Unabridged Murdle Volume 1
[Extrapolated version of cases im entertained by]
Case 30 - The Undead President
Detective Logico frowned at the body of the dead president trying to figure out more than one mystery. for a start, why he was so damn familiar. The dead president wore an expensively well fitted waist coat. His hair had obviously been very well cared for, even when soaked with blood but Logico couldn't pin why he was so familiar. Somewhere in the depths of his memory for sure, but a specific time wasn't coming to him. If it weren't for being dead, he'd be quite handsome and that was the other mystery. Not that he was dead, but rather why didn't look quite dead. He sat collapsed at the bottom of the book ladder. He'd been hit over the back of the head, and there was plenty of blood to show for it but despite that his complexion seemed a bit too… warm, for a corpse.
Reaching out to feel for a pulse, Numerologist Night stopped him, "You can't touch him."
Logico raised a brow, "why?"
"We wouldn't want you touching it and tampering wiht the crime scene would we?" Herbalist Onyx asked.
"No," Logico noted retracting his hand. He tapped his finger into the puddle of blood and found that it was cold before standing, "No we wouldn't. How long ago did you say he was murdered?"
"Just as you arrived," Onyx said quickly.
The blood should not have been cold if it had been that recent. Walking away from the shelves Logico looked around the office. it wasn't a small space, richly decorated, the hard wood foor was even and would have been spotless if it weren't for the dead body. the shelves spanned from floor to ceiling. An odd object sat on the floor, blood painted it. Logico couldn't figure out how to possibly describe it, but it looked like an attempt as a scientific instrument. Knowing this particular set of people believed in ridiculous concepts such as alchemy or numerology, he wouldn't be surprised to find out it detected some made up concept with no scientific or empirical basis to it.
Night had been sitting on the leather couch on the other side of the office form the desk when Logico had walked in. jotting down further notes he had a hunch he needed confirmation of. There was something off in Onyx's quickness that had grown increasingly more casual and even more suspicious.
"Where was everyone before he died?" He asks.
"High Alchemist Raven had been behind the desk," Night noted.
"Night was on the book ladder," Onyx threw in helpfully.
Logico glanced up at the two. Night didn't argue with the statement, however Logico had noticed he was sitting straight up as if startled when he'd come in. While he had his feelings on the person, for example Numerologist Night kept their sun glasses on inside—which seemed like an unnecessary accessory for being indoors, especially when they kept looking down to see over them—he didn't take them for liar; Not this time at least.
"She was at the desk, with me," Raven said.
Logico nodded as if he believed the statements, which he didn't, not entirely at least. He had a few holes to poke in them. "was everything exactly as it is now?"
"No, the Apparatus was by the book ladder," Raven stated.
"That's right, other wise everything is exactly where it was," Night explained.
The facts, when written out, made it quite clear what had happened here. Numerologist Night has been seated at the couch when he'd come in, and when he'd gotten up the couch hadn't recovered indicating he'd been there a while and the deck of Marot cards were on the side table next to him. Onyx had been at the desk with Raven who kept a firm grasp on her pocket watch, however Onyx had been standing on the bookshelf side. they'd made an effort to bring his attention previously that where they were standing when he walked in was where they had been from the start. Why anyone would murder someone on its own, never seemed like a reasonable response to anything, but to then go and be obvious about it would never make any sense to him.
"Herbalist Onyx, i have a question For you," He looked at her with absoloute conviction, "Why would you lie about when you killed him?"
"I did no such thing!" She argued.
Logico closed his note book, "it has to be one of you and you have blood on your shoes, which no one else does. You lied about where Night was, they have been sitting on the couch the entire time, and was before i walked in. Raven had been at the desk, there is no question about it, you were the only one standing and on the side of the desk nearest the crime."
"Lie about when?" she asks with confusion.
"the blood is cold, it should still be warm," he observed.
The dead president sat up with a large grin on his face, "Do you see private eyes?! I told you this man is exactly who we need!"
Logico stared at the man covered in fake blood—no wonder it was cold. No longer faking his death he looked even more familiar. Dazzling emerald eyes look at him with excitement. Where have i seen him before? He wasn't sure what was more weird, the fact that he recognized a man he couldn't come up with a memory of or the fact that he faked his murder just to prove something? He figured it out quickly, actually. It was the implication that he felt like he had to prove Logico's skills which ruffled him.
He stood up fixing his waist coat and held his hand out to Logico, "I am Inspector Irratino , the president of the Investigation Institute. We investigate the mysteries of the world through any means necessary, weather empirically supported or not. We believe in everything until proven otherwise, and that's just what we want you to do: prove otherwise. We'll send you to investigate mysterious cases, and you report back what you've found. And in return, we're willing to pay you a whole lot of money."
Logico stared at the strange Inspector. Irratino sounded familiar, lively and full of mystic ideas that sounded like a whole lot of not real but like he's heard it before. However he felt about the idea of something he couldn't explain, money was always nice, "You had me at a whole lot of money."
"Excellent!" He said, clapping hsi hands together. He stood and he was a very tall man, "then you're hired! I need to take a shower, in the mean time make yourself at home! we will discuss the details afterwards!"
Irratino turned to him with a frown, "Yes?"
"We have met before, right?" Logico asks.
Inspector Irratino looked at him with an all too knowing look. A small smile sat on the corners of his mouth, "No, i know of you. Famously solved many cases, including my own. Make yourself comfortable Detective."
The Investigation Institute was truly a display of wealth. Tall ceilings, hundreds of rooms, a hedge maze one must surely get lost in, expensive curtains and hard wood and marble floors. Every upholstered chair made Logico itch. The grounds had a mini golf course that admittedly looked not very mini at all, and an enormous tree was growing in the middle of it. Logico was going to need to find wherever it was growing in the chateau. it would be a shame to not see the thing in its glory. But more, the institution rang a bell in his memory. An earlier time while he was writing his dissertation. The entire area had looked completely different then, but it seemed it wasn't just the institute that was updated and maintained. the whole town had seemingly been fixed up and mended. The Inspector found him standing in the grand entry hall staring at the ceilings.
"You didn't make yourself comfortable," He noted.
Logico jumped and looked at him. Irratino had not just showered but had a whole costume change. Dressed in a red paisley waistcoat, a fresh pressed shirt and well fitted black jacket, the stray dark brown curls pulled off his shoulders in a loose pony tail seemed uncharacteristically casual. He had been correct in his observation earlier, when not dead, Inspector Irratino was quite handsome and even more infuriatingly familiar.
"I am quite comfortable standing," Logico explained although it wasn't entirely true. He'd been standing awhile but couldn't bring himself to sit on the expensive furniture, even though he was offered a seat on multiple occasions. "How long have you been president of the Institute?"
"As fate would have it, I founded it. I have funded it myself since its conception," He explains proudly. "It is a labour of love, and quite a passion of mine."
"Really? huh, I must have met you back then in that case," Logico said thoughtfully. "Yes! i remember! I was coming by for donations for Deduction College and there was a murder here."
Irratino frowned, "was there?"
"you must remember the murder at your own institute!" Logico accused.
"I had much more pressing matters at the time i believe," He says.
Detective Logico stared at him in disbelief. how could anyone not remember a murder in the building they were paying for? He couldn't fathom it. Perhaps it was the sort of petty business people of Irratino's wealth are frequently occupied with. Something silly like which colour top hat he should wear. Then again that might be a harsh assumption of character. Irratino may be rich, but he seemed nice enough, and was offering him a job after all. Assumptions of his character over how much money he had seemed not just rude but like an injustice. He didn't know him, even if he could sworn they'd met.
"Right, well, speaking of, you have two dead bodies and a murderer each," He said remembering the murder's he'd solved on the way in.
Irratino sighed, as if this is a common occurrence and mere inconvenience, "the guards will deal with it I'm sure. Have you been shown around yet?"
"No, I haven't," Logico said.
He felt a bit peeved by how dismissed his observation was. Two murder victims didn't seem like something to just brush off. He didn't even ask any follow up questions. That would explain why didn't remember Logico coming by.
"What about the murderers?" He asked, tyring to push Irratino on the topic.
the man shruged, "The guards will deal with them, i am confiedent int heir ability to handle such a situation."
Logico was less certain but he was getting no where. Following the Inspector he found that the chateau was enormous. The arboretum was impressive, the tree in the center was obviously cared for with great affection from the gardeners and based on smile on Irratino's face possibly even him too. He seemed to be in a constant state of smiling. Even when looking or talking about nothing in particular, his lips rested slightly upturned and shallow dimples that deepened when he actually smiled sat contentedly on his cheeks. Some rooms he talked about with great pride like for example, the seance room, in which he talked for an hour straight and with great detail. The tour felt endless. So many rooms, so many anecdotes and so many things wrong with quite a few statements made about topics Logico knew too little to argue with him on. Irratino was obviously quite a smart man. He spoke with excellent articulation and accepted Logico's arguments even though it was obvious he thought him to be just as silly for dismissing his mystic beliefs as Logico felt listening to him talk about it.
There were bathrooms, fancy looking bathrooms at that with marble floors and fancy hand soaps and towels. It was nice and not horrifically gaudy, even if eccentric. the walls held large oil paintings of important looking people, ethereal looking paintings and abstract art pieces Logico couldn't quite rationalize. The windows looking onto the grounds were large and draped with fine looking curtains. the panes rested in frames that Irratino must have paid an insane amount to has restored by an artesian or something fancy like that. Irratino pushed open a set of grand looking doors. Inside was a missive room with a very odd collection of items rested in cases like a museum.
"And this! this is the collection room!" He announced with great pride.
There were even more odd looking statues, creepy looking dolls and paintings of people that seemed to follow you with their eyes. A wooden rocking chair sat on a pedestal with a plaque that said DO NOT SIT! WILL POSSES! which seemed silly. It was a perfectly normal rocking chair even if it was over a hundred years old, but old did not mean anything but being well built. In a glass case locked with a padlock was a ragdoll with her own plaque, DO NOT PROVOKE. Logico frowned and turned away not entertain the thing. There were ancient weaponry mounted on the walls and displayed intentionally in glass displays and racks. The number of odd dolls was unnerving to say the least, but nothing of actual threat or, quite frankly, of value.
In a fancy velvet case, sat a fine garnet key. Only one display down was the strangest looking triangle he'd ever seen. It was impossible. Connecting where it should cross over and crossing over where it should connect. It was seemingly inanimate but it turned in on itself. Logico tilted his head trying to make sense of it. Out of all the things in this collection this was the most deserving. He couldn't figure out how it was doing that. How it existed. why it existed. The way it twisted in on itself shouldn't have been possible. It seemed wrong even. Out of place in this dimension of existence. It hurt his head to try and work it out. But he couldn't bring himself to look away despite how hard it was to comprehend. it pulled at something, the same loose tether that'd been nagging him this entire time. Familiarity. Not just to the Institute and to Irratino, but to the impossible triangle, and the garnet key. The nostalgia and loss that he'd been unable to untangle from the mess of his College years.
Logico jumped when Irratino's hand gently came to his back. His brow furrowed in worry, "Are you alright?"
Logico tried to blink away the ache in his eyes. It sort of helped but his brain felt a bit wonky and difficult to decipher for a moment. Irratino tilted his head when he didn't answer. His hand seemed to burn through the detective's clothes and weigh like lead. Logico swallowed and nodded stepping out of the Inspector's reach, "Yes, I'm quite alright, I swear, I just got the weirdest feeling, where did you get this?"
"Case I solved ways back, a truly fascinating one, you wouldn't believe the spiritual energy of the place," Irratino gushed.
He was right, Logico wouldn't, and he didn't.
