“What was that all about?”
As soon as Dorian left the command center, his three classmates pressed him for information, curious as to why only he was spoken to. “Nothing really. Turns out he knows a family member of mine and asked how he was doing.” While he felt guilty about lying, there was no way he could tell the truth. It would put them too on edge and would hurt their results. “Anyways, we should put our belongings in our rooms and get a move on. We’re only here for two days, and we’ll need to gather as much information as possible about these strange occurrences.”
Farnell sighed, deciding to drop any questions he had, and nodded. “Sounds like a plan. However, I’m not sure how well we’d be at an investigation considering we’ve only been taught the basics, but if we’re able to help find these families, and that missing child, in any way, I’m ready to give it my best.”
Olive and Digby nodded in agreement. After taking a look at their respective rooms and securing their belongings in the room, the four of them met at the entrance of the building. Digby looked around. “Looks like we won’t have the red carpet rolled out for us leaving. We’ll have to head to the farms on foot. Anyone know where we should go?”
Dorian, who had taken a map from the file Jac had given him, showed the group the map. “I was also given this map. The two circles are the two farm locations. Looks like we’d need to go to this one first as it's the closest.”
Everyone nodded and began to walk to the farm. As they walked, they couldn’t help but feel self-conscious as the civilians all stopped and stared at them, curious about their uniforms. Digby looked around and whispered to everyone. “Is it just me, or are we the center of attention right now?”
Dorian chuckled. “Considering our uniforms are different from both the military and any academy in the city, they’re probably just curious. We’ll probably have to get used to this as I doubt this will stop anytime soon.”
Olive shook her head. “Feels like we’re at a zoo, but we’re the animals.”
Farnell chuckled. “That’s quite an accurate description.”
Eventually, after around thirty minutes, the group had reached the first farmhouse. The property wasn’t anything special. There was a large farmhouse in the top left corner of the property, with fields of wheat neatly planted in the entire right side of the property, with several fruit-bearing trees dotting the left. Next to the farmhouse was a larger storehouse, with one large door acting as the only entrance and exit to the building. At the entrance to the farmhouse was a single policeman, stationed to prevent civilians from contaminating the crime scene. “Well, here we are.” Dorian said as they walked onto the property.
Olive glanced across the entire property, her brow furrowed“Anyone see anything out of the ordinary? At least from first glance, everything seems to be normal.”
Farnell shook his head, also looking around. “No, I don’t. The fields haven’t been flattened, no obvious signs of a struggle at first glance. However, if there’s any place that could be hiding clues, I’d bet a lot of money those wheat fields are where it would be hiding.”
Digby groaned. “Great, we get sent to a town to spend our entire time crawling around a wheat field. Money well spent for a military academy.”
Dorian chuckled. “I’d agree with you, and we definitely should at least do a short search of the field, but considering the circumstances, I think we should focus on the farmhouse first.”
“What makes you say that?” Farnell asked, looking at Dorian.
“Think about it, that’s where they lived. Most likely, what caused them to disappear happened in that building. If there was any place a piece of evidence was hiding, it would be at the place the crime occurred.”
As Dorian finished talking, they had walked up to the farmhouse, the police officer warily glancing at them. “This place is off limits. Any unauthorized personnel are to leave immediately.”
Digby cleared his throat. “We’ve been given permission to be here. We’re from the Westwich Military Academy. We’ve been sent here by Colonel Jac Angevin to conduct our own investigation.”
“Ahh, I see. My apologies. I’ve been informed that you’d be arriving, however…” The officer glanced over them again. “Do any of you have any actual investigative experience?”
The four of them glanced at each other before Dorian spoke up. “We unfortunately do not have any experience, however we’ve been given our orders, and our instructor has taught us the basics of investigative practices as a part of our curriculum. Four new sets of eyes just might be what’s needed to break the case open.”
The officer closed his eyes and sighed. “To think they’d entrust this case to students with no experience…” He muttered under his breath. “Very well, you may come and go as you please. However, if you think you’ve made a breakthrough, be sure to tell me so I can get in contact with my superiors.”
Dorian nodded. “Thank you.” Dorian opened the door and looked inside the farmhouse. To the left was a rather primitive kitchen, the only modern appliance being a sink that only ran cold water. Instead of an oven, there was a fire pit with a large pot hung over the firepit. To the right of the kitchen was a large rectangular table, covered with seven plates and a smaller pot that still contained the stew the family must have been having for dinner the night they disappeared. However, the plates were all completely clean. Digby looked at the officer. “How many people lived here?”
“Six. The two parents and four children. The oldest being thirteen and the youngest being four.”
Dorian looked at the plates. “I’m certain the fact that there’s seven plates and not six hasn’t escaped your attention, correct?”
The officer chuckled. “That was the first discrepancy we noticed as well. They must have had a visitor that night, however there were no witnesses as to who this visitor could have been.”
Olive looked at the plates. “So we already have a suspect: this mysterious visitor.”
Farnell put his hand to his chin. “That’s one way we could look at it, but this visitor could also be a victim as well. Maybe some shady individuals wanted him disappeared so to speak, and a farmhouse on the outskirts of town would be a perfect place for that. No witnesses, far enough away from the city that any sounds of struggle wouldn’t be heard. Couldn’t ask for a better place for that.”
Digby shook his head. “At this point, this is all just conjecture. Remember, we need solid evidence to make sure we’re on the right track.”
Dorian continued to scan the room and looked into the pot on the table. “Have you tested the food for any drugs? Some hallucinogens could have caused them to hallucinate and leave the building.”
The officer nodded. “We have, and the preliminary results haven’t found any trace of drugs or any outside substance. However, more tests are being conducted as we speak.”
Dorian nodded and continued to look at the table. Doesn’t look like we’d find anything else here. He looked at the stairs at the back corner of the floor. “What’s on the second floor?”
“Bedrooms and a single bathroom. We’ve combed through the rooms but you’re welcome to search again.”
Dorian nodded. “I’ll do just that.”
Digby walked with Dorian up the stairs. There was just a small hallway, with four doors. Only the door leading to the bathroom was open, revealing an antique toilet, rundown sink, and musty mirror. There was a single lightbulb that provided a small amount of light in the room. Opening the door closest to him, Dorina immediately coughed, surprised by the sudden odor that assaulted his nose.
Digby gagged and covered his nose with his uniform. “What in the world is that smell?!”
The officer downstairs, after hearing the commotion, walked upstairs. “What’s going on?”
Dorian turned to the officer. “Did this room also reek when the police conducted their investigation?”
“What do you–”
The officer walked to the door and immediately turned away, stifling a gag as he got a safe enough distance away. “No, it didn’t.” He managed to say after a few seconds.
Dorian took in a big gulp of air, held his breath, and walked inside, noting that the room was in disarray. There were two twin sized beds that had their mattresses upturned and lying on their side against the bed frame. Books were strewn about, several of them open with visible tears where pages were ripped out.
Quickly backing away from the door, Dorian released the breath hold he had and turned to the officer. “I thought there was no obvious sign of what happened to the family here.”
The officer nodded. “That’s what the preliminary report said. All the bedrooms were left in pristine condition, nothing out of place.”
Dorin motioned to the room. “Then explain why this room looks like a tornado went through it.”
The officer gave a confused look, held his breath, and looked inside. Quickly backing his head out, he had a shocked look on his face. “The room didn’t look anywhere near what it looks like now! Wait…”
The officer briskly walked to the next bedroom and opened the door, again gagging from the intense smell coming from the room. “What in the world?!”
Running to the other two rooms and opening their doors, the results were the same: the rooms had a horrendous smell and had been ransacked. “How is this possible?! We had at least one officer stationed here at all times! It’s been as quiet as can be! There was nothing to report!”
Dorian had an uneasy feeling begin to form inside of him. He looked at Digby and the officer. “Looks like there’s a lot more to this case than initially thought. Get in contact with your superiors and check the other farmhouse. With any luck that hasn’t been hit yet.”
Right as the officer took out his radio, he received a call from his phone. He looked at the caller id and immediately answered. “Sir! I was just about to report that–”
The officer stopped talking, listening to whoever was on the other end of the line. Suddenly, his eyes widened. “Are you serious?!” He was silent again before nodding to himself. “Alright. This place was hit too but…” More silence before he closed his eyes and sighed. “Understood.” He ended the call before turning to the two of them.
“The other scene was hit as well, however…the officer in charge of guarding it has been found dead in the home.”
322Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNEI7z9oOv
