Interesting...
1557 Words
The moment everyone went their separate ways, Aria and her two friends began to question anyone who may have known something about Zed. But there was no luck. That is until Dale spotted a young elf guy he knew who was leaving a classroom along with other students after they had finished with their class. And as the young elf guy took a seat on a nearby bench, Dale decided to talk to him as he pushed himself through the crowd of students and to the elf guy.
“Hey, Leo” he greeted with a smile.
“It’s Theo” the guy corrected with a frown.
“Oh, sorry” he quickly apologized with a guilty smile “Man, I gotta get better with remembering names.”
“Is there something you need?” Theo asked while putting away his papers in his satchel.
“Yes actually, do you mind if I ask you some questions about a murder case?”
“Does this have to do with Zed getting killed by your ax?”
“How did you know that?”
“Words spread quickly around here.”
“Of course they do” Dale breathed.
“I still can’t believe it,” Theo remarked while shaking his head “Who would want to kill Zed? He was such a nice guy.”
“I know, that’s what we’re trying to find out.”
“Well, what did you need to ask me?”
“Well, you sat behind me today in Professor Grove’s class, I had my ax with me because I didn’t have time to put it away before class started so I placed it to the side of the desk. I had forgotten to take it with me when class was over so I came here this afternoon with Hazel to look for it and that’s when we found the body. Now, do you remember if you saw anyone taking my ax after class was over?”
“I don’t know, I was in a hurry today so I just left the moment it was time to go, I didn’t really pay attention. Sorry.”
“Okay...” Dale responded a bit disappointed “Well um, let’s talk about Zed. Did you know him at all?”
“Well, I’ve spoken with him before. We’ve had a few conversations, but mostly they were small talks.”
“When was the last time you spoke with him?”
“I don’t know, it’s been a while. I guess the last time I spoke to him was last month.”
“Do you remember what it was about?”
“Sorry, I don’t remember.”
“Well, when was the last you saw Zed?”
“That would be last night. I saw him putting things away in the shed as I was leaving the palace to go home.”
“Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?”
“Not really, everything seemed fine.”
“Is there anything else you know about Zed that might be able to help us?”
“Um...” he began to think “Sorry, I can’t think of anything.”
“Hey, Theo” the guys turned to see the young wizard, West, heading their way.
“You coming?” he asked Theo.
“Yeah, just a moment,” Theo told him while pointing to Dale “He’s just asking me some questions.”
“Does this have to do with Zed’s murder?”
“Yeah.”
“How’s that going so far?” West asked Dale.
“We don’t have any leads yet” Dale answered, “Jesse’s working on the autopsy right now and I don’t know when he’ll be done with that.”
“Well, I wish you guys the best of luck in solving this case. If we think of anything, we’ll let you know.”
“Thanks. You guys have a nice day.”
And with that, they went their separate ways.
“Wait, did he say his name was Teo or Theo?” Dale asked himself when he soon shrugged “Oh well.”
__________
By the time Cian and I were done with forensic science and the autopsy, I was washing my hands in the sink when we got a knock at the door as we turned to see my friends peeking in.
“How is everything?” Aria asked.
“Good,” I responded while drying my hands on the apron I was wearing “We actually just finished. Come on in.”
They all stepped inside and froze when they saw Zed’s body with his torso sewn up from the autopsy.
“Yeesh” Dale cringed “And I thought I was the one who had a dirty job.”
“You get the hang of things” I chuckled.
“Did you puke?” Hazel asked with a smirk.
“I almost did. But as Cian said, I just have to get used to it.”
“You seem to be doing well” Aria commented with a small smile “Did you thrive with your nerdy stuff?”
“I did” I nodded with a smile “And you would not believe what we’ve discovered.”
“What?”
“Well, before I say, what did you guys find out?”
“Not much” Hazel reported “Everyone I’ve interviewed seemed to give me the same answers. They all knew Zed by name, all agreed that he was a nice guy, all never really bonded with him, and neither of them reported anything suspicious about him.”
“I got the same thing” Aria added.
“So did I” Dale raised his hand.
“Oh,” I responded disappointedly “Well until we figure that out, let me tell you what Cian and I discovered.”
“Yes,” Aria pointed “What did you guys find out?”
“Well, it turns out Zed had high levels of carbon monoxide in his blood.”
“Carbon monoxide?” she gasped “Really?”
“Yes really” I nodded.
“So, that would mean...”
“Yeah, he was already dead before someone used the ax on him.”
“No way” Hazel and Dale gasped in shock.
“I know,” I grinned “This is already getting exciting.”
“Well um, could you tell how the carbon monoxide was found in his blood?” Aria asked me.
“I actually thought he was smothered because that’s one of the most common ways to suffocate someone. But Cian found something that answered that question. Cian?”
Everyone turned to the elf who stood up straight.
“I’ve tested some samples taken from his organs,” he began “And I’ve found traces of aconite in his system, or as most people would call it, wolfsbane.”
“Wolfsbane?” Aria gasped “We have some of those in the garden.”
“So someone poisoned Zed first and then used my ax to butcher him?” Dale remarked confused “Why would anyone do that? Why wouldn’t they just dispose of the body?”
“Perhaps there are two killers” Hazel spoke up “Maybe someone poisoned Zed, then left the scene at one point, and then someone else comes in with Dale’s ax and thinking that Zed is still alive, they use the ax on him.”
“This is a possibility” I stated.
“Well, did you find anything else?” Aria asked.
“Yes actually,” I nodded while walking over to the body and showing them Zed’s arms “See the scars on his arms, see how much thinner they are compared to the ones on his torso?”
“Yeah,” she nodded surprised “Shouldn’t the scars be thicker?”
“And deeper,” I put in “His bones aren’t broken. I have a feeling that these scars were not caused by the ax, it looks like they were caused by a knife, a pocketknife perhaps.”
“Whoa,” everyone gasped.
“Someone must have really wanted this guy dead.” Hazel remarked, “To attempt to kill him once and then kill him twice, what did this guy do to deserve this?”
“Maybe he did something bad when he and his brother used to live with the Unseelie clan” Dale suspected.
“Most likely,” I agreed “It looks like we’re gonna have another chat with Ryker later.”
“Anything else?” Aria inquired.
“Well, we were able to find traces of wolfsbane in some tea he had drunk. So it looks like we know how he got the poison in him. But along the tea, we found that he also had eaten a salad. And it appears those were the last things he ate.”
“Could you tell when it was?”
“Yes, according to our results, it would appear he had consumed them around 12 in the afternoon, most likely that was his lunch break. And since the symptoms of wolfsbane poisoning are usually immediate, it would appear he was alone when he ate, otherwise, if he was in public, the people would’ve noticed his symptoms and help him.”
“Interesting...” Dale rubbed his chin.
“So whoever poisoned him must’ve known he was going to eat alone” Hazel stated.
“Do any of you know where Zed eats on his break?” I asked as they shook their head no.
“The workers can eat anywhere” Aria informed.
“Well then, do you know if he makes his own tea or does he get it somewhere?”
“I think he makes his own tea” Hazel answered, “I mean when you’re a gardener you know a lot about different herbs.”
“Okay then, does he make his tea here or somewhere else?”
“Well, he lives in the palace with other workers,” Aria said, “And there’s a kitchen they use.”
“Does anyone have any access there besides the workers?”
“Just them and the maids and butlers. Well, including me of course.”
“Great...” I groaned “Anyone could’ve done it.”
I checked the time on the clock on the wall.
“I’ve only got an hour left before I need to go” I announced, “I wanna talk to Ryker before I go.”
“I can take you to him” Aria offered “He’s staying at a nearby motel.”
“You guys go ahead” Cian spoke, “I can clean up.”
“You sure?” I asked.
“Yes,” he nodded “Thank you for the help. Once again, I’m very impressed.”
“Why thank you” I smiled, “And if you need any more help, don’t hesitate to ask me.”
“Oh, I won’t hesitate,” he smiled back.
But as we made it out of the room and into the hallway, we suddenly heard a familiar voice that caused us to turn around.
“Excuse me,” we were surprised to see Ryker here.
“Ryker?” Aria remarked a bit surprised “Um, we were actually about to go see you. What are you doing here?”
“There’s something I should’ve told you earlier about Zed. You guys need to know the truth.”
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