The Village Homicider

The hustle and bustle of the streets is back. It’s Monday, traffic jams have become a habit in the city of Prosh. A man who ran for fear of missing the train with a bag containing important documents seemed to breathe a sigh of relief after successfully getting into a train full of people.

“Huh.. I’m so tired!” He muttered under his breath.

Suddenly someone startled him from behind.

“James, what makes you in such a hurry?” Said the man in white uniform.

“Geez Arthur, I’m really scared my boss will drop me off this time.” Said James was worried.

 

As it turned out, who surprised him was Arthur, his friend. They’ve been friends since James moved to Prosh town, 5 years ago. They work in the same field to investigate cases requested by their clients regarding missing persons.

“What happen with you? Did you make a mess again?” Arthur looked worried at him.

“Well yeah. I thought I had to solve the case of the missing woman south of Prosh with my own way. But I failed and screwed it up again. The police then intervened so the boss got mad about it.” James told him.

“I really suggest you to stop messing around. Just do what the boss wants. Come on man, I need you to stay on track. Just stop it.” Arthur tried to advise him.

“I wish I could.” James said quietly.

 

James is known for his unbridled behavior. He always wants to get things done in his own way. But this time, he made a fatal mistake while working to investigate the case of the disappearance of a woman. He nearly killed a policeman while the two of them were trying to investigate and they had a big fight in the forest until the policeman slipped and fell into a ravine and nearly died. Since his brother died with no apparent ending, he doesn’t trust the police anymore. He still hates the police.

“What should I say to convince the boss this time? Do you have any ideas?” James asked Arthur.

“Just say that you need a break. The boss will agree. Just tell him you’re not feeling well and screwing up. He’ll understand because of your past with the police.” Arthur suggested.

“I really wish the boss said so.” James said as he rushed to his boss room.

“I wish you the best, dude.” Arthur cheered him on.

 

He had already arrived at the office and was about to rush towards his boss room. The boss is sitting in his chair with sharp eyes looking at him.

“Morning sir.” Said Arthur, trying to say greet him.

“You know, I’m not going to mince words anymore. Five years working with you, you motivated me a lot to keep you but not this time. The media crew wanted to make a story about how terrible your personality is. James, sorry but the dirctor can’t tolerate this. He made the final decision that you must leave this office.” The boss said firmly.

“I should have known my limits. Thank you for supporting me until the end sir.” While laughing sadly, he said softly.

 

After the incident, he returned to his hometown to try to calm himself but something happened there that caused his detective ability to try to dig into the case. The news came that two bodies had been found dead in the woods near his house. He did feel strange when he arrived there. As he passed through the passage that connected the villagers’ houses to the forest, he smelled an unusual smell of carrion. He was taken aback by it and tried to investigate the case. His investigation started by asking his neighbors for the chronology.

“Excuse me, My name is James. I want to ask something. Do you know who found the two bodies of murder victim that happened in this village?” James tried to ask the owner of the grocery store because there was no source on the news.

“The first is Mr. John and the second is Steven.” The grocery owner replied.

“You mean the one who lives in the brick house?” James asked again.

“Yes, he is.” The grocery owner answer again.

“When did he come back from America? I just knew it.” Said James curiously.

“He came back about 6 months ago.” The grocery store owner said.

 

James finds out that his childhood friend has returned to find the second corpse. Then, he went to Steven’s house. Arriving there, he met Steven who was watering flowers.

“Stev.. Is that you?” Said James

“Yeah! James, when did you come back here?” Steven replied with surprised.

“I just got back and found out that you’re back here too. I’m glad to hear that.” James said happily.

“Me too, dude. Come in! I’ll serve your favorite dish.” said Steven.

“So glad to know you still remember that.” James replied.

 

Steven loves to cook since he was a child which was passed down from his father. He used to cook James’ favorite food, fried rice with half boiled eggs. While waiting for Steven, James surveyed his surroundings and his eyes fell on a picture of them and Annie, his ex-girlfriend. They were friends since elementary school until they all moved from that village. After looking at the photo, he saw a knife next to the room with blood on it. He then asked Steven who was in the kitchen.

“Stev, sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to ask you something.” James asked.

“What’s that?” Stefan asked back.

“I was told by someone that you found the second body. What’s the chronology? You know I’m a former detective and the two murders bothered me a lot.” James told him.

“At that time I wanted to look for wildflowers in the forest and then I found a body. I immediately called the police after that.” Steven replied.

“Don’t you find anything strange? I saw through the news that they both have something in common which located in a cross tear in the throat.” James said.

“Oh, I remember. I found footprints around a big tree. But because of the rain the police couldn’t measure them properly.” Steven replied.

“I see. Then this is your knife. I found it near our photo. May I ask again what blood is this?” James asked, handing Steven’s knife.

“Oh this one is the knife I used to cut meat yesterday. I forgot to clean it.” Steven answered.

“Did my question offend you? Sorry if I made you like a suspect.” Said James.

“No James, take it easy.” Steven said calmly.

 

After James ate fried rice from Steven, he went and found out more details to Mr. John, who found the first body. He said he found it in the middle of the wildflowers. There is speculation in his head now that his friend, Steven looks suspicious. Starting from he found the second corpse, about the reason he was looking for wildflowers when he used to hate it so much, and about the bloody knife that hasn’t been cleaned in a long time. Because he was very curious, in the middle of the night, he returned to Steven’s house. He climbed up the wall and started looking from his garden. After a long search, he found a new clue that there was a wildflower with bloodstains.

“Geez, this flower is a wildflower. Is this the blood of the corpses?” James asked in a monologue.

“In a moment, I remember John’s words. My suspicions are now justified. Steven is probably the killer. I have to go to the forensics office in town to find out whose blood is in the wildflowers.” Added James himself.

 

The next day, he actually went to town and met his friend who worked at the hospital to help him figure out who the blood belonged to. His friend said it would take him about a week for the results to come out. While waiting for the results, he returned to his village and went into the forest. Arriving there, he was surprised to meet Steven.

“Stev.. Why are you here?” James asked spontaneously.

“Of course I want to find wildflowers.” Steven reasoned.

“But don’t you hate wildflowers? Why do you keep looking for it?” James asked again.

“I has lung problems, so I need wildflowers for natural remedies.” Steven replied.

“Really? Sorry I just knew it. Then let me help you look for it.” James made an offer to Steven.

“Don’t need to bother, James. I can find it myself. How about you? What brought you here?” Steven asked James.

“I just want to investigate further into the murder of the two bodies.” James answered.

“Then I’ll say goodbye. You can call me if you need help.” Says Steven.

“Sure. Take care.” James spoke.

 

When Steven left, he followed him stealthily. It turned out that Steven wasn’t looking for wildflowers, instead he dug the ground near the wildflowers and buried the rabbit with the dismembered body. James couldn’t tolerate it anymore. He approached Steven and asked why Steven did that.

“Stev, what did you do to that animal?” James asked angrily.

“What’s wrong? It’s just a guinea pig.” Steven answered with a laugh.

“You’re crazy! I also knew you were the one who killed the two corpses. I should have recognized you from the start that you were a psychopath.” said James.

“Wow, it’s great that you found out so quickly. But, do you know what’s the most fun? When you see someone you love die but you don’t know who did it.” Steven said it with a laugh.

“You mean my brother? Did you kill him too?” James asked angrily.

“I thought you were smart, but you’re too late to figure it out.” Said Steven belittling James.

“After this, don’t expect much. I’ll make your life like in a hell.” James replied.

“Dude, you have no evidence at all. How can you be so confident?” Steven said confidently.

“Well yeah. In my brother’s case I don’t have one. But you won’t escape the evidence I got from your garden.” Replied James boldly.

“We’ll see if it’s true or not.” Said Steven bravely.

 

James became furious that it was animal. He immediately rushes into town again and pleads with his friend to prove that Steven is a psychopath. Then his friend granted his request to wait for 3 days ahead. James didn’t lose the idea. He tries to get help again from his friend at his old office, Arthur, to investigate Steven’s movements. While Steven, he was scared when he got home. He was afraid that he would rot in prison.

“What if James really has the proof?” Steven monologue.

“Looks like I’ll have to check again to see if there’s any evidence left. Wait a minute, I remember! Gosh, I haven’t burned my bloodied socks.” Steven said warily.

 

When he remembered, he immediately rushed to look for his socks but it wasn’t in any corner of the house. He panicked a lot as he tried to remember where he had put it. And he remembered that he left it in the forest. He rushed there but it turned out that Arthur, James’s friend followed him and there was a fight to get the evidence of socks between the two of them.

 

“I got you! Now you can’t escape anymore. You’ll rot in jail!” Arthur said angrily.

“Who are you? Why did you follow me?” Asked Steven in surprise.

“No need to know who I am. What’s the important one is that you’re on the verge of collapse.” Arthur said viciously.

“Let’s see who will die today.” Said Steven still confident.

“Okay, are you good at fighting? Or just good at killing people? Let’s prove it.” Arthur said it to trigger Steven.

 

There was a big fight between them. Arthur is still strong and continues to carry out a brutal attacks while Steven continues to ward off Arthur’s moves. Finally, James managed to find the two of them before they fought any longer. When he finds out that James is also coming, Steven starts to panic and tries to run away.

“My bad luck. Why are you even here?!” Steven shouted.

“I got that Arthur's call because he caught you out of your favorite cage. And it’s true that you were reckless from the start. I managed to find your loophole.” James mocked.

“Just give up now! You can’t go anywhere else." Arthur said firmly.

 

As Steven begins to lose his way, Arthur swiftly grabs the proof sock, and Steven acts rashly afterward.

“Give it back!! Or I’ll jump from this abyss!!” Threaten Steven.

“Jump it. You only loser!” Said Arthur provoking.

“Don’t mess it dude! Don’t kill yourself. You have to atone for what you did in this world before you go to the afterlife. Aren’t you ashamed of your parents if you die now?” James tried to believe him.

“Stop it! I know them best. They will be proud to see me following them after I killed the people who slandered my parents, including your brother! And it’s time for me to meet them.” Said Steven for the last time before he jumped from the top of the forest into a deep ravine.

“Stev, my brother didn’t mean to slander your parents. You should have heard the explanation first.” James said quietly after he saw Steven commit suicide in front of him.

"So sorry for you James, you should know who killed your brother by losing your friend too." Said Arthur sadly.

Writer: Shesa Kurnia Ilahi