CHAPTER 2 : HANGED IN A WELL ?

I ran back to the grand hall as fast I could , panic surging through my system as I tightened my hold on the rose stem .

' If this ends up being a sick prank by someone , I promise I will throw hands' . I thought .

Reaching the busy hall , I immediately rushed backstage , hoping to see someone who knew the surroundings properly.

" Do you know where Mr. Hayes is ? " I questioned seeing a boy , quiet younger than me .

" Yes , he was with a friend of his at the corridor in the left . " He replied , nonchalantly , his eyes fixed onto the program list he held in his hand .

" Well , he is not there , and I think I need your help . Is there any well nearby ? " I asked again hurrying .

" Yes ... There is . Follow me " . He answered , immediately speeding off , leaving me to follow him .

Following the boy , I ran as fast as I could , making sure that he didn't leave my sight .

I had little to no time to worry about the people we had pushed to make a way , but I was sure half of their dresses were stained with expensive wine .

The echoing sound of a silver plate hitting the ground followed us behind as we moved through the crowd faster .

I could hear a string of swears falling out of someone's mouth just before I ran out of the hall .

Taking a sharp right , we reached outside the building , the cold air kissing my skin as a shiver ran down my spine .

I could see the outline of a well , a few metres away .

Reaching the well , we looked inside nervously .

And just like the note had said , he was indeed there in the well , hanged onto the well arch , a rope tied around his neck , an odd way of death .

Seeing the situation , the boy ran back inside immediately , hoping to get help as I took out my phone and called the department's ambulance .

~

A murder had took place .

The atmosphere at the area had changed .

Dull and tensed faces were all I could see .

As expected unfortunately, Mr Hayes had passed away before the ambulance arrived . He was dead way before we arrived .

The body had been wrapped up and took away , but a general hospital ambulance had arrived before the department ambulance , leaving the case more involved with the police .

No one expected a death to occur , specifically a murder and the thought that maybe they could be standing near to a murderer scared them .

Me and the boy along with some others were called for an interrogation . The police had checked the cameras , but all of them seemed to stop the moment , Mr . Hayes met his friend , who happened to be wearing a masquerade mask covering his entire face and strangely no one at the party knew who he was and no one had noticed him other than the boy .

I had given the rose and the note to the police the moment they had arrived . Ava was sitting near me , holding my hand .

We sat on the cold marble floor looking at the moon who was peeking from behind the clouds .

The crime scene was kept tightly secured and no one was allowed to enter unless they were necessary.

Now that the police were involved , the higher ups would have to definitely involve and get the case back .

Getting up , I held Ava as we took our leave .

~

Anika drove through the wet streets as the rain kept on pouring .

Ava was in the backseat , sleeping

Asterin was lit up with bright lights . Stopping the car at a red light , she took in the night as the moon now stood hidden behind the clouds .

The unexpected death did disturb her a bit , but she was not too affected by it . Ofcourse she is sad for his family , but other than that , nothing much .

But what did affect her was the way Mr . Hayes was killed .

Why was he hanged ? The well definitely was not empty , it did have water. The killer could have just drowned him .

Why would this person take the effort of hanging him onto the well arch ?

HONK - came the sound , bringing her out of her thoughts . The light had turned green .

Still with a clouded mind , she continued driving , her fingers tapping the steering wheel.

Anika had never really seen any of the owners .

They would rarely make an appearance and even if they did , atleast one of them would be absent .

However , she was intrigued by them. She wanted to know if they did anything related to DF( Delta Force) .

There are five owners , surely one of them would be doing something else too.

Rich men like them always had something else to do .

Ofcourse it was none of her business , but still she couldn't help but be a bit too interested , just like how she is currently interested in looking into one of their murder .

Parking the car in front of their house , she took the umbrella from backseat . Ava was still sound asleep .

' This girl's going to be waking up with a headache tomorrow ', thought Anika as she opened the car door .

Holding the umbrella above her head , she called Ava who didn't respond . She was far knocked out to respond.

Sighing , she carefully took Ava out of the car .

Keeping Ava's left hand over Anika's shoulder and her right hand hugging Ava's waist , she walked towards her house , with the umbrella carefully held in her left hand , while her purse hung on her shoulder .

~

She walked into her workroom and closed the door . Her room was medium sized with a wooden table , two bullet in boards on the left wall of the room , a locker for files and other papers related to work on the same side , three chairs , six to seven cardboard boxes full of papers of past cases she worked on .

It was not much , but she was okay with it . Afterall it was a shared quarters , not her own house .

Taking a seat , she opened one of the drawers . Taking the sticky notes , she jotted down the points she felt important.

She may not get the case , but atleast she could end up being helpful to someone else .

Somewhere in her gut , she knew the murder had relations with werewolves , moreover she couldn't ignore the clawmark that was on the painting.

Sticking the notes onto the board , she read them all again .

She was sure there were more than one involved in this murder , it had to be .

Maybe the murder was due to a feud that occured , but definitely not at the party . Maybe it was something much more bigger than a feud .

'Why did the killer choose that specific painting ?

If the murder was indeed a werewolf, then he would have to transform , and that would obviously result in his clothes tearing apart .

And if that happened, he should have spare clothes somewhere , or he would have ran outside as a wolf , which should have been noticed by someone OR someone's trying to make this murder look like a werewolf had something to do with it .

OR , it was a werewolf who had just not transformed . '

All three situations seemed logical .

Anika glanced at the clock .

' 00:01 ' , A minute after midnight . She needed rest .

Setting up her things in order , she stood up from her chair and walked outside the room , locking the door .

After checking all the doors and windows she walked towards her room .

A solid eight hour sleep was something she craved , but the case was still lingering in her mind .

With doubts clouding her mind , she went to sleep , oblivious about the note the killer had left in her friend's car .

A warning note left to let her know that was their new target .