“Hmm… This looks familiar.” While holding the square object in her hand, Denise’s mind started searching its databank for comparative data. Soon, the information started to click.

“It’s another one of those…?” She remembered confiscating a similar object a couple of weeks ago in an alley where a quadruple homicide occurred. To this date, it was still an unsolved case.

“Hey, what do you have there?” Rebecca came over to take a look at what Denise had found.

“It’s a type of cube. Have a look.” A short while after showing the mysterious object to Rebecca, it crumbled into ash that got carried off by the wind.

“That’s strange.” In her head, Denise was wondering, ‘What does this mean? It can’t be a coincidence, can it?’

Rebecca comprehended the sort of pondering expression Denise had on her face and said, “Girl, you look like you’ve found a clue.”

“I just might.” Feeling curious about something, Denise started moving away from the rubble in a hurry. When she was asked by her colleague about where she was going? She replied that she was going to the precinct to check on something.

“You can take it from here, Rebecca.” Saying her goodbyes, Denise hopped back into her borrowed vehicle and sped off down the road. She had to be careful of the potholes that came about during the chase between the Smokepires and Smoke Pac earlier that evening.

Denise arrived at the station sometime after midnight. She greeted her co-workers on the way inside and went directly into her office. “I know I stashed it somewhere in here. I specifically remember not submitting it to lock up.”

She searched her office space for a while until she located the item she was searching for inside her office drawer.

“There you are.” She took out a clear evidence bag that had a unique Rubik’s Cube stored within it. Particularly a special-grade megaminx dodecahedron. This was the item she nabbed from Smoke Pac’s cold grasp in the alleyway while he lost consciousness.

The reason why Denise came to the station for this object was because the item she found back at the clinic reminded her of it. So she thought it must have some significance.

While spinning around the Rubik’s Cube in her hands, observing its every movable section, she thought, “There must be something special about this puzzle. The neighbouring precinct reported finding a strange cube inside their victim’s body, another report mentioned finding one nearby the crime scene.

This can’t all be a coincidence. Ever since that night…” she reflected on the night Smoke Pac awakened from his slumber. Continuing, she stated, “…There’s been an increase in gang murders. If I can solve this puzzle, it might give me what I need to crack this ongoing case.”

Denise went off on a limb and dedicated her time to solving the rare Megaminx Rubik’s Cube, instead of following her colleagues' example to do what they classified as real police work. She spent hours in her office turning a twisting the puzzle, but it was too complex of a structure for her to solve easily.

“Goddammit!” Feeling very frustrated, she released a shout that attracted the inquisitive gazes of her peers.

“Detective, what’s bothering you?” A fellow officer entered her office to check up on her condition.

She conveyed, “I’m just having some difficulty solving this thing.”

“Is that a Rubik’s puzzle you have there?” The officer glanced at the Megaminx Rubik’s Cube before saying, “Can I try? I used to solve those as a kid.”

“Be my guess.” The officer offered his puzzle-solving expertise, thus Denise indulged him by giving him the Rubik’s Cube to try.

“Damn this thing is hard.” After struggling for a few minutes, the officer eventually gave up on solving the puzzle and passed it on back to Denise. “Here you go, detective. This is a hard one even for me.”

“I thought so.” Denise looked very depressed. After the Rubik’s Cube entered her grasp, she twisted it a couple more times just to test her luck, but to no avail.

At daybreak when Lewis and Rebecca came back to the precinct, they discovered their colleague sitting in her office with her head plastered on the table. The Rubik’s Cube was still in her grasp even though she was out of it.

Rebeca was the first to enter the office followed by Lewis. “Huh, did she sleep here overnight?”

“It sure looks like it.” Said Lewis. “She’s wearing the same worn-out clothes. That means she was here all night long. I wonder what kept her here.”

“There is only one way to find out.” Rebecca went over and shook Denise a few times to wake her up. “Hey, get up.”

“Erm…” Denise had her slumber interrupted. Waking from the dream world, she slowly lifted her hand from the desk. An evident dizziness was still present in her eyes.

While clearing the matter from her eyes so she could see better, she spoke, “Rebecca is that you?” Her morning breath carried a stench that made Rebecca turn away her head while she answered--

“Yes, it is me. You look terrible. I thought you went home after you left us last night. I never thought you would have spent the night here. You need to take better care of yourself.”

Lewis stepped forward and interjected, “I agree with Rebecca. You look and smell like shit. You need to go clean yourself up before the entire department starts treating you like a laughing stock.”

Hearing how Lewis spoke about Denise, Rebecca glanced back at him and said, “Hey, I didn’t say that she smells like shit. Stop being so harsh.”

“It’s the truth. By the way, you’re bleeding.” Lewis pointed out the source of blood soaking through Denise’s bandages.

This was caused by her operating the Megaminx Rubik’s Cube all night. She inadvertently tired her arms until parts of her wounds reopened.

“Huh?” Denise stared at her arm. “It must have started bleeding while I was dozed off. It doesn’t hurt now though.”

“You should get that looked at.” Rebecca encouraged her to seek medical care.

“I will as soon as I get this figured out.” Denise showed off the item in her hand.

“Is that what kept you hear the entire night?” Lewis recognized seeing the Rubik’s Cube before. “Isn’t that the puzzle you retrieved from that gruesome crime scene the same night the morgue caught fire?”

“It is.” She affirmed.

“What are you doing with it?” Questioned Lewis.

“I’m trying to solve it. I think this might give us a clue to our current situation.”

“Are you serious? That little thing?” Lewis didn’t understand what Detective Sleuth was talking about. “How can that help us crack the case?”

“I’m hoping to find that out after I solve this. Do you think you can do it?” Without any warning, Denise tossed the Rubik’s Cube at Lewis. He quickly caught it before it hit the ground.

Lewis twisted and turned the appropriate blocks but he gave up very quickly when he wasn’t making any progress. He also complained, “This is foolish and a waste of time. If you want to unlock it so badly, have you tried smashing the damn thing?”

Lewis impulsively increased the height in his right arm before he flung the Rubik’s Cube to the ground.

“Hey! What are you doing!?” Fearing that it might break, Denise tried stopping Lewis from tossing the Rubik’s Cube, but she was too late.

Thud!

The Megaminx Rubik’s Cube crashed into the ground which such intensity that it bounced 2 times before landing. It was still intact, not even a scratch was on it.

Lewis picked it up and inspected it. “Wow, this is pretty hard. I thought it was made out of plastic based on how light it is.”

“Give me that before you break it.” Denise dragged the Rubik’s Cube out of Lewis’s hand. She was genuinely protecting it as if was a vital item to solving her case.

Noticing her peers staring at her strangely, she said to them, “Don’t look at me like that. This cube is definitely a key to unlocking our case. I can feel it. My intuition is never wrong.”

“If you say so, girl.” Rebecca didn’t contradict Denise’s statement. “Let me see.” Inspecting the Rubik’s Cube for herself, Rebecca asked openly, “So if neither of us can solve it, what will you do?”

“There might be someone who can help.” While speaking, Denise went around her desk and searched her drawer for a specific piece of document.

“What are you looking for?” Inquired Lewis.

“Here it is.” Denise took out a newspaper that she showed to her colleagues. The front cover featured a 9-year-old orphan who was a genius at solving complicated puzzles that most adults found impossible to solve. “This kid, Andy Smart might be able to solve our puzzle.”

“You can’t be bloody serious. You’re willing to bet your chips on some brat to help you with a grown-up investigation. In which detective handbook is this accepted?” Lewis was appalled.

“We have to explore every avenue we can to tackle this investigation. This kid genius might be able to help us.”

“Can I say something?” Rebecca raised her hand then spoke, “I don’t disagree with your idea Denise, but do you see who is standing beside that boy in the photo?”

“Hmm…?” Zooming in on the person standing beside Andy Smart, they all recognized a devious woman in pure white—Story Book Fairy.