Chapter XI: Historic Hysterics
"No fingerprints, handwriting similarities, leads, proof, or any witnesses!" Tyler grumbled as he massaged his temples.
"Tyler, calm down." Celeste said as she rubbed his shoulders.
"Our lives are on the line here... If the killer kills Rick, we're dead!" Tyler groaned as he slammed his face on the wall. "Dead, dead... DEAD." Tyler grumbled.
"Can you not tell if the writer is left or right handed? We haven't given them any proper tests and have only interrogated them so far. And the interrogation wasn't all that thorough." Selene pointed out calmly.
"Maybe... But the paper airplanes have the same handwriting." Tyler grumbled.
"May I?" Asked Geoffrey as he extended his palm.
Tyler shrugged as he gave Geoffrey a pair of gloves and the letter while he sighed.
Geoffrey gave the paper a long and hard look and then slowly pulled a paper out of his coat pocket... The paper airplane!
"How do you have that?!" Jin exclaimed.
"I placed it in my pocket after receiving it. Somehow, if you place anything in your pocket, you can take it back even in another... Scene." Geoffrey explained and then went back to examining the handwriting on both papers.
"I guess we have a researcher now. Rick dies, and we'll have a coroner." Marco groaned as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Tyler placed his hand in the pocket of his pants and... the note really was there! Tyler blinked in astonishment knowing that Geoffrey found out about this... But...
"Geoffrey... Why didn't you tell us about this?" Asked Tyler as he shot him a suspicious look.
"I didn't think it necessary. Do stop accusing me..." Geoffrey mumbled as he then gave the paper back to Tyler. "Your culprit is left-handed. It shows with the handwriting and the way they write their letter with tails. Like 'G' and 'Y'. They're handwriting differs from the original Richard's."
Tyler sighed a breath of relief and gave Geoffrey a smile. "I apologize for accusing you then."
"Only two of Rick's staff are left-handed. Good work, Geoffrey." Selene smiled at him and Geoffrey only nodded.
"I'll get them over here." Carl said with a smile.
"Jin, could you tell the other staff that they're almost cleared of suspicion?" Selene asked him.
"Sure. What about Prince Jerkface and Princess Cigars?" Jin then said sarcastically as he sighed and brushed a hand theough his hair.
"Princess Cigars my ass." Chelsea as she rolled her eyes.
"You could... Well... Maybe seduce the criminal?" Tyler smirked and Carl laughed loudly.
"Tyler!!!" Celeste gasped.
"Alright, it's good to laugh like that. Let's get our heads back in game." Tyler then said as he fixed his gloves.
'We are not dying. My death will come. But not today.'
***
"Yeah, I'm left-handed. So what?" Bertha snorted as she crossed her muscular arms.
"Could you give us a writing sample? Handwriting sample I mean." Selene asked Bertha kindly yet with that slightly cold tone.
"I'm not daft." Bertha said and then pulled a pen out of her left pen pocket with her left hand and then wrote on a piece of paper provided by Selene.
And in the other room...
"A writing sample?" Scoffed a male worker with long hair and a beanie instead of the cap.
"Yes. Please." Tyler said even if internally, he was losing his patience.
"Sorry buddy, I'm not your man. I don't have time for this anyways." They replied.
"Kale, you not doing as I requested? That's making you a suspect already. I might have to lock you up." Tyler said through gritted teeth as his hands pulled out a pair of handcuffs.
"Look, I just want quits. But I'll write. Only if you do two things for me." Kale replied.
"Yeah. Sure." Tyler said yet he felt that Kale was very suspicious.
"Investigate Carla. She's ambidextrous. She also works out coding and has a lot of writing samples. Second, you got a ciggie?" Kale then finished.
"I'll ask Chel- I mean, Casey, for a cigarette or two. Don't leave till I say so." Tyler said sternly and Kale shrugged.
After Tyler returned to Kale with a cigarette pack, Kale brought out his lighter and smoked one cigarette and kept the whole box.
"Why are you pinning the blame on Carla?" Tyler asked Kale.
"Well... Lemme just say that... She writes with her left hand and does well in paintball games with her right hand. Especially with the pistols. She can be freakin dangerous." Kale shrugged.
"Uh-huh... And how do you know?"
"Simple. Every staff member went out for a paintball match organized by Ramille. She's the only one who could go on with two hands." Kale then smirked. "Are we done officer?"
"Detective. And, furthermore... Writing sample first." Tyler said.
Kale shrugged and Tyler gave him a pen and a small sticky note to check his writing. After he handed it to Tyler, Tyler sighed in relief. "You may leave the room. Thank you for your time."
Kale seemed relieved too and then he walked out of the room as well with Tyler behind him as he met up with his teammates.
"Anything out of Bertha?" Jin asked Selene.
"She was very arrogant." Selene sighed. "Still, there wasn't much information for me to gain from her. She works as a cleaner and the one who nags constantly about schedule. But with her strength, she may as well be Rick's bodyguard."
"Tyler?" Marco asked.
"Another suspect. Carla. Ambidextrous. But that Kale was a pest." Tyler grumbled.
Celeste laughed at his tone and then quickly covered her mouth as soon as she saw Rick walking towards them.
"Any clues?" Rick asked the group warily.
"So far, Mr. Rick, we have a couple of suspects. We musn't tell you as much yet. Not until we find our criminal." Selene said formally.
"Since I haven't opened up the museum due to these... Circumstances... I suppose the cleaners or the tour guides may become somewhat restless. Especially as they are being interrogated..." Rick explained.
"I see..." Tyler said as he shot his teammates a nervous glance their way.
"We plan to investigate the other rooms or places here as well as their work. Do tell them to stay for at least an hour or two." Selene said looking slightly disappointed.
"Aright... I'll convince them." Rick nodded and then went of to tell them.
"We need Selene to talk to Carla. Carla sounds more likely to be able to kill with ease. And they've all been to paintball matches organized by Ramille." Tyler said and Selene nodded.
"We still have to interrogate the others however. Carla may not be the only culprit. There could be two." Celeste said and shook a little.
"And, we need to protect Rick." Carl pointed out.
"Yeah. All of that..." Marco said sarcastically.
"Sock it in Marcus." Jin said angrily.
"But I would never interrogate someone! And how come Rick gets bodyguards?! I have a poor and defensless stature!!!" Ryan said dramatically as he placed a hand on his forehead
"I'll be with you sir. Whether I get paid or not." James sighed.
"Why must I always be stuck with you?" Ryan huffed.
"Well then Sir, defend yourself." James said and then stepped away from Ryan.
"You dare insult me?!" Ryan gasped.
"I dare." James said.
"I think I have an idea?" Chelsea then said as all eyes were looking at her and their ears were ready. "What the heck are you looking at?!" She then snapped.
"You said you had an idea. Spit it out." Celeste shrugged.
"I don't know, maybe Rick and one of his staff members fought with him like Ryan and James over there, and then the staff member got mad and chose to kill him." Chelsea then scoffed. "I'm not sure you idiots. Stop looking at me!"
"You know... That could work..." Jin said.
Ryan then smirked at James and crossed his arms. "I suppose you want to quit being my assistant?"
"I suppose I do." James said with a smile.
"Hmph! Fine by me!" Ryan said as he turned his back from James and huffed with both pride and annoyance.
"Well, we have one-fourth of a mystery done. We just need to fix the other pieces." Geoffrey then said. "Well done then, Chelsea." He said politely as Chelsea gave a smug grin.
"Once again, happy to help apprehend the criminal." She said. But she shivered slightly at the memory of once being accused by Haley and watching her die before her very eyes.
"Honestly Chel, you are weird." Carl said and shook his head.
"I do hope that you are all done squabbling. Well then, I'll start asking about Carla and what she does and Tyler could ask Rick about a fight. The rest of you, do help by sneakily inspecting the others?" Selene said as she untied her hair bun and her long hair flowed slowly as if she stepped out of a shampoo commercial.
"Right." Celeste said uneasily.
"I will protect you Celeste! Remember the trust that Selene gave me? I will live up to that trust and continue to defend you with my life!" Ryan pledged valiantly as he took Celeste's hand and kissed it. Again.
"Ryan... Stop being so formal. Please." Celete said as she slowly took back her hand. "Let's just get some clues."
"Right." Chelsea groaned.
***
"Detective?" Asked Rick as he watched Tyler step through the doorway.
"Sorry to intrude. Rick, sir." Tyler said and nodded and Rick did too.
"I do not mind. Pray tell what ails you?" Rick said in a strange old-fashioned way and then laughed.
Tyler smiled minimally and then sighed as he pulled out his police notebook and pen. "Have you had any conflicts with your staff members? Recently?"
"Of course! Bertha can be so hard to control at times, Ramille tends to slack off and so does Kale, the others I haven't told off... and the most exemplary of my staff would probably be..." Rick then paused.
"Would be?" Tyler said feeling slightly impatient with Richard.
"Carla and Bertha. Yes, even if Bertha is hard to control and even if Carla can be sometimes emotionless." Rick then said with a shrug.
Tyler took down notes with ease and tried plotting out some parts of the case. Hopefully, the real Richard would give them at least another day to try to solve the case. Not all cases take a day to solve and some could take longer than simply just days.
"I see..." Tyler mumbled and then looked back at Rick. "Is Carla really ambidextrous?" Tyler asked Rick.
"Yes she is," Rick said. "They told me about the paintball match Ramille set up for them on holiday once and they said Carla was a total beast with a gun. Her aim was precise and obviously, she won the match." Rick said with a smile.
Tyler took notes again. Carla might have been good with an actual gun. Bullets. Not paint balls. And the weight of a paint gun is probably heavier than a pistol but maybe not as a real shotgun... but with the weight of a small pistol or paintball pistols however, the aim shouldn't be too good yet it could be fast enough to hit well if aimed properly... He had to remember that.
Rick then looked up and sighed disappointedly yet reminiscingly. "You know, Carla was once not so emotionless or sarcastic..."
Tyler seemed to take interest in that sentence.
'Did he have... a thing for Carla once? They've got at least thirteen years as an age gap!!! Selene can prove that with her interrogations.'
"And why would you say that?" Tyler asked him.
"Well... She once smiled properly and wasn't as... Robotic as she is now. She still likes coffee as much as she did then and still dreams of her own café..." Rick said casually and began to reorganize some papers as his bulky hands reached for his teacup.
"And why would you take interest in Carla in this way?" Tyler asked.
"Do not take me in the wrong way, Detective. She is simply like a daughter figure to me; like my dear, Celia. She would always speak to me like a daughter would to her father. She would ask me for advice, help, and she never dared to bother Bertha so she mostly pestered me." Rick laughed. "I do miss how I used to tutor her and teach her about historics and how she was fairly interested. It just seems that now, she's stone cold."
"I see..." Tyler said and felt at least a little envy and somehow blunt. Carla was lucky enough to have someone as kind as Rick to keep her around and suddenly, she just blocks him out... It sounds cruel somehow.
"Anything else you'd like to know?" Rick asked Tyler.
"Well... Have you fought with Carla once?" Tyler asked.
"No. Not recently anyway..." Rick said.
"Recently?" Tyler asked. "So you did once?"
"Of course... I was just asking her if she wanted to pursue her dream of running a cafe and she suddenly started shouting at me! I talked back to her firmly and then she started yelling louder and so I rose my voice and well... She says she has forgiven me but has become cold and sarcastic or robotic..." Rick sighed.
"Really? Thank you for your time then..." Tyler said.
Interesting...
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