Coin Flip
Fate is like a two faced coin. Every day of your life, every decision you make is determined by a simple coin flip by the hands of fate. The first ever coin flip fate executed for Evelyn Wynd ended positively, securing her an upper middle classed family with minimal issues. Lady Luck was on her side that time, thankfully.
However, Lady Luck is a spontaneous woman. Sometimes, she stands on her opposite side. A new case had been landed in her hands, being one of the most dependable investigators of her department, she was trusted to lead the investigation. She had expected that much when she heard about the case, at least.
This was an instance where Lady Luck decided to oppose her.
The head chief of her department decided their members weren’t enough to crack such a case, therefore he sought assistance from outside of the police department. That was when he made the horrible decision to hire a private detective.
‘I do not oppose this, though I’d like to hear the reasoning behind such a decision. As I have full confidence in our officers, I do not believe we require extra assistance from outside.’ The blonde woman debated.
‘I see where you’re coming from, officer. However this could speed up the process greatly. We are currently on a tight schedule, so I’d like to wrap up a case as swiftly as possible before our officers are required to work over time.’ He finalized, leaving no room for an argument.
‘Besides, we’ve been attempting to get a hold of this particular detective for some time now, this is the first time she’s accepted.’ He added, as a side note.
Evelyn gave a simple nod before leaving the office. As he had mentioned, they were on a tight schedule.
Therefore, Evelyn had decided to commence the investigation as soon as possible.
A cab was called, and she rode to her destination. Evelyn studied the case files of the victim on the car ride, making no waste of time.
The victim was a maiden by the name of Valerie Maki, her eyes were injured terribly with needles stabbing into them.
Her external injuries include harsh bruises on her neck, two removed front teeth and the obvious eye injuries. As the autopsy has yet been concluded, her internal injuries remain a secret.
Her vision shifted onto the scenery outside of the cab, roughly estimating that she’d be arriving in another 10 minutes. It was then, when it happened.
A woman of ivory locks blocking the wheels of her cab with her body. She bore a pair of hazel eyes, so sharp and deep as if they were freshly roasted coffee beans.
Evelyn withdrew herself from the cab, walking towards the woman.
‘Miss, please get off the road. I have a place to be.’ She demanded.
‘Well it can’t be so important to the point where you have to trample all over my precious evidence, can it?’ Her soft voice spoke, in the most loveliest tone Evelyn has ever heard. Like a bird chirping sweetly in the morning, like the fresh spring breeze brushing across her cheek tenderly.
Evelyn paused at her words, awestruck at her gorgeous voice, and also her words at the same time. Dirt tracks laced the road before them, with little shards of broken pottery. That was when she realised the scene of the crime was right before her eyes.
‘This is… where I was headed. How did I miss it from the window?’ Evelyn whispered to herself.
‘Well, perhaps taking a cab here was a mistake! You should try walking next time, it’s good exercise.’ The woman added, speaking in a cheerful tone while still maintaining the elegant grace her natural voice provided.
‘Apologies, you are?’ The blonde woman quickly composed herself, staring directly at the strange woman before her eyes.
‘Well, you may refer to me as Celeste, I was sent here by the police department to solve a rather interesting crime.’ She replied, holding up an identification card which really only had her name and picture taped on a small sheet of paper.
‘That is not an official form of identification.’
‘Ah! Apologies, I made that one in my spare time, it’s a little hobby of mine, despite being quite awful at it. Here you are.’
Evelyn noticed that the girl enjoyed including irrelevant information about herself in her sentences. It has its charms, but they are incredibly unnecessary.
The object Celeste held up this time around was a contract, the stamp on the bottom right corner of the paper was enough to tell her of the truths behind the girl’s words.
‘Detective Wynd, pleased to meet you. I suppose we will be partners in solving this mystery.’ Evelyn introduced herself formally, in contrast to the odd and dramatic introduction Celeste gave herself.
Using her body as a meat shield against the cab and the false identification card that was somehow mistaken for her contract despite being much smaller, Celeste gave the impression of an extremely unstable individual.
‘Detective Wynd, quite a long name… do you mind if I refer to you as Evelyn instead?’ Celeste asked.
‘I don’t believe I’ve given you my first name, but if you’d wish to, you may call me anything you desire.’ She replied.
‘Alright! You’ll be Miss Detective from now on. And I believe you’re wearing your name tag, so if I was unable to figure that out I’d be one idiot of an investigator.’ The ivory haired girl chirped.
‘Is Miss Detective not longer than Detective Wynd? I do not oppose it, though your reasoning seems flawed.’ Evelyn stated.
‘It seems I’ve been caught. Very well, to tell the truth, I just wanted to give a gorgeous girl a gorgeous nickname.’ Celeste winked, still smiling at the expressionless detective.
‘This way! And I trust you’ve read the case files? I was awaiting your arrival as well as a few others and I’ve helped myself to some light investigation.’ Celeste commenced her promenading, heading towards a gorgeous flower shop.
A gorgeously scarlet flower shop, Evelyn had realised.
She was standing before the scene of the crime, an once gorgeous and quaint flower shop that belonged to a florist was stained red.
There were two stories in the shop, one of which held the gorgeous facade of a flower shop. The other, bore a balcony that held Miss Valerie Maki’s cold dead body in its alabaster balustrade. Evelyn’s eyes widened as her eyes set themselves on the horrifying sight.
The roseate haired maiden’s back arched painfully on the white balustrade’s cold, hard support. Silver needles stood tall, like elegant dancers on the stage of her irises. Scarlet streaks littered her face, like a delta running thinly on her soils of her pale cheeks.
Evelyn managed to compose herself rather quickly, as she had been exposed to the world of crime for years on end.
Celeste on the other hand seemed the same as before, Evelyn figured that it was due to her arriving earlier, hence this not being the first time her eyes rested on the blood curdling scene.
‘Even at death she displays a great beauty, her corpse is hung like a marvelous art piece. What are your opinions on this, Miss Evelyn?’ The bleach haired woman broke the silence.
‘It’s tragic life has been ripped from her body at such a small age, however I am not one to form opinions on cases I haven’t thoroughly investigated yet. I am more than happy to listen to yours, though.’ Evelyn answered, still no trace of emotion lacing her words.
In contrast, Celeste always wore a cheery tone to her words.
‘Very well! I wouldn’t wish to bore a woman of such beauty to death with my simple speculations, let’s commence the investigation as soon as possible.’ Celeste happily chirped, before slipping on a pair of gloves.
‘I suggest you do the same, detective. You wouldn’t wish to stain the scene with fingerprints of your own and wind up in suspicion.’ She added, suggesting that Evelyn follow her actions.
Of course, Evelyn did the same.
‘What of the rest of this team?’ She asked, while covering her hands with a pair of rubber gloves.
‘Tardy, or they have something going on I suppose. Oh, and there were officers here a while ago setting up the caution tape over there.’ Celeste answered, pointing to the black and yellow tape that surrounded the area.
They did a horrible job at it, Evelyn thought. There was evidence she would’ve run over a small walk away from the flower shop, if it weren’t for Celeste’s dramatic appearance.
‘Oh, right. There was a timid tall man with blue hair before, I think I handed a sample of the dirt from earlier to him for some testing. We should pop into the labs later.’ The girl added.
‘There should’ve been something barricading the roads over there by the dirt, I could’ve destroyed potential evidence.’ Evelyn stated.
‘Ah, I agree to an extent. They should’ve completely blocked off the roads, however that was fresh evidence I had discovered so they couldn’t have known.’ Celeste shrugged, while picking up a ball of caution tape.
‘I’ll expand the prohibited areas to my liking since you mentioned it, you can begin your investigation first.’ She stated, before leaving Evelyn to the crime scene.
There were two officers standing by the building, most likely to prevent anyone from further tampering with the crime scene. The blonde woman strode up to the second floor without much hesitation, she had decided to inspect the body first and foremost.
There wasn’t a determined time of death in the case files, however judging from the liquid consistency of her blood, she couldn’t have passed any more than 12 hours ago. Then, she noticed purple bruise markings on the corpse’s neck. The empty gums that once held her two front teeth weren’t bleeding as much as one would expect, and her eye sockets still held the two needles up tall.
The silver sewing needles were both approximately 30 millimeters in size, and they were both warm. Strange, for chilly weather. Metal absorbs heat, however there was no heat to be absorbed.
Then, she inspected the dressing of the victim. She wore a simple dress, fitting for someone of lower status. She was assumed to be foreign, the girl’s fingernails were short, indicating that she most likely had to do house chores.
Evelyn made a mental note in her brain to do a thorough background check of the fuchsia haired maiden afterwards.
Other than her horribly ruined face, her body had sustained minimal damage. Scars littered her fingers, telling a tale of kitchen accidents. Her chest area was bleeding as well, there would probably be an internal injury in that area. Her shoes were on perfectly, and her socks stretched above her ankles.
Evelyn collected a small sample of her blood, hoping to get that blue haired fellow Celeste had mentioned to test it when they arrive later at the labs.
The maiden’s lips were pale, and her face was quite white as well, underneath the crimson. Evelyn had a decent guess at her cause of death, strangulation.
The autopsy would definitely prove her guesses even further, though for now, that was all she had. A guess.
Evelyn decided to examine the rest of the crime scene, after giving a respectful bow to the dead she made her way to the insides of the shop.
Colourful flowers stacked beautifully on the second floor, it was messy, but it was understandable for a storage room. On the back, there was a notebook full of names, presumably a list of clients. Evelyn decided to collect it in case it was relevant.
She handed the book to the two officers downstairs and resumed her investigation.
After a small search, Evelyn had discovered a needle resembling the ones in the dead woman’s eyes within the flower pots of each rose or gerbera. Two in the tulip pots, none in the daffodils, and soaked soils in the peony pots that Evelyn had decided to collect. Only a small amount, of course.
Despite being such a messy storage area, no soil spilt on the floors. Despite a sloppy form of storage, the place was regularly cleaned. Evelyn decided to take note of that.
The trash cans there were emptied out, so not much was found there. It was curious to see that the only location crimson had ever tainted was on the corpse of the deceased woman, despite there being a pool near her. Which then, leads Evelyn to believe the injuries were inflicted after her death.
The killer had added wounds to the woman after she placed her corpse at her desired location.
Next, Evelyn went downstairs.
The downstairs of the shop was well kept in a neat manner, products displayed up front for customers to view, a counter for collecting funds, a small bell to ring and a notepad. The owner of the shop is currently at the stations, Evelyn supposes she should stop by to have a few words with them herself later.
‘There used to be a cat here, a Persian breed in white colour.’ Celeste joined her, slightly startling the focused detective.
‘I see. Did you have any knowledge of this shop beforehand?’ Evelyn turned to her.
‘Yes, I am quite familiar with the location to be frank. A red headed officer arrived a few minutes ago, apparently they have a few suspects already.’ She informed her, as she spoke Evelyn noticed the silhouette of a man headed towards them.
‘Ah, speak of the devil.’
‘Officer Alec, so you were deployed on this case as well.’ The blonde woman greeted him.
‘It’s good to see you. I sincerely apologise for my team not being able to arrive here, however we have made a few moves and two suspects and a few witnesses are at the station, we hope to have the two of you there to witness their statements and testimonies.’ He bowed, while explaining the absence of the team.
‘Do not rush a detective, wait until tomorrow. Until then, have an officer close to the witnesses to prevent them from being harmed and have the suspects stay overnight at the stations. Our dear Miss Detective here wasn’t done with her investigation, and we have someone awaiting us at the labs.’ Celeste stopped him, and refused.
‘I see. Very well, however, if I may, please allow me to accompany you during this investigation.’ Alec asked.
‘That’s alright, however make sure you mail those at the stations about this.’ Evelyn agreed, while handing him a pen and paper.
Without any more words, the officer nodded and left the two women to their investigations.
‘You mentioned a Persian was present here before, yes? However I have not seen any cat hairs laying around to indicate such.’ The blonde woman resumed their previous conversation.
‘Ah, that’s because the owner of this flower shop is a neat freak.’ She simply replied.
‘You know them personally, then?’ Evelyn questioned.
‘I suppose you could say that. Anyway, come over here, I found a curious little clue earlier.’ Celeste hummed.
Evelyn caught up to her at the back left part of the store, to be greeted by a strange sight.
A doused out candle sat alone in the corner, and no flowers decorated the area. The corner was quite dull and out of place compared to the hued store of many colours.
‘This is a clue?’ Evelyn asked, confused as to why a depressing corner with a singular candle would be relevant to the case.
‘It’s quite important, detective. Was there nothing you saw in your investigation upstairs that relates to this?’ Celeste asked, almost sighing in disappointment.
It angered Evelyn a little, they were detectives and their purpose was to solve a crime, yet her partner was playing guessing games and connect the dots with her. The horrible coin flip of fate had given her an uncooperative partner.
‘This isn’t a game, just tell me, what is it that connects this to the case?’ She narrowed her eyes.
‘How could I trust you to be a competent partner if you are unable to win this game?’ The ivory haired woman refused.
‘Fine, I’ll connect the dots myself.’ Evelyn sighed in defeat, not wishing to start an argument with a woman she met only a few hours ago.
The officer from before had returned, with Evelyn’s pen in hand.
‘Here you are, Detective Wynd. How is your investigation going?’ He asked, while handing Evelyn her pen.
‘Officer, it’s going swimmingly. There are no complications at all.’ The blonde woman replied, gritting her teeth.
‘What our dear Miss Detective said! Now, come with me, officer. I’d like some company while I do my work.’ Celeste chirped.
Evelyn instinctively rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to the odd corner of the room.
Celeste had mentioned something about upstairs, so something there must indicate a relation to this candle. The time she viewed the body was around 9 am in the morning, the maiden couldn’t have died any earlier than 9 am the day before stated by her blood consistency.
However, many clues indicate that the blood was spilt after her death. The needles in her eyes were warm, unlike her body. That was odd considering the cold temperature.
And there it was, the conclusion before her eyes.
Valerie Maki’s time of death was way earlier than 9 am in the morning the previous day, the blood was created to mislead them.
Most likely at midnight the day before, was when the maiden took her last breath.
Her murderer strangled her to death at that time, possibly at this very corner she stood in. However, it was pitch dark so she needed a light source, that being, this candle. The warm needles come from being stabbed into the extinguished candle, most likely to hide it from the unsuspecting shop owner. After all, it’s a pretty decent hiding place.
But the killer took precautions, in case the shop owner was attentive enough to notice the needles, she hid more in the store such as in the soils of the flower pots. The reason the killer couldn’t bring them on their own would probably relate to their identity, and the amount of needles they own would as well.
A housewife would have access to numerous needles, and if she were to leave the house with them her husband would probably notice.
Evelyn had claimed victory in their little game.
‘I have figured it out.’ Evelyn simply told her.
‘That’s great, we can head to the labs now.’ Celeste smiled gently, like a sunflower basking in the balmy sunlight.
‘What did you figure out?’ Alec asked, confused.
‘Something between the two of us, not much you need to worry about.’ The hazel eyed woman shrugged.
‘We are going to the labs now, correct?’ Evelyn asked.
‘Yes, let us take a nice stroll there.’ Celeste answered.
The three of them arrived at the scientific building a little later, the muscles of their feet aching sorely.
‘We should’ve taken a cab.’ The man muttered.
‘Exercise is good for you, it balances out the tobacco.’ The cheery investigator replied while entering the building.
‘I don’t think that’s how it works.’ The blonde detective commented.
They took the stairs up two floors to find the indigo haired fellow. They found him busily writing in his report, until he caught sight of them.
‘Miss, the results are in. The soil sample consists of sand, slit and clay. There are small amounts of water found in it as well. I think it once held a plant, as I found broken roots in the mix as well.’ He stammered, while giving the report to Celeste.
‘Thank you, what was your name again?’ She asked.
‘Kyran.’ He answered.
The officer seemed slightly startled at that, however he didn’t speak a word of it.
‘Well, I think today’s investigation has been quite conclusive. Why don’t we stop by the station to meet the suspects first?’ Celeste suggested.
‘I’ll sit out.’ The two men answered in sync.
‘Well, I suppose it’s just me and you!’ The woman stated happily, not awaiting Evelyn’s answer.
‘I haven’t even given.. Nevermind. Please analyse this blood sample for me, Kyran.’ Evelyn requested and then left.
She sighed. Not only was her partner uncooperative, she was also a nutcase.
The two took a cab to the station, much to Celeste’s dismay. However Evelyn did not wish to walk until sunrise.
After a long 60 minute drive, they arrived at the station.
Several procedures later, they were face to face with the two suspects.
An odd man with his fringe in teal despite the rest of his hair being in onyx and a man of tanned skin and pale hair.
‘I do not know who this other man is, however the man with pale hair is the owner of that flower shop.’ Celeste chuckled.
‘Hello, sister.’ He spoke with a slightly irritated undertone.