There was always something off about Tira. It's not that she was creepy, or suspicious, or even all that weird.. Okay, maybe she was a bit weird but that wasn't what was off. She remembers the times where her mother would mutter about her trying too hard to impress people, that she was freakishly determined for all the wrong reason.
Selfish is what she called Tira. As sad and wrong as it was for a mother to call her child that, it's true. Her whole life the girl's fixation was never on solving the case to help bring closure to families and stop more from suffering, it was on solving the case and gaining validation from her emotionally constipated family.
For years she's been working herself past the point of exhaustion, crying over the smallest of things and screaming into her pillow at the biggest. Tira's tired, drained, and quite frankly she'd rather be anywhere but this disgusted alleyway.
Tira eyes herself in a nearby puddle and grimace - she seriously needs to wash her hair, it looks like a sludge monster. The alleyway was as depressing as any other, the only difference being it was less blood-ridden. Or, it was, clean-up crews don't clean crime scenes like these anymore. Not since her father, Detecto as the city called him, had informed the head of police, Aaron, that it wasn't conventional until after the case was solved.
The dark clouds loom menacingly as she scowls at the pavement. Most of the evidence was washed away in the rain previously so she'd have to be quick.
Bending down she unlocks the examination kit. Rummaging around she grabs the evidence needed - a bit of blood left behind she had to scrape up, a hair that she's hoping belongs to this person, and a fake nail hidden underneath the dumpster. On the side of the dumpster was a spray-painted message, but she doesn't know if it's been there from before the victim's death or not. The message was 'He sought, she brought'. Whether this stuff Tira picked up will be of any use, she doesn't know. But it's better than nothing.
The teen packs her stuff up and turns to leave but freezes when she suddenly sees a flash out of the corner of her eye - someone moving, and incredibly fast at that. She pauses for a second before walking off. Unlike what many may think, she wasn't that dumb, she wasn't going to throw herself into danger when literally all she had was a kit full of evidence catchers.
Pulling out her phone she read the address her dad sent her. It shouldn't be too far from here.. But wouldn't it make more sense for someone else to go? Someone with a mask? Someone who could get away with sneaking in and checking to see what's going on without media backlash?
Still, she knows better than to question him, but it was rather silly.
Heading over to the address she could feel a sense of impending doom... But it'll be alright, right?
-
Drew likes to think he's a good brother, not the best, but good enough that people don't hate him. He's rarely around so it's difficult for him to connect with the newer members... Tira isn't new though. She came in a few years before Jason. And hey, you were somewhat close?? At that point his dad was certain he didn't want her involved in heroism so Drew avoided her in fear of spilling the secret.
It was for the greater good, she turned out completely fine. She's reliable, hardworking and friendly, what a success!
Tonight, though he noticed she wasn't responding to her emails or messages regarding a part of the case he needs her to correct – his friend Tayn already went through it and decided to pass it off to Tira while she worked on a case regarding another villain.
That's how he finds himself standing in the middle of her room, his nose scrunched up at the mess of it. "... This has to be a biohazard of some sort.." He mutters to himself, eyeing the leftover food on her desk, the papers scattered across the floor with victim information from a variety of cases and a messy bookshelf that looks like it survived a literal war, books included.
Where is she? She doesn't leave her room.. Like, ever.. Hell, she's always online, did something happen? Was she kidnapped?! Holy shit, who was going to fix this if she's gone?! He's too busy! He's got a date with Kayla, he genuinely can't miss this.. It could be his last chance to rectify their messy relationship.
He rushes downstairs to the secret room, fidgeting in front of the doors and praying that his dad or Trey wasn't hogging the Monitor. As the sliding doors ding open Drew speeds out, not even waiting for the doors to open all the way. He races to the monitor and sees his dad typing away, an email to The Hero Heads regarding alien sightings.
Whatever, not his case. He stands beside Dad and waits for acknowledgment. When Dad gruffly hums to signify he knows Drew's there the first born speaks up "Dad, can I borrow the Monitor? I need to see where Tira's gone, she isn't in her room." He speaks so fast he may as well be the Flash from DC, but who cares? He needs this case fixed immediately.
His dad is quiet for a moment as he continues to type the email before speaking up. "Trey asked her to investigate the crime scene of that torso found a bit ago. I also asked her to check up on Simone Jones, her parents reported suspicious behaviour. A simple welfare check." He states, quick to the point, clearly not caring to answer much more. He's a busy man, but he trusts Tira, he knows she's capable, even if she doesn't do field work. Tira's better with people, better than him at socialising and checking on wellbeing's. At least, he thinks so... To be honest, he never really bothered to check.
But, clearly from the cases Tira's managed to solve, she's able to be compassionate and get into the heads of others. She'll be fine... Right?
-
Everything was NOT fine. Everything was NOT alright. As soon as Tira got to the mansion she knocked on the door and met Simone's younger sister, Bree, a girl Tira's age with golden blonde hair to her jaw, sun-tanned olive skin and the prettiest set of blue eyes, who informed her that Simone had been acting off for a few weeks now. Originally everyone had suspected it was a trauma response from a car crash she had recently gotten into.
But as the weeks went on she was just getting worse, apparently muttering about 'returning to him' and 'she's watching, she knows my sins'. Bree had tried to convince her parents to take Simone to a hospital to get everything sorted out but they wouldn't listen.
Now, Simone's been locked in her room for 48 hours and stopped answering anyone 8 hours ago. Bree had freaked out and phoned Detecto, which Tira didn't even know was an option, and reported her sister under suspicious activity and needing a welfare check.
So, with that information she climbed up to Simone's window using a giant ladder, if her door was apparently locked and blocked - which was what Bree had told Tira - then the window's the best bet.
The window was closed, curtains pulled across. However, she noticed on the glass panels of the windows there were hand smudges, someone was at her window. Her window on the third floor of the mansion. Tira feels a pit of dread sizzle in her gut and a knot in her throat once more. But, she powered through it. The teen shattered the window and stepped in.
What had hit her first was the foul odour of feces and piss, then the smell of numerous rotting animals. A cat, a puppy, a bird, and a rat. Their guts strewn across the floor, circling none other than Simone Jones.
Simone Jones was looking no better. She was completely naked, her body covered in self-inflicted cuts (Tira guesses, it may have been someone else who cut her, but it seemed unlikely.), her neck was snapped in half, the bone pressing against skin as she hangs a few inches off the ground.
The walls were coated in feces, puddles of piss on the ground and scrambled papers with the same sentence recurring over and over on them in disarray on the ground. 'He's called for me, she's sent for me' repeated and repeated, each time written it was less neat.
Tira rushes to the window and puke, she can't infect the crime scene. The Jones family is rich enough to hire a cleaner for the vomit... She has bigger issues now.
What did Simone know and was it related to Trey's case?