Chapter 2

“It was around 5 am when residents living around Telok Blangah were woken up to the sound of police sirens for alarm clocks as the police rushed to Keppel Hill Reservoir. Mr Tan, a marketing officer in a firm, likes to go on early morning hikes at the reservoir, notices something that made him called the police.

Mr Tan has stated to our reporters that sight of the dead body appeared to be so clean he almost thought it was some drunken rando who must have fainted there. However, when he appeared closer to the body, the smell was not of someone drunk and as sick as it made his stomach feel, Mr. Tan called the police at 4 am to inform that a dead person has been found.”

That was the head news for Singapore on Saturday, 21 August 2019. Everyone was shocked as murder in Singapore was a rare occurrence due to its small island population and the image of being the safest country in the world.

Officers arrived at the side as fast as possible to prevent reporters and the public from having a head start and possibly tampering with evidence. However, as they arrived, they already saw the crowd forming and quickly set up the tape and stationed police officers to keep the public and reporters out of sight of the scene.

“God,” grumbled ASP Seelan, an officer who has gained the nation respect for solving several nation cases, “ no matter what time is it you can never out win the ‘Kapos’ in our country”.

“It almost as if they have an insider from outside.” Piped another officer, Gita. Gita was sub-ordinate and Seelan niece. Despite families not allowing to be worked together due to conflicting positions; Seelan higher-ups who were aware of Gita background thought it was best to cultivate another one of Seelan's relatives so that the police force will be able to gain another strong asset. Despite her parent’s wishes for her to be something other than a police officer, watching her uncle be a good and respected police officer made her develop the desire to become one as well. However, when there are times her nights mainly died out for the lack of sleep and coffee, she occasionally wonders if what she did was the right thing. Especially in moments like this, she questions her thought process choosing her career a lot.

Gita was 30 minutes away from being able to clock out when the call Mr Tan made was alerted. At first, she thought it was a prank call. It has been long since there had been a murder and who evens goes for a hike at this timing. Thinking it was a prank she was ready to make herself another cup of coffee to laugh over it when Seelan asked everyone to get ready and go to the side. Gita sighed, she downed the remaining of whatever coffee left and send a quick text to her mum stating she may be working overtime. She has since switched off her phone as she did not have the energy to deal with her mother's wrath early in the morning with barely enough coffee in her.

When diving her attention back to the scene at hand, she can’t help but wonder just who would murder someone in this manner. The body looked so gruesome and bloodied up that it just seems more like an animal attack than a murder.

Seelan was talking to the forensic teams while Gita was taking note of the victim appearance. From the get-go, she knew he is a rich man. His skin was smooth like porcelain. Almost made her wonder what his face would look like, had the murderer did not cut off his skin. he could not see the sight of it made her gagged but she knew joining this sector includes having to see things that fuels people nightmares; she just is expected to have more than she is used to

“By the way, where is Shiras, that boy said he was getting coffee and it has been over 35 minutes,” Seelan exclaimed. Shiras always reminded Seelan of his younger self. So full of energy and the whole “must do good and be good” complex hit Seelan right at home. But not just the complex, even the arrogant and cockiness Shiras possess reminded Seelan of his early police days. While Seelan got a hard knock to make his cockiness disappear, Shiras hasn’t had the experience. No, Shiras likes his arrogance to be challenged. He says it's a way to prove his capabilities and brags about it. Seelan sighed, he knew one day Shiras will fall from grace, he only hoped the fall won’t shatter him as deeply as it did to Seelan.

Seelan was getting annoyed with the absence of his junior police officer that when he decided to give him a call, a cheery voice yelling “Good morning” came from the left side of him. Seelan turned his head to see Shiras with the biggest shit-eating grin. He sighed and slid his phone into the back pocket of his pants.

The voice of Shiras caused Gita to turn in his direction as well as her stomach started to turn. Shiras and Gita both knew each other from police academy days and while there were teasing here and there; they both genuinely looked out with each other in the force. Shiras knew Gita was a nerd who will follow the book and has a knack for noticing evidence that passes the eye while Gita knows Shiras was the guy everyone like despite the cockiness because he is street smart. However, even the budding friendship can blossom into something else and while it had happened to Gita; it's unclear on Shiras part. Gita always admired him not just for his bravery but also cause of his perseverance. It’s a nicer word to say than stubbornness. He always works hard to finish the cases even though sometimes it’s unclear if it is to impress his superiors or for an ego boost. The line between them is sometimes blurred.

She stares at the television that was blaring about the news that had just taken place. A murder. A murder, on the tiny teeny island. She smiled and started to dance to the tune that was playing in the background. As she sways her feet left and right, she started to remove the hoodie. It was always a struggle to get it off. It felt heavy having to be drenched with blood. She wiggled out of the joggers and eventually stripped down to her bra and underwear. She stares at her reflection that played in the mirror. Her hands had blood coated on them, her face was decorated with small blood splatters. “Almost like Kali.” She thought to herself staring at her bloodied reflection with adoration. She continues to sway around the bathroom with the background noise drowning her maniac laughter.

She stopped awhile to catch her breath. It’s not easy, having to murder a man, clean it and dump the body. Takes a lot off someone. She thought back to the scenarios that played like it was in a movie.

She remembers the man being scared. She took it a bit personally, after all, it wasn’t as if she was ugly. She knew a pretty face like hers will go far. She supposes that the shock of something so pretty is capable of the heinous act that is about to happen must have shocked him. She supposes he knew what his fate was despite trying to play off as BDSM went bad. She sat in front of him. He wasn’t struggling, just curious and confused as to why he was in the position he was. She likes those; who were confused because they don’t talk much; instead, they listen. She likes that, she likes to listen as that means she is being taken seriously.

Oh if only the man knew that was the last face he was going to see, maybe he would have been a bit more appreciative to see a pretty face before meeting god.