Malefis: Her Thoughts are Silent

I had gotten off the stairs and was walking down the hallway, lost in thought— my discussion with Detective River after getting discharged was still weighing on my mind.

Apparently, Munroe's brother, lizard boy and Sean were all found dead in their cells on the 19th— cause of death, cyanide poisoning.

Liz and the police were scrambling to figure out who poisoned them but to no avail— the killer was like a ghost, leaving no trace of his existence aside from victims of his crime.

I have a vague idea of who did it though. Although, I don't know his name or whereabouts.... And probably not his real face either.

"You're from the occult research club, right?"

I turned round to see a mountain of boxes—with legs. Just kidding, it was a female student lifting so many boxes it covered her face. Although, from her thoughts, I could discern who it is.

"You remembered? We've only seen each other once and we didn't even speak back then, weird"

"A-Aren't you the one who's weird for remembering me just from my voice? I-It's not like you can see my face from where you're standing"

"I just have a great memory. Besides, you're pretty popular, being the V.P of student council and all"

"I see..."

Yes, it was the student council vice president, Emilia Tyson or 'Lia' as Sara calls her. Apparently, she was carrying those boxes to the student council room.

"So, how did you remember me? Great memory?"

I heard her thoughts and cursed under my breath before her reply

"Well, Sara told me about you. She said you were her loyal dog so I can call on you anytime for whatever I need"

Damn that girl! In what way is that true?!

"That's a load of crap!"

"Hehe, I thought so.... She likes joking around a lot"

"More like her antics are far more trouble than getting haunted by a ghost"

Lia laughed a little, completely oblivious to the fact that I was completely serious— I guess her close friends don't get to see that side of her. Well, in Lia's case, she knows Sara can be scary but not how much.

Although, it's not like I'm an expert on the topic. Even I don't know where Sara O'Neil draws the line.

"Well, since you're here..... Could you help me with this boxes—"

"—I'm in a hurry so I'll respectfully decline"

"C'mon, please?! You won't let a fragile young maiden like myself carry all this, would you?"

She's definitely Sara's friend alright. I was tempted to still walk away but I'd rather avoid any unsavory rumors that could spread if I refused. I can't forget she is Sara's friend.

I stretched out my hands to take the boxes. Although, it was partly because I was curious about someone at the student council office.

Huh

If I hadn't reacted in time, I would've fallen to my knees, these boxes are heavy! With the way she was holding them I didn't expect them to be this heavy.

"H-Huh? Is it too heavy?"

"N-No.... I'm....fine"

I straightened my posture and lifted it with my full strength. There was no way I was going to embarrass myself there.

We started walking towards the student council office— her trying her best to make small talk and me lost in thought, thinking about the killer of our culprits.

Their killer left no trace, just like a ghost.... and like someone else during our investigation. This man was the mastermind of the entire shabang—

He helped Sean and Rory break out of prison, manipulating him into seeking revenge against the conmen and according to Sean and Lizard boy's thoughts, he was also the architect of their plan.

He also came up with the murder trick for killing William Munroe as well as introducing the culprit of that case to Suspect D.

Weirdly enough, he wasn't some Moriarty whose name gets dropped by his clients to assert dominance, he actually came up at least once during our investigation—

"We're here"

Lia told me, snapping me out from my thoughts. She was about to open the door to the student council room but I quickly pulled her behind me.

The door opened by itself and out came a guy running at top speed, he was quite tall with short black hair and rectangular glasses. Also, he slipped and fell on his face.

Lia quickly rushed to his side.

"Bruce, are you alright?!"

"Huh? Lia! I heard from Kyo that you went for the equipments by yourself! That was reckless, y'know. You should've waited for us"

"It makes me happy that you tried chasing after me, but I'm fine as you see. He helped me carry them"

She said, pointing at me.

The student council president and object of my curiosity, Bruce King got up from the floor, his intimidating aura radiating the hallway.

"Who's this?"

"Oh... He's from the occult research club, his name is—"

"—I'm kinda in a rush and these things are heavy so, if you could tell me where to put them, I'll be on my way"

I'd seen the object of my curiosity so it was time for me to get out before I get roped into any other chores.

"Sorry, let me help you with that"

The prez said, stretching his hand out to help me. Lia was trying to stop him for some reason though.

So this is the man Sara believed could solve the phantom of the locked room without difficulty.

The moment I let go of the boxes, he became one with the ground, Lightweight.

Well, what Sara believed in was his mind, not physical capabilities.

While it's true Liz wouldn't have had much difficulty with that case, she trained herself for detective work like a person possessed. That's not the case with the man before me though, aside from his presidential aura, he seems like your average clumsy otaku.

Does he really have so much natural talent that Sara could trust his abilities without question?

"I know you want to help out but just let us handle this"

Lia said to him with a warm, accommodating voice.

"Yeah, thanks"

We carried the box into the office, stacking them at the designated area. I took my leave after that.

"Thanks for helping out, occult researcher. However....."

Bruce King rearranged his glasses

"....Tell that blasted woman to report to here now or her club will be shut down!"

The blasted woman being Sara. Apparently, she's been skipping her report meetings with student council for about two months now. Aside from submitting written reports, she's expected to meet with the council once a week for a face to face report.

I left the council room to meet Sara— I had already confirmed her location beforehand since she was the one I was heading to meet originally.

On the way, I finally had time to completely process my thoughts.

The mastermind behind this case came up as a person of interest but had already erased all digital traces of his presence by the time we decided to look into him.

There were no clues to his identity aside from in the thoughts of his puppets— and he was disguised in all of them— a prison guard helping Sean and lizard boy escape... and—

To Munroe and D, he was the staff member who let D in the building. This felt like the cliche ending of a detective novel

The Butler Did It!

However, while we were mapping out Munroe's brother's movements, there was no trace of that butler on any of the cameras. The only proof he was there lies in the thoughts of his compatriots.

I had reached my destination, the music room. I'd been hearing a beautiful melody on my way here and confirmed that I couldn't hear the thoughts of the player.

I stood by the door and waited for Sara to finish.

"La Campanella, huh? That was actually.... Pretty good"

Amazing actually, but I couldn't bring myself to say that.

"I know right?! Even I surprise myself sometimes,fufu"

"Sure you do"

"It's quite unprecedented for you to come to me of your own accord. Did you need something?"

She asked with her signature mischievous smile.

"Your four eyed freak said you should get your butt over to the meeting"

Her grin instantly faded, and was replaced with puppy dog eyes after a few seconds

"Please can you tell him you didn't find me?"

"No"

"C'mon...pleeaase?"

"If you cancel my IOU, I might consider it"

"I see.... So that's the real reason you're here. *Sigh— I guess I'll be going to that meeting then"

Just like that?!

"You really want something from me that badly?"

"I wonder...?"

"So, what is it you want?"

"Fufu, I'll think on it for a bit"

"You gave me Liz's location for free in the morning but charged for it later, you wouldn't have done that if you hadn't already thought about it."

"...."

"I know you have something you want from me so just come out and say it"

Her mischievous grin was back on as she rested her head on the piano, looking straight into my eyes.

"I'll . Think . A . bout . It"

The light illuminating her figure from the back made her appear like something out of a fairytale— she was so beautiful, words couldn't describe—

"Fufufufuhahahah..... Your face is red as a peach, fufufufu"

—If only she'll shut up!

She got up from her seat and closed the piano. Talking about student council reminded me of something

"By the way...."

"Hmmm?"

"That note the student council VP gave you back then, what was it?"

"Oh that? It was a mission"

"A miss— wait, you don't mean...?"

"Yup. Someone witnessed an unnatural phenomena so he wrote about it in the suggestion box. Student council found it and asked us to investigate"

"I see.... I guess I can—"

"—Richard's handling it"

Rick huh? Guess I missed my chance to go. Sara was staring at me with an annoying smirk.

"Fufu, did you want to go?"

"Yeah, as if. I have enough on my plate"

"Whatever you say, loner boy, fufu. Well, I'll be going now before that four eyed freak blows a gasket"

She walked past me out the door.

"Sara"

"Hmm? What's up"

I had one last thing I wanted to confirm

"Were you involved?"

"In what?"

I turned to face her

"The Chameleon case. Were you in any way involved with those murders?!"

Her eyes got a little serious. From what I know, that butler didn't seem to have any reason to specifically help lizard boy enact his revenge. If I had to guess, lizard boy was just a diversion for something, but I don't know what that something could be.

"What makes you think I was?"

"This might just be me being paranoid, but while there are a number of people with split personalities, a case as refined as chameleon is a rarity."

"Hmmm?"

"His consciousness are independent, but they are unconsciously carrying out his bidding—the perfect counter to a mind reader."

"That is true"

If I let my imagination run wild, it might've even been a curse and not a mental condition. On top of that, his first killing spree was 5 years ago— shortly after I was cursed.

I briefed her on the butler before continuing

"Now, out of all the prisoners, why him?. It's almost like that butler specifically selected my kryptonite and as far as I know, the only ones who know the specifics of my curse aside from the witch who cursed me are Lizbeth Andrews..... and Sara O'Neil"

My statement was followed by a few seconds of awkward silence

"*Sigh— I had no part in that plot.... however, I knew what was going down"

I tightened my fist

"Calm down, I only caught wind of the plan is all.... That's why I asked you to look after Liz. I guess he anticipated I'll ask you and that's why he chose the chameleon"

So that was the reason behind her sincerity that day. I calmed down a little after that.

"Do you know who the butler is?"

"Yes, I do"

"Tell me!"

"Sorry, I can't"

The determination in her eyes told me she wasn't going to budge on that.

"We could have you arrested for obstruction of justice"

"You have no proof. After all, you didn't record our conversation because you thought I wouldn't admit to it easily, am I wrong?"

She was right. Still though, I can't afford to back down.

"You're wrong about that. I started recording before I even set foot in this room. I can't be too careful around you"

"I'm willing to bet that's a lie"

"Do you really want to bet jail time on that?"

Her psycho smile surfaced

"Yes, yes I do"

We stood in a staredown for about a minute or so.... She really was serious.

"*Sigh—fine, I was lying. However, since I did you a solid by helping Liz, the least you could do is cancel that IOU"

"Giving you Lizbeth's location on the morning of the 18th already covered that, I always pay back my debts"

He face returned to normal as she began taking her leave.

"Well, if that's all, I'll see you at club Adam"

"Actually, I won't be there today and neither will Liz"

She flashed her mischievous smile

"Oh? You two going on a date?"

"*Sigh— Far from it"

Seeing the expression on my face made her face turn a little glum. I guess she realized where we were headed.

"I see..."

She threw me a key

"That's the key to my motorcycle. Be sure to return it tomorrow"

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

"Good luck with that, both of you"

She said as she headed off in the distance.

Since I was done discussing things with Sara, I had no reason to remain in school that day.

I went home to change before meeting up with Liz who ditched school right after playing games with Rachel—the first time in years that I've worn a suit, and it's for something like this. I rode over to Liz's house on Sara's bike to pick her up.

"You're late"

The little detective said, dressed in a black gown, pearl earrings and wearing the choker I gave her.

"Sorry, things took a little longer than expected. Still though, this sweet ride should more than compensate"

Sara definitely had good taste in bikes. It was a black B*W R18 with red outlines on the rim and a cool sounding engine.

"You look weird riding that in a suit"

"Then I guess we're going to look weird together"

"Perv"

Her Mom pushed her from behind with a grin telling her to get on. She was definitely getting the wrong idea.

Liz reluctantly got on the bike and we arrived at the funeral soon after.

It was a funeral being held in honor of Alan Smith— a good father, husband, brother, friend and ace detective. The people in attendance ranged from his family, co-workers and friends to the the people who's lives he'd touched during his years of service. The large turnout proves just how loved he was—and how missed he would be.

Liz went to pay her respects to his family while I waited at the corner— they had known her since her attempted suicide and were like her second family.

I had no right to step into that. Especially after I let the only lead we had to catch the butler slip through my fingers. The raw grief and emotion coming from Alan's family and Liz cut through me like a knife.

I wonder what Alan would think as he looked down on my incompetence from the great beyond? Would he be disappointed? Or would he just brush it off telling us we tried our best? I wonder what thoughts went through his mind right before the chameleon took his life?

No, I can guess that much. He was probably worried Liz might get driven over the edge like she did in middle school and wished for someone to save her.

"You don't have to worry about her, old man. You can rest in peace now, your little detective will be just fine"

I muttered to myself while looking up at the sky, hoping my words would reach him somehow.

Once the service was over, people started dispersing after paying their final respects—two at a time, then three, four, five until the only ones left were Adam Graves and Lizbeth Andrews.

I stood behind her as she said her final goodbye

"Alan, I know I had a terrible way of showing it but.... I really am grateful for you and all you've done for me.....thank you for saving my life, thank you for showing me death wasn't the answer and thank you for giving me a reason to live....."

The tears she'd been holding back started dripping down her eyes

"So now.... please rest peacefully..... I promise to stand on my own two feet from now own so you don't have to worry about me anymore... I...*sniff....miss...you"

She dropped to her knees and began crying uncontrollably— there was no one else here to witness her pain, no criminal that needed to be caught today and no case that required her complete focus

So she could let out all her emotion for the man who meant the most to her one final time.

Alan, I might be contradicting myself here, but as she tries to walk on her own two feet into the future, please watch over her.

Over 30 minutes passed before she was ready to leave. I left about five minutes earlier because she needed a little time alone.

She came out, tears wiped off and a newfound determination welling up deep inside her.

This detective had been through hell, losing several people she cared about and seeing things people only dared to imagine, but she persevered..... And now here she is, at the starting line to seize her future.

"You ready to go, Holmes?"

"Yeah, Watson"

And thus we headed off, the engine's rev signaling a new chapter in our story.