The Victimless Crime

Chapter 8: Clueless Clue

A morning isn't exactly welcoming if you suddenly trip. The grogginess that a person expects in the morning has come off when the hard floor hits their knee.

"You've got to be kidding me," Locke groans as he stands up from the floor with a hiss. Though, it's not exactly a typical thing for him to trip on a plain floor. He looks back to find the thing he slipped on. He reaches for a thick encyclopedia book.

"What the-"

He looks back at the living room to find it very much occupied by Oli. The table is filled with plastic scraps of snacks, empty iced coffee bottles, and a few crumbled papers. The floor has also scattered paper and a few ball pen as well. The masterpiece of the chaos is Oli laying on the couch with two books on her stomach and an open book laying flat on her face.

He comes closer with a frowning face. He removes the book off Oli's face. Oli groans from the light from the balcony. Her eyes slowly open and blink for a few moments contemplating the handsome face in front of her.

"Good morning, handsome," she smiles and turns away to sleep more.

"What the heck happened here?"

"I read books,"

Locke turns away and picks up the scraps.

"I'll do that later, Locke. Don't touch any of it," Oli added.

"When did you even decide to read books? You never read books like that," Locke heads to the kitchen and takes a pot to put on the stove.

"I know right? Remind me not to read these types of books again," she pushes herself up into a sitting position.

"Why are you reading books like that now?" Locke heads over to the refrigerator digging in a few ingredients for the morning's breakfast. Oli manages to stand up and head over to the kitchen, yet with some really awful bed hair.

"Is that for the case?" Locke added.

At that moment, Oli seems to have woken up in an instant like cold water splashed on her face. She nearly forgot the fact that all of this mess was related to the letter. She nearly forgot that she waa just chased last night by probably one of his men.

Though, there is no harm to tell Locke about all these and leave out the chased-by-a-hooded man part.

"Yeah. I found a little clue behind the letter we found. It's an address to a locker," Oli replied while combing her hair.

"So those books are the next clue? I'm assuming the man with that letter is the killer. We may as run a few test on the letter,"

Oli stays silent for a moment tapping her fingers as her thoughts linger.

"That's not necessary. Change of plans,"

"Change of plans?" Locke turns to her with already the expected expression on his face.

"Yes. Change of plans. We find the victim,"

"Isn't that already a part of our plan?"

"We will find the victim as soon as possible. If anything, he could be roaming around the streets or something," Oli stands up and heads to the bathroom, but she leaves the door open knowing Locke will have more questions in mind.

"Are you saying the victim is alive?"

"There is no reason to believe he is not. We have no proper evidence that the victim is dead," she said while brushing her teeth.

"What makes you think the victim is alive? We have the mother's statement. Are you saying she lied?" Locke goes around the counter walking to the open bathroom. His arms crossed over his chest watching Oli with his usual serious look.

"Drugs,"

"Drugs? You accuse her of drugs?"

"It is possible. Do you see how frail she looks? Wait hold on," Oli spits out and rinses her mouth. Locke on the other leans his shoulder on the door's frame watching her.

"Anyway," Oli turns to Locke as she wipes her face with a small towel.

"That is only my guess, but it can not be drugs. However, there must be a reason for a possible hallucination. Flickering of lights? That could be her own imagination," Oli passes by Locke and heads back to the kitchen.

"Then we have to see her blood results or medical examination? I don't think it's possible to get considering who the mother is,"

"Oh, it's possible. Do not worry. After breakfast let's go to the hospital,"

"If you plan to disguise as a doctor and retrieve information then I'd rather cuff you on that chair and leave you here," Locke glares, but Oli simply chuckles.

"Kinky," Oli puffs out a laugh, Locke on the other hand chokes on the water he is drinking.

The embarrassment and laughter continues on, but stops when his phone rang. He answers the phone without hesitation. Though, the more the seconds pass as Locke listens to the person talking in the other line, the more his expression turns with a mix of surprise and confusion. Oli seems to notice.

"What's wrong?" Oli finally asked the moment Locke puts down the phone.

"They found a body,"

"Dead or alive?"

"Dead," Locke replied.

When Oli already convinced herself that she's on the right path, she begins to doubt that she is lost in the dark woods of this case. However, if this was only a normal case, she would have thought that this news was a good one. Knowing that this case has something to do with her, the more she feels uneasy just sitting down. Any wrong move she does felt like a step towards Satan. And every assumption she makes always feel like someone is watching her and a gun is pointed behind her head.

It can't be a wrong move.  

Next Chapter (9):

Wrong Move?