hello! i'm back with another chapter! (i told you i would upload before 2015!) now, i'm really proud of this one because you will meet new and original characters! they're completely fictional and they're my own little pride! seriously, i work so hard on their own personalities and they're all so unique in their own way and ah, i like them so much! you will follow them all the way through the story starting from now on! i really do hope you like them (or don't, because not all of them were created to be likable, ah!) or at least appreciate them! they're here mostly to give another angle on dan's murders and spare me from writing some scenes, otherwise it would be repetitive and (let's be honest) gross. thank you so much for sticking around! i hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: This story contains violence, gore, sexual content and strong language. Subjects covered might trigger some. If you are very sensible or easily offended, please abstain from reading.
The sun had risen in the sky and lightened up the city. Sasha Hoover woke up with a good vibe that morning. After eating her breakfast and taking her shower, she considered Carrie Drysdale's proposition.
Carrie and Sasha were good friends in high school and had lost connection since then. Sasha worked at the cinema and was greatly surprised when her lost friend showed up with her boyfriend out of the blue. She really wanted to catch up the lost time with her teenage best friend. So she put her coat on and took the bus in direction of Royal College street.
When Sasha stepped on the doormat, she took a deep breath and knocked three times. She knew Carrie would be there and was impatient to chat with her. After a few minutes of waiting, Sasha frowned her eyebrows. She knocked again, waited, but still no one came to the door.
"Carrie?" she said, knocking again. "Carrie, it's me, Sasha!"
Sasha smiled with hope, but still no one came. She put her ear against the door and listened. She didn't hear anything. Puzzled, she grabbed the doorknob and twisted. To her surprise, it wasn't locked. Half guilty, she opened the door and stepped inside her friend's apartment.
"Carrie?" she called.
She slowly walked into the living room. Her heart rate climbed high when she noticed the shattered glass table and the few blood stains.
Petrified, Sasha didn't dare add anything else. She tiptoed up the stairs. She heard this slow, regular dripping sound. She followed the noise, feeling her limbs going numb with terror.
Sasha stopped in front of the bathroom door. She grasped the doorknob with a shaky hand and weakly pushed it opened.
Sasha yelled at the top of her lungs.
~
"Thank you for coming, Quest."
Special detective Quest Kadner vigorously shook Wade Allaway's hand.
"Where are the bodies?" Quest asked.
The head detective gestured Kadner to climb up the stairs. At the top, he followed the rumor of the conversation and the click of the flash to the bathroom where he saw what he had been called for. He immediately noticed the floor had been flooded.
Allaway walked up behind him.
"Dave Evans and Carrie Drysdale. Early 30's. They were found by Carrie's high school friend, Sasha Hoover. She's downstairs if you want to talk to her."
Quest nodded his head and stepped closer to the corpses. Quest had seen a lot of weird and disturbing stuff in his life. But this one was particularly gloomy. He crouched down to examine the bodies.
The man, Dave, was tied to a chair. That chair was placed horizontally in the bathtub. Dave's head was strongly held to the side so his mouth and nose were touching the bottom of the tub. His right cheek was carved with the number 16. The bathtub was filled. It was a mixture of water and blood. Dave's head was emerged by the liquid. It was clear enough to see his open mouth and dull and dead brown eyes.
"Suffocation." Quest whispered to himself.
"Correct!" said a voice behind him.
Surprised, Quest stood up and looked behind. Two men were standing there, the first held a notepad and a pen, and the second had a tiny flashlight and magnifying glass.
"First hypothesis on cause of death; suffocation. You're correct." repeated the guy with the tiny instruments.
Quest nodded.
"But that isn't the only thing that killed the man." he continued. "See, his lower abdomen was severely lacerated. It greatly contributed to his death and, also, added nice colors to the water."
"The number on his cheek helped too." added the other.
Quest glanced at Dave's lower abdomen. It was indeed lacerated pretty badly. The water cleared the wound and the cut up flesh could easily be seen flapping around.
"What about the woman?" questioned the man with the notepad. "Come on, we want to know what you think!"
Quest turned back to the bodies and examined Carrie's. She was held upside down on the shower pole. Someone had put the back of her knees on the pole and attached her legs and thighs together so she wouldn't fall. Her arms were tied around her body. Her throat was slit and her whole face was covered in the blood it provided. Through the blood, you could also see numbers carved. "3" on her left and "16" on her right. The blood dripped down her face into the tub, where Dave's body was.
"Lacerated jugular, which would mean death followed within a very few minutes. She probably died before Dave, which would mean he looked at her dead body before drowning. Also, her blood helped fill up the bath. I believe the killer left the tap open so it filled up gradually, helping it with both of their blood. This would explain why it flooded. Her limbs were attached with what looks like the shower curtain and towels. This could imply that the killer did not use material of their own. It's quite brilliant, if I may, but frustrating for the investigation. Also, if you look closely, you can notice shards of glass pierced into her flesh. Perhaps they knocked her out before committing the crimes. One of the numbers on her cheeks is the same as Dave on his right cheek. Perhaps he has another number on his left cheek that we can't see right now considering his position. They could mean anything."
The two guys looked at each other.
"Not bad. Not bad at all." said the second. "Very good, actually."
"The shards are from the shattered glass table downstairs." continued the second. "Agent Mello will be taking a few of them to the laboratory to examine them."
"With what were they both lacerated?" asked the first.
"I'm not quite sure. It seems like a pretty linear wound, looks like it was easy to cut. Maybe a kitchen knife, a large one."
The two guys nodded with satisfaction.
"Pretty good. Mello will also be taking care of the kitchen knives."
"I'm sorry, but, who are you?" Quest asked.
He felt a little uncomfortable with these two guys doubting his capacities.
"I'm Talley. Vincent Talley." the guy with the flashlight responded. "He's Jesus."
Quest looked at him with a confused look.
"Jesus." Jesus specified with the Spanish pronunciation. "Jesus Harrigan. My birthday's on Christmas day."
"...You're kidding?"
"Of course I am."
Jesus and Vincent giggled. Quest rolled his eyes. He then shook both of their hands.
"Quest Kadner." he introduced himself. "MI5."
He then pulled his badge out of his suit's pocket to authenticate his saying. He showed it to Vincent and Jesus as they looked at each other.
"Oh, yeah!" Vincent exclaimed. "The MI5! Obviously he's from the MI5, Jesus!"
"Ah, so Tucker really did call you." Jesus said to Quest. "We soon realized these murders might be linked to another. We need your team when it comes to linked murders and Tucker's pretty tense lately, so we didn't really know if he would actually call you. Nice to know he did."
"Tucker?"
"Agent Essex. He's the head detective in our team."
Quest nodded.
"Anyway," Vincent continued. "Where's the rest of your team? We'd like to meet our future collaborators!"
"Yeah so I can finally have all 12 of my apostles." Jesus added.
Quest longingly looked at Jesus as Vincent sniggered.
"Is he always like this?" Quest asked Vincent, still staring at Jesus.
"Always." He smiled.
"Grand."
Quest rubbed his forehead as he said: "The only semblance of a 'team' I have is my head detective, Wade Allaway."
"Wait, so you're telling me you're the only MI5 agent working on this case, besides your head?"
"Yeah, well, you're going to have to deal with only the both of us, it seems."
Jesus smirked.
"Anyway, for the bodies, that's all we've got for now. We'll probably know more during the autopsy." Talley announced.
"Though, if you want a copy of the pictures and report, which you probably do and will probably get anyway, you should go talk to the crime scene photographer, Dallas Wiseman." Jesus concluded. "Dallas is a very wise man."
Vincent and Jesus exploded into laughter.
"Jesus Christ, you're impossible." Quest exclaimed with the most unamused face he could've ever pulled.
"Harrigan, my name's Harrigan, not Christ. But, thanks for the complement anyway!"
Quest walked away from the two forensics without adding a word. He left the bathroom and went down the stairs. He got into the living room where only five people stood. There was a dark-skinned woman with very short hair crouched in front of the glass debris. Quest saw her delicately lift up a shard with tweezers and disposed it into a plastic bag before she sealed it.
Next to her was a man. He was pretty tall, around six feet something, Quest thought. He held a camera in front of his face and took photos of the objects the woman held before she put them in the bag for evidences and ready for laboratory examination. He had really dark hair and his locks fell everywhere on his head. He would frequently fix it by running a hand into his hair, pushing it backwards and making it fall into different places.
Near the door stood Agent Allaway, Quest's head. He was a tough looking man with hard features. He was in his 40's. He had light brown hair greased backwards on his head. Beside him stood a crying woman. A shorter man stood beside the crying lady. He looked as tough as Wade but he looked way tenser. His short dark hair was covered with a ridiculous fedora, which made him look even grumpier. It looked like the hat was stuck to his head and he was forced to wear it. The short man was older than Allaway. Quest deduced he was the famous Tucker Essex that Vincent and Jesus had told him about.
Quest walked towards the black woman and the tall guy.
"Can I help you?" asked the lady.
"Quest Kadner, from the MI5." he responded, shaking her hand.
"Zarah Mello, C.S.I agent." she introduced herself.
"And I'm Dallas Wiseman, crime scene photographer." said the tall guy.
Quest shook his hand.
"So you're the wise man everyone talks about?"
"You've met Jesus already?" he replied. "This kid, I swear to God."
"Oh, the irony, Dallas." Zarah laughed.
Both Dallas and Quest rolled their eyes.
Quest felt the urge to ask why everyone in this investigation obsessed over Jesus jokes, but he retained himself.
"What have you got so far?" he questioned.
"Not much." Zarah replied, sighing. "Got blood on the shards, we'll try to see if maybe the killer left some of theirs behind. Maybe we'll get a match. Harrigan and Talley suspect they might have used kitchen knives so I got them all sealed to maybe get some fingerprints. There's also that frying pan. It has blood on it. For the carpet, I noticed a wet spot."
"Wet?" Quest repeated.
"Yeah. Like water was spilled."
She crouched and pointed the wet spot on the rug.
"It can't be from before the crime." she continued. "Otherwise it would've been dry by now. It most likely happened during the crime. I looked around and I have no idea what could've made it. A glass of water? A sponge? A cloth? A towel? Whatever it is, the killer probably left with it. Maybe that's what we're looking for."
~
Dan came back home an hour later. The night was darker and the stars were no where to be seen.
He opened the front door delicately and closed it back quietly. He discreetly walked up the stairs and entered the living room. Dan sat down directly in front of the fireplace. He freed his hands from the gloves, took his backpack off his shoulders and placed it next to him. He then unzipped it and retrieved the cloth. It was almost dry. It took him a long time to take care of Carrie and Dave, and the trip back home gave more time to the moist cloth to dry.
Dan and Phil never really used their fireplace, so he struggled for a few minutes trying to turn it on. Once the flames appeared, he grinned. Dan tossed the cloth inside the flames. It ignited easily and burned slowly. A little white smoke flew from the cloth as the fire sputtered. Dan didn't leave his eyes from the burning evidence. A nice smell of burning paper filled his nostrils.
He sat there, in front of the fireplace, smiling widely.
~
"Maybe," Kadner muttered. "Is that it?"
"So far, yes." Mello sighed.
She seemed dispirited. "This is going to be a tough one."
Quest nodded in approval. Dallas simply ran a hand through his hair and adjusted the strap of the camera around his neck.
Agent Allaway walked up behind Quest.
"Seen everything?"
"Yeah."
He rubbed his forehead and jerked back at Dallas.
"Don't forget to send the reports with the pictures."
Dallas' lips simply stretched into a smile. Quest turned back to Wade.
"Want to talk to Sasha?"
He glanced at the crying lady standing next to Tucker Essex. Quest sighed and approached the ginger woman.
"Good morning, Miss," he said, forcing a polite smile. "I'm Agent Quest Kadner from the MI5," he showed her his badge, "and I would like to ask you a few questions."
Sasha talked between a few sobs.
"They already asked me questions..."
"Yes, miss, but we both have different procedures that must be respected. It will be short, I promise."
Sasha agreed quietly as Essex sniffled angrily next to them.
"Did you know the victims well?" Quest started off.
"Uh, I knew Carrie quite well."
She stopped to bring the oxygen back into her lungs.
"But that was back in high school. We had lost connection. We saw each other yesterday in the cinema I work at, she was with her boyfriend... Dave, I think? Anyway, we talked briefly. She invited me to her house, gave me her address and then they left..."
"Do you know if Carrie, or maybe Dave, had any enemies? Anyone that would wish them misfortune?" Quest continued.
"No, of course not!" Sasha almost immediately disabused. "Carrie was beloved at school. She was friends with practically everyone there, she didn't have any enemies. Although, as I said, I didn't know Dave. So I can't really tell."
Quest rubbed his chin.
"I think that will do it. Thank you very much, miss. I am very sorry for your loss."
Quest and Wade exited the crime scene as Tucker grunted. On the porch, Quest asked:
"Have you talked to the neighbour?"
"Yeah, it was an old lady. She said these two always fought, so screams weren't unusual when it came from their flat, apparently. She heard a lot of screaming last night, but didn't pay any attention to it."
Quest took a long breath.
"Essex doesn't seem to like us much." He pointed out.
"Ah," Wade sighed. "He's just a grumpy fellow. I've worked with him on a lot of cases. He just doesn't appreciate when we get invested. He gets so butt hurt. He wanted to be a MI5 agent but I guess it just didn't work out. He's jealous because I'm younger than him and I'm one. So now he hates us."
"I'll have to get used to them." Quest laughed.
~
"What are you doing?"
Dan warmed his hand to the flames of the burning cloth as Phil entered the room, intrigued by the weird smell of burnt paper that had suddenly perfumed the house.
"I'm freezing." Dan casually replied, his eyes still locked on the flickering flames.
"It's not even that cold." Phil retorted, confused.
"It's chilly outside."
"You went out?"
Dan nodded, still not looking at Phil.
"Are you burning something? It smells funny..."
"Wood," Dan lied.
"But, Dan, it's a gas fi- wow, what happened to you!?"
Dan had stood up and turned around in a swift movement to face Phil. He had put his bag back on his shoulders.
"What?" Dan questioned, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Are you kidding?" Phil exclaimed with wide eyes. "Have you seen your face?"
Dan suddenly remembered he had covered himself in dirt and intentionally injured his face.
"Oh, that?" Dan said, pointing to the bloody scratch on his cheek.
"Mostly," Phil replied. "What happened?"
"Well," Dan explained with a calm tone. "Apparently it is dangerous to walk up the stairs from the Underground."
Phil chuckled.
"Ouch," Phil scoffed. "Also it seems the Underground stairs aren't very clean."
Dan unconsciously wiped some dirt off his forehead.
"Yeah," Dan giggled.
He glanced back at the fireplace. The white cloth had become black, but still hadn't turned to ashes.
"I'll take a shower and I will put the fire out after, okay?" Dan said to Phil.
"Alright," Phil agreed. "But it's still not even that cold-"
"Shut up," Dan tittered as he left his friend alone in the living room.
"It's a gas fire!"
"Shut up!"
Phil shook his head as he grinned to himself. He stared at the fire for a few seconds. He saw this black mass inside the sputtering flames. He frowned. He wondered what it could be, but he didn't search further. He was sleepy and his brain was too fuzzy for reflection.
Phil was too used to Dan acting weird and telling absurdities to notice anything different in his behaviour.
Maybe it was a good thing.
ahh omg dan is acting weird and there's new characters! let me know how you liked quest and friends! see you in 2015! <3