Death Upon the Dead

"A new case for me?" Sam repeated Xerxes's words.

"Yes, I like working with you," Xerxes said, sitting on the chair behind the desk. He was speaking truthfully—he liked working with Sam, and the reason that previous case was solved instantly might have also been because Sam was with him.

Sam couldn't help himself from breaking into a bright smile as he scratched the back of his head."

Did you have any troubles closing the case of that boy?"

At Xerxes's question, he turned serious once more. "None, Sergeant, everything was handled calmly," he stood straight and answered.

"Perfect! I'll give you the details of the new case in a bit. It's another missing person. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, we'll leave to visit the house where the missing wife's husband is staying."

***

After talking it out with Sam, Xerxes returned to the back room where the group resided. Upon entering, he was met with a sulking Nova, who refused to look him in the eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked innocently.

"Ignore him. He's being jealous of your new junior right now,"Lucas answered while discussing something with Alexa and Kai.

Xerxes did as told and sat beside Lucas to join in on the discussion, gaining the attention of all of them.

"Can you really trust someone from the dungeon?" Alexa asked bluntly the moment he got comfortable.

"Hmm... I don't know, but I don't doubt him," Xerxes answered honestly.

"He did help me with a case. Maybe it's because of that I have taken a liking to him," he smiled slightly. Even though they were the same age, Sam was contagious to have Xerxes's adoration, like a cute junior tailing behind his senior in university.

But Xerxes knew better than to get attached—once the dungeon was cleared, Sam would be gone.

"You never say anything near nice about me, and here a complete NPC has your heart?" Nova's face was half-folding itself in contempt and betrayal.

"We interviewed just about everyone in the market," Lucas began. "They recognize Elizabeth, but none of them have seen her for the past few days. The last time she was seen in the market was exactly a day before she went missing."

"Did you ask about what she bought that day?" Xerxes questioned.

"No... maybe we should have, actually," Alexa eyed Lucas curiously.

That's too bad...

"I just wanted to know a little more about what Elizabeth was thinking. If she had the plan to run away... personally, I would have saved that money for my runaway plan instead of wasting it on groceries. But maybe she just bought enough for a day or two to not seem suspicious..." Xerxes pondered aloud.

Lucas and Kai exchanged glances between them and Xerxes.

"That's a good approach to a case, thinking like the person who is missing," Alexa snapped the end of her middle finger and thumb together in approval.

Xerxes snapped out of thought. "What else did you hear about?"

"Ugh, the neighbors were absolute demons hiding in their little hoods. They refused to come out, and those who did were so rude to us," Alexa lamented those horrible memories of earlier, shuddering with anger.

"She was ready to fistfight everyone in the neighborhood, but we did manage to get a few full words out of them." Lucas was calm, unperturbed like an ocean without tides. He cleared his throat. "'Darn you, maggot-pie-looking ******! I haven't seen her or her ill-bred husband!'"

"...Sorry for asking..."

"No, there's a pattern here. Everyone said something bad about Mr. Pyncheon. One woman even threw her discards towards the house, cursing him and pitying his wife for marrying such a monster."

A hint of a glint appeared in Xerxes's eyes.

"I've been suspicious of him since the beginning, but we also can't arrest him as a suspect yet. We need solid evidence to back our claim. I also don't want to mess with the case since it's the third day tomorrow..."

"I have a plan, though, to end everything tomorrow," Xerxes finished.

"What is it?" Kai became a bit nervous hearing Xerxes had another plan.

"Let's just torture the man until he confesses," Xerxes nonchalantly spoke at a quick pace.

Kai sighed in relief. "Yeah, let's do that. Sure.""

Who here knows how to torture someone?!" Nova asked, utterly baffled by the plan.

"Are you that sure it's him?" Lucas asked, skeptical.

"Yes. Let's visit the house in the morning with Sam, my junior. If we still don't figure out something by the evening, let's just torture him in every single way until he confesses. Before anything happens to us, we'll attack him first," Xerxes said, a bit confident this time.

Lucas and Kai nodded in agreement.

"Are y'all insane?! Have you thought about how dangerous that could be, or what if he is innocent?" Alexa almost yelled.

"Aren't they all just characters of the dungeon?" Xerxes looked in Alexa's eyes.

For the first time since meeting Xerxes, she had never felt threatened by any of them, but now her instincts were screaming at her like she was in front of a predator hunting her. She quieted down, moving back unconsciously.

Nova stood, striding toward Xerxes. Grabbing him by the collar of his coat, he said sarcastically, "Your lovable Sam is also a character of the dungeon."

Xerxes tried to free himself from the strain on the back of his neck. Nova was surprisingly—well, not surprisingly—really strong. His strength was unmatchable in the team. Xerxes, obviously way down the strength ladder, could only hold on to his hand and pray he let go quickly. But on the surface, he still had a poker face and lazy eyes.

"Cat got your tongue now?" Nova taunted, expecting Xerxes to fight back, but he was unresponsive.

He was thinking of letting go of the collar when he was electrocuted by terrifyingly high voltage by Xerxes's fingers laying on his hand. He immediately fell back, letting Xerxes be free.

Nova's hand went numb up to the elbow. He stared in shock, not knowing what to do.

"What's wrong with you now?" Lucas stood to check on Nova.

"Did he hurt you?" Kai asked, moving toward Xerxes.

Xerxes and Nova both stared at their hands, silent and dumbfounded, looking like a pair of fools.