TMOM C2: Scent of Bitter Almonds (Case Opening)

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The act of stealing earlier was spread throughout the school and caused quite a

commotion. I don’t like boring days but I despise noisy and chaotic days like

this. Maybe I’m not so happy that there was a case today at all.

After hearing a lot of gossip about Ms. Blaque, I think my day is beginning to

become boring again. Maybe reading some books in the library will help.

“Have you heard? Mr. Mori having a secret relationship with a student?” I heard

from one student while secretly praising my looks while reading a book about

poisons. Why am I reading this? I don’t know, I just picked a random book and

read it. It’s a hobby of mine, plus I often get new information about things

most of the time because of this hobby.

“Really? It’s a shame…I have a crush on Mr. Mori” said a girl that doesn’t look

like the type of girl that goes to the library. She’s wearing heavy makeup and

I think that *that* short skirt is against the rules. I wonder how she got past

the guard at the gate?

“That’s perverted though, a student and a teacher shouldn’t have relationships.

I think that whoever the girl Mr. Mori has a relationship with is just being

his girlfriend to have high grades. What a bitch” added another girl. They’re

lucky that the disciplinary officer is not here and I am not the kind of

students that tells on other people, what would I get if I report them?

Nothing.

“Yeah, I really think that the girl is just for grades. I also heard that the

girl always gets an A+ in that subject but lately, she’s been getting F’s and

D’s. I wonder what happened?” said one student who I often see checking

attendance and giving discipline to her classmates; I think she’s a class

monitor. *scoffs* I guess the saying “Don’t just a book by its cover” is true

after all…

“I think the girl tried to break up with the teacher but Mr. Mori refused to do

that and he threatened to reveal to the girl’s parents that she is in a

relationship. The girl’s parents are strict so I’m sure they would be furious

about that. Maybe the girl said that she’ll report him to the police and say he

forced her to have a relationship with her and say he did immoral things to

her.”

“How shameless… I bet that girl even volunteered and initiated herself to do

immoral stuff with Mr. Mori”

“I agree,” the class monitor said judgingly.

“Hey, you four! What are you doing there huh? The library is for reading not

gossiping” the girl that is the owner of the stolen project earlier said to

them. Wait---the girl that is the owner of the stolen project?

“Hey, Kira! What’s up?” Lyra greeted me with a big smile.

“Uh…hey?” I replied awkwardly

“Come on! Put some more energy into it!”

“I am just not used in this, I don’t usually talk to people”

“Oh. Then I’m going to change that!”

“Shhh! This is a library!” said the librarian.

“Oops…. I am sorry, Miss”

“Anyway, have you heard about the "Mr. Mori rumor"?”

“Yeah… heard it from the girls you reprimanded earlier”

“What do you think of it?”

“What do you mean---“

"Waaahhhh!!" one student shrieked.

"I said this is a library, not a noisy city! Why are you shouting anyway?" the angry librarian shouted.

"M-mr...Mr. Mori c-collapsed outside"

"What? Where?" the librarian hurriedly said and stood up from her seat.

"T-there," the female student said shakingly while pointing at the door.

"Hey, Kira. What do you think is happening?" Lyra asked me.

"I don't know but according to the facial expressions and tone of the voice of the student, it's something serious. Let's go and check."

We had trouble going to the scene because people are packing up but we still managed to do so. I saw a man in his 20's lying on the cold floor.

"I-it's Mr. Mori," Lyra said.

I checked his pulse and looked for signs of life but I did not find any.

"Let's call the ambulance," the librarian said.

"No, it's already too late. Call the police, I believe Mr. Mori was poisoned."

"P-poisoned?

"Yes, by cyanide. Potassium cyanide to be exact."

"How can you say so??"

"Only a few can notice it but if you move closer, you can smell the scent of bitter almonds from his mouth. Potassium cyanide smells like these nuts. Also, another factor is the pinkness of his nails and lips, this kind of poison interferes with electron transmissions in the body so oxygen in the blood will pass through despite being dead. In normal circumstances, it should be turning purple by now." I illustrated while walking around the body. I'm moving cautiously as to not destroy or tamper the scene.

"You're explanation is amazing, Kira!! I knew you'll be so cool! But, how did you learn all of this?" Lyra Gizem asked. It may sound a bit overreacting, but I think I saw her eyes shining.

"I read them earlier from the book I was reading."

"The police are here!" the librarian shouted.

The police first confirmed that the body is indeed dead and then started to protect the scene with police lines and detained everybody in the building to protect any evidence that can point out to the criminal.

"When we arrived here, I saw you near the body. What is your name, relationship with the victim, and why are you there?" an officer asked me.

"I'm Kira Zen, I'm a Grade 12 student in this school, Mr. Mori is my teacher in Math class. I was near the body because I got curious about what's happening and decided to check. I was also the one who thought Mr. Mori is poisoned."

"Poisoned?" the officer said after taking note of the my basic information then looked at another officer.

"Sir, we found traces of potassium cyanide in the victim's mouth." confirmed the other officer.

"I see...leave this case to the authorities and don't try to interfere with our work again." The officer said then continued to interview other people.

"You were amazing when you explained what happened to Mr. Mori, Kira!!" Lyra praised.

"It's nothing. I just happened to read a book relating to poisons before the poisoning incident." I humbly replied.

"No, no. You really were amazing! Anyways, I'm really curious about what happened to Mr. Mori and I really wanna see your amazing look again. So...can you, please...please investigate this case with me? I want to learn from you since I'm a fan of mystery novels and I want to be a detective." She said with sparkling eyes.

"Are you crazy? Let's leave this to the authorities. I also am curious about the case but it's important to follow the rules." I said though I really wanted to investigate this too.

"Come on....can we please? Let's just do it for once? Please? Please? Pleaaaaseee?" Lyra pleadingly asked.

"No" I replied, though trying to fight off my inner thought to follow her wish and also my own desire to look into this case.

"I'll stop annoying you after this."

It's really hard fighting yourself, maybe I'll just allow this just this once.

"Ugghh...alright fine. But promise me that we will not interfere with police works again." I said that but the real reason is I'm also itching to go through this case.

"I promise"

"Alright. Let's ask around people then."

"I already did." she said, standing proudly with a smile then took out a notepad.

"W-what? When did you have time for that?" I did not expect that.

"When you were illustrating what happened to Mr. Mori."

"How did you--nevermind. Alright, what did you found out?" I asked.

"I interviewed the five people, Mr. Mori was with before the poisoning incident. There are two teachers and three students: Ms. Agatha Jones, Mr. Asher Morr, Ethan Gray, Allysa Avery, and Samantha Joan," she said while looking in her notepad.

"How did you know that they were with the victim?"

"Well...I also admire Mr. Mori so I often follow him around when I am free but I'm not sure who among those five is the criminal. Around 12:00 PM, Samatha gave Mr. Mori his lunch because I heard that she was asked by Mr. Mori to buy him lunch for he was busy grading the projects of his students. While eating his lunch in the faculty room, Mr. Asher gave him an apple. Then, Ms. Agatha arrived with her lunch, unfortunately, Ms. Agatha got the wrong lunch from her fridge and found out that she was allergic to the food she brought so Mr. Mori traded lunch with her but kept the fried shrimp in his lunch because Ms. Agatha seems to be also allergic to shrimps. Allysa visited the faculty room around 1 PM to beg Mr. Mori to accept her late project then after deciding that Mr. Mori will just deduct some points, she gave a water bottle to Mr. Mori. Lastly, just before Mr. Mori went to the library, Ethan gave Mr. Mori a sandwich, he said it was a token of appreciation because he accepted his project that was passed a minute late." Lyra explained.

"What? How did you--Were you in the faculty room the whole time??"

"Oh, I only witnessed the Samatha to Mr. Asher and the Ethan part. I was visiting the faculty room to borrow the spare key to my locker. I got the other information from overhearing a few gossips."

"What kind of gossip is so detailed? Nevermind. Anyways, thank you for the information. Now, we analyze the things you said, look for the alibis of those people, deduce, and find evidence."  It was only a gossip yet she's so proud with it. It looks credible anyways so I think we will rely on the stories she heard.

"This is exciting!" she said, with sparkling eyes and a smile that stretches from one ear to another.

"Let's get to it then!"

"Alright!" she replied.

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