SHORT STORY

(over this self-isolation, my English teacher set us the task of writing a short story that somehow involved the coronavirus, so me being me, aka weird, I wrote a crime/comedy. Hope you enjoy it)

OC description:

▪︎Name: Anastazya "Ana" Giry
▪︎Hair colour:  Wavy dark brown/black
▪︎Eye colour: Emerald green
▪︎Height: 5'7
▪︎Occupation: Detective

▪︎Name: Charles "Charlie" MonCombe
▪︎Hair colour: Sandy brown
▪︎Eye colour: hazelnut brown
▪︎Height: 6'1
▪︎Occupation: Sargent

~~~

"If I ever get taken out by a serial killer, please know I died doing what I loved: learning too much about serial killers."

"It just doesn't add up" Detective Anastazya Giry huffed in annoyance, stepping back from the whiteboard in efforts to catch the one detail she so desperately needed.

"Why don't you take a break, ok? Clear your head, " Her partner, Sargent Charles MonCombe, lazily threw a rolled up ball of paper in the bin beside the whiteboard, merely missing Ana on its journey.

"Why would he stop, we're nowhere close to catching him so why stop killing now?"

In the city of Lit de Rivière, a string of murders targeting high power people were committed but stopped suddenly. With the spread of Covid-19, Ana and Charlie had to get this case solved before they were placed on lockdown.

Taking one more look at the victims, Ana sighed, taking Charles up on the break offer. However, as the pair were leaving the police offices, the latest news came through the station's speaker.

"I regret to inform you all but, I bring bad news. Maire de Chagny has died suddenly of Coronavirus."

Many gasped at the news, their beloved mayor dying so abruptly. While everyone was in distress, Anastazya pulled Charles back into their office and began to make connections on the whiteboard.

"Ana what are you doing?" he asked, sitting down somberly.

"Don't you think it suspicious that le Maire just drops dead suddenly? He was in perfect health and quite young, "

Charles ran his hand through his hair, trying to wrap his head around the theory.

"But you heard what the chief said Ana, " he began, " Mayor de Chagny died of Covid-19," he rested his hands on her shoulders, trying to talk some sense into her.

"Yes, but look at the evidence Charlie! The high power murders, suddenly stopping and now the death of the mayor, it's just too much of a coincidence!"

Also taking a moment to look at the evidence board, Charles couldn't help but agree with her.

"I suppose your right, " Ana smirked, knowing she was right, "but just to make sure, put in for a post mortem on the body, "

Once the body was released by the family to the police department, Anastazya made sure that his autopsy was first on the list.

Sitting down at the desk, Ana jumped slightly when her desk phone rang.

"Detective Giry, " she answered, a smile on her face with the news that she was receiving " great, I'll be right down."

Putting down the phone, she made her way over to Charlie's desk, also startling him with her arrival.

"Charles, autopsy now" She was nearly out the door when Charles answered.

"Wait I'm coming now, " catching up to her in the elevator, " let's hope your theory is right"

Anastazya playfully hit his shoulder, the bing of the elevator door closing the doors and soaring the eyes of their colleagues to their embarrassing humour.

"Hey, 2 metres space, man!"

{•&•}

"What do we have Carlotta?" Charles asked, walking into the autopsy, wrinkling up his nose at the strong smell of chemicals and body fluids.

"Not what you think" the pair looked at her in surprise, walking up closer to the body to see the results.

"So what do we have then?" Ana asked.

Carlotta took off her gloves and headed over to her desk to retrieve the file.

"palytoxin and lots of it"

"palytoxin as in seafood?" Charlie asked, furrowing his brow.

"yes but if given in high doses it can be lethal, " Carlotta replied, bringing them over to the mayors' left hand.

"See here? " she pointed to his ring finger, " his wedding ring covers the injection hole."

"Great work Carlotta, fax those results up to us." The detectives headed back up to the whiteboard with the new information they needed connecting all the murders.

Up in the offices with all the autopsy results of the other 3 victims, it was clear to see that their killer had some sort of chemist background and had access to these robust ingredients, using the coronavirus pandemic as a cover for his crimes.

Running it through their database, Anastazya was able to narrow down their search to a Jacques Dubois.

"Jacques Dubois, " Ana stated pinning his photo onto the suspect board as she continued briefing Charles, " Belgium national now living in Lit de Rivière, "

"Has a background in chemistry, having worked in a pharmaceutical company for 5 years. But that's where the trail ends. No recent convictions, no complaints made towards him, this guy doesn't even have a speeding ticket!" Ana threw her hands into the air in exasperation.

"Why don't we set up some surveillance cameras on him, see if he does anything suspicious?" Charles suggested, leaning against the front of his desk crossing his arms.

"You just gave me a brilliant idea"

Around a day later, the pair found themselves hidden in a car outside an abandoned warehouse. With a full lockdown in place in the municipality, they had a better chance of catching Dubois in the act.

"A stakeout outside an abandoned warehouse? Really, this was your brilliant idea" Charles argued, begrudgingly snapping photos of any movement.

"Yes now quit your whining"

A few hours later, nearing dusk, Anastazya spotted a dim light through one of the many broken windows.

"Charles look, " she took out her binoculars to look for Dubois, but when she heard no response, Ana turned to look at Charles.

Low and behold, he fell asleep.

"Charlie wake up, he's here!" Ana shook him repeatedly until he was up.

They made their way into the warehouse, bulletproof vests on and guns in hand, walking as silently as possible. They gave each other a hand signal and went in opposites directions.

Ana turned on her flashlight, checking around the dark corners, eventually making her way towards the centre of the storage room. In front of her was a large table, full of toxic and corrosive chemicals. Ana lowered her flashlight and roamed around the table, focusing on all the evidence before her.

So concentrated on what was in front of her, Ana wasn't aware of the gloaming shadow creeping up behind her.

On the other side of the room, Charles searched the boxes until he heard a scream. Dashing towards the middle, Charles quickly sprung into action, shooting Jacques down but it was too late. Ana fell to the floor, a small needle sticking out of her neck.

Charles rushed over to help her, carefully helping her up and calling an ambulance before the neurotoxin reached her vital organs.

{•&•}

Multiple tests had been run, surgeries performed to rid the chemicals from Anastazya's body. Still, she showed no signs of moving or waking from this coma-like state. Tubes and other drugs hung out of her, attached to their various devices.

She'd been like this for over 3 days, and still, Charles stayed at her bedside. It seemed as if his prayers had been answered when the machines surrounding Ana started to make loud noises, alerting the nurses at the front desk. Charles stood back to make way for the nurses, watching as they removed the breathing tube Ana was starting to choke on.

They were all wearing hazmat suits, reminding him further on what this pandemic had done to the world.

After a few moments, this subsided, leaving Charles back in his original place, and Ana sleeping, tired from using all her energy.

"Hey"

Charlie looked up to see Ana gazing at him, a small smile present on her face, eyes still a tad glossy. He showed her a kind smile giving a small response back.

"Hey"

" Thank you for saving me" she answered softly, her voice still scratchy from lack of use.

" I'd do it every day in a heartbeat just for you"

"Did you catch Dubois?" Ana asked him groggily.

Charles thought about his answer for a few moments before replying, " he's not going to be killing anyone anytime soon, "

They sat in the conversation for hours, chatting and laughing, Ana was released from the hospital a few days later, but that was the last time they would physically see each other until this virus would be eventually cured.