(2 days later)
She was anxious, this wasn't her intention. She believed in her, yet why can't she undoubtedly carry out her Goddess's errands? Is this a test or something else?
Her goddess had a bunch of powers and being perceptive topped her charts.
"Tell me my child, what's bugging you?"The kimono clad and mask wearing woman, asked her knelt down devotee.
"My Goddess, I'm feeling very uncomfortable about this recent rise in murders. I'm sensing some evil at work." The kneeling woman replied.
"My child, you've nothing to worry about. You've done your duty with utter perfection. I'm pleased on you." The Goddess moved her left leg seductively and dragged it over the face of her devotee delicately.
Her senses shivered, she felt like the energy of universe entering in her body through the touch of her Goddess.
She bowed her head, "But Goddess, that sinner girl, she was poisoned just before she was going to open her mouth."
A cruel smile appeared on the Goddess's lips, though she quickly hid it, "I knew that she would be punished for her sins, that's why I told you to keep an eye on her and let me know about her sufferings, but the cosmic justice has acted. It's beyond your realms to comprehend."
The lady bowed down again, not noticing her Goddess's facial expressions.
"Now, rest my child, you're excused from the daily duties." The Goddess excused her devotee.
(15 minutes later)
"She is on the verge of becoming corrupt. We have to save her soul. Within two days she'll be in a birthday party of a senator party, you will liberate her then and there, but be cautious, the red bitch and her brown pup'll try to foil your plans." The goddess told the operative kneeling in front of her.
The operative knew what to do, she had full allegiance to her Goddess, the one who saved her from becoming astray.
(Unexpected invitation)
Timmy never imagined this in his wildest of the dreams. Getting an invitation for Heather's 25th birthday was like a little shock to him. Heather was only a new acquaintance, not even a friend of him, yet getting invited on her birthday was astonishing. Though it never meant that Timmy didn't like being astonished, in-fact he relished this one.
"Man such a damn hottie inviting me on her birthday, it must mean something, I must have captured her imagination. They say that girls love to tease the guys whom they like. Probably she likes me."
Timmy took a spare condom in his purse, his sixth sense indicated something'll surely pop tonight.
It was much a lonely party, truth to be told Timmy was the only guest.
"Umm…..I'm not from Dimmsdale, so you know other than you there's not many that I can invite in my birthday." Heather stated with a dusting of pink in her cheeks.
The small cake was ready, a small candle was lit on it. Timmy switched of the main light of the apartment.
"Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy birthday to ,dear Heather.
Happy Birthday to You."
Timmy ended the birthday song, Heather blew out the candle. Then she halved the cake and force fed the half to Timmy.
"Never thought, that I'll befriend a detective in this new city. Life is so random." A tear of joy escaped Heather's eyes as she hugged Timmy.
Timmy was little shocked due to the sudden burst of emotion of this blonde girl. He returned the hug.
"I'm sorry…" Heather broke out and apologised, "I'm this much happy after an eternity, so you know….." Timmy cut her off, "We all can use a hug, there are no issues in it."
"You are such a nice guy, tell me seriously, do you really have a girl-friend?" Heather asked playfully.
"No, I'm currently single." Heather's eyes lit up, "Me, too. How about making it our maiden date?"
Timmy blushed, he was again taken aback by her revelation, though he was expecting something on those lines.
"Why Vicki can't be like this? She had sex with me, yet she gives me mixed signals, but this blonde is head over heels for me even without having sex. Vicki surely is a demon." Timmy was taken out of his imagination as Heather asked again,
"Did, I break you, pretty boy? Don't tell me that you're a virgin?" Heather teased again.
"No,No. Literally speaking, I was thinking to take you out, for this date."Timmy replied, trying desperately to save his face.
"So how about we start it here? I'll order pizza." Heather ordered the pizzas and the duo set themselves up on the couch.
"We know so little about each other, why don't we get to know each other better?" Timmy opined.
"Ok, let's bring it out; the truth dwelling in the realm of our lives." Heather smiled dramatically. This antic forced a smile out of Timmy.
"I was born and raised in Dimmsdale. Both my mom and dad are bigshot traders in share market, they tried their best to shove me in the abode of capitalism, but I was fascinated by detective work. So you see, that's how I ended up being a detective." Timmy stopped.
Heather's eyes suddenly became moistened, "I never saw my Mom or Dad. They never existed for me. I was left on the streets, but there was a tough man. Gave me a home and four square meals. Helped me to succeed in life, even gave me his surname, Salt."
"I'm sorry…"Timmy genuinely felt bad but Heather shrugged it off "That's in the past, I consider Jaccquine Salt of New England to be my mom and dad both."
"Tell me Timmy, why you became a detective in the first place?" Heather asked.
"Well, let's say that at a tender age I witnessed a great detective at work, I got fascinated by his reasoning and decided to be just like him." Timmy ended, the question brought up some very old memories, old yet clear.
Timmy asked"This'll be a long story for sure. Are you sure?"
"Not at all, I'm quite eager for it."Heather replied.
(Captured in his eyes)
A very young Timmy Turner was on a rare outing with his parents. For the first time in the short lifespan of Eight years Timmy's parents had taken him out with him. They were off to their Great aunt Edna's house for a summer weekend. She was repeatedly requesting her nephew, Turner to pay her a visit with his family. Now after a verbal wrestling with the management , achieved this vacation.
"Sport, do you know that we gonna be stargazing in the night?" Cosmo asked his son.
"But, dad; what's stargazing?" Timmy promptly asked.
His mother Wanda replied, "That's when you look up at the stars using a telescope. Your great aunt Edna also has one."
"Yay, that would be fun, my friend AJ also has telescope, he says that he has seen big stars and things, the milk…um…milky way. He says it's fun, now I'll be the second in my class to do stargazing." Timmy sounded very happy.
Great aunt Edna was a solitary woman, living just around the university. The area was very calm and quiet, a great place for academics. She had taken in some varsity students as paying guests; this ensured her company and finance at the same time.
Aunt Edna was already informed that Cosmo is coming with his family, so she was waiting for them in front of her house. It was a two storied classically modelled house.
"So this is the little munchkin you're talking about, he looks more like your late father." Aunt Edna picked up Timmy and kissed him on his forehead.
"Will we stargaze, great aunt Edna?" Timmy asked with a very energetic voice.
"Certainly yes, sweety, and call me aunt Edna. I don't wanna be called like an old hag." Edna smiled.
Both Cosmo and Wanda bursted into laughter.
Aunt Edna was giving the Turner family a tour of the Campus. It was a Saturday so the classes weren't there. People were playing and gossiping around the campus.
"Oi, Rita, Jessica, Monica, April." Aunt Edna called out the girls who were busy playing lawn tennis.
Aunt Edna introduced the four varsity students with her nephew's family. Apparently the stuneds were the paying guests of Aunt Edna.
All of them sounded very enthusiastic and well mannered except April. She instantly sneered, "Hey you guys, don't get duped by this whore. She might just want to molest your little kid." She pointed at Rita.
"What did you say, fucking sex slave of the prof.?" Rita shot back.
Aunt Edna sighed, "You girls, behave yourselves and April don't utter such things, Timmy is still a kid."
Though at that time Timmy didn't understand anything, he only figured out that Rita and April are enemies and clearly not friends.
"These two are the arch-enemies of each other and often indulge in childish spats. Don't take them seriously, especially April."Monica whispered in Wanda's ears.
(Timmy inside the locked room)
The lunch was quite extravagant. Aunt Edna left no stones unturned to host her favourite nephew Cosmo and his family. The preparations left the Turners humbled.
"Aunt Edna, you surely did a splendid job here, I guess you had to go out of your way to cook all this stuff." Wanda was bewildered.
"It's nothing compared to seeing you guys enjoy. I'm an old lady looking for company. My days are numbered, but when I see you guys, I remember the old times, how Cosmo used to cause a racket, how my brother and sister in law had to cope with his antics. Man, those were days." Aunt Edna looked genuinely happy.
Timmy was exploring the house, there were four rooms in the second floor, every room was very well furnished and the occupant's name was written on the door. One room caught the imagination of the young brunet. He entered a room, he didn't care to see the name written on the front door.
There was a Spanish guitar in that room, Timmy being a spirited boy, he soon started fiddling with the guitar. But being a novice only hampered his cause.
"Oh, shouldn't have eaten that beef stew, now I'm feeling sleepy." Timmy laid on the beautifully kept bed. A very aromatic smell accelerated his sleep.
Timmy woke up after hearing a loud knock at the door. Then he heard his father screaming, "Hey Timmy, , please open up." Timmy got out of the bed with wobbly feet, the next spectacle froze him up, was lying about the door on her back. Her head was bloodied….Timmy screamed on top of his lungs.
(Enter the detective)
"So, your son was also at the room , with ?" the detective asked .
"Yes, he dozed off while exploring, herself informed it to us.
"What was the time?"the detective narrowed his eyes.
"It was around 3p.m. When Monica and Jessica went to wake her up for the afternoon tea, she remained silent. So we didn't disturb her, but when she wasn't coming down till 5p.m we got anxious and went on wake her up. We knocked the door several times, then we heard Timmy scream. So broke down the door." Cosmo finished his statement.
"Hmm…that means she was alive till 3p.m." the detective murmured.
"Did everybody knew that Timmy was also sleeping in that room?" the detective asked the gathered crowd.
"Nope, as a matter of fact told me this in person, she said that she didn't mind my sleeping son, in her room." Cosmo replied.
"So in summary, woke up, went towards the door, suddenly the flower vase above the bookcase fell on her head and she died due to the heavy impact sometime between 3.30pm to 4pm. The room was locked from inside and the only key was found in victim's pocket even the windows were closed from inside. Even her blood is on that vase. It adds up fine, it's just an accident, if it was a murder, the little kid wouldn't have been spared also. The corpse seems to have a stripe mark on her left shoulder, probably from her guitar strap." The detective noted mentally.
"But why it still bothering me, why it doesn't seem real, there's something that I'm missing." The detective was pulled out of his thoughts as little footsteps followed him. He turned back to see the blue eyed brunet kid, known as Timmy.
The kid got little frightened, "Please, don't put me in jail."
"Dumb kid, I'm not that bad, still don't loiter around the crime scene." The detective advised him with a friendly face.
"Can, I watch you work? I like detective stories." The kid looked little buoyant, expecting an yes.
"Fine, just don't get in my way,k?"the detective laid down the ground rules. The detective strode to the flower vase of the hallway, and smelt the red roses. Suddenly it came to his mind, he rushed at the crime scene and examined the aforesaid vase, he noticed fresh water in it though there were no flowers.
"This vase looks fishy. Why water is there but not flowers? And why the water is fresh? Generally people throw away the water whenever they change flowers." He touched the flower vase and it struck him, he smiled inwardly.
The detective turned his attention towards the little kid, "Hey lil' guy. I guess you were asleep all the time?"
"Yes, ." Timmy replied.
"Everybody please gather in the dining room, I'll take statements." The detective replied.
"Firstly Mr. and , what were you doing during 3p.m. till the body was found?"
"I was washing the dishes while Wanda, my wife was busy helping Aunt Edna with the pineapple juice recipe. Then as I mentioned you, informed about Timmy and went back. Then I joined Wanda and Aunt Edna and was with them till the body was found." Cosmo asserted.
"We were with him all the time." Both Edna and Wanda cried in unison.
" what were you doing in that stipulated time?"
"I was having a gaming session with Rita in my room till 4p.m. When we were called by for the afternoon juice time, we came down. As April was yet to descend so Monica and I went to her room to call her. We knocked several times, but she didn't reply. She was in bad mood in the morning as she slandered Rita in public. So we didn't take any chance with her and left her alone."Monica replied.
The inspector focused his gaze on Rita, "Tell me about this spat, will you ?"
Rita sneered, "She was a total bitch. She stole my money several times. Whenever I tried to confront her she abused me and even slandered me. She would only like Monica's company, she was even teaching her how to play the guitar." Monica nodded in agreement.
"So, you had a strained relationship with her." The detective concluded.
"Don't tell me that you're suspecting me?" Rita furiously tried to prove her innocence.
"No, no. It was just routine questioning." The detective's reply soothed the enraged female a little bit.
" Jessica, did you notice something strange, when you went to wake the victim up?" the detective questioned.
"Well, now that you mention a very chilly wind was coming out of her room at that time. Generally she sets her ac around 77 degrees but the chill felt around 50 degrees." Jessica answered.
"Hmm….you seem to know much about temperatures." The detective chuckled.
"Well, I'm majoring in Physics, I need to know this trivial stuff." Jessica replied haughtily.
"So, Miss Monica; let's hear your statement?" the detective asked Monica.
"Um….I was with till 3.30 pm, then I went to my room for some nap, I was woken up by around 4 pm. And then things happened just like Jessica said, we went to wake April up but she was asleep, I also felt the chilly air coming under her room's door. Though I can't verify the temperatures as I'm majoring in literature."
The detective bursted in laughter.
The detective called one person from the forensics team and whispered something in his ear, the man left hurriedly. The detective sat casually on a chair and then asked, "Can I have some cold water, ?"
"Surely." Edna complied with the request. She opened the deep freezer, "What's this? Hey Monica your orange juice is stacked in the deep freezer, it's got frozen. Should I get it out too?"
" ; Aunt Edna. I want to sip the frozen juice, I heard it's great." Monica replied.
The detective was drinking the water, suddenly Rita strode to him and asked, "What's your call?Tell us."
The detective calmly replied, "It's a murder."
The room became awkwardly silent, somehow Jessica managed to say, "But the room was locked from inside and there was only one key which was found in Victims pocket. Then it's an impossible crime."
The forensic came in and handed him a report, the detective smiled, "Nope, this is a very possible crime. Now let me unmask the culprit."
"Firstly, that vase which apparently caused this tragedy was very peculiar. There were no flowers in it yet it had plenty of water. When I touched it, the bottom of the vase felt cooler than the top. In a uniform room temperature this wouldn't have happened.
The culprit, filled up the half of the base with ice and kept it on the top of the book shelf." The detective paused.
"But, that can kill a person only by chance and there was no duplicate key, to even begin with." Wanda cried.
"Do you know what the forensic guy told me? They have found traces of bar soap on the key. So the key was duplicated by someone and there wasn't any chance involved in the crime." The detective added on, "Please remember the condition of the corpse, she had her guitar on her back, but tell me why the guitar strap was tightly attached over her left shoulder that it made marks over there?" the detective paused again. The whole room was boiling with excitement.
"Haa…the culprit killed by smashing her metal guitar over her head, then set up the vase trap. Then she put the guitar back of her body, settled it on a dry ice and then putting a string through the knobs, then the culprit went outside, closed the door and locked it. Making an illusion of the door being locked from inside, then pulled the strings appropriately to position the body, the shiny floor only helped the culprit."
"But why the culprit had gone through all this trouble, positioning the corpse and getting the trick correct can be done without the strings and all other stuff?" now it was Cosmo's turn.
"The culprit couldn't find a pair of gloves, searching for them in summer would have drawn attention. Her fingerprints on the guitar and vase wouldn't be suspected but if they were on the body of the victim she would have landed in great trouble."
The detective looked at Monica, "Where is your fake finger nail of your right index finger?"
Monica looked at her bare nail of the said finger with utter disbelief, "What the fuck are you insinuating?"
"Well seemed to have a huge refrigerator for storing dry ice as she supplies them to the University's chemistry lab. Now why finger nail was there?" the detective shoved the mobile up Monica's face, it was the picture of a nail, being found in the aforesaid refrigerator.
Monica was sweating, her eyes became bloodied , she started panting, "Everything is circumstantial evidence, You can't prove a thing with this. Now, can you?" Monica laughed maniacally, Timmy felt afraid for the first time, his gut was telling him that this woman can do anything, anything that a monster can do.
"Is that so? , if I melt that frozen orange juice what will I get as the treasure? Maybe a duplicate key, of April's room with fingerprint. " the detective smiled cockily.
Monica broke down in tears, "She took away my boyfriend, then demolished his self confidence and then he committed suicide. I loved him more than my life, I couldn't forgive her. I killed her just like you mentioned detective."
The police officer handcuffed the culprit and escorted her out, while the detective ruffled Timmy's hairs, "You're fortunate lil' guy, if she saw you, she would have killed you too. You are damn lucky."
Timmy was dumbfounded suddenly sanity kicked in, he dug out his pocket diary, " can you please give me an autograph?" the little boy said expectantly.
The detective didn't disappoint him, he signed his diary with his trademark sign, it read "Sherlock Hamada."
(Present)
"So that's how you got inspired to become a detective? Wow almost felt like an mystery anime." Heather replied.
"Well, you know 'Truth is stranger than fiction'." Timmy smiled cockily.
Heather suddenly pulled Timmy into another embrace and kissed his cheek, "You are a great guy, but that's enough for today, k?"
A big smile graced the brunet detective's face.
(AJ's dad's Birthday bash)
"Don't you think that your dad is a bit old to throw a party?" Chester looked surprised.
"Come on, dude. He is the incumbent senator, cut some slack for him." AJ pleaded mockingly, "Btw, both of you guys are also invited as special guests." He pointed at Timmy and Chester.
It was their regular bro time and the three friends were discussing "life" over a bottles of beer. When Chester cited that Birthday's are just mere numbers indicating one's proximity wrt death, AJ found out that he had to invite his two flamboyant friends for his dad's birthday bash.