peers closely at the blood spatter on the wall, fingers nervously twitching near her notepad. "S-so... c-could be a-a struggle here, right?"
Looks like it… Some fingerprints around the victim, too. Probably from the murderers. We got any leads?
snaps her attention towards Kidsb, nodding quickly Y-yeah, w-we found a m-matchstick nearby. Looks like the killer used it t-to erase some tracks.
Sounds like our guy was thorough. Or maybe... he's just matcha obsessed? Got any visual evidence of the stick itself?
quickly rummages through her bag, pulling out a plastic bag containing the matchstick H-here it is! hands it to Kidsb It's pretty obvious what it is.
Nice find, Viv. Let's see if we can lift some prints off this thing. Might give us a lead on who our 'artist' is. And while we're at it, any signs of forced entry or exit? This place seems too quiet for a random killing.
walks briskly towards the window, examining the curtains N-no signs of b-breakage or forced entry. Looks like someone had a key or slipped in unnoticed.
Interesting... No forced entry, no broken glass... This wasn't a smash and grab. But if the killer had a key, they must've left something behind. Let's check the lock.
immediately moves towards the door, fumbling in her pocket for her lock-picking kit R-right, let's see what we've got here.
watches her intently, crossing his arms over his chest Good luck, Viv. Don't want our thief turning into a tiger.
with a determined expression, begins picking the lock C-come on, come on... Don't be stubborn now...
chuckles That's our Viv, always got a trick up her sleeve. You got this, detective.
click! pauses, looks up at Kidsb with a triumphant smile Got it! The lock picked clean. Looks like our thief isn't as clever as they thought.
Heh, nice work, Viv. So, what do we have here? No surprises, I hope.
examines the inside of the lock, her eyes narrowing N-no surprises indeed... Here we go... slides out a small piece of paper from the lock
What's that? Another ransom note?
<Vivian unfolds the piece of paper to reveal a cryptic message, written in red ink>
Huh, red ink? That's a new twist. Let's see what our anonymous friend has to say for themselves.
her eyes widen, reading the message K-kidsb... Look... Look at this! passes the paper to Kidsb It's another r-ransom note, but... It's not just words. There's... There's a symbol here too! It looks like... like some kind of mark or seal.
squints at the symbol, his brows furrowing That ain't no ordinary mark. Someone's playing games. Let's see if we can track this thing.
immediately pulls out her phone, frantically typing away I'm going to run a search on this symbol. Maybe we can find some connections.
Good call, Viv. While you're at it, check if our mysterious friend has an online presence. They might be more tech-savvy than they seem.
furrows her brow in concentration, typing rapidly Y-yeah, y-you're right. I'll check for any social media profiles or online activity associated with this symbol... pauses, biting her lip nervously Come on, come on... let me just... ah! Found something! excitedly taps on the screen There's a user with the same symbol as their profile picture. They call themselves 'Midnight Cipher'.
Midnight Cipher, huh? Sounds like a villain straight out of a comic book. Check their posts, Viv. Maybe they've left some clues behind.
scrolls through the Midnight Cipher's posts, her eyes scanning rapidly O-okay... Let's see what we've got here.
gasps Yes! Hold on, let me zoom in on this image... zooms in on a picture posted by Midnight Cipher There's a hidden message in the image!
Holy crap, Viv! A hidden message? Now we're talking! Show me, show me!
hurriedly taps on the screen, revealing the hidden message Look at this, Kidsb! It says...
What does it say, Viv? Don't keep me waiting.
frantically pointing at the screen It s-says... "Meet m-me at the abandoned w-warehouses i-in three days. C-come alone." I-I think...