The Mystical Chronicles

A Christmas Mystery

More than half of the names on the suspects list had already been crossed off. Diane was starting to lose hope of solving her latest murder case: her best friend, Caitlin, had been driving home from work on Christmas Eve. However, someone had been following her and ultimately killed her. Hardly any clues were left at the crime scene, only a pen had been found with Caitlin's name engraved in it and a magic-using colleague of Caitlin's who was with her in the car at the time. The poor lady was in extreme shock and badly injured that she was sent to the hospital; it would've been useless to ask any questions from her. Caitlin herself wasn't even there. It seems to be just endless guesswork on who the criminal could've been. Nothing adds up as to how her friend was driving on the motorway and ended up in the forest. Nor could she think of anyone who could've seen her friend as an enemy, or where her friend went.

Diane begins to wonder if this case was even a murder case at all. As she sits back in her office chair with her legs resting on her desk, she hears a knock on her door. She calls out to let them enter. It was one of her work partners, Ben, who came in with the lady who had been sent to the hospital to recover. The lady was in a wheelchair and shuddering like a leaf.

"What's this, Ben?" she asks. To her knowledge, patients surviving a crash don't usually be let out the next day.
"Doctors said she wanted to see you. Apparently, she would be ok for a while but then must be taken back as soon as possible." Ben replies.

"Alright then," Diane tells him, then turns to the lady, "You wanted to see me?" she asks.
"She did it on purpose." The lady utters, much to Diane's surprise.
"She did?"
"Yes, she knew they were following. So, she decided to divert off course and head to the forest just off the next exit on the motorway we were on. Of course, the other people were still following so she sped up and just let the car crash when she couldn't see them in her mirrors."
"You mean to say, she crashed the car on purpose?" Ben asks her, to which he gets a nod in response.

"Do you know where she went? Or if she was taken?" Diane asks her.
"That friend of yours put me unconscious!" She shrieks, emphasising the 'friend' part of her outburst, and continues "What, you think I saw her using magic with my eyes closed? Magic doesn't work like that!"
"That's enough," Diane says harshly, banging her hand on her desk to quieten the lady in front of her. Can't blame her really, after what she went through, she thinks to herself.

"What now?" Ben asks Diane after getting the attention of 2 partners to escort the shrieking lady back to the hospital.
"Well, one thing for sure is that the magic lady doesn't need a hospital. She needs a mental asylum." Diane states, though Ben seemed far from amused at her joke, "Relax, I was kidding," which earned her an eye roll.

"So, we know what happened, but we don't know where your friend disappeared to," Ben states.
"Heh, the visit was pretty useless then," Diane mutters to herself, slightly amused.

Ben rolls his eyes again, then tells her "Well a couple of other cases have come up and the big boss wants you to take a look. He thinks there might be a connection."

Now that is interesting... Diane thinks to herself, taking the 'new cases' file from her partner to go through.

~~~Trigger warning~~~

In another part of Nocturna city, a Christmas tree was decorated with baubles with its fairy lights lit in the lounge of a small house. The star on top glistened in the moonlight that shone through a small gap in the curtains of the room. Pictures of the family were hung around the room and decorated with tinsel. Some presents were already under the Christmas tree, wrapped up neat and tidied with a bow each, ready to be opened on Christmas day.

However, the family of this humble little home were out of the festive spirit. Instead, they were mourning their cat's death. A young girl, likely around 10, was crying uncontrollably, hugging her mother for comfort. Her kitty was found in their front garden by her father, with tufts of its own dark fur scattered around and in a pool of blood that was pouring out from a deep gash across its stomach.