It's been 10 hours since the police found the body in the manor.

  Every second, every minute, Professor Stone felt like he was suffocating. It was an odd sensation, as he was neither choked nor strangled. Yet he found it hard to breath.

  What was this uneasy sensation weighing his shoulders down? The man has been through many cases, yet what was it about this very case that made his hands shake.

  "...Keekee, Keekee, Keekee."

  No. The name he was muttering wasn't the one he worried the most. Granted, that didn't mean he lacked any care for this person.

  His concern was the person who the name related to.

  "God...If Kim finds out, how is he going to react?"

  Prof. Stone has seen many nightmares in his career. But somehow that one idea scared the hell out of him, even when he was in the safety of his forensic lab.

  *Ring-Ring* *Ring-Ring* *Ring-Ring*

  OH GEEZ! It was just his phone. Never before had he experienced such a jump scare in his life!

  "Detective, you got anything?" He asked through an ear piece headset. "I would like to hear some good news."

  [Well], Detective Fraulein's voice would mumble on the other line, [I don't know what I found would be considered good news.]

  "Guess you'll just have to humour me."

  [The coroner got back to me, the victim died three days ago. Between the evening hours of 8 to 10. The coroner counts at most 20 stabs.]

  "Twenty stabs!? Geeeez.”

  [It’s not firm yet, but the coroner believes the murder weapon could be a kitchen knife. One with a thick blade. Something like that Japanese Santoku style kitchen knife you often favour in your house.]

  “My god. Sounds too vicious to be real. Whoever the murderer is, they surely had a vendetta."

  [Could be murdererS]

  "...Are you suggesting, people are waiting in line for this victim? Holding numbered tickets even?”

  [Hah!] Detective Fraulein's laugh was loud enough to leave a ringing sound in the forensic chemist's ear. [Tip of the damn ice berg. I got my team dig up some serious dirt on this guy.]

  The detective then tried to give Prof. Stone the low down.

  ~~~~~

  No one in the company will mourn for the Director's loss. It was that bad. Why, even the officers were able to uncover a stack of HR complaints made against his name. Why was it all covered in cobwebs and inches of dust? The answer was real simple.

  Believe it or not, the Director could charm a toad out of a tree if he wanted to. Negotiation skills so impeccable, he would always bring home a solid deal - at very little expense. So of course, the higher ups in the company were willing to turn a blind eye to the revolution that would stir within their walls.

  Wait, there's more.

  The Director was famous. Rather, INfamous within his own film community. A man who had the talent to burn every bridge he touched. All it takes was working with him once, and they’ll never want to hear so much as his name ever again.

  Short change, stealing credit, removing names when recognition was due, weaseling out of payments at the last minute—Everyone avoided the Director, as if he was the incarnation of the Black Plague.

  And what was he like, outside of work? Classic Hollywood Trainwreck would come to mind. Booze, women, even drug abuse. Of course, the last part are all allegations that never went through. Either his lawyers swept them under the rug or the right hands were greased. Even then, such news would be buried by the constant scandal he would walk in an out. His dirt? Hah, old news compared to which star or starlet he was getting chummy with.

  ~~~~~

  Prof. Stone wanted to say wow, but he felt like it would make his mouth sin. So he just spoke professionally, “The victim is a right piece of work.”

  Detective Fraulein gave a mixed chuckle, and sigh, [Kinda makes me want to close the case as is and leave it alone. I shouldn’t say this, but I don’t see any merit in giving this man justice. But that’s between you and me.]

  Of course, Prof. Stone tried not to roll his eyes as well. They were law enforcers, it was their sworn duty to arrest any and all bad guy. Buts the more he listened to who the Director was, the more he felt everyone would see this 'killer' as a super hero.

  "Any potential suspects to work with?"

  [That's the problem. There's a thing call too many choices. I have a list long enough to take up two rolls of toilet paper.]

  "Better get cracking then, sorting their alibis out."

  [You don't think I've done that already. To be honest, I wished I hadn't been that diligent. Two rolls of toilet paper has been cut to half a role. I dread I will end up maybe one piece of the toilet paper left.]

  "...What do you mean? I thought you would be happy to have a few names to work with."

  [...]

  Prof. Stone checked the reception on his phone. Sometimes talking inside of the lab could cut him off from important conversation.

  Full five bars. Meaning...

  "Detective. This is just between you and me. You know I can take bad news. So no need to tip toe on my account."

  A heave sigh crackled through Detective Fraulein's line. The forensic chemist could practically hear teeth grinding as she responded, [Keekee.]

  "...I thought you had faith in her."

  [Of course I do! But almost everyone has a solid alibi! If they're not filming a car chase in the street, or-or doing stunt work in a rented space, or camping out in the mountains doing wide scale battle scenes - they're back in the studio doing green screen work or whatever... So far, only Keekee doesn't have a solid alibi.]

  Maybe that's why Prof. Stone felt light headed the whole time. Wished he could blame it on lack of sleep, that would have made him feel a LOT better despite how much of a headache he had.

  [Hey, hey. Don't give me that pause! I'm not giving up! I know the killer HAS to be someone within the company! Think about it, who else would know the Director's movement better than those close to him! Sure, he's got enemies outside of the company but even they won't know where or what time to strike, right?]

  "I'm saying this for due diligence: please keep looking."

  [You bet your ass I will...by the way, how are things on your end?]

  Prof. Stone paused for a second and turned to look - at the mountain of evidence laid out near perfectly across several lab tables. Several more were currently being tested and analyzed.

  "...Slow, but steady."

  [Anything on that tablet?]

  "........"

  [Stone? Hello? Stone?]

  "Detective. Check your email. I just sent you something."

  [Huh? Why can't you just tell me over the ph--OH COME ON!]

  Detective Fraulein didn't believe what she received through her phone's email. She thought she was seeing things, perhaps hallucinating from all the energy drinks she consumed.

  But no, she wasn't delusional or suffering of grandeur. She wished she was though.

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  To really confirm the reality she just saw, she raced her car all the way to the forensic lab. Time to get the answers straight from the horses mouth.

  Where said horse was waiting for her in the forensic tech room full of computers.

  "Stone, how can you joke at a time like this? Sending me Keekee and Kim's photos out of the blue!?"

  "It's..." Prof. Stone struggled to get his words out. Felt like he was going to vomit led pellets. "It's the background, from the tablet."

  Detective Fraulein just...pulled at her hair.

  The forensic chemist continued, "We restored a portion of the tablet's system. The moment it blinked on, even I was shocked. The more I check the contents, this tablet definitely belongs to Keekee."

  "No. No, no, no. Umbrella at the scene, I can understand. But her own tablet as well!? Wh-what were they doing there!? C-could the tablet actually be a company device? You know, like how you guys share your computers with everyone in the lab?"

  "The tablet is personalized from top to bottom. I even checked it's surviving registry and called up some electronic stores. Keekee bought and owned this device for several years."

  The detective felt sick the more she stared at the photo of Keekee and Kim's selfie. She would have laughed at Kim’s awkward squint when the picture was taken, like a Neanderthal seeing a camera for the first time, but she lacked the energy to smile.

  "I don't get it! I don't get it, I don't get it, I don't get it at all! Why was Keekee at the crime scene? Wh-why was it banged up like we found it!?"

  “The coroner’s report mentioned about blunt force trauma, on the Director’s head. Made by a flat surface, like he got slammed into a table. Most likely the weapon involved in that assault, would be the tablet. Although I found some blood and hair samples on the broken parts of the tablet, I am still waiting for a definite answer from the analyzers. If you ask for my bias opinion, the tablet was definitely used to try and knock out the Director.”

  Detective Fraulein pinched her nose bridge, “Why hit him? That’s essentially asking to get fired. An argument? She got fed up? But then, why would it escalate to stabbing?...What exactly happened in that manor?...

  “You guess is as good as mine at this point.”

  “D-did you find anything else, on the tablet?”

  Prof. Stone nodded, “We were able to restore most of the emails before they became permanently corrupted. After reading through it, seems Keekee and the Director kept close contact with each other.”

  “I mean, duh. Film assistant.”

  “Indeed. Most of the previous weeks email are all work related. Casting list, supply inventory, shooting schedule, etc. Until I found the more recent messages between them prior both of them...well ending up what they are now.”

  “...Hit me Stone.”

  Prof. Stone squinted at the small writing on the screen. Even if he could zoom in or expand, given the damages to the tablet the quality would easily become blurred if he moved it too much.

  “Two topics,” the forensic chemist went on while reading and scrolling. “Several of them are about Keekee wanting to get vacation leave – you remember what I told you, with Officer Tanner.”

  “Right.” The detective clicked her tongue, “The trip with Kim...bastard’s lucky to have a girl like her. Kinda makes me jealous – but you didn’t hear that from me.”

  “Most of the Director’s response have been hard ‘no’. Of course on the surface Keekee would provide a polite response, but no doubt she would be livid – especially with the choice of words the Director used against her... Then, this came up.”

  Prof. Stone scrolled to the most recent message and expanded on it. He tried to focus it so both parties can get a good read. When Detective Fraulein finished first, she raised an eyebrow.

  “Wait. Mr. Dick Head said ‘yes’?”

  “On one condition. ‘Let’s resume the meeting tonight’.”

  “...Meeting? T-tonight?”

  “Verbatim, yes.”

  Director Fraulein felt dread well up in her stomach. Any more, and she could have thrown up in the computer lab, “Resume...I don’t want to think, those two were having it on.”

  Prof. Stone chewed on his next work, “I don’t think Keekee is that type of girl...but then again, I’m no expert witness on her character, especially in her personal life.”

  “God. If what I’m thinking is true, Kim is going to flip out hard.”

  “I rather not jump too far into the future...but I see where your concern is coming from.”

  The human heart can be fickle. But then again, who knew what exactly goes on within the walls of that manor? What secrets were kept behind the door, day and night?

  “Screw it, Stone. I don’t think Keekee is that kind of girl. She wouldn’t sleep with people to get her way, especially not that dick of a Director. She brought him up a couple of times in our chit chat, held her anger back but she really burning up inside.”

  “Careful your choice of words, detective. If anyone caught you hearing that, you could be suggesting a potential motive.

  Detective Fraulein cursed, quietly, and shut her mouth with a hand. Just for a moment, “I still think it’s someone in the company. Just have to keep looking. Surely there must be an answer, in those foot prints we found? Any other finger prints?”

  Prof. Stone sighed, his hands slipping away from the keyboard, “Don’t forget. We have both a killer, and a murder weapon, still at large.”

  “Oh god...this is, turning out to be the worst day in my career.”

  “You and me both, detective.”

  Despite how diligent the investigators were, they were still fundamentally human. And, they were entitled to a 45 minute lunch break. In saying that, they didn’t have the mood to eat...but knew they had to have something to keep their fuel going.

  So they just eeny-meeny-meinny picked a couple of packed sandwiches and simple water bottle as their sustenance.

  However, just when they were about to catch their breath – their second wind came running at them.

  "Oh! Sir! Ma'am! There you both are! Been trying to call you both for hours! I kept getting jammed! I found something, about our victim!"

  “...W-well don’t just stand there like a Nutcracker, Officer Roland!” Detective Fraulein howled. “Out with it!”

  Officer Roland started his report, by dropping a huge cardboard box on the canteen table. A single flop made the trays jump startled. The box was full of papers, in which Officer Roland dug through and handed them out as if he was passing out small gifts at a carnival.

  “Bank statements of the victim. All of them.”

  “The hell Officer Roland,” Detective Fraulein blinked at the boxes contents, “How many trees did you murder to get all this paper? All this from one bank?”

  “No. 10 banks.”

  10 Banks? Legit T-E-N, 10 Banks!?

  Absurd! Most absurd!

  Yes, we’ve all heard of don’t put all your gets in one basket. Even then a regular citizen would have at most three banks to work with. Usually one was their main for their personal savings to sleep in; a second one for extracurricular investments or online shopping; and a third specifically to send money to the mistress behind the wive’s back...right!? Right!?

  But 10~!?

  “Hear me out – Sir, Ma’am. The Director guy, barely makes more than four figures a month. But when I look at his spendings, I am raising more than eyebrows. Just look at this: hundreds of dollars worth of premium internet and online streaming services; thousands in exotic foods and fancy entertainment places; and hundreds of thousands worth in sports cars, yachts, first class, Caribbean cruise, you name it. One bank account is his daily living, groceries and electric of whatever, but the other nine have been used to fund this man’s luxury.”

  Incredible? 10 mystery accounts? What were the sources?

  “Unknown yet, we’re still trying to negotiate deeper investigation. You know how fickle banks can be. They were ‘gracious’ enough to loan us copy of the man’s spending records. And if you look at it closely, the Director doesn’t make much from his films.”

  How so? People all claim he is well known in the upper filming circuit, won some awards and such.

  “Paperwork shows the Director isn’t block buster material. Sure, he made some earnings from one or two films that broke box office expectations. But that’s it, the rest flopped and flopped poorly. I read the reviews and maaaaan, I felt like I had to bleach my eyes from how cursed the content was. Ticket sales aren’t enough to support 1/10 of his daily living expenses.”

  Then where was this money really coming from? Did the Director rob banks for a living?...Or perhaps, could he have used more underhanded methods?

  “Could be embezzlement, could be not. The film company has eyes of a hawk when it comes to the in and out of budgets used in movies. They even hired a third external party just to manage the money used in films. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has to go through this gruelling process just to get extra fees for stationaries or rentals. If the Director had been trying to steal pennies and dimes from them, they would know... Then again, he’s really good at sleeping with the right people. I heard he has some hand holding privileges with the producer’s wife, but that’s just hearsay.”

  Hmm. What about from his personal life? Maybe, he was a lucky man and won the lottery exactly when he needed to? Unlikely, but still!

  “Hah, I wish. But the man is a gambler. Big time. I’m talking: slots, roulette, craps, baccarat, Texas Hold’em, Black Jack, even high stakes poker. The man has touched every casino game known to mankind. A real frequent flyer.”

  Ah. Then maybe the money come from big winnings?

  “Nope. The complete opposite. Director goes in with cash sticking out of his pockets, but always comes out without a shirt and pants. I don’t know if he’s the worst player known to casino history or the unluckiest man alive, but he should be neck deep in debt with all the games he’s been digging through.”

  Right...Wait. Should be???

  “The freak story is: he’s not in debt. Doesn’t owe anyone money.”

  Impossible! A gambler with zero debt? That’s like saying all race horse can run without legs! Don’t be silly, Officer Roland!

  “I’m serious, Ma’am! I talked to every financial company, quick money places, pawn shops, even loan sharks for crying out load. They all say he is their FAVOURITE customer. If he borrowed money, he paid it off the next day. If he pawned a watch or cellphone, he bought it back in a few hours. It’s like the Director held a world record in speedrunning his debts. I-it’s insane if you think about it. And he always has enough to pay off interests. Even the loan sharks all treat him like he was some kind of money god!”

  ...Incredible. How can a gambler always LOSE yet still WIN!?

  “No clue, but I’m willing to bet it has to do something with his 10 accounts.”

  Wonder, what could it be? The source of this mystery money? Illegal activities? Money laundering? Bribery from others? Not to slander the film community, but there has been some history between movie making and crime circles. So...

  A-and how does this involve Keekee? Her being in the crime scene? Her umbrella and her tablet found next to the dead body of a murder?

  What is the connection between money and death?...Kim oh Kim, where are you!?