Sentry of the Arcane

Chapter 10: Fitz

I come back to the conference room after carrying an unconscious Sophie to her room. When I enter, Laurel rushes to the doors and asks, "Is she alright?!" When I don't reply immediately, she waves her arms around like a madwoman. "Well!? Is she?!"

"It's a bit ironic for you to be acting like this, since you also fainted." I smirk and add, "She's alright, by the way. Just really tired." And with that, I walk over to my seat to realize that Sophie left her folder about Michelle behind. I frown as her death photographs threaten to reappear in my head. Instead, I shake my head and ask, "Audrey- do you know where that autopsy report is?"

Audrey scoffs at me, most likely as an attempt to hide her paling face. "Yeah, I do." And with that, she gruffly hands me a large piece of paper. With that, I lean back in my chair, reading.

Name: Michelle Barrera

Age: 34 years, 7 months, 48 days

Appearance: Thin, dirty blond hair, brown eyes, pale skin.

Wounds: X on face (most likely inflicted by trench knife), multiple cuts and stab wounds across body (same knife). Very faint traces of cyanide found in nervous system only (swallowed or inhaled). Pieces of flesh ripped off to expose muscle tissue (hand marks show that deed was done with bare hands). Black boot-prints imply that victim was walked on (flat, complete footprints).

Cause of death: Cyanide poisoning and simultaneous bleeding.

"Bleeding, I can believe," I mumble to myself. I reread the words, hoping that I didn't miss anything. "But cyanide poisoning? Nervous system?"

"Nervous system?" Donovan asks, basically saying that he'd heard me. "Isn't that where the brain is?" When I nod at him, he asks, "What's cyanide poisoning?"

"Cyanide poisoning is where a person dies from being exposed to multiple CN molecules," I explain, placing the medical report down. "CN is the abbreviation for a carbon atom being triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom, by the way."

Donovan scoffs at my answer. "So she died from science?" he asks, a lopsided smirk on his face.

I brush off his response as Audrey glares at him. "But one thing to note is that cyanide is found mostly in cyanide salts and gases. She would have to breathe cyanide in or swallow it in these terms." I frown, realizing my own mistake. Pointing at the autopsy report, I say, "But there was only a faint trace of cyanide. The autopsy report clearly states that." And it was found in her nervous system only, I tell myself.

Benen frowns and scratches his head in confusion. "Wait- so she didn't die from cyanide?"

Donovan quickly exclaims, "It's an autopsy report! If it says she died from cyan-something, she died from that." Muttering "idiot" under his breath, Donovan leans forward and flicks Benen on his forehead.

Before Benen can flick Donovan back, Laurel quickly says, "Please don't- we shouldn't fight at a time like this!"

"Then when can we?!" Audrey snaps at Laurel, narrowing her eyes at her. "So what- are we supposed to stay put?!" She scoffs. "Like that's going to happen."

Of course, Laurel just had to snap back, "We've been staying put ever since we came here, you know!" She pouts sardonically. "Too bad you decided to complain now."

When Laurel smiles victoriously, Audrey lunges at her, roaring in fury. But before she can bring the female Altruistic down to the floor, Benen steps between them. Instead, Audrey slams Benen to the ground linebacker-style, screaming like a tribal warlord as repeatedly slams Benen's head onto the ground.

As Laurel quickly scrambles to the side, away from the furious Audrey as Donovan rushes over to separate the female Sovereign from the male Altruistic. Donovan then wraps his arms around Audrey's waist, lifting her off of the speechless Benen. As Audrey thrashes about, Donovan glares at her from behind as he walks away from the scene.

Suddenly, Audrey breaks free from Donovan's grasp. Hissing at her partner, Audrey begins to chase Laurel around the conference table, flashing her teeth in a carnivorous way. Seeing this, Laurel screams loudly as she dashes away from Audrey, panic written across her face.

Benen, now standing up, grabs Laurel's hand and runs faster around the table, dragging his partner behind him. At this Audrey increases her speed, causing Laurel to shriek again. Donovan, shaking his head, begins to chase Audrey as she runs after the two Altruistics.

I shake my head at the chaotic scenario in front of me. After another moment, I can't take it anymore. "Alright- everybody STOP!" I shout, glowering at everybody in the room.

At the loudness of my voice, everyone skids to a halt. They turn their heads to face me, their eyes wide from my sudden outburst.

I glare at each one of them. "We're trying to solve two murders-it's not time for you four to be screwing around! You four should know better!" My scowl deepens when I stare at Laurel and Audrey. After a moment of silence, I clear my throat and sit down again. I stay silent as the four of them slowly sit down in their areas. I frown when I see Laurel and Audrey glare at each other, but my expression softens slightly when Mr. Wallace walks into view.

"I see that the four of you have gotten nowhere," he retorts bitterly. He then looks at me, "And I'm guessing you already are creating a storm of possibilities about the cyanide,"

I nod, slightly surprised at how he could tell.

He presses his lips together into the form of a forced smile. "I've arranged for a forensic chemist and forensic pathologist to come here with more reports for Michelle Barrera," he explains to the five of us. He then turns to me again. "You and Sophie will me meeting with them to discuss about the cyanide and her injuries," Mr. Wallace adds.

When he sees the two Sovereigns frown, Mr. Wallace briskly turns to them. "I would have told you four to come, but you four are to find more background information on our two victims," he explains, earning groans from Audrey and Donovan. He frowns himself in response. "I expect more information about them than we already know, understand?" Mr. Wallace then waits until the four of them nod.

With that settled, I ask, "When will the forensic chemist and pathologist be arriving?"

Mr. Wallace's eyes widen as if he just remembered. He checks his watch. "They'll be coming... in at least ten minutes!" he exclaims, rushing towards me. Pulling me out of my chair, he ushers me out of the conference room. "Go wake up Sophie! They'll need to see both of you!"

That sparks my attention. "Why-" I begin.

"Go! We can't waste time. Every minute that passes is another minute for the perpetrator to destroy evidence!"

His last statement grabs my attention. Without saying another word, I turn around on my heel and dash towards the elevator.