The Mystery

A Clue

(Ash's POV)

"Did you find anything useful?" asked Cilan, to which I replied with a smile.

I looked around his desk and reached out for a cutter while Cilan kept observing my actions. I took the ball and carefully run my fingers over it's stitches which were quite faint to notice. I used the cutter to reopen those stitches which resulted in the splitting of the ball, revealing something that was placed inside it.

A pen drive...

"Who was the one who threw this at you?" I asked staring at the pen drive.

"The ones who kidnapped his girlfriend and knocked out those who perhaps came for Harley"

"Could they be related to the 'neither a friend, nor a foe', could this be some sort of evidence sent by that person?"

"Hmm...neither a friend...nor a foe..." Cilan pondered.

"Are you trying to figure out their true motive?"

"Protects Harley...tho also refers to him as an arrogant little rich kid...perhaps this person is aware of Harley personally...a friend?"

"Could be, I believe they're not against us...but not a friend either so perhaps has problems with the police or working with the police..."

"Anyway, let's go through the contents of this pen drive first, it's quite fruitless to think about the mysterious one right now"

I handed the pen drive over to Cilan who then plugged it into his laptop.

"There seems to be only one file in this, a video," he said as he hit play.

An unclear recording of a person placing what appeared to be a few pieces of paper on the table was shown. Although quite unclear, one could easily make out the face of the person and the surroundings.

"It's Harley's girlfriend!" I exclaimed.

"And that looks like his room"

"Hmm..." I pondered.

"What's wrong?"

"Well...we now know the culprit behind those notes, but what next?"

"Technically speaking, this still is no solid proof, unless she confesses, one can easily say that these were mere pieces of paper. We need to search her house for more clues"

"We can't...more like, I can't," I sighed.

"Huh?"

"Your dear cousin has barred me from doing so, he said that we have no soild proof and we also have no idea where she lives"

"And that's why you guys are unable to solve cases," he sighed.

"What do you mean unable to?!"

"Anyway, the main concern now isn't her address, it is to find at least one proof strong enough to at least detain and interrogate her"

"You're right," I sighed as Cilan looked closely at the video that was sent to us.

"Do you happen to have the notes with you?"

"They are at home, why do you ask? Found something?"

"If you call yourself a detective, take a look and figure it out on your own"

I played the video again and focused on every possible detail, 'there must be something, if he found it, so can I'

"Ah! Found it!" I exclaimed.

"Care to explain?" Cilan said as if he was taunting me.

"Right here," I pointed at the screen, "She had direct contact with whatever she placed there, no gloves or anything, hence she would have left a mark. And by mark, I obviously am referring to fingerprints"

"Hm...not bad"

"So now all we need to do is acquire her fingerprints, and how have you thought of accomplishing this?"

"Well...I guess there's no choice but to ask around"

"Do you think Harley's father would allow us to interrogate him?"

"Which is why we must start with the servants, they must know something"

With that said, me and Cilan set off on our quest to find clues.

(?? POV)

I have been sitting here for hours now...absolute silence from the other end.

'How much longer?' I sighed.

"Worry not, your wait is over. It's time I told you what you ought to do," said the voice.

"Hm? Ought to?"

"Of course! You are in no place to bargain. Isn't it your responsibility? Don't you want to save them?"

"What am I supposed to do then?" I gave up, I don't see any hope for negotiation, or anything else at that"

"Look at the screen, would you? And do focus on my voice. You must pay attention to every detail I speak of. Everything is crucial"

"Alright"

"I don't want anything to missed or overlooked, you'll be tested after all. Well then, let's begin!"

~~time skip~~

'Who knows how long have I been staring at the screen or listening to the voice, all I know is that I can't afford to skip the apparent details. Details of what, I still can't figure it out. All of this seems quite unnecessary, but my family's at stake, I must...' my thoughts eventually fade, as my focus is nothing but the words seen and heard.

~~~~~

I must apologize since not only have I been busy, but I also managed to forget the details that I had planned since I don't note them down, which is why I had to recall everything so that the story wouldn't lead to something disastrous...hopefully.

Thank you for still reading this...if you are that is. Have a good time!