Malefis: Her Thoughts are Silent

We successfully captured the chameleon's next target and finally had an edge over him. However, he countered with something we didn't expect. Something we were prepared for entering this case but never actually thought would happen.

The death of a comrade. And not just any comrade, one who held a special place in the heart of our little detective.

"Our victim's name is Alan Smith. Cause of death, a single stab wound to the throat rotated counterclockwise. He seemed to have been knocked out with blunt force then drugged before getting transported here. Moreover, defensive wounds on the body indicates signs of a struggle— He put up quite a fight against his killer. His wallet and phone appear to be missing. Probably the culprit..."

Liz reported her findings with her usual monotonous voice as though she was dealing with any other corpse. Everyone around her were holding back their disgust on how indifferent she was being about the old man's death. Well, everyone except me.

I could see just how much she was hurting, how much she wanted to cry and scream.

The tension in the air was so thick you could probably cut it with a knife..... And that was precisely what happened when a ringtone reverberated through the room. It was from the enthusiastic cop and the caller was.....

Alan Smith? No, it's probably the killer using the old man's phone. We all gathered around as he answered and put it on speaker.

"Heyyo detective! Did you like my gift?"

"Don't screw with us! Come out and face us, you bastard!"

I shouted with all the rage I could muster.

"Now, now.... No need to be so boorish.....After all, I'm giving you an opportunity to catch me as promised"

The room fell silent

"Hohoho.... That caught your attention, didn't it?! That's not very nice y'know.... Well, if you were all super hot ladies I wouldn't mind but...."

"..... just get to the damn point so we can send you back to your hole"

Liz replied with fire burning deep within her heart.

"Okay then.... Let me explain the second game. There are 26 envelopes scattered on the floor and inside each envelope is a puzzle. Solving each puzzle will give you a location and at one of the 26 locations, I'll be waiting"

Sounds easy enough.

"Ofcourse, this wouldn't be much of a game if that's all there was to it. First of all, only one person is allowed to inspect each location...."

"....And why should I agree to that?"

"..... Hohoho, well if you don't, All the hostages I have with me will be blown to smithereens"

He turned the phone and we heard the voices of women and children alike, all crying and begging for help.

"I've set up sensors at each location which will only deactivate if a single person comes to inspect. If a group enters, the hostages die instantly. You don't want the blood of dozens of women and children on your hands, do you, detective?"

"....."

"You have a time limit of 1 hour. If even one location hasn't been inspected before time elapses, the hostages go kaboom. So, who is the lucky detective who'll find me? Good luck"

"Wait!"

"Oh and.... Just this time, I promise not to make a move to take out that traitor, he can wait. I'm more interested in you right now.....De.tec.tive, hahahaha"

He cut the call. Sean slammed his fist on the floor cursing his powerlessness and the others seemed to be losing heart as well. Liz opened the envelopes to see jigsaw puzzle pieces in each one. She gathered the envelopes before addressing us

"We're returning to the station. You've done good work so far but we're not out of the woods just yet. We still have to catch this bastard to prove Alan didn't die in vain!"

Those words motivated the distraught looking officers a little as we all cleared out the mall en route to the station. Once we arrived, Liz shut herself in an interrogation room to focus on solving all the puzzles in time.

I stepped out of the precinct for a bit to buy some chocolate milk. This was the only thing I could think of to help in this situation.

On my way back, I ran into Mr Competent who seemed to have come to assist.

"You're Ms Andrew's assistant aren't you? I heard about what happened. My condolences"

"Thanks. Liz is taking it pretty hard but she's still trying to catch this guy"

"She always was a trooper! Still though, the two of them were so close you'd think they were family. He's been with her since she became a detective so it's almost like she's lost a part of herself"

"You seem to know a lot about the old man?"

"Well, we did work together to catch The Chameleon five years ago and we've been friends ever since. He was a good man"

Even though I only knew him for a short time, I could tell that as well. Sure, he came off a little goofy and seemed like he was sucking up to Liz, but his heart was in the right place.

His death left a void in the hearts of all those who knew him, especially Lizbeth Andrews.

"Listen, I don't mean to be rude but...why are you here? Your jurisdiction is in Still peaks, isn't it Mr....?"

"River. Miles River..... and you're right, I don't have any business being here as a cop, that is why I'm here as a friend to help out however I can"

Just then, I noticed the other officers who had tagged along with him.

"Everyone on the task force five years ago feel the same way, so please, let us help you catch this madman!"

There was nothing but sincerity from their thoughts. The bonds of camaraderie was a difficult one to break, such a beautiful friendship... I couldn't help but be envious of the old man. He had true comrades.... something I could never even dream of having.

"Well, Liz has the final say in all this. That said, we could really use all the help we can get."

I entered the precinct with the new alliance and headed to the interrogation room to chat with Liz. I was about to knock on the door but stopped. She opened it a second later.

"That was fast"

"It's not like we have all the time in the world"

She had already finished solving all 26 puzzles.

"Here, chocolate milk"

"Thanks"

She opened the bottle and took a huge gulp. I walked in and closed the door behind me

"How're you holding up"

"I'm good"

"Mind reader..... remember?"

Her face sank a little.

"I'll be fine once he's behind bars. Right now, we need to split up to inspect all locations at the same time. That's the only way to make it within the 1 hour limit"

She said that with the determination to catch the culprit with her own two hands. This made my next statement all the more difficult.

"Hey Liz"

"Hmmm?"

"I think it'll be best....if you sit this one out. Let us inspect the locations while you stay here"

"What?! Why?!"

"No matter how much you try to bottle it up, you're still human. The old man's death is tearing you up inside and you're out for blood. I don't want you getting yourself kil—"

" —BUT I HAVE TO BE THE ONE WHO CATCHES HIM, THERE'S NO POINT OTHERWISE! Al....suffered a lot before he died and that monster enjoyed every second of it! I can't leave this to someone else, I have to be the one who does it!"

"Liz, calm down—"

"I AM CALM! I'M STILL THINKING LOGICALLY JUST AS AL TOLD ME TO ALL THOSE YEARS AGO! .... I'm still acting like a detective, aren't I?"

When Lizbeth Andrews was at the lowest point in her life, Alan Smith was the one who pulled her out of the darkness and into the light. His words were the driving force behind her becoming a detective.... And now, her reason for living is gone.

"DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THE OLD MAN WILL WANT YOU TO THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY FOR HIM?!"

"EVEN SO..... Even so, I still want to go... please"

She was hell-bent on going no matter what. Even if I forced her to stay, she'll probably sneak out behind my back.

"*Sigh—Fine. However, promise me you won't be impulsive and you'll act on logic. In the event you come in contact with lizard boy, do not act on emotion. You're a detective, aren't you? "

"Thank you"

"You are the connerstone of this team and we need your brain at full power if we're going to stand a chance. Go get some air for now, I'll assign the others their locations"

"Yeah"

She opened the door to see the other officers eavesdropping on our conversation. The cops who were disgusted by her stoic exterior understood just how much she was holding her emotions back for the sake of the mission and started reflecting on their conduct.

They felt guilty a 16 year old girl was the adult in this situation and didn't lose sight of the bigger picture despite how much it was tearing her up inside.

Their overall opinion and respect for Lizbeth Andrews grew significantly after they witnessed our conversation and they were starting to see her in a new light..... Exactly as planned.

One of my reasons for riling her up like that was to ease the doubt and unrest in the minds of her subordinates. People relate to you better when they see you're not perfect and 'human' just like they are. As for the other reason, Well—

"We can't let the lady down after all that, can we boys? Let's go catch ourselves a lizard"

"Yeah!"

I wrote the locations on the envelopes then handed them out to each detective.

"And as for the last two, I'll take the old factory at third street and Liz will go to the abandoned warehouse at the outskirts..."

"Are you sure you're okay with her going by herself?"

Sean asked, mostly out of concern

"It's not like there's anything I can say to stop her. Besides, the odds of lizard boy showing up there are quite low"

"But still, in her state of mind, wouldn't she be a liability if he actually did show up there?"

"You seem to think the old man's death dulled her senses as a detective and she'll act on impulse for revenge..."

"Am I wrong?"

"You are. The reality is quite the opposite actually, she's finally taking things seriously— The speed at which she solved these puzzles is proof that."

Each envelope contained 200 jigsaw pieces and still she solved all 26 envelopes by herself in the time I used for a snack run. Sean and the other officers noticed that and all their worries were put to bed.

Lizbeth Andrews was growing more and more as a leader in their eyes.

"One more thing, you're all to report the details of your inspection to Liz through mail or call and await further instructions from her. You are not allowed to act on your own unless absolutely necessary, do you understand?"

They all nodded in agreement.

"And like the lady said at the beginning, you're not allowed to die. Good luck officers, may the force be with you"

My final statement was a reference they were all familiar with. That caused some light laughter admist all the tension.

I stepped out of the precinct and handed Liz the envelope for her designated post before heading off to my own.

I arrived at the outskirts in record time and began searching for the warehouse. I found it after a couple minutes of searching as well another discovery.

I guess I was the lucky detective. Lizard boy is hiding inside the huge wooden warehouse waiting to attack the detective who steps inside. From his thoughts I also discovered he had set up multiple hidden traps in the warehouse.

The situation looks bleak. However, I still have to go in to deactivate the sensor for this location.

I sent a text and did one more thing with my phone before proceeding.

"Alright, let's do this"