Chapter Two

Detective Peter Jones was seated in his partially fancy office. Tthe furniture in the office looked a bit old but were still beautiful, frames with the pictures of the president and governor of the city hung on the wall, a small national flag was on the top of his desk and on the other side was a pile of books.

Detective Jones seemed to be lost in thought when a young police officer walked in probably a junior officer.

“Good morning sir” he greeted

“good morning” Jones returned his greetings immediately.

" Sir the forensic result is here", the junior officer announced as he dropped some files on detective Jones's desk and exited the room. Immediately, detective Jones started going through the files when he remembered white bloody rose on the victim's body.

He checked the files for DNA samples on the rose,the forensics tests prove the DNA sample of the blood of the rose and the man's blood did not match, he thought to himself that whoever killed the man must have dropped his or her blood also at the homicide scene. He let out a weak smile knowing he now had a lead and he stood up and left his office.

The murder of Aaron George was still a fresh topic on everyone's lips when the mysterious killer struck again,this time it was a top elite businessman and the owner of a pharmaceutical company called Ramson pharmaceuticals. Mr Ramson was found dead in a park with similar stab wounds with that of the former victim. Awhite, partially bloody rose was placed on his chest, his dull eyes widely open, he was dressed in a cooperate wear with a white long-sleeved shirt. Visitors who came to the park found him the next morning and alerted the police.

Detective Jones, his partner and other police officers arrived at the scene. Immediately, they noticed the the similarities between the homicide cases. Detective Jones put on a synthetic hand glove and picked up the bloody rose, he noticed that it was the same with the former rose as he examined it closely, he called a junior officer and asked that the rose be taken to the forensics to determine if the DNA was similar to the other one.

Just in, his partner Maria walked in, she had been walking around the park in search of clues, though it was fruitless. She took a deep sigh as she came close to the dead body lying on the floor that was about to be moved.

She was about to speak when Jones cut in on her.

"what does a white rose to signify"

“I don't know”

she replied immediately after giving it a brief thought.

“In three days interval, we've had two similar homicide cases and the victims are top businessmen in Almond city. This time it was Ramsey Odak, owner of Ramson pharmaceuticals apart from being wealthy and influential, what else do they have in common” detective Jones asked in a confused tone.

"Wait, I think both victims are board members of Lebans's group and also among the largest shareholders. Ramsey's wife owns a reality show which she hosts herself and George's wife is a celebrity doctor. Both live in extreme luxury“ Maria replied confidently.

“Why bring their wives into this?“

“You asked what they had in common or didn't you?“

Forget it. What are you insinuating? Is this kind of a business thing? But if it is why not just hire hitmen to do it, why the white bloody rose, the drugging, it's obscure. Normally, when businessmen or politicians want to take down their rival or opponents, they hire desperados to do the job, you can get an assassin in the black markets for a decent amount, but this one, leaving a white bloody rose on the victim's chest, I think there's some sort of ritual attached to it”

“You have a point Jones so what does a white rose signify?“

“I don't know but we're definitely going to find out.“

“Almond city is becoming unsafe for the rich, expect mass relocation anytime from now, no one wants to stay in an insecure city especially when you have a fat bank account.“ Maria said.

“True but are there any houses or places with white rose flowers in it probably as ornamental crops or something related?“

“I don't know Jones, I haven't seen one before. It's a beautiful flower anyway maybe I'll grow them someday.“ she said.

“I haven't too. Infact, I didn't even know they existed, I only know of red roses. Call David, ask him to check Almond city's digital map for popular gardens and florists in the city. I want more info on the white rose.“ Jones replied.

“Okay boss, I didn't know you had interests in ornamental knowledge.“

“Listen Maria, from the killer's perspective, the idea of the white rose shows that they're trying to reveal the purpose of the murder, project their identity or even show the world there's some sort of emotion attached to it. Anything coloured white is usually a representation of peace but in this case I guess it's not so.“ Jones said.

“As much as I support your theories but these are pretty much still assumptions. I'll just call David. By the why would a park as large as this not have surveillance cameras” she replied.

“Maria, people come to parks to clear their head and do other recreational stuff, putting a Camera would be like bugging them and intruding on their privacy. So just call David, I'll be back, I want to check for something.

“Okay, what's do you want to check for.“

“I just remembered, back at the scene, the footprints had holes in them meaning the culprit was on heels and this just confirms our suspicion. The culprit is definitely a woman.“

“That's true Jones but what if the last person he came in contact with before the murderer was a woman and not the murderer?“ Maria replied.

“The probility is lesser, I'll be back” He said as he walked away.