'Come on Bolt, let's go.'

Wait, what?

'Go? Go where?', I asked.

'To examine the crime scene, of course.', said Blazing.

I was completely confused, and so was Detective Walker. Here we had a man who had strong motives, and was evidently lying about not killing his wife, meaning he WAS who we are after, and yet why does Blazing want to examine the crime scene?

' I'm sorry, I don't underst...', I began, before getting cut off.

' I'll answer all your questions en route to the crime scene. Get dressed, unless you'd prefer to jog to our destination too.', chuckled Blazing and went back to his bedroom to change.

I followed him.

'But I don't see how I could be useful in your investigation. I'm just a writer.', I said, making sure the two gentlemen couldn't hear us.

Blazing turned towards me and said, 'Don't underestimate your ability to contribute to this case. You may have untapped skills you aren't aware of. If nothing else, I always welcome a second opinion or analysis.'

I guess that bought me.

We got dressed and for the first time ever, I saw Steven Blazing wearing something which was publicly acceptable. Personally, I think he would have worn his vest and boxer shorts if he had a choice. Detective Walker and Michael Turner were waiting for us.

'So, for whatever reason, you feel you need to investigate the crime scene?', questioned Walker.

'Yes, indeed, and the deceased too.', said Blazing.

Walker sighed.

'Okay, then I'll assist ACP Turner over to the police station for the time being while you investigate and then will join you shortly. Here's the address of the morgue.'

'Thank you, Steven.', said Michael earnestly, 'You are my last hope.'

Blazing nodded.

We locked up the apartment and the four of us left. The two gentlemen left in the police car. We hailed a taxi. Steven Blazing gave the driver the directions and we were off. Blazing said the ride would take around 10 minutes, and so I decided to riddle him with my barrage of questions then.

'You do know that Michael was lying, right?', I asked him.

Steven Blazing looked at me curiously.

'Is that so? And how did you determine that?'

'Well, his voice was shaking, he took a very long time to reply, and when he finally did, he could not bear to look at your eyes while speaking, meaning he was afraid of you seeing in his eyes that he was shielding the truth, and that means he DID kill his wife.', I explained.

Steven Blazing smiled.

'Imagine this, Bolt. Your wife, who was your university sweetheart, with whom you were married for 15 years, ends up murdered, and even worse, the police think its you who's done it. Wouldn't that exert extreme stress on you, make you desperate for help? Wouldn't that make your entire body shake with fear? Wouldn't you have trouble speaking? '

'But what about him lowering his eyes? That's a clear sign of someone lying, isn't it?'

Blazing shook his head.

'Contrary to popular belief, gazing at someone's eyes or lowering your own while speaking is NOT AN INDICATION of being honest or a liar. Its not scientific, although many people believe it to be. This is the fact which many skilled con artists utilize. They could be staring hard at your eyes, yet spin a tale full of lies, and you would be none the wiser. The fact of whether you are lying or being truthful has nothing to do with where you are looking. '

'If that is the case, how did you determine that Michael wasn't lying?'

'I have, of course, known Michael Turner for a few years now. When you spend a sufficient amount of time with someone, if you are observant enough, you can notice they have certain tells.'

'Tells?'

'Yes, signs which tell you when they are lying. I have, for example, noticed that whenever Michael lies, he purses his lips. But he didn't this time.'

'Well, he probably remembered. You must have, at one point of time, told him about his "tell"?', I asked.

'Yes I did, and that is precisely the reason why I created a stressful environment where it would be irrelevant whether he remembered or not. I made the room dark before interrogation, specifically to trigger his memory, by reminding him of his dark house which he entered into at midnight. I questioned him sharply, without any gentleness, forcing him to playback the real events in his mind. Under these circumstances, no man can ever remember not to express his tells. '

'Pretty elaborate, and I had thought you hated sunlight.', I laughed.

'No, its a form of interrogation I've invented. I call it "The DCE Interrogation". And you would be interested to know, I need your help to make this work better.'

'What's DCE? How does it work?'

'DCE stands for Disarm, Conquer, Extract. It works on the principles of psychology and manipulation. It is recommended to have two interrogators for this technique to work perfectly. First, we DISARM the questionee. One of us acts friendly, while the other acts suspicious, kind of like Good cop Bad cop, except, no one is gonna threaten anyone or promise any favors. The questionee inadvertently bonds with the friendlier interrogator. Then we CONQUER them. After they are comfortable with one over the other, any questions asked by the friendlier person will almost always bring forth an answer, 2 out of 3 times, the truth. And lastly, we EXTRACT all the information this way, but keeping in mind never to let them catch on to our tactic, and since the friendly interrogator is clearly more important, they must be skilled.'

'So,which one am I?', I asked.

'You,my friend, are THE FRIENDLY INTERROGATOR.', Blazing smiled.

'But, I don't know if I can do it.'

'Don't worry, it isn't that hard, I'll show you. Besides, needless to say, you have a much more trustworthy face than mine.', laughed Steven Blazing.

Take that, girls!

We reached Michael's house soon. We got out of the taxi, and Steven Blazing stood right in the middle of the street, inspecting the surroundings. Michael's house was at the end of a row of houses, and the street ended there, meaning he had only Ms. Sanders as his immediate neighbor. The houses were mostly double storied, with a few exceptions here and there. Blazing examined the lawn outside the house, but looked disappointed. The police were still at the site, and they had closed off the entire house with that yellow "Do not enter" tape of theirs. We climbed up the stairs to the house. A male cop approached us.

'Mr.Blazing, Mr.Bolt, hello. I am Inspector Crane. Detective Walker said you were coming.'

'Yes, we would like to have a look around the house, please.', Blazing replied.

'By all means. Follow me, please.'

Inspector Crane took us inside. Some policemen were busy brushing various areas with powder for fingerprints. Some were taking photographs.

'Were all the windows closed?', asked Blazing.

'Yes, as far as we can tell.'

'Any back doors?'

'None.'

'So that means that the assailant was either expected by Mrs.Turner, or had a duplicate key done.', observed Blazing.

We entered the living room. The position in which the victim lay on the floor was chalked out, as was the position of the murder weapon.

'The location where Michael discovered the knife is very interesting indeed. Why close to the right shoulder, I wonder?'

It seemed Blazing was talking more to himself than to any of us.

'The knife... I believe its taken from this kitchen itself?', asked Blazing.

'Yes, but how did you..?', Crane looked surprised.

You're not alone, Crane.

Blazing looked around the room.

'Nope, no hiding spots. Whoever killed her wasn't hiding. They either charged towards her, or she saw her killer, but was unable to resist for some reason. Where's the knife?'

'Its currently at the morgue, the Coroner requested for it.', answered Crane.

'I see. Well, there's nothing more to be learnt from here. Wait a minute, though. What's this?'

Steven Blazing pointed under the sofa, but I still couldn't see anything. He bent down and pulled out a small pillbox.

'You have brilliant observational skills, Sir. We never would have found that. What is it, by the way?', asked Crane.

'Sleeping pills. Interesting. I don't remember the Turners being insomniac.', Steven Blazing stared at the box for a moment before speaking again, ' I'll keep this for now. I'll send it once I'm done examining this. I'll go check out the upper floors now. Please wait here, gentlemen.'

Blazing returned in five minutes.

'Okay, we are done here. We'll go to the Morgue now. Thank you for your help, Inspector Crane.'

'Its my pleasure, sir. Good day.'

The two of us hailed a taxi and reached the Morgue next. The attractive Coroner was waiting for us. She smiled sweetly at me. Well, probably my imagination again.

'Mr.Blazing and Mr.Bolt, I believe? Walker informed me.'

'Yes, and you must be Miss...?', I asked with a smile.

'Oh, I'm Mrs.Jasmine Lawrence. Pleased to meet you.'

Damn these married women. I got my heart broken twice in a month.

'Can we take a look now?', asked Blazing, impatient.

'Yes, of course. Right this way.'

She led us to the terrific room of the dead. The victim was lying on the table. The first thought which crossed my mind when I looked at the knife wound was that someone had taken the term "Police Brutality" quite seriously, and in a very bad sense of humor.

Wait, Crime scene investigators ARE police, right? Lemme just check on google... Yup, they are.

Steven Blazing started his examination immediately.

'So, she is 5 feet 8 inches tall, or 172.72 cm tall in our american units. But the knife wound angle suggests that the killer was shorter than her, since the wound is inclined upwards. Interesting. It also seems the killer is left-handed. That clears any further doubt, Bolt, because Michael is right-handed, but this wound couldn't have been done by a right-hander. '

'The killer might have switched hands to throw us off their trail.', I suggested.

'Yes, its a possibility, considering they could exert a sufficient amount of force to stab a person so deeply with their non-dominant hand. But let's assume they didn't, for the time being. Can you observe one more interesting thing here, Bolt?'

I looked at the victim's body for a few seconds. I noticed her cheeks were significantly red. Then I examined her wound. It was right at the middle of her chest, and I could see lots of blood. I guessed the killer had accurately pierced her heart.

'Well, she died instantly, right?', I asked.

'Not a doubt.', replied Jasmine.

'Then that also means that the killer was experienced, and knew exactly where to strike so as to finish her off stealthily and effectively.'

'Exactly. Which means that our killer has a good knowledge of a human's fatal areas. With a knife this sleek...', said Jasmine, holding up the bloody knife enclosed in police evidence plastic, 'It is highly improbable to hit with such accuracy. Yet, she was stabbed right in the middle of her heart.'

'And look at her cheeks. Aren't they too red to be natural? Doesn't it look odd?', I asked.

'Yes, I noticed that, and I've currently made up my mind on a possibility of its origin. But I won't comment on that without further proof.', replied Blazing.

'Okay, but I really don't know what proof you are talking about. It almost certainly seems to me that she was slapped, HARD, on both of her cheeks, for some reason.', I said.

'Exactly! And yet, we picked up no skin residue, no fingernails, nothing.', said Jasmine, evidently disappointed.

'Interesting. Mrs.Lawrence, I have a favour to ask. Her stomach contents will no doubt be examined in the autopsy, I believe?'

'Yes, in fact, the lab is being prepared as we speak.'

'Would you be so kind as to send me a copy of the report?'

'Yes, sure. But since it involves the lab, it may take several days.'

'Doesn't matter, I just need to reinforce a belief of mine.'

'Okay, then. Give me your phone number, I'll call you when it's done.', smiled Jasmine.

My rival in love, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr.Steven Blazing.

'Thank you so much for your aid, Mrs.Lawrence. We'll take your leave now.', replied Blazing.

We were just leaving the building when Detective Walker stepped out of his vehicle. He looked at us and said, 'So, you're done?'

'Yes, we've got the basic facts down, I believe.', replied Steven Blazing.

'So? What do you think?', Detective Walker asked Blazing.

In that moment, I saw in his eyes a look I have never seen before, a look of undeterred determination and deep thought.

Steven Blazing looked at Walker.

'Start the clock, detective... The Hunt is ON'.

So? Beginning to get a basic picture of the murder? If not, don't worry, the next few chapters will clear up your doubts. Be sure to let your imagination run wild as to what might have occured.

Do NOT forget to vote, comment and read the next chapter!

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Steven Blazing and Charlie Bolt will return soon. Till then...Aww hell, you guys know what I'm gonna say.

-S. B