Chapter 3

"Briannova Carlos."

Nico repeated the name of the girl sitting opposite him. "I should've known that you're a girl." She sighed and watched the waiter as they laid their order on the table. It's only been a few minutes since they've met, and the young detective already concluded that she's trouble.

"Is there a problem if I'm a girl? I wasn't informed that you DEATH agents are judgmental."

The young man frowned. "That's not what I meant, Nova."

The woman stopped sipping tea and quickly turned to him. Her eyes narrowed. "What did you just call me?"

"Nova," Nico shrugged, "or would you like me to call you 'Brian', instead?" He's teasing here.

Nova stopped talking and continued sipping tea. Nico reluctantly swirled the tea before gently removing it from himself. He doesn't like tea.

When Nova lowered her cup, "Looks like you don't like tea."

"Never did, never will."

He just nodded and picked up a brief case. Nova looked around first to make sure no one could hear their conversation. Fortunately, other customers have already left the area.

"The sooner we catch that killer, the better. Look, I know how awkward it feels to have a partner from the opposing agency but we can't do anything. HELP asked for the help of SHADOW and DEATH, so let's expect the case to be even more complicated. it's more than they think. "

"First of all, I need to know your motive for accepting this case, Ms. Carlos." Nico leaned back on the sofa, eyes assessing her, "I'm in it for the entertainment. You?"

"Money."

"I thought so. Let's talk about the case."

The girl scratched the contents of the brief case again. It brought out a handful of folders and several envelopes. It was busy arranging the papers on their desk while speaking, "The victim of the Heartless Killer ---"

"Heartless Killer?"

"That's what the authorities call him." Nova hid her irritation, "as I was saying ---"

"Covaline Perez, 23 years old. Last seen shopping at a convenience store, three corners away from her residence on Tuesday, 7:45 p.m. Her cousin Miranda Perez was found dead inside her apartment on Friday, February 22, 1:10 p.m. Submerged in the bath tub and bathed in her own blood.Livor mortis found behind her thighs and legs, her skull cracked, and chest cavity destroyed.Her heart is missing.No vaginal penetration, signs of forced entry, or struggle. Analysis from the lab concluded that she was most likely killed earlier that week. "

Nova immediately stopped plowing and Nico looked up. She expected him to have a file copy of the case, or at least the autopsy report, but the girl was shocked when she noticed that he was just playing with table napkins. 'What in the world?'

When the young man noticed her amazement, he sighed. It was as if he was used to such reactions.

"The information is in my head." Simultaneously tap a finger on his senses.

Nova narrowed her eyes at him. Does this man expect to be deceived so easily? 'He probably had a code just to show off!' It disgusts the mind. "You're bluffing. You don't have to show off. Besides, I don't even know why 'Eastwood's greatest detective' is an airheaded emo," the girl said, "I knew those magazine editors are biased."

Nico paid no attention to her and continued his tissue origami, "Airheaded emo? Nice choice of words," he said sarcastically and turned his eyes to Nova, a challenging expression on his face, "Though I must admit that I am disappointed for meeting a detective who jumps to conclusions without sufficient evidence for her claims. Very unprofessional. "

Nico could feel the growing tension between them. He seems to have completely "offended" a Briannova Carlos.

"Evidence? Isn't it enough that you recited the details of the case before? You're clearly using a code while I'm not looking!"

Nico shrugged while looking at the watch, "Codigo? Psh. I told you 2 minutes and 15 seconds ago, the information is in my brain."

"Then care to explain your inaccurate 'deduction' about that couple across the table?"

Nico waved a hand dismissively, "All my deductions are accurate."

"Liar. You're not even sure she's pregnant!"

Nico just sighed, "She's most likely to be around three months pregnant. Aside from the noticeable bump on her abdomen, the varicose veins in her legs are obvious. When the uterus expands, it compresses. the blood vessels and it slows down the blood circulation.As a result, the veins in a pregnant woman's leg become swollen.In addition, I noticed earlier that she was going back and forth in CR.A woman around her first trimester in pregnancy usually urinates a lot "Because of the pregnancy hormone hCG, the volume of the blood increases so the pressure in the urinary bladder also increases. As a result, they urinate more often. Plus, she looks like she's having morning sickness." Nico didn't want to lean back in his chair and looked at the couple again.

"Her age is based on her physical appearance. Being a profiler granted me the skill to determine a person's age based on facial features. There's an even higher possibility that she's just a minor. When she gave the waiter a tip earlier, I noticed she was crowded in his wallet is his I.D. of Senior High School.It states in Sec. 4, of R.A. 10533 that, typically, incoming SHS students are 16 years old.That way, they are of legal age when they graduate high school.I I'm guessing she's 17 years old, because it looks like she's also about to make her debut based on her upcoming wedding. "

Nova did not speak. It seems to be somewhere between irritation and amazement. Nico shrugged it off and finished, "Her nationality of being 'half-Spanish' is not a mystery. Like I said, I've studied enough facial features. It looks like she just came home from Spain because of the Spanish fan she held earlier. Their near wedding is evident by that shiny engagement ring on her left hand's ring finger.It's genuine Sterling .925 silver and has a small engraved Eastwood Jewels logo on the front, a trademark they flaunt whenever people buy from them.Their wedding is, more or less, next month. I can say so because they're already discussing about final preparations earlier. That man, probably age 24, couldn't even make eye contact and seems to be distracted. He also seems to be nervous about something. You don't need a PhD in psychology to read his body language. If you look closely under his collar, right side of his neck, there's a lipstick mark there that he obviously forgot to remove when he was in a hurry to leave earlier. "

Nova nodded. "It's impossible for you to know all that just because of your observation. You haven't even considered the margin of error of your so called deductions. How can I trust you with this Heartless Killer case if you're already lying to me? "

This time, the young man seemed impatient as well. "You're acting immature, Nova. Now for the peace of your ego, you're free to go and prove my deductions. After that, we'll discuss the case."

The girl blinked. "Fine. But I'll bet a thousand pesos that you're wrong!" Slapping it before standing up and approaching the couple.

Nico just sighed. 'We've only known each other for an hour but why do I feel we can't get along?'

---

"Excuse me, miss?"

The girl immediately turned around busy talking to the groom. The girl's eyes are clearly of foreign inherit. Surprisingly, he smiled at Nova, not wanting to be rude. "Yes?"

Once Nova glanced at the other person, it seemed that even he was confused by his sudden approach. 'I can't believe I'm doing this,' Nova returned the girl's attention. "Mind if I ask you some questions? It's for a survey."

It nodded.

Nova started. It held out a hand, "I'm Alyssa Ramirez, by the way." She can't tell them her real identity, of course.

"Bernadette Rivera," she introduced herself before gesturing to her boyfriend, "This is Fred, my fiancé." Nova was secretly depreciated. He tried to smile even though he was a little nervous at the information.

"Rivera," Nova faked interest, "sounds like a Spanish surname."

The girl's smile widened. "Half. Mama is Filipina, papa is Spanish. They raised me here in the Philippines. In fact, we just came back from vacation last month." And it even boasts the fan being obviously imported! The smile on Nova's face faded slightly.

"And how old are you?"

It does not seem to be suspicious of the detective's actions.

"Seventeen," she held the groom's hand, causing Nova to see the silver band on her finger clearly. He was stunned to see the Eastwood Jewels brand here and added, "We're getting married next month, a week after my 18th birthday for legal. Fred is older than I am, but they say age is just a number, right, daddy? "

The detective saw the hesitation on the man's face before laughing and a smile flashed on his lips. Peke. A subtle sign of infidelity. Nova's composure slowly crumbled when she glimpsed that lipstick mark on his neck. He then glanced at the tableware, some baby planning magazines and crib designs, next to a picture of a wedding gown. He turned his eyes to the girl's stomach.

'Looks like I've run out of money here!', She irritatedly thought. She sighed and started walking away with more memory. Nova spun on her heels and turned to the confused couple, particularly to the male, "How old are you?"

Confused, the man answered.

"Twenty-four."

Damn.

*

Nico was currently reading the files left on the table when Nova sat quietly opposite him. The female detective looked defeated. "How did you do that?"

"Which?"

Nova eyed him suspiciously for a few moments before gathering the files again, "Tsk. Nevermind."

'At least he's not lying. No matter how weird this guy is! '

Nova adjusted herself and took a photo of the woman found dead in her apartment. It's like one of the photos sent to Nico earlier. "ECU can't find anything that can help the case. There are no signs of forced entry or even fingerprints. Even the murder weapon used, they can't find."

Nico almost laughed. 'Does she really expect that those idiots from Eastwood's Crime Unit can even find a needle in a hay sack?', He comforted his mind. If he learned anything in his few months working as a detective, it's that HELP's so-called "crime scene salvation", the ECU, isn't as competent as they claim them to be.

He suddenly remembered a case he handled last month. While solving a robbery case, the ECU suddenly stepped in and arrested several civilians; they are said to be "suspects" even though there is no solid evidence. As expected, the case fell into chaos and Nico had to present his opinions before they managed to detain the real culprits.

"Those rookies couldn't even find a left shoe even when it's sitting ontop of their empty heads."

Take a picture of Nova at the same time. His eyes studied the crime scene. Take it in the bathroom. The corpse was lying in the bath tub, naked and full of blood. 'Decubito dorsal', he thought. Blood smeared everywhere and Nico can even see the content of a cabinet messily scattered. Chaotic and full of blood. Typical. "Our criminal seems disorganized."

Her eyes are shot wide open, lifeless. As he read in the autopsy report earlier, only two wounds could be seen on the body: the crack in the head and the large crack in the part where the heart should be. But when Nico looked closely at the picture, he saw that the victim also had some bruises on his body.

He took another picture and saw the livor mortis on its buttocks and legs.

He made a mental note.

Oh, how he wished the Eastwood Police told him about this case earlier! 'This is a crime scene, for Sherlock's sake!' But it seems that there is really nothing he can do if his investigation does not depend on the pipitsuging pictures.

"They'll email us the full shots of the crime scenes later. For now, we need to talk to the witness, see if we can't get any more clues." Nova arranged the papers in the brief case and stood up. It was already out the door. He did not wait for the companion.

Nico nodded softly, a frown on his lips, "Who in the name of Sherlock gave her the power to boss me around?" He just sighed and his eyes went to the table.

It was only then that he noticed the one thousand peso bill in front of him.

---