The whole world is heartless in one way or another. No one is really truly pure. They all have secrets and it's our job to clean them right up. No one wants a messy person to do their dirty work...

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It’s crazy really how someone can go about their day, doing a heartless deed and continuing on as if it's a daily occurrence. Something.. normal. Then again, I guess no one or nothing is normal. And neither is this case.

After leaving the coffee shop, I finally arrive at my door after a frostbitten twenty-minute walk. I unlock my door and take off my shoes, getting settled as if I were on autopilot. I begin to set down my keys on the kitchen table when I see a letter lying on the table with a rose sitting on top.

Suddenly wary, I cautiously grab the letter. The envelope was a very russet yellow with a lovely signature of- my name?

Veronica G.

I peer closer at the envelope. No return address. And the sender’s name isn’t there either. I look at the rose and pick it up, taking a quick whiff. It smelled of something fresh. I guess it’s real after all, I thought as I put it back down. I’ll have to find a vase for it later.

I look back at the letter and with a deep breath, I tear it open to find a page with the same flowery handwriting as the envelope. Just as I’m about to start reading it, a sharp knock reverts through the house, making me jump.

Jeez, what was wrong with me?

“Coming!” I called, quickly putting the letter and rose away from prying eyes. Who could be here at such an hour anyways? I wasn’t expecting anyone..

I open the door to find Percy standing there. I groan inwardly. Will I ever catch a break?

“Percy, couldn’t it have waited till-” She barges in, cutting me off. Before I could come up with a retort, I caught her face and she looked.. Frantic.

“Make yourself at home,” I mutter, closing the door behind her.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Okay I know what it looks like and I promise it’s not like that. I know you told me to call you if I found anything else about the case but this couldn’t be discussed over the phone.” She looks around as if paranoid.

I nod. "Yes I did, so what is it?"

She continues looking around as if she's searching for something before she turns to me. "Have you ever heard of a guy named Owen Aviel?"

I raise an eyebrow in confusion. "No, I don't suppose I do. Why?"

Percy pulls out her phone and shows me a Facebook post from Owen. And according to the post, it was pretty evident he was a fan. Of my work. Which is odd since I work for the smallest company in Newbury. No one knows who I am except for my co-workers and family members. I hardly used social media as it was.

I continue scrolling through the love-filled messages from him. “Who the hell are you?” I mutter to myself as I continue to balk at the comments and tags all about.. me.

It was so eerily unsettling. Then a thought crossed my mind. Was he the one who sent the letter?

I look up at Percy. “Okay,” I say, sounding uncertain.

“So you mean to tell me you barged into my house to only tell me about some fanatic of my work? And you couldn’t tell me this over the phone because..?” I trail off, waiting for a clear explanation.

Percy looks around once more, leaning in closer so I can hear her hushed response. “Because he’s listening, Grayson.”

I sigh, completely tired of her wild ramblings. “Okay Percy I’m sure you’re just tired and this case is eating away at you. Why don’t you go home.”

I slowly push her towards the door and out into the still, quiet cold night, suppressing my eagerness to get her away from me as soon as possible. She nods and reluctantly walks off to her car, puffs of white air coming out of the tailpipes.

I brush off my hands as if I had just finished cleaning and right as I’m heading inside, I see the silhouette of someone dart into the line of tees to the side of my house. I shake my head, thinking it’s a deer and I rush back into the house, starting to shiver.

I head to the kitchen and grab the letter and rose from its hiding spot. I look around and find an empty vase sitting in the back corner of the kitchen countertop and I fill it up with water, placing the rose inside.

I stare at the letter, thinking.

Should I open it? Should I throw it away?

As well of a detective I am, nothing in my job description nor the rulebook explains how to go about something like this. But then again, if life was based around a rulebook for every little thing, It wouldn’t really be life though would it?

I simply toss the letter on the countertop and head up to my office to work on some cases.

Cases...

How can I work on any cases when I have to deal with this odd one?

Opening up my laptop, I look around the small office, taking in the tiny succulents sitting on the windowsill, the mounds of paperwork all over the desk, the filing cabinets overflowing with cold case files or hurried files shoved away, untouched and collecting dust. A cleaning day is what this room needs. I think to myself as I sit at the desk and begin typing up the case report from today.

I could have sworn I did this earlier though...

Ah, but I couldn't because those two buffoons in the interrogation office wanted me to spill about the case. But before that, I was sitting at my desk...

Unless Percy did it for me, but that’s doubtful since she was busy gathering information from the other investigators and officers at the scene.

I shake my head and continue the report. It wouldn’t hurt if I had more than one right?

But it would hurt if we had more than one body...

And at the rate this case is going, that seems to be the only outcome.