Nsfw Archivist(4 days ago)

"Ghost's assets?" I asked taking some interest.

"This ring," He said while picking up the packet. "Hold some prestige on the beholder."

Astonished, I looked at the ring and enquired, "How do you know such an insider's secret, Jake?"

He again opened another cabinet of his drawer and slammed a magazine on the table. He took it, flipped through the pages and stopped when he found the one he needed.

He passed the book to me and tapped on a certain faded painting.

"Don't they look the same?" He said referring to the ring.

"Indeed, but what if it is a duplicity?"

"It is not a duplicate," He paused for a moment but without my reply, he continued, "This ring has the marks of devil's believer but the smiths of Hazael's aren't allowed to promote anti-god. Of course 'Ghost City's smiths are an exception."

"So you want to convey that the who girl was shot was a member of Ghost City?"

"No, but there's another big reveal." He said. 

"And what's that?" I asked.

When I say my day is going to be good, it implies how the mysteries in a case get complicated like a tangled wool. But geniuses (mantle) like me and Jake liked to untangle the threads one by one until they were settled.

Therefore Jake looked almost excited when he replied to my former question, "The lady's name is Lauren and she is the daughter of the Import Officer." 

BAM!!

He slammed the desk so hard that I needed to back a few inches.

"Doesn't it all make sense now!"

"It does!" I nodded my head while looking at the ring.

Having the Import Officer's daughter on their hold, wasn't it a great opportunity for the Ghost City to import mutilates and ammonium nitrate without the fear of getting caught? 

"But then why did he kill her?" He questioned aloud.

"I put my probability on an argument broke out due to rejection of the import proposal--"

"Again, another question arises, why did that person leave his ring there, that too on the railing of the bridge?"

"Maybe he thought he could retrieve it?"

"Or is it some trap?" He looked at me and I returned his gaze. The morning birds chirped their songs on the window and flew off as saw the tense and silent situation in the room.

___

Jake and I sat in the investigation room with the import officer Mr. Unhole, Lauren's father.

"Did Ms. Lauren have anybody close with whom she could've got there?"

"She was engaged, Sir. And her fiancé is a businessman. He barely has any time for her." Mr. Unhole answered. It felt illegal to interrogate a father who lost his daughter just a night ago.

Furthermore, it felt more wrong to stop the funeral for the post-mortem report.

While Jake asked the man questions, I noted them in my notebook.

"What was her fiancé's name?"

"Gilbert Giloid," He said. My hand which was writing in full speed paused in the mid way. I lifted my eyes to look at Jake and saw him too looking at Mr. Unhole with a look of shock.

"You mean engaged to his son?" I asked to clarify.

"No, engaged to Gilbert himself."

"What's your daughter's age?"

The man on the other side of us remained quiet as if calculating his answer. But eventually, he replied, "She was 19."

Gilbert was an old hag of 65 and he was engaged to a lady of 19?

I gasped audibly and Jake shook his head.

"I am sorry beforehand but do you think your daughter was having an affair with somebody else?" Jake looked pissed. The good mood he had in the morning disappeared like the sun in the west and mine became worse.

"Yes, I think she had. With the newspaper boy."

"From which press?

"Malini Press."

"Please fill in your house address on this form," I handed him the paper to note his house address. "Don't worry, this will remain confidential."

After writing the address, he handed me the paper and Jake asked him, "Do you remember his face?"

"I personally don't, sorry. My wife might have met him but I don't think it's the best time for you to interrogate her."

"I understand, and thank you for your collaboration Mr. Unhole. I request you to keep your schedule free because we may call you at any moment. And I promise, we will not disappoint you, we will try our best to give Lauren the justice she deserves."

Saying so, Jake got up from the seat and I followed behind him, leaving the man alone in despair. Even though it sounds cruel, I believe he deserved it, but his daughter didn't.

But before we could get out of the room, we heard the man say, "Sir, actually there's another thing that I'd... I want to say"

From his voice, it was clear that he was hesitant and nervous.

"What is it?" Jake asked.

Mr Unhole protrudingly looked at me and hesitated to proceed further. Calculating the situation I felt something was amiss. He seemed to be uncomfortable to say whatever in my presence. I felt wise to stay out of it and said, "Lieutenant Jake, I will wait outside."

He understood the underlying meaning and consented me to go out of the investigation room.

Ten minutes later, they both came out of the room and I went to Jake.

"Detective Bright, I am going with Mr Unhole for further investigation. You are assigned to identify the newspaper boy." He said and went out without revealing their secret conversation. His mood looked gore and his face looked more determined. I guess, something is very serious.

I didn't question him further and saluted to his departure. After he left, I went to the official ward to meet Gale.

Near to the ward, I heard a subtle chitter-chatter going inside. I directly didn't go inside but decided to get a sneaky look, which was officially a rude manner. But the scene inside behold quite a tea.

All the high officials were seated in a circle with a coffee mug in their hand, and listening to the gossip being shared by one of them as if they were on a coffee date rather than in their office.

"Did you know, Lieutenant Gray and Sergeant Flora were having quite a lovely~ moment in the archive room!" Said the Archivist Pat, laughing giddily to the unsaid word which everyone could detect and unfortunately I heard him. Disturbingly, he went on to describe the scene between them.

I opened the uncreaky door and entered the room.

Noticing me his coffee comrades were indicating to him of my arrival but of course, when you have a full load of shits on your stomach, do you care about the outer world?

"Good morning one and all present over here!" I said cheerfully and announced 'not safe for work' archivist my arrival.

Thankfully, the archivist stopped and I stated my original concern, "Sergeant Gale, I need your help,"