The Supernatural Private Detective

Rob sat in his bedroom, tapping his finger on the desk as he flipped through the gravedigger case file. Shaggy lay on the floor next to him. The blinds on the windows were drawn, and the overhead lights were off, leaving the room illuminated only by decorative LED strips running along the corners of the walls. The faint glow bathed the room in a soft, colorful hue.

The walls were adorned with a few comic book posters, adding a touch of artistry to the dim setting. A shelf filled with textbooks, comic books, and manga stood against one wall, showcasing a blend of Rob's pursuit for knowledge and his love for storytelling.

'Here's everything I know about the grave digger so far.' Rob thought to himself. 'He stole five bodies without the coffins and left strange writings and inscriptions at the crime scene.' Rob stood up from his seat at the desk, Shaggy raised her head and let out her tongue, following his movement as he began to pace around his room.

The surroundings of his room changed to an illusion of the crime scene at the cemetery, complete with the scattered coffins and the strange inscriptions. Shaggy's tongue slipped back into her mouth at the sudden change, but she quickly rested her head back on the floor, unfazed, as if she had grown accustomed to this kind of thing. 'The bodies he stole seem to be of random individuals, but there's one individual that seems particularly interesting.' The illusion shifted, reflecting Rob's inner monologue, now displaying profiles and photos of the bodies taken. 'His name is Vincent Ramirez, and when he was alive, he was the leader of a cult known as SoulWhisper.'

The floating illusion of Vincent, along with his profile, expanded and drew closer to Rob as he focused more on Vincent's significance. 'Attempting to find out more about Vincent led me to an abandoned warehouse, which was once the meeting place for SoulWhisper. There I and the detectives ran into a masked man who utilized tools that had identical markings to the ones found at the crime scene.'

The illusion transitioned again, this time to the moment of Rob's confrontation with the masked man at the warehouse. The figures of Rob and the masked man froze in time, just as the man's cane began to glow, and he pointed it at Rob, preparing to fire. Rob moved closer, inspecting the mask. 'The man's mask was designed to look like some kind of tentacle creature.' Rob's eyes widened. 'Like the SoulWhisper tattoo.'

The scene shifted once more, now showing Rob questioning a man wearing a shiny silver chain in an alley across from the cemetery. However, the masked man from the warehouse remained in the illusion. Rob narrowed his gaze as the illusion zoomed in on the tattoo of a cuttlefish on the Shiney Chain's chest. With a wave of his hand, Rob adjusted the illusion, positioning the tattoo and the mask side by side for comparison. The designs were similar—both depicted tentacle creatures—but there was something different about them.

He waved his hand again, dissolving part of the illusion and revealing his desk, with the case file and his computer in view. Rob pushed the case file aside and opened his browser, typing "cuttlefish" into the search bar. After hitting enter, he immediately switched to the image results.

His search result showed various pictures of cuttlefish, but none quite matched what he was looking for. He glanced at the illusion of the masked man again before refining his search to "cuttlefish view from its mouth." The new images that appeared seemed eerily similar to the mask, as though it had been designed to mimic a cuttlefish from that angle.

'The masked man from the warehouse is indeed a member of SoulWhisper and is the prime suspect for the grave digger; but the question remains, why did he steal the bodies? For what purpose? His motives remain unknown to me.'

The illusion completely dissipated as Rob walked to a shelf and pulled on a drawer. He placed his hand inside and pulled out the metal ball the masked man used to create the smoke screen at the warehouse. 'Thankfully Jim is the Captain of the BPD, and because I'm friends with him, I have access to their resources.' Rob continued his inner monologue as he repeatedly tossed the metal ball in the air and caught it again. 'The man wore gloves, so we were not able to get any DNA from the metal balls, but we were able to get his DNA from the bullet that Joe shot him with. Unfortunately, we were not able to match his DNA with anyone on the police records.'

 Rob's attention was caught by the buzz of his phone. He walked over to his bed, where his phone was placed, and picked it up. Shaggy stood up from her place of rest and approached him. He looked at her and smiled before he checked his phone. It was a text from Victor, so he opened the chat from the notification.

–Hey Rob, are you still interested in going to Birchwood University with me to investigate the missing students?–

–You said it might be related to the case you're working on.–

Vincent was a student at BU, Rob thought. This could be my next lead. He quickly typed out a reply:

–Sure, when are we meeting?–

–Also, can you come pick me up? I kind of don't own a car.–

Victor replied almost instantly:

–Alright, what's your address?–

Rob typed back:

–No. 2 Donald Winslow Avenue.–

–Thanks.–

Victor responded promptly:

–I'll be there by noon.–

Rob responded with a thumb's up emoji, then exited Victor's chat. He noticed that he also had a text from Nora, so he opened her chat.

'Oh, that's right, I asked Nora to send me the link to the BU exposurgram blog page.' Rob thought as he noticed her message. He tapped on it, and the link took him to the news page. The first headline immediately caught his eye: "Masked Female Vigilante Seen on the Rooftops of BU: Hero or Poser?" The article was accompanied by a blurry photo of a female figure mid-leap between two rooftops.

"Eh?" Rob muttered, his expression twisting into one of confusion as he stared at the headline.

***

A tall man, with a broad chin, in a blazer that draped over his shoulders walks along the street holding a briefcase in hand, with a large smile etched from cheek to cheek on his face. The badge on his belt glistens a metallic glow as the sun reflects off it.

"Morning detective." A homeless man sitting by the sidewalk greets. He had a bushy beard and tattered clothing, and he wore a beanie on his head and a dirty wool scarf around his neck. There was a metal bowl placed in front of him where people would often help him with some change.

"Morning Sam." The tall man responded, placing some change into the homeless man's bowl before continuing on his way.

"Thank you." Sam the homeless man smiled, revealing his crooked and yellowish-colored teeth, one front tooth missing entirely. Overjoyed, the homeless man stood and waved both arms enthusiastically at the detective. The tall detective responded with an equally wide smile, waving back as he strolled leisurely down the sidewalk.

Soon, he walked through the doors of the head station of the Birchwood Police Department. He walked past the reception, which was empty, heading toward the open workspace filled with desks for detectives. The room was quiet and mostly empty—it was 7:30 in the morning, and he figured he was the first to arrive.

Or so he thought. As he approached his desk and set down his briefcase, his eyes scanned the area. Through the window of the captain's office, he spotted Captain James seated at his desk, so he walked up to the door of the office.

He greeted with a smile on his face. "Morning captain." 

Jim raised his head from the papers on his desk. "Morning Ross; I see you're early as usual—and still smiling too." He mused.

"You know what they say, captain, the early bird catches the fattest worms." Detective Ross expressed as he saluted the captain. He turned to leave, but his path was obstructed by a young woman. She wore a crisp blue blouse tucked into a pencil skirt, her blue eyes complementing the outfit perfectly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Detective Ross," she apologized, stepping aside quickly.

"No need to worry, Julia. Have a nice morning," Ross replied with a warm smile. 

Julia was the receptionist, and she is also in charge of maintaining and organizing the evidence room, where all the physical evidence and case files from previous cases are stored.

"Um, thank you, Detective Ross," Julia said softly, her voice laced with politeness.

Ross noticed the file in her hands. His instincts as a detective kicked in, and his eyes briefly scanned the title as he walked past her: SoulWhisper Case.

"Here's the file you requested, Captain," Julia said as she placed the folder on Jim's desk.

"Thanks, Julia," Captain James replied with a nod and a smile.

Ross returned to his desk but hesitated for a moment, glancing back at the captain's office. His brow furrowed slightly. What case could that be? SoulWhisper... it sounds vaguely familiar.

After a moment of contemplation, he shook off the thought and settled into his seat. Opening his briefcase, he began organizing his workspace for the day. He placed his badge on the desk, the name inscribed on it reading: Detective Lucas Ross.