Alaric dreamt that he was floating on a huge fluffy cloud , cruising through the vast blue sky , a soft breeze kissing him on the face. He snuggled deep into the cloud , trying to surround his body with the fluffiness .
Suddenly the cloud began to vibrate strongly , growing darker and darker by the second , before his very eyes , the once white and soft peach colored clouds was now a dreary grey colour. The surrounding clouds also turned grey , vibrating angrily like a swarm of bees getting ready to attack. All of a sudden the loud beneath him gave way , and Alaric began to fall , thankfully before he hit the ground , he was woken up by his phone. Turns out , the 'vibrating cloud ' was just his phone going off on his bed.
Alaric rubbed his eyes sleepily , and answered the phone without checking the ID , " Senior ! They found another body at St. Gabriel's Chapel ! "
Alaric jumped up quickly , " I'll be right there ! " he hung up and began to dress , he raced out the door to find Lysandra reading a book on the couch.
" Alaric, what's wrong ? she asked, startled..
" They found another body , I need to get to St. Gabriel's Chapel," he replied while grabbing his stuff , he quickly opened Lysandra's fridge , pulling out two lunch boxes food , he stuffed them into his bag , " I'm taking two boxes of food."
Lysandra nodded , " By all means take more if you need it , take some for Cassius too , but how will you get to the Chapel ? "
" I'll take a taxi , " Alaric replied while stuffing his bag with some more food containers.
" No , it's peak time now , so it'll be hard to get a taxi quickly , I'll drive you there."
" Okay then , thanks Lys."
Lysandra nodded ,she jumped up and rushed to her room , seconds later she came back with her hair wrapped up in a scarf. Lysandra had very curly hair , it rested around her head like a lion's mane , but it was curlier than normal today , so she had to wear a headscarf to make it seem tamer. She grabbed some keys , before turning to Alaric , " Do you have everything you need ? "
Alaric nodded back.
Lysandra and Alaric exited the apartment , they got into the elevator and Lys pressed on the garage floor. A fingerprint scanner next to the button flashed and Lys immediately placed her thumb on it. After scanning , the elevator began to move downward. Soon they reached the garage and they stepped outside .
" Which car ? Alaric asked, turning to Lysandra .
" We need to get there quickly , but the road is somewhat harsh so let's take the Jeep," Lysandra answered, walking over to a large black jeep . She unlocked the car and climbed in , Alalric just stared at the jeep for a while before getting in himself.
" When did you buy a new car ? " he asked once he was settled in.
" Recently , I didn't get the chance to tell you , " Lysandra answered while backing up from her parking spot.
Lysandra smoothly exited the garage , driving up to the ground floor. They approached the final bend and soon they were looking at the sky , it was close to sunrise , but as mentioned before the city was still busy, in fact , this was one of the busiest times of the day in their city.
Lysandra entered the highway , and she began to speed down the lane ( still within legal limits) , Lysandra's driving was always smooth , no matter how fast she drove , so Alaric unknowingly fell asleep.
Lysandra spotted the napping Alaric and she decided to let him sleep for a while longer. He was about to have a very long shift soon , so he needed all the sleep he could get.
She saw their exit coming up , so she slowed down , and turned off the highway.
Soon the scenery changed , St. Gabriel's chapel was located on the outskirts of the city, so the roads were not well developed , Lysandra tried hard to keep her driving smooth but all the ginormous potholes were making it impossible.
Trying to avoid a large pothole , she didn't see a smaller one and ended up driving right through it , this shook Alaric awake.
" I'm sorry Al , the road is just really bad," Lysandra explained.
" Where are we ? " he asked, rubbing his eyes.
" We're almost there , " Lysandra answered,
Alaric's sleepiness disappeared when he heard this ,he quickly looked around , it was close to sunrise , and some rays were already peeking out. They were approaching a historic village, home to St. Gabriel's Chapel.
Alaric quickly looked around for some tissues , while napping he had drooled. Lysandra noticed his struggle and she quickly reached over , eyes still on the road , and pressed a small button on the dashboard in front of Alaric , the glove compartment opened up , and Alaric quickly pulled out a pack of tissues , " I'm taking this too Lys."
" Go ahead . And... we're here."
The Chapel was surrounded by multiple police cars, Cassius was speaking to his team members outside the Chapel, they were waiting for Alaric. The rest of the forensics team were already inside , photographing the scene.
He caught sight of the huge black jeep cruising over and parking nearby. He was about to ask Belios to go over and tell the person to go away when he spotted Alaric jumping down from the jeep .
Everyone stopped to stare at this , Alaric waved at someone inside the jeep before closing the door , he then walked towards the group..
" Is that Lys ? " Cassius asked as Alaric walked over.
Alaric nodded , " Yeah , she offered to drive me , also she sent you and me some food , well… I grabbed some for me , and she asked me to bring some over for you too. "
Cassius nodded , he turned and waved , the jeep flashed its lights back , as if waving back , then it reversed , on the road it did a U turn smoothly before driving off.
Cassius' team were looking at this scene curiously , Detective Thorne Beaumont moved close to Detective Belios , " Who is that ? " she whispered to him.
Victor just shook his head , " I don't know , but Dr. Tolliver said that he was sleeping over at a friends place yesterday , that might be his friend ."
" Boss seems to know the person too, " Detective Amélie Rousseau added.
" Here they come , let's ask them."
" Cap , who was that ? " Thorne asked Cassius.
" That's our friend , " Cassius answered simply , " Enough gossiping now that Dr. Tolliver is here , let's go inside too."
Everyone nodded , Alaric and Cassius led the group inside. A forensic officer handed some masks, gloves and shoe covers over to the group.
The group entered the Chapel. And there it was , right on the altar , another body , also a young girl. It was the same scene they confronted mere days ago.
" Alaric , can it be the same person ? " Cassius asked.
Alaric nodded , " From what I can see , yes . But the autopsy will give us the answer for sure."
Cassius nodded , then he gave Alaric and his team some space.
Cassius spotted Victor speaking with a priest and nun who both looked quite shaken. Guessing that they were the ones who found the body , Cassius walked over. Victor spotted him and greeted him , " Cap , these are the people who found the body , when they entered the Chapel at dawn to conduct their morning prayers , they found the body.
" Father , Sister , " Cassius nodded at them , " If you don't mind me asking , did you see anyone suspicious ? "
The Father shook his head , but the nun looked conflicted.
" Sister Mary ? Did you see something ? " the Father asked, turning to her.
" I'm not too sure Father , officers , but when I got up around midnight to use the lavatory , I spotted what looked like a shadow walking away , I was sleepy so I rubbed my eyes to make them clearer , but then I looked again there was nothing there, " Sister Mary answered meekly.
Cassius and Victor shared a look , " Sister , can you please describe the shadow you saw ? "
Sister Mary shook her head , " I saw it through the window , and it was very brief. I really can't remember anything else."
Cassius nodded , " Thank you Sister , but if you do remember , please don't hesitate to contact us. Victor , how is it with the Scopolamine vials ? "
" Cap, I asked Alex and Julien to track it down," Victor began but he was interrupted by his phone ringing , " Speaking of the devil , they're calling."
Victor answered the phone and put it on speaker. " Victor , I think we found the source. A month ago a set of Scopolamine vials were stolen from a small private pharmacy . But the owner did not file any complaints as the medicine is illegal."
" Bring the owner in for questioning , also get the CCTV footage , " Cassius cut in.
Recognizing his voice , Alex agreed before hanging up.
Cassius spitted Alaric coming out of the Chapel , he tapped on Victor's shoulder and he walked over to Alaric.
" How is it ? "
" Time of death was somewhere around 8 - 10 pm yesterday , same method and it's likely the same killer , my team is just finishing up, " Alaric added as his colleague carried the body bag out. " Then I'll catch you back at the office."
Cassius nodded and Alaric patted his shoulder getting ready to leave , but Cassius stopped him , " Now now , give me my lunch box before going , or you'll end up devouring my portion too."
Alaric grumbled , he was in fact planning on eating Cassius's portion too , he walked over to his bag and pulled out a big lunch box. He grumbled some more as he handed the lunch box to Cassius, " Really Cassius ? You just couldn't let me have your portion too ? "
" Alaric , don't get me started , I just saw two other boxes in your bag , and I'm 100% sure you had a shit tonne of food yesterday. Besides, how the hell do you even have the appetite after seeing that."
Alaric gasped dramatically , " I am a forensic pathologist , I've seen worse , but if YOU don't have an appetite , I'm glad to finish your food for you." He slowly reached out to the lunch box but Cassius slapped his hand away.
" I've seen worse too , and I'm sorry to disappoint but my appetite is well intact. Your team is done, now go back."
Alaric shot him a dirty look before climbing into the forensic units vehicle. On his way back , Alaric realised just how lucky he was to get a ride with Lys in the morning. Their van was nowhere near the luxurious jeep so the whole ride back was bumpy making his butt hurt with each bump.
Cassius and his team also finished things up and they piled into the police SUV , Cassius sat on the front passenger seat with Victor driving , Throne and Amélie were seated in the back. Cassius slowly opened the lunch box, he was starving. He wasn't surprised at all to see the box packed to the brim. In separate smaller containers Lys had packed them mini blueberry muffins , some espresso brownie bites , some mini sandwiches and a small glass jar that looked like it had some chia pudding. .
Victor eyed the lunch box and gassed , drawing the other two's attention. The three of them began to ogle at Cassius's lunch box.
" My friend sent it over with Alaric , " Cassius replied, sounding somewhat proud.
" Captain, did I tell you how much I admire you?"
" Shut it . Boss you know I'd do anything for you right ?"
" Boss, give me some."
The three of them began to whine.
Cassius sighed , he didn't want to share , but everyone was starving , besides he couldn't finish this by himself , so it wouldn't hurt to share.
" Okay ,but I'm keeping the chia pudding for myself. Also a brownie," Cassius agreed.
" Yeyyy Boss we love you ! " the three of them yelled in unison.
Cassius , true to his word, kept the pudding and a brownie before turning to hand the box to Throne and Amélie , but he was stopped by Victor .
" Cap , give it to me first , or those two animals will eat the whole thing without giving me a single bite, " he yelled.
Cassius shot him an amused look while Throne and Amélie shot him murderous glares.
" Okay , just tell me what you want ."
" One of each Cap."
Cassius pulled out a tissue and he carefully placed a muffin , brownie and sandwich each on it before wrapping it up . He then placed the small package on the front compartment , " Here , eat later , drive now."
Victor let out a groan reminiscent of a dying animal , Thorne and Amélie giggled at him.
Cassias shot both of them a warning look before handing the lunch box over.
They immediately began to dig in. Amélie decided to eat a muffin first , " This is so cute ! " she squealed , and she almost moaned when she took a bite , " It's so good , " squealed louder. The slightly tart blueberries went well with the warm tasting muffin, and the baker sure was generous with the berries.
Throne settled on a brownie , she almost fainted at how delicious it was , the comforting coffee flavour paired well with the rich chocolate.
" Boss , is your friend a chef ? " Throne asked ," These are so good ! "
Cassius just smiled and shook his head, he was too busy enjoying his chia pudding. Lys had made his favorite , a mocha chia pudding topped with some granola .
After the shack wore off , Throne, who was quite observant by nature , observed the lunch box while munching on a sandwich. To her the wood pattern on the lung box seemed somewhat familiar. " Hey Amélie , what type of wood is this ? It seems familiar but I can't place where I've seen it before."
Amélie picked the box up , still eating. When she saw the wood , her mouth fell open.
" Amélie ? " Throne asked, shaking her.
" This….. This is mahogany.." Amalie stuttered .
Everyone in the car except Cassius froze.
" Boss ….. Your friend must be loaded , " Victor finally spoke out.
Cassius simply answered with a yes before turning his focus back to his food.
Throne saw that Amélie was gripping the lung box tightly, afraid that she might damage it. She pried Amélie's hands away. " Are you crazy?! Don't break it! We can't afford to replace it,' she hissed.
Thorne quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe the box down . After she was done , she handed it over to Cassius , " Here's your box Boss," she added meekly .
Cassius looked at her strangely , " You're done eating ? " he asked, confused.
Amélie and Thorne shook their heads , " We don't want to damage the box."
" The box ? Oh she wont mind , she's got plenty of those, so just go ahead and eat " Cassius replied, handing the box back.
Amélie and Thorne quietly accepted the box and they carefully began to eat again. Victor shot them some helpless looks .
Soon they arrived at the Station , and just as Cassius got down , an officer ran up to him , informing him that the Chief wanted to see him urgently.