Merida stared at the numbers for a while until she finally gave up. Of course, it confused her. After watching a bunch of documentaries about deciphering codes, she still had no luck. She then noticed the word underneath the numbers saying "NEON". It confused her even more.
Officer McGuffin went inside. He looked at Hiccup then Merida.
"What have you found?" He asked.
"He was burnt with sulphuric acid and poisoned with polonium before he was cut in the neck." Hiccup answered.
"Why did the killer have to cut the neck?" He asked.
Hiccup gave him a "seriously?" look. "To write down those numbers of course!" Hiccup exclaimed.
Officer McGuffin nodded. "Any luck deciphering it?" He asked.
"None." Hiccup answered in dismay. "What did you try so far?"
"We tried the Letter Numbers. We even tried to use ROT1 after we have deciphered using the Letter Numbers. No such luck." He said.
Merida looked around the room and realised that they were inside a laboratory. "What if we use the periodic table?" Merida asked. "That word underneath the numbers. That could be a clue that we should use the periodic table."
Both Hiccup and Officer McGuffin turned to look at Merida. "You know, those changing the numbers to the acronym of a word from the periodic table to for a message?"
"That could work." Hiccup said. He stood and went over to the shelves to look for a book with a periodic table in it.
When he finally took one, he placed it down on the table and began deciphering the code. But, he frowned.
"Nothing." Hiccup said.
"Nothing?" Merida asked. "There should be something." Merida went over to Hiccup to look at his work.
SHeCl ?HeAr
BBeB LiLi
Merida frowned. She's pretty sure no normal parent will name their kid Shecl or ?hear.
"What's that question mark for?" Merida asked.
"There's no zero in the periodic table." Hiccup said. "And that word 'neon' confuses me."
Merida groaned. "There should be something."
"The numbers are low." Hiccup said. He kept scanning the periodic table. His eyes then lit up. "This could work."
He started working, jotting down the acronyms until he finally stopped with a groan. "No!" He exclaimed. Merida looked at his paper. Nothing good.
PoCaI ?MgAr
"I don't get it." Merida said.
"The numbers on top were new notations." Hiccup said. "While the numbers below were the number of what element their in."
"What's the word 'neon' for?" Merida asked.
"I'm trying to know." Hiccup said, slightly getting irritated. "Ne." He said, reciting the acronym of "neon".
After repeating it over and over again, he screamed with delight. "Coordinates!"
"What?" Merida asked.
"These numbers are not here to form a word!" Hiccup exclaimed. "They were written here for us to know where to go!"
Hiccup wrote with speed. He was calculating on his mind, thinking about every possibilities. He took his phone and began typing. When Merida looked at it, it said:
52.2053° N, 0.1218° E
"How do you know where to place the dot?" Merida asked.
"Since it said 16 for the North and 5 for the East, I figured it should be written together. The first number are followed with a dot. So I thought there should be a dot after '52'." Hiccup said. "Oh, and the 'neon' was 'Ne'—North and East."
"I don't get it, but where is it?" Merida asked.
Hiccup showed her his phone. And Merida gave her a confused look. "Are we seriously going there?" She asked. "That's far, Hiccup."
"It's not if we take a bus." Hiccup said.
"Yes it is!" Merida exclaimed.
"No." Hiccup said. "We're going. We need to stop this cases. I don't want to miss this, Merida. We have to stop him or else."
Merida sighed and nodded. She realised that she had not experienced working full time yet. She shrugged. "When?" She asked.
"Now." Hiccup said it and he began to walk out.
"Where are you going?" Officer McGuffin said as he popped his head on the door.
Hiccup kept his emotionless face as he said, "I'm sorry, Officer McGuffin. But Merida and I have some important things to do. I hope you figure this case out without my help."
"More important than this, Hiccup?" Officer McGuffin asked. "Since when did you turn down a case?"
"It's boring." Hiccup said and signalled Merida to follow him. Merida jogged over to him. She had removed her gloves and placed it back on her coat.
"Good day, Officer McGuffin." Hiccup smiled.
They left the hospital walking side by side. They went over to the bus stop and waited. Merida looked over at Hiccup. The light was hitting his face, illuminating it, bringing out his features more clearly. His green eyes, cute freckles, sharp jaw and shaggy hair made Merida's heart skip a beat.
"Holy smokes! No. No. No. No. No!" Merida thought. Her heart was beating. She was ready to vomit out of pressure.
She was so focused on her thoughts Merida did not notice the bus arrive until Hiccup and held her hand. Electricity coursed through her body. Merida looked up. Her cheeks must have been burning because Hiccup gave her a funny look.
"You're cold?" Hiccup asked. Merida croaked. She cursed herself. "Come one."
They went inside the bus. Hiccup sat near the window, but Merida stopped on the seat in front of him. She scooted over to the window and sighed. She touched her cheek.
"Stop it!" Merida told herself. "Breathe! Breathe, you little piece of hairball."
Hiccup took of his scarf and leaned over to Merida. He held out his hand, placing the scarf on Merida's cheeks.
"Here." Hiccup said. "Warmth."
Merida slowly took it. "Th-thank you." She said, wrapping it around her neck. It was indeed warm and soft. The smell of Hiccup clung to it and she couldn't stop herself from sniffing.
"I'm creepy." She thought when she realized that sniffing another person's belonging is creepy.
"Next time, bring your own scarf." Hiccup said from his seat and Merida nodded even though he couldn't see it.
If that's the sign of Merida liking Hiccup, it's bad. It's really bad. You see, Hiccup's a weird guy—but cute. Merida doubt he has an ideal type of woman. Knowing Hiccup for days, Merida can see that he has no interest in relationships.
"Relationships?" Merida thought again. "Who says I'm planning to be in a relationship with this detective? He's weird and annoying and charming." Merida sighed.
The ride was long that Merida decided to fall asleep. But she was afraid that she'd start snoring with her mouth wide open and her saliva pouring down the side of her mouth like a waterfall. Nope. She couldn't risk to be an embarrassment.
But she fell asleep.
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Author's Note: Another update! I'm currently busy because I am currently running a bookmarks business (Hooray for a 16-year-old business lady!) I'll be shipping tomorrow and I still haven't printed my goodies. T^T
I'll be typing the next chapter for "Dance Macabre" later after I did my chores so I can update it tomorrow if not today.
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