1,2,3 and X

It was supposed to be a regular day. I was just doing paperwork while Temma and Captain Noel were relaxing. Captain Noel was drinking tea as she hummed along with a song and Temma was writing some things. It was really peaceful until someone knocked on the door.

“Hey there!” Amelia entered the room without even waiting for our response.

“Amelia. What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Well... I’m bored since there are no noteworthy cases coming up. So I’m here to ask you guys if you’ve got something for me”, she said.

“There’s nothing here. Westa is fortunately peaceful for now”, Temma told her.

“Well... If you want to help, maybe you can solve the serial murder case from 20 years ago”, Captain Noel said.

“It’s a cold case already... But I’ll gladly hear any details about it”, Amelia replied.

“The case is about 3 victims. The first victim was a 30-year old doctor named Borres Kae. He was found dead in his home with the number 1 carved on his back. The second victim was a 38-year old teacher named Muriem Ast. He was also found dead in his home with the number 2 carved on his back. The last victim was a shopkeeper named Niel Sierra. Like the two other victims, he was found dead in his home and had the number 3 carved on his back”, Captain Noel narrated the case.

“Hmmm... If they were all murdered in their homes, there’s a chance that the murderer had an acquaintance”, Amelia said.

“But according to Arthur’s investigation, they don’t have anything in common”, Temma told her.

“Oh yeah. Arthur provoked the criminal last night... I wonder if the criminal would take the bait”, I said.

“One clue we have about the murderer is that he was humming an old song. This detail wasn’t released to the public”, Captain Noel added.

“Old song?” Amelia asked.

“Yeah. When the murderer attacked the second victim, Muriem’s son was in the house. He said that he heard the murderer humming a song. It went like this”, Captain Noel started humming.

“Ah! That song! What’s the title?” a voice behind us asked.

An orange-haired woman with horns was standing in the doorway. A tail was on her back and she was quite tall. It was none other than Coco, the dragon who I helped a few days ago.

“I think it’s called the Raven’s Night. Why did you ask?” Captain Noel asked her.

“You see, I got locked out of my home and didn’t have any keys. That’s why I decided to come here to borrow yours. But on the way, I heard a man in a mask humming that familiar song. It sort of stuck in my head”, she answered.

“Wait... Coco, are you sure you heard it correctly?” Captain Noel asked and her face was getting paler.

“What’s wrong?” Temma asked.

“Arthur is my neighbor. And a strange man was humming the song that the murderer once hummed.”

Oh no...

We ran towards Arthur’s house. If it was actually the murderer, then Arthur was in danger. Did he perhaps responded to the provocation?

The door to his house was open and Captain Noel entered without knocking.

“Arthur? Are you okay?” she shouted.

We arrived at his room and saw the lifeless body of a man. It was none other than Arthur. His body was bloody and he had an “X”-shaped wound on his back.

“An X? I thought it would be a 4”, Amelia said.

She then got close to the body and moved his hand. There was a “-” symbol written with his blood.

“What do you think this means?” Temma asked.

“I don’t know. It must be a dying message since he hid it with his hand to avoid the murderer from seeing it”, she answered.

“I’d better call the other knights to have this place investigated... So, Amelia, are you up for this case?” Captain Noel asked.

“I’m more than ready to take this on”, Amelia grinned.

“That’s great. Take Temma and Mikage with you. They should have enough authority to help you in your investigation.”

Temma nodded and I walked towards Amelia. It has already been some time since we last worked together. Although that time, I was the lead investigator. For this case, it would be appropriate that Temma would command us. Unless Amelia would do her thing and bark orders again.

###

We decided to interview the past victims’ relatives. Amelia said that there was a chance that a connection could be found if we mention that Arthur was a victim. Our first destination was Borres’ wife, Natasha Kae.

“Hello there, is it alright if we ask you some questions about the case that involved your husband?” Temma asked her.

“Why do you need to do it? It’s almost 20 years since he died”, she said.

“Actually, another victim was found today. His name was Arthur Karalis. Do you think your husband knows him?” Temma asked as he showed her a picture of Arthur.

“I don’t really know...”

“Hey... Does your husband regularly go out on certain days? Like maybe secretly meeting with someone?” Amelia asked.

“Oh... Now that I think about it, he would go out every weekend night and come back in the morning. Although I have no idea what he did or where he went.”

“I see... Thanks for the information.”

Our next interviewee was Erk Ast. We arrived at his house and were welcomed.

“I see... There was another victim. What’s his name?” Erk asked.

“Arthur Karalis”, I answered.

“Arthur? Sounds familiar.”

“He should be. He’s the lead investigator for the case when it happened 20 years ago. Anyway, do you think your father knows him?”, Temma said.

“I’m not sure... He never really talks about his friends.”

“Hey, does your father go out on weekend nights?” Amelia asked.

“Hmmm... Well, yeah. He would leave our home and arrive in the morning. My mom even thought he was cheating on her and had an argument with him.”

Our last interviewee was a dangerous man. Niel Serra had no living relatives in Westa so we had no choice but to interview him. That was why we were inside a familiar room inside an extravagant mansion.

“So... You’re here to ask about Niel”, Arurandeisu said.

“Y-Yeah... Do you think he could be related to Arthur in any way?” Temma asked.

“Hmmm... If I think about it, they were the same age 20 years ago. There’s a chance that they could have been classmates in the Knight Academy”, he answered.

“Niel went to the Knight Academy?” I asked.

“Yeah... But he dropped out. I didn’t know why and when I asked him, he didn’t give me a real answer.”

“Did Niel go out during weekend nights?” Amelia asked.

“Hmmm... I think so. Every time I ask him to hang out on weekends, he would say he was busy.”

“I see... Thanks for answering”, Amelia said.

“Hey... I have an offer for you, Miss detective. Why don’t you work with the Familiaran for this case? Since the serial killer returned and I’m the boss of the Familiaran, we could catch him easily.”

“And what would you do if you got your hands on him?” she asked.

“Let’s just say he wouldn’t get off lightly.”

Amelia thought for a while.

“No thanks. I’d rather live with a clean conscience. If possible, I’d rather have the criminal sent to prison than having him tortured”, she said.

“I see. What a shame... If we had you on our side, it would be a lot easier.”

We left the Familiaran’s mansion and walked down the streets of Westa.

“So all we got is that the victims possibly met on weekend nights. The question is: where could they have met and what did they do?” I asked.

“I don’t know. There are too many unknowns in this case. I’m starting to doubt Arthur Karalis”, Amelia said.

“What do you mean?” Temma asked.

“In his investigations, he said he didn’t find any connection. However, we managed to find out that they were possibly meeting somewhere on weekend nights. Either he is a sloppy investigator or he must be hiding something.”

We saw a burning house in the distance.

“Ah great... First a murder then an arson. Maybe I jinxed it when I said that Westa is peaceful”, Temma groaned.

“Hey... Whose house is that?” Amelia asked a bystander.

“I don’t know. It’s an abandoned house. Nobody saw the owner”, he answered.

“Temma. Can you find out who owns that house?”

“Got it”, Temma took out his Excellular.

“Why are you asking, Amelia?” I asked her.

“An arson and a murder on the same day might be related. If that’s the case...”

“Amelia, according to the records, Arthur Karalis owned that house”, Temma said.

“I knew it... This case runs deeper than I thought.”

We just stared at the burning house until the authorities arrived and put out the fire.