Carlos's bar was sort of run down, as compared to Catalina's diner. The walls were wooden and were decorated with various neon signs. It wasn't too large, nor was it too small. It was about the length of two average school buses and was about one and a half of them wide. It was only about seven to seven and a half feet tall. On the back wall was a door that lead to Catalina's diner. The lighting was poorer than Catalina's diner, giving a slightly darker atmosphere. There were various green tables scattered around the room, each with three to four chairs. The bar itself, however, was wood finished and nicely taken care of. Coasters and ash trays were dotted along the bar. Behind the bar was various machines, each designed to dispense a different bunch of drinks. From the ceiling were holders for glasses that could easily be grabbed for a drink at a moment's notice. The bar was mostly empty, given that it was very early in the morning. There were, however, three other people in there, besides Cammie and Mikayla.
There was a fourteen year old wearing a one pouch apron and cleaning the tables. He had short black hair and a fair complexion. His hair was a mess, like he had just gotten out of bed. He was tall, standing at what Cammie estimated to be six foot and a half. He was rather thin with a somewhat weak demeanor to him. His arms were like noodles flailing across the table as he cleaned. He had on a pine green t-shirt and blue jeans on with a brown belt. He had on red and white sneakers. He constantly had to keep ducking to avoid hitting the glasses on the ceiling.
There was an even younger person there. A young girl, who must be no older than seven. She wore her blonde hair in a pony tail, which came down to about her shoulder blades. She had a butterfly hair clip in her hair on the right side and was also wearing apron. She was a little under four feet tall and also had a slim build. She wore a long pink dress under her one pouch apron and had red sneakers on. She carried glasses and cups ack to the bar where a much older man was waiting.
He had dark grey hair and was showing signs of balding. He was somewhat short, standing at what Cammie estimated to be five foot seven. He was sort of a portly fellow, with quite a bit of girth to him. He also wore an apron, though it was a lot more messier than the other two. He wore a grey t-shirt underneath. Cammie couldn't see what kind of pants he was wearing because the man was behind the bar. He had a somewhat stern demeanor to him.
"Hey, you, Mikayla. It's a bit early for you to be drinking already, ain't it?" the man behind the bar yelled to her.
"Not this time Carlos. We just came to look around." Mikayla told the man behind the bar. Carlos nodded and focused his attention to the other man who was working.
"Cameron! I want those tables spotless, you got it?" he yelled.
"Yes Pa! I'm working on it!" Cameron shouted back to him, scrubbing feverishly.
"So, if that's Carlos," Cammie pointed to Carlos, "And that's Cameron," Cammie shifted her gaze to Cameron, "Then that means that little girl is..."
"Yep, that's Carlotta. The daughter of Catalina and Carlos. She helps to clean up around the bar when there isn't much activity." Mikayla said.
Cammie nodded and sketched down the bar. This investigation was going to be a tricky one, since it's doubtful that Carlos kept a record of who took matchboxes from here. In fact, the killer might not have even ordered a drink, so there might not even have been a record of him or her being here. Cammie sighed and put away her sketchbook after she finished the sketch. She decided to direct her attention to Cameron while Mikayla chatted with Carlos and Carlotta.
"So, you're Cameron, right?" Cammie asked.
"Yep, that's me. Who are you?" he asked back, still scrubbing the table.
"My name is Cammie. I'm Mikayla's new assistant." Cameron looked up from the table at Cammie, then looked back at Carlos.
"Hey Pa, you got a sister named Cammie?"
Carlos snorted and looked at Cammie, then back to Cameron. "I ain't got no relative by that name, and I sure as crackerjack know Catalina ain't got any either." Cameron shrugged and returned to scrubbing the table.
"Sorry, we aren't interested in a new family member right now."
"Umm...I wasn't offering that. I was wondering if I could get some information about some of your recent customers." Cammie said. Cameron nodded, not looking up from his work. "Have you had any unusual activity here lately?"
"Define unusual."
"Umm...have you had anyone who you didn't recognize come in here lately?" Cammie asked, ready to record Cameron's response.
"Ma'am, we get a lot of customers here. What makes you think I remember everyone who comes in here?" he asked her back.
"Well, this man might have stuck out from the normal crowd. Can you recall anyone like that?"
"Do you have a picture or a description?" Cameron asked, moving onto the next table.
"Well, umm..." She had to be careful about this. If she did give details, this could easily boost their case, but it could cause suspiscion to fall on her. "No, I don't. I'm sorry for bothering you." Cameron nodded and went back to working. Cammie stood silent for a bit, and then walked over to Mikayla.
"Something up, Cammie?" Mikayla asked, a glass of water in her hand. Carlos was cleaning dishes and Carlotta was coloring in a coloring book.
Cammie sighed and leaned on the bar. "Well, I didn't get anything from talking to Cameron."
"I can tell. You also didn't really ask him a lot either." Mikayla snarked. Cammie sighed again and took another look around the bar.
There wasn't anything out of place that she could see that could have been something left behind by Snipe. There wasn't any sort of note barely sticking out or any tiny written message. There was some trash lying scrawn about, but nothing that was worth noting. Besides, Snipe wouldn't be so careless as to leave something lying around. Even the tables were completely barren; except for salt and pepper shakers, napkin holder, ketchup and mustard. The bar itself had a total of 10 ash trays scattered about. Cammie turned to Carlotta, who was finishing coloring a picture of a cartoon cat.
"So, you're Carlotta, right?" Carlotta nodded and smiled at Cammie. Cammie smiled back. "Coloring in a kitty, huh?"
"Mmmhm." Carlotta picked up a red crayon and began to color the collar on the cat.
"You haven't seen anything weird lately, have you?"
"Well, there's you, being new to town. Other than that, I don't think there's been anything weird." Carlotta hummed and continued to color her cat. Cammie sighed again, knowing that she probably wouldn't get anywhere with Carlotta, so she focused now on Carlos.
"So, Carlos," Cammie adjusted herself to face Carlos, "I take it you haven't seen anything or anyone unusual lately?"
"Sorry ma'am. No one unusual here as of lately." Carlos placed a glass up on the ceiling and went to grab another one when Cammie noticed that Mikayla had began to intently focus on something on Carlos.
"Hey, what's it this time, Mikayla?" Cammie asked, pulling back out her journal.
"Carlos, could you repeat what you just said?" Mikayla said.
"I'm not hiding anything, Mikayla. I'll say it as many times as you want, but I ain't got any tells because I ain't hiding anything. As I told you, there wasn't anyone unusual here as of lately." Carlos repeated, but Mikayla's gaze was unwaivered.
"Umm...Mikayla, if he knows you're looking for tells, won't he be hiding them from us, or rather, you?" Cammie said.
"He may try his best to hide his tell, but I can tell he's lying, or at least not telling the whole truth. I can hear it in his voice."
"You can?"
"Yep. Basically, my process starts out with me hearing when the person is lying in their voice, or by spotting a tell that suddenly starts and stops. I was born with naturally sensitive ears and eyes. After that, it's just a little deducing to find the tell and the meaning based on what they said." Mikayla explained further. Cammie nodded and looked back at Carlos. She hadn't seen anything, but if Mikayla said there was, she had very little choice but to trust her right now. Cammie focused her eyes on the various parts of Carlos as Mikayla had him repeat what he said again.
"How many times do I have to do this? I told you, there wasn't anyone unusual here as of lately." Carlos repeated, keeping a straight face.
This time, Cammie saw it. Carlos's left hand, or specifically, his thumb. When he mentioned 'unusual', his thumb twitched. Cammie closed her eyes and thought about what it could mean.
Why would Carlos's left thumb twitch when he muttered about not seeing anyone unusual? Sure Snipe's usual attire is less than casual, but I can't image that being the entire reason for the twitch. No, it had to be something specifically involving the thumb. Cammie opened her eyes and took another look around at the bar. What could be related to the thumb and the bar that would have related Carlos to interacting with Snipe? It couldn't have been those matches that Magdalena found, or other fingers would have reacted. Cammie looked back at Carlos and studied his outfit closely.
This time, she could see the lower half of him that was hidden behind the bar. He was wearing a three pouch apron, instead of the one pouch apron, like what Harley Cameron wore. In the pouch on Cammie's left was a bundle of straws, about 30 of them, all wrapped in straw paper. In the middle was a dark blue pen and a standard waiter pad. There wasn't anything sticking out of the right pouch, but from the way it was weighed down, Cammie could tell it was just a bunch of coins. Nothing else made sense, so it must have been the pen and pad. The straws wouldn't make much sense for the thumb. The coins almost made sense, but then his pointer finger should have twitched as well.
"I got it! When you mentioned about how 'there wasn't anyone unusual', your left thumb twitched. After a bit of thinking, there is only one logical reason that it would do that. There was an unusual person here lately, and you wrote the order the person ordered instead of either Cameron or Carlotta. That's why neither of them really remember someone unusual, but you do because you interacted with him or her personally." Cammie smirked as Carlos's straight face turned to a frown. Mikayla clapped her hands in approval.
"Nicely done Cammie. I couldn't have said it better myself."
"Well, nothing gets past the Human Lie Detector, or her assistant apparently." Carlos grunted as he pulled out the waiter pad from his pocket. "But, I was telling the truth that there wasn't anyone here as of late. There was a man, dressed in an army uniform, who came in here about 10 days ago. He order a shot of burbon and left after paying. I didn't recognize him as one of our residents, but I figured he was a tourist or a friend of Alexis. I really didn't it give it too much thought afterwards." Carlos recalled.
"Yet, it still made even a slight impact on you." Cammie stated.
"Yes, but only because it was just a little out of the ordinary. I didn't see the man at all afterwards, so that's why I thought it was just a friend of Alexis. I did, however, wonder a bit why he didn't order any food, but, some people just aren't hungry at the time." Cammie nodded in understanding. Snipe wasn't any where close to an alcoholic, but it's not like he hasn't touched the stuff. He occasionally had a drink now and then, usually after a mission was completed. Cammie did find it a bit strange, because normally Snipe waits to meet back up with her and then they both get a drink.
"This man," Mikayla said, interrupting Cammie's thoughts again, "Did you get a name of any kind?"
"No, he didn't give any name."
"Did you ask?"
"No. I didn't see any reason to need a name."
"I see." Mikayla nodded and waited for Cammie to finish her notes.
"I wanted to ask you," Cammie began, looking around the bar again, "You have a lot of ash trays around your bar, but nothing that would be used to actually smoke something. Do your customers need to bring their own lighters?"
"I don't allow lighters in this bar." Carlos stated.
Cammie wrote down his response before Mikayla added on. "Ah, that's right, because of that incident that was, I think it was four years ago, right?
"Umm...I think I'm missing something. What happened during this incident four years ago?" Cammie asked.
"Carlos, do you want to tell this story?"
"No, you beter do it Mikayla. After all, you were in charge of the investigation and it's more important to you than me." Carlos said, then looked to Cameron. "Cameron! Pick that up!" he scolded.
"Yes Pa!" Cameron shouted back, picking up a scrap piece of blue paper on the ground.
Mikayla and Cammie decided to leave Carlos and Cameron to their work. "So, what happened here four years ago?"
"It was a dark time for our small town. Before Tyler was mayor, my older sister was."
"Magdalena was the mayor?" Cammie said, surprised.
"No, not her. My other sister. Her name was Maddie. She was such a sweet and caring mayor. Everyone loved her and she didn't even have any political enemies." Mikayla's smile grew greatly at the memories of her sister. "On July 14th, four years ago, a tragic event happened. Maddie was talking to Catalina here about ways to help improve the town. They were both having a small drink when her fiancee, Issac, came over to her with his pocket lighter and offered her a smoke. Maddie wasn't a hardcore smoker, but she did occasionally smoke. Anyways, she lit up a smoke using his lighter and continued her chat with Catalina. After about 15 minutes of chatting after she had first lit up her cigarette, she coughed three times in a row. They both shrugged it off as the effects of the cigarette and Maddie snuffed it out. Then, as they progressed, the cough happened again, again in a set of three. They were a little concerned, but they shrugged it off again. Finally, it happened a third time. That's when it happened." Mikayla's eyes began to water. "Maddie began to have a coughing fit that wouldn't stop. They rushed her to the hospital in Clarksburg, but there wasn't enough time. She died in the ambulance." Mikayla was fighting her tears very fiercly. "The doctors found traces of a poison now known as Hydroxidaticasotocin, or as the common name calls it, Breath of Death, or BoD. It kills within 20 minutes of entering the system. I lead the investigation case and we found traces of it in the cigarette and the lighter. A month later, Issac was found guilty and setenced to 30 years in prision."
"Mikayla, I'm sorry to hear that." Cammie comforted her and Mikayla fought her tears more. "So, the poison was in the lighter?"
"Yes, which is how it got on the cigarette."
"Did you look at the glass she was drinking from?" Cammie asked, rather curious.
"There were no traces of it anywhere else." Cammie nodded in understanding.
"So that's why patrons aren't allowed lighters?" Cammie asked, directing her attention to Carlos.
"Yep. Ever since then, I don't allow lighters in here. Anyone who dares to bring a lighter in here gets thrown out, no refund."
Cammie nodded and wrote down the event Mikayla described in her journal. However, there was something bugging her about this event. "Mikayla, did Issac ever give or potentially have a motive?"
"No, I can't imagine any motive, but the evidence was conclusive."
"For cases, where do you keep this evidence? I know some people hold onto the evidence in case of new evidence coming to light."
"I keep it in a warehouse in Clarksburg." Mikayla began to regain her composure.
"Where is Clarksburg, anyways?" Cammie asked, flipping to a hand-drawn map of Swan Valley and the surroudings. Mikayla walked over and pointed to an area south of Swan Valley.
"Right around there." Cammie nodded and jotted it down in the journal before closing it.
"So, Carlos, if you don't allow lighters in here, do you offer matches to your customers?"
"Yes, but it's not free. If you are going to smoke in here and make others pay the price of secondhand smoke, then you have to pay a price." Cammie knew Snipe wasn't a smoker, so unless he had to light something on fire, he wouldn't have any reason to have that matchbox. "Do you keep a record of who buys a box?" Carlos shook his head and Cammie sighed. It just wouldn't be that easy. "Well, I think we're done here, but I do have a few questions for Catalina. Do you think she'd mind if I ask her a few questions, Carlos?" Carlos shook his head again and Cammie proceded to walk to the diner. "Mikayla, you coming?"
"Yeah, I'm co-" Mikayla was cut short as her phone began to ring. She picked it up and gestured for Cammie to go on ahead. Cammie opened the door and entered Catalina's diner, ready to get deeper into the truth. She shut the door behind as a voiced called out to her.
"Ah, Cammie. Good to see you again. Come and sit with me and Catalina over here. We have quite a bit to discuss."
There was a fourteen year old wearing a one pouch apron and cleaning the tables. He had short black hair and a fair complexion. His hair was a mess, like he had just gotten out of bed. He was tall, standing at what Cammie estimated to be six foot and a half. He was rather thin with a somewhat weak demeanor to him. His arms were like noodles flailing across the table as he cleaned. He had on a pine green t-shirt and blue jeans on with a brown belt. He had on red and white sneakers. He constantly had to keep ducking to avoid hitting the glasses on the ceiling.
There was an even younger person there. A young girl, who must be no older than seven. She wore her blonde hair in a pony tail, which came down to about her shoulder blades. She had a butterfly hair clip in her hair on the right side and was also wearing apron. She was a little under four feet tall and also had a slim build. She wore a long pink dress under her one pouch apron and had red sneakers on. She carried glasses and cups ack to the bar where a much older man was waiting.
He had dark grey hair and was showing signs of balding. He was somewhat short, standing at what Cammie estimated to be five foot seven. He was sort of a portly fellow, with quite a bit of girth to him. He also wore an apron, though it was a lot more messier than the other two. He wore a grey t-shirt underneath. Cammie couldn't see what kind of pants he was wearing because the man was behind the bar. He had a somewhat stern demeanor to him.
"Hey, you, Mikayla. It's a bit early for you to be drinking already, ain't it?" the man behind the bar yelled to her.
"Not this time Carlos. We just came to look around." Mikayla told the man behind the bar. Carlos nodded and focused his attention to the other man who was working.
"Cameron! I want those tables spotless, you got it?" he yelled.
"Yes Pa! I'm working on it!" Cameron shouted back to him, scrubbing feverishly.
"So, if that's Carlos," Cammie pointed to Carlos, "And that's Cameron," Cammie shifted her gaze to Cameron, "Then that means that little girl is..."
"Yep, that's Carlotta. The daughter of Catalina and Carlos. She helps to clean up around the bar when there isn't much activity." Mikayla said.
Cammie nodded and sketched down the bar. This investigation was going to be a tricky one, since it's doubtful that Carlos kept a record of who took matchboxes from here. In fact, the killer might not have even ordered a drink, so there might not even have been a record of him or her being here. Cammie sighed and put away her sketchbook after she finished the sketch. She decided to direct her attention to Cameron while Mikayla chatted with Carlos and Carlotta.
"So, you're Cameron, right?" Cammie asked.
"Yep, that's me. Who are you?" he asked back, still scrubbing the table.
"My name is Cammie. I'm Mikayla's new assistant." Cameron looked up from the table at Cammie, then looked back at Carlos.
"Hey Pa, you got a sister named Cammie?"
Carlos snorted and looked at Cammie, then back to Cameron. "I ain't got no relative by that name, and I sure as crackerjack know Catalina ain't got any either." Cameron shrugged and returned to scrubbing the table.
"Sorry, we aren't interested in a new family member right now."
"Umm...I wasn't offering that. I was wondering if I could get some information about some of your recent customers." Cammie said. Cameron nodded, not looking up from his work. "Have you had any unusual activity here lately?"
"Define unusual."
"Umm...have you had anyone who you didn't recognize come in here lately?" Cammie asked, ready to record Cameron's response.
"Ma'am, we get a lot of customers here. What makes you think I remember everyone who comes in here?" he asked her back.
"Well, this man might have stuck out from the normal crowd. Can you recall anyone like that?"
"Do you have a picture or a description?" Cameron asked, moving onto the next table.
"Well, umm..." She had to be careful about this. If she did give details, this could easily boost their case, but it could cause suspiscion to fall on her. "No, I don't. I'm sorry for bothering you." Cameron nodded and went back to working. Cammie stood silent for a bit, and then walked over to Mikayla.
"Something up, Cammie?" Mikayla asked, a glass of water in her hand. Carlos was cleaning dishes and Carlotta was coloring in a coloring book.
Cammie sighed and leaned on the bar. "Well, I didn't get anything from talking to Cameron."
"I can tell. You also didn't really ask him a lot either." Mikayla snarked. Cammie sighed again and took another look around the bar.
There wasn't anything out of place that she could see that could have been something left behind by Snipe. There wasn't any sort of note barely sticking out or any tiny written message. There was some trash lying scrawn about, but nothing that was worth noting. Besides, Snipe wouldn't be so careless as to leave something lying around. Even the tables were completely barren; except for salt and pepper shakers, napkin holder, ketchup and mustard. The bar itself had a total of 10 ash trays scattered about. Cammie turned to Carlotta, who was finishing coloring a picture of a cartoon cat.
"So, you're Carlotta, right?" Carlotta nodded and smiled at Cammie. Cammie smiled back. "Coloring in a kitty, huh?"
"Mmmhm." Carlotta picked up a red crayon and began to color the collar on the cat.
"You haven't seen anything weird lately, have you?"
"Well, there's you, being new to town. Other than that, I don't think there's been anything weird." Carlotta hummed and continued to color her cat. Cammie sighed again, knowing that she probably wouldn't get anywhere with Carlotta, so she focused now on Carlos.
"So, Carlos," Cammie adjusted herself to face Carlos, "I take it you haven't seen anything or anyone unusual lately?"
"Sorry ma'am. No one unusual here as of lately." Carlos placed a glass up on the ceiling and went to grab another one when Cammie noticed that Mikayla had began to intently focus on something on Carlos.
"Hey, what's it this time, Mikayla?" Cammie asked, pulling back out her journal.
"Carlos, could you repeat what you just said?" Mikayla said.
"I'm not hiding anything, Mikayla. I'll say it as many times as you want, but I ain't got any tells because I ain't hiding anything. As I told you, there wasn't anyone unusual here as of lately." Carlos repeated, but Mikayla's gaze was unwaivered.
"Umm...Mikayla, if he knows you're looking for tells, won't he be hiding them from us, or rather, you?" Cammie said.
"He may try his best to hide his tell, but I can tell he's lying, or at least not telling the whole truth. I can hear it in his voice."
"You can?"
"Yep. Basically, my process starts out with me hearing when the person is lying in their voice, or by spotting a tell that suddenly starts and stops. I was born with naturally sensitive ears and eyes. After that, it's just a little deducing to find the tell and the meaning based on what they said." Mikayla explained further. Cammie nodded and looked back at Carlos. She hadn't seen anything, but if Mikayla said there was, she had very little choice but to trust her right now. Cammie focused her eyes on the various parts of Carlos as Mikayla had him repeat what he said again.
"How many times do I have to do this? I told you, there wasn't anyone unusual here as of lately." Carlos repeated, keeping a straight face.
This time, Cammie saw it. Carlos's left hand, or specifically, his thumb. When he mentioned 'unusual', his thumb twitched. Cammie closed her eyes and thought about what it could mean.
Why would Carlos's left thumb twitch when he muttered about not seeing anyone unusual? Sure Snipe's usual attire is less than casual, but I can't image that being the entire reason for the twitch. No, it had to be something specifically involving the thumb. Cammie opened her eyes and took another look around at the bar. What could be related to the thumb and the bar that would have related Carlos to interacting with Snipe? It couldn't have been those matches that Magdalena found, or other fingers would have reacted. Cammie looked back at Carlos and studied his outfit closely.
This time, she could see the lower half of him that was hidden behind the bar. He was wearing a three pouch apron, instead of the one pouch apron, like what Harley Cameron wore. In the pouch on Cammie's left was a bundle of straws, about 30 of them, all wrapped in straw paper. In the middle was a dark blue pen and a standard waiter pad. There wasn't anything sticking out of the right pouch, but from the way it was weighed down, Cammie could tell it was just a bunch of coins. Nothing else made sense, so it must have been the pen and pad. The straws wouldn't make much sense for the thumb. The coins almost made sense, but then his pointer finger should have twitched as well.
"I got it! When you mentioned about how 'there wasn't anyone unusual', your left thumb twitched. After a bit of thinking, there is only one logical reason that it would do that. There was an unusual person here lately, and you wrote the order the person ordered instead of either Cameron or Carlotta. That's why neither of them really remember someone unusual, but you do because you interacted with him or her personally." Cammie smirked as Carlos's straight face turned to a frown. Mikayla clapped her hands in approval.
"Nicely done Cammie. I couldn't have said it better myself."
"Well, nothing gets past the Human Lie Detector, or her assistant apparently." Carlos grunted as he pulled out the waiter pad from his pocket. "But, I was telling the truth that there wasn't anyone here as of late. There was a man, dressed in an army uniform, who came in here about 10 days ago. He order a shot of burbon and left after paying. I didn't recognize him as one of our residents, but I figured he was a tourist or a friend of Alexis. I really didn't it give it too much thought afterwards." Carlos recalled.
"Yet, it still made even a slight impact on you." Cammie stated.
"Yes, but only because it was just a little out of the ordinary. I didn't see the man at all afterwards, so that's why I thought it was just a friend of Alexis. I did, however, wonder a bit why he didn't order any food, but, some people just aren't hungry at the time." Cammie nodded in understanding. Snipe wasn't any where close to an alcoholic, but it's not like he hasn't touched the stuff. He occasionally had a drink now and then, usually after a mission was completed. Cammie did find it a bit strange, because normally Snipe waits to meet back up with her and then they both get a drink.
"This man," Mikayla said, interrupting Cammie's thoughts again, "Did you get a name of any kind?"
"No, he didn't give any name."
"Did you ask?"
"No. I didn't see any reason to need a name."
"I see." Mikayla nodded and waited for Cammie to finish her notes.
"I wanted to ask you," Cammie began, looking around the bar again, "You have a lot of ash trays around your bar, but nothing that would be used to actually smoke something. Do your customers need to bring their own lighters?"
"I don't allow lighters in this bar." Carlos stated.
Cammie wrote down his response before Mikayla added on. "Ah, that's right, because of that incident that was, I think it was four years ago, right?
"Umm...I think I'm missing something. What happened during this incident four years ago?" Cammie asked.
"Carlos, do you want to tell this story?"
"No, you beter do it Mikayla. After all, you were in charge of the investigation and it's more important to you than me." Carlos said, then looked to Cameron. "Cameron! Pick that up!" he scolded.
"Yes Pa!" Cameron shouted back, picking up a scrap piece of blue paper on the ground.
Mikayla and Cammie decided to leave Carlos and Cameron to their work. "So, what happened here four years ago?"
"It was a dark time for our small town. Before Tyler was mayor, my older sister was."
"Magdalena was the mayor?" Cammie said, surprised.
"No, not her. My other sister. Her name was Maddie. She was such a sweet and caring mayor. Everyone loved her and she didn't even have any political enemies." Mikayla's smile grew greatly at the memories of her sister. "On July 14th, four years ago, a tragic event happened. Maddie was talking to Catalina here about ways to help improve the town. They were both having a small drink when her fiancee, Issac, came over to her with his pocket lighter and offered her a smoke. Maddie wasn't a hardcore smoker, but she did occasionally smoke. Anyways, she lit up a smoke using his lighter and continued her chat with Catalina. After about 15 minutes of chatting after she had first lit up her cigarette, she coughed three times in a row. They both shrugged it off as the effects of the cigarette and Maddie snuffed it out. Then, as they progressed, the cough happened again, again in a set of three. They were a little concerned, but they shrugged it off again. Finally, it happened a third time. That's when it happened." Mikayla's eyes began to water. "Maddie began to have a coughing fit that wouldn't stop. They rushed her to the hospital in Clarksburg, but there wasn't enough time. She died in the ambulance." Mikayla was fighting her tears very fiercly. "The doctors found traces of a poison now known as Hydroxidaticasotocin, or as the common name calls it, Breath of Death, or BoD. It kills within 20 minutes of entering the system. I lead the investigation case and we found traces of it in the cigarette and the lighter. A month later, Issac was found guilty and setenced to 30 years in prision."
"Mikayla, I'm sorry to hear that." Cammie comforted her and Mikayla fought her tears more. "So, the poison was in the lighter?"
"Yes, which is how it got on the cigarette."
"Did you look at the glass she was drinking from?" Cammie asked, rather curious.
"There were no traces of it anywhere else." Cammie nodded in understanding.
"So that's why patrons aren't allowed lighters?" Cammie asked, directing her attention to Carlos.
"Yep. Ever since then, I don't allow lighters in here. Anyone who dares to bring a lighter in here gets thrown out, no refund."
Cammie nodded and wrote down the event Mikayla described in her journal. However, there was something bugging her about this event. "Mikayla, did Issac ever give or potentially have a motive?"
"No, I can't imagine any motive, but the evidence was conclusive."
"For cases, where do you keep this evidence? I know some people hold onto the evidence in case of new evidence coming to light."
"I keep it in a warehouse in Clarksburg." Mikayla began to regain her composure.
"Where is Clarksburg, anyways?" Cammie asked, flipping to a hand-drawn map of Swan Valley and the surroudings. Mikayla walked over and pointed to an area south of Swan Valley.
"Right around there." Cammie nodded and jotted it down in the journal before closing it.
"So, Carlos, if you don't allow lighters in here, do you offer matches to your customers?"
"Yes, but it's not free. If you are going to smoke in here and make others pay the price of secondhand smoke, then you have to pay a price." Cammie knew Snipe wasn't a smoker, so unless he had to light something on fire, he wouldn't have any reason to have that matchbox. "Do you keep a record of who buys a box?" Carlos shook his head and Cammie sighed. It just wouldn't be that easy. "Well, I think we're done here, but I do have a few questions for Catalina. Do you think she'd mind if I ask her a few questions, Carlos?" Carlos shook his head again and Cammie proceded to walk to the diner. "Mikayla, you coming?"
"Yeah, I'm co-" Mikayla was cut short as her phone began to ring. She picked it up and gestured for Cammie to go on ahead. Cammie opened the door and entered Catalina's diner, ready to get deeper into the truth. She shut the door behind as a voiced called out to her.
"Ah, Cammie. Good to see you again. Come and sit with me and Catalina over here. We have quite a bit to discuss."