Just a few minutes after discussing the plan, Aurum perked up. "This is irrelevant to the whole catch-the-culprit plan we're talking about, but I'm curious, why do you think the victims were killed like that—gruesome and unlike any other murders before."
"Oh! That reminds me, I came upon this the other day," Wynstonne extended his arm so that his wrist would be at the centre of the table. He then pressed a few buttons on his watch before a hologram appeared before them.
"You see, from what Luc had said, each victim had a distinct letter that represented a star carved into their skin. But, other than representing a star, the letter also represents how each victim would be killed." At the other three's loss of words and confused faces, Wynstonne sighed.
"Where'd you find this?" Aurum abruptly intruded, obtaining narked lours from the three men in the room.
"I substantially just looked up the current letter we found and the RASPPC popped up," deadpanned Wynstonne whilst he shrugged his shoulders.
At this, Elucel found himself stifling a cackle. "What a superficial knucklehead,"
The intern cleared his throat, "Anyhow," he continued, "Let's take for example Mars Sollaire's Case, he had a gun pointed at his chest, where, of course, the bullet had penetrated him. Now if you look at the letter 'R'—because Mars had an 'R' carved into his cheek—in the RASPPC, the exact line that 'inspired' this would be, 'looking like a soldier blowing his chest'."
Eyes wide and jaw almost reaching the ground, Aurum exclaimed, "So that's why!", in a voice that suddenly cracked once it reached a certain pitch.
Unable to hold in their laughter, the Wynstonne-proclaimed triumvirate—Callister, Elucel, and Wynstonne—cachinnated in unison. The tense air betwixt the four disappeared in a matter of seconds. "It's not funny, you know!" Aurum sighed in exasperation, threading her fingers in her hair in frustration.
"Well, at least now you know what I feel." muttered Elucel, mocking her as he stuck out his tongue. At this, she tried to elbow him in the ribs—keyword being tried, as she was too slow for the detective prodigy's instincts. "Try harder next time—and, keep in mind that I don't fall for weak attacks like that."
She stuck her tongue out at him, seething at how proud he was. "You're time will come, Luc, you're time will come, more sooner than later." she murmured under her breath.
"Anyways," Callister broke the silence, "now that we've figured out that side of the case, I guess we'll be able to pinpoint the next place of the crime?"
"Hmm, if I were to look back on the crime map, I would say the next place the culprit will strike is probably at the Preschool Building."
"Right, and seeing as the last star is Sirius, represented as an 'S', the crime will most likely be 'inspired' by this line—or words, for this matter—'snake', and, 'a kind of solitary superiority'."
"How are you so sure about this?" Aurum piped.
"Well, it's just a hunch, I guess. I mean, what, from the lines in the paragraph that describe 'S', can you interpret into a crime?" replied Wynstonne.
"If I were the culprit, it is true that I would use the words, 'snake', and, 'a kind of solitary superiority', to interpret my crime, and, maybe, 'create a feeling of sudden surprise', too." Elucel thought out loud, seemingly entranced in his own thoughts.
"If we try to deduce a place as to what you lot are saying, then, the perfect place would be somewhere in the Preschool Courtyard." intervened Callister, breaking Elucel from his trance.
"Why do you say so, Inspector?"
"Well, where else would you interpret, 'a kind of solitary'?"
"If its superiority, then, I guess, somewhere high above the ground? I don't think the culprit would place the victim somewhere no one can see them—like the rooftop, the window sills, or maybe even the rails. That'd mean . ." Aurum pondered, her words trailing off as she wracked her brain for answers.
"The flagpole!" The three looked towards Wynstonne, who had stood up in realisation, "A place high above the ground, where everyone can see, and, the word, 'snake'—the flagpole!"
"Woah, woah, how'd the snake become involved with the flagpole?" Aurum suddenly asked, brow raised in confusion.
"We all know that a flagpole needs a rope to pull the flag up, right?" The three nodded in unison, before understanding what he meant.
"The rope is the snake, then?" Wynstonne nodded before placing his hands in front of him and shaking them. "But of course, I'm not sure about this, it is only a theory." None of them decided to reply to him so he sat back down, the room once agin filled with the ear splitting silence.
"What now?" Breaking the silence, Aurum piped.
"Well," Elucel lifted his cuff to look at his watch before his eyes grew wide, "it's twenty-one minutes pass the hour of six—our curfew is at ten."
"So?"
"Seeing as we haven't eaten dinner, haven't put to action our plan, and don't forget we know not of when our culprit strikes, four hours is quite lacking—well, exactly three hours and thirty-seven minutes, that is."
"Luc's right. It is best we start to get a move on." The screeching of chairs resounded in the claustrophobic room as the metal legs scratched against the marble floor. In complete silence, the four marched out of the room, pass the busy hallways, and out the huge, old door at the front of the building. Once outside, they turned to each other, seemingly questioning what to do next.
Callister sighed, "All right, follow me," Confused, Aurum trailed behind the three men, hands stuffed in the front pockets of her hoodie as a chill ran past her. The group turned right, standing before a blank wall. The only woman in the group raised her brow but kept silent as Callister reached out his hand. He placed his palm against the wall, a translucent glow emanating from where he placed it. In a flurry of wall moving and metal screeching, Aurum found herself mesmerised as she saw a car in front of her.
Well, it wasn't like it was her first time seeing a car. "Hop on," Callister gestured, a smirk evident on his features. Unimpressed, Elucel and Wynstonne entered the car via the doors of the car automatically opening. Aurum followed, entering the backseat as the door slowly lowered to close off the entrance.
The vehicle was everything but ordinary; there were buttons and screens and some gems stuck in the right places—it resembled the cars agents would have in action movies. As Callister started up the car, Aurum quickly fastened her seat belt and gazed out into the window.
Slowly, she felt the car start to levitate above ground and in no time, they were speedily driving down the road. She had even forgotten if they ever passed by the gate! They were going so fast that she had to grip into the sides of the seat as the scenery passed by in a flash. In a bustle of blurred out scenery and deafening silence, they stopped in front of the school gate.
Aurum turned to Luc, before turning to Wynstonne, "What the . . why do you both look like that was the most normal thing in the world? That driving was crazy!" She then turned to Callister with scrutinising eyes, "Inspector, what . . what the bloody hell was that?"
In unison, the three chuckled, leaving Aurum to look at them like they were crazy—which they probably were. "You'll get used to it, Elle."
"At least your reaction was much better than when Luc first experienced Inspector Cal's driving," Wynstonne said whilst he stifled a laugh. This caused Elucel to give him a warning look, glaring at him.
"Oho, how'd he look—what happened?" she asked with raised brows and a lopsided grin. Wynstonne turned to Elucel then back to Aurum. "Well—"
"Enough with that, save your stories for later, Wyn," Elucel scolded, turning to look outside as they entered the school campus. There were still a few people outside but they were mostly couples, most probably going out for a walk. "Meanie," she heard Wynstonne mutter.
"Phase one, complete," murmured Elucel as he trudged towards the side of the podium. It was ten minutes pass the hour of eight when he stood up from where he was crouched down at a dingy niche in the courtyard. All their equipment were set and they were all but preoccupied as they scrutinised the flagpole.
"That's it? That's all we had to do? I can't believe it was this easy!" exclaimed Aurum in glee. This being her first serious case, she didn't know it would be this easy. Well, that's what she thought, at least; the rest of the group—Elucel, Wynstonne, and Callister—were a tad bit tense. It had been a while since a case like this came into their hands.
The lad put a finger to her lips and looked about. Albeit quite annoyed at her presence and constant babbling, he felt lighthearted when she was present.
"Do keep your voice down. We do not know who lurks in the shadows," he warned, eyes blank and staring at the murky nook opposite of where they were. He needed to be vigilant, no one could prognosticate when and where the malefactor would emerge.
"All right, all right, my bad," Aurum raised her hands in defeat. His colleague had to admit, she wasn't taking this case rather seriously. As they sat in silence, Elucel's watch then started to vibrate. He took a glance at it and immediately accepted the call.
"Hello," he started in a hushed voice, "good, now keep your eyes open, it's about to begin," Then, without so much as a goodbye, he ended the call.
"Who was that?" she asked in a quiet whisper whilst her head tilted at a slight angle.
"Wyn," Elucel retorted in a monotone voice, denoting that that was going to be the end of the dialogue. They didn't have the pleasure for causeries, the twain were on a quest to obtain a serial killer and they had to be thoroughly mindful of their surroundings. Aurum got the memorandum and opted not to inquire what the prodigy and Wynstonne were discussing.
Seconds passed by, turning to minutes, to hours, then finally, the clock stroke ten o'clock. No sign of anyone, not even a stray cat wandering the campus. It's been two hours. Two excruciating hours of huddling down, skulking in the umbra, away from any prying eyes.
"So for how long exactly are we going to stay here? I'm bloody hell tired. I want to sleep," whined Aurum as she continuously pulled on the prodigy's sleeve. She wasn't exactly informed as to how long they were going to wait for the culprit.
"Not everything happens in an instant, Elle," muttered Elucel. He put up a blank facade, purposely hiding the feeling forming in his gut. He was quite aware that something was amiss. Something was dreadfully awry—and he didn't like one bit of it.
As the clock stroke eleven, he could take no more. Apprehension and suspicion were boiling in his gut, it was burning him from the inside out. The lad quickly dialed Wynstonne's number on his watch.
As soon as the latter picked up the call, he started, "Luc, I've got a bad feeling about this," That's all Elucel needed to hear. Without hesitation, he stood up, ended the call and bolted towards the exit.
"Luc? Luc! Wait up!" Aurum whisper-yelled, debating on whether to stay or not. Reasoning that it was futile to halt, she chose the latter, following her colleague out the courtyard. With all the strength she had hoarded for two hours of cowering on the ground, Aurum sprinted.
Albeit it was dark, she could still make out Elucel's sprinting form, meters apart from her. She followed suit.
Aurum halted once she spotted the prodigy on a standstill. What she saw shocked her—horrified her. It froze her to her place. There, hanging from the roof, was the body of August Avila, void of any life.
Although most of their facts were a miss, one thing was right—it did, indeed, 'create a feeling of sudden surprise'.
Elucel was dumbfounded. He did not think, in his eight years of being a detective, he would fail. All his life solving cases, not one case has he failed to catch the culprit of. Especially when he actually had thought of a plan to catch him or her. This was an absolute humiliation to him; to his pride; to his ego.
First came Aurum, heaving deep breaths whilst she used her knees for abetment. Elucel watched as she leisurely took a glance at the scene before her. The prodigy eyed as dread slowly pooled in her eyes. The young woman's face exhibited no emotion; appall, disquietude, crestfallenness? None, not a flicker of any on her face. She appeared to be like a blank canvas, void of any colour or life, but her eyes. Her eyes said so much that even her discordant mouth could not be held in comparison.
Second came Callister, his chest rising up and down whilst he gasped for air. The lad combed his face, his eyes, for anything. For any emotion, but again, there was none.
Then lastly came Wynstonne, head held up high as he pranced into the scene. All hauteur and grandiose was lost, though, as the intern laid his eyes on the transgression prosecuted before him. Amid the three of them—Aurum, Callister, and Wynstonne—only the latter refused to obstruct his feelings from manifesting. His head slowly whirred towards Elucel, mixed emotions evident on his face; dumbfounded, pity, and melancholy.
"Luc," he began in a soft, hushed voice, advancing towards the lad and situating his hand over Elucel's shoulder, "this probably is a shock to you, I know, but we'll have to accept the fact that—"
"I know," Elucel gritted, slapping Wynstonne's hand away and emplacing a good stretch betwixt them, "this is all because of that shorty's interference, meddling into others' business," he paused to glare at the said colleague, "Call the Milirian Yard, I'm heading back to my dorm," Without so much as an adieu, the lad walked away.
Callister called the Yard as soon as Elucel had trudged off. Aurum, enraged at what the prodigy had said, was supposed to follow suit when Wynstonne spoke up, "Let him be, this was a great shock to him after all,"
She glared at the intern, "Oh, so he has an excuse to insult my being now? He isn't the only one who was shocked at the turn of events!" she shouted, her head turned towards where the lad had walked off, she spoke again, "Why don't you try assessing yourself next time before you go on ahead and talk bollocks about other people!" Wynstonne bit his lower lip, he knew she was right, but then again, he also knew about what the defamed prodigy was going through. He chose to keep mute.
Due to escalating indignation, Aurum stormed off with a heavy heart.
The next morning, the young woman arose to a beautiful morning; sun merely a half circle in the horizon, the breeze passing through her white-clad windows, and the chirping of birds resounding outside. Oh who was she jesting? The morning was anything but superb; another life had been taking last night.
Albeit she knew that was going to be the last of the Winter Hexagon murders, except, of course, if the killer kills himself, a niche in her heart ached for the fallen six.
Oh, and how can she ever neglect the fury she had endured last night due to the prodigy's noxious remarks? She was sure to extract her vengeance sooner or later.
After sitting on her bed for a long while, she settled with prepping herself for school. Aurum took a shower, dressed the apt uniform for school, then hastily departed from her domicile, not taking custody of the bylaw she would be breaking; the curfew.
Whilst she wandered about the still-waking campus, her phone had begun to ring. Not minding that it was an unknown number, she accepted the call.
"Hello?"
"Elle?" Her heart stopped beating for a moment before she realised that it had been Wynstonne all along, not the discourteous imbecile named Elucel.
"What do you want?" she mentally cringed as she caught on how scornful she sounded.
"Come to the Milirian Yard HQ, we have something to discuss," Before Aurum could so much as inhale, the call had already been ended.
"Tss, are all the Milirian Yard people this rude?" she mumbled, taking a turn for the gate. Then she realised, how was she to sneak out of school without anyone spotting her? She stood there pondering when a sleek, black car stopped in front of her. The young woman's heart started to race, had she been caught?
The window rolled down and revealed a grinning Wynstonne, "I knew getting out by yourself was a problem, so I came to pick you up,"
She rolled her eye, "You didn't consider me refusing, didn't you?"
He replied with a cackle, "Nope," The intern then rolled the window back up before automatically opening the door to the front seat.
The young woman glared at Wynstonne before entering the vehicle. Like Callister's, it also had a bejewelled interior with many switches and buttons she did not know what was for.
They sat in defeating silence before Aurum spoke up, "Are we going to leave now or what?" she asked, aggravated at the time they had dissipated.
The man only chuckled in response before leaning towards Elucel's colleague, she backed up on instinct. "W—what the bloody hell are you—" Before she could finish her retort, Wynstonne already had the seatbelt gripped in his hand and was hauling it towards the clasp. He beamed widely before situating himself on the velvet lined seating.
In a bustle of unknown objects, roads, and houses, they arrived at the Milirian Yard Headquarters. Just like yesterday, Aurum was once again baffled at the beautiful architecture of the said place—it was beyond magnificent!
She shook off her delirium and adhered towards the waiting intern. They waltzed into the headquarters, prancing through the hallways before halting before a ever so familiar door. Wynstonne opened it to reveal the claustrophobic room they'd stayed in just yesterday; Elucel and Callister already in attendance.
"You said you were to pick up someone substantial to the case, but it looks as if you were on your way to throw out the garbage," came the prodigy's remark as he sat cross-legged on the velvet chairs, arms crossed, and a deadpan situated on his face.
Aurum heaved a deep breath before retorting, "I can't believe the Yard permits debacles like you to enter into their premises," She smirked whilst she spotted the lad's eyebrow twitch in rage.
Elucel was about to make a comeback when Callister interfered, "Now, now children—" The twain interposed.
"We're not bloody children!" They shouted in unison before glaring at each other.
"Well you both are acting like it! Callister took in a deep breath before lowering his voice a notch, "Aurum do sit down and Luc, stop it with your remarks, they're not helping,"
The young woman nodded and sat down on the seat across from Callister when the prodigy spoke once more, "I don't understand why we have to keep such a half-witt—"
"Do you want to be part of the case or not? If you continue your nonsense, I will be forced to report this to your father," deadpanned Callister, seemingly irked at the lad. Elucel finally shut his mouth.
"Anyways, we've been assigned a new case," piped Wynstonne.
"What happened to the Winter Hexgon?" inquired Aurum.
"It was given to the higher ranks," She nodded in reply, satisfied at the given answer.
"There had been four reportedly missing women, all of which had gone missing on the first Friday of the month," Callister showed a hologram of the said women,"Their names are the following; Ella Rousseau, Althea Wordsworth, Addie Keats, and Romina Shelley,"
"No bodies found?"
"As of the moment, no," replied the inspector in dismay, "but do you have any ideas? Any connections you can see?" He eyed the his three juniors in the room, the triumvirate were all enthralled in their notions.
The prodigy then spoke, "They seem to pertain to the du jour writers of the Romanticism era in American Literature," he lulled and assayed to recall their name, "Jean Jacques Rousseau, William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Percy Bysshe Shelley,"
"I remember this lesson! Littérateurs during this time excessively used emotions and yearned for their narrative to be perceived and be capable of inspiring the readers," gushed Aurum, grinning from ear-to-ear.
"Thanks for the lesson, wisenheimer," came Elucel's reply, sarcastically letting out a puff of breath as he repositioned himself on his seat.
"What the bloody hell is your problem? Why don't you stop being a dastard and tell me!" Once again, the young woman was infuriated at his remark; standing up and pushing the velvet lined seat back, she forcefully situated her hands on the wooden table.
"Bugger off,"
"Bloody hell—I'm out of here," Without so much as an adieu, Aurum waltzed out the claustrophobic domicile and out into the ample corridors. Her shoes generated a resounding boom as it click clacked on the magnificent marble tiles of the Milirian Yard Headquarters.
Albeit coming off as rude to the personnel present, she neglected them and continued to trudge out the large wooden doors. The young woman glanced at her watch and that made her take off into a sprint; she was going to be late!
A string of curses incessantly departed her lips as she hauled a taxi and told the driver to bring her to the school. Upon arriving, she merely threw her cash at the driver and rushed off, not minding the change any longer.
With certainty, she pranced into the room as the bell rung.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
She climbed up the half-steps to her seat and settled down whilst their adviser waltzed into the room with a bright smile. Just when she thought she had been delivered from irksome people, someone broke her solitude.
"I can't wait! We're visiting an Art Exhibit, yeah?" Aurum bobbed her head at the question, evidently more bemused at the floor.
"Come on, aren't you excited?" Her seat-mate, Kristina, whined, rocking Aurum's body back and forth.
"Sure," she replied in a monotone voice.
"Ugh! You just don't understand . ." her words trailed off as her eyes sparkled. Aurum raised her brow and turned to the front of the classroom. Their adviser, Sir Schneider, began to clear his throat, earning everyone's attention.
"All right, class, I shall discuss about the field trip this Friday. You must probably know the drill, before the clock ticks five-thirty in the morning, you must already be here at the classroom. Anyone late will be then left."
"Anyways, I'm sure you're all tired of hearing the same things over and over so I'll trust that you already know what to do, to bring, and etcetera." Aurum sighed in relief. Thank goodness they wouldn't have to spend the next hour listening to something they've listened to a million times.
And when she thought he was going to dismiss them early, someone raised their hand. "Sir, may we know more about the exhibit?" This random classmate she'd forgotten the name of asked eagerly. She grunted in annoyance.
"Thanks for asking that. I was waiting for someone to ask," he smiled, "So, this art exhibit is called, 'Huc Atque Illuc', which translates to 'here and there', it's by an artist named Josefina Dimagiba . ." Sir Schneider said many more things but Aurum decided to tune him out as her classmates listened in interest.
Why was everyone so bloody hell excited to see statues? What's so great about those? she thought, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
"All right, so for partners, you can choose whomever you'd like," announced the balding teacher, to which the students exclaimed in glee. The young protégée instantaneously formulated a hypothesis in mind; if there were 30 students in the class, given that scrawny ol' McKinley would be too feeble to tag along, then, one student would have no partner.
With a cheeky grin, Aurum clandestinely celebrated; she was going alone! Well, that was what she thought before Sir Schneider stepped into the scene. "Ah, I forgot to mention, because one of you won't be able to go, I'll be taking a student from another section to make the class even," At that, the young lady grumbled in protest.
"All right, go ahead and choose your partners," Not wanting to be partnered with a random student from another class, Aurum eyed the room, but before she could so much as approach her potential partner, someone beat her to it.
In other words, she gave up.
She gave not a single darn as to who she'll be spending her whole bloody day with, just as long as he or she wouldn't disturb her.
"Who doesn't have a partner?"
Begrudgingly, Aurum raised her hand. No one dared utter a word—they knew of the protégée's short temper and they didn't want anything to do with it.
"O . . kay, Ms. Aurum Cinder, you'll be partnered with Mr. E—Elucelle Klein," Instead of stupefaction, the protégée was engulfed in her own chortles. The pupils all gazed at her in query.
"Is there something the matter, Ms. Cinder?" The latter whacked herself into reality, suppressing the unwanted cackles at bay. You could imagine how she came off as with her cheeks puffed out in the efforts of stifling a laugh, face red in mockery, and her right fist covering her mouth; she looked to be like a chipmunk storing his acorns on the inside of his cheeks.
Once finally placid, she replied, "None at all, Sir Schneider," Aurum flashed her most forceful beam, fabricating her lie into credibility.
"All right, well, Mr. Klein," she released a sigh of relief at the mention of the lad's surname, "do come in," The two grand doors that led to the classroom creaked in response, unveiling a familiar face that was stuck in a deadpan. By the looks of it, the you lad came across as someone who had their life pried out from within him—which is quite plausible.
"Go on ahead and sit beside Ms. Cinder," Without even lingering to hear the balding teacher's decrees, Elucel promptly clambered up the short steps to the empty seat beside his colleague.
Bemusement was written on the preceptor's face before it vanished as fast as it came. "It seems the two of you have already been acquainted?" Sir Schneider's statement rose towards the end, indicating it was a question.
"You could say that," At the sound of her colleague's voice, goosebumps scrambled up her skin. It just seemed so lifeless, devoid of any emotion. The teacher settled not to question any further and delved into the questions of his enthralled students.
Aurum jolted in her seat when she heard the detective prodigy's voice whisper in her ear, "You didn't come across as 'loner' when we first met," She turned to him in vexation once a good amount of space was returned between them. An irk mark comically appeared on her forehead as she rose an eyebrow.
"Do you have a bloody hell problem with that?" She gritted through her teeth in reply, the young lady's eyes scrutinising the lad. He only chuckled as a response.
"That is all, you are dismissed," His colleague instantly stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. Albeit before the young lady could even so much as take a step away from the detective prodigy, he already had her in his vice grip.
"I believe you'll be stuck with me for a whole day," Then he was off.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Greetings! I have finally updated again. What did you think of Elucel failing to solve he case? What do you think'll happen during their field trip? Leave a comment to let me know!
This is unedited.
WORD COUNT: 4719 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.]