Chapter 16

DEATH's headquarters, Eastwood

3:08 p.m.

"Yuki! How are you ?! You know, I just got back from the hospital, then I saw those two chicks at Sasha's party, Feralda and Minne ---!"

Even before Dan could finish what he was about to say, Nico quickly closed the door of his office. He can still hear Dan's faint voice from outside, blabbering about unimportant things. The young detective just sighed. "How could talk faster than high speed train?"

He wouldn't really be surprised if Dan could be blown away by his speech. This own words would choke him, and that isn't a very noble cause of death for a detective. Nico made a mental note to investigate whether it was possible or not. 'For now, I need to sort out some things.'

But when he sat in his swivel chair, his ringtone immediately disturbed him. Nico sighed and grabbed his phone, not bothering to check the caller ID. He already knew who it was. Why did he become a detective?

"Uncle X," Nico reluctantly answered the call.

"I changed the number. How did you know it was me?"

"Lucky guess. And no, I don't need to be a detective to figure that out. You're the only one who's always teasing me these past few days," he boredly put his feet on the table and leaned back in his chair. 'Great, now I have to deal with my control-freak uncle.'

The man on the other line chuckled. "Quite typical of you. Finish fixing the paperwork I gave you. That was last week."

"Do you have any evidence that I still haven't finished fixing my work, uncle?"

A sigh. "Nico Yukishito, I'm your uncle. I know for a fact that my nephew is the most disorganized and lazy creature in this goddamn side of the planet."

"That's not true."

"It is. I'll bet my company, the documents are scattered on your office floor again."

The detective grinned and tossed some folders that lay on his desk. The boring paperwork fell on the floor along with the others. 'I hate paperwork. I'm a detective! They should put me on the field more often. ' He would rather be 24/7 at crime scenes and hunt serial killers than understand DEATH papers.

"Nico," his uncle said in a warning tone.

Nico's smirk never left, "Maybe, maybe not."

Xavier Alcantara sighed again. He could almost imagine his uncle's frustrated expression, "Nico, you need to be responsible for things like this. There are other things beyond being a detective. You haven't even had a girlfriend yet!"

"Uncle X, I'm only 22. I don't think it's a requirement to have a flirtation. Besides, being a detective is my passion. I love this job more than I love coffee."

It was a long time before his uncle could speak. She felt something bothering her. "But what if ..."

"If?"

"No. Finish what I'm asking you to do. I need it by tomorrow."

Nico frowned and began to origami the documents in front of him. He can do this one-handed. "When did you come home to the Philippines?" He absent-mindedly asked while admiring the paper bird.

"You don't have to find out."

That was the only response of the CEO of DEATH before the call was finally turned off. Nico's eyebrows furrowed at his response. To his knowledge, his uncle was in the Bahamas. Someone is taking care of what. 'Then ...'

"Why does he use a local number?" Nico whispered while staring at the call log. His uncle used a local number. But just when he was about to use his detective skills again, a knock on the door caught his attention. Annoyed Nico approached the door.

"Dan, if you're gonna talk about nonsense again and ----"

Nico stopped and breathed out a sigh of relieve when Dr. Jimenez smiled at him. He even laughed a little, "Is Dan bothering you again? You look stressed now ah."

Nico went back to his desk and leaned there. Dr. Jimenez followed and sat in front of him, placing another set of folders on his table. The older man frowned when he saw the clutter on the floor. "Your uncle asked me to check-up on you, but it looks like you still have no plans to finish your paperwork. Very typical of you, Nico."

Nico closed his eyes. His head hurts again from what is happening now. At the same time, his uncle suddenly placed his responsibility as CEO on his shoulders. It didn't even say what he was up to abroad.

"I can't understand why he trusts me so much. If it's my apartment, I'm not fixing it, what about the company? Damn Sherlock. This is giving me a headache."

Nico hates it when people expect so much from him. Especially in things that he is not "forte" perhaps. He was born for crime scene investigations, criminal profiling, and chasing down killers --- not for paperwork, office supplies, and boring business matters!

Dr. took a deep breath. Eugene Jimenez. Later, he smiled at him and said, "Your uncle is an unusual man, just like you. You are both different, but that doesn't mean that you are not unique in your own ways. You are his nephew, so big he trusts you. Aside from that, you're our top detective. If you can't handle a little paperwork, how can you handle big serial killing cases? " After this speech, Dr. Jimenez took a gulp from his water bottle.

'He always has fresh water.'

If only it were possible, Nico would always have brought coffee to calm himself, but of course that's just impossible. No matter how much he loves coffee.

"Thank you, doc."

Dr. nodded. Jimenez, "How's the case you're handling? Or rather, how's your partner?"

Nico didn't miss that teasing tone in his voice. 'Back then, Scorpio was the teaser. Now, Dr. Jimenez? Sherlock! What is wrong with these people ?! ' Nico took a deep breath. He waved a hand dismissively, "My partner is as complicated as the case itself. Both are hard to solve."

The doctor laughed, "But you love puzzles, don't you?"

"Nah. I depends on what pieces I have," Detective Nico Yukishito started making origamis again, "and I have to admit, the Heartless Killer case is getting on my nerves. It's like having a jigsaw puzzle with a thousand pieces scattered in front of you. There are too many possibilities. We don't even know if Cassio Salvador is the killer or if it's a copycat crime and someone just wants to be famous. "

Then again, there is still some mystery as to what the motive of the serial killer was and how he was able to hide the evidence from the authorities.

This is one difficult case.

'Though, of course, there are more brutal killers. And now that I remember it, a similar serial killer does the same ... ripping out the hearts. '

Mikhail Popkov, or better known as "The Werewolf". A Russian serial killer and rapist who killed dozens of women between the years 1992 and 2010 in Siberia. He admitted killing 22 women. Most of his victims were "decapitated" or had their body parts removed. He broke the heart of one of his victims.

Authorities found the body of his victims, naked and lightly dumped in the woods, roadside, and cemetery.

In 2012, he admitted to police that he committed these crimes to "remove" prostitutes in their town.

Some suspect, Popkov did it to get revenge on his estranged wife.

"If we don't catch the Heartless Killer fast, who knows when we'll find another dead body?" Nico murmured and ripped the wings of his origami bird.

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