Chapter Text
It was after the third death that they began to see a pattern.
No, on second thought, maybe ‘seeing a pattern’ wasn’t the right phrasing. Simply… a trend. ‘Pattern’ would imply that there was some logic to it, something that the deceased had in common, something that could be connected to explain why three perfectly healthy people would suddenly drop dead for no apparent reason at all.
But there was no such explanation. At least, not yet.
Gepard Landau was determined to find one.
“...So that’s why I’m here,” Pela was saying. “I was hoping you might have some ideas—if not about the case, then at least about who to assign to it next. At this point it’s fallen into the laps of four different teams, and keeps getting pushed further and further up the ladder.”
“Who has it right now?”
Pela sighed. “Maverick and Julia.”
Gepard winced. “Was that your idea?”
“Look, I know it’s not exactly Maverick’s… strong suit, but I was really running out of options,” Pela groused. “He’s already getting antsy, saying there isn’t a shred of evidence and this is a waste of his time. Julia tried to convince him otherwise, but there’s only so much she can do.”
“I figured as much.” Lieutenant Maverick was a capable fighter and officer, but he considered any lower-level fieldwork to be far below him, and didn’t exactly have the patience for investigating. Gepard leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. It was midmorning and he already had a headache. “...Could you remind me of the victims again?”
Pela leaned against the window, shuffling through papers. She looked about as tired and hassled as Gepard felt, her usually neat bangs slightly rumpled. “Victim one was Edward Emsworth. Thirty-four years old, a businessman from an aristocratic family. Victim two was Tamara Mathews, sixty-seven, a fairly accomplished scientist and researcher. Victim three was Jordan Nielsen, twenty-two, apparently unemployed. All three of them had basically perfect bills of health, unless you count Nielsen’s asthma.”
Gepard ran through what he knew of the case in his mind from Pela rapidly bringing him up to speed. Within the span of a month, three relatively young people had died suddenly and unexpectedly of acute heart failure, the most recent just a few days ago. The first and even second deaths had been dismissed as freak accidents, but by now it was hard to deny that something more was going on. One was a tragedy, two a coincidence… but three was a trend. A concerning trend.
“How much digging have you done into their backgrounds?” he asked.
“We didn’t research them exhaustively , but we poked around as much as we could justify,” said Pela. “We found absolutely nothing connecting them. They’re from completely different families, social stations, occupations, and as far as we know, haven’t frequented the same areas. Of course, Belobog is only so big, so we can’t rule out the possibility that they did meet somewhere—but even if that were true, what would it tell us?” She shook her head. “The whole thing is a complete mystery.”
Gepard thought for a long moment. “I know Edward Emsworth,” he said eventually. “Or… knew, that is.”
Pela blinked. “Really? Ah… now that I think about it, I guess that’s not surprising, considering the families the two of you come from. Did you know him well?”
“No. We hadn’t seen each other in quite some time.” If Gepard was remembering correctly, he’d been a teenager the last time he’d encountered the man in person, though he’d seen his face periodically in papers or online since then. “He was very wealthy, of course, which automatically makes me wonder if there was foul play involved. But the fact that two other people without his wealth died in seemingly the same way makes that seem less likely.”
“I followed the same train of thought,” agreed Pela. “Besides, we were able to thoroughly examine two of the bodies. The autopsy didn’t turn up anything out of the ordinary. No signs of a struggle, no indication of any violence, nothing in the bloodwork.”
“Out of curiosity, which body couldn’t you autopsy?”
“Emsworth’s,” said Pela, which confirmed what Gepard had assumed. “At the time of his death, we had no reason to suspect anything was amiss, and by the time the other deaths occurred he’d already been long buried. I doubt his family would have permitted it anyway, and they certainly weren’t going to let us exhume him.”
Gepard nodded. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his head. Something about this case was getting to him, something both alluring and haunting about the mysterious deaths. The words came out of his mouth before he’d really thought them over. “How do you suppose Lieutenant Maverick would feel about taking on some of my duties for a few days?”
Pela raised her eyebrows. “I think he would be quite pleased. You don’t have anything too big on your plate right now, for once, and you know how much he likes to feel important.”
“Then would you tell him I’ll offer him a trade? If he keeps a handle on things here, I’ll take over this investigation for a while. Qlipoth knows I could use the change of pace.”
“You sure you trust him to keep things under control?”
“It’s not like I won’t be around. I’ll make sure nothing gets too out of hand. Besides, I can trust you to keep an eye on him, right?”
Pela smiled, pushing up her glasses. “Yes, Captain.” She handed him the stack of papers. “Here’s the intelligence we’ve collected so far. Let me or someone else in the division know if you need anything, okay?”
“Alright. Thanks, Pela.”
“I should be thanking you. You’ve given me one less thing to worry about,” she replied dryly.
“Well, don’t thank me yet. I still have to solve it,” said Gepard with a grin.
“...On that front I wish you the best of luck. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”
As soon as she was gone, Gepard started to look through the papers. As Pela had implied, they didn’t contain much other than the information she had already told him. I hope I’m not going to regret impulsively agreeing to help with this, Gepard thought. I’m no detective. Investigating isn’t exactly my area of expertise. Maybe I should have left this to the proper division.
“Whatcha workin’ on?”
“ Gah! ” Gepard jerked back, dropping the papers everywhere. Eyes snapping up, he saw a familiar pair of long legs dangling through the now-open window. They were quickly followed by a head of shaggy blue hair as the person ducked through the window, slipping their entire body into Gepard’s office. Gepard reeled in disbelief. “What… the hell are you doing?”
“Climbing in through the window, what does it look like I’m doing? Do you need to get your eyes checked?” Sampo brushed off his pants with a theatrical gesture that Gepard found infuriatingly annoying.
“Fine. Let me rephrase,” said Gepard through clenched teeth. “ Why are you climbing in through my window?”
“Oh, ‘cause I was bored and I felt like it.” Sampo crossed to the cabinet in the corner of the room and started rifling through the drawers. “Do you have any food in here? I’m star- ving .”
“ No? This is my office, not a damn restaurant. And get your filthy hands off my files.” Gepard crouched on the floor and started irritably picking up the papers that had scattered everywhere.
“Don’t you ever get a wee bit peckish while you’re working? Never? You really are a different breed, Captain.”
“Even if I did have food in here, it wouldn’t be for you.” Gepard could hear the childish petulance that had crept into his voice and scowled, embarrassed. He looked up. “Now get out before I arrest—”
He stopped short, surprised. Sampo stood over him, looking curiously down at him and holding out the rest of the papers. Gepard took them, strangely disarmed by the gesture. “Thanks,” he said without thinking.
Sampo grinned, and Gepard immediately kicked himself. “As I was saying,” he continued, trying to hold onto his dignity as he stood back up, setting the papers down on his desk, “if you aren’t out of here in fifteen seconds, I’m sounding the alarm.”
“Fifteen seconds?” Sampo beamed. “You’re feeling awfully generous today, Captain. I seem to recall it was five last time.”
“Ten,” said Gepard.
“Clearly, you secretly crave my company. We are like star-crossed lovers on opposite sides of the law, forced to be apart, stealing only brief moments together.” He placed a hand on his heart and did a little twirl.
Gepard looked pointedly at the gauntlet resting on his desk. “ Five. ”
“Okay, okay, I get it. You’re no fun,” Sampo sighed, retreating to the window and swinging a leg over the sill. “I’m out. Good luck solving those murders!”
Then, with a whoop, he swung out of the window and vanished.
Gepard stared after him for a moment before he finally processed the words. Hold on. Murders?
He crossed to the window and peered out, but Sampo was nowhere in sight.