Chapter 1: Power of the Unseen

  Everything began with a fsh of light, followed by an overwhelming feeling of nausea accompanied by an aching head.

  Well, maybe that’s not actually the best point to start this story off. But I hope that I got your attention with this. After all, every good story should start by grabbing your attention. And I do believe that it is vital to get your attention, dear reader, as we’ll be here for a while.

  I’ve heard once that the first sentence of a story is the deciding factor in whether or not an audience will be interested in it or not. Although I do hope that you’ll give me some more time to win you over.

  Anyway, sorry about that. I seem to have lost the focus a bit. After all, I only intended to tell you about this story that you have in front of you.

  Mysteries have long been a vital part of the entertainment industry. Whether in movies, TV shows, books, audio dramas, or even podcasts, people love the fascination that the unknown creates.

  Unsurprisingly, many young people who grow up with these stories wish to be detectives themselves. And I can tell you that this story is about an agency created by such people.

  But with such an oversaturation of the genre, why do I feel the need to tell you this story? Well, I cannot tell you without getting into its events first.

  But truth be told, part of the reason is my personal passion for the subject of this story, the detective agency we’ll be focusing on.

  Some people reading this might be painfully aware of what the existence of this book means for them, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

  Now, you’re probably asking yourself what events I’m referring to, or you might be yelling at me to get on with it. I’m just the narrator, after all, so I should probably not make this all about myself. And I get it. I have a tendency to ramble on and lose focus, so I hope you can forgive me for that.

  To get to the point, this book recounts 13 cases and their surrounding events. All of these cases happened recently to a small detective agency.

  The D&M Detective Agency, to be precise. An agency in the countryside of New York State, in the small town of Ashbypond, named after the body of water in the nearby woods.

  Even though the Agency seems unremarkable and small, it is worth pointing out that it has a track record of solving some notable cases and having served some influential clients in the short time it has existed so far.

  But what even qualifies me to tell you this story, and am I even a reliable source? You are free not to trust me, but I prefer keeping my identity a secret for now. Think of me as an unseen observer, a fly on the wall, if you will.

  Now, how do I begin talking about this case?

  Case #53: Power of the Unseen

  Saturday, March 9, 6:30 am: D&M Detective Agency, Ashbypond

  It was a morning like any other. Most inhabitants of Ashbypond were still asleep. The few that were already awake were sitting at home eating breakfast, including Xavier Diaz, the leader and currently the only member of the agency.

  He was tall and nky, with curly dark hair that was still a bit messy. He was sitting at the table in his office, eating a bowl of cereal. The box showed a dolphin mascot, and judging from the writing on the box, the cereal was from a Greek brand.

  He opened video editing software on his computer while shoveling a spoonful into his mouth. The video he was editing appeared to show him giving a food review of some chips that also seemed to have come from outside the US.

  The light of the monitor reflected in his gsses while he was focused on putting in a jump cut.

  Yes, this is what a normal morning looks like in the D&M Detective Agency. When you think of a professional investigator, you probably don’t picture them eating cereal in their pajamas while editing a YouTube video.

  Around this time of day, the entire house is usually silent, except for the clicking of the mouse, the crunching of cereal, and, of course, the ticking of the old grandfather clock that he had inherited from his grandaunt. She also left him this house, which served as his office and home.

  While a part of me is jealous of his calm life, I also feel sorry for him. I won’t go into too much detail for now, but he has not worked on a single rge case following a certain event about half a year ago. In fact, since then, he has only taken on one case, the search for a lost dog.

  It is truly a shame that he seems to be avoiding his job as an investigator. He used to be so passionate about it, and that passion is part of what got me interested in him and his work.

  But I seem to be rambling on again. So, let’s get back to the case at hand.

  As I said, this morning seemed as calm as any other, but as any lover of the genre should know, such peace and quiet is fleeting.

  Xavier was about to eat another spoonful when he heard some noise coming from downstairs. Someone had opened the front door, seemingly in a hurry. The door was immediately smmed shut, and the rattling of keys could be heard.

  Whoever had opened the door was now running up the stairs leading to Xavier’s office. The office door was pushed open, and a person stumbled inside.

  Xavier looked confused in the direction of the young woman who had just entered his room. She wore loose, athletic clothes but also a scarf, gloves, and a beanie to combat the cold. Her nose and cheeks were almost as red as her hair.

  “Amy, did something happen?” Xavier stood up and walked over to her. He gnced over to the clock. It was 6:40 am.

  “You, you gotta help me!” Amy was breathing heavily and seemed scared.

  “How about you take a seat and calm down first?” Xavier pointed to one of the two couches that stood opposite each other in the middle of the office. He handed her a bnket and headed to the kitchen, which was directly connected to the office.

  Amy sat down, still out of breath. Her eyes gnced nervously over to the window.

  “Here, drink this. It’s your favorite.” Xavier put a cup of lemon mint tea on the coffee table between the couches. He owned a rge collection of all kinds of teas and knew perfectly which his friends preferred.

  To give you some context on the two’s retionship, as I mentioned, Xavier owns this house, but he only uses the second floor, so he rents the first floor out for cheap.

  Amy Alice Baker moved into the house about four months prior, and since then, the two had become close friends. After all, both spend a lot of time at home, with Xavier barely having any cases and Amy working from home as a freence programmer.

  It also probably helps that the two are about the same age, with Amy being only one year younger than Xavier.

  To make a long story short, the two of them are good friends.

  Xavier sat down opposite Amy and took a sip of some cucumber tea, a fvor he is probably the only consumer of.

  He observed Amy carefully as she again turned her head to the window.

  “Sorry if this comes across as a bit blunt, but is it possible that you are being followed?” Xavier said in a serious tone.

  Amy winced and nearly spilled her tea. “How did you know?” She looked at him with disbelief.

  “Well, obviously, something happened that got you worried. The specifics are based on simple observations.” Xavier pointed to the clock. “You normally go jogging from 6 till 7 am and always take the same route, correct?”

  Amy nodded her head still with a look of disbelief.

  “Even if you were faster than usual, you wouldn't be home yet unless something caused you to change your route. Although you entered in a hurry, you made sure to lock the door, suggesting that you were afraid of something getting in. You also keep looking over at the window, even though you can’t see anything besides the neighbor’s roof. Clearly, this is solely driven by your fear of what’s outside and not because you are actually observing the area."

  “When you put it like that, I guess it sounds kinda obvious.”

  “So, I was right?”

  Amy nodded. She had seemingly calmed down a bit but was still nervous.

  “Could you please tell me all the details?”

  “Well, I think it started three days ago. I was visiting my parents.”

  “How did you get there?”

  “I jogged. I figured I could use some more exercise, and Lawreyville is just on the other side of the woods, after all.” She paused and looked over at Xavier.

  “Please continue,” he said in a calm and encouraging tone.

  “When I left my parents’ house, I headed home, but I noticed someone standing on the other side of the road. And something about them seemed kinda off.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, I couldn’t see their face, but it felt like they were staring at me. They were wearing a raincoat and had the hood pulled over their head even though it wasn’t raining.”

  “That was still in front of your parents’ home?”

  “Yes, they stood right across the street.”

  “And what happened after that?”

  “Nothing. Well, I still felt like I was being followed for a while, but I didn’t see them again until the next day. When I went to buy groceries, I saw them just for a moment before they disappeared around a corner.”

  “That wasn’t in Lawreyville, right?”

  “No, that time I saw them here in Ashbypond.”

  Xavier simply nodded and waited for her to continue recounting the events.

  “Yesterday, I saw them twice around town. And today, they approached me from the woods.”

  “Hold on, they approached you?! Did you get a better look at them?”

  “No, I was near the woods when I saw them walking in my direction. I got scared and ran in the other direction. I took a different way home in the hope they could not follow me as easily.”

  Amy saw deep into Xavier’s eyes, waiting for his opinion.

  Xavier had begun tapping his middle finger against his forehead, something he always did when he was lost in thought. Sometimes, he did it so hard and for so long that a red mark would be left on his skin.

  Amy was used to this sight and knew that it could take him a while to come to a conclusion. She decided to stand up and refill his cup, which he had already finished.

  She walked over to the kitchen, passing the window on her way. She nearly jumped, her body freezing, and she opened her eyes wide in shock.

  In her panicked state, she tried to yell out to Xavier, but not a single word would leave her mouth. Finally, after multiple attempts, she was able to yell the word: outside.

  Xavier jumped up and ran to the window. He observed the surrounding area with sharp eyes, but besides an old woman walking her dog, he couldn’t see anyone.

  “I don’t see anyone suspicious.”

  “B-but I definitely saw them over there.” Amy checked again, but she couldn’t see them anymore.

  “I’m sure they were there just a second ago. I definitely saw that bright yellow raincoat.”

  “Well, I assume the stalker retreated, but they are likely not far.”

  “What now?” Amy asked.

  “I would probably try to draw them out, but I don’t want to risk it. We don’t know that person’s intentions.”

  Amy looked at him, and after a short hesitation, she had made up her mind.

  “Do you think if we could draw them out, you could come up with a pn to catch them?”

  “I have an idea, but I don’t want to endanger you.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine. After all, it is better to confront them with you watching over me than being jumped by them when I’m alone.”

  “Are you sure?” Xavier seemed hesitant.

  “Absolutely. With you by my side, nothing can go wrong.”

  Still uncertain, Xavier began sharing his pn. “You will go outside through the front door and walk to the grocery store. I will follow shortly after, but go out the backdoor. Please keep your phone on you. If we are on a call with each other, I can hear everything going on around you.”

  “Okay, what then?”

  “You know that alleyway that leads behind the store? I want you to go there. The stalker follows you. You climb up the fire escape and then pull up the dder so they can’t follow you.”“And then you follow them into the alley where they are trapped.”

  “That’s the pn.”

  “But what if the dder is already up?”

  Xavier smacked his hand against his forehead. “You’re right! I can’t believe I nearly missed that. How about you go into the store first, and I make sure the dder is in position? If I give you a sign, then you can leave the store and head into the alley.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Now, some of you might be surprised that Amy is so quick to trust Xavier’s pn. After all, they don’t know who they are up against, and the pn could go wrong in a lot of ways. Xavier would have to be able to save her in that case.

  But I can assure you, even though Xavier’s biggest strength is his talent as an investigator. He is also physically quite capable. Even as a kid, he was one of the best in PE css, and ter, in high school, he was the leader of the track team. A few years ago, he even joined a boxing club.

  It is noteworthy that it isn’t rare for him to go all out in a case. In an early case, when he was still in high school, he took on an armed kidnapper with his bare hands. He had to be rushed to the hospital afterward, but he was able to incapacitate the criminal. I personally would always entrust him with my safety if needed.

  But that isn’t important right now.

  Saturday, March 9, 7:30 am, Mainstreet, Ashbypond

  The two waited for the store to open and put their pn into motion. Amy headed out with a bag under her arm, nervously looking around. Xavier kept an eye on her from afar. When she went into the store, he used the opportunity to sneak behind the store while listening to the phone.

  Amy walked around the store, trying not to look suspicious. She also listened carefully to the phone over her headphones.

  After a while, she heard a loud rattling, followed by Xavier’s voice. “Everything is ready.”

  Amy picked up a six-pack of sparkling water and headed to the checkout. She put the bottles in the bag and headed into the alley.

  She noticed something yellow from the corner of her eye but tried to act unaware.

  When she saw the dder, her steps became faster, and she quickly climbed up. She managed to pull up the dder just before the mysterious person could grab it.

  She still couldn’t get a good look at the face. Nervously, she looked over to the entrance of the alley.

  Just at that moment, Xavier turned around the corner. “Hey, you wanna tell me why you’ve been stalking my friend?”

  The person turned around and tried to run past him, but he was quicker. He grabbed them by the arm, but the person turned around. For just a moment, it seemed as if Xavier was frozen when he caught a glimpse of their face, mostly obscured by strains of red hair.

  The person saw their chance and punched him right on the nose. Xavier was sure he heard a cracking sound, and he felt his nose become warmer with blood running out of it.

  Thankfully, he wasn’t wearing his gsses, or they would have been shattered.

  He stumbled backwards. Thinking quickly, the person tripped him up before running away.

  Amy realized she had to do something, and using all her strength, she hurled the bag filled with bottles after them.

  Surprisingly, the bag actually hit their shoulder, and they let out a painful cry, but it didn’t stop them from escaping.

  Amy climbed back down as fast as she could and ran over to Xavier, who was just getting up. Before Amy could reach him, he was back on his feet. He snapped his nose back into position and ran after the suspect.

  He didn’t make it far, though. Still a bit wobbly, he stumbled out of the alley as fast as he could and right out onto the street. He heard a small bell ringing and saw the surprised look on a girl’s face for just a second before she crashed into him.

  Both fell to the ground, and the small bell attached to the girl’s bike let out a st sound from the impact.

  “Dumbass, watch where you’re going!” The girl started picking up the newspapers that had fallen out of her basket.

  “I’m sorry.” Xavier looked nervously around, but there was no trace of the yellow figure. “Dang it, I lost them!”

  “Dude, stop bleeding on my stuff. If they're ruined, I have to pay for them.”

  Xavier looked down and saw one of the newspapers soaking up the drops of blood that had nded on it.

  “My bad, here that should be enough. I hope you’re okay.” Xavier handed her a ten-dolr bill and helped her pick up the newspapers.

  “You can keep that one, not like anyone wants a blood-soaked newspaper. Oh, and here, that should help with the bleeding.” The girl handed him a tissue and rode away.

  “What happened?” Amy had just caught up with him and started looking around for the suspect.

  “Well, I lost track of the Yellow Phantom. But I think I…”

  “Wait, the Yellow Phantom? Did you give my stalker some kind of badass nickname?”

  “Well, it’s for the title of the case.”“But why?” Amy looked at him, befuddled.

  “You see, it is basically a formality for my agency to give every case a title. It’s mainly for archival purposes. Our first case, for example, is called: The Haunted School Trip.”

  “Wouldn’t it be smarter to just file them under the name of the client or by date? Or heck, just number them.”

  “But it sounds better this way. I mean, what do you like better, Case #7 or The Tinman’s Clearing, Case #18 or Fall of the Devil, Case #23 or The Ghost of Moriarty, Case #34 or…”

  “Okay, I get it. You like it when your cases sound like the titles of a children’s book series.” Amy sounded angry, but she smirked at the concept.

  “Believe me, it is a fwless system. It is universally applicable.” Xavier peeked at the headline on the Newspaper, which read: “Arson in local Fire Station”.

  “Check this out. If this were one of my cases, I would call it something like Fming Revenge.”

  Amy just shook her head and gnced at the front page. “Hold on, give me that. That’s the fire station my mom works at.”

  Amy quickly read the article and sighed out of relief.

  “What happened?”

  “Apparently, it was just some vandals that stole some equipment, broke some stuff, and set a bin on fire. Probably gonna cost a lot to fix the damages. Not like their already underfunded and short on staff. At least no one was injured.”

  “Did they catch the culprits?” Xavier asked.

  “No, but the police suspect they are teenagers from around here.”“Typical, always bming the younger generations.”

  Xavier looked surprised as if he had just remembered something important. “Oh shit, I almost forgot. Do you have a sister?”

  “No, I don’t. Just an older brother. I thought you knew that.”

  “Interesting.” He started tapping against his forehead.

  “Why do you ask that all of a sudden?”

  “Well, the Phantom kinda looked like you. And it also sounded just like you.”

  “What are you talking about? They didn’t say anything.”

  “No, but listen to this.” Xavier pulled out his phone and pyed back the Phantom’s scream.

  “And?”

  “My phone always records my phone calls. That’s the scream of the Phantom.”

  “And you’re saying that’s what I sound like?”

  “Remember when you were working on some wiring recently and accidentally shocked yourself?”

  “You remember that?”

  “I’m an investigator. Remembering things is half my job. Anyway, you let out the exact same scream.”

  “So what, does that mean I have an evil, secret twin sister I didn’t know about?”

  “Maybe, or someone is trying hard to copy you.”

  “Great, now I’m even more confused.”

  “How about we head home for now and think it over?”

  Saturday, March 9, 8:00 am: D&M Detective Agency, Ashbypond

  “I still think you’re just imagining things,” Amy said to Xavier while getting her keys out to unlock the door. Just when she opened it, Xavier’s expression turned serious.

  “Wha…”

  Xavier cut her off and gestured to stay quiet. Then, he slowly entered the house and grabbed a fshlight, which was lying on a cabinet next to the door.

  Without a sound, he walked down the hallway and listened carefully.

  Still confused, Amy followed him until the two stopped in front of the door to her office room.

  Now, she could hear it, too. The sound of keyboard clicking and mouse tapping came from the other side of the door.

  As quietly as possible, Xavier opened the door. There it was, the mysterious Yellow Phantom. The figure had their back turned towards them and was seemingly looking for something on the computer.

  Xavier snuck up on them, but a creaking floorboard pierced through the quiet. The Phantom turned around, seeing the two.

  Before he could even think, Xavier already swung the fshlight and hit the intruder on the head.

  With a loud thud, the Phantom fell face down on the floor.

  Amy stared at him in shock. “Did you just kill my stalker?”

  Xavier tried not to make it obvious that he had the same concern and grabbed the Phantom’s wrist. “No, they’re just knocked out. But how about we check who has been stalking you?”

  Xavier pulled the hood down and turned the head sideways. Both of them stared in surprise. The Phantom and Amy looked nearly identical. They had the same fire-red hair, although Amy’s was a bit longer. Their faces could not be told apart in the dim light, though.

  Slowly, Xavier turned around with a bewildered look on his face. “Amy, who the fuck is this?”

  “I have no idea.”

  I assume I don’t have to mention that this case is turning out to be quite confusing. After all, a doppelganger is a first for the D&M Detective Agency. Should this be more than just an impersonator, it would be very curious. Xavier has dealt with seemingly paranormal or supernatural occurrences, but they always turn out to be hoaxes. Could this be more than it seems?

  Easy to say that the two had no idea what they were in for.

  Together, they brought the unconscious intruder into Xavier’s office. Xavier made sure to lock all exits to the room while Amy was treating the wound Xavier had caused with his impressive swing.

  “So, if this isn’t your sister, could it be some other retive?”

  “I don’t think so. The only other close retives that are about my age are my cousin, but she doesn’t look like me, and my nephew, but he also looks nothing like me. We’re not even reted by blood, after all.”

  Xavier searched the pockets of the raincoat lying on the table in front of him in hopes of finding an ID or any other clue to the identity of the Yellow Phantom.

  “Well, there is nothing that tells us who this is, but I found these.” Xavier showed Amy something that looked like thick wires that had been bent into differently shaped hooks.

  “What’s that? Looks just like garbage to me.”

  “On the contrary, these look like makeshift lockpicks.”

  “So, you mean that’s how the Phantom got in here?!”

  “They probably came in through the backdoor. The lock of it is quite old. But credit where it’s dew, it still takes some skill to pick it with these simple tools.”

  “Thanks for the credit. Coming from you, that truly means nothing to me.”

  Both turned around in surprise. The Phantom sat upright on the couch and stretched. Now, without the raincoat and under stronger light, it was easier to tell them apart from Amy. While Amy was a bit chubby, the Phantom seemed more like she had barely eaten tely. The Phantom also had a long Scar stretching across her left cheek.

  “Can I have them back now, I only have those ones, and they were a pain in the ass to make.”

  “Well, it seems like our Phantom has finally awoken.”

  “Phantom?”

  “Yellow Phantom, to be precise, you should be thankful. That’s one of the more fttering nicknames I’ve given to my opponents. But now that you’re awake, how about you tell me your name?”

  “Wait, did you forget my name?”

  “Should I know it?” Xavier looked at her with a genuine look of confusion.

  “Are you trying to fuck with me? Don’t think I forgot that it was you and your boy toy who got me arrested.”

  Xavier winced, and his demeanor changed. “How about you watch your mouth when talking about my boyfriend?! Also, I’ve never seen you or had you arrested.”

  “Is this a joke?” The Phantom got up and stared at Xavier with a look of pure detestation.

  “How about we all calm down, and then we can introduce ourselves?” Amy stood between the two, who looked like they were about to throw hands. “Could you please tell us your name?”

  “I could ask you the same thing. Who are you, and why do you look like me?”

  “Your name!” Xavier commanded angrily.

  “Fine, it’s Alice Baker. Guess I have to help you with your amnesia, Mr. Master Detective.”

  Xavier and Amy looked at each other, equally surprised by the answer.

  “Seriously?” Amy started to get annoyed.

  “What, got a problem with my name, copycat?”

  “Your full name wouldn’t happen to be Amy Alice Baker?”

  “Great, Sherlock finally remembered. But as I said back then, I don’t go by Amy.”

  “And as I’ve said, I have never had you arrested.”

  “Yes, you have!”

  Xavier sat back down and started thinking. “I’m starting to catch onto a theme, but I’m not happy about it. You both look alike and have the same name. You both seem to be honest about that. On top of that, Alice seems to remember events that Amy and I have never experienced.”

  “What are you trying to say?” Amy couldn’t take her eyes off Alice.

  “It seems absurd. Maybe it helps if you could tell us why you were stalking Amy.”

  “Stalking?! I just wanted to know who she was.”

  “Then why didn’t you just ask me?”

  “I tried, but you ran away, and then you sent Sherlock after me.”

  “What about the days before? Amy said she’s been seeing you for three days now.”

  Alice started thinking about it.

  “What, can’t think of an expnation?” Amy gred at her.

  “You know what? I had Amy tell me her side. How about you tell us your side?”

  “Sure, it began three days ago when I wanted to visit my parents.”

  “I assume they live in Lawreyville,” added Xavier.

  “Exactly. When I got there, well, let’s say, I had to psych myself up. So, I stepped back into an alleyway across the street. When I came back out, I saw her walking into my parents’ house.”

  “That’s when I was visiting my family. That’s also when I saw you for the first time.”

  “I waited for her to come back outside to see who she was from afar. After all, I had no idea who she was. I followed her, but I lost track in the woods. I came to Ashbypond, where I finally saw you again.”“That was two days ago, right?”

  “No, it was yesterday. Why would you think it was two days ago?”

  “Amy said she saw you two days ago.”

  “Really, must have missed her. Anyway, yesterday I wanted to talk to her, but whenever I saw her, someone else was nearby.”“Why would that be a problem?” Xavier asked, suspicious of her.

  “Let’s just say people around here don’t like me very much. But that’s why I decided to approach her outside the town, so I just waited for her.”

  “I see where this is going. She ran away from you, and you followed her. When you saw that she went into a detective agency you got scared and ran away. And obviously, your next attempt to talk to her didn’t go so well either.”

  “I decided to use the opportunity to see if I could find any info on her. Surprisingly, the computer unlocked itself when I started it.”

  “It uses facial ID, so that makes sense,” expined Amy.

  “There seems to be quite the irony going on in this case. Both of you wanted to find out who the other was. I guess you both are on the same side of this mystery,” surmised Xavier.

  “Yeah, but it seems the more we learn about the case, the more confusing it gets.” Amy grabbed one of the lockpicks that Xavier had put on the coffee table and started pying around with it.

  “Do any of you remember anything weird that happened recently besides meeting a doppelganger, of course?”

  Both shook their heads.

  “I’m getting a headache. I need something to drink. Where…” Alice stopped in the middle of her sentence. “Wait, now that I think about it. There was something weird just after I entered the alleyway three days ago.”

  “Spit it out!” Xavier said, excited.

  “Okay, okay, aren’t I basically your client now? You should really be a bit nicer.”

  Xavier didn’t even spare her an answer and just stared daggers into her.

  “Alright, I remember seeing a fsh of light. Afterward, my head was aching, and I felt dizzy. I walked out of the alley, and then I saw her.”

  “Whatever the solution to this mystery may be, we will surely find it in that alley.”

  It didn’t take much to convince the two to continue the investigation there.

  “We can take the bicycles and head over to Lawreyville,” Amy suggested.

  “Oh yeah, let me just pull mine out of my pocket.” Alice searched her pockets in an overly sarcastic gesture. “You know what? I think I left it in my other pants.”

  “Haha, I get it, you don’t have to be a dick about it.”

  “No problem, Alice can sit on the back of my bike. From the looks of it, I shouldn’t have trouble with the extra weight.”

  “Wow, what a gentleman.” Alice bowed down as if she were faced with royalty.

  Xavier bowed back in the same over-the-top way and headed for the door. Amy stared at Alice angrily, but she just looked back in confusion, not knowing what Amy was getting at.

  And so, they headed off, hoping to put the case of The Yellow Phantom to rest. Some of my readers might have noticed something there, but we aren’t there yet.

  Saturday, March 9, 10:50 am: Alleyway, Lawreyville

  They arrived in Lawreyville without any problems. As soon as they entered the Town, Alice pulled her hood back up, hoping not to be recognized.

  Amy led the way to her parents’ home, where they left their bikes leaning against the fence.

  When they entered the alleyway, it took them a moment to get used to the darkness, as the alleyway was shrouded in shadows from the surrounding buildings.

  “This is where it happened. I was leaning against that wall.” She looked closer, and as her eyes got used to the dim light, she noticed a strange-looking, rge symbol that had seemingly been carved into the wall and ground as if they were made out of wet cy.

  “I don’t remember this being here.”

  Amy noticed it now as well. “What is that?”

  The weird shape consisted of an assortment of curved lines seemingly spiraling into each other. The outer ends of all the lines were curled the other way.

  Xavier finally noticed the shape, too. Immediately, he opened his eyes wide in shock. Seemingly subconsciously, he took a step back, and his entire body started shaking.

  “Xavier, is everything okay?” Amy noticed he was shaking and went up to him. When she reached out, he snapped back and stepped towards the shape. “No worries. I just thought of something, but it doesn’t matter.” He forced a smile while looking at the shape. He tried to seem fine, but his trembling hands told a different story.

  “Alice, can you say for sure the symbol was not there when you entered the alleyway?” Amy asked while keeping her eyes on Xavier.

  “I think, but I can’t guarantee it. As I said, I wasn’t in the best headspace back then.”

  “So, whatever caused the fsh of light and its byproducts might have also caused this shape to appear.”

  “Possible, what do you think, Sherlock?”

  Xavier didn’t seem to notice the others. He took off his backpack and pulled out some tools and a few pstic bags.

  Careful not to damage it too badly, he took multiple samples from the areas affected by the spiral shape.

  He then took out his phone and took a few pictures of the weird sight.

  “Earth to master detective, what’s the pn?” Alice asked.

  “Oh, sorry, I was focused on this. I think it would be best to get some advice from an expert.”

  “An expert in shapes? Like a toddler?” Alice remarked sarcastically.

  “More like an expert in science.”

  “All of science?” Amy repeated in disbelief.

  “You’ll see.” Xavier dialed a number on his phone and waited for the person on the other end to pick up. He made sure the others could listen as well.

  “What?” sounded a raspy voice, annoyed from the other side.

  “Pablo, how are you doing?”

  “Don’t come me like that, Diaz. First, you avoid me for half a year, and then you act like nothing happened.”“Oh, I’m sure you were busy. What have you been up to?”

  “I lost my job.” The mood of the person on the other end seemingly only got worse the more Xavier said.

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Yeah, as if you gave a shit. We both know you didn’t just call me to ask how I’m doing, so get to the point.”

  “It’s about the thing from st time.”

  The voice stayed quiet for a while. “Are you sure? Why do you wanna talk about this, now of all times?”

  “I’m standing in front of a new one.”

  “Who’s seen it? Did you take samples?”

  “No idea who’s seen it. It’s in a public pce. But I did take samples and pictures.”

  “I understand.”

  “I’m currently investigating...”

  “Don’t say another word. We should talk about this in person. I’m meeting with someone ter and need to make some preparations. How about you come over in about an hour?”

  “Sounds good.”

  Xavier hung up and turned to the others.

  “Who was that?” Amy asked.

  “Well, that was Professor Doctor Pablo Cabrera, an old colleague of sorts.”

  “He doesn’t seem to like you very much,” noted Alice.

  “The feeling is mutual. If it weren’t for the good of my work, I would not take the advice from some old geezer like him.”

  “I can see why he’s not too keen on you,” Alice said.

  “Xavier, did I understand that correctly? You’ve already seen this symbol before?”

  “What, why would you think that?” He looked at Amy with a shocked look on his face.

  “Dude, you basically said as much on the phone call,” Alice added to Amy’s question.

  “Oh, right. Well, it just reminded me of something from a case half a year ago. He helped me with that back then, so maybe he can help us here, too.”

  “Xavier, I don’t think you’re telling us the whole truth.”

  “Yeah, dude, don’t you think we have a right to know more about this symbol?”

  “Sorry, a good investigator does not tell unless absolutely necessary. Let us talk to Pablo before I decide to share more with you.”

  Alice looked over to Amy, who just shook her head as if to say not to bother with it.

  “How about lunch? I, for one, am starving,” Xavier suggested.

  The three headed to a nearby restaurant to eat and wait out the time.

  I would like to use the opportunity to crify a certain matter. Xavier is wildly misrepresenting Mr. Cabrera’s contribution to his success. As someone who barely made it through high school, it is not surprising that Xavier needs help from someone else whenever scientific knowledge is needed. Ever since Case #9: The Six Treasure Hens, he has served as a trusty ally to the D&M Detective Agency.

  Xavier could not ask for a better scientific advisor. After all, Mr. Cabrera is knowledgeable in a multitude of subjects, with a particur focus on biology and chemistry. He is also a gifted engineer.

  And Xavier is very aware of how lucky he is to be able to rely on him, even though he’d never admit it.

  Saturday, March 9, 12:15 pm: Paradise Heights, Lawreyville

  After finishing their lunch, they headed over to Mr. Cabrera. He lived in an apartment complex called Paradise Heights, which towered over the other buildings with its eight stories. The pce had seen better days. The paint on the walls was chipping, and the grass in the yard had not been cut in quite a while.

  They leaned their bikes against the cracked wall surrounding the property and walked through the rusty gate.

  “I always wondered who lived here,” Amy said while walking towards the entrance.

  “Mostly drug addicts and other social rejects,” Alice answered without hesitation.

  “That’s kinda rude.”

  “What? I’m allowed to say that I used to live here.”

  “Wait, what?” Amy stared at her in surprise.

  “Yeah, a few years ago. It was cheap enough for me to afford. At least for a while.”

  “And which one were you, drug addict or social reject?” Xavier asked in a taunting voice.

  “Find out yourself, Sherlock.”

  “So, what exactly is this building? It doesn’t really fit here,” Amy asked.

  “I can actually answer that. I was wondering the same thing in the past and did some research. Apparently, some rich guy wanted to build a luxury apartment complex to attract the upper css. That’s why he called it Paradise Heights. But he went over budget and couldn’t afford the upkeep. He also filled it up with technology that someone from the 70s would think of as groundbreaking and futuristic. Believe me, they aren’t,” expined Alice with a grin on her face.

  When they reached the entrance, Xavier rang the doorbell. A fsh appeared from above the doorbells, where a small monitor was attached to the wall. It took a second for a picture to appear on the screen. Looking closely, it appeared to be a photograph of the three standing in front of the door.

  “What’s that?” Amy squinted at the picture.

  “I think it is meant for security to show you this pce is being surveilled.”

  “Yeah, and they almost manage to imitate the quality of the Game Boy Camera,” Alice added with an even bigger grin than before. “Just wait. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

  The screen changed to show text. Amy started reading when a robotic voice read it out loud. “FULL NAME!”

  “Why is it so loud?!” Amy could hear a ringing in her ears.

  “Who knows?” Xavier pulled a small keyboard out from below the screen.

  “Another innovation. Who needs a normal intercom when you can type out your message instead of using a microphone?”

  “Mute or deaf people,” Amy pointed out.

  “Well, yeah, but… No, you actually have a point with that one. Although I doubt that was the intention.”

  “It’s nice to see how much fun you are having with this tech.” Amy rolled her eyes.

  “I’ve had to deal with this crap, so it’s cathartic seeing someone else learning about it for the first time.”

  After Xavier had typed in his name, the door unlocked, and they entered the building. The first floor didn’t have any apartments. Instead, it was home to different facilities for maintaining and supervising the building. It was also connected to the small courtyard in the middle of the building. There was a small pond, some benches, and tables, but all of it was overgrown with pnts that seemed to desperately need some water.

  It didn’t take long for Amy to find the elevator. Just as she was about to press the button, Alice grabbed her by the shoulder.

  “I wouldn’t take the elevator unless you like gambling and narrow spaces.”

  “Why are you talking in riddles?”

  “The elevator has a 75% chance of getting stuck. And then I hope for you, you don’t have custrophobia,” Alice expined.

  “Well, I don’t have custrophobia, but I still prefer the stairs over getting stuck.”

  “Good choice.”

  The three began to climb up the stairs. With every step, it felt like their goal was getting further away from them.

  “What floor does he live on?” Amy asked while gasping for air as they arrived on the fifth floor.

  “Floor eight.”

  “Jesus!” Alice said out loud in an exhausted tone.

  “You know what, now that I think about it, 1 in 4, those aren’t such bad odds,” Amy said, even more exhausted than her doppelganger.

  “We’re almost there.” Xavier tried to encourage the two without much success.

  “Why is the elevator so unreliable? Don’t tell me it’s because of another stupid gimmick.”

  “Well, the elevator moves in four directions.”

  “Isn’t that basically useless?” Amy asked in disbelief.

  “Yes, it is.” Even though Alice was tired too, she started ughing.

  “Are you enjoying my pain?”

  “Kinda.”

  They continued climbing to the highest floor. Alice and Amy struggled for air, and even Xavier seemed out of breath.

  “No idea how the old guy does this with his tiny legs.” Xavier knocked on the door, and it immediately opened up.

  “Fashionably te, I see.” Mr. Cabrera stared up into Xavier’s Eyes. He wore an itchy sweater under his b coat, which he had fitted himself. Easy to tell from the mediocre stitches. A pair of safety goggles were hanging from his colr.

  “A working system should not be changed.”

  “I see, and those two are?”

  “Hello, I’m Amy Baker. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Professor Doctor Cabrera.”

  Mr. Cabrera shook her hand. “Nice to see that some young people still respect their elders. But please, Mr. Cabrera is enough.”

  “You always say I have to call you by your full title!” Xavier said, surprised.

  “And it stays that way. You still need to learn some manners. And as you said, a working system should not be changed.”

  “Whatever you say, Pablo.”

  “Let me tell you one thing, Diaz. Never anger a man with the perfect height to punch you in the nuts.”

  “Wise words,” Alice said with a grin on her face.

  “And you are?”

  “Hi, I’m Alice Baker. Nice to meet you.”

  “I assume you two are twins, right?”

  “Well, that’s actually part of the reason we are here,” Xavier expined.

  “Ah, I see. Come in. We can discuss everything in private.”

  Before Mr. Cabrera closed the door behind them, he looked down the hallway both ways as if he suspected someone was spying on them.

  “You brought me some samples, yes?” Mr. Cabrera held out his hand, waiting for Xavier to hand them to him.

  While Xavier searched his backpack for the samples, Amy and Alice looked around the room.

  All sorts of notes and scientific tools were scattered across the room. A weird-looking shelf, composed of hexagonal compartments, some boarded up, and some chock-full of Papers, was pced against one of the walls.

  All four walls were covered in weird stains, likely caused by various chemicals. Simirly, the ceiling showed some more stains and even burn marks.

  Multiple tables filled the room, all of them buckling under the weight of different boratory equipment.

  “How can you work in such chaos, Mr. Cabrera?” Amy looked at some gss containers filled with God knows what liquids.

  “I’m used to having a bit more space in my b. But there is a system to the chaos, Miss.”

  “Kinda reminds me of your computer desktop.” Amy smiled over to Xavier.

  “Hey, I’m doing my best to keep it organized.”

  “In that case, you could help me organize this mess as well.”

  “Sorry, I would love to, but I’m a busy investigator.”

  Mr. Cabrera started chuckling. “Understood. Do you have the samples?”

  “Yeah, I found them. Hope those help you.”

  “I will start analyzing them today. But it could take a while. Give me until tomorrow.”

  “No problem, I’ve waited half a year so far. One more day won’t make a difference.”Mr. Cabrera looked at him like he felt bad for Xavier. “Maybe don’t get your hopes up. It will take time to sort this out. But I promise I won’t rest until we’ve found him.”

  Alice looked back and forth between the two, trying to figure out what they were keeping from Amy and her.

  “So, what are you working on at the moment?” Xavier gnced over the notes on the table in front of him.

  “I’m afraid I can’t tell you. And don’t bother snooping around. All my research on it is well hidden. Or do you think I let secret files out in the open when an investigator comes over?”

  “I guess even you wouldn’t make such an easy mistake.”

  Amy listened to their conversation while she walked over to the window. There was only one, but it let in enough light.

  She opened it and leaned outside. Looking down, she saw the small pond in the center of the building.

  As soon as she looked down, an uncomfortable feeling crawled up her back. Her heart started racing, and she quickly stepped back.

  “What’s the matter?” Alice looked at her terrified expression.

  “I forgot we’re on the eighth floor.”

  “Are you afraid of heights?”

  Amy nodded while she slowly sat down on the floor.

  “Yeah, I used to have the same problem. I would almost shit myself even when I was just on the third floor.”

  “How did you overcome it?”

  “Facing it with the help of someone close to me, I guess.”

  “I don’t think I could handle that.”

  “I’m sure you can. Just take your time and find someone you trust. You and Xavier seem to be close.”“Well, I wouldn’t say close, but…” Amy turned bright red.

  “I see. To each their own.”

  “It’s not like that!”

  “Sure,” Alice said in a taunting tone while leaning out the window. She looked up, where a roof made of gss let light into the courtyard. About four feet below that and just above the window, a grid of strong, wooden beams stretched across the square. Some dried-out climbing pnts were hanging down from it. An unsuccessful attempt at making a natural source of shade.

  I wouldn’t call myself a botanist, and while I could accept the grass outside or the courtyard as a kind of wild garden, these pnts just look sad to me.

  Alice’s eyes wandered over to a few sprinklers that were hanging from the metal frame that was holding together the gss ceiling.

  “Amy, you wanna hear something funny?”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you see those sprinklers?”“Please, no more stupid inventions.”

  “They are meant to stop fires, but instead of reacting to heat, like most sprinklers, they react to smoke.”

  “Okay, that actually doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “I agree, but the funny thing is, they are way too sensitive. One day, a woman who lives here lit a cigarette in the courtyard, and let’s say, she didn’t need to shower anymore.”

  “Does anything work in this godforsaken house?!”

  “It hasn’t colpsed,” Alice answered jokingly.

  “Don’t jinx it!”

  “What, do you think the house will genuinely...” Alice stopped in the middle of her sentence. She had noticed a dot of light in the window opposite this one. As she looked closer, she realized that it was the reflection of a pair of binocurs.

  “I think someone is spying on us.”

  “What?!” Xavier turned around, confused.

  “I can’t believe it, that damned old geezer!” Mr. Cabrera walked over to the window angrily and got up on a small wooden box that was pced in front of it.

  “For fuck’s sake, Franklin, I told you if I caught you spying on me again, I would come over there and personally break those damned binocurs!” He flipped the man in the other room off and flicked a switch next to the window, which he had built in himself.

  He got down from the box, and the window blinds slowly started closing themselves.

  “How did you do that? I thought the blinds are controlled by a clock.” Alice took a closer look as if she could find out what it did by staring at it.

  “You're right. The blinds go up at 7 am and close at 8 pm. But that doesn’t stop an inventor.”

  “Does the switch reverse the reaction of the blinds to the clock’s input?” asked Amy.

  “Clever girl. Yes, if the switch is turned on, the blinds are closed during the day and open during the night. A simple but effective solution.”

  “But now that I’m talking to you two, I wanted to ask you to eborate on your connection.”

  The two gave Mr. Cabrera a summary of what they had found out so far, with Xavier adding some details where necessary.

  Mr. Cabrera nodded and looked back and forth between the two doppelgangers. “I see. That’s about what I had expected.”

  “Do you know what is going on?” Amy and Alice looked at him in anticipation.

  “Well, it might be a bit too early to tell. Let me analyze the samples first.”“What is going on?! Both of you clearly know more. Why won’t you tell us?” Alice gred at Xavier and Mr. Cabrera.

  “You must understand, there is more to this than you think. We can’t act out of...”

  The ringing of the doorbell sounded through the room.

  Mr. Cabrera ran over to the intercom and typed in: “Full Name”.

  A few seconds afterward, the robotic voice read out: “RHO!”

  “She’s early,” Mr. Cabrera realized. “Sorry, I don’t have any more time for today. Please come back tomorrow, let’s say a little past seven if that’s alright.”

  “Wait, so you’re just sending us away without giving us an answer?”

  “Alice, it’s best to give him some time. I want to know it just as much as you, but it won’t help to rush him,” Amy said calmly. Alice gave in, and they left the apartment. Just before Xavier walked out the door, Mr. Cabrera grabbed his arm. Xavier bent down so Mr. Cabrera could whisper something in his ear.

  Xavier looked confused and surprised. He nodded and said goodbye to Mr. Cabrera.

  “What did he tell you?”

  “Doesn’t matter. It has nothing to do with the case.”

  Even though neither of them believed him, they decided to just drop it for now, as they wouldn’t get anything out of him even if they tried.

  On their long way down, they passed a woman on the stairs. Most of her face was obscured with a rge hat and a scarf. But her eyes were perfectly visible. She had a stare cold enough to freeze the blood in one’s veins.

  Amy almost bumped into the rge sports bag the woman was carrying, but Xavier pulled her aside just in time.

  To their annoyance, they realized that someone had parked their car right in front of the bikes.

  With a lot of effort, they were able to free the bikes without scratching the car, even though Alice was just about to do that herself with a rock in her hand.

  Saturday, March 9, 17:45 pm: D&M Detective Agency, Ashbypond

  After they had returned, they were exhausted, so they just sat in front of the TV without talking much.

  Later, they sat down to eat some spaghetti that Xavier had prepared.

  “Here, eat as much as you want. Amy, I’m sure you’re starving. You didn’t even eat lunch.”

  “Oh, it’s okay. I’m not that hungry today. Just give me a small serving.”“Who are you kidding? If you have the chance to eat, you take it.” Alice started shoveling spaghetti into her mouth.

  “Let’s change the subject. I was wondering where Alice should sleep.”

  “The couch looks comfy.” Alice peeked into the office.

  “No, you’re my guest. You can use my spare bedroom.”

  “You’re renting out half the house and still have a spare bedroom? Why?”

  Amy gave her a sign to shut up.

  “What, did I say something wrong?”

  Xavier sighed. “No, don’t worry. My boyfriend and I share a bed, but sometimes he’s uncomfortable with someone being that close to him, so I have another bedroom so I can give him some space. But he’s currently not here, so I don’t need both rooms.”Xavier tried not to look sad. “I’m sorry, but it’s a bit hot in here. I’m going to finish my food on the veranda behind the house if that’s alright.”

  Alice watched as he left the room, feeling bad for hurting him.

  “Great, now I feel like shit for hurting a guy, who had me arrested.”

  “Maybe just don’t bring up his boyfriend.”

  “Did they break up?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it behind Xavier’s back. Plus, I barely know anything about it.”

  “Fine. I should probably apologize to Xavier, shouldn’t I?”“It’s best to give him some space. But I wanted to ask you something.”“Sure, what do you wanna know?”

  “You keep bringing up that Xavier had you arrested. I was wondering how that happened. Did you commit a crime?”

  Alice thought about it and gave in. “Let’s just say I’ve been dealing with some rough stuff, and I had to get by somehow. I ended up stealing some stuff so I could eat.”

  “I guess we all gotta do what we must, even though coming from someone in such a privileged position as me, that probably sounds like a bunch of empty words. But don’t worry, I don’t judge you for stealing. Not like you killed someone.”

  Alice nearly spat out her food. “Yeah, I would have to be a monster to do that.”

  The two talked some more and headed to bed. Alice borrowed one of Amy’s pajamas and fell immediately asleep.

  While Alice was fast asleep and Amy tossed and turned in her bed, Xavier sat at his office table. He was reading through some old case files. Some of his oldest, in fact. All of them were signed with the name Natsu Masuda, as he was the one taking care of the archive. Well, until half a year ago, that is.

  He had an uncertain expression on his face. A mix of hope and sadness. He gnced over at a half-empty Whiskey bottle but decided not to drink any.

  After a few hours, he put the files back in the cabinet and decided to go to sleep.

  He walked over to the door to his bedroom and put his hand on the door handle. He paused for a good minute. Then he turned around and lied down on the couch. It took him a while to fall asleep.

  Let me be frank for a second. Xavier Diaz is a man with many good qualities, and he will always help a friend going through a hard time. But he has one big problem. Even though he understands that it helps others to open up about their emotions, he does not let others in on his worries. He thinks he always has to be the rock everyone else can lean on, and it pains me to see him like this. I just wish I could have reached out to him, give him a hug, and tell him everything would be okay. But that’s not the reality we live in.

  Maybe that’s part of the reason why I decided to share Xavier’s story. To let more people know about his struggles. To show he’s more than just the master detective he’s known as.

  Sunday, March 10, 6:00 am: D&M Detective Agency, Ashbypond

  Xavier almost fell from the couch when he rocketed up out of his sleep in the morning. The arm on his phone was bring a song from a musical to wake him up.

  Yes, Xavier is the kind of person who starts his morning thinking about Broadway.

  His head was aching, and it took him multiple attempts to turn off the arm. He stumbled over to the kitchen, grabbed a slice of bread, and smeared a load of pineapple mango jam on it.

  He put the jam back in the fridge next to an assortment of other jams and jellies.

  With bread in one hand and a cup of pomegranate tea in the other, he sat down in front of his office table.

  After he had finished eating his breakfast, he carried his backpack over to the table.

  According to him, this Backpack contained the basic equipment every investigator needs, including a magnifying gss, tweezers, pipettes, fingerprint powder, notepads, and much more.

  He walked over to a filing cabinet with two compartments, one beled “solved” and the other “unsolved”.

  He opened the one for unsolved cases and grabbed the only file inside. It was beled with the number 52. The old title had seemingly been erased. Some traces were still visible, where a new title had been written. It now simply said “Missing”.

  Carefully, he put it in his backpack as Amy walked into the office. She had started her morning jog a bit earlier that day to be back before they had to leave.

  “Good morning. Did you sleep well?” Xavier asked while closing the backpack.

  “Not so much. There’s a lot on my mind.”

  “I bet. Hopefully, we can put this case to rest today.”

  “What will you do after that?”

  “What do you mean?” Xavier looked at her, having no idea what she could be referring to.

  “Well, this has been your first case in a while. Is this some kind of new beginning for your investigative career, or will you just go back to working on videos?”

  “Haven’t thought about it yet. But I have a feeling that this case might be the rebirth of the agency.”

  “Nice to hear. By the way, is Alice still asleep?”

  “Oh shit, I forgot about her.” He walked over to the bedroom door and banged on it. “Wake up. Pablo doesn’t like having to wait for others.”

  Shortly after, he heard a loud thud before Alice opened the door. On one leg, she hopped over to the kitchen, still putting on her pants. Her hoodie hung over her shoulder while she hastily put two slices of bread into the toaster.

  Both Amy and Xavier stared at her in confusion as she searched the kitchen cabinets for a cup.

  It was only then that they could see that Alice had two more rge scars on her body. A horizontal one on her stomach and one on the left side of her torso, going from her waist all the way up to her shoulder.

  They decided not to ask her about them and waited for her to finish breakfast, which did not take long. Then, they got on their bikes and rode off toward Lawreyville.

  Sunday, March 10, 7:05 am: Arthur Street, Lawreyville

  As expected from Xavier, the three were running te for their meeting.

  Xavier turned a tight corner, almost falling over from the additional weight.

  “Dude, watch it. Even I’m better at riding a bike, and I haven’t done it in years!” Alice yelled while holding onto him.

  “Sorry, I forgot you were sitting on my bike.”

  “Xavier, what are you hoping to get out of Mr. Cabrera’s analysis of the samples?” Amy asked while struggling to keep up.

  “I’m not sure what you mean. Obviously, I’m hoping for a clue.”“But you just took some samples of dirt. What can you learn from that?” Alice asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe that weird light left some physical traces behind. Or maybe the light was some form of radiation.”

  “Wait, are you saying that light was radioactive?!”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve heard you can get superpowers from that,” Xavier answered, ughing.

  “No, I’m serious, Mr. Cabrera better not tell me that I have cancer now.”

  “I’m sure it’s not...” Amy was cut off by a loud siren coming from behind them.

  “Watch out for the fire engine!” Amy warned the others.

  They stopped by the side of the narrow road to let the fire engine pass, but as they watched the rge vehicle drive by, a weird feeling overcame Xavier.

  “Where do you think they’re headed?” Alice asked.

  “I don’t know, but they’re driving in the same direction as us.”

  “You don’t think...” Amy couldn’t bring herself to say it, but Xavier knew what she meant.

  They sped up to reach Paradise Heights. It wasn’t long before a police car, also headed in the same direction, passed by them.

  Alice could feel how Xavier started getting faster as his expression grew more concerned.

  When they got to Paradise Heights, their worries skyrocketed. Both vehicles had stopped right in front of the tall building. The gate had been barricaded with crime scene tape, but even without crossing it, the crowd of people gathered in the yard was visible.

  “Seems like all the inhabitants have fled the building,” Alice pointed out.

  Some nosey onlookers had gathered in front of the gate.

  “What should we do? We can’t get in,” Amy said, trying to see past the crowd and the tape.

  “Of course we can.” Without a second thought, Xavier forced his way through the crowd.

  Amy and Alice put the bikes next to the same car that had boxed them in the day before. They followed Xavier, who had already crossed the tape.

  One of the officers, standing next to the evacuated people, noticed them as they were walking past the fire engine and came running. “Hey, you can’t be here!”

  Xavier didn’t even answer. He pulled a card out of his pocket and showed it to the officer while walking past her. She quickly looked at it and looked back at the three with a surprised look on her face.

  “What’s that card?” Amy asked while catching up to Xavier, who was still walking toward the building.

  "It’s a detective license. Pretty useful.”“So you can just walk into every crime scene?” Alice asked.

  “You just need the right conviction to do that. Just look like you’re meant to be here.”

  “Clever,” Alice said, appreciating Xavier’s attitude.

  “Aren’t you those kids who were with that crazy scientist yesterday?” The old neighbor who had been spying on Mr. Cabrera had noticed the three as they were walking past the crowd.

  “Yes, we met with Mr. Cabrera yesterday. In fact, we’re here to see him,” Amy expined calmly.

  “That won’t be possible, I’m afraid.”

  “How so?”

  The old man looked at her, seemingly unsure what to say.

  “Spit it out, old-timer!” Xavier yelled angrily.

  “Well, that’s just rude!”

  “Please, Mister, could you tell us what you know?” Amy asked politely.

  “But of course, young dy. The thing is, I don’t know how to break it to you, but I’m afraid he passed away just a few minutes ago.”

  “What?!”

  “Bullshit!” Xavier said angrily, but judging from his nervous expression, he did not fully doubt the old man.

  “It’s true. I saw it with my own eyes. One of his strange inventions malfunctioned, and he fell.”

  “What kind of invention?” Alice asked.

  “I always thought the guy was just a crazy kook, but he actually managed to beat gravity.”

  All three stared at him, their mouths wide open.

  “Come again?” Amy asked.

  “You three look like you don’t believe me, but I have proof. Here, my grandkids got me one of those new picture phones. They’re pretty nifty.”

  The old man pulled a phone from his breast pocket. It took him a while to find the picture. Xavier started getting restless as the man finally showed them the picture.

  It was truly a bizarre sight. The dimly lit picture showed Mr. Cabrera, facing the other way, hanging from one of the wooden beams above the courtyard. Although he seemingly wasn’t hanging, it looked like he was standing on the bottom of the wooden beam without anything attaching him but his feet.

  The only thing affected by gravity was his b coat, the bottom of which was hanging down, revealing a strange machine attached to Mr. Cabrera’s belt.

  “C-could you please tell us what exactly happened?” Amy couldn’t take her eyes off the picture.

  “Certainly. Well, I was woken up by the fire arm going off. I got out of bed, and that’s when I saw the scientist outside my window. Naturally, I had to take a picture, but then I noticed smoke coming from the machine, and the sprinklers were activated. That’s when it happened. The poor man’s machine gave in, and gravity pulled him down. He crashed right into the small pond.”

  “Is that everything you saw?” Alice asked.

  “Absolutely everything. That’s also what I told the police officer.”

  “How are you holding up?” Amy looked over to Xavier, who had listened to the old man’s report in disbelief.

  “I have to see it for myself. There’s no way Pablo is dead.”

  Amy and Alice looked at each other, both with the same worried expression.

  Sunday, March 10, 7:15 am: Courtyard, Paradise Heights

  Firefighters were scattered throughout the building, checking every nook and cranny. The courtyard was equally busy. A tall firefighter was lifting Mr. Cabrera out of the pond.

  Two policemen watched as he id him carefully on the floor.

  “Thank you, you can get back to your work,” said the higher-ranking one of the policemen. He kneeled down to the lifeless body to take a closer look.

  The other saw how the three entered the courtyard and looked at them in disbelief.

  “What are you doing here?”

  The inspector turned around and got up. He scratched his head and straightened his crooked gsses when he saw Xavier. “That’s certainly a surprise. What are you doing here, Xavier?”

  Xavier didn’t answer. He just stared at the corpse.

  “We came here to meet with the deceased when we saw the emergency vehicles,” Amy expined.“Now that you mention it. You knew the deceased, didn’t you, Xavier?”

  “He was just a work contact, nothing more,” answered Xavier in a quiet tone, seemingly more to calm himself down than to answer the question.

  “I see. Either way, you have my condolences.”

  Xavier looked at him, and his frown turned into a smile. “Come on, Toby, why so glum? It’s not the first murder you and I are investigating. Or did you go soft?”

  “Well, currently, we’re not even sure if it was murder. According to a witness, it seems more like an accident.” The lower-ranking officer shook his head and started investigating the corpse.

  “Yes, we’ve heard,” Amy confirmed while trying to look away from the corpse.

  “Then you also know that the situation couldn’t be any weirder, right?” the inspector said.

  “Scientist dies after his anti-gravity machine goes up in fmes, not something you hear every day.” Alice was looking over the shoulder of the officer who was currently examining the corpse.

  “But I just realized I haven’t introduced myself, and knowing Xavier, he hasn’t told his new recruits about me. I’m Inspector Tobias Wilson of the Lawreyville police department. I’m a frequent colborator of his by nature of my job.”

  “We’re actually not new recruits, but it’s nice meeting you despite the circumstances. I’m Amy Baker, and that over there is Alice Baker.”

  “Likewise. But if you aren’t working for him, what are you doing here?”

  “Doesn’t concern you. For now, they are temporary assistants in this case.”

  “What can be said about the cause of death?” Alice asked, looking at the corpse.

  The officer kneeling beside it had removed the beanie Mr. Cabrera was wearing. “We can’t say for sure yet which of his injuries killed him in the end, but he has multiple headwounds and seemingly a broken neck. Both were likely caused by the impact when he fell into the shallow pond headfirst. There are a lot of rugged stones on the bottom of it, which would fit the wounds scattered over the top of his head.”

  Excuse me if my wording is a bit imprecise. Even though I’ve seen a lot of corpses in the past, I have to admit that I get a bit squeamish around them. But as it is my duty to tell you this story, dear reader, I will have to do my best not to let my feelings get the better of me.

  “I’m not an expert, but shouldn’t there be more blood in that case? It sounds pretty messy,” Alice noted while looking at the headwounds.

  As she had correctly noticed, there were barely any bloodstains around the fresh wounds. Only a small cluster of wounds had a noticeable amount of blood around them.

  “It is possible that the water made it, so the blood didn’t stick to the skin.”

  The officer reached for the hat he had id down next to the corpse, but Alice was faster. She quickly picked it up and inverted it.

  “Isn’t that interesting?” Alice showed the hat to the others. It was almost completely spotless, except for a rge stain that ruffly aligned with the stain on Mr. Cabrera’s Head.

  “Even if the blood didn’t stick to the skin, there should definitely be more blood stuck to the hat. Meaning not all these wounds were caused at the same time,” Xavier said, excited about the revetion.

  “You’re right. If we imagine that he died from blunt force trauma, that would leave a bleeding wound.”“And the culprit cowers it up with the hat, which is why it’s bloodstained. A while after the death, the corpse falls into the pond, opening up new wounds, but those ones don’t bleed because the blood flow has already stopped,” Xavier finished Inspector Wilson’s deduction.

  “That would put the time of death potentially multiple hours before the corpse was discovered.”

  “And from the looks of it, he was lying on the floor for a while after death. I just checked, and his back has marks showing that the blood in his body settled there,” the officer added.

  Amy snapped with her fingers, and everyone turned to her. “Now I get it!”

  “Get what?” Alice asked.

  “Something bothered me about the idea that this was Mr. Cabrera's experiment.”

  Amy looked into the confused faces of the others.

  “Think about it. Mr. Cabrera was already hanging from the wooden beam when the old man's window blinds went up. Meaning he must have climbed out of his window before that. But why would he do that?”

  “I’m worried I can’t follow. Sure, maybe it was a bit early for an experiment, but he might just be a morning person,” the inspector said.

  At that moment, Xavier opened his eyes wide, and the words hit him like a truck. “Amy, you’re a genius!” Amy turned bright red and could feel her face getting warm.

  “For him to climb out the window before 7 am, the blinds had to be reversed. Meaning they would close at 7 am. Knowing that he would not climb out the window because he would lock himself out.”

  “And see up there, one of the windows on the eighth floor has its blinds closed.” Amy pointed up to Mr. Cabrera’s window.

  “Boss, can you hear me? Over,” a voice sounded from the police radio on Inspector Wilson’s belt.

  “Yes, loud and clear. Over.”

  “You should come up here and check this out. Over.”

  “What did you find? Over.”

  “There are pns here for an anti-gravity machine. At least, that’s what it says on the blueprints. Over.”

  Before the inspector could answer, Xavier had already grabbed the radio. “Does it look like a small metal box that can be attached to a belt?”

  It took a second for the voice to answer. “Yes, that description fits. Over.”

  Inspector Wilson took back the radio, gring at Xavier. “We’re on our way. Over and out.”

  He turned to Xavier. “Keep your hands off of police equipment.”

  “Did she call from Mr. Cabrera’s apartment?” Amy asked.

  “Yes, I had told her she should check out the apartment.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” Xavier asked with a determined look on his face.

  “I’m not even gonna bother, trying to stop you, so just come along.”

  And so, Xavier, Amy, Alice, and the inspector started walking up the stairs, passing by the elevator, which now had an out-of-service sign stuck to its doors. Alice used that as an opportunity to tell the inspector all about the ‘great’ technology the building was equipped with.

  Sunday, March 10, 7:40 am: Floor 8, Paradise Heights

  “It should be illegal for a building as tall as this not to have a functioning elevator,” Inspector Wilson said while breathing heavily as they arrived at the apartment.

  “Oh, good, you’re here.” The officer waved them closer.

  “Are these the blueprints you told us about?” The inspector looked at the blueprints spread out on a table. The only other thing on the table was a coffee mug that was still half full. Some brown rings had been left on the blueprint it was pced on.

  “I left everything on the table untouched,” the officer crified.

  “It certainly looks like Mr. Cabrera was indeed working on an anti-gravity machine.” The inspector started reading the notes on the blueprints.

  “Do you think this is the secret project he mentioned?” Alice asked.

  “Can’t say for sure. It’s not impossible,” Xavier answered while also checking out the pns.

  “Looking around, it looks more like he was working on something chemistry-reted, but I guess he might have worked on multiple projects at the same time,” Amy noted.

  “It certainly looks more like a scene from Breaking Bad than an engineer’s workspace,” Alice agreed.

  “Xavier, the way I see it, you knew him best. Did Mr. Cabrera have any enemies? Or what could have been the culprit’s motive?”

  “As I said, I didn’t know him personally all that well, but I don’t think he had any enemies. I mean, he isn’t one to watch his words, and he can be very direct, but that’s no reason to murder someone. But maybe the murderer was after one of his inventions.”

  “But not the anti-gravity machine. Otherwise, the pns or the machine itself would have been stolen,” Alice pointed out.

  “Not necessarily. She could have taken a picture of the blueprints.”

  “What makes you think the culprit was a woman?” Alice looked at Xavier, who was still studying the pns.

  “We saw her ourselves. The woman we passed by yesterday. She was likely the person Pablo was expecting. And a shut-in like Pablo likely isn’t meeting many people per day.”

  “I have to agree with Xavier. It seems likely that she has something to do with it,” Amy agreed.

  “And do you have an idea where that woman is now? Or maybe even who she could be?”

  “No clue.” Xavier shook his head. “Toby, have you noticed these scribbles?” He pointed to some notes that were seemingly not written in letters.

  “I have. There are some more over here, too. It could be a secret code to prevent his invention from being copied.”

  “Or all of this is just a distraction,” Alice said while flipping the switch for the blinds.

  “I’m not an investigator, but even I can see that this whole thing seems weirdly eborate. Let me summarize the current standing theory. Mr. Cabrera meets up with an unknown woman and seemingly shows her a secret invention he’s been working on. She then hits him over the head, killing him. She takes a picture of the blueprints, leaves them out in the open, uses the anti-gravity machine on Mr. Cabrera’s corpse to dangle him over the courtyard, and by pure chance, the machine malfunctions in the exact moment someone sees it, making it look like he died from the fall. Do you not see how weird that would be?” Alice looked at the others, waiting for their reactions.

  “She would have likely had to come up with the pn when she was shown the machine. It does seem to eborate for something to come up with on the spot,” Xavier agreed.

  “I think this was pnned from the beginning. She herself brought these blueprints and the machine. I don’t even think the machine works. That’s why some of the pns are written in gibberish so that no one could rebuild and test it,” Alice continued.“And while the police are trying to wrap their heads around it, the culprit escapes,” Amy added.

  “That st part won’t happen, don’t worry. I have one of my officers patrolling the garden, checking that no one gets in or out. Unless the culprit fled before the arm went off.”

  “Or between the arm going off and you getting here,” Amy pointed out.

  “No, that’s not possible. In case of an emergency, the house goes into lockdown mode. You can’t open an exit without breaking it, as the firefighters had to do to let the panicking people out.”

  Amy just stared at Inspector Wilson, her mouth agape. “Let me get this straight. The house locks all exits if the fire arm goes off, trapping people in the burning building?!”

  “I didn’t even know that. Thank God that never happened to me.” Alice sighed with relief.

  “I’ve had it with this fucking deathtrap of a house! Who signed off on these ideas, a monkey?” Amy yelled in disbelief.

  The officer cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I wanted to let you know that I have found a safe. It was behind this picture frame.”

  The officer had pulled a small safe from a niche in the wall.

  “Get it downstairs. There are some tools in the car that can break it open. Just be careful not to damage anything inside.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I think I should head downstairs as well. I still have to review the surveilnce footage from st night. I’m sure I can trust you with this investigation, Xavier.”“Of course. I have a higher success rate than the police, after all.”

  “Don’t make me regret it. You shouldn’t even be here, especially after your detective license has been revoked.”

  Xavier waved after the inspector with a big smile on his lips.

  “How about we use this opportunity to get some actual investigation done? What do you think we should try to find out first?”

  “The whereabouts of the culprit?” Amy suggested.

  “The identity of the murderer?” Alice added.

  “Wrong. Where would we even begin with that? No, I’ll tell you what we must find out first. We need to know how the anti-gravity-trick works.” Xavier rubbed his hands together in anticipation and walked towards the window.

  “There are no visible traces. Do you have any theories?” he reported.

  “Maybe his shoes were nailed to the beam?” Amy suggested, unsure if her theory even made sense.

  “Fun idea, but as the timing seemed deliberate, I ask you, how would you release him without being next to him?”

  “That’s probably not possible.”

  “Okay, Alice, do you have a theory?”

  “I don’t know, maybe some rope. What is this, an exam?”

  “Simple, I like it. Using a thick rope would hold him in pce but would be visible even in the dim light. Using something like multiple fishing lines, it might be possible to hold him for a while, but it would definitely leave marks. Only one way to find out, then.”

  Xavier pulled a magnifying gss from his backpack and put it in his pocket. Then, to Alice’s surprise and Amy’s utter shock, he jumped up on the windowsill and climbed out.

  He grabbed onto the wooden beam and pulled himself up, his legs hanging over the courtyard eight stories below him.

  “Be careful!” Amy yelled, scared for his safety but not daring to come closer.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve done much more dangerous things and survived them all.” He managed to pull himself up all the way. He had to crawl over the beam, as there was not enough space below the ceiling for him to sit up without hitting his head against the roof.

  The wood was still wet from the sprinklers going off.

  “This should be the spot!” Xavier pulled out the magnifying gss and took a closer look.

  “Can you see anything?” Alice asked while Amy couldn’t even look over.

  “Doesn’t seem like fishing wire was used. There should be cuts on the edges where the string was weighed down. Not like I had actually assumed that fishing line had been used. Pablo might not be the heaviest guy, but even with multiple wires, it would have been hard to hold him up. Besides, even if you had some kind of remote release mechanism, you would still have to retrieve the wire and mechanism from the corpse, risking being seen.”

  “But then, why did you even climb up there?” Amy asked, still averting her eyes.

  “I had to check, just to be sure. Also, there could have been other clues up here.”

  “Well, are there?”

  “No, seems like...” Xavier tried to get up but hit his head against one of the sprinklers.

  “Dangit, I forgot about these things.”

  “Xavier, I’m serious. Be careful up there!”

  “Okay, I’m coming back.” Xavier slowly crawled back, and with a lot of upper body strength, he was able to climb back on the windowsill. He hopped down, trying to look cool while doing so, but the heels of his shoes nded on the edge of the small box. It toppled over, and Xavier fell forward. Amy reacted quickly and tried to catch him but was just pulled to the floor, nding next to Xavier.

  “Thanks for the help.”

  “No problem. I think it would have been more helpful if it actually worked.”

  Xavier ughed while looking into Amy’s eyes.

  “Hey, lovebirds, watch out, or you’ll cut yourself on the gss.”Xavier and Amy looked around, unsure of what Alice was talking about.

  “I don’t see any.”

  But Alice just pointed to the floor. The box had opened up, and scattered across the floor were some tiny objects, barely visible, glittering in the light.

  “They must have been in this box.” While Xavier and Amy carefully helped each other up, Alice took a closer look at the box.

  It looked sturdy but was probably made without much care. At certain points, you could see the nails poking out of the wood, and the material hadn’t been properly sanded.

  As Alice had assumed correctly, there were even more minuscule shards stuck to the inside of the box.

  She was just about to close the box again when she noticed something stuck to one of the nails poking out of the inside of the lid.

  A torn-off corner from a piece of paper. “Check this out. It looks like something was printed on this, but only a tiny bit of it is visible.”“Is there something else in the box?” Xavier asked while grabbing the piece of paper.

  “No, just some more shards of gss.”

  “No wonder it fell over so easily. Nothing is weighing it down.”

  “Xavier, are you there? Over.” The three turned around to see a police radio lying on the table.

  Xavier went up to it and pressed the button on its side. “Sorry, I’m not allowed to use the police’s equipment.”

  “Stop fooling around. My colleague had left her radio in the apartment. But that saves me from having to walk up there. As I can just tell you this way, we’ve cracked the safe. In it was some money, a watch that might be worth a few hundred bucks, and copies of some contracts. They don’t seem reted, though. Do you think there could have been something else in there? Over.”

  “Can’t say for sure, but I would assume he would lock his most valuable inventions in a safe.”

  “Then they were probably stolen. I’m still reviewing the footage, but it seems like some of it has been deleted. But we did find a picture of the possible suspect, taken when she entered the building. But she disguised herself. The camera quality also doesn’t help. We’ll talk ter. Over and out.”“Seems like he didn’t even wanna know if we’ve found out anything new,” Amy said, surprised.

  “Or he didn’t think we had learned anything new,” Xavier added.

  Alice walked over to the painting the safe was hidden behind.

  “Is something wrong?” Amy followed her and looked at the painting.

  “There’s something fishy about this safe. Behind a painting is like the most cliché pce to hide a safe. Hiding a safe that can easily be carried away in a pce like that would be stupid. Unless...”

  “Unless what?” Amy just looked at her, having no idea what she was talking about.

  “Are you aware that some people put out decoys for burgrs? They put money or some expensive-looking jewelry out in the open near the entrance, hoping a burgr will just take it and leave again without going for something more expensive or endangering the homeowners.”

  “Having a decoy safe sounds like something Pablo would do. But where is the actual safe?”

  All three started shifting around mountains of notes and scientific equipment. Xavier was just about to pull out a bunch of binders stuffed into the weird-looking hexagon shelf as he paused. He stared at the compartments that had been boarded up.

  He carefully pushed against one of the boards, which easily gave in, revealing an empty compartment. He quickly went from one compartment to the next, repeating this action. After three failed attempts, he finally found what he was looking for.

  As he pushed the board, it gave in like the others, but something was behind it, blocking it from falling into the compartment. Without a second thought, he kicked against the thin board, easily breaking it. He didn’t even bother to try carefully removing it. The two pieces could simply be pulled out to reveal a rge safe, taking up most of the compartment.

  “Hey, I’ve found it.”

  They looked at the safe Xavier had discovered. It was locked with a dial consisting of the numbers 0 to 99.

  “Should we call Inspector Wilson to crack it open?” Amy turned around to go get the radio, but Alice calmly pulled her aside.

  “Please, are you seriously considering calling the narks from the police to crack a safe?”

  “I mean, they broke the other one open, right?”

  “And how long did it take them? Just leave it to a professional.”

  Amy pointed out, “I don’t think you should brag about that.”

  Alice started chuckling. “What are you, a prude? Safecracking is nothing less than a show of talent, an art form.”

  “I think Alice has lost it.”

  “She does have a point. Cracking a safe takes talent and can be quite helpful. It’s only a problem if you use it for something bad,” Xavier said.“Thank you for understanding. Now, let me take a look.” Alice kneeled down in front of the safe.

  “I see. I’m familiar with the model. It uses a combination consisting of four numbers, meaning there are 100,000,000 possibilities.”

  “If it helps, Pablo once said he uses a donkey bridge to remember complicated things.”

  Both Amy and Alice looked at him with looks of absolute confusion.

  “What the fuck is a donkey bridge?”

  “He used a German word, and when I asked him what it meant, he said that it directly transtes to donkey bridge, and then he called me a donkey for not knowing about it.”

  “You do kinda remind me of a donkey,” Alice said jokingly.

  “Shut up.”

  It’s worth mentioning that Xavier is actually remembering Pablo correctly, despite the fact that he obviously forgot the actual word. Should any readers be interested and not know what he meant, he was talking about a mnemonic device, which is the term for any technique that helps someone remember something.

  “Not like I need your ass bridge anyway. But you could be a sweetheart and get me a gss,” Alice said in a teasing tone.

  “Sure, does madam want it filled with red or white wine?” Xavier answered in a tone that could not be more sarcastic.

  “Just the gss will do.”

  Xavier walked into the kitchen and returned with a gss. “Choke on it,” he said, obviously not actually meaning it.

  “Love you!” Alice said loudly as she gestured a kiss.

  Amy just rolled her eyes, watching the two.

  Alice put the opening of the gss against the safe door and put her ear up to it. She slowly turned the dial while listening carefully.

  While she was busy with that, Xavier had seemingly sunken into thought as he was tapping his middle finger against his forehead.

  “What are you thinking about?” Amy asked.

  “The report of the old man. Something about it has been bothering me since I heard it the first time, but I can’t put my finger on it.”“Should we go over it again together?”

  “You know what you two should do?” Alice said, annoyed.

  “What?” Amy asked.

  “You should shut up. I’m trying to work here!”

  “Sorry. Come on, Amy, let’s go into the kitchen.”

  The two walked into the other room. Alice immediately shut the door behind them and got back to work.

  “Where were we? Ah, yes, I do like your idea. Could you maybe repeat what you remember from the old man? Try to be as exact as possible.”

  “Sure thing. I think he said that he was woken up by the fire arm going off. That was just before the blinds went up. He then looked outside and saw Mr. Cabrera hanging from the wooden beam, so he got his phone out and took the picture he showed us.”

  Xavier nodded while tapping his forehead.

  “Next, he said that the machine started smoking. The sprinklers went off and...”

  “There it is!”

  “Is something wrong with this summary?”

  “I think you remembered it correctly. But if the old man is correct, then there is a big inconsistency.”Amy tried thinking about it, but she could not see what inconsistency Xavier had noticed.

  “Don’t you see? According to the old man, the machine started smoking sometime after he was awake, right? But what was it that woke him up?”

  “How did I not realize it sooner?! He was woken up by the fire arm before the machine had even started smoking.”

  “Meaning something else must have activated the fire arm.”

  At that moment, the kitchen door opened, and Alice leaned against the doorframe. She leisurely polished the gss with a smug grin on her face. “20 35 99 88.”

  “What?”

  “The combination. Don’t tell me you forgot I was cracking the safe for you.”

  The two just looked at each other as they realized that they had actually forgotten Alice for a second.

  “Well, that’s just lovely. I’m pretty sure that was a record time, by the way. No need to thank me.”

  “What was in it?” Xavier asked while walking over to check.

  “Here, a notebook and this weird gss statue.” Alice had put said things on top of the blueprints.

  Xavier grabbed the notebook while Amy checked out the statue. As Alice had said, it seemed to be made of gss, being perfectly transparent. Its shape was an intricate assortment of thin lines and other shapes, possibly meant to look like a tree with no leaves.

  When Xavier opened the notebook, the first thing he saw was “Cabrerium,” written in bold letters on the first page.

  “What does it say?” Alice asked as Xavier skimmed the pages filled with notes.

  “From what I can gather, it seems like this statue is made from a material Pablo invented called cabrerium.”

  “How creative.” Alice rolled her eyes and also looked at the notes.

  “How can that be?” she pointed to one of the lines written on the paper.

  “Melting point: immeasurable,” Xavier read out loud.

  “So, it can’t melt?”

  “Or the melting point is so high that he could not achieve it,” Amy added.

  “Where did you get that statue?”

  The three turned around to see Inspector Wilson standing in the doorway.

  “I thought you didn’t wanna walk back up here?” Xavier pointed out.

  “True, but I thought I should check in on you. Don’t want you messing up the crime scene.”

  “You should be more thankful. After all, we discovered the actual safe,” Alice bragged.

  “So, the victim had another safe?”

  “Yeah, with some interesting stuff in it.”

  “Good job. By the way, could I have the pns? I wanted to take them in as evidence. Maybe there are fingerprints on them.”

  “Here you go.” Alice grabbed the blueprints from the table, forgetting the things on top of them.

  The statue and mug fell over, and the cold coffee spread over the table.

  “Can’t you be more careful?!” Xavier quickly pulled his leg away as coffee dripped from the table right next to him.

  “Xavier, watch out, the statue!” Amy stared at the statue in surprise.

  Now, the others saw it, too. As the coffee reached the statue, it started melting right in front of their eyes.

  Xavier lifted it up before it was completely gone.

  “I thought the thing could not melt?!” Alice said, looking at the puddle that had formed on the table.

  “I think I can tell you what happened.” Xavier was reading some more of the notes.

  “It says here that cabrerium is extremely reactive to all kinds of liquids. Even a few drops are enough to turn it fluid.”“I never liked chemistry. This is getting way too confusing.” Alice shook her head and handed the blueprints to the Inspector.

  “Oh, that’s interesting!” Xavier searched his backpack and pulled out a bcklight.

  “What do you wanna do with that?”

  “Just give me a second.” He pointed the purple glow of the mp to the puddle for a while. The others watched in confusion as he put the mp away and grabbed the puddle.

  He could lift it up in one piece without trouble, as it had turned solid again. It had taken on a slightly brown shade from the coffee but was still perfectly transparent.

  “Oh, I see, it hardens under the bcklight. I’ve heard some materials, like certain types of resin, do that as well, but it would probably take longer to harden such a rge amount,” Amy expined.

  “I guess it fits. Nothing about this material seems normal,” Alice noted.

  “Let’s see.” Xavier wasn’t paying the others any attention. With a determined smile, he lifted the sb of cabrerium over his head and smashed it against the edge of the table with all his might. His eyes opened wide, and his face turned pained.

  “Fuck!” He let go of the sb. As it fell down on the floor, it left a dent on impact. His arms burned from pain.

  “Why did you do that?” Alice and the others looked at him in disbelief.

  “Shit! I just wanted to test how strong the material was.”

  “Stronger than you, it seems.” Alice chuckled as Xavier tried to fight through the pain.

  Xavier certainly had a point in trying to test the strength of the material, but he could have avoided hurting himself had he paid more attention in school. The notes clearly stated that the material, in its hardened state, reached a solid eight on the Mohs Scale. For those unfamiliar with it, the Mohs Scale is used to measure the hardness of minerals. As a point of reference, a diamond scores a ten.

  “So we have a material that can easily be reshaped into complex shapes, withstands heat and brute force with ease, and is lightweight. I can see why someone wanted to steal this invention. There are certainly many possible applications for something like this,” Amy said.

  “But the safe had not been discovered, right? So, the invention could not have been stolen,” Inspector Wilson pointed out.

  “Unless Pablo had more! What if he had put some aside just to show his guest?” Xavier walked over to the window and came back with the small box in his hand.

  “What if these tiny shards aren’t gss but cabrerium instead?” If you kept multiple separate pieces that rubbed against each other, that would probably leave these shavings behind.”

  “And that would mean the paper scrap we found might be part of a copy of the notes,” Amy added while comparing the paper with the notebook. Sadly, the scrap was too small to say for sure.

  “But wouldn’t that mean Mr. Cabrera had pnned to give the research to his visitor? Why would she need to kill him?” Alice pointed out.

  “Good question. Furthermore, why did she have to make such a spectacle out of it?” Amy added.

  “I would assume it was for some personal reason, like spite. She might also be a scientist and was jealous of his invention. So, she killed him, stole his invention to present it as her own, and made it look like he was an untalented scientist, dying from his own failure.”

  “You’re right, Toby. This reeks of pent-up emotions. Now, there are only two things I need to do before blowing this case wide open.”

  The others looked at Xavier in surprise. “You’re telling me you’ve almost solved the case?” Amy had a hard time finding the words.

  “What two things do you need to do?” Alice asked, calmer than her counterpart.

  “Simple. First, I must talk to one of the firefighters. And second, I have to find the culprit, who is surely still hiding in this building.”

  “How are you this sure? All the rooms were locked, and there is only one key for the facility rooms,” the inspector said. “There is no room she could be hiding in.”

  “I had already assumed as much. I thought it unlikely for the culprit to simply hide in one of the rooms.”

  “But then where...”

  Xavier cut Inspector Wilson off. “Just wait, I have to find a firefighter first.” Before he could even answer, Xavier had already left the room.

  Leaving behind a head-shaking inspector. Amy and Alice ran after him, not knowing what he’d pnned.

  Sunday, March 10, 8:40 am, Floor 5, Paradise Heights

  Xavier ran down the stairs and through the hallways as if he were actively chasing down a criminal.

  On the fifth floor, he finally found a firefighter who was just checking one of the manual fire arms.

  “Hi, I’m currently investigating this case and have some questions for you.”“Oh, okay, are you sure you’re allowed to be here, though?”

  “Totally, here see, I have my detective license with me.” Xavier quickly put the card away again.

  “First question, is it routine for the firefighters to make such a thorough analysis of the property after a fire has been reported?”

  “It’s important to make sure that the situation is absolutely safe. Even when the cause of the fire has been clearly confirmed and stopped. Especially in a house like this, it can’t harm to double-check every nook and cranny.”

  “And by house like this, you mean?”

  “This is an old house filled with outdated technology. The deceased is also known to store dangerous chemicals in his apartment and in other parts of the building.”

  “I see. Next question. Can you tell where the arm specifically came from?”

  “Sorry, I don’t think I follow.”

  “Can you pinpoint which device in this building activated the arm?”“We only know that it came from this building. But I thought it was confirmed that...”“How easily can the manual fire arm be reset?”

  “Don’t you know it’s rude to cut someone off?” the firefighter asked angrily.

  “Don’t you know it’s rude to interfere with an investigation?”

  The firefighter was perplexed by his answer. Just as she wanted to answer, Amy and Alice arrived.

  “Jesus Xavier, why do you need to run so fast?” Amy said, completely out of breath.

  “Amy, what are you doing here?” the firefighter asked, surprised, as she pulled up her reflective visor.

  “Mom?!”

  “Don’t tell me you have something to do with this!” Amy’s mom said accusatorily.

  “What, you think she committed murder?” Xavier asked in her defense.

  “I didn’t say that! Is this the kind of people you hang around these days? Why does that not surprise me?” she asked Amy.

  Alice seemed uncomfortable and tried not to be noticed.

  “And who are you?”

  “She’s a member of my agency, as is your daughter. Both are vital factors in my high success rate.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.”

  “Then we’re in the same boat. You still haven’t answered my question about resetting the fire arms.”

  “Fine. The manual fire arms are positioned on each floor and easily accessible. Because they are an outdated model, anyone can reset them by simply flicking them back off.”

  “If someone were to do so, it could not be told it had been activated?”“Sure, don’t get any dumb ideas, though. Don’t need any more delinquents pulling pranks on us.”

  “I’ll keep it in mind. That would be all.” Xavier walked away and waved at the other two so they would follow him.

  “Wait, you haven’t answered my question!”

  “And we won’t.”

  “Why did you say we were members of your agency?” Amy asked, looking back at her enraged mother.

  “You think I will let someone like her talk shit about my friends? Parents should care for their kids and not basically suspect them of murder. They should protect them instead of treating them like shit.” Xavier clutched his fists.

  “Well, someone clearly has either daddy or mommy issues,” Alice said, also looking back, concerned.

  “Alice, could you just shut up? Or is that too much for you to handle?”

  Alice was genuinely surprised and stumbled over her words. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

  Xavier’s body rexed again. “No, I’m the one who should apologize. I shouldn’t have gotten so mad.”

  “Do you wanna talk about it when we get home?” Amy asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

  “About what?”

  “Your parents.”

  “Why would I wanna do that? I grew up without them. Not like I could say anything about my parents.” Xavier put on a smile again and tried to look calm.

  “I just thought, maybe…”

  “Doesn’t matter. What’s important is the st puzzle piece, and I think I’ve already figured out where the culprit was hiding.”

  “How?” Alice asked in surprise.

  “Just follow me, and I’ll show you.”

  They quickly walked down the stairs, ending up on the first floor.

  “One important rule you have to remember is that the best hiding spots are sometimes in pin sight. And what could be more obvious than a sign that basically says do not enter?” He pointed to the flimsy paper sign that had been attached to the elevator doors.

  “Are you saying she’s hiding in the elevator shaft?” Amy asked, confused.

  “Why not? No one uses it because it gets stuck all the time, and there is plenty of space in there. And if you look at the sign, you can see that it is only attached to one of the doors. So, you can slide the door open and close it again without removing the sign.”

  “That means someone could attach it before going through, and no one would suspect a thing,” Alice summarized.

  “And it has the added bonus of hiding these.” Xavier removed the sign in a dramatic gesture. The two doors had small dents and scratches at one point, as if someone had broken them open using some kind of lever.

  “Let’s see what’s in there.” Xavier pulled a bright red crowbar out of his backpack.

  “Should we be concerned about the fact you’re just casually carrying a crowbar around?” Alice asked.

  “Why, it’s just part of the basic equipment of every investigator.”

  Xavier easily opened the doors and passed through. As soon as he was inside the elevator shaft, the doors closed shut again.

  “Xavier, are you alright?” Amy looked at the door.

  “I was right. Here is a rge sports bag, like the one the suspect was carrying. And in it are a coat, scarf, hat, shoes, and some other pieces of clothing. Aha, there’s also a copy of Pablo’s notes. One of the papers even has a small piece ripped off.”“So there is a naked murderer running around in this building?” Alice asked.

  “Probably not naked. I don’t see any underwear here. Also, I assume she’s wearing a disguise.” Xavier opened the doors from the other side and slipped through.

  “So, we know where she hid for some time, but not where she is right now. So, what’s the pn?” Amy asked.

  “I’ll get to that in a second. But first, I would like to have your opinion on something, as the tech specialist of the group.”

  “I mean, I wouldn’t call myself a specialist.” Amy was flustered by the compliment.

  “How easy do you think it would be to hack into one of those?” Xavier pointed to a security camera pointed their way.

  "Considering how old the tech here is, you can probably get into the main computer with ease. Even I could probably do it using only my phone.”“Perfect, then we can make the final preparations before we get to the big finally.”

  “What big finally?” Alice asked.

  Xavier smiled. “The monologue,” he said in a dramatic tone.

  As you can probably tell, Xavier is very into the idea of wrapping his cases up with a monologue. I assume it’s in his blood as a theater kid. Although I can’t rete, even though I was a theater kid as well.

  I always believed it was just something he saw on TV and tried to imitate. Funny as it might sound, he did that a lot in his early cases, as he was still trying to refine his image as an investigator. He would simply copy the way investigators acted in movies and shows. He doesn’t even like either of the two mediums, but he would still watch them just to get new ideas.

  Let’s get back on track.

  Xavier handed his crowbar to Alice, telling her to bring him one of the wooden pnks from the benches in the courtyard. He then tasked Amy with finding Inspector Wilson and telling him to assemble everyone, including residents, cops, and firefighters, in front of the building.

  When asked what he would do, he refused to eborate.

  Sunday, March 10, 9:10 am: Yard, Paradise Heights

  It didn’t take long for Xavier to be ready. To his right was Alice, who was sitting on a garden chair, holding Xavier’s bcklight and a pnk. She had id the crowbar next to the chair. Amy was to his left, holding two containers filled with a transparent liquid.

  Xavier let his gaze wander over the crowd that had gathered around them.

  “May I have your attention?” He paused, waiting for the audience’s silence.

  “Today, we lost a great man. Professor Doctor Cabrera, who was nothing less than a genius, had his life taken from him, and his body was puppeteered around for some insulting spectacle. And my job is to expose the fiend who did this heinous act. To do so, I would like to tell you how everything went down with the help of my intelligent and skilled fellow investigators.”Alice waved casually into the crowd, and Amy started blushing and nervously shaking, looking out into the crowd.

  “Mr. Cabrera had recently finished a secret project, a material he called cabrerium. He had contacted a fellow scientist to share his discovery with them. This person visited him yesterday but never left. Furious about his achievement, they decided to steal his invention, and so they hit him over the head, killing him.”

  Xavier looked out into the crowd, checking for the audience’s reaction. Some residents stared at him in shock. The police had gathered in one spot, talking to each other about the case, and the firefighters were scattered amongst the other people. Some had taken off their helmets, while some were still fully suited, even with the visors down.

  “As I said, the pn was not just to kill him. The culprit wanted to ruin his legacy. So, they made it look like he was killed by one of his own inventions failing. Killed by his own hubris. A pn that had been carefully prepared beforehand. But believe me, it was all just a sham. Let me show you. But for that, I will need two strong audience members.”“This is starting to sound like a magic show,” Alice whispered to Amy jokingly.

  The strong firefighter who had carried Mr. Cabrera’s corpse to nd stepped forward, as did one of the residents of Paradise Heights.

  “Thank you very much. Now…” Xavier bent down and made a handstand. He could feel the sharp pebbles burrowing into his skin.

  “Alice, if you would.”

  Alice calmly got up and id the pnk on his feet.

  “This is what position Mr. Cabrera’s Corpse was in this morning, hanging from the wooden beams above the courtyard. The culprit probably tied a counterweight, like a bag filled with heavy objects, to his feet to keep him in position. They then climbed onto the beam and poured cabrerium over the wood and his feet. Like this.”

  Alice stood up on her chair and grabbed the container Amy handed her. She poured the liquid over the pnk, making sure Xavier’s feet were fully covered.

  “Now, to show cabrerium’s interesting properties in action, Alice will harden it in front of your eyes.”It didn’t take long for the material to turn solid under the bcklight. Xavier looked pleased, even though his head had already turned bright red.

  “Could the two assistants please lift up the pnk?”

  They looked at him, confused, but did as he told them. To the audience’s surprise, Xavier was lifted up with the pnk. The transparent, thin yer of cabrerium was invisible from far away.

  “The culprit probably used the same technique to hold the corpse’s arms in pce. At this point, it is almost 7 am, so the culprit turns on the fire arm to make sure everyone is awake so that at least someone will notice the scientist hanging from the ceiling.”

  “I did see him! I even took a picture!” yelled the old man from the audience.

  “The culprit then activated a remote-controlled pyrotechnic device in the fake machine on his belt. The smoke from it activated a sprinkler above the corpse, which led to this.”

  Alice grabbed the other container and poured water over the pnk. Xavier could feel his feet coming loose. He tried to catch his fall with a roll but still hurt himself on the floor, as his legs could still not move freely.

  “The cabrerium let go of the victim, dropping him into the pond, where all excess cabrerium washed off.”

  Alice dunked the rest of the water over Xavier’s feet, allowing him to get up again, albeit a bit wobbly.

  “The culprit, at this point, made sure to reset the fire arm and hid in the elevator shaft, where they waited for the right opportunity. They could observe the hallway by hacking the security camera, which they also used to delete incriminating footage. At some point, they slipped out, blending into the crowd.”

  “So, they’re still here?” someone from the audience asked.

  “I assume some of you might have heard that there was a break-in at the fire station. The culprit stole some equipment. Now, let me ask you a question. How many of you came here today?” Xavier looked at the tall firefighter standing next to him.

  “Four people in total. I can tell you the names if you’d like.”

  “Not necessary, but could the firefighters step forward?”

  After a bit of hesitation, four firefighters stepped out of the crowd.

  “Something’s not adding up. Please take your helmets off. I would like to see your beautiful faces,” Xavier said tauntingly.

  The firefighters slowly removed their helmets, all but one. The obscured one slowly backed away towards the entrance gate before sprinting away from the crowd. The police officers tried to get through the crowd but were having a hard time. Xavier turned around and rushed after the suspect, but as he was still dizzy, he didn’t make it far before falling over his feet.

  He quickly got back up, but it was looking like she would make it to her car that was standing right next to the gate. Just as he wanted to yell out in frustration, a red blur flew past his head, hitting the suspect in the legs and bringing her down to her knees.

  Before she could get back up, she was already surrounded by the police.

  Alice walked up to her and picked up the crowbar lying next to her.

  “Good job, Alice!” Amy said while running up to her.

  While the officers reached for the suspect, she quickly pulled out her phone and smashed it on the floor.

  “What did you do that for?” Amy asked, picking up the broken phone.

  “I’m not gonna tell you anything!”

  Inspector Wilson congratuted them, “Good job, you three. Who could have seen through such an eborate scheme?” “In the end, it being so eborate was her downfall. Had she just left after killing him, she would have gotten away, but jealousy got in her way,” Xavier expined.

  “Jealousy?! Why would I be jealous of this buffoon? I simply wanted him to be remembered as the fraud he is.”

  “Cabrerium seems pretty advanced for something a fraud would come up with,” Amy pointed out.

  “That damned name, I mean the narcissism of this guy. The substance was our invention, and he just took off with it, making me lose my job and my creation. And then he has the audacity to call me to show me 'his' invention.”

  “Where did you two work?” Xavier asked.

  “I’ve already told you enough.”

  “We’ll take her down to the station. We’ll get the rest out of her there,” Inspector Wilson expined while leading her to the police car.

  “Move it!”

  “Sure, not like I’ll stay in prison for long.”

  “Hey, dipshit, if you have pns to escape jail, don’t tell the police about them!” Alice yelled after her as she got into the car.

  “I guess that’s it,” Alice said happily.

  “I will swing by the station ter to see what they got out of her. There seems to be more to this story,” Xavier said.

  “But not only did we lose Mr. Cabrera, but with him, we might have lost the only lead we had on what’s going on with Alice and me.”

  “I had totally forgotten about that. I guess I got too wrapped up in the case,” Alice realized.

  “Believe me, you’ll get used to it. Solving cases is something you can easily get lost in,” Xavier expined.

  “Investigating the deaths of people is escapism?” Amy asked doubtfully.

  “It kinda is if you do it right. But I might actually have something that could help you.”“You do?” both said simultaneously.

  “Do you remember how Pablo told me something yesterday before we left? He shared his theory with me. Considering how absurd it sounds, he seemed surprisingly certain of it.”

  “Did he think we might be the same person from different timelines?” Amy assumed calmly.

  “Yes, how did you know?”

  “We might not be detectives, but we’re not stupid,” Alice answered.

  “Yeah, we both had already thought about the possibility. Even though we don’t know how Alice got here, it makes the most sense that she is me from another timeline.”

  “Even if I’m by far tougher than her,” Alice added.

  “Hey!”

  “Whatever the case, I promise I will solve this mystery. But until then, I wanted to ask you something. How about you two become official members of my agency? What do you think?”

  “If that means I have a pce to crash, sure,” Alice answered.

  “Business is going slow at the moment, so sure, let’s say I’m a part-time investigator,” Amy said.

  “Perfect, then this is the beginning of a new chapter for the D&M Detective Agency,” Xavier said cheerfully.

  “By the way, here is your crowbar.”

  “I think you should hold onto it. See it as the first piece of your basic investigator equipment.”

  “Sure, but don’t think I will carry a backpack like that around. I don’t even wanna know how much stuff is in that,” Alice said, pointing to the backpack with her crowbar.“As you wish. How about we head home and rex? I have a pylist specifically to celebrate a solved case.”

  “Nice, let’s have some snacks, too,” Alice said excitedly.

  “How can you be hungry? You ate breakfast a few hours ago,” Amy said confused.

  “Don’t worry, Alice, snacks are a vital part of celebrating a success,” Xavier said.

  “We can py some video games, too,” Amy suggested.

  “Sounds like a pn,” Alice agreed and walked over to the bikes.

  Xavier looked back at the apartment. Mr. Cabrera’s corpse was being carried outside at that moment. For a short moment, his expression was overcome with grief before he put his smile back on.

  As Alice walked past the culprit’s car, she made sure to leave a long scratch along the side with her crowbar.

  And so, the three went home for their celebration.

  Not knowing what happened at the same time.

  Xavier might have intended to get more out of the culprit, but that would not happen, as on the way to the police station, the police car got into an accident. A car hit them from the side, and it immediately drove away. An officer and the inspector had to be brought into the hospital, and the woman, who would ter be identified as Linda Crk, passed away before she could give away any more information.

  Maybe it was pure coincidence. But it seems as if someone might have feared Ms. Crk having loose lips.

  I’m sure this won’t be the st time she appears in the D&M Detective Agency's investigations.

  But for now, let’s celebrate a successful case and look forward to more cases.

  An investigator, a techie, and a burgr, the future of the D&M Detective Agency will certainly be interesting. What is waiting for them? I can say one thing. I hope they’re not afraid of monsters, or they won’t have a good time with this next case.