Love Letters Through Corpses

Chapter 2: Third victim

Sage looked at the agent with disbelief and confusion. Was she really being suspected of murder? She was confused why he would suspect her. She was too far from the victim and how could she even murder her? She was genuinely questioning the intelligence of the officer in front of her. 

She asked him, “Are you seriously accusing me of murder, agent?” 

When she noticed the officer in front of her stayed silent she couldn’t help but whisper, “I can’t believe an agent is this stupid.”

Everyone was taken aback with the student’s comment. But what shocked the officer was not the direct and rude comment she gave but the genuine look of confusion she had. She genuinely looked confused.

"Hey! Watch your tongue. That's a cop you might wake up in a prison cell tomorrow if you don’t watch your language." One student suddenly said,

“I was just asking a question.” she said, still having this innocent and genuine look on her face. 

“And he and I both know he can’t arrest me. I’m not doing anything illegal. I’m not threatening him nor assaulting him. He has no right to arrest me without evidence.” She said, 

"Why are you so defensive? Are they right? you killed her and --

“Oral defamation can lead you to imprisonment, in its maximum period to prison, correctional in

its minimum period of 4 months and 1 day to 2 years and 4 months.” She intervened.

“W-what?” The girl stuttered.

“You’re falsely accusing me of first-degree murder.” 

"Hold on, first-degree murder? No officer or examiner investigated." Agent Brook suspected.

Sage looked at the officer with confusion once again. She just honestly couldn’t believe he still didn’t catch on to the case he has. 

“What do you think it could be? Obviously there’s no blood, no weapons and she’s dead. How else do you think she got killed?” She questioned.

Sage shook her head and whispered, “Is he really that stupid?” 

The agent just stayed quiet after hearing the female’s statements. He couldn’t help but curse himself realizing what a complete i***t he was not knowing that in the first place. Of course she was poisoned, how else could she die? 

“And by the way, the strong smell of almonds really gives it away,” she suddenly continued.

The officer looked at her confused. He couldn’t help but ask, "What-"

"She's right, uncle." Everyone then shifted their eyes towards Daexoen, who is now kneeling next to the victim. 

"She was poisoned, and you're right the strong smell of almonds is quite visible."

"What? Can you elaborate? What almonds?" Agent Brook asked, signaling the other officers that just arrived to listen to the teenagers’ discussion.

"Almonds are sweet and a great combination with chocolate and ice cream but they also contain cyanide which is one of the deadliest poisons in the world.” Daexoen said, 

“You might not be able to smell it, but people with strong senses of smell can easily distinguish the fragrance," he added.

A bit intrigued, Sage decided to join in the conversation, "Observing the food on their table, neither person had any dish with almonds so it shouldn't be on the dish. It was a clear indication of cyanide poisoning. It makes the body unable to use life-supporting oxygen hence her skin turning pink.”

“I have been observing the two since the time she asked if she was alright because of a sudden headache or dizziness which was also a symptom of the poison. It was a severe case, she died within only a 2-minute gap when she consumed it." Sage continued.

"My guess it could have been in the cappuccino," Daexoen said as he smelled the cup of coffee the victim was drinking, making sure not to leave any fingerprints.

"Uncle Greg does not put any almonds within the drink but the smell is intoxicating." he added.

The younger nodded at his deduction, “Makes sense to put it in the drink rather than the food, the drink is easier to digest and would flow right straight to your digestive system being the reason for a severe and immediate reaction of the poison,” Sage said.

“Here is my question agent. Why do you think I could commit the murder?” Sage asked but the agent remained silent.

“I’m a student, did you ever think that I could obtain such poison? Second, even if you search me you won’t find a vial of cyanide. I really thought you would already understand your case agent. She was poisoned, do you really think a student wearing cuffed long sleeves would kill her? If that were true then that would have been the dumbest move.” She bluntly told the officer.

“I didn’t think of that. Except for her friend, you were the closest.” Agent Brook said, voice slowly gone soft as he realized his foolishness.

“You do realize that their table and my table are about 8 feet apart? With this many people, you expect me to conduct such an almost perfect murder without getting caught? I’m intelligent but not a miracle worker.” Sage said. 

He didn’t mind the harsh and boastful tone of the female, or her hurtful remark. What he focused on was that, once again the agent was proved to be quite stupid during that time. He did realize how ridiculous his accusations were the moment she started to talk about the poison. It was beyond embarrassing, a high school student just called him stupid in more ways than one.  

“I have to second that uncle. She’s right, a crowd this big and distance that far is near impossible for her to do it. And right now, I doubt you would be able to identify the suspect.” Daexoen suddenly intervened.  

All eyes were now plastered on the young boy, “Judging by the looks of it the cameras’ have been shut down and/or hacked. Next, even though it was a fast reaction to her body it wasn’t fast enough to ensure the suspect can still be in this cafe.”  

“What do you mean?” One of the agents asked. 

“She reacted to the poison within a span of probably 2-3 minutes. However, in my observation, it had been about 5 to 10 minutes before she died when the poison was injected into her drink, making a perfect time gap to escape. Sorry uncle but this is a dead end.” He concluded

Everyone in the cafe was silent. They didn't understand anything but it was amazing how the two explained all that information in a short span of observation. Even the other officers were amazed at how fast they deducted the case with mere observation. They deducted a 2-day examination in minutes. While Agent Brook was still embarrassed he also couldn’t help but feel amazed with the two. 

"I have proven myself innocent and my observations towards the scene. May I take my leave? I have a worried and possibly frantic aunt waiting for me at my house." The young lady asked the still amazed cop.

"Uh, sure, we're sorry for accusing you. However, we would still need your name and contact details for further investigation." said Agent Kleio, Agent Brook's partner. 

"Here, inform me when I might be needed for this interrogation," Sage said as she gave a piece of paper with her name and number.

The teen started to go to the door to leave, however, she suddenly stopped her tracks and said something that left everyone in the cafe with fear and worry. The agents and even the young gentleman were shocked to hear those words. They didn't think she would see things others did not see on the victim. Agent Brook immediately stared at the back of the girl thinking if she was just messing with them or if it is really true.

"By the way, I forgot to mention. There are 3 small dots on her wrists, fascinating how small yet also very noticeable it is. This isn't just any murder case is it? It's a serial killing, and it looks like she, is the third victim."