Chapter Text
The last, slow drizzle of the summer downpour fell upon the weathered gray concrete, splashing the nearby chaffinch. Fluttering its feathers, it eventually emerged from the undergrowth, only to swiftly scarper back to safety. It was not quite dawn yet.
The gloomy clouds above remained, casting a dreary hue over the street. Curtains were drawn, allowing the reflected gentle light of streetlamps to paint across the window panes. With the soft pitter patter of raindrops gone, all was silent. A mistaken tranquillity. Gleaming a blissful glow, a rich golden bouquet of Marigolds sat proudly. They were, without a shadow of a doubt, glorious. Nothing could compare to their alluring beauty, not even the maiden that lay beneath them. Delicate locks of amber interlaced the flowers, while blanched fingers loosely clasped the green of the stems. It would seem the petals had drained all colour from the girl, consuming her beauty for their own.
The girl's name was Erin Robertson. A perky and intelligent young adult, aspiring to reach new heights. Given the chance she could've reached the stars. But the stars weren't out tonight and she, had fallen back to the ground. If only she knew there wasn't a logical explanation for everything. There are certain things that shouldn't be explained with science, alike the romance she shared with Terence Baker, perfect but just not meant to be.
Erin wanted nothing more than to be his. To forever be in his sweet embrace. With a letter across her chest addressed to Terence, she now could always be by his side.
The gable of her lover's front door provided shelter from the rain. However droplets had managed to spatter the edges of the envelope, crinkling the paper. Ink had smuged but only ever so slightly. It was a simple message. Appropriate, as only two words were needed. The letter inside held the message and yet pages and pages of words could not express the full extent of Erin's feelings.
Thud. Peonies cascaded down like a waterfall among the shattered remains of the fabrication of peace. The pretty blues faded into a murky brown as the petals kissed the murky wet ground. A quaking boot compressed them as a man apprehensivly tread foward. His trembling hands clung onto matted brown hair, his eyes wild and darting frantically. His attire was smart causal, but now was damp and clung to his body. Gulping down he took a deep shaky breath to collect himself. Reaching into his pocket he brought out a tattered silver phone. The man then hesitated. Thick curved lips pressed together quivering. Already a florist was suspicious in this situation; but calling in a murder at 4am was sure to leave him with shackles around his wrists. Eyebrows arched upwards, tears brimming in his eyes, the man dialed 3 digits and held the phone up to his ear.
"I-I'd like to report a dead body "
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Tapping impatiently on the car dashboard, Inspector Kyungsoo Do furrowed his eyebrows. This was the third murder in 4 weeks. For a small town police department it was was way too much to handle, even a city would be overwhelmed. How was a small station of 5 officers supposed to tackle this?
Leaning his head to the window, Kyungsoo stared at his reflection. The dark bags under his eyes were even deeper, intensifying his notorious gaze into a foul menace. Raindrops delicatly danced down the window as the scenery passed him in a dim blurr. He could feel another headache coming on. The sounding sirens of the police car echoed in his ears as he sighed.
"That was a very depressing sigh Kyungsoo," Kyungsoo shifted his eyes to the man driving causing the driver to jump a little. "Jesus christ are you sleeping these days?" Upon hearing those words he chuckled a little.
"Yeah, I get an hour here and there," Kyungsoo turned his whole body to face his superior whose dreary driving had been bugging him "Though I can imagine you get even less Junmyeon."
At this Junmyeon bolted upright and gave a quirky smile.
"I'm all good." Despite his efforts, his reply came out half heartily. Before Kyungsoo could pressure any further the vehicle screeched to a halt waking up the officer in the back.
"Heck! What was that?" A moody voice questioned from behind.
"Wakey wakey sunshine Sehun" Junmyeon teased unbuckling his seat belt and swinging the door open. The younger rubbed his eyes, slouching against his seat before groaning and following his two fellow officers outside.
It was, infact, not sunny.
Kyungsoo felt a drop of rain and reached to place the black peaked cap over his head. Turning up the collar of his trench coat against the howling wind, he took a look around the scene. The other two officers were already there guarding the body, both looking as distressed as the other. With a lack of a proper task force, the local Doctor acted as a makeshift forensic. Junmyeon promised he was trustworthy. Kyungsoo didn't query. The Doctor was examining the body with a focused expression, his hands carefully searching for the cause of death. The other victims of this 'Matchmaker' had a simple and precise cut to the throat. After a quick scan of the neck area the Doctor rose to his feet. Tucking white hairs behind his ear, he adjusted a pair of thin framed glasses. His head hung is dismal.
Do knew then, they had found a third victim.
As the small man ducked beneath the yellow tape he noticed the familiar swarm of civilians, hussled together in shared fear and morbid curiosity. He couldn't blame them in a way. This was the first time anything out of the usual had happened in Barnsley. Even the postman paused his rounds to gather with the crowd, the creek of his trolley drowned by the chorus of hushed voices. The inspector had only been there a matter of 2 minutes and already the crowd was growing: from across the street the shop owner appeared and the milkman too, straining in the seat of his van to get a good view. The cherry on the cake were the wide eyed, nosy school children peering behind the saftey of parents. Do knew that Sehun wouldn't of stood for this. Luckily, he was on the other side of the crime scene inspecting the bouquet of flowers.
It was Marigold this time. Aside from the letter and the pathetic attempt of matching, the clue that linked these crimes were the elegant flowers always carefully placed in the hands of the victim. The flowers were always a strange addition to the crime scene. Whatever tragedy the area held, the bouquets stil bloomed eerily with undeniable allure.
"Who is it? Do we know?" The taller of the 2 officers, Constable Parks, dipped his hat in the Inspector's presence.
"Afraid so Sir, her name's Erin Robertson. Only 20 she were," He looked sorrowfully down at where the girl lay and lowered his voice, clenching his fist. "She had a whole life ahead of her." Kyungsoo nodded. He knew better than to let emotions affect his work, such things can't be dwelled upon too much when being an officer. Even so he awkwardly shifted his eyes away from the body Despite witnessing dozens of corpses before, the man couldn't bare too look at one for too long.
"Chief Inspector!" A tall dark fellow pushed his way through the crowd, his hair a tangled ebony nest. He wore a dark green jumper on top of a poorly buttoned shirt. In gasped breaths he cried again. "Chief Inspector Junmyeon do you know who did this?" Snivelling, he made his way over to the shorter man, hands on his shoulders shaking him violently. "It's been 4 weeks and you still don't know?!" Lips curling upwards he choked out the last words with spite. "You could have saved her..."
The hussling crowd fell silent.
The officer's wide eyes didn't leave the other man's for a few moments. His expression painfully genuine. Lowering his gaze despairingly, he swallowed deeply. Harsh scrutiny breathed down his neck, paralysing him. His shoulders visibly drooped, as if actual physical weight had been dropped astride them.
Do shifted forward, desperately wanting to reach out to Junmyeon but was unable to do so. The pressure of this case, he knew, was devastating, especially for a boy like Junmyeon. Murmurs could be heard from the crowd, they were quiet and yet so deafening. Expectations and potential disappointment, both things Kyungso knew the Chief Inspector couldn't cope with alone, shouldn't cope with alone. But had to.
It was his time to stand up. It was his time to demonstrate his leadership. Yet Junmyeon couldn't quite do it, unwillingly deciding to cower instead.
"That's enough!" Astonished, everyone widened their eyes as a younger officer strode up to his superior's side. His twisted grimace was enough to even cause a few children to shrink away. That short temper was bound to be tested today Do knew, but he never imagined like this.
"I understand you're upset but please understand we're doing the best we can here. Especially the Chief Inspector." Sehun quickly glanced to his side, eyes flustered. The shorter man looked up in awe, allowing the fellow officer to notice his eyes, watery and wide. Sehun, broadening his shoulders, faced the other man again.
"If you don't believe we're doing this right then try do a better job yourself!" He huffed crossing his arms tightly over his chest.
"I-I..." The man started but was surprisingly cut off.
"I'm sorry Sir you shouldn't feel the need to reply to that." Junmyeon had gathered himself, straightening his navy tie and giving a slight warm smile. Returning to his usual demeanor, he raised his eyebrows. "Are you Terence Baker by any chance?"
Terence nodded and almost immediately burst into messy tears. The officer was gifted the ability to calm people. His comforting presence and soothing voice even made Kyungsoo a victim. Many a times the Inspector had gone to his superior for advice and general reassurance. "It's just-" Terence's voice choked up and unclear.
"Come along. I'm going to need you to talk though everything with me, ok?" Gently wrapping an arm around the man, the Chief Inspector carried him to the side.
At this point, Kyungsoo had observed that the Cheif Inspector no longer had the crowd's attention as individuals had already began to disperse. Still took back by Terence's sudden change in nature, he wandered to the yellow tape to analyse the crime scene from afar.
It was then that a pale elderly lady wearing a grand feathered hat caught his attention. She was signalling the Inspector to come over, and within a few moments he did. Blue sunken eyes followed his movements, gandering at the nearby people as he made his way over.
"Hello ma'm is there anything I can help with?" Do asked.
"Lower your voice please." The lady whispered, so he'd lean closer. "I think I witnessed something important to the case." The Inspector's ears lit up. Finally he discovered something that could be a decent lead. Two weeks in and the team were desperate for anything they could get their hands on. An eye witness now seemed like a miracle. He nodded again encouraging the elderly to continue.
"Last night, around 3:30 am I were woken up by my dear Lilly and Oscar," Do could only assume she was referring to cats. Despite the stiking appearance of her fashion choice, the woman herself emitted a quirky yet harmless aura. "So I happen to glance out the window and notice a fine looking man walking on the pavement below. He were carrying flowers, the same beside that poor girl's body." Following her outstretched bony finger, Do noticed the very faint blue petals sprinkled around the crime scene. He was impressed that the woman had somehow spotted them, surely her eyesight had not aged
"Can you describe the man in more detail?"
The woman gave a nervous laugh, causing the peocock feathers to droop from her hat.
"I don't need to lad. I'd recognise him anywhere, it's the florist I meet every week. His name's er...Jongin if I do remember correctly."