--Inspector Reperio--

Inspector Reperio kneeled down. His eyes were fixated on the body before him. The man lay like a marionette with cut strings in a seemingly uncomfortable pose. But because the person was deceased, it wouldn’t matter to him anymore.

The corpse itself looked truly frightening. Pale skin and haggard flesh let one think the victim had been an old man. However, on closer inspection, he didn’t seem to be past his thirties. In contrast to the sunken cheeks on his face, the blood tracks seemed to burst and emerged out of the skin. The most terrifying part was the grimace the person held. An expression of fear and terror was displayed on the face. The eyes were wide open and stared into empty space. Presumably, until his last moments, he had stared into the killer’s face. Like frozen in time, the last desperate emotions had been eternalized on his visage.

“The victim is called Joffrey Conquiet, age 46. He is a locomotive driver of the petroleum train cooperation.”

Somebody behind Inspector Reperio revealed the identity of the deceased. The voice belonged to his assistant Officer Parvus who stood a few steps away from him. With a fascinated expression he gazed upon the dead body. Even though he stood before this grotesque situation, his emotional state didn’t seem to waver at all.

Inspector Reperio stood up again and moved back to his assistant, while skilfully evading the empty boxes littered on the floor. They were currently located inside a baggage train wagon at the terminal station of the railway.

“Who do you think could have done this? From the body’s conserved state the crime took place less than twenty-four hours ago. I mean, his insides probably haven’t even frozen yet,” His subordinate annotated, when pointing at the cold body.

“We can’t be sure yet. We couldn’t find any signs of a fight which leaves us with only two conclusions. Either the victim had known his killer and let his guard down. The other possibility would be a considerable disparity in strength. Even if he had detected the murderer he couldn’t put up a fight. Due to the way he was killed, I would favor the latter,” Inspector Reperio explained. Officer Parvus followed up.

“Then it was probably an assassin?”

The inspector didn’t revise the officer’s statement. He thought it to be very likely that the victim was poisoned with a potent toxin. With no outer signs of greater damage, he couldn’t have died through some sort of primitive fistfight.

“His skin is exceptionally haggard and lacking any blood. It is evident that he had been in a noxious state. If he was poisoned, this murder needed to be planned beforehand. Or at least the poison was already prepared. We may truly deal with a professional killer,” Inspector Reperio said, sharing his conclusions. He then continued.

“Are there any witnesses who saw the incident taking place?”

“No, next to the victim and the killer, no one had come to this desolate location during the murder taking place. It was only an hour ago when a city guard checking the wagon’s content accidentally stumbled upon the body.”

Officer Parvus answered his question. Inspector Reperio wasn’t appeased by his assistant’s explanation. But it confirmed his concerns even more. They probably dealt with an expert. The chosen time and place lacked any witnesses and patrol units in this sector were at the lowest. This wasn’t something a random pickpocketer or an emotional murderer would do. The real question was how a lower-class worker could receive the wrath of an assassin.

Inspector Reperio stepped outside the wagon. He let his gaze wander over the dozens of people standing around the crime scene. Most of them were from the police force, searching for clues in the near surrounding. However, as a thin layer of snow had gathered on the ground through the night, this infeasible task would probably lead to a dead end. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

In a corner of the square, a young man was sitting crumbled on a wooden box, his back leaned against the wall. Two public officials were caring for his well-being.

The man had been the one who had found the corpse. However, just the few words Inspector Reperio had exchanged with him made clear that he had no relevant knowledge in relation to the case.

The man was a novice soldier, having been enlisted one month ago. But from his current mental condition, he clearly wasn’t fit for such a bloody profession. Ironically, his visage was even whiter than the body he had found.

Inspector Reperio let his gaze shift away and ran over the vicinity until it locked on the sole woman currently standing on the plaza.

“She was the wife of the victim. Her name ist Nara Conquiet, early forties,” his subordinate explained after having followed his line of sight.

Inspector Reperio approached her. When she detected his presence he cleared his throat.

“Mrs. Conquiet, may the divine court bless you. I give you my sincere condolences. We will do everything in our power to arrest the person who had committed this crime.”

The woman just nodded silently. She didn’t seem to be in the mood to have any excessive conversations which was understandable considering the recent incident. Her eyes were swollen red, a remnant of the silent tears she had shed. After a few moments of contemplating she still chose to pose a question.

“Have you found any leads regarding his murderer?” The widow queried in a weak and trembling voice.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Not yet. However, the forensics will soon release their first results. This will most likely give us some important evidence.”

Inspector Reperio decided to answer truthfully. His assistant chimed into the conversation.

“I heard even the angels have taken interest in the case. With their ability, it should be a piece of cake to find the culprit,” Officer Parvus said in an optimistic tone.

Inspector Reperio instantly shot a warning glance at his subordinate. That loose mouth of his should be closed down permanently. Having realized his mistake Officer Parvus shut up and stepped back again. Mrs. Conquiet's state seemed to worsen even more.

“It is very cold outside and one should not stay here for too long. I will instruct two officers to bring you to a warmer place,” Inspector Reperio advised when he had turned back to Mrs. Conquiet. Her emotional state didn’t seem very stable so he wanted to move her away from the crime scene. Mrs. Conquet just silently nodded, not finding the strength to object.

After seeing her off, Inspector Reperio put his attention to the forensic report he just received from an officer. The piece of paper didn’t have many lines written on it, as it contained only the initial findings. Nonetheless, the information compromised in these few lines was staggering.

“How is this possible?” Inspector Reperio accidentally spoke out loud.

“What’s the matter?” His subordinate couldn’t subdue his curiosity and tried to catch a glimpse on the document. He covertly gazed over Inspector Reperio’s shoulder.

“Hmm? The victim’s blood was actually wine?” The officer exclaimed inadvertently. He appeared to be dumbfounded.

However, Inspector Reperio's reaction wasn’t any different. Never would he have anticipated such mind-boggling news.

Apparently, the victim had lost all blood in his body. Instead, all the blood tracks were entirely filled up with red wine.

“That’s what I would call the work of a maniac,” Officer Parvus commented amazed, marveling at the killer’s actions. He truly seemed to have no sense of disgust against these grotesque deeds.

“Do you think the killer has gotten a particular liking to wine?” His subordinate asked.

“I don’t know. However, prior to the question of 'why' we need to know 'how'. The victim had no signs of any outer injuries. How could he have achieved to replace all the blood with wine?” Inspector Reperio stated, with a contemplative expression.

“Have you already heard of the railway incident that had happened earlier this morning?” Officer Parvus asked suddenly. After receiving a questioning glance he continued.

“A petroleum train locomotive had broken in the middle of its tracks. During the reparations, a good buddy of mine had passed the scene. When the mechanics opened the fuel tank and they actually found it to be filled with wine! Given the currently increased alertness of the angels, they even instigated an investigation on their own. This is why they are researching all crimes in the past few days too. In any case, many intellectuals are now racking their brains off about this incident. The train had driven a few stations until it got wasted. Does that mean that you can partially use wine as combustible fuel?”

Inspector Reperio had to forcefully interrupt his subordinate or else the report would have been let astray. However, the new intel let his thoughtful frown only grow deeper.

“There seems to be a connection as both incidents are linked to the petroleum train and to wine. If the locomotive had been stationed here throughout the night, the sabotage of it may have taken place at the same time as the murder itself,” Inspector Reperio concluded.

But was this elaborate scheme just for visual effects or had it some underlying necessity? He couldn’t understand yet. The wine part seemed more like a ritual of a fanatic cult.

A blinding light suddenly jolted Inspector Reperio out of his thoughts. Its power exceeded the natural sun which was presently covered by thick layers of clouds. Hence, long shadows of any objects in the surroundings were cast away from this luminous light source.

Amidst, a godly creature had appeared. The snow below the eternal being immediately began to melt and the bare ground reappeared.

All officers got down to their knees. Heads lowered, they kneeled on the melting snow until their clothes had been soaked wet. As Inspector Reperio was one of the highest-ranking officers in the surrounding he chose to speak out.

“We greet his supremacy.”

His voice resounded through the silent square. Inspector Reperio didn’t dare to raise his head. However, from the corners of his eyes, he could sneak a peak at the angel in front of him.

The divine being was engulfed in a blazing light making it difficult to discern any detailed features. It would blind one’s eyes if you ever stared directly at the rotating halo above, which was the source of the radiancy. Not that you would survive it anyway if you ever chose to insult a godly creature by looking at it upfront.

Yet, the disgust on its face was not hard to detect. The angel stared disdainfully at these cowering ants in front of him.

“Raise your heads,” The cold voice demanded. They immediately followed his instruction.

“Have you finally solved the murder?” The angel asked arrogantly.

“No, not yet.” Inspector Reperio replied forthrightly. The winged being clicked with its tongue, clearly showing his condescension.

“You measly humans are not even able to execute the simplest tasks. Speak, why haven’t you finished yet?”

“Your supremacy, if I may. We have reason to believe that there was an intervention of the divine in this case,” Inspector Reperio argued cautiously. From the gathered clues up to now, it was evident that this wasn’t in the skillset of a human killer.

“So, you are saying that an angel had lowered himself to discreetly murder a piece of trash? Even though we could kill you openly anyway?” The heavenly creature spat these words out, clearly showing an uncooperative attitude. Inspector Reperio began sweating profusely.

“N-No, of course not. I-It's more-”

“Then, do you question our abilities that we let a demon commit a crime inside the angel’s territory? Only because disputes between humans are below our concern these mortal sins happen,” the angel said, disregarding the inspector's opinion entirely.

Inspector Reperio was covered in cold sweat. The little molten snow which had been sucked into his clothes was not comparable to his currently drenched shirt in any way. He subconsciously had begun shivering but it wasn’t because of the shivering cold the winter had brought.

Inspector Reperio truly had made a mistake and offended an angel. Not any words from his subordinate’s mouth had been this devastating than the miscalculation he had just made. Inspector Reperio had misleadingly implied the incapacity of the heavenly forces which was clearly an insult against the divine.

The angel raised his voice again.

“Now, if you-”

This time, he interrupted himself and stared for a few moments into blank air as if he had lost his line of thought. Of course, nobody dared to show any impatience.

Then, without a word, he vanished into thin air, which led one to doubt his earlier presence. Only the perfect circle of molten snow indicated the place he had just stood.

Inspector Reperio breathed out in relief. Never had he felt this powerless in his life. This may could have been his last day under these skies. Like the other officers, he slowly raised himself up again, just to be standing motionlessly in a daze. Whatever had gathered the angel’s attention he was infinitely grateful to it for saving his life.