11 An Odd Case

William gulped as he was too afraid to ruin his imagine more in Elena's mind. "It...it was you?"

Elena nodded as she emphasized 'frightened rabbit' clearly. "En. I'm the FRIGHTENED RABBIT."

William could only smile awkwardly. At this point, he didn't know what excuse should he speak. Although he did not know that it was her, it was still his mistake for describing her as a frightened rabbit. At the same time, he hoped that his image in front of her would not crumble down.

Elena looked at the man. In her opinion, his smile was so awkward that it reminded her a helpless puppy. Unable to withstand his expression, she softened as she consoled him smilingly. "That's fine. You didn't know me at that time."

William exhaled in relief. He replied, "En. Thank you."

None of them spoke after this. They kept silent until the end of the journey.

...

Siren of the police cars broke the silent night at a luxurious European style villa near the outskirt of Imperial City, the capital city of Z Country. It should be a desolate place but now, it was packed with people. Some reporters stood beyond the police line, not forgetting to turn on their camera and notes as they stared at the crime scene akin to pack of wolves that look at its prey.

An investigator, accompanied by two younger police officers were reporting their finding to their superior who was incidentally live in a resident area some kilometers away from the villa. "Sir, so far, there is no significant evidence left on this scene."

The superior asked in bewilderment. "There is not even one? Really?"

The investigator replied. "Ye sir. Only those near the victim's body that we can use as evidences. The villa is also clean. There is no oddity or something that can arouse our suspicion. It seems that the murderer immediately left after killing the victim."

"What about the sniffer dogs?" the superior asked.

This time, one of the younger police officers replied. "We also didn't find anything suspicious sir."

The superior asked again. "How about the trace like footprints?"

"There is no sir." replied the young officer.

"There's nothing suspicious? No trace?" The superior frowned as he stroke his chin with fingers. He had already involved in various criminal cases - he was an experience detective when it comes to crime. Most of the cases he handled, at least had one or two evidences that could be use to trace the perpetrator. He puzzled for a while, not because he had never seen this kind of case, but it was rather because it was a bit odd.

Two hours ago, heavy rain fell in the Imperial City. Police on duty at Imperial City Police Department suddenly got a phone call that report about missing person. Some police officers who happened to heard that confused. It was already midnight. Who would report missing person at this hour? They thought it would be a prank like usual so they paid no attention and lazed around. But, some minutes after the phone call, another phone call came in and reported a homicide that occured at a villa in the outskirt of Imperial City.

After listening to the phone call, one of the police officer directly contacted his superior and informed him about the case. He also notified the crime unit about the case. The superior directly ordered the crime unit to go to the scene.

When they arrived at the scene, they began the investigation. The superior arrived later than his subordinates. Just as he appeared, his subordinates reported their current findings to him.

The superior connected his subordinates findings with the actual situation. He found everything plausible, unless one, there was no footprints. He didn't believe that there was not even a trace. As the murderer went in and out, he would only used the front door as the other doors were locked. Moreover, the pathway connected to the front door had not been cemented yet. Rain had just poured down and the ground must be damp muddy. It should easily left a trace whenever someone stepped on it. But now, how could there was no trace? The superior asked again. "What about the identity of the victim?"

The investigator replied. "The victim was a male. His name is Shen Yu, 32 years old. He worked as a fashion designer."

"Have you contacted the victim's family?"

The Investigation said. "We have already contacted his family and surprisingly, one of his family members was the one that reported missing person."

"Missing person report? They were the one who reported the victim disappearance? When did they report it?"

"Yes sir. Several minutes before the phone call that informed us about this case." The Investigator answered truthfully.

The superior nodded and ordered. "Continue investigation and make sure you notice every single details. Do not miss it."

"Yes sir." The investigator went back and started to investigate some parts that hr had not investigated.

The superior, on the other hand, fall into deep contemplation. He was completely puzzled by the facts before him. It had just raining but there was no trace left on the muddy ground. How could the murderer go without trace? Why the victim's family only reported his disappearance at midnight? who was the dialer that reported the homicide at this place? and how could the dialer knew about the homicide as this place was desolate and not many people could come in or come out? There were still many questions in the superior's mind but he decided to push it to the back of his mind and continued the investigation.

...