"What an interesting thing fate is. You see, I'm also a detective." Said Elyas as he gave the small lady a bright smile.
Her lips curved slightly, "Oh really? What's your name then, Mr. Detective?"
"Elyas" he answered, making her smile widened. "So, Mr. Elyas…Did you kill him?" she said, pointing at the corpse.
Before he could even react, Elyas' thoughts slowed to a crawl. Out of nowhere, he felt dizzy. He felt groggy to the point that he could pass out any moment. What…is happening… to me… He felt compelled to answer truthfully—no, he wanted to. There was a massive weight put on his chest. One that promised to crush him if he dared to lie and leave if he spoke the truth.
She was watching him struggle to comprehend what was happening to him. "Come on Mr, don't tell me you're the murderer." She said with a teasing tone.
Elyas was trying his hardest not to open his mouth, but his lips parted, and from them, came her answer. "I… didn't." As soon as he said that all the pressure subsided, gone in an instant. He fell to the ground, violently gasping for air. She clicked her tongue, "How good that would have been."
...I need… to be careful around her. Elyas drew a deep breath. I got lucky she worded the question that way…
Noah's brows knitted together, "Ryu, stop messing around."
She waved her hands. "Alright, alright. I was just showing your friend how we get things done around here."
After that, Ryu walked to the corpse, examining it from different angles. "Hmm… I haven't had any case resembling this in my jurisdiction. What about you?" she asked Noah.
He shook his head in response. "I haven't seen something like that done by anything but a beast."
"Well, it can't be an amateur, that much is obvious. That amount of gore isn't something anyone can handle. Also, despite being left in a place like this, there aren't that many maggots… That leaves us with two possibilities."
Elyas, having been listening attentively for a chance to intervene, seized the opportunity. "Actually, there could be three."
She got up from the corpse's side and turned to face Elyas, "Oh? do tell."
He cleared his throat, "First, a member of a syndicate or a gangster. This is the most likely out of the three. The manager would have had a decent amount of cash lying around, a good motivation. Second, a serial killer. This one's chance is lower, but not impossible. They all start from somewhere and usually collect body parts as trophies. And this guy is missing a lot of them. And last, is a personal grudge."
Elyas wanted to eliminate himself from the suspect list. And to do that, he needed to erase the third possibility.
"Every murder is done for a reason. Sometimes its vengeance, money, or just the thrill of it. Each possibility fits one of the core motivations and from what I see, the third possibility is the least probable. A normal person, however vengeful, would not be able to do something that drastic." He said as he pointed to the mangled body.
Ryu nodded, "Good reasoning, but let's put the speculation on hold for now." She looked at her wrist watch, waiting.
It was then that Noah spoke. "He's here." Ryu and Elyas both turned their heads. Near the scrap gate, a brown haired man was squeezing himself through the crowd. After dusting off his wrinkled white uniform, he looked around. Noticing them staring at him, he waved.
The man rushed to their side. He was slightly taller than Elyas and despite his age apparent by his graying hair, he kept his youthful round face intact.
Having reached them, he glanced at Elyas for a second before diverting his attention to the small Ryu and Noah. "Hello everyone, sorry for being late, the news got to me slower than usual—"
Ryu rolled her eyes. "Alright Gen, can you start already?" He nodded.
Noah and Elyas made way for the middle aged man. As Gen approached the body, a black goo-iy substance sprung from under his skin, covering his hands with a pair of white gloves.
He knelt near the body, a look of disgust crossing his face as he examined it closely. "This…Are we sure a Figment hasn't breached the walls?"
"No. I have guard duty for a week, the Defenders didn't mention anything." Noah said. Gen's frown deepened. "What am I supposed to look for? The blood splatters are everywhere and half the body is missing silver… Ryu, did your team find anything?"
The small lady shook her head. "Nothing. It's too soon to expect an outcome."
Gen nodded. "I'll just take the pictures and samples then. We'll look for the murder weapon later." After waiting for his colleague to finish, Noah spoke. "Can you check if there's anything?"
The middle aged man nodded. Elyas watched as Gen put his fingers in the dead man's eyes. A cold gale surged forth, hitting him in the face and bringing with it the smell of death and decay. A visible mass of swirling mist formed above the body and spread. It covered the area in a thick dark blue fog. Almost as dark as the ocean depths.
But Elyas wasn't thinking about that. He was currently seeing the fat manager's life.
Image after image flashed. The manager's daily routine, his showers, his dinners. Scenes consisting of long walks in the night, or filling out papers. The scenes and images looked… disjointed. As if somebody had cut a polaroid film.
The scene changed once again. It showed Sandl behind his desk, working. Staring at Josh when he wasn't looking. It changed again. Joshua was telling him that he didn't like him. That he should find someone else. But Sandl didn't care for the rejection. He did what he wanted.
Elyas stood in the dark blue mist. Looking at the scene that followed.
Even hearing about it from Josh was enough to make his blood boil. But now, he was seeing it for himself. From Sandl's perspective. Looking down at his own friend… He hated every second of it and thankfully, he didn't have to watch anymore. That was the last thing that they saw.
Everyone opened their eyes, not remembering when they had closed them. Ryu was the first one to speak. Her voice, although childish, was full of clear resentment and hate. "He deserved it." Everyone silently agreed, giving the mutilated man a look of disgust. This time, not for the violence acted upon him, but for what he had done.
Then Noah asked, "Why did the soul vision stop? Gen, did you run out of Will?" The middle aged man shook his head. "I didn't find any soul. Only remnants of it were left. That's all I got from them."
Noah's brows furrowed alongside Ryu, but she voiced her question first. "So whoever killed the piece of trash also took his soul?"
"Yes, I think that is most likely what happened. If they had destroyed it, it would have left signs. But there's nothing."
Elyas secretly heaved a sigh of relief. The biggest threat is off. Good….but based on the vision, I'm sure they would consider Josh a suspect and through him, get to me…
Noah faced Elyas, "Did you feel anything? Anything counts. A sudden feeling of deja vu, fear, a headache, mood changes. Anything." Elyas shook his head.
Elyas fell silent alongside the rest. But after a while, he raised his hand. Gen gave him a cursory look, then asked, "Uhh…Ryu, who is the young gentleman again?"
She chuckled, but before she could answer, Elyas started talking. "I think I know who did this."
Everyone's attention was suddenly on him. Noah looked at him with wide eyes and asked, "You know who the killer is?" Ryu's expression was not much different. Elyas shook his head. "Its not definite, but I know the biggest suspect."
"We're all ears." Ryu said, not a hint of humor in her childish voice.
"It's the man in the vision, I know him personally. His name is Joshua Stanton."