Blue Rose – Chapter 1: Eyes/Perception (TEASER, AGAIN)
6.30 A.M, Monday, 11 December 1997
Organized Crime Investigation Section, K City Police Department, K city
Inspector Chen let out a long sigh. Cigarette smoke blows out from his mouth. The ash tray on his work desk filled with cigars and ashes, so much that the ashes scattered near the tray. There are faint smoke rising from it, showing it was not long after the last cigarette squashed into the tray.
Leaning his back onto the chair, Inspector Chen stares at the ceiling. He is both physically and mentally tired. Pulling an all-nighter of work is not weird for him and he used to it, but after last night’s interview session with the reporters, he’s been feeling restless and racking his brain. Even someone who smokes only one time a week like him ended up being a heavy smoker in a span of a night.
“Se-or” – Inspector Chen heard a faint voice of a woman.
“Sen-or Ch-n!” – The voice is getting louder, but he is still in daze.
“Senior Chen!!!” – That shout returns Inspector Chen to reality.
“What? Who??!” Inspector Chen quickly rise from his lean, then frantically look to his left and right in search for the source of the voice. His eyes stopped after he saw a figure to his left. Inspector Chen’s gaze slowly move upwards until he saw a face of an angry Chinese woman.
“De-detective Liang? What’s with the sour face?” – Inspector Chen asked. His voice is a little shaken.
“Senior, do you know how many times I called to you?” – asks Detective Liang.
“She is angry!!”- Inspector Chen fake a smile but he is screaming in the inside.
Putting her hands on hips, Detective Liang let a long sigh.
“Why are you dazing off, Senior? Usually, you are always sharp. But this isn’t like you.” - Detective Liang asks with worried tone.
Inspector Chen feel guilty. This junior of his is always a hardworking and righteous police officer since she joined the force about 9 months ago and considered him her mentor as Inspector Chen is famous for his strictness and responsible character. Showing her this side of him is really embarrassing.
“It’s because of that case. Last night’s interview really draws the last ounce of wits I have left.” – Inspector Chen answered. He try to control his tone, not showing the tiredness he has right now.
“Oh, that case?” – Detective Liang’s reaction implied that she have the clue of what Inspector Chen was talking about.
The case Inspector Chen meant to say is the case where 13 people has been missing. Case of missing people is a rare occurrence but the police department managed to solve the previous cases quite fast and efficient, for normal missing people case that is.
After gaining his usual sharp personality, Inspector Chen answered, “The case has claim its 14th victim. The situation are getting worse. Both reporters and publics need to know about our action about the case, including the previous cases.”
“I heard the inspectors are talking about the case. I don’t know the details since I’m not part of the task force but the case is quite absurd.” – said Detective Liang while staring to the air and touching her chin. Since she always doing each time when she talks about cases, her colleague dubbed it as “Detective Liang’s Detective Mode”.
“14 people missing without trace. And within 2 weeks. How it’s not absurd?” – said Inspector Chen.
“The reporters asks difficult questions. What are the cause? Who’s the perpetrator? What are clue’s found? What are the police’s next move? I used all I have to make the answers realistic as possible. How am I not dazing off?” – Inspector Chen added.
“What does the higher ups thought about the case?” – Still in her “Detective Mode”, Detective Liang asks.
“Those burly, fat, holier-than-thou superiors? Who done nothing but only know how to order?” – Inspector Chen returns a question back to Detective Liang.
“I… I am sorry”- Realizing her fault, Detective Liang apologizes.
“It’s not your fault, Liang. Even us, members of the case’s task force, couldn’t think of something.” – Inspector Chen comforted Detective Liang.
“Why is that?” – Detective Liang asks.
“Do you know why it is called ‘Missing without trace’? Because there is no trace, at all. No evidence of kidnapping or struggles, no personal belongings at the site. There is not even any footage of the victim in the city’s surveillance camera.”
“It’s a different story if the victim last witnessed traveling into back alleys or entering shady premises but that’s not it. The victims last spotted is in crowded places and within the city’s surveillance system. Yet, we haven’t found any trace of hacking in the surveillance system, which could be concluded that the footages are faked” – Inspector Chen explains.
“So, how you’re going to investigate such case?!” – Detective Liang asks. This time she lost her cool and panicked.
“Calm down, Liang” – Inspector Chen try to calm down his junior.
Inspector Chen put out a handbook from his pants side pocket. He then browse for a page and then put the handbook onto table.
“Since, even the most logical reasoning could not explain the cause of this case, there is only one way to find out”
He picks up the phone with his left arm, while his right arm pointed at a text on the handbook. While Inspector Chen is pressing the phone buttons, Detective Liang take a peek of the text. The text seems like a name, probably to a person or an organization.
“Blue Rose…” – Detective Liang thought to herself. “It’s maybe an organization”
###################################################################
8.26 A.M, Same day
Office room of Private Paranormal Investigation Agency Blue Rose
The Victorian-styled bronze ceiling fan spins slowly, enough for it to barely produce breeze. Its creaking sound echoes through the room, as if telling that the fan is a genuine antique from Victorian Era blacksmith workshop.
Even though the fan produce such light breeze, with the small area of the office, all the people in the room could feel it. Sitting behind the Victorian-styled office desk, also on Victorian office leather chair, an English man in his early thirties. His shoulder long greyish curly hair run down his face, and wearing a modern Victorian suit.
In front of him is a newspaper of the day. His eyes glued to the newspaper while his cross-fingered hands supported his chin. The page he is reading now titled “Missing person case reaches 14th victim. What are the police doing?” Immersed in reading, he doesn’t realize what is happening in front of him.
He doesn’t realize the brown haired young Asian man in his early twenties, wearing a green sweater sitting on the long sofa of the Victorian sofa set in front of him. The young man has been scribbling on a paper supported by the coffee table, which are weird alphabets written in circular form.
He doesn’t realize the Caucasian women in her mid-twenties, wearing black and blue suit, sitting next to the young man. While exuding aura of a pure, innocent nun or devout, she is reading a book about Buddha’s Ten Commandments. Her focus is as much as himself.
He also doesn’t realize the mid-forties old guy in an old lab coat. His coat is stained with remaining, probably chemicals, of many kinds. The old man is deeply observing collection of weird looking masks hanging on the wall.
Suddenly, his focus are shaken. For him, nothing could disturb his reading except one, the fragrant aroma of the rose tea. Beside the newspaper, an exquisite white cup with detailed rose patterns on it is put by a beautiful Japanese woman. She has a near doll-like face and long, sleek, raven-like black hair. She wears an elegant hand tailored black Houmongi with embroidery of hydrangea.
She gracefully pour the rose tea from teapot of the exquisite tea set into the cup. As the aromatic fragrance whiffs throughout the room, the other three focused members of the agency snaps out of their attention.
“Thank you, Kyouko” – In Japanese, the English man thanked the woman named Kyouko. Kyouko reply to his thanks with a bright smile. Her cheek turns beet red of embarrassment. How can she not blushed when her beloved husband stopped his reading, just to thank her for serving him tea?
“Kyouko-san, I want a cup too!” – The young man pleads.
“In that case, pour one for me too, Ma’am” – The Caucasian woman asks Kyouko.
“Do you care to pour for one more, Madam?” – The old man quickly adds his words right after the Caucasian woman finished her sentence.
The woman named Kyouko poured some of the remaining rose tea into a cup for the old man in lab coat as he slowly seated on a single seat of the sofa set. She then take the remaining cup and slowly seated beside her beloved husband. After she poured the remaining tea for herself, all of them quietly sips their cup.
Expression of satisfaction appeared on their faces, showing how remarkable the tea was prepared. The office becomes silent as they enjoy the taste of the tea; not too bitter and not too sweet. The fragrance of rose that accompanies the taste as well as the perfect temperature of the tea. And calm atmosphere of the office that is decorated with antiques, it’s as the time has stopped for the moment.
“The tea you prepared is magnificent as always, Kyouko”. The British man complimented his wife’s prepared tea. Kyouko fidgeted a little with her cheeks beet red, and a slight smile appears on her face. She is very happy of that compliment but try hard to maintain her polite demeanor. Her actions is quite comedic in the eyes of the office staffs.
After that, they continues to sip the remaining tea from their cup, albeit slowly. With such remarkable tea, how could they let it finishes so fast without savoring the taste first? But, not long after the moment of serenity, few sound of knocking broken the silence inside the office. All of the office except the British man wondered “Who’s the guest that coming so early in the morning?”
Putting his tea cup, still with remaining rose tea, on the table, the British man spoke “Come in”. The door is opened and the figure of the guest emerges in front of everyone in the office. It is Inspector Chen and his junior, Detective Liang. In the inspector’s hand, there is an envelope. Based on it thickness, it contains a quite amount of contents.
Inspector Chen and Detective Liang seated on the couch, facing the British man. The woman in Houmongi named Kyouko quickly serve the fragrant rose tea to the guests that have just arrived. She throw a faint smile to both of them and walk back next to her husband. “What do you need our help for this time around, Inspector Chen?” Asked the British man, quickly answered by the stern-faced police Inspector-”Don’t play around, Sir Henrique. You already know for what I have come to see you.” ”Indeed I am.” ‘Henrique’ refuted.
“The help I need from you this time around, are these” Inspector Chen pull out several documents from the envelope he brought with him and lay them onto the coffee table in the middle of the sofa set. “The case of people missing without trace, I believe that’s what it’s called” said ‘Henrique’ and he’s quickly answered by Inspector Chen “Yes and that’s the reason I seek for your help.” “The documents are the list of the missing victims and their details.” The staffs take one or two of the documents and quickly go through it while Inspector Chen continues “Same as what the case is called, the victims listed here missing without any traces. From personal belongings, witnesses, and even surveillance cameras, there is any evidence of the victims at the scene” “It is like the victims are just vanished like smoke” “At any rate, abnormal case like this is far from my abilities and the police department to solve”
“It is truly, a case beyond norm” ‘Henrique’ implied “and based on my judgement, the perpetrator is beyond norm either”