1 The First Case

Nicholai's POV

My twin and I are at the rest house here in the place called Batangas, the venue was owned by the family of Ava Tolentino, a nature painter. My sister just forced me to go with her even if I told her that I don't want to. Do you know how did she make me agree to go with her? It is a ridiculous scenario a while ago.

Flashback hours ago.

"Please, Lai! Come with me! You don't have anything to do here today!" Lette shouted at me, my twin sister.

"I will just read some mystery novel! Go on your own!" I answered her back and turned my back from her.

"Tsk. You don't wanna go? I just want to inform you that I am sensing something strange there!" she mockingly says to me. What a con artist woman.

I cannot take her words lightly because I knew her since the day we were born and if she said somethings is strange, there's is, strangely. From what I remembered, I think she just failed one time of it not it is because of pre-meditated activity and not a natural one. So, I guess, yes, she hasn't failed any predictions ever. Anyways, I haven't introduced myself to you all, I am Nicholai Ascania and she is my twin Nicholette, we are fraternal twins.

"*Sigh* Okay fine! Just be sure the thing you're sensing is just a real case and not just some dupe situations" I said then went into the bathroom to fix myself.

"You little devil! How could you wish someone be dead right now?" she answered back but I did not waste any effort to answer her back.

Flashback ends.

And! Just like that, she made me agree to come with her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" all of us were shocked by the sudden shriek from a certain lady not that far away from us.

"What happened?!" I asked her immediately, then she slowly points her finger like she's telling me to look at it.

"Lai." I looked at the way that my sister is looking, and I saw a man collapsed on the slippery floor, unconsciously. I looked at him closely and realized that he is Jacob Jimenez, a novelist and also one of the invited attendees of this party.

I hold his wrist and check for his pulse but unfortunately, he is already a cold corpse lying on the cold marble tiles of the bathroom.

"Call the police," I ordered and scan the crime scene.

I saw Lette coming out from the bathroom of the room, and asked her, "What did you saw there?" she shook her head saying like she did not saw any wrong there.

"His head is the only part having a deep wound and some hint of blood. If ordinary police saw the corpse, he will just say that this case was an accident" she whispered to me. After some time, I heard the police siren, a sign that they are here now.

I go back to the bathroom and look at the things Lette said to me, she's right, there is blood and a bar of soap on the floor. If you at it lightly, you will be convinced that this scene is an accident scene. I scan the place closely and noticed something, looks like this case is not an accident. I approached the other 3 attendees, they are Mariel Somah, Ava Tolentino, and Ravean Evans.

"Nicholai! The accident happened at 5:30 pm." Lette said to me.

"What do you think happened here? Any deductions?" I asked her.

"I already knew the culprit by the motive is still unknown to me. If what am I thinking is correct, it is very a small issue between them, after all, I heard their confrontation because of a certain novel." She explained.

"Novel? What is the relation of a fictional story with this crime?" I asked her. She went close to my ear and whispered,

"I will tell you later, calm your horses missy." She mockingly said to me. I glared at her and she just laughs it off.

"Psycho." I just whispered under my breathe.

"Just for the formality of the investigation, tell me your whereabouts when the crime happened." Says the police detective in charge.

"I was alone in the garden looking for any inspirations and just hurried back inside when I heard her scream." Mariel said having still a horrified look on her face.

"While me, I was preparing for dinner, then went upstairs to call the members, and then.. then I saw him like that." Ava said between her sobs.

"I was just inside my room from the moment our lunchtime finished, I was just watching anime with high volume, that is why I didn't hear any strange noise." Ravean said.

"I was at the kitchen with my twin, Lai, and Ava, that's when Ava decided to call them." Lette said to him.

"Okay, thank you for your cooperation, I just want all of you to go inside the lounge area and wait for our orders because from this point, you are all suspects of this crime." The inspector firmly said to us.

"W-wait! Suspects? I thought this was just an accident?" Ava asked cluelessly. I showed a sudden smirk on my face because of her dumb reaction.

"And by that, I would like to announce that I know who is the culprit." I proudly said to them. It is so fun looking at different reactions whenever I said something like this.

"Culprit? How would you know that?" the police asked.

"Oh, I think we haven't introduced ourselves to all of you. I am Nicholai Ascania and she is my twin Nicholette, we are Lucille's twins." I said, from that, I saw the police's reaction, he's in huge shock.

"But to answer your question, this is not an accident, there is no accident unless someone did it." Lette added.

"That's correct, if you look at the crime scene, you will immediately be thought that Jacob just slipped and find his way into the other side of life, but there's something wrong with it."

"Let me ask all of you, who among you would've stupidly stepped on a wet soap when you know you're going to slip because of it?" I added

"Maybe, he did not just notice the soap on the floor." Mariel suggested.

"Then, let me ask you, darling, why is the soap on the floor was wet when he already put on his undergarments and wardrobe? Am I the only one slow here or are you just dumb?" I sarcastically said to her which made her shut her mouth.

"This was just a ridiculous set-up made by the culprit to con your ideas on it. Am I right Ms. Ava?" I continued.

"W-wait! Why are you asking me that?" she asked.

"Come on girl, she was just asking for your opinion, no offense." Lette jokingly said.

"But! What happened is so simple than you think, right Mr. Ravean Evans?" I asked him directly.

"Actually, he is already dead at 1 pm after every one of us went upstairs after lunch. You followed him into his bedroom and that's when you execute the crime. You tried to stab him while his back was in front of you but because he has fast reflexes, I think because he is a martial artist, he sensed your attack then defended himself from you. But being an aggressive type of murderer, you are not satisfied until you succeed in your dark plans." I explained.

"Your physical confrontation lasts for some minutes until you saw the wine bottle, you struck his head some time and when you felt that he cannot defend himself, you strangled him with your leather belt and then injected him the tetrodotoxin." Lette continued.

"Tetrodotoxin?"

"Tetrodotoxin is a drug got from a certain kind of fish, a pufferfish. You learned that this drug can fake the death of a person but you did not know that this is a poison. After you injected the drug, you left his room like nothing happened, at all."

"You went back in his room to check on his condition, or just for assurance he can still be alive, but it's not. You learned his death and because you felt shocked and horrified by your own doing, you mindlessly bumped his head into the corner of the bathroom sink and fixed your props for it."

"You splashed water at the floor to look it like he was just finished taking his bath, put the wet soap on the floor, and changed his clothes. But you really are the stupidest murderer I've ever seen, why did you not think of wetting his hair too?"

"Now, Mr. Evans are we correct or not?" Lette asks.

"That is not true! You don't have any evidence! How can you say that I am the culprit?!" he deliriously shouted.

"Evidence? Don't you worry, we do have that." Lette said which left him unable to speak.

"Looks like this petal of a flower was came from your clothes after you went to the garden, this happened when you strangled him."

"Just because of that darn petal you pointed me as the culprit? How about Mariel? She said that she was at the garden until Ava screamed." He said.

"Then, let's talk about why both of you were at the garden? You went back inside and Mariel just waited at the garden?" I suspiciously asked.

"What do you want me to say?"

"The garden is so huge, there is a certain place for flowers, for garden chairs and for viewing the lake, with the places I've mentioned, where at the garden you are in? I was thinking if you need some land to buried something? Like broken glass where the drug is kept?" and with that, the police ordered the constables to search for the flowerbed in the garden.

"Oh, if you are still confused, I just want to borrow your belt, I would like to measure the width of the strangle mark on Jacob's neck and maybe if this little metal also came from it." Lette said and bring out the little metal that caused Jacob's nape to be wounded.

"This is ridiculous! What motive do I have to kill him?" Ravean desperately asked.

"Then, maybe you should ask your girlfriend Ava, maybe she knew it all along." I said. He looked at him and Ava avoided his gaze.

"I-I don't know anything…" she quietly answered.

"OH COME ON AVA! You are in a relationship with him!!!" Lette dashed. I looked at her like telling her how can she say that. She just released a deep sigh and look at them.

"I am so done with him!! Ungrateful devil! It started when my novel should be the one which is going to be published, I talked with the editors and the company about it. But one day, the managing editor called me saying they will pull off the plan."

"I am okay with it it's just that it such a waste. But! I heard rumors saying that Jacob bribed the company to let his work be published, he approached me and has the guts to offer me a bet, whether my work will be up for publicity or not. If not, i-if not, he will take Ava away."

"I don't want that to happen! I know his influence in this industry that is why I felt so intimidated. That's why I did it…" he confessed. I saw Ava crying silently, I can feel her remorse but I cannot also forgive her, such a witch.

"You killed him just for that petty reason?!" I yelled. I understand their anger, yes, but I cannot understand why they chose to kill somebody and that will only lead them to their real downfall.

"You don't understand anything! You're just a big talker but you have no idea what this means to me." He insisted.

"I might not understand what you feel but I'm not dumb like you! Don't you know Jacob and Ava had a relationship? Not just behind your back but just from the beginning, before you knew her." Lette shouted. Whoa! Looks like my twin is in rage right now. I saw his reaction, he's beyond shocked.

"Y-you're joking right?" he looked at Ava who's still crying, but she still not saying anything.

"I just followed what he ordered to me, he said that our future will be secure if his work will be the one being published in that company. He said that he wanted me to seduce you to know what are your plans with it. I am sorry, I didn't know it will result in this mess." She finally said anything. Ravean did not say anything in return, instead, he asks us.

"Hey, when did you start being suspicious of me?" he asked in his tired voice, with that question I smiled.

"Jacob, do you know that Ava's family is a nature lover? And within this resthouse, electronics are not allowed. Haven't you noticed? They only have televisions and other needed appliances but not for pleasure or anything. You have no way to watch anime in this kind of place as there were no DVD players or internet if you're lying about the CDs you brought." I answered plainly, with that he looked around and his eyes were accepting his defeat.

"But! I swear I saw.."

"It's just a sound system, it is used to play music through CDs but can't watch movies from it. So, we thought you're the one who did it" Lette answered.

"Just because of that statement you made me the suspect? How stupid of me!" he said between his empty laugh. Police approached him and cuffed both hands.

"Ravean... I-I'm sorry..." Ava said while still crying. Just wondering how many tears can she make tonight? Hmm.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Ava.. I just love you.." he said to her then walked away with the police.

We are just looking at their back while going out of the room, followed them until they make their way out of the rest house. Police cars' siren was silent but still colorful, a sign that another culprit was apprehended under our division.

"I told you! I sensed something." Lette proudly said to me.

"Yeah Yeah! c'mon let's go home! Come with us, Mariel." Mariel nodded and we finally went inside our rooms to pack for our things, we will go home the first thing when morning breaks.

What a tiring day.

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