"What do we have?" was the first thing Alex said when he entered the conference room
Without hesitation, Sky stood up and turned on the projector
"Mary Rowan. She's in her late forties, she lives in 68 Hayward Lane. Got fired, wrongly, from her work not too long ago. There's nothing special" she said as she walked towards the projector
"A woman" Ken noted referring to the image on the screen
"You said she was wrongly fired?" I asked Sky
"Yeah, She was fired for assumed theft but, after fully investigating, they found out that she had nothing to do in it. They tried to reach her in order to apologized and have her go back but, they couldn't. As he was a Christian, the boss didn't agree to just send a message to apologize and just leave it, so he decided to visit her personally. That's how she was found"
"Do we have a suspect?" Jade asked
"With what happened to her, we think it is the same perp"
She didn't need to specify for any of us to know who she was referring to.
"What exactly happened to her?" Jace asked
In mild surprise, I turned to look at him. He seemed okay, unaffected... normal
"Same beginning; a blackout. After that, the neighbors heard a smashing window but, they couldn't step out due to fear- it wasn't the first time they heard something about a blackout and a smashing window. They called the cops the following day and when the cops came, the boss had already arrived. He told them why he was there and that he had been knocking for a while but, no one was answering. After knocking again for some time, they entered and found her body"
"Do we have the body?" Alex asked
"Not yet, but we have some pictures" Olive said
She stood up while Sky went back to her seat. As she reached the projector, she changed the page to where the victim was attacked
She had bruise marks on her neck as if she had been strangled with something. There was also a cut on it along with the stab marks at the side of her stomach
"According to this picture, it seems as if she was strangled before being stabbed. Then at a time, maybe before she fully died, her neck was cut" Olive explained
"Could it be the same weapon that was used last time?" Ken asked
"Probably. But we would have to check it before we can conclude that it is the same weapon"
"If it was the same, that means it is the same person who killed Victor Shade and the witness, right?" Jace asked
"Until we are proved wrong, yes" Olive answered
"So, we can't do anything until we have the body" Jade said
"Can we get the body earlier?" Alex asked
"I will see what I can do" Olive said
"As expected, once again shines. I knew that we could always count on you" Jade told her with a smile while she laughed
"Okay" Alex said standing up
"That will be the end of our meeting until we get the body or something comes up" he continued and proceeded to leave the room
"And also" he said as an after though, "I have a feeling we will be having over nights until we catch that jerk, get ready" then he left
*Meeting in the conference room as soon as you resume for work*
I saw the text from Alex as I looked at the work group chart when I entered the building; I think we have gotten something new
Since it was the first time Alex is sending a message like that, I didn't stop at the office, I just took my bag along with me. It was just 9:30, so, not everyone had resumed for work; it was just Jade and me
"Olive and Alex went to accompany the corpse" Jade told me
I guess along with Olive and Alex
Starting from Jace, Ken and Sky also arrived, now we were just waiting for Olive and Alex
"Hey guys" Alex greeted as he entered the conference room, Olive following him
"Sorry for being late" Olive apologized
"No sweating. Sky was the last to come, and she came like fifty minutes ago" Jade said
"Your point telling them is?" Sky asked crossing her arms
He just shrugged while smiling
"Anyway," Jace interrupted Sky from saying what she was going to say, "did you get the body?" he asked
He has been participating actively and normally nowadays. Either because he just wants to capture the rubbish killer, or he is somehow related to this. Though, I am sure the latter has a better possibility. But, I just decided to flow with it, at least until when my patience has flown out
"Yes, we did. Although I haven't gotten the time to check the corpse, the forensics department that checked the body informed us about the weapon marks on the body"
"What did they say?" I asked
"The results of the weapon used matched the ones of Victor Shade" Alex answered
"So that means ..." Ken started
"It's probably the same person or the two murderers like to go shopping together" Jace completed making all of us chuckled at the last part along with me wondering
"I think it's the first one" Jade said earning a few eye rolls
"Who doesn't?" Sky more like said. she said it to herself but, also low enough for all of us to hear it
"So, what now?" Ken asked after a couple of minutes
"Well," Alex stood up, "first of all, Olive and Ken will thoroughly go through the body"
He turned to Olive,
"If there is anything else, you must find it and also double check the weapon marks"
"Okay" They both answered
He continued
"After that, we will know what more to do but in the meanwhile, the rest of us should see if there are any thing that could help us. If we need to go the crime scene, nothing is stopping you. Check if you can get anything, anything at all, that can help us, even if it's a mud. Okay?"
"Okay" we all responded
"Good. We may have to use the control room for this case" He said then left
"Is this it?" I asked Jace ignoring the police lines
I looked at the building I was in front of with Jace. We decided to be the ones to check the place while Jade and Sky check for anything else that was missed on the web
He looked at the picture on his phone
"No, I think it's the one across the street with no police lines" he answered
I rolled my eyes
"Well then. Let's enter, shall we?" I asked although I wasn't really asking him
Crossing through the police line, I entered the gate with Jace behind me
"Here" I handed him the gloves, "In case we see something that we need to check"
"I know that" he said
"Sure, let's go" I said but, was stopped by Jace
"What?"
"Stay behind me"
"I can take care of myself" I tried to free myself from his grasp but, he didn't budge
"Yeah, you can" he said but made sure that he entered first
I huffed
"Wow" he said referring to the stench of the place
"Couldn't any of her relatives come clean this place?" he asked
"Tell me about it. Did they really have to be non-existing in this world?"
"You can't just correct someone in the right way, can you?" he asked while lifting up another police line while I just shrugged, following him
"I get that no one is living here now but, I doesn't have to be dark" he said putting on the torch from his phone
"I agree" I agreed with him
"Well, first time today" he scoffed
"I take my agreement back"
Even though he didn't say anything, I could feel the smile on his face. We went into different directions to see if we could find something useful
"Two burgers and two sprites, please" I told the server
"Okay" After paying her and collecting the change, I took the tray and went to join Jace
"Here" I placed the tray on the table and sat down
"Only one?"
"Sorry?"
"How could you buy only one burger for me? After all that working?"
I clenched my teeth
"How many was I then supposed to buy for you?" I said with a forced smile
"At least, two! How am I supposed to be satisfied with only on...."
I slammed the sprite on the table but, not enough to cause a disturbance to the other customers.
"You rubbish gorilla. How can't you be satisfied with one burger? Why don't you just eat the whole place down. Were you the only one that was working? I also worked! Also, you were the one who said we should eat lunch but, you sat down here and told me to go order the food; I am even the one paying! If you want to eat five burgers pay for your self, okay? No, just shut up and eat your food. Okay?!!!"
"Mel"
"Mellll"
"Mel"
I blinked my eyes
"Uhm, yeah?" I asked him
"Why did you suddenly stand up?"
"Uhm?"
"Oh" I realized that I just probably had an imagination, fortunately but unfortunately. I sat back down and took a deep breath
"Just eat you food, okay?" I told him then started continued finished eating my food. Thankfully, he didn't say anything the rest of the meal