Mafia's Mate

Saturday Meeting

>>Clio

The sound of other people coming in made me snap out of my trance but I still couldn't bring myself to look away. Not until a few employees came into the office and noticed me.

"Clio?" I heard a familiar voice, "Why are you on the floor?"

My heart skipped a beat and my eyes went wide. Then I turned to look to my side as it started to race like a wild horse.

Chris was standing at the entrance, looking at me weirdly.

"Are you okay?" She began to come in and I made an attempt to scramble to my feet but failed, falling back into a weird position since my legs were like jelly.

"No!" I yelled as I raised my hands towards her, "Wait!" But there wasn't enough time to stop her and she came over, her eyes catching the odd sight from her peripheral view and she turned to look at her desk as she walked over to me.

The other employees followed but as soon as Chris saw what was on her desk she froze.

A second later, everyone else had seen what was on the desk and the place went dead quite again.

I watched Chris as she stared at her desk with wide eyes, without a sound her trembling hands flew to her mouth, as if to stifle the anguish that started to take over. Tears streamed down her face, unrestrained, as she took a step closer, as if drawn inexorably to the horrific scene that defied all reason.

I wanted to call out to her, but the voice seemed to have been caught up in my throat.

The office workers watched in solemn silence, their own grief mirrored in the mother's raw and anguished reaction. The room seemed to hold its breath, the air thick with sorrow and despair. I tried to pull myself up again and succeeded this time, but halfway through as I was standing up, Chris fell to the floor

!!!

Everyone panicked and ran up to her.

"Chris!!" I jumped towards her, crouching next to her body while the others joined me.

Jacob moved her body to see her face but her eyes were closed and her body was cold.

"She's lost consciousness." He spared me a glance, then looked at the others. Everyone had a panicked expression on their face, they whispered amongst themselves yet everyone seemed to be at a loss about what to do.

"What's going on here?" A third voice made all of us flinch, "Why are you all gathered in the middle of the office with pale faces?" Matthew walked in with a stern expression.

None of us spoke, but all of us turned to look at him which made him pause for a moment and stare back at us.

To anyone, it would be a weird sight. So, he walked over, first noticing Chris on the ground.

"What?" He frowned but as he approached 'the' desk, the atmosphere seemed to shift. Tension hung in the air, as though the entire office held its breath in anticipation of his response. His steps were hesitant, his expression a mix of shock and disbelief.

He wasn't sure what was happening but continued to walk over till something unusual caught his eye.

He stopped dead in his tracks.

And then, he saw it—the severed head of a girl who was like a little sister to him, a horrific tableau that defied reason. His reaction was visceral. His face contorted in a mask of sheer confusion, and he took a step back as if trying to distance himself from the nightmarish sight.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from him, even as empathy swelled within me. I observed the weight of grief and despair settle upon him, a burden too heavy to bear.

All of us saw how his expressions which always showed confidence and power turned to shock and confusion.

The office remained silent, no one even attempted to speak up. All eyes were on him, silently watching his anguish, waiting to see how he would cope with the unimaginable tragedy that had unfolded before him.

I could see his pupils shaking, his eyes wandering around, unsure where to focus.

He gulped, then turned around, taking his phone out of his pocket he dialed a number.

***

>>Detective Harou

All the employees were asked to leave while the police did their work in the office which had turned into a crime scene.

I looked around the place, looking for any other clues I could find but there wasn't anything I could point out of importance.

"It's so strange," I was a bit perplexed, "The Head Hunter has never left a head before." I frowned as I stared at the head on the desk. The forensic team was doing their thing while I watched from the back as I half sat on the desk near the window, "We've only found headless bodies so far..." I glanced around to look at the potential escape route, "What is going on?"

"That's what you should be telling me, detective." Matthew was standing by my side, his arms folded while his fists were clenched.

I glanced at him, "You look like you haven't slept properly."

"That's not what you should be focusing on." He turned to glare at me, "I want answers."

"..." I stared at him, observing his expressions, "Well," This was something very new to the case, "Clearly the murder didn't happen here." I looked back at the people who were now carefully taking the head off the desk and putting it away for forensic testing, "But we should soon be getting news of a body."

"What if there is no body?" He asked, "Just the head?"

"It's quite possible." I answered, "But considering the Head hunter never left heads behind, only bodies, I have a feeling this murder was different from the rest." I looked at the CEO,

"How so?" He kept his eyes on me.

"All the previous bodies were found in the place of murders but," He pointed at the desk, "This is the only time a head has appeared, and it has appeared on the desk of the victim's mother."

I glanced up at the CCTV cameras, "I don't have any proof yet, but I get a feeling this murder happened because of a grudge."

I watched Matthew's expression twist, "Grudge?" He furrowed his eyebrows at me, "Against a little girl?"

"Well, not little," I folded my arms, "She's a teenager-ah," I paused for a second to correct myself, "'Was' a teenager." Matthew's face grew darker and I could tell he didn't like my choice of words, "Teenagers tend to be the most annoying people on earth. I wouldn't be surprised if she had a few enemies."

"You don't make an enemy of a serial killer no matter how annoying one may be as a teenager."

"True," I looked out the window, it was still cloudy, "Unless she knew the killer personally."

!!!!

"What?"

"It's no rocket science," I looked at the desk, the blood that had come out of the girl's neck had dyed streams of red down the wooden table, a work of art really, "Her head was put on the mother's work desk. Of course, killer's do their research but to even know what spot the victim's mother sat at, one would only know if he had seen it up close." I smiled, "The office is a place that isn't visited by random people. Unauthorized people can't enter after all."

"Harou, are you saying someone who knew Rameen personally killed her?" He narrowed his eyes at me, "And you're making that theory out because a head appeared?"

"Yes, because no other body has ever been delivered to a family member," I saw Matthew get nervous, "Only this one has been, which puts a very high probability of it being a grudge." I paused, "A grudge not against the girl perhaps," I tapped my foot against the ground, "It could be something against the mother."

Matthew stared back at me but didn't say anything. It was like I had caught him in a spot, "And you're sure about this all?"

I gave him a subtle smile,

"I'm not saying anything for sure, YET, but my first suspects would definitely be the people from this office."