Mr. Wade ignored him and headed out, Hines and Larsen followed unwillingly. The victim’s house was not far from the detective agency so they decided to walk over there. One their way to Earls house, there was a flat-top and silver grey car parked beside the road. The car had a vintage fashion. It looked like if it was not cleaned for a while because the windows had mottle leaves stuck on it. A man was inside. A dead man. His pupils dilated and his face was pallid and cold. He was sitting in the driver’s spot with his seat belt buckled. When they passed the car, Larsen covered his mouth and his hands trembled in disbelief. He felt his brain short-circuited as he stood there numbed.
“I believe he is Lucas. A worker from Mr. Blackwell’s company that came to dinner with us,” Hines spoke in an unwavering tone.
“Looks like this case is not as easy as I expected…Things are finally getting more interesting.” Mr. Wade spoke as he leered at Lucas’s body.
Mr. Wade called the police officer to tell him and his people to come here immediately and secure the crime scene. When they arrived a few minutes later, they opened the car door and confirmed the victim was dead. They used yellow tape to prevent contamination of the crime scene and checked if there were any security cameras. Unfortunately, they did not find any security cameras nearby. The police officer’s people started collecting crime scene evidence. Meanwhile, Mr. Wade wore his gloves and gently poked the victim’s skin. His expression slightly altered as if he realized something. A small buzzing sound lingered by his ear, he took a picture of it and other things in the car. Mr. Wade told the police officer to send Lucas’s body to autopsy. After a few hours, the report came out.
“There were no injuries found on the victim. We estimate that the victim was dead 10 hours ago. He was poisoned by strychnine, a poisonous substance that is usually in a crystalline powder form. We did not find signs of injection but we found evidence of lethal absorption of strychnine through his nose. This resulted in him to die from asphyxiation caused by the spasms,” The police officer reported.
“If he was poisoned by strychnine through inhalation, their might still be poison in the air. Mr. Wade just went in the and…” Larsen doubted in a panicky tone.
“It has been 10 hours already. The powder would have stopped floating in the air and deposited ages ago. We just need to make sure to wash our hands and don’t let any powder get on our clothes, “Mr. Wade clarified as he crossed his arms and stared at the driver’s seat.
“If the murderer was to poison the victim by inhalation, how did he get Lucas exposed to strychnine? And if he poisoned Lucas in person, wouldn’t he also have the risk of inhaling it in a small space?” Hines assumed as he pushed his glasses.
“Not if he doesn’t need to poison Lucas in person,” Mr. Wade replied as he put his hand in his pockets and slightly leaned on the car.
Mr. Wade nudged Hines with his elbow and smiled at him. Hines was suddenly stimulated and glanced at the air conditioner in the car. He went into the car as he stuck a handkerchief in it. When he pulled the handkerchief out, he noticed there were little amounts of white powdered particles on it.
“Strychnine…” Hines muttered.
“So he could have placed the powder in the air conditioner. When he turns it on, the poison would blow on him and Lucas would inhale strychnine automatically without the murderer’s need to be there,” Larsen reasoned.
“The murderer was quite clever in poisoning him by inhalation because strychnine is not very soluble in water and uneasy to hide in foods since it has a bitter taste. However, there is something that feels wrong,” Mr. Wade considered with doubt.
“No…The victim was not killed in this place…He tried to cover his trails but he overlooked a piece of important evidence. The fly!” Mr. Wade thought as he took out his phone and observed the fly photo cautiously.
Larsen felt puzzled as he stared at him blankly. Hines leaned over and observed the picture. He interpreted skillfully, “This is a blowfly, the first type of insect that is attracted by fluids and gasses of a dead body. Different blowfly exists in different environments. However, this blowfly only lives closer to rural areas while this place is downtown. This means that he might be killed somewhere away from this place. There is a possibility that he was murdered in the car and the murderer drove the car from where it was originally to the street the first victim’s house located.”
“It’s more likely that Lucas was murdered somewhere outside then relocated in the car. Finding a blowfly in a closed environment means that the body has been moved after death. If he was killed in the car, there is less possibility for the body to attract a blowfly compared to if it was killed outside then transferred. Also, the lower parts of the body present a red and purplish color. This is called livor mortis; the pooling of blood tissues caused by gravity. This is usually visible by the eye after two hours, but Lucas’s estimated death time was ten hours ago. If he was murdered for more than eight hours, the color would remain if I touched his skin. Instead, the reddish color vanishes when I touched his skin. Moving Lucas from the driver’s seat to another seat when driving him here, then moving him back would not result in this. Since he will still be in a similar position. This means that he was not always in this position where his specific body parts presented the reddish color. In the time span of 10 hours, there were more than two hours that he is not in this sitting positions. The color would vanish when I touched him because the body was in a different position before then moved into the sitting position for not enough time for livor mortis to be permanent. Therefore, Lucas must have been murdered somewhere else then moved into the car,” Mr. Wade reasoned precisely.
“So is strychnine added for disguise?” The police followed up as he was listening carefully to Mr. Wade.
Mr. Wade slightly nodded and spoke in a scornful tone, “Yes, the murderer was trying to fool us with all his little tricks. But often, it is the most fundamental clues that he ignores. How idiotic.”
Meanwhile, the sun gradually descended below the horizon line. The bleeding sky was a vibrant background for the gleaming rim of twilight. Larsen rubbed his frozen hands together as he breathed on it. His face was slightly flushed because they stood outside in the cold for hours. Mr. Wade suggested them to sit in the café nearby to continue their conversation. Larsen heaved a sigh when the warm air blew on his face while they walked in. They sat near the windows on couch seats. Larsen lied on the table and rested his head on his arm.
“We can assume there is a possibility that both victims were killed by one murderer. Even though they used different kinds of poison, the tricks he or she uses to mislead our investigation were comparable. Furthermore, both victims were in the same company and both were present at that dinner,” Hines suggested to Mr. Wade.
“But why was there strychnine in the air conditioner,” Larsen questioned confusedly.
“Adding poison in the air conditioner, the murderer attempts to deceive us into believing the victim’s death was caused by that. Thereby, we would naturally think that he was killed in the car and not moved from elsewhere,” Hines explained in his usual cold and emotionless manner.
“Also, the murderer killed Lucas somewhere else and drove him all the way here. The purpose could be that the place where Lucas was originally murdered may expose the position or identity of the murderer,” Mr. Wade added as he sipped the coffee.
It was getting late and they were the only customers left in the café. Larsen and police officer bought some desserts and returned to their seats. Larsen gazed through the glass window beside him, the boisterous streets gleamed with neon light. The police officer yawned as he stern face had faint signs of weariness. Larsen glanced at the time on the screen of his phone, it was late. Larsen suggested that it was time to go back and they should continue the investigation tomorrow. The police officer smirked and waved to them as he left. Mr. Wade and his team returned to their detective agency.
One the way they were back, the smile that hung on Mr. Wade’s face was sardonic and feverish, though his eyes were fixed to the front. They were determined but surprisingly calm.
He mumbled in a contemptuous tone, “Concerning that you purposefully placed the car in front of the victim’s house to provoke us, I shall accept your boring challenge. I will be the one who will disclose all your sins! No matter how you conceal yourself with your lies and deceptions…I will find you…I will tear down your masks. Let’s see who shall be the fool of this ghastly game…”
Mr. Wade’s footsteps suddenly stopped, he snickered as whispered in a chilling voice,
“Let this game begin.”
To be continued.
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