Samsaara : Malakh-ul-maut

13. A Whodunit

I rushed towards the sound to find one of the older Guardians on his bed, dead. The space on the bed was not enough for the murderer to stage the hands in his signature way. Mooney came walking towards me, hobbling like a drunk puppy, like every child does. Paviraa, Mary and Omar came as well.

Omar addressed the girl who was taking care of the unwell guardians, "He died, it happens, don't worry. It's not necessarily a murder."

I interrupted, "Nope. This is most definitely a murder. Observe the I.V. tube carefully. It has been punctured with a needle of some kind. Perhaps, a syringe with some poison."

"Did you see anyone come here?" Paviraa asked the girl.

"No, I didn't. I just came here and checked his vitals," she said.

"Peace?" Omar muttered.

"What?" I asked.

"Victory, the old man is making the victory sign with his fingers," Omar continued.

"How did I miss that?" I said, "Let me see."

I checked the person carefully and then began looking around. Moving from one bed to another. Until I reached the end of the hall and came back to the body.

I turned to Omar and the other and said, "It's not the victory sign. It is the number seven. Look at his other hand. Those fingers are also straight."

Mooney spoke, "How can you say that? It could simply be a coincidence."

I answered, "I am certain that's a number because there are more. The murderer killed five more people here. Each of them are having an extra finger raised, from the number seven to the number twelve. The ones from ten have their other hands balled into a fist."

The silence was broken and everyone in the hall began talking in hushed tones. Lucy and the other girl had returned towards the ward and had heard what we spoke. They rushed towards the bodies and began checking on all of them. The few who were asleep woke up, the rest were confirmed dead.

Everyone there was in shock. The girls who were tasked to care for them were in tears. The others who were supposed to protect them didn't realize what was happening. They realized that no one is safe anymore. They could be anywhere but if it was their turn, they had no power to stop it. Lord Ishrafil was summoned by the guards and he was on his way.

"How did they die?" Paviraa asked.

"Ya. They be old. They could have, you know. Gone because they are flipping ancient," Mary spoke.

"No. If you look closely at all of their I.V. tubes, you will find they are all punctured somewhere with a needle. My best guess would be that a syringe was used to put some poison into the tubes. That went straight into their blood streams and they were killed before they could even realize," I said.