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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 1, 2016 5:11:28 GMT
Plink. Plink. Plink.
The steady sound of blood dripping from the body set out on the metal autopsy table beat out a steady rhythm in the relative silence of the room. However, it was far from empty of any living thing.
Anna stood along one wall, looking through her medical examination tools in search of the right one as she silently bopped her head to the music blasting from her earbuds. The Chief hadn't exactly liked learning that she was in the habit of blasting music on her personal radio while working with the corpses that came in for autopsies, so for the time being she had switched over to her IPhone until the Chief once again lost interest in what she did and how she went about her work.
She bounced lightly on her feet at her favorite part of the song before selecting a small pair of forceps and a long, thin clasp, completely oblivious to the steady dripping. This body was fresh. Very fresh. However, even now she knew that something was wrong as she turned around and returned to the body, tools in hand.
No matter how fresh a body was, the blood almost immediately began to congeal within the victim unless something had been added to it that kept it from doing so. And even though the blood tests had come back negative for the regular anticoagulants, she had an idea of what it might be.
Looking at the body, she found one of the many small holes that covered the victim's chest and went to work, using the forceps to gently open the holes further and inserting the long metal tweezers into the opening. After moving them around for a moment, she finally felt them connect with something and grabbed it before slowly pulling. Out of the wound popped a single bullet.
She looked at it for a moment before placing it in a metal container next to the body with a small ping before continuing on to the other bullet wounds. She had removed six more bullets from the body when a knock came at the door.
Despite having her IPhone on, Anna just managed to hear the knock and looked up. In a moment, she had yanked the buds out of her ear, put her instruments aside and covered the body with a sheet before calling across the space.
"Come on in!" |
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Post by Zuyuri on Sept 2, 2016 1:22:30 GMT
Elsa may not have had strong opinions of Hernando Guerres, but she did know him for five years. He was kind enough to her, and had even supported her cause enough to supply enough money. Only for the truth to come out that he was a demon.
So to hear he had been killed was...tragic, to say the least. She had come to pay her respects.
A bubbly voice that eclipsed Sunshine's own enthusiasm answered her knock. That have to have been Anna. The forensics girl was a welcome sight, but they had never really talked. Talking over Guerres was a bittersweet introduction. Her hand froze, literally. Frost flew over the handle. She took one breath to recollect herself, walking into the lab.
"Hello, Anna."
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 2, 2016 1:45:01 GMT
Into the room walked none other then the BPD's go-to lawyer, Elsa Crispin.
"Oh, hey there, hi there, ho there, Elsa!"
Anna's tone was light and cheerful, as always, but anyone who knew her would have noticed how her normally chipper tone was slightly lower than usual. She knew why Elsa was there and that it might be a difficult situation for the lawyer, what with this being a personal visit and all.
"What can I do for you this evening?"
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Post by Zuyuri on Sept 2, 2016 3:35:38 GMT
"I just...came to pay my respects is all." The lawyer set down her silver brief case, careful not to spill any of the delicate chemicals on the table.
Hernando looked almost as if he were sleeping. His coiffed black hiar was, as it always had been, slicked back into a shiny cut. The face was framed by an overly groomed beard. If not for the small green veins that were pulsing from the neck, he would have been considered an attractive Hispanic man. A thick balanket had been covering Anna's work, but she could hear the dripping of the blood from nearby. Each plink of it onto the cold floor made her wince. She never wanted anyone to be killed in the way he had been killed. He had been assasinated during a board meeting. Only one thing could have killed him.
"Have you found the emerald bullet?" she asked, trying hard to keep her voice level.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 2, 2016 4:37:59 GMT
"Well...."
Anna began to lightly tap the tip of her shoe on the tile floor, a somewhat uncertain look on her face. There were protocols and procedures that had to be followed when revealing case-sensitive information to people and she wasn't sure if Elsa was privy to such information right then and there.
True, she worked closely with the BPD, but she wasn't actually a part of the department itself. Also, she knew the victim personally but wasn't his next of kin.
In the end, she simply didn't know if Elsa could be given this information or not and he position as a lawyer had only made the situation all the more confusing for Anna.
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Post by Zuyuri on Sept 3, 2016 20:06:15 GMT
Elsa's eyes shaded. Anna was following protocol, which meant he was doing her job and unlike many people who were joinging the facilities recently, out for personal gain. But a small part of her felt offended. The information she got was never abused. It was also kept silent unless someone asked for it in the correct formating.
"We both know that's the only thing that can kill a demon. I won't run out wanting revenge."
That and revenge wasn't Elsa's style. She had no one outside the department to go to. She didn't even have a romance.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 3, 2016 20:28:28 GMT
Anna ducked her head slightly with a blush on her cheeks, aware that Elsa wasn't happy with how much she was concealing the information on this case. She had always done her job well and followed the rules laid in place to keep information from getting back to the wrong people, but she also knew that Elsa was right.
After all, it wasn't exactly hidden knowledge that demons could be harmed by emerald. It was one of the only things that could really hurt them or even kill them because of the beryl they contained. And even now no one completely understood what it was about beryl that was so harmful to pure-blood Others.
"Sorry, Elsa. This case has just been very....sensitive and the Chief wants it out of the public eye as much as possible. Can't really tiptoe enough around this one."
She gave a little shrug before walking over to the table and stopping next to the container of bullets.
"The bullet's over here."
Anna didn't wait for Elsa but instead brought out a pair of tongs and picked up a single bullet out of the mass she had pulled from the body. It was the same size and shape as the rest, but instead of being metallic, it was a brilliant green which sparkled when she turned it towards the lighting overhead.
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Post by Zuyuri on Sept 4, 2016 21:46:15 GMT
Elsa said nothing. After the La Llorona incident, the Chief had become very uptight about everything. Things from locations of victims, be they alive or dead, to murder weapons had been almost under lock and key. Even the Others Unit was getting that harsh judgment.
"Don't know whether to be happy the Chief is finally listening to the Others cries of inclusion or annoyed," she remarked.
The emerald bulletlsy on the table. It was irregularly shaped, as most crystal bulletd were. The only rifle that was designed to hold them were Crimson Roses. She sighed as she studied the white veins, which were tinted pink from the blood stain.
"He's lucky it wasn't an aquamarine bullet." Aquamarine was a bullet that inflicted minutes of relentless pain, both physical and mental, upon Demons
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 4, 2016 22:10:00 GMT
"I suppose so. At least with an emerald bullet, he died quickly."
Anna placed the bullet back in the container, her eyes shifting over to Elsa and wondering how she really felt about this murder. After all, she had known Hernando on a more personal level but it was unclear how close she had really felt to him. Elsa tended to keep her emotions to herself and didn't often allow people a chance to see what she was truly feeling.
Anna opened her mouth, about to say something, but thought better of it and instead whistled for a moment to cover the silence before stepping next to the autopsy table once more.
"Forensic ballistics show that the emerald bullet was the first shot. Once it punctured the victim's body, it compromised his demonic abilities and made him physiologically the same as a human. He was then shot five times at long range with standard-issue bullets from a modified Crimson Rose."
Anna said all of this to Elsa as she continued to walk around the body.
"Whoever shot him wanted to make sure the job was done. Even an emerald bullet won't kill a demon unless it hits something vital, so they weakened him with one shot and then killed him with regular ammunition."
She came to stop right where Hernando's head rested, his face forever set in a way that made it seem as if he were almost asleep. Almost.
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Post by Zuyuri on Sept 4, 2016 22:16:10 GMT
"How is that possible?"
Demons losing their powers were almost unheard of. The bullets just lodges themselves and imbalanced the powers. Some Demons were even said to have disintergrated or exploded upon getting hit by an emerald bullet.
Her hands clenched against her sides, trying hazard to restrain herself from hitting someone with a snowball. But everything was making her head spin.
"Demons don't just...become human. But it does explain the five shots afterwards..."
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 5, 2016 1:27:53 GMT
"Calm down, Elsa. Here, have a cupcake."
With that, Anna went over to the wall containing the refrigerated morgue units and pulled one of the slabs open. However, rather then a body prepped for autopsy, the metal table contained a tray of beautiful cupcakes decorated with blue frosting and silver stars. Anna picked one up and handed it over to Elsa, hoping that it would give the lawyer something to do while she tried to explain the situation around Hernando's death.
"I don't know exactly how Hernando's powers were suppressed when an emerald bullet should have just unbalanced them. Also, he wasn't human, not exactly, but it did something to him that made him much easier to kill."
Anna tapped her cheek for a moment as she tried to find the best way to explain the hunch she had in regards to what might have caused Hernando's sudden vulnerability.
"I don't think it was just the bullet that did this, though. I think something else is at work. When I was examining the body, I noticed fairly quickly that the blood wasn't congealing at all. It's the same consistency as before his death, but I didn't find any traces of known anticoagulants in the chemical analysis. However, something else unusual came up. I'm going to run another more detailed analysis to see if something different was used on him. You noticed the white veins in the emerald, right?"
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Post by Zuyuri on Sept 5, 2016 4:58:19 GMT
Normally, Elsa would have been disgusted by anything coming out of a morgue unit. She had seen a frozen body - unintentionally her own doing - and she never wanted to see another chill for as long as she lived. But what came out of this morgue thing changed her disgust to pleasant surprise. In place of a body with a petrified stare, there were cupcakes. A few of them had gone missing, but the blue and silver spangles were...unique. She gave a small nod to Anna in thanks, turning the dessert in her hands.
"I'm surprised something like this hasn't happened before. There have always been hinderances in powers, but never so much a halt like what happened here."
Anna's theory had some plausibility, too. She was even adding research, which made the lawyer smile weakly. "You're starting to sound like a professional," she said with genuine kindness. There was no way that the killer could be a vampire, then. Blood had to be a certain consistency, otherwise the creatures would avoid the spill altogether and flee. Plus, a bit-and-run on a politican like Hernando? Unlikely. Demon blood was, according to one of her vampire clients, the equivalent of drinking overly-lemon flavored sparkling water. "Yes, I did notice the white...but I assumed it was just a malformation with the jewel."
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 5, 2016 19:08:56 GMT
"That's what I thought at first, but closer inspection shows that the veins only exist on the outside of the bullet, just underneath a thin film of emerald that broke upon impact."
Anna said all of this with the air of someone who's mind is running a thousand miles a minute. As she continued to speak, she picked up one of the cupcakes herself and started to lick at the frosting, slowing turning her lips blue in the process.
"The substance in the veins is like a fine powder when the veins are broken and I think that when Hernando was shot with the emerald bullet, the outer coating broke open and delivered this white powder directly into his bloodstream. Something about his blood chemistry is completely off, and I bet once I get the results back from the chemical analysis, the unknown substance in his blood will be a direct match to the white powder. But that still leaves me one big problem."
At this, Anna finished licking the frosting off the cupcake and popped the whole base into her mouth in one bite. She chewed for a moment before speaking.
"I still don't know what this substance is in the first place."
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Post by Zuyuri on Sept 6, 2016 1:15:24 GMT
Elsa's brow furrowed. It was an unindentified substance? That wasn't of the norm in the department. To think, Others were hired. She bit into the cupcake, deciding to let the moist cake and the sweetness of the blue frosting dull the fact that this shooting was planned.
"These are..." She paused, pointing to her mouth, nonverbally telling Anna she had icing on her lips.
"Once the substance is discovered, should there be some kind of warning?"
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 6, 2016 2:57:02 GMT
Anna's tongue ventured forth to lick at her lips, clearing away the remaining blue frosting that tinted her lips as Elsa nibbled at her own cupcake. She paused to ask about the substance and Anna quickly crossed her arms in annoyance at the fact that she didn't know anything about the chemical at this point.
"Hard to say. There's nothing in our records about a substance like this being found at a crime scene before. Also, it seems to have been designed specifically with demons as the target and we still don't know everything about their anatomy. We've learned a lot, but there's still more to discover."
The young woman's mind briefly ran over all the lessons and texts and classes she had taken on demon physiology yet how there were still big questions that hadn't been answered yet.
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