BROKEN BUTTERFLY; Beyond The Night That Differs Love And Lust
CHAPTER 09. DEAD BODIES
“QUICKLY WAKE UP SLACKERS!! SEE WHAT TIME IT IS!!!”
The sound of the alarm kept me irritated, especially on a Sunday like this, and I really put emphasis on the word annoyance. With my eyes still half-closed, I turned off the damn clock.
On Sundays I don't have to come to school, yeah, that's obvious, but that doesn't mean I can get up late. Maybe I can go back to sleep or laze, but this Sunday morning is too important to be missed by me who lives alone. I have a pile of laundry that I need to finish today.
Dirty clothes had piled up in my room, shirts and sports clothes, the rest of the careless clothes I was wearing to sleep. And the T-shirt couple I used yesterday given Alice, maybe this one will also fall into the category of careless clothes I wear to sleep. Well, I'm pretty funny about something like this, for me to have to take care of things like the style of dress is too much trouble.
But this little detail I can't ignore. In my right hand is currently attached a bracelet from a knitted rope. I remember that this bracelet Alice gave yesterday as “memories for a very tiring day”. What I don't remember is when I put it again this morning. As I remember last night, before I went to bed I took it off and put it on my desk. Why can it go back to my hands now? Did I remember wrong?
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The laundry was hanging neatly outside my porch on the second floor. I just got back from grocery shopping this week, which is not far from bread and other instant foods. Coffee, of course. I can't let this coffee maker in the kitchen be idle for a day. After finishing with all the Sunday rituals, washing and cleaning the house and shopping, now I can go back to my desk on the floor. Of course accompanied by a cup of coffee.
Turn on the computer. My right hand was a bit itchy, exactly where the bracelet was attached. Maybe because I was still wearing it in the shower earlier and now this bracelet is not dry. I'm really not used to this bracelet in my hand, what else is it attached to the right hand which is my dominant hand. I can't ignore it and think that this bracelet isn't there.
Did I just take it off? Yeah, I think that sounds like a good idea that I should have done a long time ago.
I looked around the bracelet to find a point. And I can't find it. Whatisthis? Is this some kind of rope knot I don't know about? Why does this bracelet not have a connecting point like a bracelet in general?
That damned girl again pranking me. I'll ask you how to remove this bracelet if I meet later. Although it feels doubtful he will immediately tell you how, maybe he will tease me by saying, “Yeeey~ bracelet only I can open. With gini Juno official so mine~”
Marking!?! Is this some sort of marking?!? Like a human giving a necklace to his pet!?!
Relax, Juno.. Cool out! Panic will solve nothing. Especially for this kind of problem where I'm dealing with is a girl like Alice. I can't lose my cool in front of him. I don't know, I still haven't fully solved that girl. Even after what we went through yesterday, after he helped me yesterday. I was not used to his presence around me.
Okay, back to my computer. It's time to get into the most unpleasant part of the case, the part where there are dead people in it. In front of me were pictures of bodies taken from the scene by the police. Basically this is a photo taken from a photo, somehow Benji was able to make the police leak important information like this to him. And right now, this is my strongest lead to solve this case.
I haven't told anyone about this photo, only Benji and I know about it for now. Maybe in the future I'll show Alice this too to ask her what she thinks, but I don't think that's necessary. These bodies are definitely not fun objects to photograph. They were the bodies of murder victims.
I try not to look directly at their faces or eyes. A near-death expression like this can make me a nightmare for days. Really not a pleasant situation. And from the information in it is written all the victims died in a state of suffocation. Which means they die with bulging eye expressions and protruding tongues. Wow, Juno's good job you look straight into her eyes.
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HOWOOEEEEEK!!!!!
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The sound of the water from the tap I turned on slightly refreshed my mind. I almost had to drain all the rest of my breakfast in the closet. It's gonna be lunchtime soon but I've already lost my appetite. Maybe I should stop doing this, looking at pictures of dead bodies hoping to find clues is definitely not a healthy activity for a student like me. But, maybe once more. Maybe I can continue for a few more minutes.
I went back to my desk. I tried really hard not to see the victim's face. I focused on the little things I could find around him. One of the victims had several strands of cat fur around his collar, the other had ink dots up his sleeve. Hmmm.attractive. But what they have in common is a snare wound on his neck.
After the first 13 seconds the victim will lose consciousness, followed by convulsions and after 20 seconds the body begins to stiffen. After 45 seconds the brain function weakens and after 1 minute 30 seconds is followed by loss of muscle tension.4 minutes of isolated muscle movement, 4 Minutes and 30 seconds of decreased breathing and 6 minutes and 30 seconds of breathing stopped completely.
Substantial. Your hobbies are terrible, serial killer sir.
What I imagined by killing by being ensnared is more or less the same as witnessing a suicide victim directly. And I'm telling you right here because in addition to watching as a passive spectator the killer also took part in the process. By ensnaring the victim means the killer must wrestle directly with the victim who is struggling to live, even though he eventually died too.
The three victims were men of my age with a weight and height that was not much different from me. Which means that the offender should at least have a larger stature than me, and with a strong physique to prevent resistance. Perhaps a man over 180 cm tall and weighing over 60 with excellent physical condition fits this criterion. I'm sure it's like that, because there are some signs of resistance from the victims and whatever the perpetrators are doing is already working on it.
A messy shirt, a uniform and another alma mater. Some blunt scrape on the hand, rope? Former bond? Could be. And maybe this is quite interesting. The rope used as a killing device was never found on the scene and if seen from these photos all the murders were done with the same tool, or maybe a rope with the same diameter. Such as woven rope with a small diameter, not a type commonly found in everyday use. Well, maybe this is also what makes it even harder to track.
And what is the motive of the perpetrator to do all this? Judging from how to kill him, the perpetrator clearly did not choose an easy way to finish off his victims. By ensnaring his victims he clearly put himself in a position ready to fight and wrestle with the victim. Adu strength? Asserting dominance? Is the perpetrator trying to show his power to the victim by means of his murder? And whatever the victim did to fight him always managed to conquer him. Does the offender also master martial arts or other killing techniques? What did the perpetrator get from this murder?
What did he get from killing 3 men my age. Since the victim is male and the perpetrator is also likely male, is this possible about asserting dominance? Like in certain martial arts colleges that require their students to fight each other? Does such a school really exist? I need to find out more about these victims, I need their full data.
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I know Monday tomorrow there'll be a test in my class. The test is...if not wrong physics? Well, whatever it is I have no time to learn and no intention to learn after this. This investigation really caught my attention, as well as most of the space in my head right now. It feels like this kind of event is too interesting to pass up – doing what students should do if they borrow Weena's words.
I didn't find any meaningful clues from today's investigation, I just sat in front of the computer all day. But I think I can understand even though it still feels vague. First of all, the mysterious woman is definitely unlikely to be the culprit, physically she doesn't seem to be able to do everything I think of as the way the perpetrator killed his victims, but it could be another story if it turns out that he was trained with certain techniques to kill his victims with rope snares. But for now such a possibility can be removed.
That way it might be interpreted that my investigation was deadlocked against that woman. No, I feel like I still have to investigate. I think that woman has something to do with this case.
With that conclusion I think I can close the investigation today. An investigation that didn't require me to go anywhere, just sitting in front of my computer looking at some slides of photos of corpses. I really salute myself, good job, Juno.
“...so that's it, I need the data of these 3 people, they are in 3 different schools so I don't expect you to be able to catch it all anytime soon.”
And I sent that message to Alice.
From my chat app I know there are some messages from Weena that I haven't replied to since noon. I said I was busy and could check it out now. He reminded me again of tomorrow's physics test, and I said I'm fine thanks for being reminded. It might be a good idea to re-read my physical notes a few minutes before going to bed tonight. Yeah, no loss. Counting refreshing after a day struggling with photos of corpses.
And this fucking bracelet. Feeling itchy because of sweat and damp all day is attached to my hands.
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