The Case of Monachopsis

Chapter 4: Faith in Flames

// comments and cws: Mention of drugs and implied/referenced drug use
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Ira breathed a sigh of relief as she approached Jordan's office. She needed a nap, or perhaps eternal sleep. Honestly, anything was better than her current predicament. Every single argument and fight she found herself in wore down her resolve to be kind. Ira glanced over her shoulder in the direction Elijah had gone. Despite promising to make amends, she wasn't sure she could keep them.

She pulled a face, knowing that regardless of how bleak things were looking, she'd stubbornly stick to her plan. If there was anything she wanted most in the world, it would be to have a second chance. Ira wanted the same for Elijah, to be the person who she needed in her life many years ago. Deep down, they were very similar to each other. She knew this, would endure this, and reminded herself that subconsciously she was giving herself a second chance, too.

Quickly, Ira glided through the lavatory and glanced into Jordan's office. Ira watched as Jordan pressed a hand to her eyebrow. Her friend propped an elbow onto her desk, and signed. Jordan's gaze remained unfocused when she looked towards Ira, who gently rapped her knuckles on the adjacent door.

"Are you okay?" Ira asked, leaning forward on the threshold of the office.

"Usually, I'd be the one asking you that." Jordan said, more teasing than judgmental, as Ira chuckled.

"And, you usually know the answer." Ira muttered, stepping towards her friend.

Jordan shifted and gripped the edge of her desk. Ira watched as Jordan's fingers began drumming across the surface of the wood. She breathed out weakly, eventually slumping in her chair. Tight curls fell over Jordan's face, hiding the stress that seemed to age her by at least ten years. She flashed Ira a strained smile, but it was met with a stern glare. Still, she kept the edges of her lips curled while she spoke.

"I've been better." Jordan admitted. "It never gets easier. I have this power to bring back so many people, but I can't, since it's-"

"Illegal?" Ira settled herself beside her friend, leaning slightly on the edge of the desk.

"And sometimes immoral, I guess." Jordan added.

"Do you ever think about changing jobs? Or learning a new form of magic?" Ira was no expert, but the look on Jordan's face told her that the idea had come up more than once in the other person's mind.

"Sometimes. I know a lot of necromancers work in funeral homes or in hospitals." Jordan admitted.

"You're amazing, you know that? I'm not just saying that because I'm jealous that I can't hold a soul in my own hand... Well, maybe I am, but regardless, you're so talented. So, whatever you decide to do in the future, I'm with you." Ira placed her hand over Jordan's and squeezed it, reassuringly.

Jordan flashed her friend a weak smile. "And, what if I asked you to quit this job with me so we could pursue a life of relaxation? One where you finish your novel and I get a signed copy to read, while I collect all the ghost cats I desire?"

"Will your wife want a copy, to? Kidding, kidding. But, honestly? I'd take any reason to quit this job... I mean, if it wasn't for the deal my uncle made, I would have left ages ago." Ira said before pulling her hand away.

"Speaking of... Wouldn't your wife like to keep working here?" Ira added.

"She's been having second thoughts. I think we all know how things can get around here with Brian running it. I think she'd much rather enjoy being a personal bodyguard or living in a cabin with me, away from everyone." Jordan replied, gazing off into the distance with thoughts of another life with her wife.

"You're happy just spending the rest of your life with her." Ira spoke in the same tone of voice that she used when something was wrong.

Jordan noticed the way Ira's face fell and knew there was something eating away at her insides.

"I am." Jordan responded, politely ignoring Ira's change in mood. She knew better than to pry.

"It's beautiful, what you two have, and whatever you decide, I'll support you." Ira said at last.

"Thank you, Ira." The corners of Jordan's lips curled up into a smile. "By the way, what did you want to talk about?"

"Hm?" Ira pursed her lips, and said nothing else.

"The look on your face. Something is on your mind."

"Oh, it can wait. Besides, I think we have a case to go over." Ira nodded her head towards the group that was slowly forming outside of Jordan's office.

Slowly, Jordan's hand reached for Ira's arm. Gently, she clasped her arm around her friend's shoulder and squeezed, mirroring Ira's gesture from earlier.

"Thank you for your support." Jordan whispered.

"Always." Ira answered.

Jordan and Ira walked out together to greet everyone with a neutral expression. However, Ira's face fell when she noticed that Elijah had come looking for her. The two couldn't seem to make eye contact. They gazed at whatever was ahead of them. Jordan noticed her friend's tense and awkward body language as she ushered Ira further into the room. Elijah felt the tension like a cloud hanging over them as he tried to think of something to say or do to make things better between them. But, he recalled Ira's earlier words and stopped himself.

Nervously, Ira left Jordan so she could start the briefing as Elijah approached her, cautiously. He stood at her side and peered over her shoulder to study the officers that came in with the evidence. He noted how Mike was quick to approach them, along with his partner, Abe. It made his mind take a threatening spin as a growl caught in his throat. There was something off about their presence, even if it was also their job to be there. Ira seemed to have the same reaction to the two accompanying them, but made no indication of speaking up.

An uncomfortable knot tightened in Ira's gut as Elijah snarled beside her. With just one glance, though, she realized it wasn't directed at her, but rather their colleagues. Ira raised her eyebrows in question, which resulted in the two older men averting their gaze. Soon after, Commander Brian arrived to begin the case briefing.

"So what do we know so far?" Brian questioned, pulling several documents into his view.

"Well, the victim is a male elf, age 32, likely died from an overdose. There were no witnesses at the scene besides the person who found his body. So we have no lead as to who dumped him out in the open." Abe said it with an unwavering look.

"Which is strange. Typically, we'd cremate the bodies if something like this happened, so my best guess is that something went wrong with delivering the body to the crematorium." Elijah explained while his animal-like ears flicked with interest.

"Do you typically use the same one or do you alternate?" Brian's face scrunched up in disgust at the thought of the smell that might emanate from such a place.

"No... With the number of bodies that rack up, it would be pretty obvious that something nefarious is going on if we went to the same one." Elijah remarked smugly, which resulted in a glare from Brian.

"We should check which crematoriums are near the dump site. If we monitor how often bodies are going in and out, and what kind of injuries they might have, we might find the location of the enchantress." Mike suggested it, receiving a nod from his partner, Abe.

"You should probably monitor what races and species come in, too. You guys are located in a humanoid populated district, but... we- I mean-... She's a lot more diverse with who she lets in. The audience likes it when there's variety." Elijah voiced, obviously disgusted.

Brian hummed in agreement, folding his arms across his chest. "I'll send out teams to go search for ones in the general vicinity of where we found the body. In the meantime, do you have any idea on how long he's been dead?"

"Based on rigor mortis, and what Elijah told me when he took a blood sample earlier," Jordan paused to briefly cringe at the memory, "I'd say he's been dead for at least 20 or so hours."

"Alright. Do you think we can talk to him again?"

"I can try, but only if his soul hasn't been taken or moved on." Jordan tilted her head to the side in concentration as she lifted both hands toward the body on the cadaver table.

She felt no sense of life in the body while her hands hovered closer to his heart. There wasn't even any trace of residual emotion, or energy. Jordan knew this as a soul who had passed on and left behind nothing more than an empty shell.

"Nothing. I feel nothing." Jordan sighed.

"So our only lead is the crematoriums? That's not a lot to go on." Brain raked his hand through his hair.

"What about the drugs?" Ira added, tensing where she stood.

"What drugs?" Brian snapped, smoothing the palms of his hands over the table in front of him.

"The one Elijah tasted in his blood, Flame Dust. The victim called it red dust, and said it was supposed to cleanse him." Ira said, watching Brian's face twist into a scowl. "He never got the chance to answer Jordan on whether he took it through injection or not."

"Well, we already know he died from an overdose. How he took it doesn't really matter."

"Yes it does." Ira snapped.

A breath hissed between Brian's teeth. Exasperated, he threw his hands up in the air, signaling that he'd cave.

"Fine. Go get the victim's belongings." Commander Brian ordered, not even bothering to glance at whichever officer he was speaking to.

"But, why-" Abe spoke.

"Just do it!" Brian huffed.

Ira's stomach turned as Abe left the dim room. Her eye scanned across everyone's faces uneasily. Mentally, she attempted to prepare herself for the new onslaught of rumors that would come from this. Her heart began to race as memories of accusations and threats from officers were thrown her way. Ira took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves as Abe returned with the items.

The aura of the room began to sink as he laid out the evidence that had been seized from the victim's bag. Ira picked up the contraband and inspected it as everyone watched timidly. Elijah glanced questioningly at the item, not sure what to make of the discovery.

"Is that what Flame Dust looks like?" Elijah asked, turning to Ira for answers.

"Sort of. This one wasn't just made from a magnus stone. The ones made from stone look like a powder... But, this? It's crumbly, it's a different grade." Ira explained as she put down the bag of drugs, garnering gasps of shock that reverberated around the room.

"That's amazing! You can tell from just looking." Elijah sounded genuinely impressed as he took another glance at the bag.

She smiled meekly at him.

"How do you know so much about flame dust?" Elijah asked.

Jordan gave Ira a knowing look laced with pity and concern. Ira tried to hide the way her breath hitched behind a cough, but judging from everyone's expressions, it had not been a success. They all knew something Elijah didn't, and it bothered him.

"This proves nothing, he still died from taking the drug regardless." Mike pressed on.

Ira rolled her eye, unaffected by the dismissive attitude Mike was presenting. That struck a nerve in Elijah, and Ira could see that Elijah was just about to lose whatever patience he had in him. He didn't dare speak up on her behalf, however.

"If anyone cares, I just thought I'd mention that certain drugs are smoked, injected, snorted, ingested, inhaled, and whatnot. So, knowing what type of drug it is and how it's taken narrows down where it might be made. It also narrows down the kinds of dealers that may be selling it." Ira's rant was met with silence, which only stultified itself when she looked back at the bags of Flame Dust.

As Ira laid each sentence down, Mike's face fell. Reluctantly, he pursed his lips and looked away in defeat. Elijah was pleased to notice the belligerent embarrassment in his expression for trying to argue with Ira.

"You're going to be looking for a dealer with expensive tastes." Ira said, her voice flat and showing no emotion.

Ira gestured to the table in front of them, her gaze sweeping over the dead man's body. Elijah watched as Ira's face twisted into a face of nausea.

"We just need to find out how he took it." She jerked her head towards the drug.

"We don't have time to waste over that, when we could be checking the crematoriums." Abe pointed out.

"Your team, or any other team, can do that." Ira said, her tone darkening as the two men flared their nostrils at her.

"Why are you still talking?" Abe's hand tightened into a fist as it twitched in anticipation.

"Because I can." Ira said, flashing her teeth to show a crooked smile.

"You will not speak to him like that." Mike chimed in, coming to the defense of his partner.

His partner, Mike, who had remained quiet up until this very moment, began to hover over Ira. Noticing the shift in moods, Elijah moved to stand directly in front of her, blocking Mike.

"I just did." Ira snapped, clenching her jaw as a snarl emerged from her throat. She wasn't in a mood to take shit from anyone.

"Apologize." Abe turned his head wildly towards Ira.

"Sorry, sir." She spat out with a venomous tone.

If Ira glared at Abe any longer, she thought her remaining eye might fall out. Abe quickly froze as his jaw became slack. He grumbled in protest, as if he had something to say but couldn't say it.

"You should know your place, Lagear. Abe has been in the force for half of his life. So for you, a filthy criminal, to discredit years worth of experience is a huge insult. You are not a detective, stop acting like one." He jutted a finger into Ira's chest, which she slapped away.

"Fine. It's out of my pay grade, anyways. " Ira said, exasperated. A hint of annoyance was laced in her tone, which was apparent by the sideways glance she was giving Abe.

"That's enough out of you, Lagear." Commander Brian snapped, prompting everyone to lower their heads slightly to avoid making eye contact. "I did not pay you to argue like children. Either behave accordingly or get the hell out of this room."

"Yes, sir." Everyone, except Ira and Elijah, shouted.

Ira opened her mouth to speak again, but just as she was about to, Brian silenced her with a flick of his hand. She understood what the gesture meant.

"Not another word out of you, Lagear. Especially if whatever you have to say is about drugs." Brian cursed under his breath and shook his head.

Ira sighed. She knew exactly why Brian wanted her to keep her mouth shut. He had to keep his reputation clean, and she was once far from it.

"I'll have someone look into Flame Dust, but our main focus is the crematoriums, got it?"

"Yes, sir." Mike and Abe replied.

"Jordan, I'd like to have the autopsy report on my best by the end of the day."

Jordan simply nodded, as Brian turned away. Unable to speak, Ira watched as Brian walked off. Before leaving the room, Brian glanced uncomfortably over his shoulder, glaring at Ira. Ira barely managed to bite back a snarky comment as he disappeared from her sight. Something inside of her stirred with hunger—a hunger for a cigarette. A glance at her hand revealed that she'd been suppressing a tremble. With words left unsaid, Ira finally departed.

"Where is she going?" Elijah asked, noticing Ira's absence.

"To her desk, I hope. And, hopefully, not outside." Jordan answered.

"Why are you hoping it's not outside?"

"Because Ira smokes when she gets stressed, and she looked very stressed just now."

"I probably added to that stress." He glanced, worriedly at the door.

"But... You didn't say anything to her?" Jordan corrected, though it came out more like a question.

"We got into a fight earlier." Elijah clarified while waves of conflicting emotions hit him.

"Oh."

"I know she said she wanted space, but maybe she'll want a smoking buddy." He said with a slight smile.

"You smoke?" Jordan cocked an eyebrow, disbelieving.

"No."

Jordan registered the longing in Elijah's gaze and knew he would be in over his head. She chuckled, shaking her head at the thought of the mess that had already ensued between the two of them.

"Well, don't knock it till you've tried it." Jordan shrugged.

"I plan to." His lips twitched into a brief smile.

"It might be hard if you're not allowed outside."

"I'll find a way. I always do."

"Okay, lover boy. Go find her."

He felt his cheeks heat up. Elijah watched Jordan's face soften before taking off in the direction Ira had gone.