The pressed inflorescence was still fresh, and it appeared to me that there was not enough time to flatten it. Despite how forensics claim that the crime scenes were spotless, the culprit was deliberately leaving traces. I went to Laksa and verified what was used to preserve it, but it didn't seem to be kept with glycerin, only to be book-pressed. She was out of words to defend her claim, but it didn't seem to be kept hydrated with her formula.
So I took it upon myself to have it checked with the experts and those I can trust. I took a train ride and went to the downtown slums, where grey smoke and white fog mingled with no grey area. The cold winter breeze whipped the newspapers on the roads, and I saw a familiar portrait: Dr. Ting. He was that famous Forensic Pathologist who helped investigate a cold case of a missing alpha. What made it controversial was that-- while others were mourning the death of a socialite who vanished for thirty years, Dr. Ting uncovered that the Alpha's DNA matched the profile of a notorious serial killer who preyed on thirteen young omegas precisely thirty years ago.
I read his books. I became a fan because he was a competent man. But the conflict lies in the headline since he replaced Mr. Caesar as the chief crime scene investigator for the skeleton exhibit case. "He got demoted?" I wondered how Mr. Ceasar was doing. At first, I thought Mr. Caesar was a cold, straightforward man. But after getting to know him for a few weeks, I knew that he was dedicated to his job more than anyone I knew.
It takes me back to the day we met to settle what happened between us. He said he'd compensate me with all his assets. "He's too mature at all times that it makes me feel like I'm not talking to a human," I muttered to myself. I disregarded a faint whisper in my heart, saying that I must be there when it's tough for him. But does a man with such maturity still need me to relieve him?
That thought vanished when a close friend bumped into me and lured me back to my priorities. She was wearing a full black coat over her black leather jacket and tight jeans. She used to have long fuzzy hair, and now she had a kept pixie cut. "What's wrong with you? I have been calling you four times. I don't remember you ignoring me twice when I call you. What's wrong, Russien?"
"JJ? What's wrong with you? Why do you look like a human?"
She hugged me and hit me with her bag. I could smell her cigarette all over her body, and it was still the same flavor. "Russien, I read the papers and saw the news on TV. Are you okay?" She whispered.
"I'm fine. I'm finally making progress."
She quickly let go of me and made me carry her heavy bag. "It feels nice to get out of prison," She then let out a loud yawn. "Where are you going?"
"You need to stop punching random alphas."
"I don't punch them randomly, okay! I choose assholes, and what can I do if assholery is a component of their genes?"
"How many times did you land in prison because of that temper? What do you think of prison, your free hotel?"
"You're making me want to go back there!"
She followed me to the clinic. She talked about some incidents she encountered in prison and how she became the boss there. "one butt-faced asshole tried to stab me, but he was weaker than my fart. I accidentally stabbed him twice. That's why it took me two years to get out there." And the elevator that was supposed to be full became empty when she talked shit.
Once the lift closed, she started to be serious. "Rion," she called my real name first. Perhaps it was the tight space around us, but the air was too dense for us to be calm. "That monster with mouth or eyeball or whatever... Does he finally have an entire face?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but he's getting uglier every day that passes by." That monster tried to stuff its eyeballs into my throat. Just recalling the imagery made me scared.
"The witch is back, and the devil knows how much I want to kill her. I'm not trying to be needy, but you need to keep me in check. I may be a bitch, but I don't want to be like her."
JJ, or Jillian was from the same orphanage. She used to be a bully, and we thought no one would adopt her because of her personality. But a couple adopted her, surprisingly. After five years, she left that foster family and joined me in the asylum. She pretended to be crazy to stay away from that couple she called a pair of witches. She dropped the act when her foster father died. I remember she laughed to her heart's content when she received the news. I thought Jillian jinxed herself and got crazy for real. But it was not a manic laugh. It was genuine thankful laughter.
Years later, news broke out about the widowed spouse fleeing the country after discovering how they locked up their adopted children revealing why Jillian was so desperate to hide from them. She once said the facts for what they were, but the couple were powerful and influential. So, she had no choice but to be what people called her, "a little bit crazy."
Sadly, Jillian did not correctly execute that little act. She had anger management issues and seasonal depression.
"Jillian, you're not needy. And we have a work to do, and I can't have you disappearing on me again."
The doors opened, and she hugged me again, "Congrats on having a baby. Your alpha seems fine, well-educated, from a notable family, and he's pretty decent for an alpha."
I was stunned for a while—JJ was my informant when I started ghostwriting. I knew she'd dig some information about Mr. Caesar, but it embarrassed me that she even had to do that to learn about my circumstances. "Sorry, I should have told you about it first, but I didn't know how to contact you."
"Shush," she smiled and walked ahead, "Now, let's go meet that asshole trying to steal my pal!"
I expected JJ to be hostile to Dr. Mendez, but she behaved well the entire time. We were in his frost-bitten garden, and he was busy crying for his dying plants, although he had already moved some of his collection to another location. "Why are you here? You're not my patient. Even my brother-in-law took you to a different hospital when you were ill. How come you're showing your face now?"
"What the fuck is wrong with him?" JJ sneaked to my back to ask that question. Looking at how awful Dr. Mendez looked, no one would believe he was decent.
"I need you to look at something, or if it's okay, lend me your disciples, that chemist couple, specifically."
"So, there we go. You're here for those lovebirds in heat, not me!" He grabbed snow and threw them toward me.
"When you told me I'm not needy, is this the man who set your standard for the definition of being needy?" JJ looked at me confused, perhaps mocking how long my patience was.
"They're having the best time of their life as pair. This is why I hate couples at work! The omega took a monthly leave, and the alpha followed suit!" He complained for more than an hour. "God, I hate winter! I planted them and took care of them so much, and once that snow falls, all my exotic plants die! Do you know how hard it is for me to watch my babies grow only to die because of that fucking snow?!"
We headed inside the lab before waiting for his speech to finish. Even the physicist was on leave, and only Carlos was working in the lab. He was so pale, and apparent stress took a toll on him.
He quickly apologized on behalf of his boss, "The protest is not getting anywhere, and he forgot to rescue his plants on time. That's why he's acting crazier."
"Oh. It must be hard for you."
Compared to Dennis, Carlos is very awkward in communicating his thoughts. The loudness outside was the total opposite inside the lab.
"I'm JJ." JJ shook his hands briefly, and Carlos introduced himself the same.
"Wow you guys are real social inept creatures! Can't you do what you came here to do? I'm hungry." At that reminder from Jillian, I took the zip-locked bag containing the flower. "Can you guys process this later and analyze what method was used to preserve this flower?"
The moment Carlos took the bag, he immediately opened it, making me anxious.
"Sorry, it has been so long since I saw red hyssop." He sniffed it and took it with his bare hands.
"Please be careful. That's the only evidence I got for my investigation!"… And he dropped it. He quickly picked it up and apologized again. "I'm sorry, it just smelled so good, like my late mother's perfume."
"What?"
I took it and sniffed it, but I couldn't smell anything. JJ smelled it too, and it was useless for a woman who gets migraine when smelling floral perfume. We had no choice but took the second opinion of that madman talking to himself outside.
"What? You want me now? You left me freezing there, and now—"He paused and smelled the flower quite disturbingly. He sniffed it not once but for five minutes. I wasn't expecting anything from him anymore, and I wanted to go home.
"It's a pheromone, but I'm not sure if it belongs to an alpha or an omega," he said.
Carlos argued, "But I can smell it. How can it be a pheromone if a beta can smell it too?"
Dr. Mendez looked at me and waited until I got his point. He then asked me, "Don't you think it's crazy if it's an artificial pheromone designed to mimic a real pheromone?"
"Perhaps it doesn't have the distinct characterization of Alpha or Omega's pheromone because it was still incomplete. It makes people think it's just perfume! My research! My research has finally found hope! See! Synthesizing artificial pheromone is possible!" He hugged me tighter, and JJ pushed him away from me.
"Good for you, but can you stop crushing that flower? That's the only evidence I have!"
"Uh-oh."