CLOVER

Morse Code

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William and Scarlett got inside the house, wandering their eyes all around the ceiling to the chipped floor. The whole living room was covered with red strings that looked like spider webs. Each string had a set of pictures and written notes on them. Every picture was familiar to William. He recognized every face, every place. They were pictures of all of Clover's murderers.
Each one of them placed correctly according to the dates. Every step that he took included a newspaper being stepped over. Crumbled papers were in every corner of the house. They went to the other rooms to look if there was anything similar to what they saw in the living room. You should even expect the worst now ,William. The bedroom seemed decent. Inside the closet were only two white tulle shirts and a long periwinkle dress with a feathery hat on the side. William brushed the dust of the hat and noticed a really familiar symbol. A little golden clover hidden beneath the feathers. It was sewed carefully and so beautifully.
"We should take the hat. Maybe we can use it as evidence."-Scarlett told him.
"I need to wash my face. Look if there is something else that we might need."
William opened the bathroom door. Jennifer's house wasn't really big. The space inside was really tight. The bathroom had the size of a wardrobe. The only thing that was dominating there was a big shiny mirror. William washed his face slowly. The water splashed in his hair and drop by drop was falling into his face. He looked himself in the mirror. His reflection looked different from what he was feeling. All the rage perfectly hidden inside a secretive face. All of us have secrets, don't we, William? The mirror was glued into the doors of a cabinet. Out of the detective habit, William opened its doors. Red. It was all red. Melting lipstick was covering the cabinet's shelves. Jennifer didn't wear lipstick, but Clover did.
"Trenor? Are you alright in there?"
"Come inside."
"What is it?"
Scarlett leaned her head to see what was inside the cabinet.
"Wow. If that is not evidence, then I don't know what else we can get to prove that Jennifer is Clover."
"We still have to prove that the lipstick is poisonous."
"Want me to put it on and kiss you, Trenor?"
"Haha, I didn't know you were a comedian, Ginger. We will both end up dead anyway. You don't have the antidote."
"If she has all the lipsticks here, where does she hide the antidote?"
"She must have taken it with herself. She has one last man to kill after all."
Scarlett picked some of the lipstick with a tissue paper and put it inside a little plastic bag. As they were about to leave, they heard some random noises. Heels. Jennifer. William was looking for a way to leave the house without getting caught. Jennifer was already in, and there were no windows in the bathroom. He looked around, and his eyes landed on the bathtub.
"Oh no way, I'm getting in there!"
"You don't really have another option unless you want us to get caught, Ginger."
The footsteps were closer. William dragged Scarlett with him to the bathtub, causing a loud noise. She was lying on top of him just 2 inches apart from his face. Jennifer heard the noise and came close to the bathroom. William placed his hand on Scarlett's mouth so she wouldn't let out any sound. Her hair was dropping on his face. Their eyes couldn't stop staring one another. It was a mix of a blue stormy sky with a dark green forest. The eye contact stopped shortly after Jennifer opened the door. Scarlett laid her head on William's chest, hearing his rushed heartbeat.
"Did you find it, Jennifer?"
"I don't think it's in the bathroom. Maybe I should check inside the luggage again."
"You are wasting our time."
"Relax, we will be in the train station on time."
"Did you notice your door wasn't on its finest conditions. The wood on the side of the lock is chipped."
"I wouldn't be surprised if this house falls flat on the ground one day. I will move to another place soon anyway. Somewhere far, probably." "Oh here it is!"-she said, chucking you know I will find the pockets of hear coat once again. "I'm so forgetful these days. Let's go."
Once Jennifer and the mysterious man left, William tried to get up from the bathtub, but Scarlett wasn't moving.
-"Ginger--"
"What could she possibly be looking for? And who the hell is that man?"
"I don't know, but"
"We should go to the agency so they can examine the lipstick, after that we will take the first train to London."
-"Yeah but to do that, you have to get off me first."
"Oh."
Scarlett quickly got up from the bathtub, fixing her long dark coat. After her, William got up, too.
They waited a few more minutes until it was sure that Jennifer left and then got out trying to find a way to the agency.
3:47 in the morning. The agency's doors were finally visible. It felt like they were walking for centuries, but it only had been 45 minutes.
"Sir? What are you doing here so late?"
"Clover is alive, William."
-"Well thank you for finally believing me. Does that mean that I will have more time with the case?"
"Sir, I'm Scarlett Jones. I'm working with Mr. Trenor in the Clover case. If I may ask, what convinced you that Clover is alive?"
Beddington turned to his desk and grabbed an opened envelope. The wax on the stamp was still hot, meaning that the envelope was delivered not too long from now. He handed Scarlett the envelope, and she took out the letter in suspense.
"What does it say?"- William asked impatiently.
"It's a morse code, signed with a red kiss mark. I can't read it, though."
William took the letter from her hand and looked at it.

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"On the balcony where midnight screams."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. Yet. Ah, Clover and her stupid riddles."
"Why were you asking for more time, William?"
"Me and Miss. Jones has come to find where her next murder will be. After deciphering some names and codes, we figured that she would move to London." On May 31, she will commit her next and last crime."
"The 50th year of Big Ben ceremony. I see. Since you have Miss Jones, it is helping you too. You will have time until then."
Thank you, sir."
"But remember William, if you fail this time too, you will be fired."
"You will not have to worry about that, sir, because I and Miss Jones have found some clues that lead us to discover Clover's identity."
William handed him the lipstick sample and the hat.
"The lipstick?"
"We are not entirely sure if it is poisonous. That's why we brought it here for a check."
Beddington saw the symbol on the hat, too. He was shocked and surprised.
"Where did you even find these?"
Fantastic William! Go ahead and tell him you found them in Jennifer's house. Your secretary's. Open a room in the jail for yourself too now!