100 Ways to Solve a Murder-Chapter 47: Murder of the 15th IV

Davies sat on the couch inside the living room, opposite Levi, while Marco took the seat beside the blond psychologist on the sofa. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"As I said, it’s not her," Levi said, refusing to look at the redhead on his right.

Davies looked at Levi "How?" Davies asked perplexed if she wasn’t the killer then how was she able to make such a list.

Levi shifted to look at the redhead standing to his right, he glared at her and said.

"Explain it to these eejits," The coldness in his voice wasn’t left unnoticed by the three, especially Sam who was looking straight into his hazel eyes. He was furious, that was obvious.

The first time she had ever seen him act that way towards her, she had been irritated at her, even exasperated, but never like that.

He had never looked at her like that before like she had betrayed him.

With a sigh, Sam turns to the two ordinary mortals in the room.

"I saw the pattern, the links during my case reviews. The mark that was left on each victim was too identical to be considered coincidental. I figured it was some type of signature, a branding. And there was the date, 15th." she started, whilst they listened.

"From there, I was able to form a list of names. Names that are derived from all of Shakespeares’ work." she started, both Marco and Davies frowned at her lost already.

If Marco remembered correctly, William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays in total.

Sam sighed, knowing she needed to dumb down her explanation, and Levi wasn’t going to help her.

"For instance, the first victim I found was Henry Reis, the second one was Hamlet Lambert and Edbert Wallberg."

Davies frowned, he considered himself as an avid fan of Shakespeare’s works, and he regularly goes to plays with his wife. Yet, he had never heard of Edbert’s character.

"Sorry, Henry and Hamlet I understand. But, I never heard of Edbert in any of his plays." Davies commented, earning a nod of understanding from Sam. He was right.

"Yes, it isn’t. However, upon my further research, Othello is possibly an Italian diminutive of ’Otho’, who in history was a Roman Emperor. And the Italian ’Otello’ is seen as a version of the name ’Otto’, meaning "rich and prosperous. The name Edbert means, wealthy or prosperous." she explained, making her way to a spot on the other end of the couch.

"I reckon the killer had a hard time finding someone named Othello in this century, seeing as the name has a popular connotation to it," Sam added.

"And the order of these deaths, how did you manage to figure it out?" Marco asked, noticing that Levi would not bother to ask the redhead himself.

"That part I had the most difficulty figuring out, it took some time but I was able to crack it. At first, I thought it was the main character in plays, it wasn’t. Then I realized that the only pattern it could match was if it was based on the number of speeches each character had throughout Shakespeare’s 37 Plays."

"Wait you counted all the speeches of each character in all 37 plays just to get this pattern?" Marco asked out loud in disbelief.

Was she human?

He wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t.

"Yes, top of the list was John Falstaff with 471 speeches. Richard III (Duke of Gloucester) 409, Henry V 377, Hamlet 358, Othello 274... and so on."

"Wait, you never mentioned John and Richard," Davies says, leaning towards her in his seat.

"They are names that I never handle or found, no records in Guy’s Mortuary. I reckon they were the first two victims, possibly managed by another hospital." Sam says.

"With all that said, I may have figured out some of the patterns. But that doesn’t make me god, I don’t know who these people are. Or how he finds or chooses them." the redhead says, annoyed that her information was incomplete.

"Knowing all these, why didn’t you just tell the police?" Davies asked, earning a duh look from Sam.

Levi turned to the redhead, "You did, didn’t you?" he said.

"Of course, I did. But they brushed me off because I was lacking ’hard’ evidence.

Now, three more people had died, and another in a month. " Sam states.

"I informed D.I Scott about this, he had informed his superiors. He was ignored, as I was. Till now, because the last victim Izaz Connor was a public official." She sneered.

Davies’s phone rang in his breast pocket, he fished it out and answered.

"Sorry" he apologized for the interruption.

Marco watched as the short flabby man’s eyes widened, and his mouth turned into an O. The irritation flashed in the man’s eyes.

"What? What?! Okay, give me a second." Davies said, he turned to Sam and said, "can I use your Telly?"

Sam shrugged in response and switched the Telly on.

There on the News Live in every channel was the Director Inspector Scott making a speech.

Sam scowled at the headline ’Murder of the 15th’ was plastered on the screen.

Sam’s landline rang, she grabbed it before it made its third ring. On the other line was Elle Hart. "Switch on your telly." the brunette said over the phone, "I already have," Sam replied, watching the press conference unfold.

"...a list of people targeted for what we call Murder of the 15th is in hand, thanks to the help of Guy’s Hospital, Director of Forensics Dr. Samantha Gray.... and currently with the help of the Criminal psychologist Consultant Levi Jackson rest assured that we will not stop until those responsible be brought to justice."

Sam’s eyes widened not only at the mention of her name but mostly to the photo of her and Levi, popping on the side of the screen.

The group exchanged shocked looks, publicizing the investigation was the worst thing Criminal Investigation Department could have done, the killer getting tipped off of the ongoing investigation will not play well in the long run.

It would either result in more deaths, or he will suddenly stop completely.

Sam gritted her teeth, she didn’t agree to have her name mentioned on TV, she didn’t even agree to consult on the case yet. And worse of all she didn’t agree to have her photo posted on every screen in the country.

Sam gritted her teeth, gripped the phone in her hand till her knuckles turned white.

"SON OF A BITCH! THAT MORON!" she growled.