Once the stench became somewhat bearable, Abel and Eluya began photographing the crime scene for future reference. They meticulously took mental notes of various minute details, jotting them down in their small notepads.
"Eluya, take notes of everything on the first floor. I'll handle the second floor." Abel said in a firm tone as he walked up the stairs.
"Got it." Eluya replied, still taking notes of some things on the ground floor before making her way to the first floor.
The first floor, unlike the ground floor where everything had happened, was clean and untouched. Eluya continued to inspect the first floor, noting that the four rooms were left undisturbed and the shower was dry, with a layer of dust indicating it hadn't been used for a long time.
Meanwhile, Abel was experiencing something similar on the second floor. The entire floor was covered in a thick layer of dust, with no signs of disturbance.
It was uncanny that nothing else had been touched, given the gruesome murder scene on the ground floor. This stark contrast became even more suspicious when Abel and Eluya discussed their findings.
The two detectives went back to the ground floor and began rummaging through everything in search of clues. So far, they couldn't draw any meaningful conclusions.
After a while of Abel searching through the bookshelves, he found a piece of text and some numbers written in an otherwise empty diary.
"VF-203 ran away" Abel muttered to himself, reading the text.
Eluya turned her attention to Abel and asked in a calm voice, "Did you find some kind of clue, Abel?" She put down the vase, moved closer, and looked into his notepad.
"VF-203 ran away... What kind of clue is that? It looks like some kind of tag though. But what ran away?" Eluya asked calmly, waving her hands in front of his eyes. Receiving no response from Abel, she snapped her fingers near his ear and said, "Wake up, Mr. Detective. Tell me what you're thinking about." Her tone was intrigued by the clue, though it might also be a red herring.
"Nothing.. I just thought it looked similar to a kind of tag that you'd assign to an animal. From my experience, Humans do tend to use such labelling for livestocks." Abel spoke calmly before he turned and looked at the stairs.
"But the daughter and son-in-law of Mr. Monzard are rich. They don't keep livestock, unless..." Eluya's tone turned serious as she looked at the markings of the dead body on the floor. "Unless the murder was done by a slave who escaped and came back for revenge."
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"Or it could be that this was placed here deliberately to confuse any detective who takes up the case." Abel replied calmly before sighing. "We've gathered enough evidence for now. Let's head back and don't forget to cough and act like we've been through a place reeking of rotten blood."
Eluya nods as the two leave the crime scene. They coughed a bit too seriously, making the policeman stationed to be worried that they might have caught some disease. Once, the gloves and masks were disposed of and the two looked to be in better shape, the Policeman let them go.
Once back in the car, Abel sighed in relief as he starts driving back to their office. "This complicates a lot of things.. We'll have to recheck every thing now to rule out the red herring, if it even exists." Abel said with his face showing a little concern.
"You're worried about the fact that there might be a slave involved in this, aren't you? and about the daughter of Mr. Monzard." Eluya said with a serious expression, laying down on the backseat.
"Yes.. This case has gotten a bit complicated. If anything goes wrong, then I'll have to act as 'that', I won't have a choice." Abel said with a worried look, followed by a sigh as he shifts his focus on the road. It seems that their way back to the office will be through traffic as well.
"Abel.. If it comes to that, then I'll accompany you. You don't have to risk your safety." Eluya said in a calm manner. The rest of the journey was silent with only glances being thrown at each other.
Once they reached the office, Abel locked the car before walking inside, with Eluya right behind him. Eluya headed back to her room to freshen up, while Abel sat down at Iliana's desk to use her computer.
Iliana looked at both of them, quietly observing the concern in Abel's and Eluya's eyes as she sipped tea while seated on the sofa.
After an hour of silence, Iliana finally spoke. "Do you mind talking to me, Abel? You haven't looked well since you returned from the site," she said compassionately, now that he had finished whatever research he was doing on her desktop.
"I don't mind talking. I've just discovered something important," Abel replied calmly, then turned his attention to Eluya, who had come down from her room dressed in a simple frock dress as usual.
"And what did you find?" Eluya and Iliana asked simultaneously, both of their faces etched with worry and concern. Since Abel is usually level-headed and doesn't show much emotions outside of agitation, his look of fear looked misplaced.
"There was a missing report for 'VF-203' from Mr. Monzard's Daughter." Abel spoke calmly, sweating profusely as he began walking towards the stairs. "I compiled a report so look at it.. I'll get some sleep for now."
"Take care of yourself, Abel... and good night." Eluya said calmly as she and Iliana watched Abel leave for his room. Once he was gone, Eluya sighed, speaking in a more concerned tone. "He's experiencing that again."
"Yeah... You two told me about it when we first met, but I've never seen it this bad." Iliana said, her concern evident as she looked at Eluya.
"Well, we should let Abel rest for now.. And one of us needs to take kitchen duties since he is sick." Eluya said with a worried look when referring to the kitchen duties.
After a long minute of silence that seemed to last, Eluya and Iliana collectively decided to skip cooking altogether and order Pizzas for dinner. Afterall, Abel would be mad if they wasted ration on their abysmal cooking.