208 Final Practical Exam (2)
Vivian stood behind the innkeeper who was opening a door with a plate plastered on it "2-C".
Ka-cha!
When the door finally opened, both of them stepped inside the room and Vivian swept her gaze around.
The size, design and furniture were identical to room 3-C. The only two differences were that there was no stack of papers and pens on top of the desk and it was clean.
Vivian went over to the window, opened it and stuck her head outside.
Above she could see the window of room 3-C. Meanwhile, below was another window and the human dummy lying down on the street.
She pulled her head back and closed the window before turning to the innkeeper.
"Below this room is room 1-C, right?"
"Yes, Honored Crusader."
"May I check that room as well?"
"Of course, Honored Crusader."
***
Ka-cha!
Vivian and the innkeeper stepped inside room 1-C.
Everything is exactly the same as room 2-C…
She turned turned to the innkeeper.
"Do all the rooms look like this?"
"Yes, Honored Crusader," she said and nodded.
Vivian went over to the window, opened it and stuck her head outside.
Above she could see the windows of rooms 3-C and 2-C. Meanwhile, right in front of her was the human dummy lying down on the street.
She pulled back her head and closed the window before turning to the innkeeper.
"Is the rooftop accessible?"
As far as Vivian could remember, the rooftop had a flat surface.
"Yes."
"May I check it as well?"
"Of course, Honored Crusader."
***
Vivian and the innkeeper were climbing a staircase until they finally reached the rooftop.
"Nice view," Vivian said as she went over to the edge and glanced below.
I can see all three windows and the human dummy…
"Indeed, Honored Crusader," the innkeeper said and paused for a moment. "Sometimes when I'm bored, sad or just want to ponder about life I come here."
Vivian stepped back from the edge and turned to the innkeeper.
"Ponder about life?"
"Please forget about it. It's only my own silly thoughts."
Vivian shook her head.
"I don't believe that there's such a thing as silly thoughts. I believe that pondering or doing some introspection is one of the most important things that a person can do because it creates self-awareness."
"What do you mean, Honored Crusader?"
"In life, as we get older, we're constantly bombarded with responsibilities and problems so we don't have any time and energy left to think or even dream anymore which in the end makes us jaded.
"Compare that to children, everything is still new to them and they don't have any responsibilities and problems weighing them down. Because of that, every day when they wake up, they have a bright smile on their faces, excited about what new thing or things they could learn and experience."
"I guess you can say that, Honored Crusader…" said the innkeeper. "Honored Crusader, may I ask a personal question?"
"It depends on the question."
"What is it like being a Priest?"
Vivian looked at the innkeeper up and down.
So this person really isn't a Priest…?
Or is this part of the exam…?
"Hmm…" she thought about it for a moment. "If I were to answer truthfully, I'd say it has its good sides and bad sides, but mostly good."
For now…
"Thank you for answering my question, Honored Crusader," the innkeeper said and bowed.
"I have a question that I forgot to ask."
"What is it?"
"How come the victim sleeps in front of the main entrance? Is the main entrance locked at night?"
"It's locked for safety reasons."
"He doesn't have a spare key?"
"I gave him a spare key but he keeps losing it. And as a safety percussion, I changed the locks and told him that he could just knock instead."
"So this place isn't safe?"
"It's safe. But I'm a woman and I'm not a fighter."
"What about hiring people?"
"As you can see, this base that we're all living in isn't exactly open to the public so I can't afford to hire full-time workers."
"I see," Vivian said and nodded before noticing Blade or what she believed was Blade approaching from a distance. "My companion has arrived. I have to go talk to him."
"Yes, Honored Crusader."
***
Outside of Nora's Inn.
Vivian approached Blade.
"Brother Crusader Blade?"
"Sister Crusader Heliza, how's your investigation?"
"I discovered a few things, but I don't want to jump to conclusions just yet without hearing yours."
"Oh…"
In Blade's mind, since he was the first one who asked Vivian how her investigation was going, he was expecting her to tell him first about what she discovered.
"I learned that the victim's name is Juiles, a poet who currently lives in this inn run by a woman named Pearl."
He pointed to the inn right in front of them.
"Every night he goes to that tavern over there."
He then pointed at a building a few couple of meters away.
"It's run by someone called Drew and the victim drinks until he passes out because he believes that alcohol helps him write poetry. And they also said that it wasn't uncommon for him to be passed out drunk in front of this inn.
"However, it came as a surprise to everyone when they heard that he committed suicide by jumping off of a building and broke his neck upon landing. Because although he loves to drink, he wasn't the sad type to wallow in misery. Instead, he loves to share stories and laugh.
"But last night, when Juiles went to the tavern as usual, he rushed back to the inn around 10:00 p.m. to write poetry after telling everyone around him that he got hit with an inspiration and didn't want to lose it. He also didn't want to get scolded by Pearl."
"Pear is the owner of the inn, right?" asked Vivian.
Blade nodded.
"Yes. She closes the inn around 10:00 p.m. and locks all doors and windows, but she gave Juiles a spare key in case he comes home late. However, he keeps losing it and she hates it when he comes home late at night and knocks on the door to let him in so he just sleeps in front of the main entrance until she wakes up and opens the doors around 6:00 a.m. to sweep at the main entrance."
"Last night, did Juiles go home alone?"
"Yes."
"No one was with him like a prostitute or lover, or followed him like maybe he had some enemies?"
"I don't know about the prostitute and lover thing. All I know is that Juiles is known to be a person who loves to share stories and laugh. And so far, he gets along with everyone. There were also witnesses standing outside the tavern who saw him knocking on the door of the inn because he lost his spare key again before finally entering."
"So he was able to enter the inn last night?"
Blade nodded.
"Yes."
"You mentioned that there were witnesses standing outside the tavern that night?"
"Yes, some of the patrons love to stand and drink outside."
"I see."
"That's all I've gathered. What about you?"
Vivian recounted everything that the innkeeper told her.
"So the cause of death of the victim was suicide? But what made him want to commit suicide though? That's the part I don't get, considering his personality," Blade said and then glanced over at the Craft who was still on the side sitting on a bench and patiently waiting.
"I agree," Vivian said and went over to inspect the human dummy.
His neck is really slightly bent…
I've been wondering if this was a distraction…
But after hearing Blade's investigation, this dummy really did break their neck…
It wasn't a mistake…
She got up and turned to Blade.
"There's one piece I'm not yet sure of. Come, let's go talk to the innkeeper."
***
The door of room 3-C opened and Vivian, Blade and Pearl the innkeeper stepped in.
Vivian walked across the room.
"There's a few things that have been bothering me because they don't add up," she said before stopping and turning to Pearl. "And I hope you will help me confirm it."
"Anything, Honored Crusader. What is it?"
"How would you describe the victim?"
"Juiles is a poet who loves alcohol a little bit too much despite claiming it helps him write."
"How about his personality? Is he a mean person? A friendly person?"
"He's friendly."
"Can you tell me again how the victim committed suicide?"
"He jumped off of his room window and broke his neck upon landing. As for the reason, I have no idea."
"What time did he come home last night?"
"Around 10:00 p.m."
"You only have two part-time employees: One comes every morning to take out the trash, while the other one only comes here when there's something that needs to be fixed, right?"
"Yes," Pearl said and nodded.
"When was the last time the other one came here to fix something?"
"About two weeks ago. I had him fix one of the windows in the kitchen."
"Aside from you and the victim, there are no other people living here, right?"
"Yes."
"The victim doesn't have any family, friends, acquaintances and workmates, and the only people he talks to are the people at the tavern, right?"
"Yes."
"And last night, when the victim came home alone around 10:00 p.m., he was alone?"
"Yes."
"And when we first met, you mentioned that you didn't touch anything inside room 3-C ever since you discovered Juiles' body, right?"
"Yes."
Vivian went over to the window and opened it.
"Then why was this window closed when I got here? As a matter of fact, all windows in this building are closed."
Pearl's face turned pale behind her mask.
"I… I must've made a mistake… I'm still currently shocked by what happened and this is my first time seeing someone who committed suicide… He probably must've jumped off from the roof after coming home last night…"
Wow…
She's really acting her ass off…
"Really now? But you know what's funny? My companion went to the tavern that the victim frequents at and was able to learn a few interesting things.
"Apparently, you like to lock all of the doors and windows around 10:00 p.m. and you gave the victim a spare key in case he comes home late. However, he keeps losing the key you gave him and you hate it when he comes home late at night and knocks on the door to let him in so he just sleeps in front of the main entrance.
"And last night, he rushed back home around 10:00 p.m. to write poetry when he suddenly got hit with inspiration at the tavern. There were even witnesses outside the tavern who saw him knocking on the door before finally entering.
"And when we were at the rooftop, you also mentioned about changing the locks because you're afraid of living alone as a woman but can't afford to hire a full-time employee.
"Now, either you're lying and murdered Juiles or he did jump out of the roof and committed suicide."
Vivian turned to Blade.
"What do you think?"
"I believe there's another way to prove if Juiles committed suicide or not," Blade said before heading over to the stack of papers on top of the desk and began skimming through them. "People don't commit suicide out of the blue. If a person has any suicidal thoughts, they would leave or sprinkle some clues behind. Fortunately, Juiles is an artist, or to be specific, a poet, so we can easily see his inner thoughts in his poems. And if we couldn't find any hint of suicidal thoughts on them, then it could only mean he was most likely murdered."
And after a minute or two, he stopped and looked over at Vivian and Pearl.
"I found a few poems and notes about heartbreak and sadness, but nothing about suicide."
"No, wait!" Pearl said and held out her hand. "Maybe Juiles went downstairs in the middle of the night and let someone in secretly while I was asleep and that person pushed him out of the roof!"
Vivian turned to Blade who shook his head.
"The tavern closes around midnight and all of the patrons will be kicked out. And those who are too drunk to go home would be left sleeping on the sidewalk. So we can't say for sure if he let someone in secretly in the middle of the night and was murdered by that person. We could ask, but there isn't any time left."
Vivian turned to Pearl.
"First you said that the victim committed suicide by jumping out of the window and you didn't touch anything inside this room. But that wasn't possible because the window was closed.
"After that, you said that the victim committed suicide by jumping out of the rooftop. But my companion here didn't find anything that could indicate that he had any suicidal tendencies. On top of that, back at the tavern, the victim is known to be someone who loves to share stories and laugh.
"And now you're saying that the victim must've let someone in secretly in the middle of the night while you were asleep and was murdered by that person.
"As far as I'm concerned, you've been very inconsistent with your story, innkeeper."
"That's…!" Pearl said and took a step back.
"So we've solved the case?" asked Blade.
Vooom!
"Aiiieeey…!"
Chud.
Vivian suddenly turned into a blur and arrived in front of Pearl, startling her and causing her to almost trip and fall down to the floor but Vivian caught her arm.
Even Blade was surprised by Vivian's speed.
Hmm…
She's not fighting back…?
Vivian only used about 50% of her speed in order to catch Pearl off guard in case she tried to do anything suspicious or a fight might break out.
"You're under arrest as the primary suspect for the murder of the human dummy called Juiles and would need to go to the Temple for further questioning. I suggest you cooperate peacefully or we would be forced to use the necessary actions."
********************
********************
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
By the way, I posted some Chapter Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. And to view them, you can read them at…
https://www.patreon.com/Immortal_Shades
There, you will have access to the Chapter Drafts for $5 a month.
Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when those said Chapter Drafts will be published here, there will be some edits. They also involve a few secret outline notes/details that I won't publish here because they contain spoilers or dispel some of the mysteries. And at the moment, Chapter Drafts 268-272 are posted there.
I would like to give my special thanks for this month's Patrons:
•
Thank you once again and I will see you in the next chapter.
