Ray jumped out of his bed in a cold sweat. He had completely forgotten about the logistics surrounding his mother's death and for some reason they were all coming back to him.
The trauma of losing his mother had probably caused the sudden erasure of his memories, but now that he had come to terms with it, his mind had revealed them once again. It was obvious that his mother had been killed by her brother, Ray's uncle.
The troubling part, though, was that Ray had always been told that his mother was an only-child. Even in the family tree, his mother stood alone in her generation. No one had ever mentioned him before either, and Ray had absolutely no information about the man.
It was clear that the truth was being hidden from him, and his father was probably the only one privy to it. But his gut told him not to trust his father. He didn't know why, but something about his father seemed strange. He had been thinking back to his early days for the past few hours, and his father had never been there for him, ever. But after his mother passed away, Haik had suddenly showed up, and stayed for good.
The worst part was that Ray's magic had manifested itself a few weeks after his mother's passing, and Haik had begun forcing him to take classes to develop it. Ray barely had any time to come to terms with his mother's death, and his father's forceful attitude only made it worse for the young boy.
With the newly discovered memories, Ray could confirm that his father wasn't deserving of being called a father. He had never looked after Ray and always let the servants take care of him. He had never marvelled at Ray's achievements, only telling him that he could do much better.
Haik was the prime example of an absent father, so Schelo's late introduction into Ray's life had been one of the best things to ever happen to him.
Ray was furious now. The fact that his mother was killed in the southern garden, right above where he would find Schelo's hanging body many years later, was way too unsettling to just be a coincidence. Both of those who were closest to him were killed near the southern gardens, and that fact haunted him.
His gut told him that the two deaths were connected and he felt his grip over the case strengthen. He had two leads now.
First was the broken relation between Haik and Schelo.
Second was the existence of this murderous uncle of his.
He was unsure about who to consult about either of these but figured that starting with the police would be sensible. He could ask to view the file of his mother's death in hopes of finding the cause of death. If it was asphyxiation then it would prove the connection between her death and Schelo's.
By the way her scream had slowly faded away in his memory, Ray could safely assume that she had been thrown off the edge. She could have either died of the fall, or suffocated by the disgusting, smothering goop that Ray had walked through.
Ray doubted that simply being pushed off the railings would be enough to kill her since she was a strong mage. Much stronger than both Haik and Schelo combined. She would have surely found a way to cushion her fall in those moments, but the asphyxiating liquid would have surely taken her off guard and ended her life.
But this was all just speculation. Ray had to visit the police in order to find out if his suspicions were rightly placed.
The lectures felt more boring than usual since Ray's mind was fixated on visiting the police. But it had been 3 days since he had come up with his theories. Somewhere in the back of his mind he still wanted to believe that the two cases were unrelated, and just a great coincidence.
The third class of the day was taken by Liza Provim, and Ray rushed out once again as soon as the class finished.
"Miss Provim, hold on!" Ray shouted at her as she walked away from the classroom.
"I noticed you weren't paying much attention in class today. You got a good reason for that?"
Ray smiled in response to her questions. He did have a good reason. A great reason in fact.
The two headed for the gardens once again, and Ray went over his interaction with the green liquid before he fought Schelo. He laid out the rest of his plan to Liza after explaining why he suspected the two deaths might be related.
Just like last time he did not elaborate about his father's involvement in all of this. He also decided to keep hidden the fact that his supposed uncle had killed his mother since Liza had already shown her disregard to Ray suspecting his own family.
"I'll come with you." Liza said before Ray left. "My family has close ties with the police, so they'll definitely provide the files if I tag along."
Ray reluctantly agreed. It was better to have her by his side, but he would have preferred to do it alone.
Ray waited for Liza outside the staffroom once his classes were over. He waited for 15 minutes before Liza finally walked out.
"Let's go." She declared, and the two promptly walked out of Zychs.
Since Zychs was located near a major city, the police station was only a short walk away.
"Miss Provim! Welcome!" the man at the front desk of the police station saluted. "How can I help you today?"
Looking over to Ray, the man said. "Has he done something?"
Liza laughed as she shook her head.
"Is there any way for you to get me a file from an eight year old case?" She asked, and the man nodded.
"I'll have to ask the main office for that, but I'm sure they'll agree to it. Can you tell me the name of the person involved?"
"Helena Vilhorm." Ray interjected.
"Vilhorm? In that case I'll probably have to ask the branch over at Vilhelm for access to it. This could take a few days, though.
"I'll send a Currtor out immediately and let you know if the request is approved. But don't expect to hear from me about this for at least a week. The approval for such a high profile case takes a lot of time.
Ray and Liza thanked the officer as they headed out.
"I'll let you know when they get back to me." Liza said as Ray and her went their separate ways.
"Thanks, Ray."