Chapter Text
What are you doing?
Well, I guess I should start from the beginning.
When I decided to take on this case, I didn't think it would turn out like this. I found out that Saparata was quite the mysterious man, with a complicated back story. My intuition told me that this wouldn't be so clear cut but… it's a lot to deal with alone.
Maybe I shouldn’t have ever agreed to doing this in the first place.
My mind automatically cycled through the events that got me into this mess in the first place.
“Hello? Is this Ish?”
It was on the 9th of April that I was first contacted by a woman named Jophiel. She had gotten my number from a friend of a friend, and the phone call had taken me completely by surprise. Apparently, she had known about me from my exploits in true crime investigations.
“I’m Jophiel *****, I heard about how you dealt with investigations.” She sounded tired, as if she hadn't been sleeping in a while. “I wanted your help with solving a… Well, a murder of sorts.”
It was usually phone calls like this that I'm most unsure about, since it meant that she was probably close to the victim. I try not to solve crimes that people contact me with because I apparently show too much enthusiasm sometimes.
It was… off-putting to some people.
But I liked the thrill of a good story.
Still, she did go through all that trouble to contact me, so it must be important.
“Yeah, you have the right guy.” I mentally prepared myself for anything to happen next, “Can you tell me about what happened?”
“I'm not sure if you know who Saparata is, but I'm his sister. If it's not too much trouble, I want you to look into his suicide.” The name nudged something in the back of my mind, it sounded familiar though I couldn't put my finger on it. “He's rather famous, you see.”
Oh, this was interesting.
I hummed, "I'll need some time to think about it.”
“Please do.” She sincerely said, voice caught between distraught and hope. “I just… need answers.”
“I'll get back to you once I've made up my mind.” After hanging up the call, I decided to research on my laptop about this man before doing anything else, having Jophiel’s plea in mind. “Alright, time to get to work.”
My mouse hovered over the search bar.
Saparata|
And enter.
I scrolled through the many, many articles that showed up as soon as I punched his name into the search bar. But a couple key words stuck out to me, ‘scandal’, ‘document’ and most importantly, ‘suicide’.
Saparata was a self-proclaimed idol, actor, and singer who took the world by storm around a year ago. His fame would only last for a short time though, as an anonymous document detailing his alleged actions would bring the man to take his own life. I noted that he was found dead in late February, having overdosed on sleeping pills.
…I didn't see how exactly this could be considered a murder since he committed suicide and there was no one else involved.
Unless… the person who made the document had a motive to take him down. But even if that was the case, tracking down the perpetrator would be a nightmare and with a well-known victim, any number of people could've done it.
I certainly had my work cut out for me.
Maybe if I read the original document I could—
A call from my boss nearly made me jump, reminding me that I still had an article to finish writing today.
“Shit,” I hissed under my breath.
I got caught up in investigating again, dammit. My hand automatically took my phone from the desk, clicking the accept button. The voice on the other end immediately started yelling at me, which was what I expected.
“I'll get that article done before nine, I swear!” I put the investigation on hold for now.
Yesterday
(03:13 PM) Voice call
2 mins
Today
This is Ish again, I think I'll be able to help but I want you to know that it's not a guarantee that I would be able to figure anything out. Do you live close to the coffee shop at ***** street in *****? I want to talk in person. (05:08 AM)
(05:12 AM) Thank you so much for agreeing to help me, this means so much
(05:12 AM) I can go there, yes. Is it alright if we do this on the weekends? I have work on weekdays
That's not an issue (05:13 AM)
Would Saturday at 2’o'clock be fine? (05:14 AM)
Saturday, 11th of April at 2’o’clock.
I had an appointment with my doctor on Sunday, since my migraines have been getting worse. The problem was, I haven't exactly told them about the voices yet. They've been getting a bit loud recently, harder to ignore. When I'm especially excited, they would also get interested.
I was mostly scared of the fact that sometimes they respond back to me.
I sigh, thinking about it made me feel insane.
The cafè around me had a nice atmosphere, people bustling around for their lunch breaks. I don't particularly like coffee—it made the aforementioned migraines worse—but it was a place nice enough to meet someone in. It was open, public, and very light, easy to escape if anything happened.
But my mind was caught up in my own strange medical circumstances, wondering if I should just tell someone about it. After all, hitting my head probably wasn't supposed to give me auditory hallucinations, right?
They're chittering about the case, some compelling me forward, some afraid of the answers it will bring.
Some…
[HAUWHAUWHAUAHAA I ate your dog]
…make me question reality. I don't even have a dog and if I did, how would voices have eaten it?
A notification sound dragged my attention back to the phone laying on the table, Jophiel had finally arrived. I pick my head up to scan the room, quickly spotting the blond woman standing around near the entrance. We met eyes, my hand automatically giving a wave.
She ordered something from the cashier and then sat down across from me.
This was the first time I met Jophiel, so I decided to commit her appearance to memory. Her blonde hair and green eyes were especially surprising. In all of the photos I've seen of her brother, he had almost white hair and golden eyes, completely different from hers. But according to sources I read the night before, Saparata did have siblings so I didn't sweat the details too much.
The problem was that I couldn't get any information on Jophiel herself.
“Ish, right?” She extended a hand to me, which I shook.
“Yeah, it's nice to meet you in person.”
I decided to wait before asking anything, just to observe. Jophiel gratefully accepted the iced coffee that the servers gave her, seemingly friendly and benign.
Which was good, since some informants prove to be…
Less helpful and more dangerous.
“R–right, I should probably give you the details.” She took a sip from her glass, looking nervous.
“Hey, take your time. I've got some notes to finish as well.” I reach into my bag and pull out a notebook, pausing for a moment to open it to the latest page. My phone was set to the side, open on a recording app already. “Whenever you're ready.”
She nodded, looking a little more sure of herself.
TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW 1 WITH JOPHIEL *****
Interview date : 11/04/20XX
Interviewee : Jophiel *****, Victim's Sister
Interviewer : Ish *****
Location : Coffee Shop, ***** street, *****
Recording method : Video/Audio
Transcript Style : Verbatim/Intelligent Verbatim/Edited
Key :
I : Ish *****
J : Jophiel *****
[Begin Transcript 00:00:10]
I : Alright, I’ll ask you some questions to start and you can answer them to the best of your ability.
J : Oh, [stutters] okay then.
I : First of all, who are you and what is your relationship with the victim?
J : My name is Jophiel ***** and I'm Saparata’s sister, the oldest out of three siblings. Saparata and I were close but since I got married, [hesitates] I moved out of our mother's house and hadn't heard from him much.
[00:00:35]
J : Well, around a year ago, he got a partnership with a company and started to become popular. I [stutters] was proud of him, of course! I still am, I was just [pauses] caught off-guard by how sudden it was. I didn't even get any news from him before any of it happened.
I : So, he didn't tell you?
J : No, not at all. Even our mother didn’t know about it until later.
I : I see.
[00:01:00]
J : We did meet semi-frequently, but maybe it just didn’t come up. I didn’t take it to heart. And after that, well, we had our own lives to deal with so we met less and less.
I : [hums] Which company did he sign with? I would imagine it’s a rather well known one.
J : Yes, it was. Pandora Music Entertainment was the name I think.
[Pause]
I : Okay, [drags word out] can you recount to me what happened before, during, and after the incident?
J : If by incident, you mean the document online and the backlash after that, well. [trails off]
[00:01:38]
I : Sorry if it brings up any bad memories.
J : No, I mean, this is for the sake of figuring things out.
I : If you’re sure.
J : So, around two or three months ago, there was a document that came up online. I didn’t know which website exactly, but Saparata had mentioned it directly to me. It said all of these horrible things about him, and he was worried that it would spread and people would believe it.
[00:02:07]
I : And did that negatively affect him?
J : Yes, he started to become really paranoid. The things that were in there, some of them were real but [pauses] twisted. I tried to reassure him but he kept saying that someone was after him, that they knew more than what they should’ve. Even in his [pauses] suicide note, he wrote that exact same thing. That’s why I contacted you in the first place.
I : It would be kind of hard to prove without an outright confession but I think it would be feasible. Do you know anyone that could’ve had a motive to sabotage him maybe?
[00:02:43]
J : Not at the moment, no. Saparata didn’t really tell me much about his work.
I : [hums] Is that so? I guess I should probably start there. Could you help me with that?
J : How exactly?
I : I might need access to certain places, like, his workplace or home. Having you come with me would help, as a [pauses] family friend, if you get what I mean. Now, I know that it might feel invasive but it would be helpful to have all the information we can.
[00:03:13]
J : [stutters] Yes, don't worry. I'll try to get it sorted with the people in charge.
I : Well, that concludes most of the questions I had answered. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me.
J : Yes, thank you as well. And please, if you can find out who's behind this, I would forever be in your debt.
[End Transcript 00:03:36]
“Well, that’s all I would like to discuss today.” I sigh, tucking the note I got into my notebook. The recording droned on in the background as I scribbled the last lines of my theories, satisfied with the work done today. “If you have anything else–”
An envelope slid its way across the table, cutting me off.
Jophiel pushed it closer when I didn't do anything, “This is uh, payment. For helping me.”
“No, no! I don't accept payment.” I immediately put it back, “I already told you, I'm not a professional and I could be completely wrong, this is completely free!”
She tilted her head, “Are you sure?”
“Positive!”
We didn't do much after that, mostly small talk as the world continued none the wiser. I use the time to organize my thoughts about the case, sorting out questions that I haven't yet found answers to and facts that I now know.
First, the one who is behind this has to know Saparata on a deeper level than the average person.
Second, thanks to the first fact, it must mean they have a complex motive.
Third, Saparata belonged to a decently well-known company, which probably meant lots of co-workers and competition.
For now, it would be smart to get into contact with the company and weed out any suspects. It was a working theory, but it wouldn't be a stretch to say that a co-worker wanted to defame Saparata to then take over what he had. The pressure of being a rival group or company, it could push someone to do horrible things.
[I WAS THERE, YOU'RE WRONG]
Right… I can't shake off the fact that anyone could be the perpetrator, even Jophiel. After all, there was no way of knowing what was behind someone's actions.
“I just… keep thinking back, you know?” Her cup was placed back onto the table, nearly empty. “To when I last saw him. He looked so scared and god, he was deathly pale. I should have realized…”
“It's not your fault.”
But who knew?
Certainly, not me.