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Horatio came early to work. He was perhaps one of the first to arrive to the office building. He stopped in front of the reception desk and asked if he had any correspondence or messages. The secretary, a young woman with bright red hair, Miss Penny, smiled at him: 'Good morning Dr Clock. I have nothing on the system for you today.' She paused to look up at her screen just to double-check. Her smile was broad, but she looked tense.
'Is everything okay, Miss Penny?'; Horatio asked.
'Yes, it is nothing.'; she said, shrugging. But still keeping her lips smiling.
'Something happened?' Horatio insisted.
'No, nothing. Just a small incident.'; Miss Penny said, 'I'm sorry, I don't want to trouble you.'
'Well, something is bothering you, Miss Penny. What is it?'
She hesitated, then sighed, trying not to get too emotional. 'A man came this morning and said he was here to pick up a package you and Dr Whiterabbit left for him.'
'Oh, someone finally picked it up? But this early?'
'Yes, and it was rather bizarre.' Miss Penny leaned over to Horatio's ear as if someone else could hear. 'He told me his name. It wasn't even written down anywhere. It sounded strange, like a german name.'
'Schrodinger?'
'Yes! Hum, it was, I think, Ecke Schrodinger. Anyway,' she continued, now without whispering: 'He gave me such a fright. He was rude and arrogant and didn't give any identification! Instead, he mumbled what he called his WTL number. Non-sense. I thought I was being robbed or something!' She laughed nervously. 'It turns out he wanted only the package, but I got nothing in return! No identification, no authorisation form, no instructions, nada! So I refused to give it to him. Well, at first.'
'But you did eventually give him the package?'
'Of course I did! I was here all alone! He pointed a gun at me!'
'He what?'; Horatio replied, shocked.
'Well, he didn't point it directly to my face. He just showed me he had a gun under his jacket. And I'm not too fond of any unnecessary drama, nor losing my life because of a package that doesn't belong to me. I love my job, but not that much, to be honest. So I gave it to him.'
Horatio stared blankly at Penny. His mouth hung open for several seconds before he found his words again. 'Did you call the police?'
'After what I saw? Oh no, no, no. I won't tell a soul what I saw.'; she shook her head.
'But you are telling me.'; said Horatio confused.
Miss Penny shook her head, once more, vigorously, 'Oh no, no, no, my lips are sealed, completely!' She added after a pause, 'You know how people gossip around here. They'll start saying I'm crazy!'
'What happened next with this Schrodinger character, Miss Penny? You can trust me. You know that.'
'You see that door for the ladies' restroom?'
'Yes.'; Horatio nodded.
'That guy went into there with the package and still didn't come out.' Penny said with her eyebrows lifted.
'What? Did he leave the package in the restroom?
Penny shook her head: 'I checked. No weirdo, no package, nada. Gone.'
Horatio rubbed his face: 'What are you telling me?'
'That man, Ecke Schrodinger went with the package inside the restroom, never came back after, just disappeared.'; she explained with wide eyes open.
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Horatio frowned: 'How long ago?'
'About an hour now.'
Horatio noticed that Miss Penny was nervous about the whole ordeal, but surely it had a logical explanation. Everything has a logical explanation. Things and people don't disappear from thin air. Horatio went to the restroom to check it himself.
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The restroom was empty, there were no other doors or windows leading out or in, and as Miss Penny said, she didn't hear or see anyone else enter or even leave. He looked around him again in case something might have been hidden, but he couldn't find anything. It was empty.
He returned to Miss Penny: 'There is nothing and no one. Are you sure that no one followed him back or…?'
'Dr Clock, just leave it. Maybe I saw something that..., Or maybe I didn't see anything! I don't know what I saw.'; she said, resigned. 'Please don't tell Miss Dawn.'
'Maybe, take the day off.'; said Horatio while his phone rang. It was Day.
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Day opened the door to let Horatio in and immediately locked it turning the keys twice. He looked like someone who had just woken up from a nightmare but was still stuck there. His wavy hair was sticking out at odd angles, and he wore the same clothes as yesterday.
'You look like shit!'
'Thank you.' Day replied without his usual sarcasm.
'What is the problem? You made no sense on the phone.' said Horatio taking off his jacket. 'I thought something terrible happened?'
Horatio's face changed from one moment to another: first concern, then alarmed and finally panic.
Horatio saw a dead body lying in Day's living room. He felt his stomach tighten, and sweat broke out all over him. He stood there with his jacket hanging in his hand, witnessing a short man, thin and balding with a narrow face, sharp-featured, missing one tooth and his brain slurping out of his skull. 'What the fuck, Day! What the fuck!'
'I know!'; shouted Day.
'Why the fuck would you kill someone!'; shouted Horatio louder. 'Who is this guy? What the fuck!'
'I did nothing! I woke up to this shit!'
'What?!'; Horatio was in complete disbelief at how his day was unravelling. First, Miss Penny's bizarre story and now this. A dead body in the middle of a living room.
'I woke up with a dead guy in my living room.'
'What?'; Horatio repeated stupidly as if he hadn't heard correctly. 'A dead person... in your apartment?'
Before saying anything else, he stared into Day's eyes for what seemed an eternity. Then suddenly his mouth worked, and words poured out of it: 'Oh Jesus Christ…; oh God...;'
'Man, something is wrong. Something is so fucking wrong.'; mumbled Day, pacing back and forward, holding his head. 'This isn't right. This isn't right. This is fucked up, dude.'
Horatio took two steps towards him. 'Let's calm down and think.'
Day replied in an almost meltdown: 'Fuck, fuck, fuck. What are we going to do?'
A breeze tugged at Horatio's skin, the hairs stood on the back of his neck, and he shivered. Something was about to happen, and he could feel it in his gut.
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