D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 2014: Chapter 2014 Three More Suspects Part 2

— Kat —

Jen was asleep once again. Apparently the scare of Lin and the food was enough to keep her awake for close to an hour, but that was all the girl could manage. As soon as she started to yawn Lin had gently coaxed the girl back into bed before moving the discussions to another room. This one seemed like a proper meeting room and the main odd thing was that Lin had been the one leading the way.

Inside sat Ramor, Steel, and Angie along with Kat’s group and Lin of course. Steel and Ramor were sitting together at the end of the table going over the notes Angie had already taken while Lin leant back in a chair and pretended to fix her nails. Kat knew it was fake because the nail file Lin was using was made of standard materials and not even up to its job. Lin’s nails were simply too tough to file with normal things.

So instead it was just a source of annoyance. It still sounded awful to Kat’s ears. Listening to the grinding. Perhaps it was even worse because she knew it wasn’t doing anything. Lily was able to sleep through it somehow and Hedera seemed content to doze as well. Kat almost felt like doing the same thing but there was no way she’d be able to manage it with the sound. Steel and Ramor seemed similarly annoyed, and was probably why Lin was doing it…

But Kat wanted to know for sure so after a minute of this she just asked. “Why are you pretending to file your nails?”

“Oh? You actually noticed that part?” pondered Lin. “Most people don’t notice that I’m just pretending. I do it to both annoy people and check to see who is really paying attention. Those two did notice, but didn’t want to say anything. The fact they keep glaring at my fingers is a pretty good indication. The napping pair obviously didn’t and I have no idea if Angie did interestingly enough.”

“I’m so tired all of the time I regularly hallucinate. I seem to be able to push it off when it comes to medical stuff, and I am still considered the best medic in the company, but you actually think I can tell the difference between someone pretending to file their nails and someone actually doing it? I’ve seen much weirder things,” said Angie.

“And neither of us were willing to say something while you were mostly behaving,” snarked Ramor.

“Bah, that’s boring. If someone is doing something weird and irritating you’re basically obligated to at least point it out,” countered Lin. As she did this, Steel gave Kat a look that was too quick for her to really make out. Going back into her memories and playing it slowly… Kat still wasn’t sure what it was meant to say. Her best guess, and that was mostly from context, is that he wanted her to keep Lin occupied.

So Kat turned to Lin and said, “Right so you use it to test people… but why the nail file? It sounds awful.”

“I already told you,” said Lin as she wagged a finger at Kat. “I do it to annoy people and see who’s paying attention. Though to elaborate, most people just assume I’m fixing my nails because others do the same thing. I consider it extremely rude, and the sound annoying so that’s another reason. If they comment it shows they’re not interested in sucking up to me. They’re interested in whatever business is being conducted.

“I also have the ability to temporarily supress my hearing so I can just ignore the sound, turning my ears back on when I notice someone’s mouth moving. Though I don’t always do that. Wouldn’t want people to think I’m not paying attention,” admitted Lin.

Kat let out a long sigh but decided to keep the conversation going. “Why not get a proper nail file? That way you’re at least being productive.”

“How are they meant to notice I’m wasting my time if I have a real nail file? Remember, the information I gain from who notices that I’m not making progress is far more important than just annoying people. If I just wanted to do that I have much better ways of going about it. Jen for example, has never passed this test. She’s always been too nervous around me to notice that I’m doing something that doesn’t make sense.

“She doesn’t exactly look me in the eyes and yet she doesn’t think she can get away with looking anywhere else. So she does that thing where you look at someone’s ears or the space right next to their head. It gives the impression of eye contact without needing to properly maintain it. Perhaps once she calms down around me she’ll have a chance to notice,” explained Lin. “Now have you finished with those notes yet?”

“Well we’ve finished the first read through,” commented Ramor. “The problem is that a lot of this is your speculation. It makes it hard to push for a full investigation…”

“Bah, what else do you want me to do? Tie them up and place them at your door?” grumbled Lin.

Ramor made calming gestures in Lin’s direction as he continued. “Hey, I said it was hard, not that it was impossible. If it was just Steel here,” Ramor elbowed Steel who was already grumbling before the motion started. “then it probably wouldn’t happen. There is barely any evidence here… but barely there isn’t nothing. It’s going to be a bit difficult to get proof but we can certainly go looking.”

Ramor turned to Kat and said, “We’ll probably be relying on your team. You three seem to have the stealth necessary if not the credentials. If you’re willing to stick around and help look into these guys?”

“I think so?” offered Kat as she glanced at the sleeping two. Oh, no, just the one. Hedera had shifted position and was now resting her face on her hand. “I’m not against it in principle but there is still the worry about how long this is going to take. We probably have a week?” Kat glanced at Hedera when she mentioned that last bit and Hedera shrugged. *Real helpful.*

Ramor nodded. “That’s fine. The real issue is going to be the fact we’ve already let the crime sit for so long. Evidence might already be destroyed or otherwise missing. Simply getting a confession from two of the three don’t seem all that likely but it’s a last resort kind of thing anyway.

“Steel and I haven’t really discussed the plan-”

“We haven’t discussed anything,” cut in Steel.

“So we haven’t discussed the plan but from my thoughts, I’d like the three of you to investigate if you can. Stacy is the lowest priority. We suspect that if she was guilty, and we can bring her in to the station, then she’ll crack pretty quickly under interrogation. Perhaps not to the point of a confession, but certainly enough to give us a fair bit of confirmation. Appoline and Davis are the issues, and I’m not sure who to send you after first,” said Ramor.

Ramor glanced over at Lin to see if she was going to add anything. When it was clear she simply wasn’t going to contribute Ramor sighed and continued. “We’re currently more interested in Appoline. She has the potential for far more danger with far fewer resources. She also hasn’t really been caught up in anything like this before. Been very careful. So we’re willing to investigate her first.

“Davis, while dangerous isn’t directly aiming his claws outside the organisation. In addition to that… we simply think that based on his personality profile he’s far more likely to hide any evidence that exists and avoid mentioning the incident at all. Even if prompted he’d likely deflect or say something minimal about it just in case. He’s very much a political animal but not an overly prideful one despite his clear ambitions,”

“Was there anything at the scene of the crime indicating who it could’ve been?” asked Kat.

Ramor shook his head. “I mentioned we did find that purple hair… but from my understanding none of the suspects have it. Additionally, nobody in the organisation has it either correct?”

Lin shook her head. “Not unless they’ve dyed it recently. I know of a few people with purple hair but it’s a rare colour.”

“Exactly,” agreed Ramor. “The annoying thing is, we can’t be certain that the person who left the hair behind is responsible either. We found out that just two blocks away lives a woman known as Evance who has purple hair. It’s quite possible that its her hair and it got mixed up in the scene because of her proximity to the incident.”

“Do we know if it IS her hair? Or have a way to check?” asked Kat.

“Yes… but not without getting some ourselves. We’re not sure if that’s worth the risk. Especially not if she’s uninvolved. We’re trying to keep the fact the investigation is still moving amongst all the other shit somewhat quiet,” explained Ramor.