*Part 2* Mystery Story by Lee Jia Hern

Enjoy Jia Hern's Part 2 mystery story!

~Part 2~

He performed an autopsy on Apocalypse, and finds that there was excess fluid in his lungs. His respiratory and cardiopulmonary systems had also failed. He then finds, at the end of the autopsy, an abnormal substance in Apocalypse’s lungs.

After the autopsy was finished, Mr. Abel had collected a sample of the substance for lab tests. He went to the laboratory, and then tested the substance. Within a few hours, he had gotten the results. Mr. Abel was shocked to find what the substance really was. It was actually ricin, which is rated as one of the most deadly poison that exists. The ricin found led him to believe that Apocalypse had been murdered by inhaling ricin. Shocked and surprised, he returns home after work to a night of unrest, tormented by multitudes of questions pounding in is head.



As he walked home in the autumn chill, he thought “What does this finding signify? What will happen next?” He was burdened with many thoughts that night.


Chapter 3
Plans


As the leaves rustled in the autumn wind the next day, Mr. Abel set out for Mr. One’s house. When he reached, he claimed to be an official here to inspect the crime scene. Being fluent with forensic arts, he quickly combed the room for telltale traces of a struggle. There were none. The windows were shut tightly, with cobwebs where the lock was. The door was not tampered with, and there was no sign of any blood. Surprisingly, the air vent in his room had been opened before. He later travels to the nearby police station, checking if the crime scene had been cleaned. The answer was negative. As there was no blood at the scene of the crime, nor any observable sabotage at the entrances, Mr. Abel concludes that the murderer had been inside the building before the crime.



The only people that were in the building on the night of Apocalypse’s death were Genesis, Apocalypse, Mr. Zero, Mr. and Mrs. One and the servants. The servants lived two floors below where the One family lived. The person whose room was nearest to Apocalypse’s room was Genesis, who lived just a room next to Apocalypse. Thinking back on the autopsy, Mr. Abel remembers the source of ricin-Castor beans. He continues to wonder who killed Apocalypse.



He drops the servants as suspects and there was no way they could get poison into the compounds without being caught and anyway they never went to the market- Mr. One considered them untrustworthy and always asked Mrs. One to buy the food herself. Being paranoid, whenever the servants need to come into any contact with the family or their living quarters – such as cooking, cleaning the rooms which they inhabit etc – they are scanned for any traced of items that could kill such as poisons or weapons. He decides to observe them over the course of a week.



Chapter 4

Results



The result of ascertainment was clear. Mr. and Mrs. One were visibly shocked and anxious. During Apocalypse’s funeral, Mrs. One wept so much that her eyes swelled. Mrs. One, for some reason did not leave the house after Apocalypse’s funeral. Genesis, for some unapparent reason, did not take the death hard and continued to do her daily activities, and if it was possible, Mr. Abel found that she seemed a little happier, somehow. Mr. Zero just kept an inscrutable face, seemingly devoid of emotions. The only thing confusing about the observation was this - Mr. Zero seemed to treat Genesis more kindly and tenderly than anyone else. The way he treated Genesis was even somewhat like a father-daughter relationship. Mr. Abel wonders if there is a link between Genesis and Mr. Zero.



Soon after Apocalypse’s funeral, Mrs. One went for plastic surgery to return her eyes back to normal. She mentioned that someone introduced the idea to her. It was not to be. The surgery was a failure due to an electrical failure that short-circuited the machines left Mrs. One permanently scarred. No one knew about the surgery except Mrs. One, Mr. One, the plastic surgeon, the person who had introduced the idea of plastic surgery to Mrs. One and anyone the person had told.



Mrs. One committed suicide quickly. It was not given much attention, as Mrs. One could probably have killed herself over grief at her son’s death. She burned charcoal in her room and locked the doors and windows, then let the carbon dioxide fumes asphyxiate her.



Mr. One was devastated at the loss of his son and his wife in the same period of time. He was more emotionally fragile than ever, sometimes missing meals and locking himself in his bedroom.



Mr. Abel decided to go to her inhumation to see if he can find any clues to the death of Apocalypse. Surprisingly, he saw a scar that he had never seen before on Mrs. One’s face.



He asks Mr. One where his wife had got the scar. With a tear-stained face and a soft voice, he slowly relates the accident to Mr. Abel.



Upon learning that someone else had introduced the idea to her, Mr. Abel became suspicious. He attempted to ask around to find out who had introduced the idea to her. His hopes fell, as no one seemed to know who had done it. Fortuitously, one person knew— Genesis. She said that Mr. Zero had done it, without any particular emotion. The way she said it made it sound like a casual statement. Mr. Abel starts to think that the possibility of a relationship between Mr. Zero and Genesis has increased.



He wonders if he should ask if there is anyone who knows of a relationship between them. The next day, he begins by asking Mr. One, who just said with a faltering voice “That is none of your business”. Mr. Abel continued to pressure him for information. Already being heavily emotionally stressed, he gives in, saying this



“In the past, Mr. Zero had used to have a daughter. Mr. Zero had been financially so stressed, he had no money to even feed himself and so, he decided to come to me, asking me to adopt her. Pitying him, I adopted her. He also wanted to keep this a secret, as he felt that he would be greatly humiliated if others were to find out. I agreed, and so, until now, no one but you, me, Mr. Zero and possibly Genesis knows this.”


Shocked by this revelation, everything clicked into place now for Mr. Abel.

~End of Part 2~