When Duty Calls

Caitlyn sniffled into her handkerchief before folding it neatly and pocketing it. With a sigh, she stood up and strode back to the corpse. “I'm going to take a closer look at the body. Will you resume taking notes, please?”

Vi nodded reluctantly, before bending over and picking up the notepad. She twirled the ballpoint in her fingers, trying to settle her nervous energy. She knew Caitlyn was overworking herself. Again. While the safety of Piltover was objectively more important than the well-being of one person, it physically hurt her to see Caitlyn feeling so miserable but being too caught up in work to care for herself. Vi signed and bit her lip to keep her opinion from spilling out as the sheriff stooped over the victim’s face.

Caitlyn peered once more into the bloodshot eyes that had hinted toward the cause of death. However, as her own flicked downward, searching his neck for even the faintest bruise, they found nothing. She frowned at the discrepancy as well as the itchiness tickling the back of her throat.

Caitlyn swallowed before speaking up. “Conjunctiva of the eyes initially pointed toward strangulation as cause of death. Yet the neck is free of contusions, not even the faintest mark. The absence of blood or clear bruising is similar to other recent cases. Suggests there was little to no struggle…”

She trailed off and scrunched her face in thought. It also helped to momentarily appease the itchiness in her nose. “Very odd indeed.”

She looked back up to reexamine the face and paused at the mouth. It gaped open like a goldfish, a thick string of saliva hanging from the side. Caitlyn held her breath before leaning closer. Although revolting, this could be just another puzzle piece, providing another snippet of the big picture.

Caitlyn cleared her throat, giving a dry cough. “Victim’s mouth is covered in saliva. His own, it appears. We’ll sample it back at forensics, see if the DNA is a match. This hasn't been noted at the other crime scenes, but it could key us into… something.”

The only sound other than humming of the generator was by Vi’s pen scribbling onto her pad. Caitlyn blinked her eyes as they traveled down from the victim’s head, fighting with all her willpower not to rub them again. 

“There is a strange rash on his neck. Red and patchy.” Her eyes narrowed as they fixed on his shirt collar. There she found a magenta-colored flower, its five petals forming a rounded star. She had seen this before, she just couldn't place where. Caitlyn crouched further to take a closer look and was met with an overpowering itch.

She inhaled quickly before turning away from the victim. “ah-CHOOO!”

She sneezed loudly, the sharp sound of it echoing across the empty greenhouse, holding her hat on her head with her other hand. The silence that followed seemed even more deafening. Caitlyn had always been taught that sneezing was unlady-like, disruptive, and crude. She had always been encouraged to muffle the sound, make it as quiet as possible as to not draw attention to herself. But today, her allergies were too bad to allow for that.

“Excuse me.” Caitlyn’s voice was so stuffy at this point that the words were almost unrecognizable. “Erm…there’s a flower on him. A distinctive sweet smell, ve-very strong.”

She sniffed and reached into her pocket for the handkerchief.

Vi only rolled her eyes, making it clear her opinion of the situation.

“Vi, cut it out.” Caitlyn blew her nose quickly before continuing, irritation replacing the congestion in her voice. “Your attitude isn’t helping. This flower is…familiar, but I can’t place it… ah-tschoo! ”

She groaned, and now rolled her own eyes.

“Of all the places, why a greenhouse…” Caitlyn muttered under her breath.

"Cait," Vi said. "Just take a break. It's not like this guy's in any more danger."

She gestured to the body in front of them to prove her point. "And the rest of the force has already set a perimeter, like you requested...nothing's time dependent here. Just get out of her for a while, pick up some of your allergy medication at the apothecary nearby, wash up. Then you can get back into it. Your mind will be even sharper, I bet."

"My mind's perfectly fine," Caitlyn said, a chill in her voice. She quickly rose to her feet before striding across the greenhouse. "Stay here. I'm going to do a quick look, see if I can find any flowers similar to this."

The taps of her heels were relentless as Caitlyn walked through rows of plants. She walked by cacti, succulents, small juniper seedlings, before slowing as she reached the flower aisle. She turned her head, closely examining each row. She picked out the familiar ones easily: purple and pink fuchsias, crimson roses, deep purple petunias, tulips the color of a sunset. Unfortunately, Caitlyn wasn't able to properly appreciate the beauty, as her nose burned with all the pollen. She rubbed at it, wincing. It was growing sore from all the irritants, her nostrils red-rimmed and chafed.

She was in the second to last row, which housed exotic plants, when suddenly an unbearable itch engulfed her nose. Her eyes reflexively slammed shut and she gasped in a deep breath before giving into the fit. She sneezed four times, her muscles contracting with the force.

Afterwards, she blew her nose yet again and blinked tears of discomfort out of her eyes. Once her vision had cleared, she noticed a simple Terracotta pot holding a shrub decorated with the same distinctive star-shaped petals she'd seen earlier.

She moved closer, stooping over to read the tag.

Nerium Oleander.

Caitlyn gasped, as the pieces finally came together in her mind. “Vi! I’ve found a break in the case.”