The Gods' Decree 142 The Mouse who investigates 2

Embedded within the tiny grits of the paint, was what appeared to be a small splattering of a vicious Red liquid.

Interesting, so this is where it happened. Hmm, but for her blood to have splattered to this distance, it must have been quite the unique weapon. 

From the footmarks, it appears as if she was facing her assailant and he was doing the same.  They were quite close from the distance apart of the footmarks.

 From the blood splattered on the wall, it can be inferred that the weapon used to kill her wasn't an everyday knife or dagger.

If it had been either of the two, they wouldn't have been able to exit the body on the other end so cleanly and even if they somehow managed to do that, the blood droplets wouldn't have sprayed onto the wall.

Might this be the doing of the spear found outside? Hmm... seems plausible. The force exerted from its jab could cause the blood to splatter to that distance."

Taf gave a heartfelt sigh as he lamented that the old man wasn't present with him or he would have shown him the missing link to this puzzle.

Meanwhile, Malgrey stood dumbfounded as he watched Taf walk back and forth at the scene. Sometimes he would make a comment out loud before giving a reason as to why it was implausible.

"Who the hell  raised this kid?"

He thought he knew all about Taf's past but now he felt that they might have missed something even more key. 

"So your positive she is dead?" Malgrey questioned while rubbing his chin. He had already noticed the confidence oozing out of Taf while he hypothesised the situation all this while.

"Well there are no absolutes, but from all the indicators that I have noticed, I have arrived at this conclusion. "

Taf then made his way to the dining and kitchen area where he saw the source of that splendid aroma.

"Why would they kill her?  Is it possibly because her cover was blown?" Magrey questioned.

"This might be the case or it was simply that Kathy had served her purpose, which meant she then became a liability" Taf replied

"Damn!  Everything is cold, well isn't this a letdown.."

As Taf spoke, he had taken a seat at the table as he shared himself a plate of food.

"Kid, aren't you afraid of being poisoned?" Magrey shouted after being startled by Taf's actions.

" Yeah I should be more careful, shouldn't I? How about you do the honours captain fantastic. Lead the way won't you.." Taf joked as a big grin grew on his face.

" Taf, if you want to die, be my guest, but don't drag me down with you."  Magrey then plainly refused as Taf pushed a dish his way.

" Oh relax.., those three did partake in the warm meal, they didn't seem too concerned about being poisoned. So, why  should I?"

Taf asked nonchalantly as he broke apart a roll before putting some beast meat and gravy inside...

"Really delightful. Hmm, my taste buds are in ecstasy, what a pity that Kathy died. If she was still around, I might have been able to get the recipe. Then bring it as a gift back home, the restaurant sure could use another course on its menu.."

He then shook his head after thinking...

"Wait which three, are you saying it was three individuals who killed Kathy?"

Malgrey became even more intrigued by Taf's word. With each word he spoke, seemingly more became unravelled. His details of events untangled more than Malnor or Ava could have possibly disclosed.

"Well, Kathy I assume is one of the three, shown by the lipstick stains on the glass close to the living area, where she supposedly died."

Taf then pointed at the glass which seemed oddly out of place a slight distance away from the sofa. 

"Then there is her lover who was one of the two who ate at the table.."

He then showed the two dishes that had slight crumblings of food on them.

"Why did you say her lover?"

Hearing Taf's words that particularly mentioned a lover, Malgrey felt a bit perplexed.

"Well from our meeting it can be seen Kathy wasn't the type to particularly dress to impress. Notice I stated lipstick on the glass. Do you recall Kathy wearing any during the briefing?"

Taf asked as he tried to bring this detail to Malgrey's notice. 

"No, as you stated,  she was quite bland in nature. If Kathy  wasn't the one speaking, she would fade into the crowd." Thinking back on it, Malgrey did recall that this was indeed true...

"Yes, so why then would the woman who seemingly couldn't care less about her appearance,  feel the sudden need to appear attractive? The answer is clearly a male visitor, more accurately a lover."

Taf once more stated as he enjoyed Kathy's handy work - having a portion of the meat...

"Kid you deduced all of this from a mere lipstick stain. How the hell is that even possible?."

There was a look in Malgrey's eyes as he looked at Taf. It was similar to the time he saw him touch the orbs in Marvel City...

"Yes, I was grilled day and night to be aware of my surroundings. To go in a room with a thousand different objects. Each day one of the objects was moved by centimetres to the right. I had to tell my teacher which it was.

If I was wrong, the next week it would be two thousand objects with one shifted half a centimetre, left or right.

This was my observation training, on the battlefield, your eyes are your greatest weapons, This is my teacher's sentiments."

Taf's words clearly show his deep respect and reverence towards his teacher.  It was clearly visible that he totally admired the one he spoke of. 

This was the assumption Malgrey came to, in a way he was surprised this kid had admiration for anyone. That man's training methods did seem gruelling, no wonder Taf was the way he acted.

"This was the mask cultivator I am assuming..?"

Malgrey then asked but somehow he knew this was the case.

After all, this man was awe-inspiring, his knees buckled even at the thought of the man's aura. Only such a being could garner respect from the Abomination...

"Nah, my teacher is even more awesome.."

Taf words did cause Malgrey to pause...

"You have a teacher superior to  the being who made even the elders shake in fear...?"

 Malgrey had to ask this as such an existence was more than his minuscules mind could comprehend  "Yeah, with ease and he's even mortal.."

Taf words nearly made Malgrey collapse to the floor. However, Malgrey  could clearly see in Taf's eyes that this was his genuine feeling and wasn't an exaggeration on his part.

"I see a flaw in your previous assumption. Before you identified two plates, doesn't it stands to reason that it was both Kathy and her lover that indulged in the meal? Why does there have to a third party?."

Magrey then highlighted the seeming flaw in Taf's analogy...

"This would seem plausible, yes, except for a few details which suggest otherwise. When walking in, what were the words that I used to describe this place?"

He then asked Malgrey as in someways he tried to get him to see beyond what the naked eyes told him.

"You insinuated that she had some semblance of decorum and uniformity?"

As Malgrey answered, he wondered to himself as to why did he feel like he was being given a lecture by this fifteen-year-old teen?

"Once more we refer to the previous briefing. Kathy did something odd as she would take her seat.. With all the things she had before her on the meeting desk, each had to be in some form of order.

Like the stacks of parchment, each was arranged from largest to smallest. Nothing wrong with that, to be honest, that isn't too peculiar as this is the right method of doing things.

However, when she answered Ava's and Malnor's question, then handed out the information, it was all clockwise. Never once did she look or issue anything anticlockwise. This I saw as a pattern. This pattern clearly showed Kathy had a peculiar tendency that everything must be in a particular order.

The proper term being an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Now we are brought back to my description of the home we are in.

The words used are decorum and uniformity meaning everything must be in a particular order. From small to big, patterns must be completed, everything must be how it is intended to be.

Now if Kathy is how I described, would she leave a glass out where it clearly shouldn't be, with lipstick stains?

Then go have a meal where the glasses were shelved? When she knew in her heart one was missing?

I would think this would drive her absolutely insane. In conclusion, Kathy never made it back to the table. She was killed close to the sofa while in her lover's arms.

To be continued.

Chapter end