POV author

This unremarkable little town stood among forests and plains. He was so quiet and serene, which attracted many visiting people. After all, everyone would like, after the aching and inhospitable bustle, to find themselves in a paradise where they could feel the peaceful atmosphere, relax and unwind in a quiet place.

The days passed here in a measured manner, today was similar to the previous day, no new news, no sudden events foreshadowed. But one evening everything changed, an ordinary quiet evening for the townspeople turned upside down.

The empty alley, familiar to everyone, was now filled with noise: rapid human chirps mixed with each other, hooves pounded on the sidewalk, furious orders from people in uniform forced people to move away and form a semicircle along the white ribbon. Indignation and discontent came from the crowd, while the gendarmes tried to calm the civilian population and send people home.

The oil luminaries barely kept the darkness away from the territory fenced with tape. Where the high streetlights couldn't reach with their bright rays, so the gloomy surroundings didn't go away. Even more gloomy was the realization of why and for what they had fenced off this area, where no one was walking anyway. There is one simple truth in these words, as my friend told me.

But you don't have to guess, because it's worth watching closely the crowd of ordinary residents. Suddenly, a boy of very short stature, but quite persistent and brave, leaned out of the crowd. He climbed over the white ribbon and hastily adjusted his cap on his head. Only at the beginning of the journey, two gendarmes standing next to him stopped him and took him by the arms in order to lead him out of the cordoned-off area. But the guy did not intend to tolerate such an attitude towards himself, so he began to cheerfully shout and kick.

– Wh-what are you doing?... Let me go...! I am Naib Subedar! Detective's assistant!!.. – the young man tried his best to explain his intentions, but they tried to expel him from the station with all their efforts, refusing to listen to the arrogant migrant.

POV Nayb

Those damn gendarmes stopped me again for no reason, but soon the senior officer was able to come out to the scuffle and figure out the whole situation.

Finally, after showing my ID, they showed me the way where the detective was supposed to be. I walked on and went around the corner, looking around the alley. A gray and bloodstained canvas appeared before my eyes on the sidewalk, which covered the result of the crime committed.

Coming closer, I crouched down in front of the cloth, took hold of the edge with my fingers and lifted it higher, then I froze for a moment. There was no sign of a living place on the body: beaten to a purple color in some places, the bluish man was bleeding, as if they were trying to make a chop out of him. It was such a terrible sight that I couldn't look any further without regret, my hand dropped by itself, covering my gaze at the corpse with a canvas.

Involuntarily, many events flashed through his eyes, which made him shudder a little. The image of this corpse has not left my head until now, only acquired more saturated colors over time. A dirty and torn military uniform was emblazoned on the victim's body, and blood gradually flowed out through various holes and wounds. In reality, one of these victims stretched across endless fields, scorched black. At first, distant explosions rang in my ears, making my nerves tense. And the closer they came, the more the earth shook. But the most massive rumble blocked my ears so much that I squeezed my eyes shut and held my head.

The memories pierced my heart with sharp fragments, which made me struggle to breathe. Screams and screams mixed with street noise, the sound of hooves, and soon I abruptly opened my eyes and kept my attention on the detective, who was slowly walking along the sidewalk. I came to my senses in a moment and stood up, calling out to my old savior.

– Eli-san!

Minutes earlier*

POV Eli

During all this time, while the crime scene was being examined, I was able to find out some points while I was getting information from the gendarmes and witnesses.

In fact, the body was found among the houses, and not in the best condition.

Swollen bruises, broken limbs and broken bones indicated that the killer was armed with a strong blunt object. Perhaps the reason for the posthumous beating was a quarrel, enmity. The victim tried to block the blows, but such an idea ended with broken arms, then legs were used so that the man could not escape. The main goal of the criminal is to torment the victim a little, after the killer had a psychosis, then the unconscious and chaotic beating of the victim's body served as his speedy death. There was also an interesting piece of evidence in the victim's pockets..

– Eli-san!

The sonorous and deep voice of his former assistant was heard from the side, interrupting my further reasoning. But there was nothing to discuss, since all the evidence had already been collected by me. I just turned to my colleague with a kind smile.

– Nib, you're just in time. What information have you been able to get this time?

–I-I was able to find out on the news about an incident yesterday that happened very close to the crime scene. The circus tent caught fire in a strange way, but they were able to put it out and find a couple of survivors in serious condition there. The rest died in the fire, but two people from their troupe were not found during the disassembly. These people were probably lucky and they were at home at the time of the incident, but gendarmes had already been sent to search for them for further questioning.

– Fine, I will personally conduct a survey of the survivors. As for this incident, I'll bring you up to speed now. As you may have noticed, the guy was beaten to death with a blunt object, but that's not what's interesting.

I took a bag of white powder out of my pocket and handed it to Nib to show him the evidence in more detail.

– Is it a narcotic substance? Or maybe.. Powdered poison?

– Exactly, we found poison in the form of powder in the clothes of the victim's body. But it's too early for us to think about what he was needed for.

– Then what are we going to do now?

– Well, the necessary evidence has been collected at this place, it remains only to send the body to the morgue for further examination, which the assistants will do. In the meantime, we can go get a cup of coffee.

– This is a great idea, I think I'll go with you.

Finally, I gave the evidence to one of the gendarmes and moved with my assistant towards the shopping streets, climbing over the white ribbon and the crowd of people. We did a great job today, and the full disclosure of the crime will depend on further examination.

There are enough adventures for today, even though they are just beginning.