The First Murder (part 3)

The First Murder (part 3)

“How is she doing?” Mr. Tevyat asked, taking his coat off from his shoulders and hanging it on the coat rack near the door, he took his hat too and also hung it on the coat rack. Jack came after, holding a box of cupcakes--- cookies and cream flavour--- just like how Auria likes them. Jack took off his coat too and put it beside Azrick’s before being led by the maid to where Auria was at the moment. “The miss has yet to heal. I do not think she will ever heal from this. Shedoes not eat, nor does she take showers anymore despite her being an advocate for hygiene. We rarely see her out of her room and would only go out to drink a glass of water and nothing more.” The devastation in the voice of the maid was very evident, her face was downcast and her head hung low. She is affected by the situation of her mistress. Well, all are affected. 

It had been four days since the incident. Four days since the death of John Albert Tristan--- her lover. Four days without Auria being ever noticed or seen in the public. Four days since the last letter that was sent by Auria to the Post Office. Four days without Auria. All are devastated by the news and her seclusion from the outside world, especially her fans. But her fans are understanding, they know the feeling all too well as they too had lost someone in their lives somewhen. Letters to Auria still kept coming, some even reading their letter aloud in the public to gather sentiment from the people passing by. But no matter what, Auria has yet to show herself to the public, she has yet to make a statement about the situation. 

She has yet to check in with Azrik and Jack, so the two concluded that it is better if they check on her. “Miss, Mr. Tevyat and Mr. Morcov are here to see you.” The maid said as she knocked on the door. they heard nothing from inside, they heard nothing from Auria. only a piece of paper was slid under the door gap. “This is how she communicates now,” the maid said. She picked up the paper and read the writings aloud. “Tell them to go away. I do not wish to talk to anyone right now.''The maid showed it to the two men, who had different reactions. 

Jack became even more downcast, his mood also went down. He had hoped to cheer the actress up with the cupcakes--- "She always cheers up when she eats these”--- Jack thought to himself as he looked at the box of cupcakes. He had wanted to help his idol somehow, but even that avenue is burned as Auria does not want to talk to anyone. Azrick, on the other hand, had his face turned sour; his eyes squinted, his brows scrunched and almost reached each other, his nose scrunched too. He did not like the response. Azrick believes that emotions are nothing but a baggage, nothing but a hindrance. He thinks that emotions stop us from achieving the ultimate goal that life offers. emotions are nothing but distractions that should be ignored.

“Can you please give this to her? in case she ever wants to eat something.” Jack handed the box to the maid who nodded in return. 

But Azrick has another plan in mind. His view point was much more different than that of Jak. He had another pan in mind. Without any second thought or any premise to Jack, he pounded at Auria’s bedroom door. Asking her to get out of there—in a brute manner. “Auria! Get out of there! We have to talk!” he shouted. But Auria, not responding in her voice, slid another paper under the gap of the door to which Azrik picked up since the maid is already gone, storing the box of cookies and cream cupcake somewhere Auria might see. He read the note and became more enraged. “What do you mean by this?! Auria, there is nothing that can be done about him. But there is something that can be done for you and his killer. All we have to do is to catch that culprit. And we won’t be able to do that without your cooperation. We need your help to solve this, do you understand?” but no answer came from the other side of the door. Not even another paper. 

Jack put his hand to Mr. Tevyat’s shoulder, taking his attention. “WHAT!” Mr. Tevyat asked aggressively, his teeth clenching in anger. But Jack only shook his head, and Azrick knew what it meant. Azrick dropped his hands and proceeded to head towards the living room, leaving Auria alone. Jack went right after he slid back a paper, something written in it. 

Meanwhile, Auria is being enveloped in the darkness of her room. No lights, no open windows, the curtains are drawn and not even a lamp is on. All in total darkness. The only thing that lets her see in that darkness is the adjustment of her eyes. Nothing at all, in total darkness. There is no more light in her life when John died, the only thing that gives her inspiration and life, now gone and can never come back. The only thing that she can do to relieve the heartache that she feels right now is to cry. Her sobs echoing in the room and outside the door. 

When she looked up, all she was reminded of was her late lover. John loves to give her things, John loves to spoil her rotten. John treats her like a princess. John was the standard, John is the ultimate dream boy. And now, her dream boy is gone. Asshe swallows herself into her tears, she heard footsteps outside her door. Then a knock. Then a voice. 

“Miss Auria? This is Jack. I just want to know if you are okay there? I understand that this is a tough time for you, but please remember that there are people out here that are ready to stand by you. To support and help you in these trying times.” she heard him say. She stopped her sobs for a second, his words comforting her. Then he continued, “if ever you need any help, a companion or even a drinking buddy, I am always up for that, as well as your other fans. We are all here for you, Miss Auria,” he ended. And then the footsteps went away, as well as the shadow on the gap of the door. 

Auria calmed herself down, no longer crying or sobbing. As she looked around her room, she was reminded again of the heartache that she was feeling a while ago, but the words of Jack Morcov echoed in her head. Maybe it is time to stand up. “John would scold me as he sees me like this,” she mumbled to herself. 

Jack went down from the stairs and headed to the kitchen where he can hear the booming voice of Mr. Azrick and some of the maids. They must be preparing some food for the visitors and for Miss Auria— hoping that she will eat it this time. “What’s going on here?”he questioned as he entered the kitchen, seeing that the maids were quite busy with cooking while Mr. Tevyat is by the corner drinking what he assumes is coffee.  

Azrick whipped his head towards the direction of the voice of his assistant, a little bit irritated as he was late. “Where have you been and what took you so long?” Azrick asked, irritation present in his voice. 

“I was just trying to comfort Miss Auria.” Jack replied. “Did it work?”

“No. I don’t think so. But I do hope that I at least knocked some sense into her.” Jack said and grabbed the cup of coffee that one of the maids offered to him. He mumbled a little thank you before adding a spoon of creamer to his. “By the way, when is her manager coming here? We have a lot of things to talk about.” Jack said and then took a sip of his coffee. While the maids were busy preparing a meal, Jack and Azrick were then led to the living room— to stay there— and to wait for Auria’s manager. The Private Investigator and his assistant decided to go through things over again to pass the time. 

“So far, what do we have?” Mr. Tevyat asked as he took another sip of coffee. Jack whipped out his clipboard and went through the papers there. “So far, we have yet to find any clues that would lead us to know who is the sender of the letter to Auria, or the culprit for the murder of John Albert Tristan. I went back to the Post Office that is the service provider for Auria regarding those letters and went through their employment list. I am still going through it as of now but did not find any suspicious person.”

“How about the police?”

“The police had concluded that the death threat to Auria and the death of John Albert Tristan is really connected. Detective Olive had personally requested that we work with them together. They are willing to share any intel that they could garner to us, as long as we do the same.” 

“Oh, so the same old tactic.” Mr. Tevyat chuckled as he went back through memory lane. This is not the first time that he had a collaboration with the police ever since becoming a Private Investigator. This caused Jack’s curiosity to rise again. Even though he idolises his boss, he still does not know the reason why he quit the force. But that thought bubble of his popped once Auria’s manager arrived. 

The door opened and there came a woman in his mid thirties. Sharp looking with a business outfit and her rectangular glasses, in her hand is a briefcase containing the documents. “I’m here. Sorry for the wait, the way here was clogged due to her fans crowding the streets.” she said, her voice authoritative and monotone.

“It’s okay. We were just here a while ago too so we did not wait that long. Please sit down so that we can go through things now.” Jack said and invited the manager to sit with them. And so they talked about the agenda for their little meeting. The conversation revolved around the dealings of Auria, hoping that maybe she interacted with someone that is suspicious. “Really none at all?” Mr. Tevyat asked again, getting frustrated by the second.

“None at all. I value the safety of Auria, thus when she is meeting someone, I verify them first and do some background checking. And she is not left alone at all times, having a bodyguard with her whenever she goes. And I never leave her side unless she is at home. So I really can’t think of anyone that would do this kind of thing to her, and to kill John at that,” the manager replied. Adamant that she is very thorough with everything and ensures that Auria is safe. Mr. Tevyat grumbles at this. 

Jack noticed it and knew very well that his boss was in another bad mood. He will need more coffee. “Can we have a list of those people so we can do background checks on them too?” Jack asked the manager, but the manager just handed him the briefcase that she was carrying. Inside was the information about the people that Auria met so far. All complete. This would narrow down the work for him and Azrick ten times. “Thank you,” Jack said. He then asked the maid to get another cup of coffee for Azrick, or else he will explode any time soon. 

Jack knows his boss well. He knows that he is the best, but it is part of his nature to be frustrated in every case and then solve it right after. It is like the expression of “I will rant first then I will do it after”. It was hilarious, but if it was what makes his boss function the best, then it is what it is. While waiting and doing what they needed, they all heard footsteps coming from the stairs. They all turned their heads towards the sound and saw Auria slowly going down the stairs. Her state was a complete opposite of what she was before the death of John. “Auria!” the manager exclaimed and rushed to her side, engulfing her in a hug. Auria was frozen for a moment, but she soon melted in her embrace and soon, another sob was heard from the actress once again. 

After a while, the manager guided Auria to the living room and sat together with Jack and Mr. Tevyat. The manager ordered the maids to bring her something to eat, as well as her supplements and her tea. “Also, bring our meal here. We will eat here,” the manager said. The maids, shocked that their employer is finally out of her room and willing to eat, rejoiced internally and hurried to prepare her food, as well as for the others too. 

In record time, their meal was served and Auria— for the first time after a long time— is eating her meal. They ate in normal silence as each of them savoured the food. Especially the actress who was eating her favourite: omurice. ‘John would always make this for me when I am having my period.’ Auria thought to herself, but she fought back the tears. No more crying, there are other things that need to be tackled. 

After their meal, it was Auria who spoke first. “I am sorry if I became a burden and a hindrance to the investigation, and make you all worry. I did not mean to, I’m really sorry.”

“As you sh—” Azrick was about to say but he got cut off by Jack. “There is nothing to be sorry about, Miss Auria. It is your right to mourn and cry to your heart’s content if that helps you process your feelings. It is a great loss after all.” Jack then looked at Azrick and glared at him, as if saying that he should have shown compassion and sympathy to the actress.

“What he said is right. There is nothing to be sorry about dear. If you need to mourn some more then do so, if that makes you feel better.” the manager said, putting Auria’s stray hair and tucking it behind her ears. Azrick caught this and squinted his eyes about it, the cogs in his brain slowly turning. 

Auria whipped her tears away from her eyes as she said, “I know that. But I am done mourning. John would scold me if he saw me like this. I should do everything in my power to help you all and find the person who did this to him. Justice must be served. John deserves that justice.” her voice trailed off but she abruptly stood up, saying that she is going to get something inside her room that might be of help in the investigation. “Wait here.” she instructed them. 

She went up to her room and came back down the stairs holding a huge box. “Ah— let me help!” Jack quickly offered assistance and took the box from her hands. “Thank you,” Auria quietly whispered. Jack went back to the living room and put the box on the coffee table. “What is this tho?” Mr. Tevyat asked, inspecting the box.

“That box contains all the letters that were sent to me by everyone that sent me a letter. From the beginning of my career up until now. It might be a lot of work but I am willing to offer my help if you need it, since I am familiar with each letter.” Auria opened the box and inside was a whole lot of letters, the box was full to the brim. It will be quite a while to go through with them. “So, your thought must be that the culprit might have been sending you letters from before, and maybe we can track them depending on the handwriting?” Mr. Tevyat asked, his eyes going back and forth from Auria and to the box of letters. She nodded her head. 

The Private Investigator smiled at this. ‘Finally, something new to look for clues. No more wild goose chase now.’ He thought to himself as he grabbed a handful of letters. As they went through each letter, comparing the handwriting to the death threat and the letter found at the crime scene of John’s death, someone knocked at the door of Auria’s home. The manager went to answer the door. Upon opening it, she and the others in the living room saw the familiar uniform— the uniform of the post man that is employed at that Post Office— and this made Auria’ whole being tremble in fear. It might be another death threat. 

“Letter for Miss Martinez. The Post Office also would like to offer their deepest condolences for her loss.” the post man said, handing over a stack of letters to the manager and leaving.  The manager hurriedly closed the door and went back to Auria’s side. “Do you want to go through this or you want me to?” the manager asked, but Auria just pushed the stack of letters to her manager, not wanting to see anything about it. And so, the manager, Jack and Azrick each grabbed their own letter and read through the contents. 

Most of them were letters of condolences from companies, supporting groups, other actors and actresses and even singers. There are also letters from fans who also express their condolences and their idolisation of the actress. “Found anything yet?” Mr. Tevyat asked, but no answer came from the two. They then read the letters in total silence, until they heard a gasp. It came from Auria holding a letter.

“What? What is it?” Azrick asked, and abruptly took the letter from her hand. He looked at it and his eyes lit up. “Jackpot!” he whispered. Another letter, the same handwriting, the same use of words, and the same contents written on the envelope. “Did we find a clue? Oh no.” Jack looked at the letter too and was crestfallen. His face was overwhelmed with worry and looked at the state of the actress. 

In their possession was another warning from the same person. But this time, the ink is not black, but red. And by the iron- like smell, it must have been blood.