Vol 4 Chapter 5 (2/2)
“Who did this to you?”
“Don’t know… behind…”
The boy had barely enough strength to continue
“Get a hold of yourself, young man! There’s a doctor on the way!” Kurtz said, then looked at Larry and Seron
Then he shook his head Larry and Seron quickly understood that the boy was beyond saving
That hen Seron suddenly spoke
“Hey, which group are you in?! Wolves? Jackals? Hunters? Government?”
Kurtz gave Seron a quizzical look Larry understood what Seron was getting at
“W-wolves… help me… don’t wanna die…”
Those were the boy’s last words
Kurtz pulled open the boy’s shi+rt as he went silent
There werehad alhed
Instead of atte CPR, he checked the boy’s pulse and opened one of his eyes to check his pupils
“Dead” He finally said
“Man… I’d heard about it, but it really does feel aatching soht in front of you” Larry said stiffly
“I was hoping I’d never have to see someone die I e could have saved him” Seron admitted He closed his eyes
“Yeah But it’s too late now The dead can’t co a brief moment of silence Then he looked up “Seron, look at the road”
“Huh? —Oh”
There was a trail of blood left on the paveates and went east, disappearing into the distance
“Strange Why didn’t the killer finish him off on the spot, if he had time to inflict so many wounds?” Seron wondered
Kurtz turned “I’et inside We’ll have to shut the gates Could you tell Litner and Mr Ruf what happened here? We won’t be needing a doctor Please have them call the police immediately”
“Right We’ll leave this to you, Mr Kurtz” Larry replied, taking Seron back through the front gates After closing the gates behind them, they ran for the villa
“This isn’t good What’ll we tell the others?” Larry asked as they ran
Seron replied “Everything But we shouldn’t show them”
“Yeah”
When they returned to the villa, Seron and Larry found everyone gathered in the entrance hall Natalia and Meg were sitting on the sofa
“What happened out there? Explain!” Jenny demanded, but Seron went instead to Litner and Mr Ruf to quietly explain the situation Mr Ruf ran towards the telephone again
Only then did Seron turn to the rest of the newspaper club
“Soates”
“What?” “Pardon me?” “Why?” “Huh?”
“He was probably a local teenager I think he was stabbed ed to walk all the way here Just before he died, he said he was one of the Wolves”
Jenny understood the situation the roup
“Ugh I see So it happened again”
“Wh-hat does its happeningSeron was the one who replied
“It ain Yesterday’s car accident wasn’t an accident—this is a serial murder case”
The sun finally set, and the orange sky quickly turned a light shade of blue The police arrived just as darkness began setting on the grounds
Three patrol cars with sirens and headlights ablaze, and one ambulance
Larry and Seron saw the sirens stop in front of the villa
“Let’s check it out” “Yeah”
“I’ too I have to cover this story” Jenny said, but—
“You should stay here, Jenny” “Stay here” “Please stay here, Miss Jenny”
Seron, Larry, and Litner made no exceptions
Natalia and Meg were still sitting side-by-side on the sofa Natalia piped up
“You wanna take pictures of a corpse, chief? Never took you for the type”
“This is for journalise before!”
“But wouldn’t things blow up too much if you posted a piece about this on the caet it ‘Sides, Mr Kurtz and Ms Litner would never let you”
“…All right Fine”
Extreaze on her back, Jenny waved her hands and gave in
Larry and Seron headed outside
Kurtz was still at the gates The police stood around the body—six unifored man in a brown suit
The unifor the vicinity of the corpse with powerful flashlights in hand One of the constant reports to someone over the radio
Theto Kurtz, noticed Larry and Seron “Hm?”
“They heard the boy’s last words as well” Kurtz explained Larry and Seron went up to the man Kurtz introduced them to him
“This is Detective Hadley froe police station Detective, this is Larry Hepburn and Seron Maxwell They are classmates of my principal”
Hadley, Seron, and Larry exchanged brief greetings
Hadley was pudgy and balding He had a round face and carried hi his head apologetically
“I’ sirs It’s such a relief you weren’t hurt Such a relief Please don’t think too badly of our village for this” He said without even being prompted
He was not even trying to conceal his obsequious attitude Larry cringed
“More i to tell you”
“Yes, young sir?”
“Just before he passed away, the boy said he was one of the Wolves”
“I suppose it’s not surprising A delinquent group, eh? I suspected as much the moment I saw the body Any infor sir” Hadley said, glancing at the body
Larry looked at the body as well A young police officer placed pieces of numbered paper on the body and took photos Larry’s eyes narrowed slightly each time the flash went off
Seron continued “Do you know about last night’s car accident as well, Detective Hadley?”
“Het many of those around here”
“I heard the two victims were from the Hunters”
“H sir”
“That makes three delinquent deaths over the course of two days Could it really be a coincidence?”
“Wh-whathis brow Seron got to the point
“Don’t you think there’s a possibility that last night’s accident was actually a murder as well?”
Hadley fell silent The flash went off again, casting light on his troubled face
Finally, he scratched the back of his head
“Hm… I wonder Then I suppose this would be a serial murder case That would be most unfortunate What to do…?”
Clearly he had absolutely no confidence
“I’ht’s victims were murdered And perhaps a member of the Hunters came to that same conclusion and attacked this person in retaliation” Seron hypothesized
“Hmm… I suppose that is a possibility, but I wonder…” Hadley trailed off “I do suppose we’ll take that into account, young sir Thank you for your assistance, and I apologize again for this horrid inconvenience If you would convey ies to those inside as well”
“Of course” Seron replied “I hope you’ll find the culprit soon”
“We will do our ut else”
Seron nodded and turned, gesturing to Larry
But Seron suddenly stopped and turned back He addressed Hadley matter-of-factly
“Are you the one in charge of the investigation, Detective Hadley? If anything happens, should we come to you?”
Hadley nodded fire of this case, so please contacthappens”
“Let’s go back, Larry”
“Yeah”
Once again, Seron and Larry stepped back inside where Litner and the others aiting Jenny immediately demanded an explanation
“Talk”
Seron gave her a full and detailed explanation
“Right I think I get all that” Jenny said
“Did the detective have to be such a suck-up, though?” Natalia wondered
Nick replied “No one would be happy to have a murder take place in the tohere their villa is, Nat Especially the rich and powerful”
“It s”
“Yeah Sheesh” Jenny agreed
“I wonder if the detective’s gonna get anything done” Larry re his brow But Seron shook his head
“He ly clever”
“Why d’you think that?” Asked Larry All eyes were on Seron
“At the end, he said that he was the one in charge of this case, right?”
“Yeah”
“That means that he must be from the homicide division”
“Makes sense”
At that point, Jenny and Litner understood
“I get it…” “I see”
Seron continued “There wouldn’t be a homicide division at the local station of a town that’s never had a murder case before”
“You’re right…”
“But Detective Hadley rushed over as soon as we reported this case That must mean—”
“I get it! He ht from the nearest police station that had a hoh his teeth the whole tirily and excitedly
Natalia and the others finally nodded as well
“Then they will question this case” Meg said Seron nodded
“Yeah The police don’t see last night’s crash as a simple accident, either”
“Then what about the officer who talked to me today?” Larry wondered
“He was either lying, or giving a subjective opinion In any case, we know the police are on last night’s case too Officially they’re pushi+ng the accident angle, since it doesn’t cause as much panic as a murder”
“I see So they’re trying to save face for the village If nothing else, it ”
“But what bothers ation in”
“What do you mean?”
“Who do you think the police will suspect first?”
Nick was the one to respond “Clearly, the s”
“Exactly But froo that far Even now I’m not convinced they’re involved except as victims”
Nick agreed “The gangs in the Capital District could be capable, perhaps, but…”
“Yeah… and these guys aren’t even real gangs” Jenny agreed “The kids here are just plain old delinquents It doesn’t exclude them completely, but it’s not likely”
“Yeah The possibility isn’t zero, but it still bothers ht happen I hope the police don’t take this in the wrong direction…”
The conversation ended on a heavy note No one had anything to say That hen Mrs Ruf returned
“Everyone, let’s leave the rest to Mr Kurtz and get so up And don’t worry; we’ll keep this villa safe”
“I’ll keep watch overnight tonight” Litner said
The adults’ words were final; there was nothing left to say The newspaper club prepared to return to their rooms
“Er… Natalia?” Meg said tentatively
“Hm?”
“May I sleep in your rooht?”
“Oh, sure”
“Thank you For so scary”
“No worries If you’re really freaked out, why don’t we get one of our big strong ht face
“I’e, I’m afraid” Nick replied first
“No” Larry declared, unahts on him
“You too, Larry? Ae used to sleep in the same bed all the time ere little Still remember how adorable you hen you said stuff like ‘I’ on my blanket’—”
“Soht now”
“You’re no fun, Larry And you, Seron? What do you say?” Natalia turned to Seron He was frozen
“Huh? Wha? Hm? Wait? What? I—”
He was on the verge of a total breakdown Larry came to the rescue
“Whoa! Still focused on the case, buddy? Once you get your thoughts rolling, you can’t hear anything people say, huh That’s enough Let’s all get to bed”
Meg and Natalia went to Natalia’s room, and everyone else went to their own rooms and made sure to lock their doors and s
Meanwhile in the Capital District, a wo a phone call
“Confederation Police Yes? Oh… yes? Er… what do you mean by that? …Yes Yes …Yes W-wait! How did you—”
The woman in black Confederation Police unifor the second half of the conversation She was in disbelief
She picked up the receiver she had hung up, and made an internal call
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“You wouldn’t believe the tip we just got”
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