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Deshya was on her way home from the teahouse she first visited alongside her best friend, Amora Takt. After spending some quality time with her, Deshya took the bus, number 38, in the direction of Tetazo, where her house is located. As she neared her stop, a man shouted in color. Clutching his throat, pain audible in his voice, he screamed before coming to a dead stop. Deshya got up from her chair and ran to see what was happening, the passengers worried and surprised, but she could do nothing. On top of the man, her long haired daughter 'Korone' began to cry as she realized the situation.
After calling her father, the police arrived at the scene of the crime, the bus having stopped and the passengers still in their seats. Annie, a doctor from the police, and another doctor analyzed the two bodies and quickly deduced that both the woman and the man had died of cyanide poisoning. It didn't take long either to find out how they ingested this poison: holes made in their strawberry juice cartons, drunk entirely by the couple. However, with the testimony of Deshya, Korone and even the suspects, it would seem that no one could have committed the crime inside the bus; and before the couple and Korone boarded the vehicle, it would have been borderline impossible. Especially as they are now certain that the culprit is on the bus: the syringe used to insert the cyanide into the juice cartons is found in the bus stop's garbage can, inside the packet of potato chips. With all this in mind, Sammy asks Deshya to follow him and listen, but after a bit of beating around the bush, he confesses what he's thinking:
- For me, Korone is the only one who could have committed this crime.
Deshya just can't believe it. Even though she understands what Sammy means, and had thought about it after talking to the little girl, she refuses to believe it's possible. The way she cried when she realized that her parents had just died in front of her, her little hands gripping her father's body tightly and the sadness in the 'Why?' she let out at regular intervals... All this... Everything Deshya has seen... The discussion she shared with Korone on the bench…
- I don't believe it!" she shouts.
Sammy sighs and gets up from the metal seat before walking, but stops next to Deshya.
- Then find the real culprit, as you think. But don't forget that the difference between the two of us is that I went to school to get here. I'm literally a policeman. And if I decide that Korone should be taken to the station as the culprit, it's my choice to be listened to, not yours.
Sammy continued walking, tucking his little notebook into his trouser pocket. Leaving an annoyed Deshya behind, he gives the little girl a quick glance before squinting softly.
- ...I'm serious, Deshya.
He boards the bus, determined to find the reality behind the murder.
- I don't want to believe it's her either. Then let's find the real culprit.
CHAPTER 15
⎾Pure Snow * Double Murder In the 38 ; Theories⏌
Deshya gets on the bus too, still angry. Even though she understands Sammy's point and that he's absolutely right about children being murderers, she can't believe that a little girl like her could have acted so credibly. Even if the detective is right about her being the only one who could have committed the murder, she refuses to give up and accept this judgment. If she was smart enough to pretend to cry and kill both her parents, then why hide the syringe in the potato chip packet? No one would have doubted that she would have gone and hidden the syringe somewhere, so she could have thrown it in the bottom of the garbage can or somewhere else. Besides, if it's her, then why kill them on the bus...? She doesn't know much about her relationship with her parents, but if they really are her mother and father, then killing them at home by dropping cyanide in their food would have been even smarter: the police would never have doubted that she was the culprit. Deshya bites her lower lip as she reaches the seat where she'd been the whole trip, and observes the entire bus.
- I'm thinking too much... She's a little girl. Sammy provoked me so we could find the real culprit, I'm convinced...!" she says to herself.
She sits down on the seat and looks at the scene again. Orianne is reading her book, her hands still gloved. She can't see Thomas, the man behind the couple, from here, nor Ginner, but she's sure they're still where they belong. The question now is: how do you get through the juice boxes with the syringe without being seen...? She thinks of something, but the policewoman who arrives at her side answers Deshya's question, as if reading her mind.
- Holes were found in both bags, so whoever inserted the cyanide into the juices didn't take the time to open the bags and puncture them. I talked to Sammy about it and he came to two conclusions," says Annie.
Deshya turns her face towards her.
- Firstly, the culprit is indeed on the bus: nobody could have done it in the street without being noticed, and from the little I've discussed with Korone, I don't see how anyone could have done it. If the cashier had done it, there'd be no hole in the bags. Secondly, Sammy concluded that it was someone who knew where the juices would be, since the holes are directly in them, but only Korone would know that.
Deshya grits her teeth: even more leads to Korone as the culprit... She turns to Annie.
- Would it have been possible for someone else to do it?" asks the teenager.
Annie sits on the seat next to her, just to Deshya's left.
- Roger and Maurine were used to coming on this bus and always take some juice and a packet of chips for their daughter, but to know exactly where the juice is? I'm not sure how you can know that. There were only two holes in the two bags, so each of them was only punctured once : the culprit was certain of what they were doing. Honestly, even with what Sammy said, I found him hesitant..." admits Annie.
- Hesitant?
Annie nods.
- I think even he thinks that for Korone, it would have been complex. We can't have the testimonies of the dead to know if the little girl touched their bag, but as expected, we can observe her fingerprints on it. For the moment, we're analyzing the books to see if there's anything on them.
- Books...?
She remembers Korone talking about the books her parents read. She hadn't been paying attention when she saw their bodies, but she understands why they're checking the books for clues to the case.
- I do wonder, though…
Annie blurts out these words as she stares ahead. Deshya turns her face towards her and Annie squints.
- Why are Korone and Orianne wearing gloves? Why didn't Ginner gripped something when the bus started? And why was Thomas moving so much?
Deshya puts her hands in the pockets of her sweater and rests her back against the seat.
- I'm not sure about Korone and Orianne, although I don't see why they'd keep their gloves on if they committed the crime.
- It just makes them more suspicious," says Annie.
- Exactly. For Ginner, I guess he just wasn't paying attention, while for Thomas, it is because of the extra coffee as well as some motion sickness.
- For Ginner, I can understand, but being suspicious of everyone is important during an investigation. I can also understand for Thomas, but I don't see why moving in all directions, to the point of knocking on the opposite file, is going to help you feel better.
Deshya can't deny it: she doesn't really understand it either. However, could moving around have helped him to poison the two juice boxes...? How could he do it from behind...? Annie places two hands on her thighs, her legs crossed.
- It's highly likely that the crime was committed at the same time as they boarded the bus.
- So Orianne is the most suspicious, at this point..." reflected Deshya.
Deshya agrees with the lady and what Sammy has said. For the moment, the only thing she refuses to admit is that Korone, the little girl with the beautiful hair, could be the criminal. But even with their theories, they have no clue as to who really did it. No proof.
- I should have been more careful..." Deshya sighs.
- What do you mean?" asks Annie.
Deshya scratches the back of her head as she looks at the doctor.
- When I noticed they were dead, I went to warn everyone on the bus, checking that no one had moved, so for three or four minutes I paid no attention to the corpses, nor to Korone…
- I see…
- Even if Orianne, Korone or the driver could have seen if someone had approached the two bodies, there's nothing to say that no one went to look or approached Korone to see if everything was all right at the time... And... And…
Deshya grits her teeth, fists clenched. Annie gets up from the seat and asks her to wait before getting off the bus. A few moments pass before she returns with a sigh.
- I asked Korone," Annie confesses.
Deshya turns to her.
- Orianne went to see if everything was okay, the driver passed her some tissues she hadn't used yet and talked to her for a few moments, Thomas went to check on the condition of the bodies, but Ginner didn't go near the bodies, nor did anyone else... except you.
- Ah... I see…
Deshya realized she'd made a mistake: during the time she hadn't been paying attention, someone could have tampered with the bodies or even hidden some evidence. If a method had been used to poison the two drinks without paying attention, then it wasn't impossible that the culprit had gone to hide the evidence on the pretext of chatting with Korone or even observing the bodies.
- It's also possible that the culprit hid the syringe in Korone's potato chips packet at the time," admits one man.
Annie and Deshya turn their attention to Sammy, not even noticing his presence. The teenager slaps her forehead.
- I'm an idiot..." she said to herself.
- So Ginner is no longer on the list of suspects?" asks Annie, looking at the detective.
He sits down beside them and looks at the old man, who is still in the same place, staring silently at the ground.
- He did approach the couple and knew them well, so there's nothing to say he couldn't have found a way to poison them. He almost fell over and could have used the syringe then, although I don't really believe that... I don't think it was him, though," he admits.
Deshya thinks the same. However, she's been asking herself a question all this time and finally puts it to the police detective:
- Do any of them have a reason to kill them?
Annie turns her attention to Sammy with great interest: she's been asking herself the same question for a few moments. They had a child with them... Killing them on that bus while she was with them... Either a very strong feeling is behind this murder, or whoever is the culprit has no heart…
- Killing someone means a certain madness in any case..." thought Annie.
Deshya rises from her seat, unable to stay on and runs towards the crime scene. Annie and Sammy look at her and talk together about the two murders. Deshya stops beside her father, who turns to him.
- Have you found any leads?" he asks.
She shakes her head and Gatito sighs.
- Are we really going to have to interrogate a little girl as a prime suspect...?" he asks himself, scratching his hair.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
- Do you think it could be her too, Dad?
- I've had one case or another where a child killed his or her mother or father, or was even trained to be capable of murder. I wouldn't be surprised, but I hope not…
He confesses all this while looking at Korone through the window. The little girl is chatting with the driver and a policeman beside her. Deshya watches them in turn, a sad look on her face. Her father notices and strokes the top of her hood.
- Sometimes you have to accept that the person you don't want to be guilty is guilty," he tells her.
- But the way she cried, the way she screamed... I can't believe it was her…
- I've already had to deal with some people who were so good at acting that even with proof, I hesitated if they were really the culprits.
Gatito crosses his arms, but doesn't move his gaze from the little girl sitting on the bench outside.
- Of course, I'm not saying that Korone is necessarily the culprit and that she's the one who killed her parents, but so far, no one seems to have been able to do it, sorry Deshya.
- ... I'm not giving up.
She looks at the corpses for a few moments before continuing her walk. Her father watches her walk along the bus without smiling, a rather neutral look on his face. He understands how she feels, but if she's going to act like this, then…
- …
He sighs and walks over to Annie and Sammy on the other side of the bus. Deshya stops very close to Ginner and asks him if she can sit next to him. He seems surprised to see her arrive like this, but pushes himself a little toward the window to show her that she can. Deshya thanks him before sitting down on the uncomfortable seat, like all the others on the bus.
- I'm going to be blunt, but you're a good friend of Roger and Maurine, aren't you?
Without missing a beat, Deshya asks her question, looking at the man next to her. Not even surprised by her brusque approach, he responds by looking ahead to where several policemen are standing.
- A good friend, I suppose. Someone who likes them a lot and has spent a lot of time with them, yes.
The tone of his voice is sad and old age is not hidden in the words he uses. Deshya tries not to think about it and continues.
- I'm sorry to ask this, but do you think anyone would want to kill them?
The man smiles.
- Them? Impossible. Roger is a wonderful person who likes to help others around him and has even adopted the little girl.
- A-Adopted... ? Korone is adopted?
Deshya blinks and the man nods slowly.
- They didn't adopt her that long ago, so I was a bit shocked too, but it didn't surprise me on their part. Maurine is a little aggressive at times, but she has no enemies and donates a lot of money to charities for orphans. A beautiful woman who loves the world and wants to make it a little better with her little gestures," explains Ginner.
It reminds her of someone she knows well, even though she's probably a little older than Maurine... Deshya looks at her father chatting with Sammy and smiles.
- I see…
- Why would you want to kill them..." says Ginner.
- ... I don't know, but we intend to find the culprit.
Ginner rubs his hands together and his eyelids droop.
- ...little Korone…
- ... ?
Deshya waits for the end of his sentence, tilting her head towards him. Ginner sighs and gently turns his gaze to the teenager.
- Little Korone doesn't deserve this. Whoever killed my two friends, never let them out of prison, I beg you.
- Hm.
Deshya can't promise such a thing, since she's not a judge or a policewoman, but she can promise something else: find the culprit. She gets up from the seat and thanks the man for his time before walking towards the crime scene again. As she walks, a woman on the bus makes a quipping remark.
- That's a cute fox tail ya've gat thar’!
Deshya stops and turns around. The woman doesn't avoid her gaze and even challenges her by sticking out her tongue. The teenager sighed and continued on her way, but the young woman spoke to her friend next door loud enough for Deshya to hear.
- Walkin’ ar’und lik’ that, imagine?
Her friend laughs.
- She has ta return her accessories, it's nat Halloween!
Both laughed together, but Deshya thought nothing of it, as she'd already had several such remarks. However, as she arrived beside the bodies of the slain couple, she thought back to the woman's words.
Deshya opens her eyes wide—
- Return...?
Deshya stares ahead, motionless. A certain idea crosses her mind and she turns to Korone, the little girl observable from the open bus door. Deshya remains transfixed with wide-open eyes, in awe.
- Return... Return... Return!!!
A simple word that comes from a simple mockery…
And yet, Deshya—
She starts to run, almost pushing a policeman out of the way, and stops in front of Sammy, braking violently. Gatito and Annie turn their gazes towards her, questioning her with their eyes, while the police detective blinks and flinches when she brings her head close to his.
- Can I talk to you?!" she asks with a touch of aggression.
- S-Sure, nya?!" replies Sammy, blinking.
Deshya forces him to get up and runs out of the bus, Sammy following as best he can. Gatito and Annie watch them go before the doctor starts to giggle.
- Do you think she's solved the case?" she asks.
Deshya's father stands up and cracks his shoulder before looking away.
- If that's the case, I'm going to start thinking that my daughter is more useful than professional detectives..." he says.
Annie watches him return to the crime scene, smiling: even with his back facing her, she can see Gatito's amused smile. He can hide it from his daughter, but not from her...!
Korone notices that the teenage girl in the fox sweater has run off the bus and is now chatting with the pointy eared detective, but from where she is, she can't hear him. In fact, she's gone a little further so that no one can hear them. The bus driver notices them too, but he doesn't keep his attention on them for long. He rubs Korone's hair and smiles at her.
- In any case, I hope all goes well!" he says.
- Hm. Thank chu!
She smiles at him and the driver gets on the bus. A policeman calls out to him and they start chatting, but Korone doesn't have a chance to listen: someone suddenly stops next to her. Korone and the policeman next to her both look at the girl who has just arrived, and the little girl smiles again.
- What is it, Deshyaaa?
Korone looks at her with innocent eyes and Deshya squints.
- I need you to confirm something!
- Hm?
Korone questions her with her eyes, and Deshya brings her mouth close to her ear to whisper her question. Korone looks at her gloves for a few moments before nodding.
- That's right. I put on my gloves because my fingers were cold, since I'm a bit sick…
- And yet you don't cough," says the policeman, surprised.
- Hihi, it's not a serious illness! But my hands and feet get cold very quickly, so I'm careful!
Korone turns her attention back to Deshya and shows him her gloves.
- You can see! You can see bits of potato chips on my gloves!
Deshya smiles and thanks her without even stroking her hair, running back to Sammy. Korone watched her go, not really understanding Deshya's behavior, but she finally smiled.
- ... I see.
Korone looks at the bus in front of her, where her two 'parents' have been murdered by poison.
- If she asks me that question…
Korone gently swings her legs, her eyes now closed.
- So I guess whoever did this…
The little girl starts humming a tune, thinking she's finally understood how her parents were killed — and why she's not dead.
The reason why, unlike her parents, she can still breathe and live.
Deshya smiles and Sammy starts rubbing his chin, looking at the bus.
- It's a possibility, but…
Deshya shows the detective her teeth with a determined look.
- I'm sure that's the truth of the matter!" she asserts.
Sammy thought for a few moments, but finally sat down on the metal seat.
- If that's really the case, there should be traces of cyanide there too... Plus, there should be some on her too.
Deshya nods and turns to the culprit in this case.
Orianne, who is still reading her book.
Thomas starting to get impatient.
Ginner waiting patiently.
Deshya can't wait to reveal to everyone who the culprit is, as well as how the murder was committed. However, if this is really the case, then…
- The only unsolved mystery is WHY this person killed that couple…
She turns her gaze to the little girl and observes her long, pure white hair, while she clenches a fist. Not out of anger, but out of hope. Out of an almost certain victory.
She's going to prove that Korone is innocent.