"I came here to take a look at the body," Grace said as she walked toward Caspian. "We need to know if this murder is done by the same person."
Caspian simply nodded his head and did not stop Grace's approach. It would be wrong to do so, as she had gotten permission from their captain.
The four figures followed behind Grace closely, and as Scarlet uncovered the body, Grace frowned deeply.
"Bite mark on the neck," Grace said as she got a glove from the pocket of her coat and wore it.
She then touched the neck, and soon as her hand made contact, blood spurted, revealing a small slit on the kid's throat.
Seeing this, Scarlet was confused. She was sure that there were no wounds there.
Grace frowned further as her eyes turned furious. She then closed her eyes as she stood, "Good work, everybody. But we'll take it from here."
"What?" Caspian exclaimed. "What do you mean by that?"
"This case is highly related to the first murder. I've already gotten permission from the chief of police that any case related to our target will be transferred to us."
Hearing that, Caspian knew that he couldn't do anything. He just put his hands in his pockets as he sighed deeply.
"Let's go, Abby," Caspian said. As both Caspian and Abby left, Grace gave Abby a quick glance but instantly turned back to the body.
Only the forensic officers were left, including Scarlet, but Grace then said, "Including you, Doctor Bell, and every forensic officer."
They were confused as they would always be needed to find out more clues.
However, Grace simply dismissed that as she added, "When I said we'll handle everything, I meant everything. You are all dismissed."
The forensic officers just shrugged as they left the room, including Scarlet. But as they left, Scarlet peeked a little bit, but one of Grace's companions glared at her, and the glare felt like it would devour her, so she avoided it.
"Goddamnit!" Caspian sulked as soon as they got outside. But then, the victim's parents immediately approached him and asked, "Detective…! *sob* did you find out anything…?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, sir. However, the case has been transferred to another group, and we cannot provide any information."
The couple tried their hardest not to cry, but they couldn't help it as tears started flowing again just at the mention of their dead child.
Caspian felt guilty, but he just turned away as he headed for his car. Suddenly, he was pulled by Abby. "Hey, Caspian! Why the long face?"
"Abby… just…. stop… please," Caspian said as he opened the car door and slumped on the seat.
Abby had a wry smile as she also entered the car. She then asked, "It's not your fault, Caspian. Don't dwell on too much guilt! It'll just make your work depression worse."
Hearing that, Caspian let out a chuckle, but his face turned serious as he said, "Abby, don't make serious topics funny! *Sigh* I just feel useless. I feel like this murder could've been avoided."
"But the murders… they make no sense. That kid is not related to the first victim in any way. They also have no similarities aside from being murdered. And we can't even get an autopsy report because all our info is handed over to mom's task force."
"Hey, cheer up. I'm not that good at comforting, but I can treat you to some booze?" Abby said with a smile.
Caspian simply looked at Abby with hate as he said, "Let me guess, you're gonna say you're kidding because you have no money?"
"Oh! You're a prophet!" Abby laughed loudly.
"Fuck you."
"Just go. I'm gonna get some rest," Caspian said with tired eyes. After all, it was still 3 AM.
"Hey, what happened to the nonstop all-nighter Caspian?" Abby laughed.
"That's long gone. It's now tired from work Caspian every week," Caspian leaned his back against the chair.
"Alright, go get some rest. I'm actually serious this time; let's get some drinks tonight. It's my day off tomorrow, after all."
"Okay," Caspian replied as Abby left the car. He lightly banged his head on the steering wheel as he drove toward his home.
—----------------------------------------------------------
He slept for a couple of hours, and as soon as he woke up, he remembered that he hadn't gotten a haircut for the past few months.
After getting a haircut, he looked at himself in the mirror while saying, "I'm confused about which is better on me, medium-length hair or short hair."
But before he went home, he decided to pay Scarlet a visit and ask her for some information, so he headed toward the police station.
As soon as he arrived, Abby saw him and asked, "Caspian! Why did you come by?"
But before Caspian could reply, Abby looked at his head and said with awe, "Woah! Congratulations! You finally had a haircut after so long! A year, I think?"
"Oh, fuck you. It's only been a few months! And don't announce it like how a doctor would tell a woman that she's pregnant!" Caspian said with an angry tone.
"Huh? But this is more amazing than being pregnant!" Abby said with a loud laugh.
Caspian facepalmed, causing Abby to laugh even harder. Caspian looked at Abby with a hateful gaze as he locked her neck with his arm.
Abby seemed to laugh even harder as she tapped on Caspian's forearm.
Caspian just sighed as he let go of Abby's neck. Caspian kept looking at Abby, who was still laughing and couldn't help but smile.
After Abby stopped laughing, she noticed that Caspian was looking at her face nonstop, causing her to be embarrassed, a tinge of pink covering her face.
Caspian smiled further as he hugged her while saying, "Thank you for comforting me earlier."
"N-no problem!" Abby said as she hugged back. Caspian then let go as he said, "I'll go and pay Scarlet a visit, see if she has any info."
"Ah, that's why you came by. Good luck finding new info," Abby said. Albeit sounding a bit sarcastic, Caspian knew that Abby sincerely said the 'good luck' part.
Caspian immediately headed toward the lab and knocked on the door, and Scarlet told him to come inside.
As he entered, he saw Scarlet working on something and couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing right now?"
"This," Scarlet said as she showed Caspian a vial of blood. Caspian was slightly confused, but he realized that the blood was probably from the kid who was murdered.
"When did you get that!" Caspian exclaimed, but Scarlet beckoned him to shush. He immediately quietened himself.
"I got a vial of the kid's blood secretly just in case the case would be taken away again, which it did, and because of that, I may have found the murderer's targets."
"That's good," Caspian said. If they could find out what the victims had in common, they could track who could become the next victim and try to stop anything from happening.
"The two victims both have the same blood type," Scarlet said as she shook the vial.
"Wait, didn't you say that this blood type is incredibly rare?"
"Yes… but there are suddenly two people in Haverfall that has that blood type. We have to ask the hospital for records of all blood tests in the city, but that would be impossible without a proper warrant."
"Shit. Although this information is incredibly useful, we can't use it!" Caspian exclaimed as he held the chair he was sitting on.
"I'm sorry, Detective. I can't do anything about it as well," Scarlet sighed.
"No, it's not your fault. It's just fate is against us…. Thank you for your help, Scarlet," Caspian said with a sigh.
"No problem, Detective."
He then headed home, took a quick shower, and slept the whole day.
As soon as it was night, his phone rang, and he answered without looking, "He…*yawn*...llo…?"
"Damn, you've been asleep the whole day?" Abby said with a giggle.
"Yea…ap… Best rest of my life," Caspian yawned again, causing Abby to yawn as well. Abby had a silly look on her face as she said, "Stop yawning! You're making me yawn."
After hearing that, Caspian chuckled as he yawned again. Abby couldn't hold her mouth as she opened it to yawn. "Why are yawns so infective…?"
"I don't know."
"Well, don't think about it. Go to the bar; let's get wasted tonight!" Abby said with enthusiasm.
"Fucking hell, you drunk," Caspian said as he stood up and headed to the bathroom and washed his face.
"Hey, I'm not the only alcoholic here," Abby said with a disapproving tone.
"Yeah, yeah, you just don't wanna admit it. I'm just gonna change my clothes. Text me the location, and I'll head there after," Caspian said as he ended the call.
As soon as he got changed, he headed to the bar, and he started finding the private room that Abby had got.
As soon as he entered, he saw a pile of beer bottles on the table, and he just had a wry expression seeing that.
"No need to be shy, Caspian! Let's drink!"
The bar that they entered wasn't the same bar they entered with Grace. It was a karaoke bar this time.
They sang and drank all night and were completely wasted with flushed faces as they lay on each other.
Suddenly, a loud ringing of their phones sounded, waking them up from their drunk sleep.
As soon as they answered it, a voice shouted, "There's been another murder!"
They were instantly awoken from their drunkness.