"Sigh— What a drag"
I muttered as I opened the door to my apartment.
I quickly surveyed the room before dumping my clothes and heading for the shower
By the time we escaped from the haunted hotel, it was already dawn so I didn't bother to stick around— I already have the information Sara needs so she won't chastise me for skipping out on the rest of the part—
"Oh, that's right.... I decided to take Michelle's side, didn't I?"
A foolhardy decision, but still mine nonetheless.
"Sighhhh, those games were exhausting, I wanna sleep"
But I can't just yet. After all, the best time to make preparations for my offensive is right now.
I stepped out of the shower and changed into a new set of clothes, after inspecting them to make sure they weren't bugged or wiretapped— It was more or less an extra precaution, as I've already confirmed no one broke in while I was away (like Sara, for example).
I placed my phone next to my pillow to give the psycho who planted a tracer on it the illusion I was sleeping, then headed out for the nearest phonebooth while ofcourse, using mind reading to make sure I wasn't being followed or watched.
I dialled in the number and agreed on a meeting spot with the person on the other end, then killed time by walking to the venue.
Shortly after, I arrived at Stone Valley Park where, surprisingly, she was already waiting for me.
"You're late, perv"
"The real question should be how you got here so fast"
"Let's just say I happened to be in the area"
Like I believe that. Hold on.... Her thoughts...
".....are noisy"
Specifically, she's effortlessly thinking about way too many things at once way too fast, making it hard to pin down her actual thoughts.
This little brat never ceases to impress.
"Oh, you noticed?...."
Liz began, puffing up her chest with pride
"I've been practicing intense parallel processing to counter your pervy ways... You're going to have to try harder from now if you want to get inside me"
"Hey!"
She phrased it that way on purpose, I could tell.... And in such a loud voice that it reached the ears of passerbys— I could clearly hear their thoughts rebuking me and a handful of them pondering on whether to call the cops.
After all, to folks who aren't all that interested in crimes, murders and all that stuff, Lizbeth Andrews probably looks like a grade schooler. I can't blame them for their apprehension.
"Still though, that sounds exhausting. You sure you're doing okay?"
"I only have to do it while I'm around you so it's nothing I can't handle. Besides...."
"Besides?"
"It's a lot better than you penetrating my private areas"
"I get the point already so stop with the dangerous phrasing!"
"Yeah, Yeah"
Geez, this girl's going to give me a heart attack.
We both took a seat on the bench, watching the scenery for a couple minutes before finally getting down to business.
A couple days ago, after obtaining the vials and a couple tracers from Liz, I tasked her with a certain assignment which was more of a backup plan than anything— or rather, because I didn't like the idea of being a pawn, I never thought I'd actually decide to move in this direction. Ofcourse, I asked her to swap phones with officer enthusiasm..... Chris during her investigation so she's not tracked by Sara.
The task was simple yet herculean for someone who wasn't Stone Valley's Holmes— Investigate Sara O'Neil's past . There's no way someone that problematic doesn't have a skeleton or two or ten.... Basically, to stop Sara from airing Michelle's dirty laundry, I was thinking I could use hers to negotiate a compromise.
Blackmail, The oldest trick in the book.
"So about my reques—"
She handed me a thick folder before I could finish.
"Thanks. Alright, let's see...."
I looked through the documents detailing every aspect of Sara and her past— her previous schools, achievements, friends and life up till entering high school.
I have to commend Liz for gathering so much information in such express details within the span of a day and some change. But still....
There's nothing I can use in here, it's so wholesome you'd think that girl was some kinda saint, guess this plan's a bust
"Sigh—"
"As you see, I found a whole lot of nothing..."
"Yeah, thanks anyway"
"Although, it could be said that I found something while in the pursuit which yielded nothing.... but then again, that something is probably not what you're looking for and yields nothing in the end, so it's worthless anyway"
"Just what are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying she's fake"
"I can see that.... To think she lived hiding her true self so expertly, even at a young age"
"No you're missing my point"
"Huh?"
"I'm saying those records.....are all fake"
Huh?
I took me a second to process Liz's proclamation. Furthermore.... I could hear her thoughts clearly now
"Hahaha, that look of surprise on your face is priceless... Definitely worth masking my thoughts"
"Why you....."
"Can you blame me?" She said "You always have that look like you know everything, so seeing you truly flustered for once is nice, hahahaha"
I'm.... flustered? Just what kinda look do I have on my face right now..... What kind of look is making her laugh so purely? So beautifully?
Well, I guess it's alright.
More importantly, since I could read her thoughts now, I'm more or up to speed with her assessment on Sara.
Basically, every single record that exists of Sara O'Neil prior to enrolling in high school were faked, forged so expertly that anyone looking wouldn't be able to tell.....unless you're Lizbeth Andrews.
Well, though she may never admit it, even Liz couldn't tell at first.
Furthermore, as Liz unravelled the fakes and tried to delve deep into Sara's real past, she found nothing.... literally nothing.
Almost like the woman known as Sara O'Neil didn't exist.
"Sigh— Just what kinda top secret military experiment did I chose to pick a fight with?"
"Maybe she grew up in the White Room?"
"Please, There's no way the white room can contain someone like her"
I leaned back, facing the sky
"I guess my plan's a bust, huh?"
"Not exactly"
The little angel beside me whispered. You really are something, aren't you?
"You know what they say about shooting the horse to get the warrio— Sigh, you went inside me again, didn't you?"
She said, with a " what am I going to do with you" expression.
"There's that phrasing again"
"Sigh—here"
She handed me another folder
"I took the liberty of investigating her current close friends, even if you can't blackmail her directly, you can still negotiate with dirt on her friends....Sara cares a great deal for her friends, after all"
Does she now? Hmmm.....Now that I think about it.....She put Miguel O'Hara in jail primarily because he cheated on her best friend, got me to protect Liz from the butler's plan because she couldn't go herself and even risked getting arrested to protect the butler's identity.
Even now, her primary reason for wanting to destroy the queen bee is cause she's afraid Michelle will come after the occult research club just because she's jealous of Sara.
Yep, her methods may be ruthless and extreme but she's a softie at heart.
I opened the folder to see info on library girl and Emilia Tyson.
"Don't expect much though, I only had a single day"
"But you did find something"
"Hehe, Ofcourse I did"
I began scanning through Emilia Tyson's background check, the first thing that caught my attention was a certain kidnapping case in stone valley a little over a year ago.
Apparently, her kidnappers ran off with the ransom, leaving her MIA for a little over three weeks. She was eventually saved by Bruce King and the kidnappers were arrested shortly after.
Seriously, is this guy some kinda superhero or something?!
"Hey, Liz...."
I received no response....
Looking over beside me, I realized I'd been too focused on folder, I didn't even notice her get up.
"You called?"
I turned to see Liz behind me, two ice cream cones in hand. She took her seat and handed me one of them as well as some change.
It was at that moment I realized I'd been pickpocketed.
"For a mind reader, you sure are careless"
"So that was your real reason for camoflaging your thoughts. Sigh— why am I not surprised"
I took a little lick and noticed two flavors—vanilla and.... coffee? An odd choice coming from Liz, but it was really good nonetheless
"You done reading yet?"
"No, not yet"
"So Slow"
" I'm sleep deprived, give me a break.... Hey, tell me..... What do you make of Bruce King?"
She pondered silently for ten seconds, twenty.... Then thirty... And finally
"Who's that?"
Ofcourse.
"The student council president, geez"
"Hmmm.... Never met him, so I can't say"
"You really aren't interested in people, are you?"
"Incorrect. I'm interested in you and big sis, after all"
"Yet you don't know her name"
"What are you talking about? Ofcourse I know it"
"Yet you've never once used it"
"Well, it's..... embarrassing"
She replied, pouting.
I guess the most apt description of her is she doesn't care about the people she doesn't care about. For those under her radar, she cares a great deal.
Take this ice cream for example, she might say she was simply craving it when infact, it shows how worried she was about me.
Even though I tried my best efforts to hide it, she noticed my stress and fatigue the very moment we met up, and has been waiting for a right time to bring it up.
It's also her motivation behind a coffee flavored ice cream, since there's no coffee shop open at the buttcrack of dawn on a Sunday.
Still sucks that she used my money though, but it's the thought that counts
"Thanks for this"
"Hmm? Did you say something?"
"Nah, it's nothing"
I directed my attention back on the folder. I could think of multiple ways to use the data on Emilia Tyson to take on Sara but all scenarios will result in the student council vp getting hurt or worse.
She's a nice girl, all things considered, so I'd prefer to avoid those scenarios if at all possible.
I looked through library girl's info next and
"Hmmm.... This could work"
"I had a feeling you'll go with the pacifist route. I can also say with about 99% certainty that Sara doesn't know about this, so you can catch her off guard. That said...."
"...Yeah, this'll put me in a stalemate with her at best, and only if I play my cards right...."
I can already picture her breaking through it with sheer tenacity.
".... I just need one more thing, something to lock it in place"
"You already have something like that, don't you? That's why you called me this morning, to investigate it, right?"
"If I didn't know better I'd say you're the mind reader here"
"Well, there's no way you just went to party to have fun. So tell me, what did Sara rope you into?"
Suddenly, Liz's warning before all this started..... "Seriously, be careful" .... Popped up in my mind. Geez, I wish you'd been clearer with it.
Sure, even I expected something, but nothing as insane as what I went through last night.
"It's a long story, though"
"I'm not in any hurry, go ahea—"
*RING RING
Liz's— Chris' phone rang and she cut it immediately.
"Go ahead" She said
"O....Kay. Well—"
RING RING RING
*Call ended
"You sure you shouldn't answer that?"
"No, it's fin—"
RING RING RING
I saw a vein pop on her face the moment the call came in again
"Seriously, answer it. I'll wait"
"Sigh, fine"
She answered the call from Chris'— her phone.
"IT'S 6:30 IN THE DAMN MORNING, WHAT DO YOU WANT!"
Wow, she's pissed as hell.
I could faintly hear the cowering voice of Chris on the other end of the phone, begging her to come collect her phone as he'd been bombarded with multiple cases on that line within the span of a day that she's been away.
"I can't come in today, you're just going to have to tough it out"
"I can't, it's impossible!.... Seriously boss lady, I'll die at this rate"
"Quit complaining, it's your job"
"I didn't sign up for this, there's got to be a law against giving one person this much work, please throw me a bone here"
After a series of back and forths between the officer and detective, she worked out a compromise
"Sigh.... Alright, give me details of the case, all of them"
"Huh? Right now?"
"Did I stutter?"
"No! Right away, Thank you ma'am! Let's see...."
Chris recounted the details of the cases over the phone to her— thirteen in total, after which she remained silent for about ten seconds give or take, before replying
"Do you have a pen and paper with you? Or just turn on the sound recorder because I'm not going to repeat myself"
"Got it"
"Alright, the culprit of the first case is the wife, as for the locked room, it was just an illusionary locked room, basically, it was never an actual locked room to begin with. Here's how it went down....."
She explained in detail the culprits of the thirteen cases, their tricks, possible motives as well as sufficient evidence to convict them with pausing even once, incredible.
Sitting with her like this, licking ice cream, I sometimes forget what a big deal she is. Also, for a girl who hates explaining her reasonings more than anything, such clear and concise presentations were honestly surprising.
I guess she's really been moving forward after Detective Alan's death— standing on her own two feet, like she promised.
"....that is all. Good day"
"Wait Wait Wait..... In the thirteenth case, a thin line of string like you described wasn't found on the scene"
"Search the scene again, if it isn't there, it means the culprit still has it on him as he's had no opportunity to dispose it. Sigh, that should be obvious"
"Hahaha, yeah sorr—"
She hung up before he had the chance to finish, then let out a huge sigh.
"Sorry about that, guess I'm feeling a little grumpy this morning"
I noticed the bags under her eyes at that moment...she must've burned the midnight oil working to dig up dirt for me.
"We can talk about it later, you should go home and get some rest"
I was about to get up when she held me by the sleeve
"Not yet, besides you haven't told me what you wanted me to investigate"
"We can do that later, for now, get some rest"
"I'll have plenty of time rest once I'm dead!...."
Her face sank as she continued
"..... It's basically my fault you're in this mess, so please...let me help as much as I can"
So she's still thinking about that. I patted her on the head
"Alright. Let's chat as we walk, we could get some more ice cream too"
Smiles returned to her face as she tagged along with me. I told her about the haunted hotel and what went down in there, though I did leave a couple details out.
"Hmm.... Yeah, that definitely sounds like something she'd do"
"Tell me about it. Anyway...."
I told her what I needed her to look into and she replied with a "roger". We parted ways shortly after and I headed back to my apartment to catch some zzzs.
I looked at the time on my phone upon my return, it was 7:48am. There also appeared to be several missed calls
*RING RING RING
And I received another call from the same line at that moment. I crashed on my bed and answered
"You sent me to a hotel to die!"
I said to the person on the other end
"Whatever could you mean?"
"Don't play dumb, you were basically announcing your involvement when you had your goon call himself Napmoth Hetof Riscmooum"
Napmoth Hetof Riscmooum— an anagram. Rearrange it and you have "phantom of the music room", In other words, Sara.
"So you figured it out, huh?"
"You say it like you didn't do it precisely so I would"
"Fufufufu, that attitude isn't earning you points with the ladies y'know. No one likes a know it all"
"What do you want, I'm trying to sleep.... I'll hear your excuses for trying to kill me later"
"I see you've left Michelle's"
"I already have the info you need so there was no point"
"Ever the stick in the mud. Well then, what do you say we meet up to discuss things"
"I'm not leaving my bed today"
"Okay, how about tomorrow?"
"I'm going to need a little more time to get over how you tried to kill me"
"Tuesday, then?"
I wanted to protest but I got the feeling she wasn't going to budge on that date. Did she already anticipate I'll try picking a fight with her? Was this time limit her way of limiting the amount of weapons I could gather before confronting her?
"Okay, got it"
Too bad for her, I have the ultimate private eye in my corner who might as well be faster than light.
That said, I do feel a little guilty— Sara is Liz's friend too, the fact she calls her by name is proof enough. Yet, she's taking my side against Sara because she still feels guilty about what I went through during the Chameleon case, must be tough.
Well, when in doubt, sleep.
I used the time before fatigue set in to ponder the information I got from Liz. Especially
"Library girl.... Katherine, after the imprisonment of her boyfriend and eventual breakup, she was neck deep in despair, even more so than Sara realized. She started frequenting downtown, hanging around the places Miguel O'Hara did....
.....Liz managed to get photos and other physical evidence of drug use and hanging around that kind of crowd. If it gets out, her reputation will be ruined and worst case, she'll be expelled for doing drugs. Surely Sara wouldn't want that, right?"
This new piece of information did raise a question in my mind, although, it was irrelevant to my current task.
***************
"Seems I fell asleep"
I looked at my phone, it was 5:15pm, also, I'd received a message from Liz—it contained details of what I asked her to look into.
"Faster than the speed of light for real"
I got changed and headed out to chase down this lead— this....anomaly which took human form.
She was definitely human, and she wasn't Sara in disguise— I determined that much after pinching her, and when she grabbed my finger.
"And yet, there's no mistake. I tried many times but they were definitely silent"
The news lady, Eleanor Clark, although clearly different physically, was similar to a certain busty, manipulative and mildly psychotic beauty we're all familiar with in a way only I could discern.
That's right, her thoughts are silent as well.