With a gnawing frustration and mounting confusion, my brain felt like it was about to overheat. I was staring at the screen, my eyes darting across the cryptic data that seemed to mock me with its complexity. My computer had managed to crack through the first layer of encryption, but beyond that, it was throwing up error messages as if it had suddenly decided to become a reluctant participant in this game.
Was this some kind of cheap trick? I wondered. Surely frequency analysis should've been enough to crack this, especially considering the powers behind it. I ejected the data extractor device and shut down my computer. "Playing hard to get, huh?" I muttered to myself, flipping the device over in my hand. It felt like I'd been dealt a lousy hand in this game, but I knew exactly what I needed to do next.
Firstly I needed some rest. I glanced at the clock—3 AM. Just four hours until I had to be at work. Quite the shocker, right? Despite my moonlit activities, I also had a 9-to-5 life in the sun. I plopped down onto my bed, the discovery of the crescent moon intertwined with a serpent logo haunting my thoughts. It had taken me ages just to get through that first layer of encryption. The feeling was like having a thousand eyes glaring at me from every corner of my house—unfriendly, judgmental eyes.
Morning arrived with a mix of exhaustion and caffeine. As I trudged into the building, it was clear that the Monday blues were in full effect. Everyone had that post-weekend look—disheveled, bleary-eyed, and vaguely resentful of the world.
"Hey, hey, Detective Grim!" a familiar female voice rang out, punctuated by a cheerful chuckle. I turned to find Cressida grinning at me. "Looks like you're early today—oh wait, no, you're as late as ever. Just another Monday morning!" Cressida, always the queen of sarcasm and my dear friend since training, had a knack for starting the day with a smile and a joke.
Next to her was Dorion, my "brother from another mother," as he liked to put it. His eyes widened as he took in my appearance. "Man, you look awful. Been sleeping okay?"
To say that being a detective by day was a hassle would be an understatement, especially with my nocturnal activities layered on top. These two were my source of much-needed comic relief, though they had no clue about my nighttime escapades.
"You guys are a pain, you know that?" I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "What's on the agenda today?"
Dorion, who had an unfortunate talent for dragging out suspense, paused dramatically. "Glad you asked because... well..." He let out a laugh, clearly enjoying the build-up. "It's going to get a little busier than usual. Last night, an unknown character was spotted murdering Mayor Besu. The higher-ups are breathing down our necks for answers, and they want them fast."
I raised an eyebrow. "And what do we have so far?"
Cressida took over, her expression turning serious. "Some of our teams are still working the crime scene, but right now, we have eye-witness accounts of the culprit's presence in the building. Later, we'll head to the mayor's office for a closer look."
"Culprit," I mused, chuckling to myself. "That's quite a harsh way to describe your friend don't you think?", I said to myself.
As I settled into my desk in my office, I couldn't shake the feeling that today was going to be anything but ordinary. The office buzzed with activity, detectives scrambling around with papers and coffee cups, their chatter a symphony of frustration and urgency. I tried to focus on the task at hand, but my thoughts kept drifting back to the serpent-logoed files from last night. They felt like a sinister omen, and the weight of that unfinished investigation was a constant shadow.
"Detective Grimshaw," a voice called out, jolting me from my reverie. It was Sergeant Micheal, looking more harried than usual. "We've got something you might want to see."
I followed him to a small conference room, where a couple of junior detectives were already waiting, along with a grainy security footage playing on a loop. The video showed the mayor's office from multiple angles, but the footage was patchy, plagued with static and flickering lights. The only clear image was a shadowy figure moving with purpose, their face obscured by a hat and a scarf.
"Is that the best footage we have?" I asked, squinting at the screen.
Sergeant Micheal nodded, his face lined with stress. "It's all we could recover. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing—wiped the system clean before making their escape."
I leaned in closer, trying to decipher any additional details. The figure's movements were too quick for the human eye to trace. One thing was clear, this was definately not me. Could there have been another party with the same motives.
"Sir, what time did this happen?" I asked.
"The team that managed to extract this footage from a wiped feed said it was just minutes after the Mayor's death on the cruise ship," the sergeant answered.
It couldn't be a coincidence that while I was busy taking out the Mayor on the ship, someone was here in his office. "They couldn't have been trying to assassinate him because it appears he wasn't the target. But for what reason now? That's the burning question in my mind."
"His movements are odd," I continued. "They're too quick. Did he tamper with the security cameras?"
"No, sir," one of the detectives in the room spoke up. "The cameras were in their natural state; nothing was done to them."
Cressida and Dorion joined us shortly. "So, what do we think?" Dorion asked, examining the footage with a frown. "Was this a professional hit?"
"Could be, or we are dealing with a super freak," Cressida replied with a calm laughter. "The mayor had a lot of enemies, but no one expected something like this. We need to dig deeper—find out if anyone saw something unusual." she continued this time with a serious tone.
We split up to cover more ground. Cressida headed to interview potential witnesses, Dorion was tasked with reviewing the mayor's recent meetings for any hints of threats, and I was left with the duty to examine the mayor's office. I made my way to his Office, on arriving, the room was still cordoned off, a nasty reminder of last night's events.
The mayor's office was a study in excess—luxurious furnishings, elaborate decor, and a sense of opulence that was almost palpable. As I examined the scene, I noticed something peculiar: a faint, almost imperceptible trail of dust on the floor, leading towards the wall.
With my experience it was a no brainer, a trail leading to a blank wall, there was definately a hidden compartment. I fiddled with the wall and voilà the compartment opened revealing a small, hidden safe. It was locked, and my instincts told me that whatever was inside could be crucial to understanding the motive behind the imtruder's actions.
I took a deep breath and prepared to crack the safe's code, using the skills I'd honed over countless cases. As I worked, the tension in the office grew, each tick of the clock a reminder of the mounting pressure. Finally, the safe clicked open, and as I opened to my surprise it was empty.
Definately this was a dead end. As I pondered the implications while I stood there frozen, a sudden noise caught my attention.
In the corner, a series of beeps echoed through the room. At first, the intervals between them were short and regular. But then, after three steady beeps, the silence before the next one shortened. My heart raced as the pattern registered—too late. I had only just realized it was a bomb, and the delay in my understanding made the danger all the more immediate.
Without a moment's hesitation, I hurled myself through the office window, the glass shattering around me as I plummeted from the third floor. Just a split second later, the explosion roared behind me, a fiery shockwave tearing through the space I had abandoned. I slammed into the roof of a parked car, the impact jolting me into unconsciousness. As darkness claimed me, the grim tally was clear: 1 for the opposition, 0 for me.