Love Letters Through Corpses

Chapter 45: The killer is from the academy

The three sat there in silence, figuring out what was their best new option to do. It was a crucial piece of information if ever they were right. However, it could be a total goose chase if they were wrong. They needed to make sure their hunches were right because either way it could have a big impact on the case. 

“We need to be certain of what we know,” Sage said, earning a nod from the two. 

Daexoen stood up from his seat before walking towards an empty wall. The wall at the far end didn’t have any furniture placed on it, and so Daexoen took out some pieces of paper which seemed to be post-it notes and a pen from the drawer of the table on the other side of the room. He started to write something on the pieces of paper, and then he started to attach them to the empty wall, creating somewhat of a concept board. The papers each contained the names of the victims, from the first up to the recent one , creating a pyramid and on the top was a paper with a question mark on it. 

“Uncle Brook mentioned that until now there’s no connection between the victims,” he said as he pointed towards the now filled wall, portraying a somewhat slight gesture of a teacher, “However, we’ve narrowed down the victims’ age to be between 16-23 years old. And so we have a hypothesis of the killer being in the same age group as us.”

The two nodded, “But the question is, are we correct with that hypothesis?” Styx asked. 

They remained silent, now standing facing the seeming pyramid on the wall. Sage scanned the names of the victims. However, one particular name would always catch her attention. She didn’t know if it could be because of the gruesome death the victim experienced or that there was just something more to her than the other. After staring at the name for a few minutes, Sage’s eyes grew big, her mouth was now slightly opened. 

“Deviox” she mumbled between her breaths, but it was something the two males instantly caught on to. 

“Deviox?” Styx asked, but with the meaningful look Sage gave them, the two stared at her in silence. 

It was just a short look from the youngest, yet they soon understood what the female was discussing. And this new piece of information was something no one would have dared to think about. 

Meanwhile, Vienna continued to search for the assigned room her friend mentioned to her. However, her journey wasn’t long when she heard a scream just behind her. She looks back to see a somewhat petite female. The other was a bit chubbier than her, her hair was a dark brown color and she was wearing a pair of glasses. 

“Vienna!” She exclaimed, waving at the other who was now waving back with the same enthusiasm. 

“Olive!” She exclaimed, running towards the other. The two embraced each other the moment they came in contact. “I missed you!” She added. 

The two smiled at each other before walking off to some restaurant Olive planned out. Yet, unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes were staring at them from the very start. The owner of the eyes grinned at the interaction of the two females. It seemed that things were getting better than expected. 

“Well, that just made it easy.” She whispered against his lips, grinning as he continued to stare at the disappearing figures of the two females. 

“Hey, you good? What are you looking at?” Someone suddenly said, holding his shoulder. 

“I’m fine,” he answered before finally turning his back away from the females’ direction. 

“Just a bit and his letter will be all done.” He thought to himself, grinning at his own eagerness. “You’ll be mine.” 

“You met a guy?” Vienna questioned her friend, after hearing about how her day had been. 

The latter nodded her head in great delight, “Yes! Could you believe it?” She said, recalling how her seemingly not-so secretive crush on one of the college students in Deviox agreed on going out with her. “We’ll be meeting on Friday.” 

Vienna couldn’t help but frown at the news, yet seeing the enthusiastic look of her friend, the bright smile that went straight to her eyes and the sparkles in her eyes were keeping her from voicing her concerns. She let out a warm smile seeing the other’s genuine happiness. 

Olive has been Vienna’s friend ever since their childhood. Although Vienna moved to the US, their connection as well as friendship never broke. She would visit the female every summer and during those times she knew Olive appreciated it the most. Olive was never the one to make friends so easily. She was so shy and timid that she couldn’t force herself to create bonds during high school. That’s why when Vienna told her the news of the latter’s transfer, she became ecstatic. And today, today was the day Vienna saw genuine happiness and excitement from Olive towards another person. 

“Well, if that’s so. When can I meet?” she asked, trying to match the other’s energy.

Hearing the question, Olive started to lower her mood as she shyly hid her glances from her friend. “About that, maybe I’ll introduce you after the date. I don’t want to have you expect anything.” She admitted, feeling quite guilty. “Once the date is done, and I’m sure, then I’ll introduce you. Plus, he’s also quite wary of people knowing.” 

Vienna raised an eyebrow at the other’s request, it sounded to her as if the boy was trying to hide his relationship with her best friend. However, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, focusing on the other;s main reason why she decided not to tell her. 

“You know it doesn’t matter, right?” She asked her. 

The latter nodded, “I know but I just want to make sure first,” she determinedly answered, now with a hint of confidence in her tone. 

Vienna couldn’t help but chuckle at her friend’s innocent gesture, “Could I at least have a name to call this person then?” she negotiated. 

“Cozbi, I think that’s what he said he prefers me calling him.” she answered. 

“Cozbi? Interesting…” She thought to herself before drowning in the conversation her best friend started to open. 

As Olive excused herself to the bathroom, Vienna couldn’t help but wonder about her cousin and his friends. How they just fit in perfectly with each other. She thought about that with Olive. How they would just instantly click about the same thing. Having the same interest as well as opinions about things that they’ve encountered. She recalled her cousin’s protectiveness towards his friends. To be honest, she was so amazed and inspired by his love for them that she herself swore to protect the only friend she'd ever cared about. 

“Hey, I’m done. Let’s go?” The newly arrived Olive asked, which she answered with a nod before leaving the restaurant. 

Back at the cafe, the three continued to sit in silence. None was brave enough to talk about what they'd just discovered. 

Seeing that no one would initiate, Sage decided to do so. “Deviox. The killer is from the academy.”

“I can’t believe we never thought about that yesterday,” Daexoen said, mentally face palming himself of their lack of awareness. “It should have been the most obvious clue.” 

Styx moved closer to the wall, “There’s no time to blame ourselves,” he tried to comfort the other male. “The real question is, should we tell the agents?” 

“Tell us what?” 

The three looked up to see the two agents who were now standing by the now open door. Styx hit himself, forgetting to lock the door when they entered. The two agents, however, walked towards the wall the three were standing in front of. Seeing the plastered names of the victims and hearing that one sentence from one of them, they immediately knew they had figured something out. 

“Mind telling us what you know?” Agent Brook coldly asked them, upset with the secrecy the three hid from them. 

“And why were you hesitant to tell us in the first place,” Agent Kleio added, having the same cold yet upset expression as his partner. 

The three looked at each other, “We weren’t sure yet. We wanted to tell you until we'd really proven it.” Daexoen defended them. “We’ve only just gotten the assurance just now.” 

“And that is?” Agent Kleio asked. 

“The killer,” Styx said, giving a dramatic pause before continuing. “Is a student in Deviox. Specifically, someone in our age group.”

The two agents looked at them with widened eyes, unable to say anything regarding the information. It was indeed a big step in the investigation, they soon realized why the three needed to confirm it before telling them straight up. This could have ended in a make or break situation if they would have relied on pure hunches and guesses. 

“Are you sure?” Agent Brook asked, answered by a quick nod from the three. 

“The victims were all female, excluding Ivan who was sadly just involved on the spot,” Sage started to explain to them their findings. “The women were aged between 16-22. A perfect age range for those between 19-22 years old. This would explain why the victims were all female. And why they didn’t have any single connection between them.” 

Daexoen looked at them seriously, “They were lured either into a relationship or other romantic activities.” 

The agents understood where they were coming from, but there was still something left out, “And why did you suspect they were from Deviox?” Agent Brook asked. 

“Because Lexie was killed during the camp,” Styx answered. “The camp, only Deviox students and staff were in.” 

The two agents were instantly enlightened by everything the trio mentioned. This was indeed a breakthrough in their case. The seemingly dead-end finally found a path for them. Yet there were still unanswered questions left for them to answer. 

“But what is the killer’s motive?” Agent Brook mumbled, yet it was loud enough for everyone in the room to hear him. 

“We don’t know,” Sage admitted before looking at the names of the people on the wall.

“Well, in order to find who did this we should know where he should be.” Styx suddenly said, earning four head turns towards his direction. “We need to find out who the next victim is.”