Chen poured some wine in four empty glasses, slid them across towards the cops and asked them, “So, what brings you guys here?” Sehun replied, “Well, we guess you’ve heard everything about the case of Jake’s murder and the death of Elen. It came to a dead end.” Chen and the others nodded and watched the cops with a blank expression. Suho started speaking, “But we found that certain actions were contradictory to Elen’s motives. She was the beneficiary of a life insurance policy in Jake’s name. And it is a noteworthy fact that Liz somehow discovered this.” “Which ultimately led to Liz getting murdered by Jake,” Xiumin sighed. Suho looked at him sympathetically and nodded and continued, “Elen wanted to get her hands on the insurance money as soon as possible. So she should not let Jake live for long. But these days it is a widely known fact that the insurance money won’t be paid if the death is caused by someone’s crime and the beneficiary was present at or near the crime scene or is suspected to be related to the crime. So Elen’s plan was to show Jake’s death caused by intoxication which can be considered the victim's own fault. Then why would she drown his body in the river and why would she even flee? The only explanation is that someone else must have drowned him and neither that person nor Elen was aware of each other’s plans. Elen feared that the police would naturally suspect her now that the death cannot be passed off as death by intoxication. We had focused on Elen alone but had completely ruled out the possibility of his death also being a retributive action taken by someone else. Now you guys probably already know whom I’m talking about.”
Yixing chipped in, “And a side note: I also found someone very familiar, although we had never met before. I just couldn’t point it out initially but I found out recently… here, look at this.” He took out his cellphone and showed an article published in a science magazine. The title was ‘But in the modern world Athena is an amateur toxicologist’ and the article featured a picture of Athena. A faint smile appeared momentarily on Athena’s lips before her expressions turned blank again. Yixing continued, “Anyway we inferred that Jake might be poisoned by two different persons and the second person also drowned him. But we can only have suspicions because the reports of the tests that I did afterwards won’t count as evidence and because the inferences we had drawn from the reports…presence of excess potassium, are based on certain assumptions. The court can’t accept these as evidence.”
Chen asked quietly, “So what is going to be your course of action now?”
Suho replied, “The case is already dismissed in the court. And as you know we had gathered all the evidences that points towards the prime accused as guilty but she died while fleeing. But we were curious about the other aspect all the same and that brought us here. I don’t know if we should say this, but let’s say this in front of you guys. Jake was already at that stage when his death was not far away according to Elen’s plan.” He looked at Athena and continued, “You only sped up the process. And we have no desire to reopen the case. We sincerely wish Liz’ soul rests in peace.”
Xiumin broke down. Chen patted his back and said, “We’ve gone through a lot, especially you. Come with me, I made marshmallows for you at my home.” He took Xiumin with him and exited the café-bar. Athena said, “Chanyeol and Baekhyun, you guys should also leave now. It’s getting late. I’ll stay alone for a while here.” Suho rose up. “That’s all. We are leaving as well. The case is closed from our side too now. I hope the next time we meet, we are on the same side instead of being pitted against each other.”
---
“That was a really fascinating case. And hats off to their whole squad!” the cops exclaimed in unison when they reached the parking spot of the café-bar. Suho looked up at the sky and murmured, “Everything is fair in war, if not in love.” The others nodded in agreement. They were about to part ways when Sehun suddenly turned to Suho and whined, “Boss, please drop me home. I’m not in a mood to drive my bike now. I’ll collect it from here tomorrow.” “Okay,” Suho chuckled. The cops then yelled goodbyes at each other and drove off. After driving his car for a while, Yixing realized he forgot his cellphone. Did he forget it at the café-bar?
---
Athena sipped her wine staring blankly at the table in front of her while flashbacks crowded in her mind. Everyone had been burning with the desire of seeking revenge, for they all loved Liz dearly. She had a hard time stopping Xiumin from accompanying her that day. “It’s very risky, Xiu,” she had reasoned with him, “I’ve nothing to lose. I’ll be fine. And moreover you need to stay back at your café-bar because you are the owner. No, not even you Chen. You have to stay here for the same reason. I had gotten myself a boating license when I was 15 and I’ve planned everything. Don’t worry about me.” Baekhyun said, “But we can’t leave you alone, one of us must accompany you. If not Xiumin or Chen then Chanyeol or I must. One can at least ensure that the coast is clear throughout your mission. It’s either two or none.” Everyone else agreed so she had no choice but give in. Funnily enough, the duo played rock-paper-scissors where Baekhyun won and was to accompany her. Chanyeol assured them, “Leave the rest to us. We will take care of the alibis. Come back here straightaway after your job is done. And Baekhyun I’ll cover your performance with the band so don’t you worry.”
It was way past midnight. Both Athena and Baekhyun drove to Jake’s place mentally prepared to put a fight if required. The chances were favorable to them. They looked into the windows and saw that Jake was already drunk. Elen was nowhere to be seen. A faint glimmer of a night-lamp from a window on the first floor assured them that Elen was asleep. Breaking the lock of the main door was a piece of cake for Baekhyun. He stood guard while Athena did her job. A lethal dose of saturated potassium chloride injection was enough. She wasn’t called an amateur toxicologist for no reason. She knew that the tests are still inadequate to differentiate exogenous potassium from endogenous potassium ions in the body, that it is almost impossible to detect the cause of death through autopsy unless the police really suspect that potassium chloride had been administered to the victim and that they are absolutely sure that the victim wasn’t already suffering from hyperkalemia (when the level of potassium in blood is too high). She has mad respect towards Suho and Yixing now, although they had only a hunch and were unsure about this potassium chloride for obvious reasons. After wrapping up their mission (her boating license came really useful to let Jake face the same fate as Liz) she and Baekhyun returned to the cafe-bar and remained there with the others until dawn, thereby sealing their alibis. Good thing, Liz had found out that Elen took out a big life insurance policy. Athena snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of footsteps coming towards her. She was a bit tipsy now. She turned and found Yixing walking towards her table.
“Ah, thank goodness! Found it! I wasn’t sure if I left my phone here or somewhere else.” Yixing picked up his cellphone from the table and put it back in his pocket. Athena realized that she was so lost in her thoughts that she had completely ignored the presence of a cellphone lying right in front of her on the table. Yixing then turned towards Athena. “Wait, you’re still here alone? Come with me, I’ll drop you off at your house… What? No you can’t drive now. You seem quite drunk.” He pulled her to her feet.
His phone started ringing when they reached his car. “Hey. Athena. I need to take this call, okay? Sit inside my car and wait. Don’t wander off,” he said before taking his call.
When he walked back to his car after ending the call, he found Athena leaning against the bonnet of his car. Her head hung low and stifled cries escaped her lips. Her heard her whisper to herself while sobbing, “Liz. I’m really sorry we couldn’t protect you. I should have forced you to leave that jerk. I am so sorry I couldn’t do anything to save you. I miss you, Liz.” He sat down beside her slowly. She completely broke down and cried out, “Liz didn’t deserve this at all. She tolerated so much, only to get killed by him!” Yixing put his arm around her shoulder and patted her silently.
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MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE - EXO Detective AU
FanfictionBack to back murders. Is there just one culprit? Or are there more? Read on to find how the cops Suho, Kai, Sehun, Kyungsoo and Yixing find the culprit (s) from among the suspects Xiumin, Chen, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Athena and two other OCs. Note: Re...
