14th September

I could feel my hands sweating. I had been preparing for this moment since yesterday when I took a train to Arendelle. The walls were white, and the air was cold. I could feel and smell the death surrounding me. It was hardly the first time I was in mortuary. It was commonplace for me to visit because of my job. I was here for the job today too, but this time I knew the dead one.

"May I see the body now?" I asked, dread building in my stomach. I made my voice even and sure, but I could feel the urge to throw up built up to my throat.

"Of course," pathologist said and started to move the white sheet off the body. He revealed the face and shoulders, but let the sheet protect the modesty of the body.

No amount of preparation could have made me ready to see what I saw. Up to this point it all had felt like a huge mistake. Like it couldn't be true. Somehow, I had thought, that when they removed the sheet, I would see a stranger. But that girl was no stranger, she was my cousin Elsa.

She looked starved with her bony, meatless cheeks. Her pale skin was purplish and grayish, and her already thin lips were pulled back. But if I didn't look at her purple throat, or slightly gaping mouth, it was almost like she was asleep. Her face was so relaxed, and I felt like she would flutter her long lashes if I just shook her hard enough. But I had seen people like this before, way too many for my young age, and I knew they never woke up.

"Can I have the autopsy, please," I asked, but I couldn't dart my eyes off my cousin's body.

"Caucasian female, age 24, housemaid identified her as Elsa Árnadalr. Cause of death was drowning; estimated time of death is 3.15 am, 12th of September. There were traces of diazepam in her blood. She had prescription for a drug with it, but the doze was doubled. It all supports the claim that it was a suicide. There was some bruising on her forearms, most likely from male hands, but they were caused roughly 6 hours before her death. There was also slight bruising on her back, which could have been caused by being hit against a wall. The cause for this was also roughly 6 hours before. The timing of the bruising and her drowning don't match enough for me to think of homicide. Her autopsy supports the theory of suicide."

"Thank you," I said, still looking sadly at my cousin's gray face. I wished to run my hand through her beautiful platinum hair cascading on the bed.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, detective. I heard she was your cousin," the pathologist said sympathetically.

"Yeah, she was," I said, without lifting my gaze. Oh, poor Elsa, what happened to you?

"She was quite formidable young woman, lifted her father's company almost back to its former glory. It's such a shame she didn't have enough time to follow her dreams. I really hope you find that sister of hers, family has had too many tragedies already."

This time I lifted my head to look up the man in white coat. "I'll do everything I can to find Anna. And I really hope that I don't have to bring her home in a body bag, too. And if someone did cause Elsa's death, I will find out who it was, and they will pay for my cousin's life. I won't leave this city before I know what happened." I swore to both, the man and to myself. I would find out what happened to my cousins.

We hadn't really been all that close after childhood. We moved out of Arendelle when I was twelve, and we didn't stay in contact that much. Not that we had really been close in childhood either. I was five years older than Elsa, and eight years older than Anna, so we didn't have that much in common. Of course, I had matured a little slowly. I remember enjoying playing with the girls, especially Anna. She had been such a warm and funny little kid, who had admired my artwork so enthusiastically that I almost believed I had painted the Mona Lisa.

Elsa had been much more mature and reserved than her sister, but not immune to the temptation of mischief. I remember playing more than one practical prank to the staff of their and our mansions. Elsa was never too excited to have us over, unlike Anna, but she was always really polite and kind. It was hard to imagine that little girl, who giggled behind her hands after putting ice cubes inside her nanny's dress, was the beautiful woman lying dead on a bed of mortuary.

It felt so unfair. I felt so sad that I never put more effort to get to know Elsa. I had kept some contact with her little sister, but it was because unlike Elsa, Anna was always reaching for people. Anna liked to call me to talk about her life, her joys, and her sadness. Elsa didn't call, and according to Anna, she wasn't really about sharing at all. And now I couldn't help but think, would she be alive if she had been. Could I have saved her life just by reaching out to her? Would I have known that something was wrong, that someone was threatening her, or that she was deliberating suicide?

I probably would never find an answer for that, but I was determined to do everything I could to not to see Anna like her sister. That's why I had insisted on having this job. They were afraid that I wouldn't be objective enough because of our blood relation, or that it would be too hard for me. But I had been able to convince them that we were distant enough for me to do my job well, but close enough that I wouldn't rest before it was done. It wasn't really that hard to do, actually. They ruled it as suicide, and no detective in this town seemed to be thrilled to open an investigation in fear there could be some politics behind this. Not investigating would make the public suspicious. It was easier for them to let an outsider handle it. And I would handle it.

I walked into the police department, where my temporally office would be for these two cases: the mysterious disappearance of Anna and the death of Elsa. My job was to find out what happened to them and was there any connection between the two occurrences.

"Detective Fitzherbert, great to have you here. I hope your journey wasn't too hard," the head of police department greeted me.

"Good evening, sir. My journey was just fine", I answered. "I already saw the body and got an autopsy, so I'm ready to start the investigation right away. The faster we do this, the better."

"Straight to the business, I like that. Very well, Detective Fitzherbert. We already have your first lead. Would you like to interrogate him right away?"

"Yes, who is he?"

"Hans Westergård. He was a fiancé of Anna Árnadalr, before they suddenly called the wedding off just a week before it was supposed to be. He was brought to us after we went to look for some clues in Elsa's room and found it completely trashed. The maid said Hans came to the house after she had recognized Elsa's body. He had raveled the room for a while and left, looking upset and angry. Our police found him in his trashed home, and they brought him here. You can start your cases by finding out what is his involvement in this all."

"Great, will do. Show me where he is", I said and followed the man towards the interrogation room.