All the windows in the house were locked. Every curtain in the house was closed. The door was locked from the inside and showed no signs of forced entry. So signs of any form of ransacking. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary stolen.
At a glance, the officers would conclude this was most likely a regular suicide.
Martial Kim wondered, why everything felt wrong in such a normal looking house? Although he wasn’t used to this sort of modern life style, these outlandish furniture and home entertainment, his instincts were biting him as hard as a hungry tiger.
For now, he kept his thoughts and words to himself while under Professor Stone’s wing. As much as the young master was grateful the forensic chemist allowed him entry in such an important crime scene, he can’t be arrogant enough to step out of line – especially when the victim was a lonely mother and her troubled child.
--- Be it the Jade Empire or this strange new world, they are still people who were born and thrived in life. Who had memories and smiles. It is unfortunate, these constables are not taking the matters seriously, even conducting idle chatter in the corner. Deplorable. Alas, I am not the one in charge and there is too many questions and blank answers I have yet to grasp to create a proper deduction. For now, I will act as an extra pair of eyes and ears for Teacher.
While the forensic chemist was occupied in coordinating and collecting key evidence, Martial Kim tried to be useful and look at places least likely to be paid attention to. For instance, the dining room.
--- The layout of this house is completely different than regular residences back in the Jade Empire. It seems even the commoners in this world live lavish enough to have a separate rooms to dine, lounge, and recreation. And all these furniture are just so...out of place. Is this a mirror? I can barely see my own face in the reflection.
That’s because it’s a TV. Not exactly a Smart 4K by the looks of it, but a decent 40” HD TV.
What drew his full attention, however, was the dining table in general.
---- I was right. The victims did have a lavish meal. Now the question is: was this last meal to prepare them on their trip to the Nether Realm...or was it interrupted?
The table had a lot of plates and take out boxes. So much so, a simple sneeze could easily knock any one piece off the corner of the table. There were a lot of meals and tastes to choose from: Spaghetti, pizza, rotisserie chicken, potato salad, hot dogs...multiple bags of fries—is that microwave mac and cheese there? Served alongside a box of spilled animal crackers? My, what an expensive looking platter of sushi! Cup noodles as well? Baked pasta—
--- Th-this is enough to feed a family of 10. There is simply too much to be finished in a single sitting. And look at all these leftovers and scraps, they are enough to feed a group of house servants. All of it gone to waste, left to rot and smell. I wonder, is this a common habit amongst the people in this world!?
The young master was out of line...but he’s right to some extent. People can be wasteful, especially with food. But the amount of spare. But the amount of spare bites and portions were phenomenal for a Single Mother and an eight year old Son. Big hungry eyes but small stomachs?
--- I feel nauseous. I have heard of dying with a full stomach, but this amount is ridiculous!
He tried to get some fresh air from the sit of spoiled food and walked into another room. The tightness of the space and the tiles made his footfalls audible in his ear, like he was trespassing in a hallway.
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--- Is this a bathroom? It looks fancier than the one in Miss Keekee’s log cabin. Oh? This bathtub is filled with dirty laundry? Drowning in water, and is that a hint of soap I smell. I wonder, if the people here repurposed their bathtubs for laundry? I mean, sounds more convenient than a group of housewives marching to the nearest river for half a mile and cleaning dirty clothes in the stream. Maybe I should ask Miss Keekee later, how she keeps her clothing clean.
Although he was not used to such modern bathrooms, he wasn’t a fool when it came to noticing something out of the blue. For instance, a little tag of some sort was sticking out of a cabinet in the bathroom. Curious, the young master took a look inside.
--- How do you read this? Chalbee’s? Plocky? Dori...Dori-Tatos? Are these food? Snacks perhaps? What are they doing in a storage like this, inside of a bathroom? Oh gods, do not tell me the victims are so fascinated with food, they eat while they bath or...Urgh.
Martial Kim tried to block out the imagination of snacking during...other business, before he emptied his guts. The last thing he want, was to make a mess in the crime scene like some new blood constable who saw their first corpse. Eventually, he staggered into another room of interest.
--- Oh. So they do have a kitchen? How foolish of me, to think even people in this world would prepare a meal in their bedroom. Not even the Emperor of the Jade Dynasty himself would allow his servants to roast a boar in his bed chambers. Shameful, most shameful of me... Wait, something is not quite right in here. This feels completely different than how Miss Keekee organizes her own kitchen.
Tip of the iceberg. The kitchen sink was filled with dirty socks soaked in nose-burning bleach. The counter top was covered in a series of stains mixed with caked sauce, frothed soda, and...other questionable liquids that it just transformed into freak oil painting of some sort.
What took the young master by surprise, was an arm hanging out from one of the dish cabinets...only to realize it was just a sleeve! As they say, curiosity kills the cat. Martial Kim opened the curious dish cabinet—
— And an avalanche buried him alive.
“PFFFTOOO! PTOOO! UURGH! UUURGH!”
Laundry. Piles of laundry. From tops, bottoms, underwear, and other articles of cloth he never knew existed. A wretched stench as foul as a dog’s burp.
--- What is wrong with this family!? H-how can this woman live in such conditions – and while raising a child? I doubt this is the standard amongst other people here!
No one can blame Martial Kim for thinking like that. It hasn’t been a month and he has been swamped with new culture, technology, if not living standards. Was this truly an anomaly? Or a normal way of life?
What was the answer to the question of this death?
A murder in disguise? An innocent suicide? How could a Single Mother care for an eight year old Son under such strange living conditions? Why were they alone like this? Why did they have no help, no relatives?
What happened here!?
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