Animated voices could be heard from a small room. Multiple policemen sat together on a group of tables. After securing all the evidence in Diana de Ridouran’s manor, they had gathered in Lost Harbor’s police station. Right now, they were discussing the newest findings, trying to make sense of the collected information.
Knocking on the table, Lond gathered all the attention on himself. The chief stood up, stepping before a board with a map on it. Multiple red pins have been scattered throughout it.
Addressing Tepo, Lond quickly explained:
“This is the information we have so far. Those red pins are all our crime scenes. Over three months the blood thieves have acted 23 times for a total of 304 victims.
All the victims are scattered throughout the city. They have no obvious similarities.
Today, we have found the corpse of Diana de Ridouran. She was murdered and her safe has been emptied.
Diana has been seen in close proximity of multiple crime scenes. On top of that, we found blood in her hidden storage. She is our prime suspect right now.
Obviously, we suspect that she had accomplices.”
Everyone nodded calmly as Lond took out a few more pins, marking the most recent victims.
Close to the chief, Tepo studied the map, racking his brain for any ideas. A middle-aged female officer on the other side of Lond looked at the investigator:
“Do you have any ideas, mister agent?”
Deep in thoughts Tepmodus shook his head slowly. He looked at the short haired woman, who was in a good spot to become the next chief, as he answered quietly:
“I can’t wrap my head around why Diana would steal blood.”
Despite the investigator talking in a low voice, everyone heard it in the quiet room. Immediately all kinds of suggestions were thrown around.
“Maybe she drank it to stay young.”
“I think she is one of the outsiders and holds rituals for her god.”
“After we found those patterns, I also think this makes sense.”
“Maybe she only sold the blood to outsiders.”
“What if she went crazy and tries to use blood to revive her husband?”
As the ideas got ever more outrageous, Lond knocked on the table again.
“Guys! Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Chief, we are only brainstorming.”
As Lond rolled his eyes, Tepmodus wasn’t so quick to dismiss everyone’s points. Listening closely, his mind wandered back to the scene when he first met Diana de Ridouran. From what they knew now, this should’ve been right after another theft.
At that time Diana was already under surveillance but the police officer seemed a bit unreliable. He didn’t even inform Lond about the stolen purse. Therefore, Tepo guessed that it wasn’t impossible for Diana to get rid of him for a while.
Recalling Diana’s actions at that time, Tepo suddenly frowned. Wasn’t the woman a bit too dramatic when her purse was stolen? But after getting it back, she seemed rather nonchalant. It felt as if the wealthy lady used the theft to catch attention.
Could Diana have tried to grab his attention specifically? Was this a case of a criminal getting too confident and showing off? Was she too gutsy, and was thus killed by her accomplices?
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Everyone was calmly exchanging ideas under Lond’s lead, when Tepo suddenly spoke up again:
“Lond, can you mark all the spots Diana has been seen?
“Sure… let me…
Kayla, do you have those reports?”
“Sure.”, answered the potential future chief.
She quickly handed two papers towards Lond. Some wind blowing through the old, badly constructed window almost scattered them through the room, but fortunately the chief grabbed them hurriedly.
After a short thanks he carefully read the reports, placing blue pins on the map one by one.
Soon 16 more pins were scattered on the map.
Tepo looked at them, sinking into contemplation again. Although all the pins seemed random, some nagging feeling told him that he was missing something.
Suddenly a sentence fell into his ears:
“Even those blood thieves are afraid of the army, I guess.”
Tepo’s eyes lit up. Right, no member of the army has been a victim. But this wasn’t what bugged the investigator. Rather, this reminded him of something else.
The army was mostly stationed at the city’s outskirts. But there had been no thefts beyond a certain line. In fact, if you drew a circle around all the pins on the map, it wouldn’t cover more than half of the city. And at its center was…
Tepo drew a sharp breath. Had he figured it out? Was this the real target? Was everything else only distraction?
It would make sense, though. How could Diana finance her lavish lifestyle? What was in her purse? And why was she spotted near the crime scenes so often?
Could it be that in reality they had been robbing the city’s bank all the time?
Tepo stood up suddenly. He was confident in his guess. Although a few confusions still remained, everything could be proven later.
Startled by the investigators sudden movement, all eyes turned towards him. Lond’s eyes lit up as he asked:
“Tepo? Have you found something?”
“We will see.
Lond, what was the reason why you dismissed the idea that some important places could have been robbed?”
“Well, we questioned the few places which still store a considerable wealth. Those we could investigate were fine and at the others their managers assured us that nothing had been stolen.”
“What about the bank?”
“It belongs to the second category.”
“Why would you take the manager’s word for it?”
“We couldn’t do much more, the bank is under military protection. Some of their force crystals are stored there.
Since the army has an eye on it, I also didn’t suspect that any thief could get in there.”, explained Lond with a frown on his face.
“Do you think someone could rob the bank?”, asked Kayla in disbelief.
Tepo nodded slowly.
“We only know once we check.”
“But it will be difficult getting in there. We need the army’s allowance. This will take weeks!”
“Good that the SIB is officially part of the army!”
Lond’s eyes lit up upon the investigators confident statement. This was right. Tepo probably had one of the highest access rights. It wouldn’t be hard for him to check the bank vault.
Tension filled the room. While all the police officers hoped to finally solve this month-long case, Tepo had already opened the door.
“What are you waiting for? Let’s go, Lond!”
A few minutes later a coach stopped in front a building in the city center. Compared to others this one wasn’t really big, but it has been kept in a great condition. The door looked solid, and the roof seemed able to keep out water. A dirty window showed the single room inside.
Tepo and Lond got out from their vehicle, their eyes falling on the simple ‘bank’ sign. Below it a stone-faced soldier was watching them coldly. He frowned as he noticed the chief of police.
However, although Lond might be annoying the soldier didn’t stop him as he went inside together with his company.
After stepping through the door, a surprisingly fresh smell greeted Tepo. It came from the two plants placed in the room’s corner. Recognizing those plants, the investigator was surprised by this luxurious display. He knew that these certainly wouldn’t grow within the city.
Suddenly an unfriendly voice drew Tepo’s attention.
“Lond. Are you here to store some crystals? If not, you can leave. I have nothing to say to you!”
The old chief kept an indifferent face as he stared at the man sitting lazily behind the counter.
Slightly hidden, a soldier sat on a chair to the right. Recognizing the visitor, he already began moving. He was ready to throw out the annoying chief at any moment. The police had no right to investigate the army.
Just as Lond wanted to explain his purpose, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Under the chief’s surprised gaze, Tepo took a step forward.
“If that clown can borrow someone else’s might, why can’t you?”
Lond felt slightly embarrassed, but when the bank manager talked again the older man was ok with watching the show.
“Oh Lond, you even got help? And who might you be?”
“Tepmodus, SIB!”
This declaration echoed for a long time in the room. As Tepo took out a card from his coat and put it on the counter, everyone’s reaction was different.
Lond smiled smugly, the soldier stared at Tepo with admiring eyes, and the manager shook slightly.
Blood drained from the mangers face as he forcibly tried to look natural. But Tepo didn’t miss the man’s changes.
Trying to let the manager reveal more flaws, Tepo made sure to increase the pressure. With the cold face befitting of a veteran soldier, he demanded:
“Your name and rank! At once!”