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The first body had been found on a Monday.
It hadn't been a particularly gruesome sight, as Cellbit had seen worse. He'd been called to the scene early as the sun had begun to rise. Cellbit noted the wounds visible to the body at that moment. Stab wounds throughout the chest, it looked to be. 4 of them. Bruising along the neck. Cellbit hummed. He hadn't gotten a good look at the face, any defining features shrouded by the crowd of higher-ups. He stayed behind the tape, watching as officers helped to carry the lifeless body onto a stretcher. Someone sobbed near him but he didn't care to look over. Cellbit was more focused on someone across from himself. On how chief of police, Vegetta, hadn't broken a sweat so far. Usually, or at least the last two homicide cases they'd had, Vegetta was emotional. No tears, but he seemed to be bothered or disturbed. Right now he didn't.
Cellbit wrote haphazardly against his notepad.
As Cellbit read over the autopsy file thrown at his desk, he nearly yawned. This had to of been a quick case. Maybe that was disrespectful. He didn't really care. He needed coffee.
Four stab wounds across chest cavity unintentionally excecuted, attempted strangulation.
He had seen a few cases like this one back when he'd worked under a larger corporation. Most of the time, it had turned out to be ex-lovers or estranged family members desperate to come in contact again. Sometimes the victim ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. He shifted in his seat, running a hand down his face. The only issue Cellbit had run into as of this moment was the lack of connections. Whoever this person (Toby, he soon learned) was had been a mystery in and of itself.
Toby had no close family, no reported close friends, and an orphaned daughter listed as "Sunny." This didn't help. Cellbit chewed at his lip. An ex-lover was listed, though it stated mutual breakup. Fred. He would remember that. Hypothetically, he could interview the daughter, but that would just be fucked up and he knew it.
A knock at his office door startled him.
"Um–" Cellbit cleared his throat, instinctively sitting up straighter. "Come in!"
Vegetta stepped in, nodding lowly. "Hola, Cellbit."
"Hola."
The two fell into an uncomfortable silence for a moment, and Cellbit wanted to rip his hair out. Then Vegetta spoke again.
"Have you gotten anywhere?"
Cellbit groaned internally. No, he hadn't gotten anywhere, had he? Lord knows how long he had been sitting there. His head ached and his eyes hurt and had begun to blur the longer he stared at the reports. Something in him debated questioning the other about his stoicism at the crimescene. Cellbit held his tongue. That would do no good and, frankly, Cellbit wasn't looking to seem suspect himself. "No, uh, not..really." He swallowed. "The guy didn't have any friends. Talked to Quackity often, but they weren't close enough to suspect it. One ex, but it was said to be mutual."
Vegetta nodded knowingly. "I figured it'd be difficult. The autopsy didn't give much away. Whoever did it knew what they were doing, I guess. At your expense." The laugh was forced.
*Stupid excuse of a joke.* Cellbit wasn't humored. The only thing on his mind right now was a coffee and a long nap. He would sleep forever if he had the option. He also refused to look too far into that. "I'll get it done. I swear. I just need a few days and I'll get somewhere." Cellbit promised.
Vegetta seemed satisfied and soon made his way to leave. Cellbit waited until he was sure Vegetta was down the hall before dropping his head onto his desk with a thud.
He was so fucked.
The walk to the coffee shop was short. Cellbit had walked it so many times before and seemed to know it like the back of his hand. Normally he would have taken his car but he needed to clear his head. Walks helped.
Every order was the same when Cellbit went. Black coffee every time. Bagi insisted that it was disgusting and that he should be "burned at the stake" for it, but he ignored her every single time. When he had gotten his coffee and taken a seat, he observed the other people in the shop with him. He'd never seen some of them before. New, which he thought to be odd. Nobody ever moved there. Nobody knew the town existed. They seemed..robotic. Lifeless.
Weird, but okay.
Cellbit lived a rather solitary life. He kept to himself and that was okay with him. To his loved ones, however, they disagreed. Forever had voiced his concerns one night. Cellbit ignored him. Before Felps had gone, he worried more than Forever did about him.
"Are you planning on dying alone?"
The sentence had been laughable to Cellbit those months ago, but now it settled cold and hard in his chest. It felt the same to when Cellbit had heard Felps was missing. He wouldn't acknowledge the comparison.
Whatever had happened to Felps, he didn't know. For the first few weeks after he'd been told, Cellbit stayed up restlessly trying to piece it together. He didn't sleep that whole week. He'd managed to tie it back to the Federation he worked under previously before getting far too close to death itself. He never did pick the case up after that.
Cellbit's daydreaming had been interrupted by a voice near his table. And, the man sat down in front of him. Right.
Cellbit took the chance to look him over as quickly as he could. A lot of red he seemed to wear, and a boyish grin and a gleam in his eye. Spiderman hoodie. "Sorry, do, um–do I know you?"
The man seemed to perk up at that. "No! You don't! But, um, I know you. You're known around the town, small town. And I can help with the..murder thing, I think." Cellbit raised an eyebrow. "I don't even know your name. How can I trust you're not some psycho?"
The man nodded. "Sorry, I'm Roier." He seemed to expect a handshake, and pulled his hand back embarrassed when Cellbit kept eyeing him. Roier cleared his throat. "Point is, my son knows the dead guy's daughter. Used to be friends, don't talk now 'cause her dad's dead, blah, blah, blah."
Cellbit exhaled. "And this is supposed to help me how, exactly?"
"Well, Bobby, my son, said that Sunny told him that her father seemed weird the days before he was killed. Now, Sunny's young, so it was kind of vague, but–"
Cellbit cut him off quickly. "No, no, this is good. This is good." Something seemed to overwhelm him suddenly. Something reckless and completely illogical. "We can talk more at my office. If that works, if you're not-" Cellbit cleared his throat. Why the fuck did he say that? "If you're not busy with..Bobby, I mean."