned?"
Presea smiled and closed the folder. Even though Oni towered over her by nearly a foot, it was obvious that the shorter being was the one in the lead here. "Part of my analysis is due to the fictional detective's inspiration, but the other part is due to Gil's own novel," she declared to the team, "I'm almost done the book now, and the main suspect in the novel has just been eliminated as a culprit. But the odd thing is, even though he was eliminated, Gil never killed off this character. But in real life, the main suspect, Peter Cook, was killed off by another person. This means Peter Cook himself may not be the killer, and that whoever is doing the actual killing had to come up with a brand new technique to commit this act."
Eyes grew wide at Presea's announcement. Was the killer forced to go off course all because there was no more killing in the book? "You were with me when Peter Cook was being interrogated," Cabalina stated, crossing her arms and furrowing her brows in thought, "I think you'll agree with me when I say Cook is unlikely to be the killer. His schedule doesn't match the times of death for the three victims, and I believe Sarge also pointed out that Death Angel's posts used IP addresses consistent with Cook's stated locations. In that case, your first submission that Cook may not have done it may be correct."
"But are you implying this may be related to Frank Warner?" Azul interrupted, giving his chin a scratch, "I don't know much about the guy, except for what Cabalina's interrogation with him revealed, but there just isn't enough to confirm or eliminate him as the culprit. Besides, we don't even know if Warner has an account on Lloyd's website. So how are we supposed to track his movements and actions if he's truly a fan of the novel?" he asked.
Presea pursed her lips and slightly nodded her head. While she agreed with Azul's point, there were still some unresolved issues. "Frank Warner still hasn't submitted any evidence to back up his claim. His words about his van breaking down and other stuff are not buttressed by any eyewitness accounts. Unless he truly has evidence to show that, anything he says may be complete fiction," Presea replied, tucking the folder under her arm, "Besides, Gil and I both find him looking very familiar, almost like we saw him from somewhere before. A similar comment was also made by Sheena, who was the first to point out that she thought she saw Warner at the university." Presea then turned to Cameryn and asked her when Warner would bring in his evidence. "Has he confirmed the time and date with you yet?"
Cameryn shook her head. "I left a message on his cellphone again yesterday, and I'm still waiting for him to confirm the time and date with me," she responded, flipping through her day planner, "But if he agrees to my offer, then he should be here tomorrow afternoon."
Presea nodded once more. Thanking Cameryn in a monotone voice, she returned to her desk and put the folder away. In its place, Presea picked up a series of video tapes, brandishing them about as she entered the unit conference room. "I think until Mr. Warner comes in with his stuff, we'll just have to keep combing through the current evidence," she decided, pushing the door open, "I'm going to look over the security tapes from the mall during the crazy chase over the weekend. I have a feeling there are things in the tapes that may be helpful to us. If Gil comes out of his office and is looking for me, tell him I'm in here, alright?" With that, she slid into the conference room and closed the door behind her, leaving the unit in their wake.
"So what's your analysis on Pirate King, Jade?" Gil asked, pressing the phone to his ear while flipping through the new documents the SIU technology expert left for him earlier. In an unprecedented move, Gil chose to lock himself in his office all morning, trying to avoid the disturbance that was the ethics commissioner. Usually he was quite open and approachable by both his team and other units, but today he wanted to really concentrate on the task at hand.
"Pirate King is one strange character," Jade responded from the other side, the shuffling of papers echoing through Gil's earpiece, "From the email archives on your son's website, I found that he showed Cook all the news items related to the deaths. Cook would then post them onto the board under the name Death Angel. It's almost like Pirate King is Death Angel's main source. It makes Pirate King seem more like a tabloid reporter or paparazzi than a mystery fan."
Gil nodded, scanning the lines on his page. The two users emailed each other back and forth almost daily in the past two weeks, and it was evident that both sides had similar views on the world. The lone exception was that Cook would lay his beliefs in the open, while Pirate King stayed relatively mum, almost like they didn't want to draw attention to themselves. It made Gil wonder how much Pirate King actually knew about what was going on, and if they had any idea who the true killer was. "What about the transcript from the mall conversation?" Gil asked.
More shuffling of papers could be heard before Jade answered. "Pirate King joined right after Lloyd asked Cook about his drink. Pirate King asked Lloyd if he was looking for Cook, and after Cook answered, they started their conversation and ignored Lloyd for a while. For Lloyd, talk about being rejected," Jade described, "Your unit then scoured the mall for Cook, yes?"
"We were looking for Death Angel, not Cook," Gil corrected the bespectacled man, "We didn't know Death Angel had blond hair at that time, so we were still looking for a redhead holding a drink. Lloyd informed us Death Angel was drinking a smoothie, so we ended up narrowing the search even further. In reality, we were on the wrong path the whole time!"
Jade then diverted Gil's attention back to the transcript, where Death Angel and Pirate King got into the flaming war. "Cook was flaming Pirate King in the middle of a chat room, and Lloyd could see their every word," Jade commented, "Pirate King sent Cook an email regarding a shipwreck off the coast in Luin two years ago. I looked through the email archive and found a link in the email Pirate King wrote to Cook. Shall I forward you the article?" Jade asked.
"Sure, send it to my email account. I'll look into that later on," Gil replied, giving the bottom part of his goatee a scratch, "So both Cook and Lloyd left the chat room at around the same time, but Pirate King stayed on for another minute or so. Can you track the IP address it came from? And what were they doing there the whole time?"
"Pirate King didn't do much," Jade replied, "I didn't see any activity from the site for a while. Other than shuffling and deleting some emails, there wasn't anything suspicious. But I did find one peculiar thing about Pirate King, something that might interest you."
Gil's back straightened as Jade turned another page. "The IP address Pirate King used to get onto the website is from within the mall's own network. It seems to be from the landline, not a Wi-Fi connection. It means Pirate King was using the mall's computers the whole time," Jade concluded, "With you chasing Cook, Pirate King might have taken that time to escape."
Gil hissed through his teeth. While there was still a chance Cook's death had nothing to do with his current cases, the possibility of it being linked to the novel serial killer couldn't be ruled out yet. "Although I did find something interesting about the deaths so far," Jade added, "Except for Cook, all the deaths were done via methods in your book. But do you realize that, including Cook, all the targets wore similar clothing?" Jade asked.
Gil cocked an eyebrow, flipping through his pages once more. "I asked the coroner for each file to compare the time of each death to the time of each Death Angel post on the website. I also skimmed each file, and I noticed they all wore similar clothes. What do they call it? The Loni-Kyle, I think," Jade pointed out, the snapping of fingers echoing through the phone, "That style really reminds me of something a friend of mine likes to wear."
Gil scratched his head, stumped by the comments the SIU member made. "Are you saying that all victims, including Cook, may have been targeted because of their clothing?" he asked, frantically searching through each victim's file. This was somewhat hard to believe, but if this would lead them closer to the truth, then certainly it was welcome news.
"I'm not investigating this case, so I'll let the experts in your unit deal with that. I just think it's coincidental that they all wear the same clothes," Jade continued, his tone a mix of sarcasm and reluctance, "My friend Luke fon Fabre goes for that style, and I can recognize him from a mile away. With his red top and a bare abdomen, I think he looks great as a carrot with its colours reversed!" Jade ended with the roar of laughter on his side.
Gil sharply inhaled, suddenly remembering something of interest. "Did you say your friend Luke has red hair?" he asked, "Can you tell me more? What other traits does he have?"
"Luke? He's eighteen years old, stands just short of six feet, and has messy red hair," Jade listed off, "He's also a bit of a spoiled brat, and has a temper like no other. It's what you get when your parents are millionaires. From what I heard, his parents personally know the people who designed the Loni-Kyle, so that's why he gets all these freebies from them without lifting a finger to do anything. Seriously, if he's getting all this good stuff, why is he even complaining?"
Gil froze, his eyes setting on the forensics report of each deceased. Indeed, each one commented on the victim's clothing as a crop top or Loni-Kyle. In addition to Jade's comment about hair, all victims also had similarly coloured hair. "Jade, thanks for the advice. I think we have something to work with now." Gil quickly hung up the phone and charged out to the unit. Presea brought in some new evidence yesterday, and that might just give them a new lead.
Yet Gil barely took a step into the unit before Presea met him right at the hallway leading into his office. "Gil, were you looking for me? Because I'm looking for you right now," Presea stated, "I'm looking at the mall's security tapes, and there's someone you should look at."
"Is it who I think it is? Pirate King?" Gil asked, following the petite officer into the conference room. Inside, the projector was still on, broadcasting the events of the mall onto the large screen. "I spoke with Jade and he told me about Pirate King being in the mall during the exact time we were there with Lloyd. Did we manage to locate this person?"
"Not really, but it's someone else of interest," Presea pointed out. She and Gil sat on the front seats on opposite sides of the table, with Gil on the seat closer to the door. Grabbing the remote control, Presea put the tape on rewind, pushing the time back to before the chase began. "This is a scene of one of the public computers in the mall. Remember how we had to look for redheads before we found out Cook had blond hair? Well, here's a redhead using the public computer for quite a while. In fact, he arrived shortly after we did, and stayed at this computer."
Gil squinted at the screen, looking at the time while flipping through the IP notes Jade sent him. The unit was ordered to start narrowing the search when Lloyd reported that Cook had a drink, and the redhead in the video had no drink. "That could be one reason why we never kept an eye on him," Gil muttered, "He didn't fit the description at that time."
Presea kept playing the tape, moving it to when the chase began while keeping track of the time on the video. "Even when the chase was going on, he was rather calm," Presea noted, "It was like he didn't have a worry in the world, even though everything around him was in chaos."
Gil flipped to the time in question, when Lloyd and Cook both left the website. Jade said Pirate King stayed on the website for a bit more, deleting and organizing emails after the flaming comments by Cook. Could this man staying at the computer be Pirate King? "Can we get a close look at his face, or is the camera angle stuck like that?" Gil wondered.
Presea smirked. "The camera may not get his face, but it doesn't mean the man won't move," she replied, forwarding the tape once more. Gil saw Cook blast through that aisle in the video, followed by Noishe and others. Then, true to Zelos' words, the former military mole dove into the computer station, nearly knocking over the user. The two men did truly resemble each other, standing about the same height with shoulder-length red hair. Just as the computer user lifted his head, Presea stopped the tape. "See anyone familiar?" she pointed out to Gil.
"That's Frank Warner!" Gil exclaimed, pointing at the screen in shock. The staff sergeant watched Presea continue the tape, seeing Zelos wander off to the doors, followed by Warner about a minute later. The back silhouette was too familiar for both Gil and Presea to ignore, reminding them of when Gil held the book signing event. "So Frank Warner did get my book and my signature. He was the handyman who ran into those girls when he left!"
"And Frank Warner's name also showed up on the University of Iselia's visitor log," Presea emphasized, telling Gil the same observations she informed the unit about earlier, "He was at two crime scenes, was recognized by the two of us and Sheena, was captured by a mall security camera during a chase, and still hasn't handed in any evidence. If he wants to clear his name, why is he delaying the evidence drop for so long?" the pink-haired officer questioned.
"I'm going to get Zelos Wilder in here," Gil decided, getting out of his seat. He recalled that Zelos saw a man with a hoodie walk out of Cook's crime scene. This was similar to the Kent Ruffin death, and Frank Warner's physical figure suddenly really resembled that hooded stranger on that security tape. Gil snatched his notes from the conference table and exited the conference room. Approaching Cameryn's desk, he demanded, "Has Frank Warner called you back yet?"
The seated Cameryn glanced up in exasperation. "You won't like this, Sergeant," she responded weakly to the man standing beside her, "Frank Warner is refusing to come to the unit. He told me he lost trust in the police after the press conference, when the ethics commissioner condemned our team's actions at the mall. This is added to the fact that he didn't like how he was interrogated last time, so he'll only hand over the evidence outside of the station. He wants one of us to meet him in a public area tomorrow afternoon, where he'll then give us his stuff."
Gil cursed once more. Realizing he was out of options, he might have to do what Warner said and place the unit in more trouble. "Can you try to negotiate with him some more?" the goateed man pleaded, "Call him up again and see if you can convince him to change his mind."
The strawberry blond secretary winced, reluctantly grabbing the phone once more. From his position on Cameryn's right, Gil turned back to stare at Presea helplessly, signalling that things were dire. "Try to compare the mall security tape with the martial arts dojo tape," he ordered, "See if you can get at least a visual match between Warner and the hooded man. I'll call up Zelos to see if he can help us again," he declared, trotting back into his office.
After hearing the door click shut behind him, Gil leaped back into his chair and picked up the phone. He dialled for the number of his friend and waited to connect, all the while trying to remember the words of another friend. Frank Brunel told Gil to think of other hypotheses in his investigation, and right now one was hitting him in the face. If this worked out, and Warner was willing to cooperate, they would really hit the jackpot for sure. As the flirtatious man from Meltokio greeted Gil on the other line, the staff sergeant prepared his all-important request.
Bombshell! Did that shock you? The guy that everyone was writing off as a red herring earlier turns out to be related to the deaths somehow. What do you guys think? Is Frank Warner the real killer or not? How will Gil get him to come into the unit? And what will they do to get info out of him? Read on next chapter to find out!