Odd Cases

I sat cross-legged, meditating alone at the place of Bill’s death. It was the dark of night, and I wore dark colors to be less obvious. To find the substance used, I needed to find the killer, despite Bill’s lack of care, and for that I needed to know more.

Vi, finally done with her search from the morning, appeared without much in the way of evidence beyond a tiny bit of white powder, probably ash.

“Good Work, Vi.”

“Alright, William Cho,” I invoked as best I could, “Are you going to help me find who killed you?”

“What!?”

That was assertively a no.

“Then are you willing to answer some questions for me? It’s not a great sensation leaving an invocation without a deal, or so I’ve heard.”

The flames around the spirit expanded, actually making me feel a bit warmer. It was pleasant considering how cold it had gotten.

“Your favor is impossible without finding the killer,” I informed him, “If you even know who they are.”

Memories play tricks on you even after you no longer have a mind to mess up. People come to conclusions whatever side of the vital divide they land on. Bill’s idea of who killed him would only be a lead until proven otherwise.

“I know who killed me.”

“I’m sure you think that,” I said, “Which of you is older by the way, you or Richard?”

“I am,” Bill said.

“Did your parents disown you or are you just estranged?”

“There’s no inheritance if that’s what you were asking. We’re not that affluent.”

“You’d be surprised what people value,” I said. “Your brother talked you down a lot for someone who barely knew you.”

“I left when he was barely a teen.”

“So he spent his teen year with his parents likely worried about a wayward son he didn’t know all that well.”

That gave the spirit pause. I grinned.

“Looks like I have some research to do.”

“What are you doing there!?” Eve, the neighbor, yelled at me.

“I have a method,” I said, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Do you have to stay out there, or can you come inside for a minute?”

This was my opportunity to get the info Chase had rushed me away from.

“I can come inside.”

I waved goodbye to Bill as I followed Eve inside.

Eve’s home was several immediate moments of panic. She had a wall of crosses that told me if I even mentioned I was talking to a ghost she was liable to call an exorcism. Her walls were otherwise boring beyond a few mirrors.

“You’re not here with either of your friends,” Eve said.

“No,” I said, “I oft times prefer to work alone, not that the other two weren’t a great help.”

“How do you move so easily with eyes like yours? I’d be bumping into things left and right if my sight got any worse.”

The milky effect on my eyes had no effect on my sight, at least not as much as it probably should. Some instinct told me to keep that info to myself.

“It’s not as bad as it looks. I manage fine.”

“It’s impressive, nonetheless.”

“Thanks, Eve, right? That’s what Shelley called you.”

“What did she say about me?” Eve asked.

“I’m not sure it’s my business to tell you, considering this is an investigation, you know?”

“Yes, of course,” Eve said, “Did she mention their fight?”

“What fight?” I asked.

“They were yelling, screaming even. I think I heard Shelley mention a sister or something. They were mad.”

Eve offered a cookie. I held it in my hands, not sure I wanted to consume it.

“So you knew they were pyrokinetic, right?” I asked, “You mentioned it when first we met.”

“Since they helped with the oven, yeah. Bill was better for it, more controlled. I still have a burn mark from what Shelley did with some flour in my kitchen.”

I looked to the place she pointed. Sure enough, there was a burn mark on the wall, and a nasty one.

“I didn’t realize flour could do that.”

“It was mostly Shelley, she means well, but she can get a bit dangerous.”

That was true of most superhumans. It’s what made our struggles uniquely difficult, because to some extent, we were as dangerous as people made us out to be.

“Maybe you should have mixed the dough first,” I muttered.

“Hmm?”

“Hmm?”

“So you got along well with Bill but not as much with Shelley?”

“I got along fine with both of them. They were neighbors, not confidants, though I’m not sure Shelley will be a neighbor again.”

I nodded.

“Thanks for the conversation,” I said, “I have a few more leads to follow tonight, so I should get going.”

“Um,” Eve said, “That friend of yours, the fast one, do you know where he lives?” she asked.

Eve was young enough, and Chase wasn’t unattractive by my estimation. It made sense that she’d asked.

“He’s renting a place around here, not sure where. He has family in town.”

“Oh, I see.”

This was hardly the first time I’d snuck into an office building. I wore the same all black look, hiding my hair with a bun and a hat. When the lights are off, you can barely tell it’s such an odd color.

Holding cleaning supplies and using a flashlight to search around, I came up to Richard Cho’s locked office. I made motions like I was unlocking it with a key, but really I was summoning Vi from my sleeve so she could let me in.

I opened the drawers in his desk to find any files he wanted close to him. I found one, a land deal that had nothing to do with his brother. I checked his file cabinets for anything under the names Cho, Bill, or William. Nothing.

All that work and seemingly no motive. I made a groaning sound.

“What would my brother have to do with this?” William Cho asked as I pushed the drawers closed. I was wondering when he’d show up again.

“Plenty. Maybe he didn’t want you getting an inheritance, or he was tired of you embarrassing the family like he seemed to care about. People kill their siblings all the time.”

“Dick wouldn’t kill me.”

“Well, who would?” I asked.

“That’s not what I asked you to find out.”

“Why do you want to hide who did it so bad? If I knew who did it, I could find out how they did it faster.”

Bill stayed quiet.

“Unless you especially don’t want me to find out who did it. Why?”

“I couldn’t…”

“You think it’s someone you care about, and I don’t think it’s your brother that you’re so clammed up about. Your neighbor is nice enough, but Shelley—”

Was pregnant, was mourning.

“Why do you think it was Shelley?” I asked.

Bill disappeared on me after that. Looked like there was another place for me to break into.

Shelley mentioned that she was storing supplies at a rental storage place.

Keeping on my same outfit, I stepped through the side-wall of the storage place. I started in a place filled with what looked like greeting cards. I pulled out Vi, sending her out to the front desk to find Shelley’s unit.

In the meantime, I wandered through the units, hoping I’d stumble in on hers. I wondered how many of these places were rented for similar reasons to Shelley, because there was nowhere else to put these valuable things, however valuable they actually were.

Vi got to me in my philosophical musings, pulling me through the storage units too fast for me to read the numbers, and landing me in a room full of paint supplies.

Most importantly, there was plenty of turpentine.

“Why do you need turpentine for a painting class with pyrokinetics?” I asked.

I knew turpentine was strong, and it burned fast. The fumes from that fire would be nasty, possibly enough to kill a man.

“Shelley was out with her sister, who would gladly give her an alibi even if it was a lie.”

An angry pyrokinetic, with easy access to turpentine, leaving her boyfriend confused about how he died, but not wanting to let anyone know about the culprit.

“But what about the lungs?”

There had been something clogging up the lungs and airways. That was how he died.

The lights turned on as the door opened behind me.

“What are you doing in Shelley Carin’s storage unit?” Kinter asked.

“What are you doing looking at a public disturbance, did you get fired?”

He ignored me, taking a look at the turpentine.

“She’s an art teacher, isn’t she?” Kinter asked.

I nodded, seeing him go through exactly the logic I had.

“Turpentine fumes could kill him, and she left after a fight. Thanks for getting us past the warrant, Ms. Emery.”

No, this was wrong.

Locked in the back of a police vehicle while Shelley Carin was put into another, I locked enraged expressions with Kinter. Though I disagreed with Ali’s choice to work for the DSR, I was glad there were less people like Kinter on the payroll. His opinion of superhumans was a dim one, especially ones with abilities that he was sure were a scam, such as myself.

“Caught in your web of lies, Emery.”

“You arrested me for breaking into a storage facility, where I damaged and stole nothing. I think I’ll be okay. Especially since my actions supposedly helped a DSR investigation.”

“Supposedly?” Kinter asked, “Are you going to explain how the girlfriend didn’t do it now?”

“Oh wow, she lived with the victim and owns a fairly common but known to be flammable substance, but would the fumes actually be enough to kill Cho?” I asked.

“How do you know what he died from?”

“I called the Quartz institute to ask how a pyrokinetic could be killed with fire. The burns were never going to kill him.”

Kinter shifted his eyes toward me and back away.

“The brother didn’t speak well of him,” I said, “Imagine a rebellious pyrokinetic as your brother with a career like his. Though I guess most people high up in the financial business have some skeleton in their closet.”

“Richard Cho has an alibi, and more importantly, there’s no motive.”

He was right. Richard had no reason to kill Bill, and I didn’t think he had, but Shelley was wrong.

“Why would she use fire though?”

“I don’t know,” Kinter said, “Maybe he was having an affair and she found out. Maybe it was manslaughter and she accidentally started it during a fight.”

“I doubt he was having an affair,” I said. “He was very aggressive about Shelley not being the culprit.”

“What a convenient time for you to bring up the ghost.”

I knew it was coming, but it was always shocking how hard he insisted that ghosts weren’t real. If I made things up, why would I reserve that part of my arsenal for so long?

Our argument dissipated as I saw orange in the distance.

“That’s another fire.”

“We’re in Arizona, that’s not an uncommon occurrence.”

“In the middle of winter?” I asked.

We heard the sirens of the fire department heading that way. Something in my gut told me that fire was important.

After a few hours, I was returned to my shop, cuffs removed, at dawn.

“William Cho. I don’t know if you’re still able to communicate, but Shelley Carin was arrested for suspicion of your murder. I don’t think she did it, but if you want to help her, you’ll have to tell me everything you know.”

Instead of a sign from Bill, I got a knock on the door. I opened it to find Chase, ragged and panicked.

“Are you alright?”

“Do you have a spare room I can bunk in?” Chase asked.

“Why?” I asked.

“My house got burned down. Well, not my house, I was just renting it. I was in it at the time though, so I think we bonded from the mutual trauma.”

“Were you the fire I saw?” I asked.

“You saw it?” he looked around in panic, “How bad did it get? I ran out pretty quickly.”

“I saw it at a distance. Were you the one who called the fire department?”

Chase shook his head.

“No, I ran straight to Zach’s, and he accused me of burning it down myself.”

“Why would he accuse you of that?” I asked.

“I had one particular incident awhile ago, and the family never moved past it.”

He walked into my house like I’d invited him.

“So you just live in a magic shop?” he asked.

“My apartment’s upstairs,” I said, “The only two rooms are mine and Romeo’s, and I’m certainly not giving mine up at the moment.”

“Can we go there?”

“My room?” That was forward of him.

“Your apartment. I ran here, and I could use a sit-down.”

“Sure. You can sit down while I call Zach.”

“Why would you call my cousin?”

“Because I want to get a look at the results of your fire,” I explained, “It might have clues.”

“You think it was the same guy?”

“And if it was, then it probably wasn’t Shelley.”

“Oh…” Chase nodded, “Why do you need my cousin to look at it?”

“Because your ‘cousin’ is a CSI.”