A New Case! The Mystery of Mask-Or-Raid! Part 2

I pulled out my magnifying glass and began searching around and taking notes as I searched. Mari searched another part of the area with Sophia. I put my magnifying glass away then wrote some more notes down. I turned around then noticed a door. I walked towards the door and opened it. I saw stairs leading down to the basement and noticed how messy it was. I heard muffled yelling and I followed the sounds. I saw a woman tied up and I was surprised. I immediately untied her and she sat up quickly.

"Ugh! Thank you for helping me! I don't know how much longer I had down here." The woman said.

"You're welcome..er...What happened to you?" I asked.

"Mask-Or-Raid happened!" The woman said.

"Mind telling me your name?" I took out my notebook.

"My name is Maria Andrews. I am a guard for the Caelfall Museum and I was tied up by Mask-Or-Raid!" Maria said.

I began writing her name and occupation down. She's a key victim to the Mask-Or-Raid incident. I tapped the pen against the notebook then looked at her.

"Can you relay what you saw?" I asked.

"Gladly." Maria nodded.

[What I Saw on the Day of the Incident]

"So at exactly 1 AM, I heard the door opened while I was down in the basement securing the Urn of Kazai and checking the security cameras then I saw Mask-Or-Raid rush me with a wooden pole! They clobbered me on my head and I was knocked out. I woke up tied up and with his calling card. I noticed the Urn was gone and I couldn't do anything." Maria said.

I nodded then knew Maria's testimony was spot on. I just needed to get more evidence that will further back up her claim.

"You said you were on security and checking cameras. Can you show me what you were checking the cameras on?" I asked.

"Yes of course!" Maria stood up and I stood up as well. She led me towards the office of the basement where the computer equipment was at. I walked towards the computer and began typing on the keyboard.

"Maybe Mask-Or-Raid isn't as perfect as we think." I said under my breath. "If I'm correct you can control the cameras from here..."

I clicked a button and a flash happened in the room then I spotted the camera. I nodded and went to the footage that happened on today at 1 AM. As I reviewed the footage I stopped it at one particular part and focused on his glove. The center of his hand was glowing and I stood up straight and placed a hand on my hip and rubbed the back of my head.

"What is that..?" I asked under my breath. "His hand is glowing."

"Is there anything wrong Detective?" Maria asked.

"Hold on." I took out my phone and called Sophia. "Hello? Yeah Sophia? Can you and Mari come down to the basement really quick, I need you to clarify something. Okay, thank you."

About 6 minutes later, Sophia and Mari came down to the basement and into the office. I looked at them and they looked at me.

"We might have a key breakthrough. This security footage. Mari I was hoping you could help me on this since you're beyond human basically. You see his hand right? Why is it glowing?" I pointed at the screen.

Sophia got into her thinking position and had her hand over her mouth looking at the screen. Mari tilted her head and thought. She puffed her cheeks and squinted.

"Mmmm...I dunno!" Mari said with a bright smile.

"Urk! Wha-- Mari let's be serious here!" I looked at her.

"I am serious...I don't know why his hand is glowing like that. I haven't seen anything like it before. I am a Psychic not a Supernatural Expert." Mari said. "We might have to ask Mama about it."

"Olivia. I wonder if she's investigating the case as well." I thought.

"I think I may have an idea." Sophia said.

"Hm?" I looked at Sophia.

"What if there's something under the glove. In Ancient History there have been said that some people have special markings they use to control people...ugh what was it called..?" Sophia said then thought about what they were called.

"Maria, do you mind if we take this security footage and do further examination on it?" I asked.

"No, by all means go ahead. If you think it'll help in your investigation then go ahead." Maria stepped back.

Sophia handed me a USB and I inserted it into the PC and began downloading the footage. After 2 minutes, the download was completely and I took the USB out. I looked at the USB and closed my eyes. I gave Maria my number and told her if there was anything else she shouldn't hesitate to call me then I left along with Mari and Sophia.

"Did you two find anything as well?" I asked.

"Yes, but we must head back to the Department first. It's serious." Sophia said.

"Alright." I nodded.

September 16 5:57 PM

Holmes Detective Dept.

Office

I sat in my chair and plugged the USB in my computer then Sophia set the evidence folder down then opened her coat and pulled out more items. Mari pulled out a key. Sophia leaned against the chair, placing her hand on the desk. Mari had her hands on the arm of the chair and looked at the evidence.

"A key?" I asked.

"Mhm! He must've forgotten the key. My guess is that a hidden defense mechanism was activated and he rushed out of the area." Mari said.

"Did you put gloves on before touching anything?" I asked.

"Always!" Mari hopped up and down excitedly and smiled.

"A minor item but anything helps at this point. I found items that looked like he was in a bit of a struggle. A bent plastic sword, a block, and most importantly...a bullet." Sophia said. "Someone died on that day!"

Sophia slammed her hand on the desk. I held her hand and had a sweat droplet roll down my cheek.

"Save the desk abuse for the court room." I said. "Besides how can you be so sure that someone died that day?"

"The bullet has some dried blood on it and there was tape on the ground reenacting the body that was found. In the report the person who claimed to have died is named Mary del Rose." Sophia said.

"W-What?!" I stood up. "Mary del Rose?!"

"Eh?!" Sophia looked at me surprised. "Did you know her?!"

"A-Aunt Alice?" Mari looked at me.

Three years ago she played the victim in the Senior Mock Trial...now she's the ACTUAL victim of a real crime! I took out my phone and dialed a number quickly.

"Hello?! Stefan-" I paused and noticed he hung up. I looked at my phone and got a call from Erika then answered and put it on speaker. "Hello?"

"You might wanna come to the Detention Center...We got a suspect." Erika said.

"Alright." I said then hung up. "Mary...who would do this to you..?"

I closed my eyes and exhaled then looked at the Ziploc bag with the bullet inside. I thought I could get some answers if I brought the bag. I grabbed the bag and left the office. Mari and Sophia followed me and we went towards the Detention Center.

September 16 6:15 PM

Randall Detention Center

"I'm innocent I tell you! I didn't do a thing!" A male said.

"Shut up!" Erika slammed her hand on the table and glared. "Your finger prints perfectly match the prints on the gun you used to kill Mary del Rose! You are Mask-Or-Raid!"

"I'm not I swear on it!" The male said.

I walked in the room and saw Erika and...Stefan behind the glass. I looked at them and Stefan looked at us. He looked away and closed his eyes.

"Stefan Mongolia is the prime suspect for the death of Mary del Rose! He will be booked for trial and be brought to justice!" Erika said.

"Erika calm down. Before we arrest him, we gotta make sure he's even the correct person." I said in a calm voice. I set the Ziploc bag down with the bullet inside and slid it through the opening and looked at Erika. "Before we make any accusations..make sure the bullet matches the gun."

"M-Mmph...fine.." Erika grabbed the bag and left the room.

"Stefan.." I sat down and looked at him. "Look at me. Were you at the scene of the crime?"

"I...I was, but I would never hurt my wife in such a way! I loved Mary with every inch of my life!" Stefan looked at me with tears in his eyes.

"I believe he's telling the truth." A woman stepped in my side of the interrogation room.

We looked at the woman and Mari smiled happily and hugged her tightly.

"Mama!" Mari said excitedly.

"Olivia...how can you be so sure that he's innocent?" I asked.

"Stefan is also a victim to the crime. He was framed." Olivia said and rubbed Mari's head.

"Framed?" I rose an eyebrow.

"Framed by Mask-Or-Raid themselves. I did some investigating on the matter also and I can vouch that Stefan was nowhere near the location Mary died. He happened to appear there the moment she was at her dying moments then Mask-Or-Raid threw the gun at him once the alarms were called. It's all on security camera. We can use that evidence to further prove his innocence." Olivia said.

"Alice, please...Please be my attorney! I can't go in the gutter for something I didn't do! I didn't steal anything nor kill Mary!" Stefan said.

I believe him mainly because the urn was gone when Stefan was caught. I guess they found the gun later when we got done investigating.

"Hey Olivia." I looked at my sister.

"Hm?" Olivia looked at me.

"You're knowledgeable in the Supernatural right?" I asked.

"I am a Spirit Medium, so I know about it. Why?" Olivia asked.

I pulled out a picture and showed it to her. It was the picture of Mask-Or-Raid before assaulting Maria. It showed his hand and the blackest part of the black and white image was the glowing of the hand.

"Hm. Mask-Or-Raid has Command Seals..." Olivia said.

"Command Seals? Is that what they are called?" I looked at the picture.

"When you use a command seal, one marking disappears and stops glowing. Here's the catch, they will leave a permanent imprint on your hand." Olivia said and showed her hand. "I have Spirit Seals that are like Command Seals. Command Seals leave a red imprint while Spirit Seals leave blue. Psychic Seals leave a green imprint."

{New Information Gathered!}

I nodded and looked at Stefan. He looked back at me and rose an eyebrow.

"Show me your left hand." I said.

Stefan showed me his left hand then turned it around to where I can see the back of his hand. There were no markings on his hand, therefore further proving he's innocent. Mask-Or-Raid has Command Seals...but the issue is does he still have them? I saw Erika come back in the room and she set the bullet down.

"It matches the murder weapon." Erika said.

"Erika before you book a trial for Stefan, I would like to do more investigating! Please wait okay?" I stood up.

"You get only one day before I book a trial." Erika said.

"Thank you!" I bowed. "Alright let's go!"

"H-Hey! Wait up!" Sophia ran after me.

"Bye mama! Love you!" Mari followed us.

Olivia smiled and crossed her arms then looked at Erika. Erika looked at her and frowned a bit.

"You're confident that Stefan is Mask-Or-Raid huh?" Olivia asked.

"I am. I've never been wrong before and I won't start now!" Erika said.

"You might wanna do more investigating as well...the world is full of deceit." Olivia said.

Erika scowled and slammed her hand on the table and looked at Olivia. The air was getting tense between the two and Olivia snapped her fingers and smirked.

"I'm right. I've been a detective longer than you have, I know all the tricks." Olivia said.

"Then why aren't you taking down Mask-Or-Raid?" Erika asked.

"Because I want the new generation to grow. Why don't you think my father isn't interfering? The newer Generation has to get better at their jobs. I believe in my sister...she has the witts of our father and the problem solving skills like our mother. She just has to enhance her skills." Olivia said. "Word of advice: Sometimes your closest ally is your worst enemy."

Olivia left the room and Erika watched. She stood up straight and looked at Stefan.

"My closest ally...is my worst enemy..? What does she mean by that..?" Erika thought to herself.