"This is the second time you've called today. What do you want now?" Elucel stared straight into Wynstonne's eyes as the man in front of him held a serious expression on his face.
"Another murder has occurred," his face contorted into a look of concern whilst he stood up from where he sat atop the rooftop's shack.
"Again?" he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. The hologram of Wynstonne raised his hand in a way as to say he was not yet finished.
"And that's not all—there were two murders that occurred. That of which happened in two different locations, and at two different time frames—further supporting the theory that there is only one person behind all this." Elucel jumped off the shack's roof and landed down on the cemented floor of the rooftop. He quickly manoeuvred himself upright, before rushing towards the rooftop's door. Upon opening it, he did not spare a second before running down the stairs.
"Where are you?"
"I'm at the crime scene—the swimming pool. Are you planning on coming?"
The lad smirked, "I'm not planning on it—I am coming." The young detective was quick on his feet as he reached the first floor, evading the usual students that pass by, he reached his destination in no time.
He ended the call before trudging towards Wynstonne who stood by the gate to the swimming pool. "Anyways, do give me a background of the murder that occurred here."
Wynstonne nodded, "The victim's name is—" his sentence was cut short when a shrill voice exclaimed from behind Wynstonne.
"Junior Ezekel! That's his name, he's one of the seven Vespa mentioned." The two turned to Aurum, red notebook in hand, sweat running down from her forehead up 'till her neck. She stuck out like a sore thumb because of the uniform she wore; black shorts, a plain white shirt with the school's emblem imprinted on her left breast, and a pair of rubber shoes to match—the standard women's Physical Education uniform of the school.
"Elle? What on Miliria are you doing here?" With a raised brow and a hand on her hip, Aurum walked towards Elucel with a frown.
"I'm a detective too, you know! Of course I'd be here. In fact, I got here before you did!" she countered, glaring daggers at the young lad.
He sighed in defeat. "There's no use arguing with you, I have a case to solve." He then walked forward to the swimming pool, the water bloodied and in a shade of red. Beside the pool was a body of a man; he wore swimming trunks and a swimming cap on his head. The only problem was that his abdomen was sliced open, the intestines and stomach spilling out.
Elucel scanned the vicinity, checking for any clues and just as he expected, the wall that separated the shower cubicles and the pool area had the oh-so-familiar words, 'Winter Hexagon'.
Aurum nudged him from behind, the lad almost falling over the victim. A glare fixated on her as he stood back up, walking towards the wall. He noticed that there was, what seemed to be, a trail of blood from where the victim lay, to the wall.
He walked closer to the wall, scaling it up; and as he expected, the writing was just above his forehead, just like the other vandalised 'Winter Hexagon' walls had been. He nodded before turning to Wynstonne, who stood just a few paces away from the lad.
"Where is the other crime scene?" The elder turned to him with a small smile, "The other crime scene is at the gym. Are you sure you're done investigating here?" he questioned.
"I've gathered all the needed information. Do make sure to send me a copy of the autopsy report." Wynstonne nodded in understanding.
"Well then, Elle!" The said female turned to Elucel with a raised brow as she stood up from her place where she examined the victim. "We're heading to the gymnasium, now, hurry." Before Aurum could even comprehend what was happening, her feet moved on their own, following the lad.
She panted in exhaustion, raising her arms frustration. "We've been going around in circles! Do you really know where the crime scene is?" Elucel turned to her, a scowl evident on his face.
"Wyn said the gymnasium, so here we are." Aurum raised her eyebrows before realising what happened and stifling a laugh.
"You forgot to ask Wyn where exactly the crime scene is? Oh, wow, I see that you're human too." She tried to hold the laugh in, but failed, drastically. She rolled on the floor, hysterical with laughter.
"I—I can't believe the . . the oh-so-great detective prodigy f—forgot to actually ask where the crime scene exactly is! Hilarious." Elucel did not understand the female. What was so wrong about forgetting to ask about more details?
He scratched the nape of his neck before leaving Aurum behind, who, despite her urge to cry in laughter, continued to roll on the floor. "Women," he mumbled, shaking his head in annoyance.
When Aurum had enough of laughing at the poor male, she stood up and dusted out the dirt that stuck to her. "Hey Luc, how do you plan on fin—" Her eyes widened when she could not find the male. Swiftly, she rounded a corner, went up a few flights of stairs—in which she cursed the elevators for being broken, went to every room she thought a crime would have been committed, but to no avail.
When she decided to take a short rest, she heard footsteps to her right. Seemingly intrigued, she stood up and the closer she went, she made out a few voices talking in soft whispers. She turned the corner and long behold, the auditorium doors were wide open, policemen on each side and a police cordon placed across the two doors.
She squinted, making out a familiar silhouette inside—Elucel. In her frustration, she marched into the auditorium, the policemen who guarded the entrance not being able to catch up to her. She trudged forward in quiet steps as she jumped on Elucel's back, wrapping her arms around his neck in headlock.
Elucel did not even flinch the slightest, calmly gripping Aurum's arms and prying them off of his neck. She fell on her butt with an oof. "What was that for?" She rubbed her rear as she slowly stood up behind him. Noticing the inspector who stood beside Elucel with a stupefied face, she let out a curt nod.
"I should be asking you that question—what the fudge were you doing, jumping on me like that?" At the mention of 'fudge', Aurum once again cackled in front of the two—or maybe more than that, seeing as the other paused what they were doing to stare at the somehow madwoman.
"F—udge. Did you just say . . f—fudge? Pfft—great way to censor things there, buddy!" Elucel rolled his eyes in frustration, letting her be as she somehow ended up slapping him on the back in laughter.
"As I was saying, we should hold a meeti—oof!" Aurum continued hitting him, her boisterous laughter reverberating on the walls. Having enough, Elucel gripped her wrist, stopping her midway. The young woman looked up at him with a lopsided grin as he released her wrist, the force pushing Aurum a few paces away from the lad.
"If all you're going to do is laugh, then I suggest you leave. I have no need for useless human beings like you." he spat whilst Aurum cowered. She looked down in shame, "I'm sorry, I took it too far. It was just, you don't usually mak-"
"I never asked you for an explanation. Now, if you're not planning on doing something useful, begone." Aurum's eyes turned cold, biting her lower lip as she kept her head low. "Of course, I'll go to work now."
She walked away in shame, feeling the stares of the policemen burn holes into her back. She was not going to show weakness. She can't. She won't.
Her feet brought her to the stage; and as she gazed upon the dead body atop of it, a strange feeling rose in her gut. She felt like vomiting. Just like Junior—the one that was found dead at the pool—this male was on the stage, guts spilled out and half-naked. Unlike Junior—who had been wearing swimming trunks and no shirt—this man had his blazer, vest, and undershirt torn in the middle to display the wound he had received.
Aurum went up the steps slowly, examining the victim in every angle possible, to find the one thing she wanted to confirm. "Aha! There you are," Just like Junior, this man also had a letter 'P' carved into his left breast. Though a bit obscured by the blood, Aurum still spotted it and quickly fished out her phone to take a picture of it.
"Don't tell me you have a fetish on men's breasts." A blush crept on her cheeks as she turned to a smirking Elucel. Glaring at him, she wondered how he had changed character so suddenly.
"One moment he's all cold calling me useless, then the next second, he goes pissing me off again." she muttered under her breath.
"Ohohoho, you're not denying it?"
In exasperation, Aurum blurted out, "No! I most definitely do not have a fetish on moobs!"
"Moobs?" Elucel tilted to the side, an eyebrow raised in question.
"Man boobs! Moobs!" At her shout, the policemen looked at her weirdly, thinking only one thing, "She must be crazy,"
Aurum widened her eyes before covering her mouth. Elucel looked at her smugly, stifling a laugh. "You're hilarious," he said in a monotone voice that sent chills down Aurum's spine.
"I can tell," she said, sarcasm lacing her words.
"Anyways, I'm here to tell you that we'll be having a meeting later at four o'clock. If you wish to attend, head over to the Milirian Yard HQ and tell them you're my companion." He turned away in a flash, heading back to Callister.
"Hold on! At least tell me who's this," she pointed to the victim.
"Ah, his name's Julius Vela, one of the seven Vespa mentioned, as well." he replied before continuing to trudge towards his superior.
"It's scary how all seven of them are being killed one by one." she mumbled before an idea popped into her head. She was going to pay Vespa a visit—well, at least after she finished her business in the auditorium.
Making quick work of examining, photographing, and recording anything she observed, she went down the stage. She looked at her phone's time, it was twenty-six minutes pass two in the afternoon.
She hastened her steps to the still-conversing Elucel and Callister. "Luc, I have something to do, but I promise I'll be there for the meeting, all right? All right, I'm off!" She raced out in lighting flash speed, through the halls, down the stairs, and out into the open.
"She talks too fast. I couldn't even respond . ." mumbled Elucel, scratching his head in annoyance.
She ran, ran, and ran some more. Pants escaped her mouth as she gasped for air. She was standing in front of the Student Council Office, memories of when she met Vespa—which was only a few hours ago, at lunch. Before she was even able to knock, the door was thrown open, revealing a familiar face.
"What is it that you need?" Brushing off the fact that she had almost been slapped by the door, she smiled.
"I'm here for Vespa, Student Council Secretary Vespa Trajan." she replied.
"Yes, yes, I know who Vespa is. Now tell me, what do you want from her?" He crouched down to her height, their eyes parallel with each other. His brown eyes glared at her in suspicion as she swallowed her saliva.
"Uh," she mentally whispered to herself a, 'don't panic', as she fiddled with her fingers, "I wish to speak to her."
"About what? Why? Are you, perhaps, one of those girls who had be—"
"Oh, ho, what's your name, beautiful?" Another male student popped up from the side of the door, causing Aurum to jump back in shock.
"Oh, it's quite all right, darling. Anyone would be shocked to see such a handsome face." Aurum's lips pursued into a tight line as she gazed at the two. One was unbearably suspicious of her while the other was just plain conceited.
In a monotone voice she asked, "Are you going to let me through or are you going to let me through?" The lad on the left—the conceited bastard—chuckled in response, gazing at her in interest.
"Feisty, mind introducing yourself, darling?" She held back the urge to punch him, staring at him with cold eyes.
"Firstly, I am not here for any of you two—I do not have the obligation to introduce myself to strangers. Secondly, my name is most definitely not 'darling', so please proceed with caution for I am at my limit now."
The conceited lad turned to her in shock. "Strangers? Strangers? Why, good gods, you do not know of us?" she shook her head, "Does Nikétor Caelian and Klavis Aventine ring a bell?"
The gears in her head turned before she jumped in realisation. "Student Council Vice President Nikétor Caelian and Student Council President Klavis Aventine!" she exclaimed as the two nodded their heads. "That was why your faces seemed familiar! You both are part of the student council!"
Nikétor raised a brow. "Uh, duh? That's why we're here in the Student Council Office—because we're part of the student council." A silence hung in the air before a new face popped in.
"What are you two both doi—Aurum!" Her eyes widened as she pushed away the two that was in the way.
Vespa quickly scanned Aurum, roaming her eyes on her body as if she had a hidden injury. "Did they hurt you? What did they say? Oh, hold on, let's get you inside. Come on in." She complied, entering the familiar room and quickly sitting comfortably on the couch in front of Vespa's desk.
"Let's cut to the chase, what do you want?" Her face become serious and the atmosphere around them became tense.
"Firstly, I'd like you to know that another two from the seven have died, namely; Junior Ezkel and Julius Vela." Vespa nodded sternly and gestured for her to continue.
"Secondly, I'd like to be able to access the August's and Hiregax's student and medical records." Her brows furrowed and she looked behind Aurum, where the two—Nikétor and Klavis—stood, keeping a watchful eye on her.
"Why so?"
"I'd like to check something—it's for the case." Vespa stared into Aurum's eyes, seaeching for any deceit, but found none.
She nodded, "Consider it done."
"Thanks a ton, Vespa." Aurum smiled, the said woman returning the gesture.
"You better be, I don't usually help out strangers." She did not notice the sudden change of tone in Vespa's voice, waving at her goodbye as Aurum headed towards the Women's Dormitory.
"What a troublesome woman," she muttered, turning to re-enter the Student Council Office.
"Ah, I have to run again," Aurum sighed as she gazed at her phone's screen, it read, three o'clock and thirty minutes. She rushed up the stairs, seeing as the elevators were occupied by the students who've just been dismissed. She skipped a step, then two steps, then three, until she was practically splitting whilst she climbed up to the fourth floor.
A string of curses found its way out of Aurum's mouth as her thighs ached. She paid no heed to them, opting to hum a song as she reached her dorm room. She quickly took off her shoes before running to her closet, almost tripping on her school bag on the way.
She pulled our a pair of skinny jeans and a hoodie, opting for a more casual look as she slid on her sneakers. With her phone in one hand, wallet in her pocket, and the files given to her by Vespa on the other hand, she was ready to go.
Making haste, she locked her dorm room before dashing down the hallway, down the staircase, before running to the gate. She was out of breath as she hauled in a taxi, telling him to, 'go to the Milirian Yard HQ'. Albeit she did not actually know where that is, but she prayed to the gods that the driver wasn't some weird-butt pervert bent on kidnapping her.
As the taxi slowed down, it came to a stop in front of a huge gate that was made of, as she assumed to be, bronze. She quickly paid the driver, exiting the vehicle as her feet touched the cold pavement below.
Mesmerised by the structure that lay behind it, she did not notice the guard that halted in front of her, bumping into the man's abdomen with much force that it pushed her back. She gulped, looking up at the man, making a shadow go over his features as he stared her down.
"What is your business here?" At the sound of his voice, Aurum had nearly ran the opposite direction. The man's voice was deep, hoarse, and stern all at once.
"Uh, I am a companion of Lu—I mean, Elucel Argon Klein." The man then raised two of his fingers, Aurum flinching back as she waited for a strike; but when it did not come, she looked up to see the man, seemingly immersed in his conversation with someone on the other side of his ear piece. She sighed in relief.
"You may enter, though I must warn you, we aren't the most friendly people." As much as Aurum wanted to fire back a, 'yeah, it's quite obvious', she dared not open her mouth as she nodded timidly before entering the gate.
She was surprised to see how big the whole land was, especially when it was just wide open in front, the yard covered in healthy, neatly trimmed grass. Slowly, she took in the building in front of her, the intricate designs and how the stone looked magnificent against the green grass below and the blue skies above.
When she looked down at her phone, she gasped at the sight. It was fifty-seven minutes pass three in the afternoon, she had only three minutes before the meeting starts. As fast as lightning, she ran to the huge double doors, using all of her strength to open them—which was extremely excruciating as the doors were extremely heavy, before walking up straight to what seemed like a front desk.
The lady on the counter scowled at her, eyeing her up and down. "You must be Aurum Cinder, Sir Elucel's companion, correct?" She nodded, quite not used at people calling Elucel, 'Sir'.
"Well, just head straight down that hall, take a right on the second right, and open the first door on your left." Aurum thanked the woman before quickly following her directions, straight down the hallway, take a right on the third right, and then enter the first room on the left.
She opened the door just as the clock inside the room turned four o'clock. Aurum sighed in relief as the three inside the room watched her. "Thank the gods I wasn't late." She closed the door behind her before sitting beside Elucel, getting comfortable in the red velvet cushioned seats.
Callister broke from his trance before saying, "Anyways, why don't we start with the theories you have, who would like to go first?"
Without warning, Elucel began to speak, "As someone had mentioned before, the name, 'Winter Hexagon' is a constellation, made up of six stars, namely; Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux, Procyon, and Sirius."
"And your point is?" Aurum intervened, seemingly wanting them to just cut to the point.
Elucel rolled his eyes in disdain. "Anyways, so far all five victims had a letter carved somewhere in their body—I won't be giving any more examples for a certain someone is growing impatient." He glared at Aurum as she returned the gesture. "These five victims have covered five of the stars already—the first five stars of the constellation—Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux, and Procyon, meaning, there might just be one last person to be murdered here and it's either Hiregax or August."
"I agree, plus, if you look at how the stars are placed in the constellation, all five victims—if you look at the map of the school, had been actually following how the stars were placed." Wynstonne brought out a map of the school and laid it on the table.
He also brought out a marker and started encircling the placed where the victims died. He then connected each circle with a line before bringing out a picture of a constellation—the Winter Hexagon constellation.
The intern then proceeded to right down each of the victims' names in the places where they were murdered, placing a certain letter on each—the letter that was carved into their bodies.
Aurum's eyes widened in shock. "That's why there's been walls that were vandalised with the words 'Winter Hexagon' in the crime scenes! It was a hint!"
"Anything else?"
"Me! I just noticed now, from Wyn's theory that the victims were killed in a certain order, following their names." The three looked at her questioningly. "You see, Mars was killed first, April second, Maeve third, Junior, and then Julius—" Before she was able to finish, everyone nodded in understanding.
"They were killed based on their names that represented a month in the calendar; Mars is March, April is, well, April, Maeve is May, Junior is June, and Julius is July."
"Then that means—August would be the last victim?" A silence hung in the air as everyone was caught up in their thoughts.
"Ah, I might be able to back up Aurum's statement." Everyone turned to him, all ears. He cleared his throat, "You see, I think the hint, 'Winter Hexagon' does not only pertain to the places where the victims would be killed—I believe it also points out the killer."
"What do you mean?" Brows furrowed, everyone's attention was focused solely on Callister.
"See, if we jumble up the letters in 'Winter Hexagon', eventually, we'd be able to get the name, 'Hiregax Newton'. I think he's been hinting to us the whole time that he had been the killer."
"That still isn't solid proof that it's him. We need—" Aurum jumped up as she scattered the papers she received from Vespa. It showed Hiregax's and August's medical records and backgrounds.
"Firstly, if you look at August's height, he's way too short to be able to write those 'Winter Hexagon's on the walls. Secondly, if you look at Hiregax's background, you'd see that his mother is a chemist while his father was an astronomer—explaining how he had been able to bury April into the concrete half-alive and why he chose to use the constellation, 'Winter Hexagon' as reference to where the victims would be killed." She took deep breath after speaking, out of breath from saying so much.
"Is this what you said you had to do? Steal students' records?" Elucel questioned with a raised brow.
"Steal? Hah, I personally went to the Student Council Office and asked Vespa to get me these, she agreed. In your face, Luc." She stuck out her tongue at the lad, annoying him even more.
"Now, now, children—"
"We are not children!" They said in unison.
"Anyways, we still need more evidence to say Hiregax is actually the culprit."
". . or August."
"True, but we don't have any more evidence to give." Aurum said, gazing up to think of something.
"Why don't we catch the culprit whilst he try to do the crime?" inquired Aurum, everyone in the room turned to her with blank faces.
"Too bland," They answered in unison. Wynstonne adding a, "and it's just like those cliché detective movies." Aurum sighed in defeat.
"Your effort is appreciated, but I have a plan."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So what are your thoughts on this chapter? Do you really think Hiregax is behind all this? Or do you think August is merely trying to deceive the 'Detective Gang' into thinking he was innocent?
Find out in the next chapter! Which I promise won't take a month before I upload it. It'll be the last chapter for the Winter Hexagon Case (finally).
I'm so sorry for not updating.
WORD COUNT: 4042 words (excluding the author's note)
[Grammatical errors, plot inconsistencies, and other errors that are yet to be edited, please do inform me. Feel free to message me or comment what I must change. I am open to constructive criticism.]