CedRic Lthues. Claret City

Chapter 7

It was quite rare for me to wake up in a good mood, and this morning was not one of those mornings. I woke up not in a terrible mood, but in a bland mood. Not happy, not sad, not even angry either, just blank. The time was 7:00 AM when I looked at the clock, pretty early by my standards. My earliest wake up time was past midday! The sun was pretty high in the sky already when my eyes opened fully, quite a pleasant view really. I was getting too enchanted by the calm view that after a few minutes of staring, only then did I realize the case on my hands. I got out of bed, chugged down some coffee and breakfast, and left the room to go to work. The others weren't in their cubicles when I came, instead they were in the conference hall. By the looks of it, they were discussing something. Greetings flew to me when I arrived and Qor started to explain what was happening.
"We've been discussing the case, and we believe that we already have our culprit." My interest was quite piqued naturally and I asked him to continue. "It's Gertrude."
"She was the only one who had hatred for Susan, and she had a missing tactical knife in her set," Idaliah claimed.
"The missing knife is a dead giveaway," Jenntih added.
"We tried to think it was Albert," Roy blurted out, "But some things didn't match." The others clamoured in agreement. "So, what do you think?" Qor asked me.
"To be honest, I don't even know anymore. By my instincts, I think it's not Gertrude, but all the evidence says otherwise."
"So," Idaliah broke the silence, "What should we do now?"
I didn't know anymore, honestly. On one hand, there was so much evidence that pointed to Gertrude being our murderer. But on the other hand, my gut was telling me that it could not be her, and I would always, always trust my instinctive side. I was stuck in a stinky pickle, between a rock and a hard place. Absorbed in my thoughts, I forgot to say my answer to the others, then again there was none anyway. My mind lingered for a bit more before my frozen mouth gave them what they wanted to hear.
"Gertrude is guilty," I spoke grimly. Smiles immediately went up their faces. "My gut says it is not Gertrude, but all evidence points otherwise. When it comes to times like these, sometimes, it's best to base things on the evidence, instead of someone's hunches." Every word of what I said was utter pain. My gut led me through some sticky and gruesome cases, and it had never failed. But this wasn't back home, this was a whole new territory. I did not trust my gut when doing something new, I had to do it by the book. "Order a warrant of arrest for Gertrude Mertle from HQ. Once you have it, I'll need Roy and Jenntih with me for the arrest, as well as two extra men." Everyone went to work right away.
Within a few minutes, the warrant was given and the men were locked and ready. With the right paper in my hand, the team I assembled marched back to the hotel. The arrest was about to be executed. We wasted no time and walked towards Gertrude's room. A tactic for arresting would-be uncooperative suspects was to make an entrance so surprising and unexpected. The element of surprise was key. When we arrived in front of the door, I halted the men from crashing through the door. I had to use my gut to make sure the entrance sounded surprising and gently placed my ears on the door and closed my eyes. In truth, I couldn't explain what I was seeing or feeling, I was imagining stuff, stuff I wouldn't be able to explain. I stepped back from the door, grabbed my gun, cocked it ready, so did the others, and signaled them.
"NOW!"
At the shriek of the signal of mine, the two kicked the door down to the floor, which was kinda surprising since it was mahogany. Roy, Jenntih and I barged right into the room. "IGPPS, hands in the air," I screamed. Alas, there was no one in the room. I was rather skeptical though so I signaled the team to search the entire room, with guns still ready to blast. Very carefully, the five of us went around the room, spreading out like wildfire to make the search efficient and quick. I was in the living room turning every stone but finding nothing of any importance. I was caught in the adrenaline of it all so I was completely startled in fear when I heard Jenntih scream. My legs instantly dashed to wherever Jenntih was—the bedroom—and saw Gertrude's lifeless body lying on the wooden floor of the room. The others came not long after. At the sight of the scene, I had one single thought: I should've trusted my gut. With one suspect out of the ring, the one left inside must've done it.
"It's Albert," I gasped. In the spur of the moment, I hastened out of the room straight to Albert's quarters. I busted down the door and shouted, "IGPPS, put your hands up!" He was eating when I arrived, and I could tell he was shocked because I saw his spoon fly out of his hands when I barged in.
"What the hell is-"
"Albert Arbon, you are under arrest for the murder of Susan Evans."
"What the hell are you talking about?" The man shrieked, but I saw right through this scheme of his.
"Save the pillow talk for prison," I said amazingly. I felt like I was a protagonist in a spy movie who just said an epic one liner. Shortly after my cool dialogue, the others arrived.
"Of course," Jenntih gasped, "If it isn't Gertrude, it's Albert."
"Cuff this man," Roy told one of the men.
"You people are insane," Albert cried while he was being arrested.
"Do not resist."
"I didn't do it!"
"Well, looks like this case is closed," Jenntih uttered and high-fived Roy.
With the culprit in our hands, we walked out the front door of the hotel feeling like the champions of a gladitorial arena- carrying the head of our kill in our hands. Albert and the two men went in a separate police car than us- the old man was screaming like a child all the while.
I sat at the right window seat, Idaliah was next to me, and Qor was at the left window seat. The two were celebrating like they were at a birthday party. Unfortunately, the woman was observant enough to notice the frown in my face.

"Yo, what's the matter? You cracked the case."
"One, we broke this case. And two, I still feel like something doesn't add up."
"What do you mean?" Roy asked.
"He's old, he wouldn't have enough strength to break through the skull. Even if he could've thrown it, he was too weak to throw the blade hard enough that it would land with such force on Susan's head."
The two looked at each other in confusion. They acknowledged the facts I just laid out to them and agreed to my conclusion. "He would have needed lots of strength," Roy added.
Lot's of strength. Those words resonated within me, like they were calling me, begging me to notice that it was a big clue. It might have been calling for a while actually, but it was only then did I hear the nightingale's song and pieced everything together. Who was the only one in this apartment who was A, close with Susan, and B, has large amounts of muscle strength? The heart skipped a beat at the answer I found.
"It's Karen!" I shrieked, "Stop the car!" The car screeched as itwas forcefully put to a halt. I charged out of the car to get back inside the building, "Roy! Jenntih! Follow me!" I didn't even bother to look back to check- I just told them what to do and I ran. I charged back into the doors of the hotel to pounch at the elevator. But as if God himself was blessing me, the lady I was looking for, was right within my vision. I ran towards her and tackled her like a quarterback to the cold floor.
"What the dickens are you doing!?" Karen screeched
"Karen Wolfe, you are under arrest for the suspicion of the murder of Susan Evans," I announced
"What?" Karen gasped
"What?" Even Qor and Jenntih gasped in confusion. I grabbed a set of cuffs and clapped them on the old woman
"Y-you are framing me!" She shrieked as I stood her up. As I carried the woman out the door, Roy and Jenntih came up to me
"What are you doing..." Idaliah whispered in fury
"Just trust me, " I whispered back.
I walked outside to the other car and told them to free Albert- I apologized and promised him compensation for the mistake I did. I gave the two men the real culprit after that and back to HQ we went.
"What makes you so sure that It's Karen?" Idaliah asked as the car drove
"I don't," I said confidently without batting an eye to them- I was to busy looking at the window outside the window
"What?" The two shrieked
"What are you talking about?" Idaliah asked- her facial expression screams confusion in every language
"You'll see."