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Condemned Hymn: Avatar of Sin

章 1: Chapter 1: A Casual Day; A Mysterious Murder

It was a casual Wednesday morning, until…

"What a bad way to start the day," A man who had medium-length brown hair said. He slightly scratched his head as he drove the car while sipping his coffee. "I really need to get a haircut."

He slightly adjusted his rearview mirror and looked at it, his hazel eyes reflecting. As he arrived at the destination, he saw tons of people just surrounding a house.

"Ah, what a pain." The man had a long day before and couldn't help but be slightly grumpy. But he just coughed it off, knowing that being grumpy wouldn't help disperse the crowd.

He beeped his horn, opened the window, and leaned out of it, "Excuse me! Can you please move aside? I'm a detective, and I have to get through."

The crowd didn't disperse as quickly as the man initially thought, so he just sighed. As the people dispersed, he drove through the small alleyway and parked near the house where the crime scene was located.

He got out of the car and felt a slight chill despite wearing three layers of clothing. He then looked at himself in the side mirror and lightly tugged his trench coat. He was exhausted as he had to finish up some cases he had to do before. Life as a detective wasn't easy.

'But having coffee really helps make it easier,' Although it was hot, the man simply chugged a good amount of coffee, causing him to stick out his tongue as he approached the house.

As he maneuvered through the police tape and headed toward the door, he was stopped by a policeman. The policeman simply said in a low voice, "Credentials please."

"You're really gonna do me like that, man?" The man simply chuckled at the request as he handed his I.D.

"Sorry man, Captain's orders," the policeman said as he looked at the I.D. He then read it aloud, "Ah, Detective Caspian Ashwood. That's an old ass name. Come with me, sir."

"Fuck you, Garcia."

"Haha."

They walked towards the house, and the man surnamed Garcia stayed outside as Caspian entered the house.

As he walked toward one of the officers inside, his arm was pulled by someone. Albeit giving him a slight scare, Caspian calmed himself down as he looked at the person who pulled him aside.

"Jesus, Abby! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Caspian exclaimed lightly. A blond-haired girl was grinning as her golden eyes shone. "When have you been such a scaredy-cat?"

Caspian just sighed as he turned around to face his old partner. Due to Caspian being busy, he had never really gotten a good look at his former partner, but now that he's able to observe her properly, she has gotten a lot bigger.

"You've grown a lot taller… It's only been a year, right?"

"Yeah, for some reason, I had a growth spurt this year. I have a question, though… I work in the same department as yours, yet you didn't notice me getting taller?" Abby simply scratched her neck.

"I'm sorry that I had been dumped multiple cases without warning for the entire year…." Caspian said with sarcasm.

Abby simply smiled as she said, "So, how's the day been going?"

"Bad… and mostly depends on how gruesome this murder is."

"Well… I'm afraid your day is gonna get worse." Abby said with a wry smile.

"Fuck."

"Anyway, let's catch up later. You have a case to solve, Detective Ashwood." Abby immediately donned a poker face. It was as if she had two personalities to be able to switch up that fast.

Caspian nodded as he followed Abby to the crime scene.

Just as Caspian entered the room, he was met by a bloody mess. "What the fu—"

Caspian managed to cut himself off, but he didn't expect it to be that disturbing. Guts and blood were stuck to the ceiling. Caspian turned his head and saw the technicians collecting the evidence. Some other technicians took photos, causing bright flashes to blare the room.

As they walked through the yellow tags with a simple maneuver, they arrived at the covered body.

"Did someone throw a grenade here or something?"

The medical examiner had a serious look on her face as she said, "That's what I thought at first."

Caspian was somewhat surprised to see a forensic pathologist here. That could only mean that the case is more complicated than he anticipated.

She then took a quick peek at her notes as she said, "But there are no remnants of an explosive. Only the torso of the victim was obliterated. Her head and lower body had no severe damages besides bruises, a couple of scratches on her forehead, and bruises on the ankle."

"Her arms which managed to be intact also had some bruising on the wrists. Which means that she was tied up." The medical examiner included. "But there's something weird. The scratches on her have some kind of purplish hue… I can't define what it is. We have to wait for the autopsy to find out more about it."

She then beckoned Caspian to come over. "It's much better for you to take a look at the body."

The medical examiner then uncovered the body of Caspian. Although Caspian was pretty used to seeing dead bodies, this was the most gruesome one by far.

His brows furrowed while looking at the body. He was trying to inspect every single detail. 'How did her body explode if it wasn't a grenade….'

Just as Caspian was observing the body, someone suddenly barged into the room, causing a loud thud. It was an old man who immediately shouted, "I'm the landlord! I need to know what's going on!"

As he shouted, Abby moved on instinct and grabbed her gun. Caspian simply held her shoulder as if beckoning her to stand down. "Relax, I'll handle this."

Caspian signaled the technicians to cover the body again as he said to the landlord, "Sir, I know that you want answers to what happened here, but you cannot barge in the room like that. We'll tell you the details later, but as of now, please get back, or we may have to detain you."

With a grumble, the landlord reluctantly stepped out of the room, staying just outside the door's vicinity.

"I'm sorry about that, detective. I'll make sure no one comes in." Abby said as she left the room, bringing along the landlord with her.

After that, Caspian walked back towards the body, removed the cloth which covered the victim, and observed the body once more. The medical examiner then said, "You probably wouldn't be able to find anything else even if you look at it a thousand times without proper examination at a lab."

"I know, it's just… a body exploding without the use of some explosive. It's weird." Caspian had an exasperated sigh.

"Hey, detective. I'm sure you can wrap this mess up. After all, you are one of the best detectives in this small city." the medical examiner said with a smile.

Caspian appreciated the comfort as he smiled, saying, "Thank you, miss.…."

Caspian then looked for a name tag on the medical examiner's body, but unfortunately, he found nothing. The medical examiner simply giggled as she said, "I'm Doctor Scalet Bell."

With a wry smile, Caspian said, "I'm sorry I didn't know your name."

"Don't worry. It happens all the time, Detective Ashwood. Well, I just wanted to introduce myself properly since we may have to work together a bit more. I'm being transferred to your department after all." Scarlet said.

"Oh really? The old man in my department is finally retiring, huh."

As they wrapped things up, Caspian beckoned the technicians to carry the body out. He, along with Scarlet and the technicians, left the house with the victim's body.

"Sir, can you please tell me what happened here?" waiting just outside the house stood the old man who barged in earlier. He seemed much calmer than before.

Caspian nodded his head as he said, "Your tenant, unfortunately, got murdered. We're trying our best to find out what happened. I can't say anything more than that, unfortunately."

"Ah, I see. That's alright. I know that these things are confidential. How unfortunate, that girl was a great person."

"Detective, we will bring the body to the agency for an autopsy." Scarlet slightly turned her head and said.

Caspian simply nodded as she and the technicians entered a car and immediately left along with other police officers. Caspian then looked back at the landlord and said his goodbyes.

Just as he was about to leave, Abby approached him and said with a grin, "Hey, long hair, when will you get a haircut?"

"Soon… probably," Caspian was somewhat frustrated. A new case means adding one more work out of twelve other cases he needed to do simultaneously.

"How about we go get breakfast," Seeing Caspian's frustration, Abby laughed.

"Aren't you on duty?"

"I'm a sergeant now; you think I would still need to tell my superiors? Well… technically, you are my superior, but never mind that!"

"Alright. But before that, let's go to the agency and report to the captain first."

They then headed towards the police department, driving their individual vehicles.

As they arrived, they immediately headed toward the captain's office and reported every piece of information that they gathered. They then left after a short while.

They both proceeded to walk toward a bakery near their department. They both sat down, and the bakery owner simply smiled at them as she said, "Abby and Caspian! Oh my, it's been so long since I've seen you together!"

"Heh, that's true. I've been… super busy lately to the point of me thinking why I even got this job," Caspian simply sighed.

"Yeah, I've rarely seen you leave your office," Abby said.

"Yeah… too much paperwork, haha."

"Well, enough chummy talk. What can I get you both?"

"Coffee and one of those," Caspian and Abby said simultaneously and pointed at the same thing.

"My, look at the chemistry between you two~. Wait just a moment." Bailey then brewed coffee and got the pastry that the two of them wanted.

"It's on the house," Bailey said with a smile.

"Are you sure? I can pay, you know." Caspian felt a bit bad. After all, he had gotten so many free meals from Bailey. She was running a business, not a charity.

"Oh, it's fine! Think of it as a celebration that you two finally had a reunion!" Bailey said with a wink.

"Thanks, Bailey," Abby said with a small smile.

They happily ate the pastry, drank the coffee, and went back to the police department.

Caspian had a tired face as he approached his office, causing Abby to casually hit him with her elbow as she said, "Cheer up, Detective. With that long face, you wouldn't be able to finish a single job!"

"Go to your post, sergeant."

"Yes, sir." Abby simply smiled as she left.

As Caspian entered his office, he slumped in his chair while looking at the pile of paperwork on his desk.

"*Sigh*... this is gonna be a long day."

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"Finally…." Caspian sighed as he threw the folders he held in one of his drawers.

He then stood up and stretched his limbs while whispering, "I should check on the autopsy."

But before Caspian left, he walked towards the mirror and fixed his hair. "I really do need a haircut…."

He slicked his hair back as he left and headed to the lab where the pathologist was.

As he entered, he saw Scarlet and the old pathologist chatting with each other.

"Good evening," Caspian said with conciseness.

"Ah, Detective, good evening. You have met with Doctor Bell earlier, I presume?"

"Yeah, I heard that she was going to transfer here. You're gonna retire, right?"

"Yes, I was going to retire, but this body. This girl had an incredibly unusual death." The old pathologist said as he stood up and uncovered the body lying on the bed.

Scarlet stood with him as she said, "Based on the autopsy we performed earlier, the blood on her body… the blood is not hers."

"What?" Caspian was confused. "Did she get the wrong blood transfusion?"

"That wouldn't make much sense now, would it?" The old pathologist chuckled lightly as he looked at his notes.

"Her blood is an incredibly rare blood type. Her blood is the golden blood, Rh-null. It's said that there are only 43 people with this blood type worldwide. We may have discovered the 44th."

"But her blood is mixed with some kind of animal blood…. We still don't know what kind of animal it is because we've never really encountered this kind of circumstance."

The old pathologist couldn't help but scratch his head. "As much as I want to help with this case, I've already resigned, and I can't help you that much, unfortunately. I'm already old; I probably wouldn't help you even if I tried. Well, good luck on the case, detective. I'll take my leave."

The old pathologist patted Caspian's shoulder as he picked up his stuff and left the room.

"Goodbye, sir. It was nice working with you for all those years." Caspian said his goodbyes to the old man.

"Detective Ashwood, I have something for you." Scarlet handed over a zip lock bag to Caspian.

Caspian grabbed them and saw that in the zip lock bag were pictures. "What is this? Why was this not discovered earlier."

"We found it inside the victim's mouth."

"Mouth?"

"Yeah; it was either the victim who tried to hide it or the murderer put it in there," Scarlet added as she turned towards the desk.

"Why the hell would a murderer deliberately put a piece of evidence for the police to find out?"

"Well, it could be a trap, but it is our only lead in this investigation, unfortunately." Scarlet sighed as she sat down on the chair. "Why don't you sit down, detective."

"Ah, thanks, Doctor Bell," Caspian said as he sat down and looked at the pictures.

"You don't have to be so formal with me, detective. You don't have to add 'doctor' to my name. Call me Scarlet."

"It's weird for me. I'm just used to it."

"Alright, I won't force you."

"This… I recognize where this is." Caspian said as he hurriedly shuffled the photos. "This is the abandoned hospital that I was assigned to patrol years ago."

"We may have to investigate there. However, we could do it tomorrow. But the faster we solve this case, the better it'd be for all of us," Scarlet suggested.

"No, I'll go there tonight," Caspian said as he stood.

"Wait, let's get some backup." Scarlet hurriedly said.

Though, Caspian simply stopped her as he said, "No need for backup. I'll go alone."