- Local time
- Today 1:12 AM
- Messages
- 2,172
- Age
- 26
- Pronouns
- He/Him
"What have we here?", Detective Jenna Calion asked. She had wavy blonde hair, penetrating blue eyes, and a shimmering green scaled tail. They were at the outskirts of Gamon, a small town at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. They were out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but seagrass all around. She was wary of wild underwater creatures, but nothing but fish swam by
Officer Calum Garnet cleared his throat. For a merman, he was very short, barely inching out over Jenna. He had dark hair, and serious eyes. He was always serious which sometimes rubbed Jenna the wrong way, but she couldn't complain because he did his job well.
"A human male." He said. Jenna raised her eyebrow. There weren't a lot of humans in these parts. "He has permanent artificial gills. " He continued. That was even more strange. Humans who took the expensive operation to get gills meant that they were planning to be a resident here. If they were just visiting, then they could use temporary gills. "Seems to have been killed by a shark bite. " He finished. If there's one thing she could count Officer Garnet to do, it is to be succinct.
She stepped over and looked at the corpse. It was a tall man, with a slight bloated impression, that happened with underwater corpses. "When was the body found?", she asked.
"Some time last night, some merboy spotted him. " Garnet said.
"Has there been any ID on the corpse?"
"Not yet. After the photos have been taken, we'll circulate his picture around. Shouldn't take long. "
She nodded. She moved his neck to see the wound. There it was - the shark bite. Its bite was slight, but it certainly was distinct enough, there couldn't be any doubt on that. But, there was something strange about it. She looked at it for a few moments before it clicked.
"What's odd about this bite?" , She asked Garnet. It was her job to train him, and it was no good time but the present to do so.
Garnet squinted at the wound for a few moments. Then his eyes widened. "There's no blood around the wound!', he exclaimed.
Jenna nodded and hid a smile. It was certainly the most excited she had seen Garnet in a while.
"And what does that tell you?", she asked.
Garnet's brow furrowed, "A shark bit him after he was dead. But that .... doesn't make any sense. "
Jenna nodded, "Sharks don't usually go after dead humans. They don't usually go for live humans either, but that's a different matter. " She had often had to reassure human visitors, that no, no sharks were likely to eat them up while they were there.
Garnet seemed to be deep in thought. "But... what does it mean?", he asked exasperated.
"It means, " Jenna said, her voice rising, "we have a mystery on our hands. "
--------------------------------------------------------------
"It can't be my dear Harry. There must be some mistake!", said the mermaid before bursting into tears.
Jenna gave out a deep sigh. They had gotten a call about the ID of the person. His partner had seen the picture being circulated. The partner being the mermaid that they were now talking to - Giselle Moulard who through many tears had stated that her partner was Harry Kilner along with a completely unnecessary recounting of everything about him.
"You know we were always being judged, being a mixed race couple. ", Giselle was going on. "Him being a human and all. But he never minded those criticisms. It's like it never bothered him. He was always such a strong-minded person. He was a marine biologist you know. That's why he wanted to live here permanently and get those artificial gills even though they cost a fortune. "
Jenna nodded patiently as Giselle droned on. Well the more she learned about the victim the better. Even though most of the information given to her wasn't really necessary at all. Officer Garnet, she noted, was taking notes on his bubble paper notebook. To Garnet, everything was important.
"I'm afraid I must ask you when you saw your partner last.", she asked gently.
"Last night, I guess. He's always going out at odd times to research various species of plants and animals. "
Jenna nodded, "And what did you do from then, till today? "
"Well, I was in my home till then and then I went to bed. I didn't really do anything. "
Jenna nodded. "Well, that will be all. "
----------------------------------------------
"Dr Kilner will be gravely missed. " said the merman. This was Dr Jankellin, a marine biology researcher and a colleague of Dr Kilner. He was an older merman, and he had round glasses and was a bit fat around the waist.
"I was wondering if you can tell us why Dr. Kilner was outside the town without any way to protect himself." Everyone knew that if you were going to walk out into the wilderness, a good stunner was necessary. No such stunner or any other sort of weapon was found on the body.
"Oh no not at all. Dr. Kilner always knew about the risks and planned accordingly. I can't understand it myself. I'm sorry I can't help you. " He said, taking off his glasses and rubbing them.
Jenna asked him, "Did he have any enemies or any affairs that you might know of?" It seemed that Giselle could be a pretty jealous and possessive mermaid from the little she had seen of her.
Dr. Jankellin shook his head, "He didn't have an enemy in the world. In fact he hardly had any friends either. He diligently worked here, before going back home. " He sighed. "As for any affairs, I'm afraid I can't help you there either. He was very devoted to Ms Moulard, and anyways there are only mermen in this place. He was never interested in mermen like that." He said in a matter of fact manner.
Jenna was about to ask something else when someone entered through the door. "Oh, is this about the robbery?" The new merman asked, staring at Jenna and Garnet.
"Not now. Come back later. " said Dr Jankellin, exasperated. The merman left, but not before staring at the officers some more.
"Something wrong? ", Jenna asked.
"Oh nothing. Something's been stolen. "
"What was stolen?"
"Oh, nothing too important. " He said, waving his hand. "Just some shark teeth. "
Jenna and Garnet looked at each other knowingly.
----------------------------------------
"Here's what I think. " Jenna said, munching on some fish crackers that she had got from a store. It was a nice spicy flavor, her favorite. "I think Dr. Kilner was killed someplace else, then taken to the outskirts of Gamon, where the corpse was dumped but not before making a shark bite on his neck to try to fool us. Well, didn't fool us for long. I think the shark teeth might be found somewhere near the body. It will be incriminating if the killer still kept it with them. Take a squad and search the area around the corpse, we might find something."
They were in her office. There were a bunch of reports and clutter on the desk that she never got around to cleaning up. She was pretty sure there were some seagrass cakes somewhere in that mess that she needed to throw out. Well, she'd clean it up later or better yet get Garnet to do it. It seemed like he liked to clean things up, which seemed alien to her.
Garnet nodded and said, "Yes, sir. I think I have a suspect for you as well."
"Oh really?"
He nodded, "Yes, Dr. Jankellin. He and Kilner were both vying for the role of head researcher. It seems Jankellin may have thought that a human wasn't good enough to be one. "
Jenna nodded, "This is still conjecture though, we need more evidence to prove that."
He then frowned. "But if Kilner wasn't killed by a shark bite then what did kill him?"
"What does forensics say?", Jenna asked.
"Forensics says that there's no other wound except for the neck bite. They also agree with us that the shark bite was done after Kilner died. "
"Poison?"
Garnet shook his head, "No traces of poison was found. "
Jenna nibbled on a fish cracker, thinking. "That sure is a mystery. I'm assuming magic is off the table. "
Garnet gave a small smile. "What, he got killed by some magical power from mermaids that doesn't exist? Everyone knows thinking mermaids have magic is a human fairytale. No, we need something more concrete. "
Jenna sighed. "Well, if Forensics missed something, maybe we'll catch it. Though I'm not sure how. Come, let's go take another look at the body."
-----------------------------------------
Forensics expert Jon Lazali was very indignant because he thought that the officers didn't trust his work, but he showed the body to them. The body was laid out on the table for them. The body looked much the same since she'd seen it last. She looked all over the body, but she didn't see any other wound or even another scratch on him except for the shark bite.
"I told you that there were no other wounds. But do I get believed? No, of course not. " Lazali said passive aggressively. "If you're done with this, I have other cases to look at. "
"Wait just a minute, Lazali. " Jenna said patiently. She looked at the shark bite intently. She focused on the bite, then she found it. "There. See those two spots. "
Lazali peered at what she was looking at before swearing. "Those marks were almost covered up by the shark bite, no wonder I didn't see anything. " He concentrated on the spots some more. "But this is a mermaid bite!" He exclaimed. Garnet let out a gasp. Merpeople bites were outlawed and for good reason. They led to death very shortly of the victim.
"A mermaid?" Jenna asked. "Not a merman? "
"No, it's definitely a mermaid. The two spots are too close together. I'm afraid I can't say anything more than that. " Lazali said. "This is the first time I've ever seen a mermaid bite, though I've studied them in books before. " He spoke in wonder.
Jenna frowned in thought.
-----------------------------------------------
Jenna and Garnet were back in Giselle Moulard's house. They both were sitting on one side, staring at Giselle who was twitching.
"What is it? Did you find out who killed my dear Harry?" , she asked.
Jenna thought about what to do, before landing on the most straightforward method. She took out a bag with something in it. "Can you tell me what this is?", she asked.
Giselle looked into the see through bag. "Well, it's some shark teeth. Why do you want to know?"
"Well, these were found a few meters away from the body. And there were your fingerprints on them." she said slowly.
Giselle's face reddened. "That can't be true. I wore gloves -" , she put a hand on her mouth.
Jenna nodded, "That's true there were no fingerprints. " she said. "But it seems you've incriminated yourself. I'm afraid I have to arrest you. The case wasn't too hard. Kilner's two places were he hanged out where his workplace or his home. Since there were no mermaids in the workplace, only mermen, and only a mermaid could have killed him, you were the most likely suspect. " Jenna asked her softly. "Why did you kill him?"
Giselle let out a deep breath. "Harry had gotten into his head that he could give me a baby. Yes, I've always wanted a baby but I figured it wasn't going to happen now that I lived with a human. But Harry had other ideas. He thought he could do a crazy operation on me and plant me with something that has his sperm and my egg and would grow into something. He wasn't clear if it was going to be a merbaby or a human baby but I don't think he knew himself. We argued about it again last night. I panicked and bit him. The shark teeth was something I had stolen earlier. I ... like stealing things. " It seemed like she was more embarrassed about this than the murder. " When I saw the shark teeth, I had an idea. I hurriedly put him in a bag and put him in my sea car and drove it the outskirts of town. Then I put a shark bite on the exact spot where I had bit him to cover it up. " It seems like the life in her had drained out after she had finished her confession.
Jenna always had trouble doing arrests, especially with someone who seemed to be about to break down at any moment. But she had to do it. "You are under arrest for the murder of Dr. Harry Kilner. You will come with me quietly to the police station. "
Officer Calum Garnet cleared his throat. For a merman, he was very short, barely inching out over Jenna. He had dark hair, and serious eyes. He was always serious which sometimes rubbed Jenna the wrong way, but she couldn't complain because he did his job well.
"A human male." He said. Jenna raised her eyebrow. There weren't a lot of humans in these parts. "He has permanent artificial gills. " He continued. That was even more strange. Humans who took the expensive operation to get gills meant that they were planning to be a resident here. If they were just visiting, then they could use temporary gills. "Seems to have been killed by a shark bite. " He finished. If there's one thing she could count Officer Garnet to do, it is to be succinct.
She stepped over and looked at the corpse. It was a tall man, with a slight bloated impression, that happened with underwater corpses. "When was the body found?", she asked.
"Some time last night, some merboy spotted him. " Garnet said.
"Has there been any ID on the corpse?"
"Not yet. After the photos have been taken, we'll circulate his picture around. Shouldn't take long. "
She nodded. She moved his neck to see the wound. There it was - the shark bite. Its bite was slight, but it certainly was distinct enough, there couldn't be any doubt on that. But, there was something strange about it. She looked at it for a few moments before it clicked.
"What's odd about this bite?" , She asked Garnet. It was her job to train him, and it was no good time but the present to do so.
Garnet squinted at the wound for a few moments. Then his eyes widened. "There's no blood around the wound!', he exclaimed.
Jenna nodded and hid a smile. It was certainly the most excited she had seen Garnet in a while.
"And what does that tell you?", she asked.
Garnet's brow furrowed, "A shark bit him after he was dead. But that .... doesn't make any sense. "
Jenna nodded, "Sharks don't usually go after dead humans. They don't usually go for live humans either, but that's a different matter. " She had often had to reassure human visitors, that no, no sharks were likely to eat them up while they were there.
Garnet seemed to be deep in thought. "But... what does it mean?", he asked exasperated.
"It means, " Jenna said, her voice rising, "we have a mystery on our hands. "
--------------------------------------------------------------
"It can't be my dear Harry. There must be some mistake!", said the mermaid before bursting into tears.
Jenna gave out a deep sigh. They had gotten a call about the ID of the person. His partner had seen the picture being circulated. The partner being the mermaid that they were now talking to - Giselle Moulard who through many tears had stated that her partner was Harry Kilner along with a completely unnecessary recounting of everything about him.
"You know we were always being judged, being a mixed race couple. ", Giselle was going on. "Him being a human and all. But he never minded those criticisms. It's like it never bothered him. He was always such a strong-minded person. He was a marine biologist you know. That's why he wanted to live here permanently and get those artificial gills even though they cost a fortune. "
Jenna nodded patiently as Giselle droned on. Well the more she learned about the victim the better. Even though most of the information given to her wasn't really necessary at all. Officer Garnet, she noted, was taking notes on his bubble paper notebook. To Garnet, everything was important.
"I'm afraid I must ask you when you saw your partner last.", she asked gently.
"Last night, I guess. He's always going out at odd times to research various species of plants and animals. "
Jenna nodded, "And what did you do from then, till today? "
"Well, I was in my home till then and then I went to bed. I didn't really do anything. "
Jenna nodded. "Well, that will be all. "
----------------------------------------------
"Dr Kilner will be gravely missed. " said the merman. This was Dr Jankellin, a marine biology researcher and a colleague of Dr Kilner. He was an older merman, and he had round glasses and was a bit fat around the waist.
"I was wondering if you can tell us why Dr. Kilner was outside the town without any way to protect himself." Everyone knew that if you were going to walk out into the wilderness, a good stunner was necessary. No such stunner or any other sort of weapon was found on the body.
"Oh no not at all. Dr. Kilner always knew about the risks and planned accordingly. I can't understand it myself. I'm sorry I can't help you. " He said, taking off his glasses and rubbing them.
Jenna asked him, "Did he have any enemies or any affairs that you might know of?" It seemed that Giselle could be a pretty jealous and possessive mermaid from the little she had seen of her.
Dr. Jankellin shook his head, "He didn't have an enemy in the world. In fact he hardly had any friends either. He diligently worked here, before going back home. " He sighed. "As for any affairs, I'm afraid I can't help you there either. He was very devoted to Ms Moulard, and anyways there are only mermen in this place. He was never interested in mermen like that." He said in a matter of fact manner.
Jenna was about to ask something else when someone entered through the door. "Oh, is this about the robbery?" The new merman asked, staring at Jenna and Garnet.
"Not now. Come back later. " said Dr Jankellin, exasperated. The merman left, but not before staring at the officers some more.
"Something wrong? ", Jenna asked.
"Oh nothing. Something's been stolen. "
"What was stolen?"
"Oh, nothing too important. " He said, waving his hand. "Just some shark teeth. "
Jenna and Garnet looked at each other knowingly.
----------------------------------------
"Here's what I think. " Jenna said, munching on some fish crackers that she had got from a store. It was a nice spicy flavor, her favorite. "I think Dr. Kilner was killed someplace else, then taken to the outskirts of Gamon, where the corpse was dumped but not before making a shark bite on his neck to try to fool us. Well, didn't fool us for long. I think the shark teeth might be found somewhere near the body. It will be incriminating if the killer still kept it with them. Take a squad and search the area around the corpse, we might find something."
They were in her office. There were a bunch of reports and clutter on the desk that she never got around to cleaning up. She was pretty sure there were some seagrass cakes somewhere in that mess that she needed to throw out. Well, she'd clean it up later or better yet get Garnet to do it. It seemed like he liked to clean things up, which seemed alien to her.
Garnet nodded and said, "Yes, sir. I think I have a suspect for you as well."
"Oh really?"
He nodded, "Yes, Dr. Jankellin. He and Kilner were both vying for the role of head researcher. It seems Jankellin may have thought that a human wasn't good enough to be one. "
Jenna nodded, "This is still conjecture though, we need more evidence to prove that."
He then frowned. "But if Kilner wasn't killed by a shark bite then what did kill him?"
"What does forensics say?", Jenna asked.
"Forensics says that there's no other wound except for the neck bite. They also agree with us that the shark bite was done after Kilner died. "
"Poison?"
Garnet shook his head, "No traces of poison was found. "
Jenna nibbled on a fish cracker, thinking. "That sure is a mystery. I'm assuming magic is off the table. "
Garnet gave a small smile. "What, he got killed by some magical power from mermaids that doesn't exist? Everyone knows thinking mermaids have magic is a human fairytale. No, we need something more concrete. "
Jenna sighed. "Well, if Forensics missed something, maybe we'll catch it. Though I'm not sure how. Come, let's go take another look at the body."
-----------------------------------------
Forensics expert Jon Lazali was very indignant because he thought that the officers didn't trust his work, but he showed the body to them. The body was laid out on the table for them. The body looked much the same since she'd seen it last. She looked all over the body, but she didn't see any other wound or even another scratch on him except for the shark bite.
"I told you that there were no other wounds. But do I get believed? No, of course not. " Lazali said passive aggressively. "If you're done with this, I have other cases to look at. "
"Wait just a minute, Lazali. " Jenna said patiently. She looked at the shark bite intently. She focused on the bite, then she found it. "There. See those two spots. "
Lazali peered at what she was looking at before swearing. "Those marks were almost covered up by the shark bite, no wonder I didn't see anything. " He concentrated on the spots some more. "But this is a mermaid bite!" He exclaimed. Garnet let out a gasp. Merpeople bites were outlawed and for good reason. They led to death very shortly of the victim.
"A mermaid?" Jenna asked. "Not a merman? "
"No, it's definitely a mermaid. The two spots are too close together. I'm afraid I can't say anything more than that. " Lazali said. "This is the first time I've ever seen a mermaid bite, though I've studied them in books before. " He spoke in wonder.
Jenna frowned in thought.
-----------------------------------------------
Jenna and Garnet were back in Giselle Moulard's house. They both were sitting on one side, staring at Giselle who was twitching.
"What is it? Did you find out who killed my dear Harry?" , she asked.
Jenna thought about what to do, before landing on the most straightforward method. She took out a bag with something in it. "Can you tell me what this is?", she asked.
Giselle looked into the see through bag. "Well, it's some shark teeth. Why do you want to know?"
"Well, these were found a few meters away from the body. And there were your fingerprints on them." she said slowly.
Giselle's face reddened. "That can't be true. I wore gloves -" , she put a hand on her mouth.
Jenna nodded, "That's true there were no fingerprints. " she said. "But it seems you've incriminated yourself. I'm afraid I have to arrest you. The case wasn't too hard. Kilner's two places were he hanged out where his workplace or his home. Since there were no mermaids in the workplace, only mermen, and only a mermaid could have killed him, you were the most likely suspect. " Jenna asked her softly. "Why did you kill him?"
Giselle let out a deep breath. "Harry had gotten into his head that he could give me a baby. Yes, I've always wanted a baby but I figured it wasn't going to happen now that I lived with a human. But Harry had other ideas. He thought he could do a crazy operation on me and plant me with something that has his sperm and my egg and would grow into something. He wasn't clear if it was going to be a merbaby or a human baby but I don't think he knew himself. We argued about it again last night. I panicked and bit him. The shark teeth was something I had stolen earlier. I ... like stealing things. " It seemed like she was more embarrassed about this than the murder. " When I saw the shark teeth, I had an idea. I hurriedly put him in a bag and put him in my sea car and drove it the outskirts of town. Then I put a shark bite on the exact spot where I had bit him to cover it up. " It seems like the life in her had drained out after she had finished her confession.
Jenna always had trouble doing arrests, especially with someone who seemed to be about to break down at any moment. But she had to do it. "You are under arrest for the murder of Dr. Harry Kilner. You will come with me quietly to the police station. "
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