His Conundrums

Chapter 24

Skills Became In Handy

Dark clouds started to cover up the entire city. People are already preparing for their coats and umbrellas for the war with the softly fallen daggers. The streets look like a battlefield with no warriors but filled with an armed mob. And it seemed like the pollution vanquished the army of rubber tires and leather shoes. One who has the battle to win is Sirius and Joe. They must win against a cunning man.

"It's locked," Sirius said as he pushed Mr. Sting's doorbell a couple of times. They finally reached Irvin Sting's condo unit, and Sirius asked Joe to look for a key or think of a possible passcode since his door has a combination of the deadbolt and a digital lock.

"It's not a problem. I've heard most thieves here say 'say no to closed doors because love is an open door,'" he said so proudly and took out some things from his pocket and stuck it to the door lock. Sirius looked at him in confusion, trying to understand his words, but then he just focused on the fact that Joe can unlock any doors.

"You're quite handy. I should probably change my door with 36 padlocks and a digital door lock," he said while observing how Joe unlocked the door. After a couple of minutes, Joe opened the door, and they went inside Mr. Sting's condo unit. They smelled something unpleasant, like weeks of laundry mixed with an air freshener. There they saw him sleeping on his bed, not moving an inch. Joe went closer to him while Sirius went through some of his things in the doorway.

"Someone got drunk last night, huh?" he joked as he smelled alcohol, but Irvin is suspiciously unresponsive. His eyebrows furrowed.

"He's dead," Joe said to Sirius.

-0-0-0-

"Look for something like could poison a person," Sirius asked the police, and they seem to ignore him like he's a ghost. He could probably talk with Irvin's ghost to ask who the culprit is if that's the case. They've been there for almost an hour.

"This crime was already perfected days before. How can you not see it?" he added in frustration. Alex came into the crime scene as Sirius was about to go hysterical with this case.

"Sirius! Calm down!" Alex told him in his deep voice. Sirius walked back and forth, trying to calm himself. He brushed his own hair with his hands and scratched the back of his head. He seemed furious not only with this case but also with Alex.

"Sirius, I told you to let Harold handle this case. I know you did a great job handling Arzon's case, but I'm sorry to tell you, bud, you can't overwork yourself." Alex's tone was clear and calm, this time trying to explain.

"I know. I know I'm still unwell. It's only been 2 months, but Alex, why do they think I'm suspicious... we're suspicious?" He said while pointing at Joe, who sat in a corner like a child left by his mom in a daycare center.

"The police did not..." Alex tried to convince Sirius the way he looked at the situation, but Sirius cut him off.

"Yes, they are. They took the letter from us given to me by my supposed to be client, Mr. Thomas Flipper. And you pulled me out in this case. Tell me, Alex, is there something going on?" Sirius asked him.

"Wow! How can you point something on me that easy?" Alex told him in disbelief.

"It's not what you think, Sirius. We're not suspicious of you... or any of you. I told you, I'm giving you the benefit of taking a break. Yes, you can handle a case but not as always like before. Wait until you're fully recovered, then I'll let you handle every case that you want," Alex explained.

"It's Nate, isn't it? He told you about my condition. That I'm still having a nightmare, and my memories seemed to forget about coming back?" he asked Alex.

"No. this is solely my own decision. I'm so happy and relieved when I saw you walked into the office that afternoon, really. You are one of the most talented people in our division. You also got yourself a fan in our office. George seems to praise your picture every time he sees it on our wall. But take it slowly, man, you know our division seems incomplete without you, and if anything happens to you, it will be our loss. So please obey your medication and don't overwork yourself." That seemed to calm Sirius down. It's either the compliment or the main reason that put his mind at ease.

"Okay," he agreed. "I won't handle this case, but please let me help. Thomas Flipper personally went for our help, and I can't just let this take over by someone else. It doesn't feel right," Alex agreed at least to let Sirius help them solve this case. They went to Harold, and luckily he didn't mind Sirius helping them. They discuss everything they have in mind.

"Based on the report, Irvin died 2 hours ago. Why did you say this was done days ago?" Harold asked Sirius.

"We're the first one to discover the body, but no one looked for him aside from us, which may be an hour after he died." Joe suddenly surfaced from a corner. Harold and Alex looked at him.

"Who is he?" Harold asked Sirius and Alex.

"You can ask directly to me like 'who are you?' why you asked them?" Joe said to Harold, which made his curiosity grew even bigger.

"He's Sirius..." Alex was about to say something, but again Sirius never let him finish his statement.

"He's a tertiary consumer," Sirius said. Joe looked at him for addressing a thief, not a secondary but a tertiary consumer, or he’s either making a joke or a compliment? 'Yeah, I look like a person who waits and see.' Joe said to himself. He kind of likes the term, though, so he's cool with it.

"...friend." Alex finished his statement and looked at Sirius.

"He's an acquaintance," Sirius clarified.