Firefighters
Everleason, Cascoss, April 13th, 8:30 A.M, Everstone Mansion.
Daniel awoke in his wife's soft sheets, Daniel was glad that the staff kept the room in a nice state. He took of his pajamas and put on an Everleason Police Department uniform, it wasn't the same one from yesterday, the staff of the house were currently washing them, and of course they already gave Daniel permission to have his clothes in the same closet of his wife. However, he hoped not to bump into Richard Everstone, Elizabeth's father, Daniel knew that he disapproved of that union way before he even became a detective.
He went to the kitchen and spotted a takeaway container with his name printed on it with a sharpie, he wasn't surprised that the cook of this mansion had already prepared something for him to eat.
He rushed out the door with his breakfast in tow, he wanted to leave before the master of the house became wise to his presence.
He got lucky this time, he was able to leave way before Richard even woke up. Daniel didn't want to deal with that confrontation again.
Once in his vehicle he put the container of food on the passenger seat and drove to the police station. He knew he could take his time as he knew the cook had fire abilities and she must have put a continaus warmth on the contents of the container so that when Daniel opened the container later it would still be as warm as it was when it was first put into the container. Of course the ability will disappear once he opened the container, so he made sure that nothing could disturb the lid and destroy the enchantment.
He arrived at the police station pretty quickly, he was lucky to have gotten nothing but green lights on his journey here. He could already see before he even entered the parking lot that Damien was already waiting for him to arrive.
Once Daniel was parked he picked up his take away container and exited the car, he then went around to the opposite side to sit in the passenger seat, Damien noticed what Daniel was planning and went along with it.
Daniel was quite impressed, it was almost like he and Damien were supposed to be partners, like it was destiny.
"So, we're heading to the fire station right?" Damien inquired.
"Yes." Daniel Stated, popping the lid off the container as he spoke.
"Hold on to your hat."
Daniel took his hat off and stuffed it in the pouch behind his seat, he then proceeded to begin eating.
Damien reversed out off the parking space and began driving, after they left the parking lot, Damien took the quickest route to the fire station, Daniel ate cautiously throughout the journey.
Soon enough they were at the fire station, just like the police station, it's parking lot also had spots reserved for its employees, Daniel sighed a sigh of relief, there was a vehicle parked above Carol Mindal's name. It was somewhat believable that somebody has already had time to alter the name below her parking space.
They parked in bay facing a corporate building. It was one of the Goodlance industries buildings, the same one that Keven Heartly was fired from yesterday.
"Huh, what a small world." Daniel stated.
"Indeed it is." Damien replied. "That's right Daniel, that's where the victim worked until he was fired yesterday."
"You can read my mind?"
"No, I read files, and so can you, obviously." Damien stated, giggling behind his toothy smile.
Damien and Daniel exited the car and and walked into the fire station. It was nothing special though, just another generic firehouse. There was a total of seven people that Daniel and Damien could see in this room, and they could both see the silhouette of one more person in a different room. They saw three females within the station and they couldn't be sure if the silhouette they spotted belonged to a man or woman because they could only see that person's head.
Of course they spotted and recognised one of the three woman instantly as she was already somewhat known by these two, she was on the top floor with another woman. Could the other woman be the person they were looking for, or perhaps it was the one near the one computer in the room.
A man with bandages around both his arms approached the two searching man. "Hello officers, I'm Lieutenant Rickchet, what can I help you with."
Daniel and Damien both looked at each other with surprise at the the fact that one of the people they needed to talk to was standing right in front of them. They knew that this man was Carol's new boyfriend as it was something that was discussed during the divorce proceedings.
"Is it true that Carol Mandil divorced her husband because she loved you more?" Damien asked.
"You guys get straight to the point." Robert stated.
"I apologise for my friend, but a rude approach such as this is probably better then trying to beat around the bush to try to get answers." Daniel stated.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. But it is true isn't it?" Damien re-questioned.
"It's true, Carol fell in love with me, and I with her." Robert admitted.
"Well stay close by, we also have questions we would like you to answer, but for now we would like to converse with Carol."
"She's up on the platform above the fire engines, standing next to Linda."
"That's her, no wonder you fell for her, she's beautiful." Damien stated.
"But you're not into chicks like that, right Tryismo boy?" Stated Robert, even though this sounded like a jealous retort to tone in which he stated it sounded as if it was a genuine inquiry. Which made Daniel wonder if Robert had an ability that made him know that Damien came from Tryismo, or perhaps they were just much more expert in what people from different towns in different regions generically look like.
"Yeah, I'm into women racers then into fire fighters." Damien replied. After these words were spoken, Robert walked toward the office which contained the mysterious silhouette, and waved goodbye as he did so.
Daniel and Damien then went to the walkway where Carol stood. This walkway also had the holes the fire poles were poking through, the walkway had connections to many rooms which were also on this floor.
"Carol Mandil?" Daniel stated right before she took the first sip of the coffee she was holding.
"Yes? That's me, want some coffee?" She replied, holding out the cup as an offering.
"You don't mind?" Damien stated, carefully taking the coffee from her.
"You don't want to drink it?" Daniel inquired.
"I do, but ever since yesterday I have been more careful lately, I almost got poisoned twice yesterday, somebody sent me a sandwich with Nutella spread and then they send me a container of mixed nuts and raisins."
"You're allergic to nuts?" Daniel inquired.
"Yes, I can't eat them, they can kill me."
"Well then luckily you gave this coffee to me, somebody mixed in real hazelnuts into this coffee along with the hazelnut extract."
"Who is doing this to me? What do they want?" Carol asked.
"The same person who killed your husband." Stated Daniel.
"Killed? All the papers are saying its suicide." Carol stated with a confused look upon her face.
"On what page?" Daniel stated.
"Page 4. But that's not important is it?"
"Our killer probably wants to make sure the police aren't hot on his or her trail. As long as the story doesn't change it won't cause a panic and cause the killer to go into hiding in a place like Escasos, a location where we from the Everleason police department can't make an arrest."
"So it is important." Carol corrected herself after Daniel's explanation, albeit reluctantly.
"We should go find a place to sit, we have some questions for you." Damien spoke these words.
"Follow me." She stated, and began walking toward the kitchen, Daniel and Damien both noticed that she was still upset from what had happened yesterday.
Once in the kitchen they all took a seat at the circle table contained in this area.
"So what did you want ask me?" Carol.
"We know already that you were the first to discover the body, so we won't ask about that, but what we will ask is these two questions; did anything unusual happen while you were there and why did you go into the kitchen, were you getting a knife to ward of an intruder?" Daniel asked.
"For the first question you asked, I did hear somebody jumping out of Kevin's room, they must have left through the window. I was also certain that perhaps Robert was hanging around somewhere, but I never saw him, somebody stole his car which was at the shopping centre across the street."
"It wasn't stolen for long." Damien interrupted. "It's parked outside right now, in Robert's spot."
"I know, its hard to believe, but when we awoke this morning, Robert's vehicle was back in the driveway." Carol Replied.
"A criminal with a conscience?" Damien inquired, this time directing his question at Daniel.
"No, the vehicle would have been registered as being stolen, the person wasn't a car thief, they were using it as part of his or her plan, and returned the vehicle in the dead of night so that no police person would arrest him or her." Daniel replied.
"I see, so they calculated it all." Damien stated.
"Excuse me." Carol interjected. "May I answer the second question now?"
"Do you remember what I asked?" Daniel inquired.
"But of course, you wanted to know why I went to the kitchen." She stated with a lot of confidence behind her words.
"That's correct."
"Well when I arrived at the house I noticed the door was ajar, and that noise I talked about earlier spooked me, so I carefully took the back way toward the kitchen, I didn't want to go through the room which contained the stairs as the area was too open, anybody waiting in that room would have the advantage, I took a knife from the kitchen top, just in case somebody were to sneak attack me. I discovered Kevin's body after arming myself, and when I heard a police vehicle arrived I returned the knife to where it belonged."
"That would explain why there was only a single set of footprints belonging to you in that room, there was no gasoline lining the floors of any of the other rooms on the bottom floor, so it would have been impossible for you to have tracked any dirt that would have given your shoes the ability to leave a print. Those floors along the back-way are more spotless then my pet Pomeranian." Damien stated.
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Daniel inquired.
"Yeah," Carol replied. "The only gasoline that Kevin owned is in a shed behind the house. He only takes it out for very long trips, and the last time I checked it was half full and he hasn't refiled it yet. Even if somebody were to break into the shed, or if Kevin was truly the one who used it, there shouldn't have been enough to make the massive mess of gasoline I discovered."
Daniel made a noise of being in deep thought. Another piece to add to the puzzle, he wondered if he would be able to put it all together.
"Thank you for your time. We'll be seeing you hopefully." Damien stated getting up from his chair.
"Hold on, I just thought of one more question."
"Come on Daniel, I don't think she wants to answer any more questions."
"Go ahead, ask me." Carol stated. Damien chose to remain standing, he hoped this last inquiry wouldn't take long.
"What can you tell us about Linda Morris?" Daniel Smith asked.
"Why would you ask about her?"
"Generally I work in the rule of threes, three coincidences is enough for me to make a conclusion, but I have to make an exception for her, she was at Kevin's house, and apparently the person who Kevin crashed his car into knew about her."
"Plus she's a high-ranked employee at the building across the road." Stated Damien.
"What? How long have you been siting on that information?" Daniel questioned Damien, trying his best to tilt his neck upwards to meet Damien's gaze.
"Sorry, I didn't know when I would bring it up."
"Well, that completes my rule of threes. So please help us." Daniel continued, his head slowly rotated back so he was once again facing Carol.
"Well I know she can manipulate the memories of anybody who has seen her face, but only memories of how long she has been around in the viewpoint of thier minds. She also has a major crush on my boyfriend, but he has spurred her advances many times."
"So she's not afraid to show how much love she has for your guy?" Damien inquired.
"Yes."
"She's probably jealous of you." Damien stated.
"I know she is, but do you really think she would go as far as murdering me?"
"You are standing in the way of what she wants."
"Why don't we ask her ourselves." Daniel interrupted.
"Good idea, I was getting sick and tired of standing around."
"You had the chose to sit back down, so I don't see how that's not your own fault." Daniel stated, now he was leaving his seat. They both then took thier leave of the kitchen to look for Linda.
It wasn't long until they literally bumped into her as she was leaving the room which contained the beds the firefighters used. She spilled both the cups of coffee she was holding, coffee now lined all three parties clothes.
"Would you guys watch where your going." She spoke, an intense anger could be heard within her voice, Damien was shivering from fear.
"How convenient," Daniel stated. "We were just looking for you."
"We have some questions for you."
"Fine, but first, let's go somewhere more homey." She then took out a teleportation crystal out of her pocket and threw it at the floor with tremendous force. A big wormhole appeared and sucked all three of them up instantaneously.
#
Everleason, 9:09 A.M, Linda Morris' house, address unknown.
The trio arrived at the other end of the portal faster then you could say any word in the known dictionary. All of them landed simultaneously in chairs of similar sizes and all equally as comfortable as each other, they fell only four centimeters as the end of the wormhole they came out of didn't position itself to high.
The house they landed in was not the fanciest place Daniel had seen that day, but it was still a pretty good quality home. Nuts of all edible variations laid atop various surfaces.
"What's going on." Daniel stated, he was dazed and confused.
Damien sat back in his chair and made the following statement: "We were just teleported, if you're going to be a detective here, you may as well get used to it."
"Would you two gentlemen just stay in this general area, if you want to get any refreshments or any snacks, we landed in the room right next to my kitchen and I'm giving you permission to use it, I'm going to get changed, so nobody follow me." She then left.
Daniel sighed as soon as he saw her go through a door down the hallway she just traveled down.
"I know how you feel, Dan, she's a firefighter, her close were going to get dirty one way or another." Damien spoke again, and yet again he was right on the money about what Daniel was thinking.
"She's quite a character, but I personally want to know just how jealous she was of Carol."
"Shouldn't we be asking her about Kevin's death?" Damien stated, getting up and walking to the kitchen. "I mean she might know something."
"You may be right, after all she was at the crime scene yesterday, and I'm wondering why she was there."
Damien turned on the kettle and took out two coffee mugs from the cabinet below, and placed them on the counter. He then proceeded to begin preparing both a coffee and also some earl grey tea. "Indeed, there is an air of mystery hanging around her."
A few minutes later Linda exited the room she had entered earlier, she was wearing a very clean fire fighters uniform, this was at the exact same time that Damien finished the beverages for him and Dan. Damien walked back into the room and placed the drinks on top of the table, at the same time Linda also arrived at the table, she sat back on the seat she had landed on earlier.
"So what did you guys want?" Linda asked.
"Well it seems everywhere we go we hear your name. What Is your connection with this case?" Daniel inquired.
"What do you mean?" Linda responded.
"You were at the crime scene, the person who Kevin collided with knows your name, and you just happen to have a second job at the same Goodlance industries building that Kevin worked at." Daniel continued.
"Do I need to explain everything? Look at this place, its not easy to afford, I work multiple jobs to make sure I don't end up homeless." Linda stated.
"So it has nothing to do with you and Kevin?"
"I know you were talking to Carol earlier, she must have told you that I have a crush on her boyfriend, I had absolutely no interest in Kevin. Besides, the papers stated that it was suicide, why are you even putting your nose in it? Your investigation should already be over."
"So the fact that Kevin crashed into Nathan, who says you're his friend; the fact that you happened to be working in the same building as him; and the fact that the first case you were assigned to as your first day as an officer was Kevin's suicide are all coincidences?" Stated Damien.
"If anybody was going to kill anybody, it would be Kevin killing Robert, after all Kevin had reasons to kill Robert, not good ones, but he hang himself instead. Stop trying to make it seem like I'm involved." Linda stated. She was growing very annoyed.
"We're sorry," Daniel stated, "we'd like to go back to the fire station to talk to Robert Rickchet."
"Very well." Linda stated, getting up to go get a teleportation crystal from her jewellery box. "I do hope we will stop bumping into each other."
"By the way." Daniel spoke out. "Are you jealous about Carol?"
"Of course not, there are probably many woman out there lieutenant Rickchet has saved while fighting fires, one or two of them might be crazy enough to try bring harm to Carol, or get her out of the way, I know I'm not meant for him, he's pushed me away many times, so don't believe what the others tell you." As soon as she finished this explanation she stood in front of them both and threw the crystal she had just obtained at the floor, another wormhole opened up and all three of them were taken into it.
#
9:20 A.M, Everleason Fire Station.
Upon thier arrived on the other side of the portal, Linda went back to the bunk room, and Daniel and Damien went off in search of Robert Rickchet. They looked down at the office that Robert had entered earlier but there were no longer any shadows inside, both the parties that were in the office must have left while they were at Linda's house.
Daniel looked around where they landed, they were back where they were before they entered the portal, but none of the furniture from the apartment was present, he didn't get how the portal teleported them but nothing else.
The set off down the staircase, they knew that Carol should be around somewhere. The third woman in the fire station was now working on the computer, it was unknown to Daniel why the fire department needed it. But he wasn't interested in asking questions about it.
Soon enough they found Robert, he was still on the ground floor.
"What happened to your captain?" Daniel asked.
"He went to the academy to give drills to potential new recruits. We might need a replacement once me and Carol settle down." Robert replied.
"You're planning ahead?" Damien stated, with a shocked tone. "Shouldn't you give her time to get over Kevin's death?"
"Yeah, that whole thing. You guys are still looking into that, and judging Linda's angry stomping you just talked to her. You know trying to believe her is like pretending a skunk doesn't stink." Robert replied.
"So you know about her ability as well?" Danial questioned.
"Everybody knows everybody else's abilities in this station, I was born an Ascossian, but I never developed any abilities. Yep, I'm an Earlin."
"That's what you call a person born on this planet who don't develop abilities, right?"
"That is indeed correct."
"We should go to a place where it is better to converse."
"Let's go to the Captains office, nobody will disturb us there."
So they all began walking to the Captain's office. The office didn't have a lock on it, but the window on the door was quite opaque.
Once inside, Robert Rickchet closed the door, the three men each took a seat, Daniel and Damien made certain to be on the same side, and Robert sat opposite of them.
"So what did you want to ask me?" Robert inquired shortly after sitting down himself.
"You know about what we are doing, right?" Daniel stated.
"Yes, you are the two detectives looking into Kevin's suicide, Right?"
"So you are aware!" Damien exclaimed.
"Yes, the news that your investigating an already closed case has spread faster then wildfire." Robert replied.
"Anyway," Daniel stated. "Your vehicle was at the shopping centre across the road, care to explain?"
"I went to the shopping centre in Lincero because I was planning to make a great tasting curry yesterday, which I did."
"I see. Why go there for ingredients for curry?"
"Lincero is a suburb very well known by all of those in the country of Cascoss as being the best location to get the best spices in the region. Not even Everleason mall has spices as good as those in Lincero."
"I had no idea, but that's probably why all the spices in the kitchen at Everstone mansion have labels which state they originated in Lincero."
"What?" Damien stated, he was more shocked then he has ever been before. "You were at Everstone mansion."
"Yes I know what your thinking, and yes I already knew who the Everstone's were. I married somebody from that family, and they accepted me." Daniel replied.
Damien was hyperventilating, and he grabbed out a paper bag from his bag, Daniel was amazed that Damien even had a paper bag at his house.
"Um…" Robert interjected. "Are you two done yet?"
"Sorry, but I don't get the big deal." Stated Daniel.
"Well I think its ironic." Robert replied.
"Anyway, did anything else happen while you were at the shopping centre in Lincero?"
"Well, just before i was going to drive off to return home, I saw Kevin, he was my best friend, and he didn't have his car, also he was looking really down. So instead of me driving my shopping home I went over to talk to him. After I gave him a chat he seemed in a much more happier mode, I would never imagine in a thousand years he would do what he did. Anyway, when I went to drive home my car wouldn't start at all, I called the mechanics and took the shopping home via mass transit."
"But there was a report that your car was stolen." Stated Damien.
"That's true, the mechanic called me to tell me that my car was nowhere to be found. The person who called me definitely knew what my car looked like. I was surprised to wake up today to find my car in my garage, not only that but the car was in complete working condition."
At this point Daniel and Damien looked at each other in equal confusion. Perhaps it was part of somebody's plan.
Suddenly Damien got a phone call.
"Hold on, I have to take this." Stated Damien, he then left the office to talk to the person on the other side.
"So what now?" Robert asked.
"I'll keep asking you questions, and you can chose whether or not you want to answer them."
"Ok."
Meanwhile outside the office Damien was putting the phone to his ear. "Hello, this is Detective Damien Thrifter, how may I help you?"
"Hello Damien, I'm Peter Pymin, I've been asked to call you upon receiving the results from a DNA test." Replied the voice on the other side.
"What DNA test?"
"The one your partner had the mortician order."
"For the skin underneath Kevin Heartly's nails, right?"
"That is correct."
"Oh Peter, you have no Idea how long we've been waiting for those results. What do they say."
"The DNA from the skin and the blood type both belong to Robert Rickchet."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, this machine never malfunctions."
"Thanks for your call." Damien hung up, sadness was across his face, he now went back into the room which Daniel and Robert were in.
"Oh Damien, I just about Robert's relationship with the victim." Daniel stated upon seeing Damien. "Do you want to know what he said."
"No need, Robert Rickchet, you are under arrest." Damien spoke in a somber tone.
"What, why?" Robert and Daniel both stated simultaneously.
"The blood and skin under the victim's nails match your blood type and DNA Robert."
Robert sighed a sigh of disappointment. "I knew it might come to this." He slowly removed the bandaging around his forearms, his face contorted in agony as he did so. Once the bandages were removed, Daniel and Damien saw the horrible hideous truth, Robert's arms were coated in 2nd degree burns.
"Yeah…" Damien stated with a shocked expression painted across his face. "Who's to say that you didn't get burned until after you murdered Kevin?"
Robert carefully began wrapping his wounds. "You think I burned myself on purpose to cover up wounds from a battle? I have a medical certificate that I gave to my captain, he was there when I got burned."
"Damien, I think you should drop this line of inquiry, we may not have evidence yet that what his saying is true, but if it came to light that we arrested him under false pretence, we would look bad." Daniel explained.
"But… its a matter of principle." Stated Damien.
"It's a policeman's duty to protect and serve, how would it be protecting or serving to arrest Robert based on evidence that might be tainted, plus you and I both saw those wounds upon his arms, tell me, did they look fresh?"
"No."
"Exactly, what he's saying seems to correlate with his wounds, he was injured some time ago and has to wear those bandages until his wounds have completely healed. If he did indeed attack Kevin and Kevin struggled by trying two tear into Robert's arms then we would have found bandage remnants instead of blood and skin."
"You're right, but that means…"
"Somebody was trying to frame me." Stated Robert. "But who would do that, Kevin would have a motive to kill me, but I had absolutely no reason to kill him, I stole his wife, and he was happy. I calmed him down, I didn't kill him."
"We know." Daniel replied.
"But if it wasn't him, then who did it, and why would they try to frame Robert?" Damien inquired, aiming his question toward Daniel.
"I don't know." Stated Daniel. "This mystery still makes no sense to me. Everyone we've met so far has no reason for wanted to kill Kevin."
"Maybe our thinking is too simple, there is no obvious reasons someone would want to Kill Kevin, which leaves us with absurd motives."
"True. We have one more location to check out still."
"The Goodlance industries corporate building across the road."
"Exactly."
Damien and Daniel then left the fire station, all they needed to do now was cross the road, driving there was unnecessary as the building was on the opposite side of the road.