After getting back into the black car, they drove a couple hours to the hospital where the patients were.
All of them were being tested repeatedly by the doctors who were trying to find out the cause for the patients’ recovery when they arrived. Aside from the muscle atrophy that was the result of their extended stay, the patients seemed to have recovered to how they had been prior to being exposed to the toxic gas.
Yet that assumption too proved itself to be wrong.
“Could you repeat that?” Zachariah asked the doctor who was leading the team that was in charge of the patients.
The doctor let out a sigh. “As far as we can tell, the conclusion is that the patients have not only recovered, but are in a better condition than they were prior to the events that led to their admission.”
“How did you draw that conclusion?” Anita asked with crossed arms.
“Some of the patients had conditions that required regular medication, such as for adjusting blood pressure. Now? Their values are the picture of health.” The doctor read through the information in the folder in his hand. “One of the patients even had HIV, which you should know that we still have no cure for. Completely gone now though, without any trace.”
Anita sighed and inclined her head as she pondered before she addressed the doctor. “Thanks Doc. We’ll find you later if we have more questions.”
The trio remained silent after the doctor left to join his colleagues tending to the patients, some of which would be allowed to leave the hospital soon.
“What the hell?” Zachariah swore out loud.
“It’s magic, I tell you.” Anita replied.
“Shiny portals, the patients report feeling incredible heat, and suddenly they’re fine? All within a couple seconds?” Zachariah said, more to himself than anyone else.
“Like I said, magic.” Anita replied.
I’m starting to agree with that conclusion.
Anita’s phone broke the silence. Anita stepped away to answer the call, leaving the two men alone.
Zachariah sighed and looked at Leary. “What do you think?”
Leary shrugged. “Her conclusion is starting to sound more and more compelling.”
“Come on. Magic? There’s no such thing.” Zachariah snorted.
“Maybe, maybe not. Didn’t someone say that advanced enough technology would appear indistinguishable from magic?” Leary replied.
“Now that at least sounds more reasonable.” Zachariah sighed.
Anita returned while staring at her phone, seemingly in contemplation.
Looks like there’s more. There’s always more.
“What is it this time?” Zachariah asked in a joking tone.
A wry smile spread on Anita’s face as she raised her eyebrow, not taking her eyes off her phone. “Well, someone seems to have visited the graves of the victims from this incident.”
Anita turned her phone to them, that displayed a picture of white orchids, purple hyacinths and white peonies in a beautiful bouquet next to the gravestone.
Zachariah and Leary looked at the pictures on the phone. Zachariah frowned as he swiped across the screen to flip through the images. “I guess the culprit can feel a little remorse? However I’m not sure about the aesthetic taste in the flowers for the bouquet.”
Anita shrugged in response. “I wouldn’t know. All flowers look like weeds to me.”
Leary however knew the meaning of the flowers, as he’d used excessive amounts of flowers when he began dating his wife.
He sighed as he looked at his clueless companions. “If you interpret it from the flower language, it’s an apology.”
_________________
“I guess we’ll be hearing from each other from now on. I look forward to our cooperative work.” Zachariah said as he shook Anita’s hand at the airport.
“Likewise.” Anita smiled before turning to Leary to shake his hand. “Let us hope the reason for our next meeting is not a suspected case of terrorism.”
“Yes, lets.” Leary agreed.
“However, we might have little reason to meet otherwise.” Zachariah snorted.
Anita shrugged. “True.”
Zachariah excused himself to make a phone call before boarding the plane, leaving Anita and Leary alone.
“What are your plans moving forward with the investigation?” Leary asked curiously.
Anita tilted her head with a playful smile. “You really think I’m going to tell you what the higher ups of our country are planning?”
Leary smiled and shrugged. “I guess I was expecting too much, huh.”
Anita laughed.
“I’ll make an exception, just for you.” Anita said hoarsely and winked.
Leary bit his tongue. Keep your distance lady, I’m married. And I intend to keep it that way.
Anita narrowed her eyes and smiled with a pleased expression, which made Leary feel like he was being appraised in a way he didn't wish to be. Eventually she sighed and shrugged. “There aren’t really any plans worth mentioning. I suppose we’ll continue to narrow down the profiling and monitor a couple countries. At least until something new comes up.”
“Seems like we’re all clueless until the culprit chooses to give us something more to go on.” Leary sighed.
“Indeed.” Anita replied with a smile.
When Zachariah returned he immediately addressed Anita. “We might have a new lead. It’s vague, but you could come with us if you want.”
I think it might be better if she didn’t.
Anita smiled. “No harm if it turns up as nothing. I’m always up for paid vacation.”
_________________
“Are we sure about this?” Anita asked.
Zachariah shrugged as they were walking down the gravel path.
“The sexton reported seeing a bright flash of light while he was working at the cemetery. He became concerned with his mental health, and so he went to the doctor the same day. One of our agents picked up the lead that way.” (Zachariah)
“Which still makes it vague at best. It could simply be a hallucination.” Anita replied.
“True, but vague leads are what we’re going to have to follow if we want to find anything new.” Zachariah stopped and pointed off the path. “Somewhere around here is where the light appeared. Lets see if we can find anything.”
Anita shrugged and stepped off the path. “Let's have a looksie then.”
They split up and photographed everything in the area. Nothing seemed to be ruined or missing.
Not like there’s anything worth stealing from a bunch of graves. Is there another victim here? However every victim from the toxin incident has already been accounted for. Or has there been another incident, that we didn’t realize was related?
“When was the light reported to have happened?” Leary heard Anita ask further away.
“The time would match the incident with the grave visits in your home country.” Zachariah’s response came in the distance.
Leary sighed as he walked to the next grave to photograph it. Nothing really stands out.
They continued until Leary noticed a small abnormality. He quickly compared the grave to all the others in the vicinity. It was normal to plant flowers by the headstone, however this one didn’t have any. Instead someone had left a bouquet of white, red and pink carnation with a few white chrysanthemums mixed in. And the flowers were still fresh.
This has to be it. And it’s not an apology, but an expression of love.
Did they have a child?
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Excitement filled Leary as he brought up his tablet and began looking up the people that were buried here. He began reading through the information and followed the threads that brought him to another individual.
“Guys! I got something!” Leary yelled to the other two.
Zachariah gestured with a nod to the tablet as he arrived next to Leary. “What have you got?”
Leary showed the tablet as he explained. “A couple that died in a traffic accident nearly a decade ago. Someone has left fresh flowers at their grave.”
Anita frowned as she looked at the flowers that were left by the headstone. “And how are they related?”
Leary smiled, almost unable to hide his excitement at his find. “They had a daughter that fits the profile.”
Zachariah frowned as he looked up from the tablet. “Had?”
Leary navigated the pages on the tablet and brought up the information. “She died about a year ago. The first portals started appearing the very same evening as the day that she died.”
_________________
“I can’t believe we’re actually investigating a dead person as the culprit.” Anita laughed as the trio sat in Leary’s office.
Leary raised an eyebrow and shook his head. “It’s where the lead has taken us. And the timing fits.”
Zachariah leaned forward and turned his laptop to show them his screen. “I managed to find some of her habits. Aside from the sudden interest in weapons, her interests fit perfectly with the profile.”
Leary turned to look at Anita as she threw up her hands. “Fine. But how can we know she’s actually dead? Couldn't she have faked her death?”
“We’ll see soon.” Leary grinned as he turned back to his laptop and began looking through the different security and traffic camera recordings.
Following the information from the police report, he managed to find a recording that showed the accident that had supposedly ended the suspect’s life.
Looking through it once, he realized it wasn’t an ordinary accident. “I got it.”
They huddled together to watch the screen as Leary replayed the recording.
It showed a black-haired young woman stopping by a crosswalk while looking down at her phone. Soon they saw how a light-haired girl stumbled and pushed the woman out onto the street.
The truck hid the light-haired girl from view after the accident.
"Yeah, doesn't look fake to me." Zachariah snorted.
“Play it again. Start from further back.” Anita requested.
Leary started the recording from an earlier time, prior to the black-haired woman appearing on the screen. They watched on until Anita exclaimed. “There! Pause!” Leary had seen it too.
“The blondie stopped and looked over her shoulder to take a second look at her.” (Anita)
Leary took in the appearance of the blonde woman on the screen. Her appearance seemed a little missmatched - her clothes slightly oversized, and she hadn’t tied her shoes. If it wasn’t for the fact that the clothes all looked brand new and her otherwise tidy appearance, he would have thought she was homeless.
“Did they know each other?” Zachariah wondered. “And was it actually an accident?”
“Continue playing.” Anita instructed.
They watched and saw that the blonde girl tripped on her shoelaces.
Anita sighed and looked at Zachariah. “It looks like an accident. Either she’s the greatest actress alive, or that panicked expression was all real.”
Leary looked down at the police report and read through it. “She’s mentioned in the report, but the police never saw her. So we have no information on her, nor her testimony.”
“Then let’s focus on her for now. You keep up with the cameras, Leary. I’ll try to find who she is with facial recognition.” Zachariah nodded to Anita. “You can look through the suspect’s list of known associates.”
Leary sighed with a smile. Dumping the hard work on me again.
Leary backtracked the paths both of the women took. Their suspect, named Amara, seemed to be going through the daily routine.
The other woman was a mystery however. As he found her on other recordings something quickly became evident.
“It’s like she’s scouting for someone.” Leary muttered.
“Really? Then they might not have any relation. I want my time spent researching back.”Anita smiled.
“Denied. Keep looking, it’s better not to jump to any conclusions. Stay open minded.” Zachariah retorted with a smile.
Leary sighed and kept following the trail. He saw the woman sit on a bench drinking a smoothie out of a straw, her eyes following the people that crossed her path.
With each recording he found in which the woman appeared , he became more and more mystified.
Prior to sitting down she had gone into a café and gone behind the counter, gotten herself a smoothie and left without paying.
And before that, she had stolen her clothes and shoes from a store, the shop attendant rushing out to try and see where she left.
Is this the real culprit? She certainly has the tendency to take what she wants. Amara didn’t seem to have records of any kind of crimes.
“It seems that the blonde girl has quite the habit of snatching things without paying.” (Leary)
“Well, that might narrow down my search. It gets a lot easier if she has a record.” Zachariah replied delightedly.
Leary continued looking for recordings of where the unidentified woman had been. He was now trying to find a security recording in a deserted alley that the woman, dressed in a white toga, seemed to have appeared from.
What he found made his jaw drop.
“What is it?” Anita asked as she noticed Leary’s change.
Immediately he pushed his laptop forward and replayed the recording.
The alley was empty of people. Suddenly a strong rush of wind made several trash cans fall over, combined with the appearance of the woman. But she had two large, bright protrusions that looked like wings on her back.
Leary paused the video as they all stared at the screen in complete silence.
Zachariah was the first to break the silence with a serious expression. “That can’t be real.”
Anita on the other hand spoke with a bright smile. “Why not? This is AWESOME!”
“Because it’s ridiculous. Angels aren’t real.” Zachariah snorted.
“You think someone planted this? Really? What was the thing you said about being open minded again?” Anita grinned.
“That’s different. This is absurd.” Zachariah replied with a frown.
Anita was about to reply when the screen on Leary’s computer went black. As nobody had touched it, he thought that it might be the battery that ran out. That was until he remembered that the power cable was connected, and saw that there was a line of words in the middle of the screen.
The trio all turned their eyes to the screen.
‘You saw nothing. All shall be explained eventually.'
While they were reading, new lines appeared in succession underneath the original one.
'Probably.'
'Maybe.’
'Nevermind.'