Notes

Aphelion
Twisted Game
Detective Arlo Aphelion arrived at a crime scene to find a dead body of a middle-aged man in the man's garage. He began by looking into the family. Nathan Shaw worked for a firm that sold watches at Narcissus. ''Mrs. Shaw,'' Arlo remarked to the crying woman, ''Your husband has murdered about 2 hours ago, can you tell me your position around 2 pm?'' Arlo inquired. ''Uhm, yes,'' she said. ''I was at work at the time and arrived home at 3:36,'' she says. Arlo observed her body language and saw she was moving quickly and pursing her lips. This may be because she was in a trance, and it could signify anything. ''Thank you, Mrs. Shaw; I'll make sure to verify that,'' Arlo remarked as he walked away.
''Can you obtain an alibi on Jade Shaw? She stated she was at work at the time of the murder, just phone them up and ask for CCTV,'' he asked. Arlo now went back to the murder scene after the body was collected. When Arlo viewed the images and discovered that he had been shot twice, he decided to see whether he had a gun registered in his or his wife's name, and then he planned to see if a neighbor had heard the disturbance. ''Good evening sir, how can I help you?'' inquired Anne as he stepped next door and knocked on the door. ''I'm not sure if you're aware, but there was a murder next door and I wondered if you heard any noise, gunshots, shouting.'' ''No, I didn't hear anything at all, I'm growing deaf in my old age,'' she joked. Arlo waved as he went away. ''Well, thank you regardless..'' Arlo waved as he went away. ''I've got an alibi on Jade Shaw,'' another officer added. ''It turns out she was at work during the murder, sir.'' ''So, she's not the murderer,'' Arlo said. ''I'm going to conduct further research on the home, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.'' Stated Arlo. Arlo now examined the outside of the house, then checked the door, which appeared to have been pushed open; Arlo believed this may be a hint, but it could simply be the quality of the door. He decided to look into it more. When analyzing the door, Arlo employed a thermal camera, which identified an imprint on the door, indicating that someone attempted to shut it down.
''Excuse me, Mrs. Shaw, have you ever had somebody trying to kick your door?'' Asked Arlo, recalling Nathan's boots not matching his proportions. ''Not to my knowledge, why?'' she said. ''It doesn't matter,'' Arlo answered. Arlo stepped outside and photographed the footprint before taking it to the authorities. After the investigation, Arlo returned home; he lived alone in a little house in a field because his wife was killed 20 years before, which drove him to become a detective. Arlo sat down in front of a fire, then fell asleep in his chair; he awoke the next morning at 5:00 a.m., got ready, and left for work; this time, another murder had occurred; Arlo arrived at the scene, investigated the body; this body, too, had two bullet holes and was on a pathway near a forest. Arlo ran a background check on the woman who worked at Narcissus, the same as Nathan. ''This can't be a coincidence. We need to look into Narcissus.'' Arlo spoke. ''Perhaps they were quitting their jobs and the owners were angry and decided to kill 'em.'' said an officer ''Why would a firm murder their core employees? It would be absurd to murder the best employees.'' Spoke Arlo. ''It appears she was running, based on her shoes and clothes, her hair is tied, and her phone is connected to ear pods, indicating she was most likely exercising, but, based on the blood course and where she is facing, I'd assume whoever killed her vigorously followed her and planned the entire murder. It's either the corporation or a highly skilled assassin.'' Arlo stated. Arlo knelt now, raising her hands and examining beneath her fingernails. ''Nothing,'' Arlo said. ''We need to go over to Narcissus and look into this thoroughly.'' ''Excuse me, I am looking for Charles Narcissus, owner of this business,'' Arlo said as he entered the premises. I'm here because of the killings.'' Arlo spoke up. ''He's not here right now'' said the worker, who kept shifting his gaze strangely to a door, ''Mind if I go to the toilet?'' ''Not at all,'' responded the worker. ''Not in there!'' yelled the worker as Arlo approached the door and attempted to enter the room. ''Over there, sir,'' the worker said. ''Why are you so keen to prevent me from entering?'' Arlo inquired. Arlo dashed inside the room in search of Charles Narcissus. ''Hello, sir, Detective Arlo Aphelion. I'm here about-'' Arlo was cut off, ''I'm not going to talk to some cheap investigator,'' Charles said. ''Fortunately, I'm paid by the hour,'' Arlo said. ''I'm here about the-'' Arlo was cut off again, ''About the cannabis?'' panicked Charles. ''No... About the killings,'' Arlo said. ''killings?'' Charles inquired. ''Yes, there were two murders of your former workers who worked for your firm, both, I believe, committed by the same individual with the same aims,'' Arlo spoke up. ''And you believe I did it?'' Charles inquired. ''Well,'' Arlo cleared his throat. ''I don't think it was fully you, but possibly someone you hired?'' Arlo speculated. ''Of course not, why would I ever do such a thing, my business was prospering, I have no motive to murder anyone, especially my staff,'' says the business owner. ''I smell a terrible odor,'' Arlo hoisted his shoes to check for dog poop, and Charles did the same, ''Hm, good day, sir.'' Arlo knew Charles would most likely elevate his shoe as well, allowing him to inspect the bottom for footprints. Arlo went away, still unsure if he was guilty or not, but he didn't have any solid proof, so he couldn't do anything about it.
Arlo's phone started to ring, and he checked it. ''Hello, sir. Another murder has occurred,'' said the cop. ''I'm on my way,'' Arlo said. Nathan's birthdate was 12/12/1981 and he resided at 1266 Cottrill Lane, his phone number was 1-212-555-1364, the number came up everywhere, ''I'm going to keep it in mind, I have a funny feeling about that number,'' Arlo said. The lady who was slain on the 15th track about 15:34 on May 15, 2022. ''I'll keep the number 15 in mind.'' Arlo stated. ''OK, that's it, that's 100 percent Charles Narcissus. This man also worked at Narcissus. How could it not be? I'm convinced; I had my misgivings, but that's all.'' Arlo stated. ''How old was the victim?'' Arlo inquired. ''22,'' said one officer. ''Her licence number was B27 722. It's now the number 22, and whomever the murderer is wants us to find out who he is.'' As said by Arlo. ''L is the alphabet's 12th letter, O is the alphabet's 15th letter, and U is the alphabet's 22nd letter. Which equals LOU.'' Arlo said. ''How many times was she shot?'' Arlo inquired. ''This time, sir, the victim was strangled to death,'' the officer explained. ''The marks on the neck, it wasn't a hand, that specific rope, see, some of it got trapped in her hair, take the rope for examination, perhaps the killer wanted to spice things up a bit?'' Arlo knelt. Or... it was his sole weapon, perhaps his ammunition had run out, or there were too many people nearby to shoot.''
Arlo stated. ''Wait, look at the rope, it's stretched out like a V, I'll be right back,'' Arlo said as he dashed outside and drove to a strange-looking mansion. Then Arlo knocked on the door. ''Are you Lou Vespertine?'' Arlo inquired. ''Finally, Arlo Aphelion, I waited for you. You are an excellent detective. Don't attempt anything crazy, this facility is equipped with bombs,'' Lou said. ''Why did you murder all those people?'' Arlo questioned. ''Well, I noted that the company had a large number of employees, so it was ideal for me to utilise the numbers to build an anagram that led you to me; I wanted to see how good of a detective you actually were. I wanted to blame the firm since Charles had refused my application, and it felt nice to have a plan to close it down, but I also wanted you to find me,'' Lou explained. ''Well, I noted that the company had a large number of employees, so it was ideal for me to utilize the numbers to build a puzzle that led you to me; I wanted to see how good of a detective you actually were. I wanted to blame the firm since Charles had refused my application, and it felt nice to have the plan to close it down, but I also wanted you to find me,'' Lou explained. ''Why? Why would you want me to track you down?'' Arlo inquired. ''I wanted everybody to know how good I am, how easy I got away with it, without showing who I actually was. I liked you, Arlo, because you stood out from the crowd. It's so unfortunate you have to die,'' Lou said. Alro instantly remembered the hidden bombs but thought Lou would definitely have a remote owing to his lack of emotion, but Arlo needed to figure out how to retrieve it. ''May I have tea before I die?'' he said, noticing Lou staring at a package. ''Yes, but don't try to leave, you'll murder yourself and everyone else,'' Lou said. Arlo dashed to the box, which contained another box, which was locked with a combination, ''Damn it!'' Arlo said. Arlo simply dialled 1-1-1-1 and it worked, ''How stupid,'' inside was a bomb, Arlo then sat down, without hesitation, he got up and looked through some drawers, he then found scissors and sat down, he cut a wire and squeezed his eyes, nothing happened, Arlo rushed the bomb back and sat down, a few minutes later Lou returned with his tea, ''Here you go, Mr. Arlo threw the tea on Lou's face and dashed for the window, grabbing a chair and smashing through it before smashing through the glass. He ran around the garden, then through the fence, Arlo's grey hair blowing through the wind, his hat falling off and his tie flopping around, his wrinkled face flowing through the wind, when he heard a gunshot and called the cops, who arrived to find Lou Vespertine dead on the floor after realising his bomb had not detonated. ''How on Earth did you do that, Aphelion?'' inquired an officer. ''It's actually rather basic, the power of deduction.'' Arlo replied.