A True Monster

Dan and David met back up with Leon. "We have returned." David announced. A crane was now at the scene, the body was now in a body bag, the lead car had been moved and the warped track was now revealed.

"Have you learnt what you needed from Carlos?" Leon inquired.

"It seems that our 'friend' Adrian may not have been as friendly as he may have seemed." David relayed.

"Is that so? Are you sure he was nice to begin with? Do you have context that he was a nice fellow that I don't know about it?" Leon asked. "I didn't know him at all, so I have nothing to say about him."

"It is true that we didn't talk to anyone that knew the victim personally." Dan stated. "But even though when I saw his lifeless body, his appearance was innocent."

Leon nodded. "I see."

"What about you?" Dan inquired. "Have you discovered anything on the derailment? What caused it?"

"The reason I called the police was due to the body. I said prior to a paramedic that this was not an accident. A friend of mine, also with the NTSB Lev Skyler, is west of here. He found some crystal fragments." Leon relayed.

"Rhombodian crystal fragments?" David asked.

"That's what they look like." Leon relayed.

"Have Lev send images of what he found to me, D S Smith, badge 9797." Dan stated.

Leon picked up his walkie-talkie. "Lev, take some photos and send them to FORMAL badge 9797."

"As you wish." A slightly distorted male voice replied through the walkie-talkie.

Soon, Daniel's watch buzzed, and he could see the crystal fragments smashed up atop the rails in their full colourful glory. "These are fragments of a metal crystal from the mines of Mysterym."

"Ah," David stated. "That makes sense. The killer used two metal crystals." He chuckled and puffed on his cigarette.

"What do you mean?" Daniel inquired.

"Well, when you destroy a crystal its bond with the signature, they created is also annihilated." David explained.

Dan clapped. "Yes, I understand. Just like how the illusion signature on that glass diamond was unconnected to an individual as it was created via a crystal, so anybody could have used that crystal, and I know for a fact that when you remove the signature any effects associated with said signature is also removed. I've witnessed it myself."

"That's pretty cleaver." Leon added. "Someone used a metal crystal to bend the track as we can see and then used a different metal crystal to repair it and then placed the crystal they used to repair the damage on the track so the train would cause its own derailment."

"So it appears that some bad blood was created between Adrian and his killer," Dan stated. "Something this elaborate must have been planned at least a week in advance. The person who killed Adrian was angry against him, that we can be certain of. But to also cause a train crash by using two metal crystals on a locomotive that was carrying passengers? I don't think our killer has a right state of mind."

"I wonder what could push someone to hurt others just to kill one guy?" Leon inquired.

"I'm not sure, but it's best we find out." David added. He looked about again. "Hey look." He said. "There's fragments of a brown Rhombodian crystal too, they must have been hidden under the lead car until now."

Daniel nodded. "Those are fragments from a strength crystal. The killer must have used one to tear off that piece of debris and lodge it through the victim." He stated, everyone nodded in agreement to Daniel's conclusion. "Anyway, we need to speak with the Joliet police as well as Adrian's wife, someone has to know about Adrian and why someone would want him dead."

"If your looking for Veronica, then I wouldn't go down that avenue if I were you, she was injured on the train and taken to the hospital located at 1900 Silver Cross Blvd, New Lenox. She had bruising along her left thigh and got X-rays done. I'm not privy to the results myself, but I believe that with what I saw when I saw her, she could probably still have walked." Leon explained.

"That's fine. We'll just wait for her to be dismissed. We'll just pay a visit to the Joliet police department then." Dan relayed.

Leon nodded.

"David, I almost forgot." Dan stated in realisation. "We need a sample of that jumper."

"Why?" David inquired.

"If we had that, we could probably ask some experts in Joliet what the perfume is and who sells it. It had a rich fragrance if you recall which probably means that it isn't a perfume you could find in a corner store."

"Alright, that tree isn't too far. I'll be back in a little bit. But, Dan, what are you going to do?" David asked.

"I'm going to go find us a ride."

David walked back toward the tree and it took him three minutes to arrive back at the tree. Carlos, Hector and Julia had already moved on. David took a pair of scissors from one of his jacket's interior pockets and a bag from his belt and cut a piece of the purple jumper and placed it in the bag. He then took another three minute journey back to meet up with Daniel who was with a man who was 175cm tall and he had dark spikey hair with dark green eyes and he was wearing a pair of sunglasses, in winter mind you, he was thin and wore a thick jacket to keep him warm. Under it was the uniform worn by the New Lenox Police Department.

"David, this is Quincy Aurum, he said he'll take us down to the Joliet police department." Daniel explained.

"Anything to help the company who just wants to make Rhombodian a happy place. It's because of you guys my mum got out of her depression and started living life to the fullest." Quincy relayed jovially.

"That is much appreciated, friend." David relayed.

"Lancer called me friend! I haven't felt this happy since I got to visit the candy factory on my birthday when I was 12." Quincy added.

David smiled. "I like this guy."

"Me too." Dan stated. "Come on Mr Gold, it's time to take us to where we need to go."

"Mr Gold?" David inquired.

"His last name is what the chemical symbol for gold is based on." Dan explained.

"Of course you'd know that, doctor." David responded and gave a quick chuckle.

Dan and David jumped into Quincy's beautiful and well maintained police vehicle. It was so clean you'd think it just came out of the factory, even though the tripmeter read over 25,000 miles.

Quincy began the 20 minutes or so drive from the derailment location to Joliet police department. Traffic was as you'd expect it for the cold weather.

Joliet Police Department, 150 W Washington St, Joliet, Illinois, 3:50 PM.

Dan and David waved farewell to their new friend and entered the police department.

"Sure is a cold one out there." Said a 159cm tall lady with thin long black hair with braids and brilliant blue eyes. She wore a thick jacket with the Joliet insignia embroidered upon it. Her name was also on the jacket. Her name was Britney Lapris. She was sitting behind the front desk.

"There is still snow atop the grass in your lawn and your leafless plants." Daniel relayed.

"Britney," David stated. "Do you think you can help us?"

"That's what I'm here for." Britney replied with her dark voice. She giggled. "So what can I get you? Coffee? Tea?" She gave a brief pause. "Mystery?" She said lower and in a tone that would peak interest.

"We already have mystery," Dan relayed. "Actually we wanted to learn more about a resident of Joliet. Maybe you can help us find some information about him?"

"I'll do my best or get fired trying." She stated and put her hand to her right arm replicating that well known poster about strong women in the workplace.

"Good." Dan added. "See what you can find on Adrian Deux."

"Adrian Deux? The train driver?" Britney stated, she seemed surprised.

"Did you know him." David inquired.

"We were in high school together, but I could never be his friend, he wasn't my type. Besides he already had a girlfriend, Destiny Campbell. She was an African American and she seemed the jealous type." Britney explained.

"Did something happen to her?" Dan inquired with a tone of concern.

Britney's jaw dropped. "Yes, that's right, how did you know? I didn't even mention it yet."

"You were referring to her in past tense, which means she has passed, am I wrong?" Daniel inquired.

Britney sighed a sad little sigh, her face shifted into a sombre expression. "Yeah, she's dead." Britney relayed sadly.

"She took her own life?" Dan inquired.

Britney cried a bit. "How did you guess that?"

"Cancer causes anger and nature causes sadness but never have I seen a natural death cause this much distress, especially in someone who barely knew her, so my conclusion is that she lost her life in the saddest way, taking it herself." Dan relayed. He was careful with his tone, this was a serious discussion now.

"That is amazing. No wonder your name carries so much reputation. You've earned it."

David lit his cigarette and put his left against the glass in front of Britney in a comforting way. Britney put her hand against the glass so it was behind David's hand. "Tell me Britney," David puffed his cigarette. "Was there a note?"

Britney nodded and printed it off. Once it printed, she passed the document to David.

I can't handle the massive depression anymore. I'm sorry mum, dad, Xerxes and Adrian. I just can't do any of this anymore. Please forgive me for what I'm about to do.

Destiny Campbell, July 5th, 1998

"This is sad." David stated, still holding his had in place with the document flat on the desk that separated David from Britney. "But it does happen."

Daniel took the document and read through it. "This is assumed as handwritten?" He inquired.

"Assumed? It is handwritten." Britney stated.

"Is this the original?" Dan asked.

"Yes, off course it is." Britney relayed.

"Where's the tear stains?" Daniel inquired presenting the document back to Britney.

Britney dropped her hand and her jaw. "How did you know she cried? You haven't seen the photo the police took of her, with her mascara run down her lovely brown face."

"Her depression drove her to suicide. I don't know a single person who wouldn't cry when their depression drives them that far. I was able to stabilize some of them before they did something stupid and upsetting. All of them cried. Yet there is no tears on this document, and it's too perfect. I don't think the victim wrote this. Someone must have destroyed the original note she created and then wrote a new one." Daniel explained.

"But there was no doubt in the investigation. She killed herself and there was nothing to implicate murder in the slightest. I mean, except the dead dog that was stabbed in his liver." Britney relayed. "But Adrian Deux said he killed the dog because it attacked him aggressively, and we were inclined to believe him as there was a dog bite on his arm back then."

"Adrian was the first to discover the scene?" David inquired.

Britney nodded. "That's correct." She stated. "Is that important?"

David nodded as he came to a realisation. "If Dan is correct," David announced. "Which he usually isn't, then that would imply that Adrian spotted the initial suicide note and realised that if someone else read it they would know that he was the reason she was pushed to the point of taking her own life, and that is a crime, at least it is on Rhombodian."

"You're right," Britney added. "if the police thought that he was responsible then he would be charged with provoking a suicide, the sentence down here doesn't carry as much weight as it does on your planet, but we still inforce it."

Daniel put his hand on his chin, pondering for a bit. "Is that all?" Daniel inquired.

"What do you mean?" Britney stated in curiosity.

"Is Destiny the only person who had relationships with the victim who killed themselves. I would like to establish if this was a one of or if its a repeat offence. Because if he was a monster as I an now beginning to believe, then it is possible that he might have been a repeat offender." Daniel explained.

Britney nodded. "I mean, if he was as evil as you say he was, then that probably is the case."

Britney typed on the computer, checking Adrian's connection to the database of suicides committed within Illinois. The computer whirred into action and Britney's face became stunned.

"Did you find something?" David asked.

"There are two more hits. Two other females who killed themselves during their relationship with Adrian. These two died during different years on different dates and one had a cat. Also, Adrian was married to his wife Veronica during the dates the girls took their lives." Britney spoke, trying to be gentle as the subject was hard to speak about.

"Did they have notes too?" Dan inquired.

"Yes, the notes had the same writing. They all also pointed toward depression." Britney relayed.

Dan nodded. "Now I understand. They wrote their initial notes attaching their deaths to Adrian, saying that he was the one responsible for pushing them over the edge, and then he wrote new notes using a word processor to make you guys believe they took their lives due to depression. It seems that Adrian had an outward appearance of being a nice guy, but he was a secret sociopath who found joy in other people's misery." Daniel deduced.

"So, someone who he was abusing had enough of him and decide that enough was enough." David stated. "They took the high road and tried to get the Anti-corruption board involved. But that failed, so they took matters into their own hands and killed him."

"They also caused the derailment to try and make the NTSB not question the death, but little did the killer know that a former FORMAL employee was assigned to the accident and noticed that the victim was killed by a human." Daniel added. "But even if Leon wasn't there to see that the body was contradictory, the mere presence of those shattered Mysterym crystals would have been enough to throw the who investigation into question."

Britney nodded. "That explains basically everything."

"Now we just need to find who had enough of this guys true side to kill him after causing the train to derail." David stated.

"His wife Veronica was on the train, she was found injured at the scene after all. Plus she was his wife, she might know something." Dan explained. "Britney, do you think you can get a hold of the hospital with the address of 1900 Silver Cross Blvd and see if she has been released and if not, when she'll be released."

"Sure." She replied and she typed upon her keyboard again and after a few minutes she found the information Daniel was requesting. "Her attending says that she'll be out and back home sometime between 8 and 9PM. If you want further details about her injuries, you'd have to ask her doctor or her yourselves."

"Are we going over there, Dan?" David asked.

"No, let's let her rest. She would have valuable information, but we shouldn't stress her out further after the afternoon she had." Daniel stated. "But I promise that we'll speak to her tomorrow, after the initial shock of the derailment wears off and before she starts having bad feelings toward it."

"Not even you can predict how the train incident would have effected everyone." David announced.

Daniel nodded. "That is true. Britney, can you get all of the people who were in the train to talk about the accident. Only ask if they saw a purple woolly jumper, and if they did, what movements that person made."

"I can't do it myself, but that's why we have an army of officers. I'll get them to question all of those involved about the jumper in question, and I'll filter put those who didn't see it with the ones who did see it." Britney relayed.

"Just saying that is enough to let me know that it will be done." Dan stated. "Just send the relevant data to my watch when you have finished compiling it. My badge number is 9797."

Britney wrote the number down on a nearby pad. "Alright. I will do. But what are you going to do while you await the results?" Britney inquired.

"The ACB of Joliet failed their duty, and I want to know why and how Adrian was able to evade them. I feel like it would be important to figure that issue out." Dan relayed. "Come on David, we'll get a cab." He added and typed some numbers on his watch.

"Do you really think that the anti-corruption board would fail their responsibility to protect the happiness of all?" David asked.

"Rhombodian's ACB would never let that happen, but Joliet has a partial help agreement with FORMAL. Our planet gave them the office and Joliet filled the office with employees. Those guys may be working in a building associated with FORMAL, but that doesn't make them real FORMAL employees now does it?" Dan relayed as he watched the road, looking for the cab that was to pick the duo up.

"Yeah, you're right. Rhombodian has little reason to monitor the happenings of a building on foreign soils that contains foreigners." David stated. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea for the higher ups to allow the Americans to have an unmonitored ACB."

A few minutes pass by. "Poor Xerxes." David announced.

"Yes, the dog that was killed upon attacking Adrian. He must have been really important to Destiny." Dan stated.

"It seems that he was the only one who looked out for Destiny in her most desperate hour." David noted.

"She also mentioned her parents in that note. Even though it would be nice to know what their story on the matter is, it's not necessary as we have already determined that Adrian Deux was a monster of the worst kind." Dan added.

David nodded in agreement as the taxi arrived to pick them up. Dan and David entered the vehicle.

"Where to gentlemen?" The female driver inquired.

"14 E Jefferson St if you please." Dan replied.

"The sheriff's office? But isn't it closed at this hour?" The driver inquired.

"We want to visit the anti-corruption board of Will County, which is below that location, and its open until 7 PM." Dan explained.

The driver nodded and just drove then down to that location with no further questions.