Chapter 172: Chapter 170: Detective Fincher

A man stood in Shadow manor with a worried expression on his face as he hung up the phone. He looked to another man, “General Preston says to forget about it, and she will have Nero deal with it personally.”

The other man took a big gulp, “But we’ve already informed First General Ulysses Curtis of the event. He’s on his way here right now.”

“I know. Shit.” The man shook his head, “Ultimately, it will be up to General Curtis. He does outrank Third General Preston, after all.”

As luck would have it, General Curtis walked through the door at that very moment. He was a tall man with a lean build and long black hair. There was nothing extraordinary about him; however, at the same time, his gaze and presence commanded utmost respect.

He looked to the two men, “And what is it that will ultimately be up to me?”

Both men gulped and jumped to attention, “General Curtis, sir! Since contacting you, General Preston has expressed orders to forget about this occurrence and allow BloodStar Immortal Nero to handle it as it was his guest.”

General Curtis frowned, “That’s the problem! It was his guest. They could be working together. Disregard her orders. We have a name, we have a good description, and we have two very important dead members of Scorched Shadow in our own manor.”

General Curtis spoke with a firm, calm rage, “Work this up with every resource we have. I want this worked up by our own teams, and I want a third party to work on it as well to make sure we aren’t missing anything. Once the perpetrator is found, bring her to me at once.”

The two men nodded and saluted General Curtis, “Yes sir!”

Curtis then turned and left the room and called out, “Also, tell General Preston to contact me at once. I’d like to have a few words with her regarding this failure.”

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The two men who received orders from General Curtis walked down the street towards an old brick building.

“General Curtis said to have a third party investigate the murders, and they say this guy is the best.” The two men from Scorched Shadow stopped in front of a dilapidated brick building with a crooked sign and overgrown bushes encroaching on the stepway to the door.

“If you say so. This place looks abandoned.” The two men then walked in to find a man in his mid-fifties slurping black coffee and eating donuts in the afternoon. The man was overweight and had a disheveled look to him. He took a bite of his donut and flakes of glaze fell upon his shirt where many more similar flakes had already accumulated. His moustache was also stained with coffee and held few loosely gathered flakes of glaze upon it.

The man looked up, “Can I help you gentlemen?”

“We are here to hire Detective Fincher to investigate two murders.”

The disheveled man chewed on a donut and with a full mouth said, “I’m detective Fincher.”

The two men looked at one another in disbelief, but continued, “Detective Fincher, we want the investigation to be discreet. We are members of Scorched Shadow. We would prefer to handle all of this privately without police or other authority agencies getting involved.” The Scorched Shadow members were frank with their intentions.

The overweight man behind the desk took his feet off the desk and stood, “I’d be happy to help. Police and government agencies only get in the way, so I am happy to hear you prefer they remain uninvolved. I’ve got no other cases going at the moment, so I can start right away.”

Fincher looked around, “Now where is that damn assistant of mine? Bobby! Bobby! Get in here!”

A much younger man in his twenties came rushing in, “Yea boss, here!”

The younger man looked much more put together. He was tall, muscular, sharply dressed, and well spoken.

Fincher looked to the men, “This is my assistant Bobby Steele.”

Bobby shook the hands of both men, “Great to meet the both of you.”

Fincher sat back down in his chair with labored breathing as his obesity had gotten the better of him after standing for a short period. He looked to Bobby, “These men have hired us for an investigation involving two murders at their premises. I have accepted.”

Bobby shouted, “Great! Finally, some work!”

The two members of Scorched Shadow looked at each other as to question whether this man really was the best in town. He had no ongoing work, and he presented himself as a lazy slob.

“How much will your services cost, Detective Fincher?”, one of the men asked.

Fincher grumbled and muttered to himself as he held a cigarette in his hand while scrounging around for a lighter, “Huh oh there it is.”

He then lit up a cigarette and puffed on it before looking to the two men, “Well. You see. The thing is… when I’m good, I’m the best. When I’m bad, uhh well let’s just say I can’t always solve a case.”

The two members of Scorched Shadow again looked to one another before saying, “Sir we are intent on hiring you. Just tell us the cost if you would.”

Fincher took another puff of his cigarette, followed by a bite of donut, and a swig of black coffee, “Free!”

“Uhh well free until I solve the case. Then $1 million.” Fincher once again displayed labored breathing as he shifted his weight in his chair, “You see. I’m the best. But very few can afford me. That is why work seldom finds me.”

The two men simultaneously said, “Deal!”

Fincher struggled to stand from his chair but eventually managed, “Well Bobby, grab your gear. We are going for a ride with these men to start out investigation.”

Bobby eagerly gathered everything they would need including specimen containers, swabs, camera, rulers, tweezers, and all kinds of gear.

Fincher rubbed his moustache, “It’s a good ole fashioned murder mystery! It’s been too long. Let’s catch ourselves a killer!”

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Elsewhere, within the Holy Light Empire Basilica, St Michael had received no less than ten reports from various agencies across the empire stating they detected a powerful ki surge last evening.

Michael sat at his desk reading through the reports, “All identical. A ki surge emanating from Bella Domina with a ki signature similar to that of Xenia BloodStar.” He threw the latest report down and looked to his attendant, “These bastards realize Nero lives there now don’t they? And he is now a BloodStar Immortal capable of bloodbending. It stands to reason his ki signature would now mimic the late Xenia BloodStar’s does it not?”

The attendant nodded his head, “That logic is not lost on the researchers who detected this ki surge. The main concern is that the ki surge is well above any known reading of Xenia BloodStar’s including her battle at Houston and battle at the BloodStar Citadel.”

Michael frowned, “Well there is no law or stipulation that states Nero cannot continue to train. So he is stronger, much stronger. That to me seems like a reason to leave him alone. He is sticking to his part of the deal staying at Bella Domina. I think we should stick to our part of the deal and leave him alone.”

The attendant nodded, “I quite agree sir. I believe the research agencies who detected these surges are looking for reassurance. I think calling Master Heraklinos to confirm the presence or absence of Xenia BloodStar’s body would go a long way in soothing over everyone’s nerves.”

Michael shook his head, “Fine. Jarek will have already confirmed. I’m sure he felt the surge.”

He picked up his office phone and dialed Jarek’s direct line. The phone rang and rang and rang until at last a voice answered, “St. Michael, always a pleasure to hear from you in the Holy Light Empire. Although I can already guess the reason for your call.”

Michael grinned, “I suspected as much, Jarek. I’m afraid I have a lot of nervous people in the empire. After all, this ki surge was uncharacteristically strong. I’m almost afraid to ask, but… is she still dead?”

Jarek quickly responded, “Xenia BloodStar is still dead. We have had her body under lockdown, and in response to the ki surges that we also detected, we have run several tests. All of the tests show no residual ki on her body.”

Michael nodded, “That is great news. But Jarek, is Nero really this strong now? Stronger than Xenia?”

Jarek sighed, “Judging by this data, it appears so. It certainly is disconcerting data, but what can we do. It’s not a crime to be strong, after all.”

“Just as I have said myself to others in my cabinet. This is unsettling but not actionable information.” Michael sighed as well, “Thank you for taking the time to share your findings with us. I will relay the information throughout my network here in the Holy Light Empire, and we will remain ready to detect and study future surges.”

Jarek replied, “That sounds good Michael. Thanks for staying on top of things on that side of the world. Nero is a gentle beast, but one we shouldn’t simply forget about.”