Nerium oleander

Succession

The wooden floor creaked with every step, the stairwell trembled slightly under their weight, the murmurs coming from the basement were comforting, they wouldn't be alone there. The cabin had a trail of bloody footprints, the last four steps in the stairs stained with blood, a dent on the third.

As soon as he stepped into the basement, the smell of blood, incense and wax filled his lungs. Alfred coughed, turning back and offering Dr. Honda an apologetic glance, he hoped the doctor's displeased expression was a result of having a nice dinner night ruined and not annoyance towards him. The basement's floor was covered in newspapers and documents, Alfred stepped on them hesitantly, noticing the words "reconstruction, mortgage, investment" appeared several times on the headlines.

"Ms. Hedevary said the doors were open when she arrived, she also stepped on the blood of the stairs," Kiku said, his gloved hands holding a report. "The candles were lit during her arrival too,"

Ivan nodded, taking the document and eyeing the pages. "Have they registered all of the cabin?"

"Not all, the first floor is covered but the team was eager to register the basement," Kiku said, his eyes wandering to the scene behind. The criminology team was retrieving the scattered documents on the floor. "The outside of the cabin is secured but we'll get to it once we finish here. I'm sure it won't take too-"

"Could you turn off the lights?" Ivan's voice cut his words. "and take some pictures of the crime scene that way too,"

The question seemed to take Kiku by surprise as his face contorted in a grimace. "I guess we could, though I don't see how that'd help."

"Thank you, Dr. Honda."

The murmurs subdued as the criminology team went upstairs. Alfred made his way to where Ivan stood, right in front of the desk. The space was enough for them to stay a few steps away, but Ivan placed his hands on his shoulders, keeping Alfred in front of him and nodding at Kiku to switch the lights off.

Darkness enveloped the basement, a speck of moonlight entered through the door. Kiku used his flashlight to give a quick glance at the room, with every inch he illuminated Alfred's throat constricted. The lifeless eyes of the corpse would reflect the light, Alfred had no doubts that this was the man they had been looking for, at least that was Arthur Kirkland's head, he really hoped the killer hadn't played jigsaw with several corpses.

Every now and then, the flash of a camera illuminated the room. Shadows emanated from the piled up furniture, a cloth covering one of the shelves, its pristine white stained with droplets of blood, leading the sight to the severed torso that stood on the dusty desk accompanied with candles. The extremities displayed as if sticking out of the neck alongside purple and white flowers stained with crimson.

Ivan's voice made Alfred flinch. "What do you see?" he asked, Alfred could feel his breath on the back of his neck.

"A dismembered corpse," Alfred replied, though he knew that wasn't the right answer, it was too obvious, but he couldn't keep his stare for long without his stomach protesting. "the candles are a strange detail,"

"Why?"

Alfred hummed, squinting his eyes and pointing at the desk. "Because the light from the door is leading the eyes directly to the closet. Even when the body is arranged as a flower vase, leaving the candles lit in a place where everything is so flammable is... risky,"

"True, but how can you read without light?" Ivan said, patting him on the shoulder. "There's no blood around the desk but there are smeared stains in the back, next to that covered shelf. There's also the smell of incense but I don't see where it could've come from."