Mystery Loves Company

Chapter 57 - File #6.12: The Guilt Trip

Rhett

Noel was startled when I blocked his way to our room. He just took a shower and the smell that was evaporated into the air just reminded me of TJ when he used to switch my shampoo with that lemon-scented soap. It fueled my anger more.

"You're crazy!" I snapped.

"Did you mean, 'thank you'?" Noel corrected. "You're welcome."

"How could you do that, Noel? He's just a kid and you're sending the reporters on a witch-hunt for his family!"

He pulled down my hand that blocked the door, and just casually walked to his side of the room. "You suggested the idea and I was just making it work," he replied. "Besides, it's not my fault he believed that Jennings and his whole family would move to Paris if he didn't win the election. I guessed he loved Jennings' daughter that much."

"At this point, I don't know who is dumber—you or Jake." I was speechless after listening to the story.

"The answer is you, if you don't use this opportunity to solve that case." Noel took a brown envelope from his desk and threw it to mine.

"What is that?" I glanced at him suspiciously.

"The autopsy report of Michael Norris," he answered. "The copy, to be exact."

I grabbed the envelope quickly, interested. "How did you get this?"

"As a pre-med student, it's almost easy for me to get in and out of the morgue," Noel said proudly.

I read the report slowly. "Cause of death: exsanguination due to stab wound to the abdomen."

"Exsanguination means bleeding out."

"I know that." I rolled my eyes. Noel always tried to outsmart me in every chance he got. Now that we broke the ice, his head got bigger each day. "It said the wound was deep and thin, so the weapon was something like knife?"

"More like pocket knife, I think. Small and sharp blade," he commented.

"Even though it was sharp, it couldn't kill a man with just one stab, right?" I asked. "I've seen a glimpse of the case report, it said he was stabbed once in the fatal area."

There were so many questions lingering on my mind. Was it planned? Or was it an impromptu action? If it was planned, the killer would've brought a more lethal weapon. But, if it was unplanned, would he have known where to stab to kill him at once?

"What if the killer knew which lethal parts of the body to strike?" I asked.

"What makes you think that they didn't act on the spur of the moment? Norris could've angered them and the next thing they knew, he was bathing on his own blood from the wound that they made."

"You think it's normal to bring pocket knife around?"

"I do," said Noel, and then smirked at my surprised reaction. "People need self-defense, Rhett, but I'm not suggesting you to bring one because you're prone to literally anything. Even your phone can probably kill you if it falls right on your forehead."

I wiped my forehead at the thought of that. Only hearing it could make me imagine how hurt could it be.

"Aww, you do care about me," I mocked right after.

"If you die, nobody can solve this case." Noel folded his arms. We all knew he deemed himself to be smarter than me, but this time he needed me for this case. "So, are you saying that the murder was planned?"

"Well, somebody definitely wanted Norris dead," I emphasized. I was quiet for a while. "And maybe... it wasn't pocket knife. Maybe... a scalpel?"