I would have liked to know Blazing's thoughts on these recent unexpected occurrences. However, he seemed to have read my mind.

'Not tonight. We are tired, we won't think rationally anymore.'

The next morning, both of us were up at the crack of dawn. I started preparing my world famous coffee (according to Steven Blazing). Blazing sat with his laptop on the table, and a newspaper on his left hand. He dedicated equal importance to both of the objects. I was unable to conceive his intentions. However, I knew better than to question him about his work.

'I never expected Matthew to come looking for YOU.'

'Neither did I. It was indeed interesting.'

'What do you infer from it?'

'Nothing much, apart from the fact that Mr.Hood is too egocentric.', replied Blazing, placidly.

'You aren't worried about what he said? About how he is going after Cassie's murderer? You can't let him do that. You must stop him!'

'And charge him with what? Being hung over his ex? Being passionate and vengeful? No, I believe we should observe what he does. It's obvious he's hiding something.'

'Then what do we do now?'

Steven Blazing rested his chin on the tip of the fingers of his hands, which were folded like the forelimbs of a Praying Mantis, dropped his head a little, and looked up sharply towards me, with an evil smile.

'It is time... For RECOLLECTION.'

'Say what?', I asked. Recollection?

'We now have a basic idea of the case. So, what we need to do, before progressing further, is to recollect the facts we've collected, and look for any loops or holes.'

'Are you being serious right now?', I asked him, unable to believe his foolish plan.

'Don't look dissatisfied. Recollection is an under-utilised, powerful weapon for solving a crime. When our brains have been filled with useless information, we tend to throw out the important details. Recollection brings the control back to you.'

'What useless information are you referring to?'

'Well, to give a crude example, the facial features of our suspects and the interiors of their houses are quite unimportant, is it not? It doesn't contribute to the crime in the least.'

'You're saying we should forget what they look like?', I said, unable to suppress a laugh.

'No, what I am saying is that the meaningless is blocking out the meaningful. Hence, we revisit all the details, and keep what we want.'

'Alright, let's try it.', I said, amused. 'Who should start the "Recollection"?'

'Why don't you do it? I would love to look at the case from your eyes.', suggested Steven Blazing.

Clearing my throat, I began my narrative.

'Well, okay. So, on the 5th of October, at 6 p.m, our victim contacts her husband, informing him that she is returning home. She couldn't have taken more than an hour, so, by 7 p.m, she must have been in the house. Now, we have come to know that the neighbor, Ms.Sanders returns home at around 9:30 p.m, so for around two and a half hours, Cassie Turner was alone without immediate help. So, this is most likely when the murder was committed. Shouts from her may have gone unheard, but if she had screamed loudly, the other neighbors would have heard her. This means that, even if she screamed, it wasn't very loud. '

'Precisely. Continue.'

'Michael Turner returns at midnight, finds the house dark. Finds his wife's body in the living room, a bloody knife close to her right shoulder. Screams in disbelief, Ms.Sanders bursts in. Looking at the situation, she loses her head, and screams as well, accusing Michael of the murder. Michael threatens her, she runs back and calls the cops. '

'What next?'

'Interestingly, Michael swears he did NOT touch the murder weapon AT ALL. Yet his fingerprints are found on it. We arrive at his house, to be informed that all the windows were locked. We examine the positions of the body and knife, and find that Michael was correct about the right shoulder part. You deduce that the knife was taken from the house itself, that the killer hadn't brought a weapon, or didn't use it, for some reason. You also discover a box of sleeping pills under the couch. Apparently, The Turners aren't insomniac. So this is an important clue too. Speaking of which, you never told me what you discovered by examining those pills. '

'Oh yes, that's right. I discovered something interesting about those pills yesterday. Finish your entire narrative, then I'll tell you.', replied Blazing.

'You then go on upstairs. I don't know what you found there, though. '

'Nothing much.'

'Moving on, we reach the morgue. We deduce that the killer is shorter than the victim, is probably left-handed, and is experienced in combat. We find the victim's cheeks red, suggesting she was slapped hard. Yet, we find no skin residue or fingernails to support that idea. Lastly, you ask for a copy of the victim's stomach contents report. '

'Good. Now move on to each interrogation, briefly describing the key points.'

'We first question Ms.Sanders. She wasn't home when we first came, so I went home and you went to relax in that Starbucks THREE TIMES. At night, she lets us in. She describes the incident from her point of view, which more or less matches Michael's account. She says she was awakened by the scream, saw the lights on, and rushed down to their house to see what was wrong. '

'What are her views on the incident?'

'Ms.Sanders agrees that The Turners fought occasionally, but nothing out of the ordinary. She believes Michael Turner is innocent. She testifies that, being their neighbor for two years, she is quite fond of them. Ms.Sanders is unmarried.'

'Move on to the high school boyfriend.'

'Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that. The main reason for the Turners' argument was the surfacing of photographs depicting Cassie Turner with her high school boyfriend Jacob Quinn. This infuriates Michael Turner, who forbids her from travelling to her Parents' home. You then find out that Jacob Quinn was indeed lying, that there was NO AFFAIR between Mr.Quinn and the deceased. Jacob Quinn caves in, confesses that he was paid by some anonymous individual to create these photos, which obviously, didn't do a great job. You find a handkerchief with the initials "M.T.A.M.H" on it. '

'Move on. The marksman.'

'Martin Marks, when we first arrive, lies about visiting a friend. You deduce he was out hunting, despite promising his dead wife he'd given it up. His house isn't adorned with Animal heads or fur. He believes in his son's perfect innocence, believes Cassie is the reason for his life turning meaningless, is obviously pleased by her death. Turns quite emotional pretty soon. I find the same knife-set as the one... '

'I told you that isn't important or relevant. Hundreds of people may have that set, and the knife was taken from the victim's house.'

'Moving on, we have Ann Haley. She drives a Blue Nissan, with which she committed a hit-and-run crime a few years back. Her car wasn't confiscated, she sold it. She says she was in her apartment on the 5th, the landlady saw her. But there is a fire escape she may have used to reach down to the street unnoticed. Her family is in Seattle, her boyfriend broke up with her, and she has no friends. She narrates the hit-and-run incident, which seems to suggest she wasn't in her senses when she committed it, and she seems to repent for it. '

'What happened when we returned here?'

'A loud shattering noise startled us. We found a large rock, which had a piece of paper wrapped around it, with the threat that if we don't stop our investigation, there is a potential danger to our lives.'

'Move on. The fearsome fighter.'

'Wait. We are informed by Walker that Mr.Tyler has been located, Ms.Hayden will be arriving in NYC in a week, and that Matthew Hood is still at large. Next, we have Harry Tyler. Lives in a desolate part of the city. Tries to attack us when we arrive. Says that he mistook us for robbers. You find he isn't sleeping due to lack of his sleeping pills, the same ones as the one in the Turner domicile. He lies about his alibi initially, then disproves it himself due to a clever tactic of psychology applied by you, I believe. Confesses that on the 5th, he was, in fact, in bed with a girl he met in a bar. You excused yourself to go to the bathroom, but instead find his prescription. I try consoling him, and he promises to help us in any way he can to catch the killer. But you come and spoil everything by calling his dead sister a liar. He kicks us out of his house. Oh, did I tell you? When I had stretched out my hand for a handshake, at first Harry had stretched out his left hand, then withdrew it, and then had extended his right hand. '

'No, you didn't tell me that. That is... Interesting.'

'Well, coming to an end, we reach home and I hope for a peaceful night. When suddenly, Matthew Hood bursts in. He somehow knows we're looking for him. Mr.Hood, in my belief, is EXTREMELY arrogant and proud and overconfident. However, he soon breaks down while reliving his memories with his ex. He then swears he will catch Cassie's killer before us, and storms out. That is all that has happened till now. '

'A job well done. I had no idea your memory was so sharp. Do you now notice how effectively you narrated the events important to YOU, and left out all the rest?'

I thought about it, and realized that Recollection really wasn't half as useless as I had thought it would be. I now had all the main details of the case in my mind, which I could fall back upon whenever desired. However, what Blazing said struck me as odd.

'Wait, important to ME? Isn't it the same for you?', I asked.

'Not at all. You narrated whatever YOU thought was important. I would have added a few details in some places, and deleted some in others.'

'Then what was the use of doing this?'

'You understood the power of Recollection. And I needed an idea of what a simple-minded individual will focus on. Besides, I was Recollecting mentally.'

'Now tell me about the pills.'

'Ah, yes. I have found an interesting detail in that. Look at this.'

He picked up his laptop and pointed at the screen.

'These pills are of a mild nature, taken by people with mild insomnia, so that it causes sound sleep, but not so deep that they can't be awakened.'

'So?'

'Now, here's the interesting part. These pills come in boxes of 30 pills each, to be taken once each night, for an entire month. Usually the person goes and buys a new box before month end, and also sometimes when the month has 31 days, instead of 30.'

'So what? I don't see the problem.'

'Here is the problem. We found this box on the 6th. So the killer, assuming the box is the killer's, couldn't have taken a pill on the night of the murder, the 5th. Correct?'

'Yes, so?'

'So this box should be missing a maximum of 4 pills, taken upto the 4th of October. The previous month was September with 30 days, so there's no question of buying this box and consuming it from the 31st. And yet, instead of 26, this box contains ONLY 24 PILLS.'

I was shocked.

'What? That's so strange.'

Steven Blazing looked thoughtful.

'So, this is what's bothering me. What happened to the 2 extra pills? WHERE are the 2 pills now?'

Hey! I hope you liked the chapter! I know updates are slow, but I can't help it, I'm literally crushed with other work. So, I'm really sorry if you guys are getting impatient. Please bear with me!

What do you guys think happened to the 2 extra pills? ANY IDEAS? Anyway, that will be revealed a LOT later!

Don't forget to read the next chapter when it drops.

VOTE FOR THE STORY IF YOU ARE LIKING IT, PLEASE.

The mystery will resume again soon(within two days, not kidding). Till then, HAPPY UNSCRAMBLING!

-S. B.