The men looked at her in confusion. They could not understand what she was saying. They never heard of that flower before.
Skyleene checked the dust, flipping the bag over and over again. She opened the bag and smelled the inside, her eyes widening.
"This dust is combined with another one."
"How do you know?" The man asked.
"The smell," she said, throwing the bag on the desk.
She let herself fall on the chair, closing her eyes. Mushu looked at her, worried, getting off of her shoulders. He landed on the desk, sniffing the bag, hissing at it. The purple dust was not lethal at all. However, it could become the deadliest weapon to find.
"Get your cat off my desk, please," Aper said coldly. Mushu hissed at him and sat on the girl's lap. Skyleene let a sigh escape her lips.
"I'm not the killer. You can check my house for the herbs you need to make this dust. I don't own them. I've been looking everywhere for Awo Aro, and I couldn't find it."
"What exactly do you need to make this dust?" The man asked.
"Awo Aro, salt, rose essence and water. All these get mixed and then set to dry for a couple of days. When it's dry, you get this dust form that smells nice due to the rose essence. This dust got mixed with something else. The effects might differ."
"Effects? Do you mean people do this as a cure or something?" Aper joined in the conversation.
"Well, yeah, kind of. Awo aro is known to be farmaceutical, and it helps with your pneuma recovery. When your pneuma is weak and almost disappears, the flower becomes a spawner of a new pneuma and creates one for the lost soul."
She searched the men's faces, and seeing that they did not understand, she quickly changed the subject:
"In any way, I don't have this flower. The usage requires a higher level of knowledge."
After some minutes of silence, the man's voice echoed in the room.
"Well, ain't that a good thing to know. I'm Nique Wollen, the head of this police station," he said, waiting for a handshake.
Skyleene looked at his hand and offered hers for a handshake. They smiled shyly and made eye contact for a couple of seconds. Mushu hissed at them, all the attention placed on him.
"Please keep the affection out of my office," Aper said, pissed, fixing his jacket. He gave them a disgusted look before focusing on the papers on the desk.
The two let their hands fall, looking at each other with a slight blush. Nique sat up from his seat, fixing his tuxedo.
"I suggest we keep her under observation for the time being. One bag can't tell if she is the killer or not."
"But she knew that it was a mixed type of dust! She is the only one who knows this type of stuff! She is the no.1 suspect! We can't let her go! At least let's have her in our station in one of the cells!"
"Aper Koden! That's nonsense! Who is the head of this station? If I say she will be under observation, she will, but in her home. There's no need for arrest at the moment. Plus, you said: "no.1 suspect", meaning she is not the killer. If you'll excuse me, rude guy-" giving him a death glare before looking at Skyleene- "Miss Cathle," he smiled.
Nique Wollen left the office, leaving the two rivals alone in a tense atmosphere. Aper let out a sigh and got up.
"J. will take you home. An officer will drop by to keep you under observation."
He left the office, leaving her in silence. In two minutes, J. opened the door.
"Hi!" he smiled widely. "Ready?"
Skyleene nodded, leaving the station with weird whispers and looks from the workers.
In her head was the same question: how did this person find the Awo Aro flower and make it lethal?
----------))((
The house was silent, the sun lighting the room for the last time today. It had been hours since they came from the station. Skyleene was sitting on the couch, lost in her thoughts. She kept waiting for that officer to arrive. She heard a knock right when she got most comfortable.
She got up and went to the door, revealing J.
"Hi! Mr Wollen is asking for your presence."
"Why?"
"He said he needs your help."
Skyleene eyed J. from head to toe. He felt that she was not buying it.
"He also said that it's urgent."
Skyleene sighed for the nth time that day. She turned around and got her phone, calling Mushu from the kitchen.
"Lead the way."
----------))((
There was no one in the station anymore. All the workers went home. J. and Skyleene got in the elevator and entered Aper's office, making the girl frown in confusion.
In the office, Aper and Nique were waiting in silence. When the door opened, their gazes fell on the girl who was standing in front of them. Mushu locked their eyes with his green pearls, making a shiver go down their spines.
"Why am I here?" Her voice got the full attention of the three men, her face showing nothing but annoyance.
She did not like his presence; he did not either. You could tell that by how they looked at each other.
"I want you two to work together-" pointing to both of them- "on this case," Nique said.
"What?!" They both asked. "I'm not working with Aper!"
"I'm not working with Skyleene!" They spoke at the same time.
"Guys, hear me out. Skyleene has the knowledge we need for this case; Aper has the talent of being an excellent detective. You two are the perfect pair! I took this decision after thinking for a long time."
"You mean twelve hours," Aper said with a straight face.
"Well, I took a good decision," Nique said with a small smile.
"It's not a good decision," Skyleene joined the conversation.
"It's the perfect duo! Try seeing things the way I do for a second. Aper, you know the drill, how the detective work goes, what to do and how to investigate. Skyleene, you have the gift of magic-"
"I don't do magic. I do medicine," she said with a straight face, looking pissed.
"As if. That is what a witch would say," Aper said, sitting on his chair.
"Here is why this "perfect duo" won't work, Nique. How am I supposed to work with a man who doesn't respect me? Really? I'm not doing this! And neither is he!"
"Guys, please, you are our only chance of solving this case. Aper doesn't have the knowledge you have about supernatural stuff. Skyleene doesn't know about crimes. You complete each other!"
Aper sighed loudly, getting their attention.
"I am 100% capable of solving this case on my own! I don't need a witch that will eventually kill me! I can't believe you even got this idea. She's our suspect!"
"What is your problem, Aper Koden! I want this case to be solved. Please stop being selfish for once in your life and accept Skyleene's help! I know you are capable on your own, but it took you two weeks to get more details about the victim, and two weeks is a long period for you! You would do this thing in like a day! So listen to me and stop behaving like a child!" After he calmed down, he exhaled. "You made me scream at you for the second time today. What even is your problem? I understand why Skyleene would reject it. You are a jerk to her. But you?"
"My problem is that you don't trust me with this case as you did with the others! You give me help from someone I hate and don't need! It pisses me how much you trust and pity me that you thought of the lowest-class person to help. Not to mention, you know why I don't want help from people like her. Filthy liars, sinners and broken pieces of trash; should be gone from this world."
Aper took his jacket and left the office like a storm, shutting the door behind him.
Skyleene felt hurt by his words. What did she do to him that he would hate her that much? Heck, she did not even know him that well. Good that she would eventually leave that place and never meet him again.
Nique sighed and fixed his hair and suit. He rubbed his hands on his face before turning to the female presence in the room.
"Don't listen to him; he has a big ego. Don't let his words get to you. I'm sure you will help us with this case and find the killer with your help."
The girl looked at him in disbelief.
"I don't want to work with him. I hope you got that."
"Skyleene, you might be our only chance. I know Aper is an ape, but believe me when I say he's a good person. He's mysterious, and I can't give you more detail about him because I don't know. But I know he is fighting for a good cause and got hurt.
"I don't care. What do I have to win working with a person like that? Plus, give me one good reason why I should help both of you with this."
"Skyleene. The victim wasn't a soul. He was alive. We have reason to think his death may have caused a crack in the system, a bad one."