Ronald shrugged at his question, finding it odd. "Why would I do such a thing?" he said, glancing down at the blood spatter on the ground.
Sergio took another drag of his cigarette. "Seeing multiple of them flying at once within my vision... the pattern in which they move is inconsistent and erratic. It makes them difficult to track."
"It's obnoxious..."
Ronald merely listened quietly. "I can see that. You'd want to crush one after that kind of annoyance, but I find butterflies beautiful."
"I wouldn't hurt such a thing, Sergio," Ronald said, entertaining the idea, though it was clear he didn't wish to dwell on it.
"Do we have a lead on this case?" he asked.
In Sergio's right hand was a logbook. Before touching anything, they photographed and videotaped the scene.
"Grey Street alley," Sergio began. "It's dim. The smell's a mix of gunpowder and garbage... and more importantly, signs of a Scripter, with ink residue all over the ground."
Sergio went over everything they knew, while Ronald added after his partner finished his explanations, "We've collected the blood samples; they'll be sent for analysis. But you know, Sergio..."
Each item was carefully bagged, labeled, sealed, and logged in time by the Passive Division, a crucial step in preserving the chain of evidence for court or further examination by the forensic division back in the headquarters.
Ronald paused, his gaze looking down at a faint object on the ground. "How many women do you know with white and violet strands of hair?"
Sergio, with uninterested dark eyes, simply shrugged the notion. "Ronald, besides my mother, I don't talk to women..."
Ronald scratched his head, finding that remark rather unprofessional, given they were in the middle of an important investigation. "Sergio, name one noble family that has white or violet hair."
Sergio cracked his neck with a slight motion of his head, focusing as he recalled every noble family he'd ever met. "I don't remember seeing a violet-haired royal. That color's too unnatural for Gravenhurst. But white..."
However, Sergio's tired eyes suddenly widened, a genuine look of disbelief, as if a crucial piece of information had suddenly befallen him.
He leaned in and whispered something into Ronald's ear.
Ronald's expression manifested in one of shock. There was only one noble family known for its white hair. "If our hypothesis proves true, then we'll need assistance from the duke himself..."
"As this may involve the Empress's interest..."
Sergio nodded in agreement, holding his cigarette between his fingers. It wasn't good manners to smoke at a crime scene, yet he was a well-respected Yellow Stripe and always eager to prove his worth in justice.
"Ronald, when was the last time the Empress ever went out of her castle?" Sergio asked, and the two fell into contemplation.
"Ever since the Empress ascended the throne, she has never been seen in public, not even by the nobility," Ronald remarked. He paused, then added, "I have no idea how much of these rumors are true, but it seems the Empress is afraid of something."
Ronald smelled the huffed smoke from Sergio; he didn't comment, it was the man's coping mechanism, after all.
"That's interesting..." Sergio murmured. "What kind of involvement do the Royal Guards and the Empress have in this...?"
"It makes you want to know even more," Ronald replied. Yet a trace of frustration lingered on Sergio's face. There was one obstacle weighing heavily on the entire GPA Department.
"Tch, the war at the Black Sea hasn't calmed down... The Duke's still preoccupied with that conflict, and most of our superiors have been deployed there," he muttered.
Sergio pondered their options. What could they possibly do? They were walking a path that led straight toward Scripters, beings far beyond their current reach.
With the most powerful operatives drawn into the war, Gravenhurst was left open to exploitation by one criminal party. The situation was dire; only a few active personnel within the yellow stripe remained to maintain order.
"We'll need a lot of assistance..." Ronald proposed. "We'll send a letter to Sir Gnosis; perhaps he'll understand and come to our aid."
Sergio nodded in approval. They weren't foolish enough to investigate something this dangerous without a powerful ally.
"Ronald, we can put this case on hold for the moment. Our priority should be involving the Duke concerning the Royal Guards. In the meantime, I recommend we turn our attention to a specific piece of trash..."
"That Maryland drug circulating around here," Sergio said darkly. His voice carried pure venom, disdain in every syllable, a shadow of vendetta buried beneath his professional demeanor.
"Sounds plausible. Very well..." he said. Ronald considered their next move. For now, they would have to wait for support from the higher chain of command.
There was a very real possibility that their investigation could involve the Empress, potentially threatening her reputation and putting their own lives at risk.
However, at the back of their minds, there was still the threat of a monster, one warned about in many posters throughout the area.
Yet, with so many predicaments already at hand, they lacked the manpower to even dwell on it. Sergio and Ronald decided not to push their luck by taking on too many dangers.
"Tch, can this place get any worse?" Ronald murmured.
They spent another hour analyzing the scene. The blood spatter matched the positions of the Royal Guards and their targets, but the most perplexing question remained: how had their target vanished after almost thirty revolver rounds?
Whether they had survived was still unconfirmed, but the manner of their disappearance was deeply troubling.
During the analysis, the Passive Division conducted door-to-door questioning of onlookers and residents.
The operation was led by Chief Roberto, a veteran officer who had served in the GPA for most of his career. At the moment, he commanded at least ten officers, each tasked with gathering as much information as possible within Grey Street.
By now, Chief Roberto had gathered enough intelligence and was ready to report to Investigators Ronald and Sergio.
At the alleyway, the men were ready to present what they had gathered. Among them was an interesting individual named Theodore, a sketch artist with a scruffy beard and messy hair. At first glance, he looked like a geek, but he was here to demonstrate his remarkable skill with a pencil.
"Investigators," Chief Roberto said with a salute, to which Ronald and Sergio responded in kind.
However, the chief looked hesitant, it was clear he was having trouble articulating his findings. "We don't know why it happened, but... every surveillance camera within a two-block radius was tampered with."
"The strange part is that it wasn't done by human hands."
"How exactly did that happen? Do we know?" asked Ronald, stepping closer. Sergio's eyes and ears heightened, ready to catch every word that came from the chief's mouth.
Roberto exhaled deeply; he was clearly unsettled by what he gathered. "The cameras were covered... by orange colored flies. Hundreds of them..."
"They smashed themselves against the lenses at the exact time of the incident, it obscured the feed..."
Sergio's face held the expression of disbelief, such a thing was too absurd, "Orange Flies? Did I heard that right?"
Roberto nodded grimly. "They were all clustered on the lenses—and yes, they were orange..."
Ronald and Sergio exchanged glances, both equally disturbed and intrigued by the unnatural method, as far as they were aware, flies were dark and not colored orange.
"Huh... Interesting..." Sergio said quietly.
"There's a possibility we're not just dealing with one Scripter, but two. That's really great," Ronald remarked, bewildered by the information. There was no other logical explanation for such an odd phenomenon.
But it seemed the chief wasn't done, he had more to report to the two men.
"We did, however, gather some rather important information," Roberto continued.
"Two individuals were seen by the locals. The descriptions match one with violet hair, and the other with white hair."
"Tell us more," Sergio said immediately, intense interest gleaming in his eyes. Ronald shared the same look.
The chief went on, "The white-haired girl was seen wearing a maidservant outfit, while the other woman, according to the locals wore an expensive black dress."
At that moment, Theodore stepped forward. He was responsible for sketching the two individuals. First, he revealed the image of a girl with pale skin and white hair, appearing to be in her late teens or early twenties. Sergio took the sketch, and together with Ronald, examined it closely.
Upon inspecting the first drawing, Sergio assumed that this girl was the one the Royal Guards were after. Ronald nodded in agreement, the white hair was unmistakable, it was a clue that will aid them.
Yet one question remained.
"What is a person like this doing here..." Ronald said with a distance in his tone.
Sergio then requested that the Passive Division conduct an investigation to trace where the white haired girl had come from.
Without any rejection, Roberto agreed and upheld his responsibility.
However, they weren't finished yet. Theodore offered one more sketch, the portrait of a mature and elegant-looking woman.
Ronald held the sketch, his voice almost trembling. "This is..." he said, nearly in awe of Theodore's work. But the other men began noticing something peculiar about him, he was far too fixated on the image.
Theodore's talent was undeniable. It was an almost perfect recreation of the Lady of Velvet, brought to life solely from civilian descriptions. From her collarbone to the intricate folds of her black dress, and the poised demeanor that radiated through the contours of her figure, she was captured flawlessly on paper.
"Ronald..." Sergio called out, but to everyone's surprise, the investigator began to pray.
"Lady of Lucinda, ego and pride, I implore you to forgive my impure thoughts..." Ronald murmured, pressing his thumb to his lips in the final gesture of Lucidist prayer.
"Sir Ronald, what's happening to you?" the chief asked, clearly concerned. Seeing an investigator react this way was strange, and even Theodore exchanged glances with the other men, a subtle question in his eyes, wondering if Ronald was truly one of them.
"Lady Lucinda, mother of humanity, holy and pure, please tell me, why must our suspect look this appetizing..." Ronald sighed, unable to contain himself.
Perhaps it had simply been too long since he'd seen beauty of this kind.
His moment, however, was abruptly ended when Sergio snatched the sketch from his hands. The two exchanged a glare with the tension of a still friendly banter.
Ronald looked around and found everyone staring, Theodore, the chief, even the enforcers. They were not judgmental, but clearly amused. Some were barely suppressing their laughter.
Scratching his head, Ronald muttered, "I do not wish to see that corrupted thing ever again..." His remark broke whatever restraint the others had; laughter erupted around him.
The levity was welcome, the Active Division wasn't exactly known for humor, and moments like this were good for morale. Sergio, however, was the only one who didn't share the sentiment.
Still, he didn't spoil their laughter. Instead, he examined the sketch closely, eyes narrowing at the woman's symmetrical features.
"This woman..." he murmured, his tone darkening.
"Who are you?"
Behind him, the sound of laughter continued, with Ronald humoring the men, his earlier reverence already turning into part of the story they'd tell later once duty was over...
Chapter End...