Click.
A rapid clicking sound and succeeding camera flash came from within a crowded alleyway.
This alley was formed by two apartment buildings on either sides and a smaller bungalow behind, making the space a closeted area.
From the storied apartment complex, were a few curious individuals who pushed their heads through the windows to look down at the officers and coroners barricading the area.
On the other side of the street was a red car that slowly came to a halt. Stepping out and quickly crossing was Detective Daniel, who wore a long jacket and had a sombre aura around him.
"Good morning detective." An officer in uniform recognized the homicide detective and greeted him.
"Morning. What happened?" Daniel didn't beat around the bush and asked for the details of the case after arriving at the scene.
The officer told Daniel that they were still collecting information and briefed him about the case.
At approximately eight o'clock this morning, an emergency call to the station revealed that a lifeless body was found in the alley between two residential buildings in Okaigbe commercial street.
The call was made by a woman who perceived the rancid odour originating from the place.
Originally, as this area was a lesser developed part of the city, inhaling one particular, sneeze-inducing smell or the other was commonplace for the residents.
The caller, identified as Mama Rebecca, was a shop owner who approached the alley in curiosity on her way to work.
After smelling the rancid odour, she concluded that the neighbours were dumping their rubbish in this corner.
There had been past alterations between the people living here over this matter, and after much conflict, it was finally resolved with a "do not dump rubbish here" sign.
But it appeared someone had broken the agreement.
With this belief in her mind, Mama Rebecca fumed and searched for the expected rubbish, but what she found was nothing of the sort.
Instead of bags of poorly discarded rubbish, she came into contact with a mutilated human corpse lying in the dark space.
Evidently, after seeing such a gruesome scene, Mama Rebecca yelled and ran away in terror.
In her panic, she lost her shoes and only after calming down did she raise an alarm and call the police.
"Where is she?" Daniel questioned after listening to the officer's narration. He understood the basics, but he still needed to interrogate the woman himself.
"Taken in for further questioning."
Daniel nodded and saw the familiar colourful hairstyle just upfront, and excused himself.
He lifted the yellow tape and moved towards the white garbed forensic team still analysing the scene.
Amanda was crouched in front of a mutilated body as she used a pair of tweezers to check for any form of identification.
She rummaged through the tattered clothing and finally found a business card in one of the trouser pockets.
"Anderson Peters." She whispered under her breath and looked at the body once again. It was a horrendous sight.
The victim had numerous bruises on his body. She could find no trace of uninjured skin, and the limbs were in an unnatural angle, showing that the bones were broken. Still, the most noticeable injuries were the deformed skull and depressed chest.
"Take this." Amanda rose to her feet and handed the card over to another examiner, who bagged the hard evidence.
She turned around and paused when she saw Daniel standing in front of her.
"Are you done?" He asked.
"Not quite. Just the basic inspection. I'll need to dissect him." Amanda responded lightly and glanced at the corpse while Daniel came to stand next to her.
"You sure came quick." She began, raising her hands to glance at the time. It was forty minutes past eight.
"I got lucky. Traffic was light." He spoke before donning a serious expression.
"Who's our victim?"
Amanda glanced behind her and filled Daniel in.
"Anderson Peters. Judging from his figure, he was a man in his mid-thirties. I found a business card in his pocket from a real estate company. There, he worked as a housing agent." Amanda crouched again and looked at the body attentively. Her eyes squinted as she analysed the cadaver.
Daniel remained standing, looking at the corpse, while Amanda continued.
"This person was hit severally with a blunt object with extra force on the arms, legs, head, and chest. Possibly using a bat or a wooden stick.
He died due to the severe trauma he suffered to his chest. A bone in this region most likely punctured his lungs and heart, leading to his demise.
But looking at the extra contusions on his body, his death wasn't instant. The killer made certain to torture this man before his death. Mm, violently at that… " She pointed to the discoloured areas of his skin. Amanda expected him to have various degrees of internal injuries. She didn't even need to dissect him to know.
"Such a brutish method of torture. Our perp must be someone with great physical prowess, and boy was he pissed… This looks more like a crime fuelled by rage than a simple murder. Tsk, what a mess." She said as her hands touched the thoracic region.
She poked the region which felt soft and lumpy, and further solidified her speculation.
"He died so painfully, but the residents claim not to have heard any noise. Don't you find it strange? I'm certain he must have screamed his lungs out as he got beaten to death." She concluded and rose to her feet, looking around her and then at Daniel.
"Very strange indeed. There are two possible reasons for their claims. Either every single person in this place is lying, or he must have been brought here after he died." Daniel glanced around the place and narrowed his eyes.
"I'm more inclined to believe the latter." He finalized.
As this place was a relatively remote area, there were no security cameras in place. Therefore, they had no way of knowing what happened exactly. They could only rely on the resident's testimonies, which did little to help the case.
Daniel looked around him, noting the state of things. There were no obvious signs of struggle. Nothing to indicate that the victim was murdered here.
"When was the exact time of death?" He questioned Amanda with a solemn glint in his eyes.
"Heavy clouding in the cornea. Mildly elastic skin. Rigor mortis in the facial muscles and parts of the hands. Post-mortem estimation comprising colour of blood indicates somewhere between four and five in the morning. A more precise approximate would be around twenty-five minutes to five." Amanda stated her observations, furrowing her brows.
"Give or take five hours. That's after the rain. About twenty minutes after the rain stopped." He looked at Amanda, who understood his gaze.
"This man was obviously transferred here after his death."
He glanced at the examiners taking pictures and mulled over his observation. They were searching for anything that would shed light on the case. However, after several minutes, they failed to find any clues. This was something he expected.
"Get the closest residents and question them. If you already did, do it again. Find out if they noticed anything amiss during the early hours of today. Any strangely dressed individual, a suspicious car, a dancing dog. Fish out everything you can. Including every inconsistent story." Daniel ordered the officers, who nodded and left to carry out their duties.
A moment later, a group of people wheeled a stretcher into the alleyway and bagged the body before quickly carrying it into the ambulance.
"What a way to start the morning." Daniel looked away from the disappearing vehicle and spoke after a deep breath. He turned to his side, but didn't see the person he was talking to.
"Amanda?" Daniel looked around and saw her standing a few feet away in a darker part of the alley. He walked over and noticed her pointed stare in a specific direction.
"Did you see something?" Perhaps there was something they missed.
Amanda squinted her eyes and angled her face to the side. She looked around the walled area, and her gaze gradually changed from suspicion to mild confusion.
Seeing nothing improper, she turned around and walked away, glancing back once as she did.
She took her gaze away and rubbed her forehead before speaking.
"No. I thought I did…" She uttered as they walked out of the alley.
They crossed the street and arrived at Daniel's car before entering. Amanda had come here with the ambulance, but that goose was long gone. Therefore, she could only hitch a ride with the detective.
"Alright." Daniel didn't pursue the matter and started the car. His red vehicle shuddered to life and moved from the parking space.
It traversed the road, mixing with the other vehicles, and gradually disappeared at the next turn.
Their next stop, the police station.
Back at the alleyway.
Tejumole jumped down from the roof of a bungalow and slowly approached the empty alley.
She glanced in the direction where Daniel and Amanda disappeared with a pensive look.
"Do you think she noticed you?" Ranta spoke from the space, following Tejumole's gaze.
"She noticed my presence." Tejumole replied and looked at the spot where the victim lay. It had been cleaned and rid of any fore evidence; however, that didn't matter.
"Looks like the beaded fairy is one of the more inquisitive ones." Aanu said from the side, and Tejumole nodded in agreement.
The system noted that although she could influence herself and her surroundings using Lucid Fantasm, she was still liable to detection by an observant person.
An example of said person was Amanda, who actually locked onto her position. If Tejumole didn't jump away in time, she would have been discovered.
Tejumole was a bit curious about the lady; however, she brushed that brief curiosity aside, and diverted her attention to the space in front of her.
Speaking under her breath, Tejumole connected with the Infinite void ring on her finger.
After purchase, she transferred everything from the previous ring into the larger one.
Among those belongings was a particular item that would help her with the current situation.
Tejumole extended her palm and under two seconds a mirror appeared in her hand.
This mirror was about the length of her ulna bone and was oddly sculpted.
Its body resembled a hand with its fingers extended and slightly bent, and the index finger and thumb touching to form a space.
In this space was a mirror with light swirls on its surface.
The appearance of this object was extremely bizarre with its long, claw like nails and uneven texture.
Still, the part that peeved Tejumole was its colour.
Baby pink like it could hide the obvious ominous aura surrounding the mirror.
Sighing, Tejumole injected a bit of her vitality by placing a drop of blood in the middle.
[System Item:
(Mirror, Mirror - Allows the host to see snippets of past events. The image seen is incomplete and does not denote the exact sequence.)]