《What Happened to the Mouse?》Side-Case: A Problem of Motive
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Three corpses hung from the balcony, ankles tied to the horizontal base of the tall ornamental railing. Rick approached them from below with trepidation, keeping his camera in front of his face like a shield. The ropes were just long enough to leave their heads dangling at his eye level.
Father, mother, and son stared him down. Their eyes were terrified and bulging, and their jaws were clenched tight. Gravity had pooled the blood in their heads, turning their skin bruise-purple.
"Christ. Who would do this?" muttered Rick, blanching a little as he photographed the scene. A few quick inquiries with friends and relatives had revealed little of note. Nobody had a reason to kill any of these people -- definitely not like this. The mother was a school nurse, the father worked at some sort of biotech firm, and the son was just a teenager.
"I'm wondering why the neighbors didn't hear anything." Detective Charity Singh seemed more pensive than shocked. She'd been warned of what to expect, so maybe she'd steeled herself. Or maybe staring down at the floor was a good way to avoid looking into those eyes. "No sign of a break-in, either."
"You're saying maybe they knew the guy?"
"Maybe." Detective Singh didn't find that particularly plausible either, though. Even if the killer had been the dearest, most trusted friend, the victims wouldn't have just let themselves all be tied to a railing. Their arms were completely free. No wounds, either. A paralytic drug, perhaps?
Hold on. Each rope was just long enough to let the victims dangle, but not much longer.
"Rick, I'm going to head upstairs and look at this from above."
As she walked through the living room to the stairs, she spotted a leather briefcase sitting on the floor. It lay on its side, spilled open, and there were traces of fine, rust-brown powder on tile floor. The father had taken home a sample vial from the lab, and it had shattered, raising a cloud of dust which must have taken some time to settle.
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Well, forensics would work out what to make of it. Best not to disturb or inhale it, whatever it was.
Reaching the balcony confirmed Singh's suspicions. The measurements just didn't work. If the killer had tied their feet to that bar, he couldn't possibly have gotten their bodies over the railing. But there they were, all the same. What, did he just use longer ropes, and then pull them back and trim the excess? But that would be pointless.
One more possibility to check. Gingerly, Singh climbed up and over the rail. The ledge was roomy enough to sit on, so she did. Then she put an ankle against the bar and leaned over.
"Rick, I think they tied themselves."
"Why the hell would they do that?"
"I don't know. But that's what makes physical sense."
The van arrived, and the bodies were cut down, bagged, and sent away. It was time to put forensics on this.
***
Later, the lab called back. Given their backlog, it seemed impossible that they could have analyzed the blood samples so quickly.
"No toxicology yet. But listen," said Sam. "This jumped out at me as soon as I took a look at the white blood cells. All three of them have massive eosinophilia. Off the charts."
"What's that mean?"
"Eosinophils fight parasites, fungi, you know, the big stuff. So either the whole family had hookworm, or... um, I have no idea."
"Oh."
Detective Singh thought of that purple skin, those dangling heads pooled full of nutrient-rich blood. Hadn't she seen something like this in a nature documentary once? She began to search the Internet.
Next, she phoned that biotech lab, the one the father worked for. At first, they were unwilling to divulge much, but when it became clear that she'd happened onto the truth, they were seized with an eminently justifiable panic. Finally, she tipped off the Bureau of High-Risk Research. Soon, she'd be recruited as a field agent, but for now, there was something far more pressing to deal with.
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What happens when you successfully force a fungal parasite to host-jump? A mushroom that in nature, drugs ants, tinkers with their brains, makes them crawl up a plant and bite down on a leaf, and then...
Meanwhile at the morgue, three pairs of eyes began to hatch.
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A Budding Scientist in a Fantasy World
Alice is a girl who loves science and lives on Earth. Then, suddenly, she was punted into another dimension. A dimension where magic and monsters roam the land, swords and sorcery reign supreme, and, for some reason, a System keeps dinging at her and telling her that her stats and levels are increasing. As someone who loves exploring mysteries, Alice is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. After all, everything has to have a ‘cause,’ including the System, right? What to expect: This story is going to be a LitRPG set in a fantasy world. However, unlike many LitRPG’s, the system has both a definite beginning and definite limits to what it is able to accomplish – rather than a singularly omnipotent, omniscient being that is tied to the laws of the world, the way systems are usually presented in LitRPG’s, the system is close to both, but has definite limits and rules which it operates by. This story is also relatively slow, since that is my writing style. The main character also begins the story as a young, 15-year old girl who has yet to finish high school, and is going to explore more of the world around her as she grows as a person and starts to get her feet under her. (Constructive Criticism is welcomed) (Cover made using Waifulabs) (Also posted on Scribblehub)
8 400Agnes' Journey to Become an Archimage
The balance in the magical world of Tyrain is shifting. The monster menace grows stronger, the bureaucracy of the ancient empire grows corrupt and the nations engage in constant warfare. Change is coming, will Agnes be able to adapt to a world in chaos, becoming a true mage, or will she fall.
8 153The FPD (Fart Police Department)
The FPD (Fart Police Department) The world’s norms and ethics have drastically shifted for the worse after an uncontrollable flatus outbreak absorbed the world’s inhabitant, causing major depopulation on a global scale. Conversely, to remedy the spread of this vulgar contagion, the Societal Gods who were partially indirectly responsible for causing the outbreak, implemented certain strict measures for the servile humans to follow. These strict policies were commonly known to the general public as Fart Commandments. Thou shall not relieve themselves in public without following the proper guided measures; thou shall not relieve themselves in private without adhering to the strict guidelines; each new-born and younglings should be taken to the nearest medical facility regularly for inoculation; loose bottoms shall not be tolerated at any governing venues and face-masks should always be worn appropriately. Failure to adhere to the above commandments would result in a mandatory life sentence without a court appeal or probation unless they are of influential births and have authoritative backers. In this twisted society which had been established today a model young female who adhered to the strict policies all of her life without questioning, accidentally broke one of the Fart Commandments and found herself entangled with a rebellious group of uncouth individuals who opposed the Societal Gods. To regain her innocence and social standing among the civil society, this young lady dared challenge the Societal God’s ruling by utilizing the absolute thing that they detested the most which were the destructive vapours of her flatus. Certainly, she will suffer the excruciating consequences of defying her lords’ commandments. (Link to Discord) https://discord.gg/XqY4JAfhcd (Author’s Notes)You can offer your support for Mia Aim’s creativity if you visit the following links below. I’m currently in the process of working on my new LitRPG-Fantasy novel, Word Fu! The latest chapters are published on Patreon along with character artwork. Please offer your support. https://www.patreon.com/MiaAim_Creative_Force https://ko-fi.com/miaaim https://www.amazon.com/author/miaaim https://www.amazon.com/author/manga-god
8 218Frontiers : First Contact
The phenomenon that had puzzled many scientists and self-professed sleuths of the otherworldly suddenly changed during a mundane encounter with two divers. Neither Ryan and his friends nor the world were ready for what awaited them beyond first contact.(Working Synopsis)(Please be advised that this is only the first draft and is not exactly perfect)Credits to Vaghauk on Deviantart for the artistic renders that inspired this story. The Image not available for commercial use but you can view The Baltic Sea Anomaly on his profile on Deviantart.Cover made by me ⸚‿⸚
8 154The Billionaire's Ex Wife(Ongoing)
CAESAR SERIES #1"My father was right about you all along"He whispered dangerously through the room."What are you trying to say Sebastian ??" Clare sobbed hoping to know what her husband was trying to say. "SHUT YOUR LITTLE SLUTTY MOUTH YOU WHORE!" Sebastian was fuming in anger and hated to see the woman he love cheated on him."YOU MARRIED ME BECAUSE OF MY MONEY HUH?!" Sebastian laughed humoursly "Sebastian, tell me what's wrong so I can fix it please.." Clare was pleading to know what has come upon to her loving , possessive , and caring husband. "I WANT A DIVORCE !" Sebastian said dryly. These were the words Clare hated the most. She knew this day would come. She knew her life wasn't going to be a happy ending.She knows that the life she chose wasn't going to be a fairytale that she had expected it to be.She signed the papers and went to start packing her clothes. She packed the clothes she used before she stepped into this estate.She didn't want anything that was bought by HIM. She didn't want anything that can make her remember the man that broke her heart into millions of pieces The living life forming inside of her is enough to remember the man she loved and will still love.#AlphaMan: Read and find out yourself what's going to happen after five years of love torture.
8 338Indian Stories
This book will have a list of Indian stories which I personally liked.
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