WARNING: Mature language.
N O V A
''Just listen to me; I have reasons for saying this''
''I know, Nova. I know'', Verena replied.
There was a moment of silence—a very uncomfortable silence. I caught Verena smiling at the floor.
''What are you smiling at?''
''Nothing'', She shook her head. I realized that my phone was still with her.
''Give me my phone back''
''Ah, wait one minute'' She tapped on my phone screen.
My jaw fell wide open. ''How do you know my password?''
''Your password is your birth year; you did the same thing in high school as well''
''Why the fuck do you remember that? And just because you know my password does not mean that you should invade my private space''
I made an attempt to reach for my phone but because she was giraffe height, I failed. She looked up while doing something on my phone, and I was too busy jumping to reach it.
''Okay done'' She finally gave me back my phone.
''What did you do to my phone, you prick'' I checked my phone to see what she had changed. A weird profile picture, or maybe she tweeted something something dirty.
She covered my phone screen with her hand. ''Relax, tiger, I did nothing. I just gave you my number'' I looked at her with disbelief.
''Which dumb asshole told you that I wanted your number''
She shrugged, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. "Well, maybe I just assumed you did. But hey, no harm done, right?"
''The fuck?'', The words came off more as a shriek.
She clicked her tongue. ''You're the one who's dumb; you need my number for me to send you documents, files, reports, etcetera.'' I realized she had a point. If I wanted her help with work-related matters, I would indeed need her number.
I huffed in annoyance
''Now enough playing around, I'll recruit two trainees from the Police Academy, and right after-''
''I'm the one playing around?'' I scoffed. ''Bitch you're the one who-''
A notification sound interrupted my talking, and Verena took her phone out of her pocket. She held out a finger to get me to stop talking. Her expression quickly shifted from annoyance to surprise, hinting at something unexpected.
''Good news, Nova'', Verena started. ''We got the autopsy report'' I felt a rush of anticipation as Verena's words hung in the air.
''Alright, great. Send me the report through my mail'', I said.
''I will send you my email ID. We can look at it together on my laptop''
I nodded in agreement and she quickly typed her email address into her phone, notifying my phone.
...
''Cute sticker'', Verena ran her finger through the sticker of the black cat on my laptop. ''You've always been into cute things, yeah?''
I glared at her and Verena tucked in her lips. I shoved her hand away from my laptop and Verena feigned hurt at my gesture. She pouted and crossed her arms, pretending to be offended by my actions. I couldn't help but let out a scornful chuckle at her playful reaction before focusing on the laptop screen.
''You know what the sticker reminds me of?'', she began. ''Your cat, Spooky. How is she doing?''
I turned to Verena with surprise. ''How do you remember Spooky?''
''What do you mean, how? Of course, I remember her. Between the two of us, she liked me better''
I rolled my eyes at Verena's playful remark.
''Does she have kittens or something?'', she asked.
''We are to discuss work during work hours'', I said with a stern tone.
''C'mon, tell me. The screen is still loading'', Verena motioned her head towards the laptop where the dotted circle was circling. Verena pleaded and leaned on to me. I shook my shoulder to get her off of me. I sighed, giving in to her curiosity.
''One'', I said quickly.
''Having a kitten in the house must be nice, right?'', she asked with a wide grin.
''Nice? You haven't met the bloody rascal. He's a pain in the ass'', I said as I opened my email, thanking God that it has finally the laptop finally opened.
''What's his name?'', she asked me.
''Spooky Junior'', I replied.
''You couldn't think of a better name for him, could you?'', she remarked. I gave her a side-eye.
''Take me to meet him sometime, yeah?'', Verena asked.
''Sure'' I only realized that I agreed to her a second later. Verena looked pleasantly surprised. ''I mean, I'll think about it'', I added.
She smiled. ''Alright, have you gotten the document about the autopsy report? Read it out''
I scrolled through my inbox, searching for the email with the autopsy report. "Here it is'', I said, opening the attachment.
''Andrew Parker. thirty-five-year-old American male with no significant past medical history who called EMS with shortness of breath and in an unconscious state'', I skimmed through the text, getting to the important parts.
''Read the whole thing'', pestered Verena.
''No, too long. Two minutes after arrival at the hospital at half past six pm, the patient became unresponsive, apneic, and had oxygen saturations of eighty to ninety percent'',
''There is an area of congestion or erythema on the upper chest and anterior neck'', I scrolled down the text. ''This patient died shortly after a previous pulmonary embolus completely occluded the right pulmonary artery vasculature''
''Basically, Andrew got hit in the chest'', said Verena. I stared at Verena, dumbfounded at her new-found discovery.
''No he was hit in his head'', I said.
''Where in the report does it say he got hit on the head?'', Verena shifted the laptop to gain a closer look while squinting her eyes.
''That was pure sarcasm. Jesus'', I told her while face-palming myself.
''Oh''
''Lia Lee'', Verena cut out the introduction part and skipped to the main part.
''Several lacerations were found in the neck, hands, and collarbone area along with a severe incised wound in the heart which was caused by glass shards. Due to the excessive bleeding, blood was collected in the patient's heart within the pericardium, which resulted in the patient's death'', she continued.
''Nothing too suspicious'', I remarked.
''Are you sure?'', she asked.
''Since we need to file a full report as well as do proper checking, we need to search everything'', I started.
Verena furrowed her eyebrows. ''Come again?'''
''We need to check the vehicle in which the accident took place in'', I finished. Verena nodded her head.
''The damaged automobile must be in a repair shop, isn't it?'', Verena asked.
''The police would confiscate the vehicle. The car would probably be in the motor shop near Monorro'', I said. ''Damaged automobiles are kept safe there for further investigations''
''Then, shall we go there now?'', she asked.
''The accident took place yesterday, it would take more time as we need to contact a mechanic to help'', I said.
Verena raised an eyebrow. ''Why do we need a mechanic?''
''Do you know anything about cars?''
''Well no-''
''Exactly'', I said. Verena pouted a little. A smile threatened to play on my lips but I fought the urge.
''I was going to say no, not much'', she said while crossing her arms like a kid does when they're upset. ''But I do a know a few things''
''Still, getting a mechanic is smart'', I said.
''And about the trainees, I'll find them by tomorrow''
''Alright then, you should probably get going. I'm going back home as well'', I said while standing up and shutting my laptop. Verena also stood up.
''Why the hell are you taller than me?'', I asked with a little force in the question. Verena laughed.
''And I'm not even wearing heels but you are!'', Verena said while looking down at my foot.
''Alright partner, let's do our best!'', Verena extended a hand for me to shake. I returned the gesture for the formality.
''Yes. Let's do our best''
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''Why the hell are you taller than me?''
''And I'm not even wearing heels but you are''
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