Criminal Case: Grimsborough

Chapter 28: The Haunting of Elm Manor-Part 2

That night while Jones was pondering about wether the house was the one that killed their victim, Nathan approached their desks and told Marie that he just spoke to their victim from beyond the grave. After he told them that, Jones and Marie as well as their spirit guides looked on in shock. Nathan giggled at the looks on their faces and he said to them, "Calm down you guys, what I meant was from beyond the morgue. You see, I did some digging through the victim's brain and..."

Jones then looked away in disgust and said, "That is so gross Nathan!"

"Just hear me out will ya! As I was saying, I did some digging in the victim's brain and that's when ai noticed some anomalies in the brain's neurotransmitters that were caused by a psychoactive drug. The drug in question would induce sickening nightmarish visions and my guess is that your killer wanted Hector to believe that the house was really haunted. Anyway, I need a fresh sample of the drug just to be sure, but I think it's actually a mix of some exotic plants. Which can only be found at the greenhouse," Nathan explained to them.

Marie then stood up from her chair and said to Jones, "Well we better hurry to the greenhouse and close it off as a possible crime scene before it gets contaminated." And Jones nodded in agreement and soon the two officers headed off to the greenhouse.

Just as they were about to head out the door, Ramirez approached Marie and said to her, "Marie, I just got off the phone with the psychologist and she says your victim's wife Gloria Fernandez is now stable enough for questioning."

After Marie thanked Ramirez for the heads up, she decided to explore the greenhouse first before they talked to the victim's wife. Once they got there, Marie and Jones started to look around until Marie found a pestle and mortar that was previously used to pulverize some plants and it got her thinking that maybe the killer used the same plants to drug their victim. As soon as Marie bagged it so she can get a sample later, Jones found a bouquet of flowers and he thought, that's odd? Since when did the greenhouse double as flower shop?

He then looked at the note written on the bouquet's wrapping paper and it said, 'To Gloria, my love for you is as eternal as your beauty.' After he read the note, Jones thought that He toe must've been behind it. Marie also read it and said, "I find it pretty odd that our victim never sent the bouquet if it was meant for his wife. And since we now know that the killer was here, we have to treat everything as possible circumstantial evidence. So hand me that flower bouquet David and I'll sweep the paper for prints."

Jones smiled, handed Marie the bouquet and said to her, "You do what you have to babe. I mean boss!" And Marie chuckled at his little flub.

After they collected their clues, Jones and Marie headed back to the station to examine them before they could talk to Gloria Fernandez. The first thing Marie examined was the pestle and mortar and after she took a small plant sample from it, she sent it over to Nathan so they can learn more about the hallucinogenic drug the killer used on their victim. After she did that, Marie brushed her powder over the note from the bouquet until the prints appeared sand she sent them to the lab to see if the bouquet was made for Gloria or it was made by someone else.

After Marie dropped the prints off with Alex, both she and Jones headed back to the manor to talk to Gloria Fernandez about her husband's death. Once they got there, Jones told the woman that he's sorry for her husband's loss. The woman thanked him for his concern and she started to explain, "I moved into this house a joyful wife and a blessed mother, but it took both of my loves away from me. After the house killed my baby boy, I begged my husband to leave, but he couldn't find a buyer for it; nobody wants to buy a haunted house! My husband hoped foolishly that an exorcism would finally get rid of the evil spirits, but he was wrong! And now I'm left all alone with nothing to live for and I hope this house would hurry up and kill me too!