Chapter 12

Nico nodded, "You can be anyone without people recognizing who you really are. Clever, indeed."

Nova averted her eyes, a little uncomfortable with the compliment. Did he hear right? Is Detective Nico really praising him? It's refreshing.

It's Tuesday. Two days from when they received the case. The two detectives know that if they want to catch Heartless Killer, they need to cease-fire from their verbal attacks.

'Still, she better not get in the way of my own investigation,' the young man thought bitterly before handing Nova a copy of Mrs.'s autopsy reports. Bonnie Javier. Nova wasted no time and read them.

"We see him with amitriptyline in his blood. High doses of it, actually."

Nova looked up, "That sleeping pill used as an anti-depressant drug?"

"Yup. The serial killer probably used its effects to his advantage."

"So no one heard that Mrs. Javier's neighbors were weird. He killed her while she was unconscious."

"Exactly," Nico leaned back on the bench and discarded the dried leaves on his side. "I searched all the pharmacy stores yesterday in Eastwood Heights. They haven't sold that kind of drug to anyone in the past month. Which led me to another conclusion," he stared at his partner. Detective Nico Yukishito's face was serious when he said, "If Heartless Killer was only going to use sleeping pills, he would have bought normal sleeping pills. Why is that anti-depressant? And one more thing, I also have a strong feeling he didn't buy these. He would be suspicious if he did that ... Therefore, I think he got these amitriptyline pills from someone else. He stole them from someone who was suffering from depression and used these pills for remedy . "

Nova frowned. "Who did he steal these from? We shouldn't be able to trace all the people with depression in Eastwood! They could be from anyone's medicine cabinet!"

Nico's smile widened, his dimples showing off.

"This is where the interesting part comes. Did you take a good look at the photos of Covaline's crime scene? She was murdered inside her own bathroom. Take a look at this," Nico took a photo from the adjacent envelope and showed it to Nova.

It was a picture of the bathroom, where Covaline was brutally murdered. When Nico pointed to the background, Nova almost fainted when she saw the open medicine cabinet and medicines scattered on the bathroom floor.

When he looked at it closely, he only saw a few empty bottles of sleeping pills.

Nico's eyes twinkled, "When I researched the brand, I confirmed that the sleeping pills contained the chemical amitriptyline. Now we know from whom Heartless Killer took the sleeping pills he used on Mrs. Javier."

---

Early in the morning, but here is Neilson Tolentino nervous again. When he glanced at the time on his cell phone, he noticed that it was almost seven o'clock. 'It's just like traffic!' He was weakly cheap in his mind.

The sunlight and the peaceful ambiance of the park did little to ease his nerves.

"I'm sure that person will kill me when I make him angry again!" Neilson just swallowed at the thought. The possibility scared the shit out of him.

In his haste, he did not realize that he had bumped into a salesman of balloons. The poor man fell down and almost let go of the balloons he was holding.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

He would have helped the salesman stand up but two things stopped him: first was the fact that he really needed to hurry; second was the eerie feeling of having someone watching him. Neilson eyed the man sitting on a nearby bench. 'Oh, shit!' He was almost confused when the detective looked at him.

Detective Nico Yukishito's eyes studied him.

Before he could notice, the man immediately walked away and shouted at the people leaving the park. His heartbeat pounded inside his ribcage and sweat dripped from his forehead. He weakly prayed that the detective would not follow him. 'His intimidating aura is enough to make me terrified as shit!'

But there is probably nothing more terrifying than the man she will meet this morning.

Breathlessly Neilson opened the door of the Night Owl's Café, a few corners away from the park. The bell chimed, signaling his arrival. He looked around until he saw a man who looked educated and dressed formally. He nervously approached it and sat down in the opposite chair.

The man's eyes never left the menu.

Neilson swallowed first before saying, "P-I'm sorry. There's traffic a ---"

"I don't have time for your explanation. I'm a busy man. I didn't pay you to give me a headache." Its voice is calm but dangerous. Much more terrifying than when it spoke to him on the phone.

Neilson weakly nodded and waited for his instructions. As he watched Eastwood's so -called "Heartless Killer," he couldn't help but notice the small wound on its left cheek. 'A scratch?' he no longer wanted to know where he got it.

He's heard enough rumors of this monster. It has been rumored that it was the murder of the two women.

'This man is even more dangerous than the demons!'

Now, Neilson regrets why he even agreed to be the gunman of a serial killer. When Heartless Killer looked up, Neilson couldn't help but cower under the man's gaze. Empty and heartless --- a bad combination.

"Is everyone ready for tomorrow?"

Neilson nodded weakly, "O-Opo."

The demon smirked, "Good. Just make sure you're not slapping me. You know the consequences if you fail me again, right?"

Neilson just nodded. If only he didn't really need the money.

---

Nico took a deep breath and returned the papers to the envelope. If it were up to him, he wouldn't have taken these. 'Then again, a certain pink-haired detective can bit a bit of a handful,' he once glanced at the girl who looked deep in thought. Nova's eyes met his.

"I have not gathered any information about the gunman other than a Glock 19 9mm semi-automatic pistol he was using. The bullet was a clue to what kind of handgun he used, but that gun was probably not registered. We 're empty-handed about that, for now. "

Nico sighed, "I'll solve it too ----"

The girl's gaze deepened on him. Nico laughed weakly and immediately repeated what he said, "WE can also solve this case. For now, we need to identify who the Heartless Killer really is and what his motives are."

"You still seem to have doubts. Do you still think it's Cassio Salavador?"

Nico paused before replying, "Yep. How 'bout you?"

Nova nodded, "I think this is just a copycat crime. Probably someone is just imitating Cassio's style just to confuse the police."

Nova just leaned on the bench and just watched the children play. She sighed. "It's hard to be a detective."

"I can hear a hint of regret in your tone. Do you regret your work like this?"

Detective Briannova Carlos frowned, "I have no regrets in my life. But then again, I never wanted to be a detective. Are you?"

Nico smiled. "I can't imagine myself being anyone else." Since then, this has been Nico's dream job. It was as if this destiny was inborn in him as well.

'To fight for justice means to sacrifice a piece of yourself for others.'

It surprised Nico how they ended up in small talk. If her age is right (which is always right), this is the only time they have talked to Nova except for the case they are handling. Since Sunday morning, all they ever talked --- or argued ---- about is the Heartless Killer case and their difference in opinion.

Maybe, they can also put aside being professional detectives even for a few minutes, right?

Nova smirked at his response and averted his eyes, "Anyway, do you have a plan to confirm if Lelouch is our serial killer?" Nico could not escape hearing the frustration in the girl's voice. 'She knows him personally ... but to what extent?' He made a mental note to find out

A grin spread across his face.

"Since Heartless Killer leaves no evidence in the crime scenes, we have a better chance of finding some in his personal space."

Briannova Carlos narrowed her eyes at him. He seems to know where this conversation is going. Nico's eyes glinted with crazed amusement and it made her nervous. 'He's taking his job too seriously!' He had a really bad feeling about it.

"You mean ...?"

Detective Nico Yukishito nodded, "I hope you also have a Ph.D. in house-climbing."

When those words came out of Nico's mouth, Nova immediately stood up. "WHAT ?! N-You're going crazy! That's trespassing!"

The young man grinned, "And killing people is a deadly sin. Trespassing versus serial killing. What do you think is worse?" He's teasing here. To his amusement, Nova was even more annoyed, "Gosh! How can you be a detective if you're doing pure rule-breaking ?!"

"Sometimes we need to break some rules in order to save a life," Nico just shrugged at us. When Nova was ready to fight, he quickly put his finger on the girl's lips to stop her from speaking. Nico smiled charmingly at the female detective, "Stop arguing with me, Ms. Carlos. Unless you want me to shut you up in a different way? Pwede naman ..."

His eyes lingered on her glossy lips. He slowly brought his face closer to Nova's.

Nova's eyes widened at what Nico had done and quickly pushed the detective away. He could feel the heat on his cheeks at what had happened. 'Darn it! Did he think he could control me? '

"You need to do more than that to control me, Mr. Yukishito. Unfortunately, you can't pass me by your charms." Yes, Briannova Carlos is a stubborn woman. He wouldn't send this young man smiles, especially since they were in the middle of an investigation! Still, she can feel herself blushing at the way his eyes studied her.

Detective Nico Yukishito smirked, "My charms can work wonders on anybody, Ms. Carlos, and I doubt you're an exception. Let's see if we still have to trespass on the San Andres mansion." And he started walking away.

The trip is a bit far again.

'Smug and arrogant! So we don't get along. Tsk! '

Nova glared at what he said. Just as she was about to take the car key out of her jeans pocket, she was shocked to find it missing! 'Wait, where's that ?!'

"Looking for this?"

When he looked back at Nico again, he was just amazed to see that he was already holding the key. The car key dangled from his index finger, a teasing smile on his lips.

"This time, I'll drive."