100 Ways to Solve a Murder-Chapter 76: To Murder!

Present Day, Lisa & Marco Evans’ Home

Marco walked in the house shrugging his coat off and made his way towards the kitchen. Lisa eyed her husband, whilst helping Liz eat dinner.

"How’d it go?" she asked when Marco walked in. She furrowed her brows seeing the troubled expression on her husband’s face.

"Is everything okay?" she asked again, after receiving no answer from Marco.

Marco looked at her, and she saw the sadness in them. She approached him slowly, softly pressing a hand on his cheek.

"Hey, tell me what’s wrong?" Lisa asked, looking at him with worried eyes.

Marco pulled her in a hug, his long arms wrapped around her, face pressed against the top of her blond head.

She embraced him back, face full of concern. "Levi..." Marco sniffed, "What about Levi?" Lisa asked him patiently.

"He’s not fine. He’s not fine at all," he stated. Lisa furrowed her brows more, worried pulling away just enough to look at his face "Why? What happened?" she asked.

Marco looked down at her his eyes filled with worry and sadness,

"He won’t talk, Lisa. At least not about things that matter. He’s fixated on Sam." he started to explain.

"Mrs. Whitehall says he’s not eating, he’s throwing knives in the middle of the night. And he goes out at night, to where we don’t know," he said.

"He hasn’t taken any case since she got Institutionalized, won’t even accept cases from Criminal Investigation Department, Davies told me. He’s fixated over her case, Lisa. He tells me he can’t solve it." Marco explains, pulling her close.

Lisa ran her hands down Marco back, soothing him.

"Uranium-235 and Uranium-238," Marco adds seconds later. Lisa looked at him in understanding, she knew what he meant. She had read that tweet before.

"Uranium-235 and Uranium-238, I think he’ll follow her there. It’s crazy, I know. But I’m honestly afraid he just might join her there." Marco says, not liking the things running in his mind.

Insanity, that’s to where Marco meant.

.....

December 25th, Jackson Detectives Agency

Levi sat on the piano, playing inside Jackson Detective’s office, filling the room with Christmas tunes.

Marco, Lisa, and Liz were there, together with the boys, D.I Davies, Mrs. Whitehall, Janet, and even Jones and his new girlfriend were present.

After pressing the last key, the room turned silent and he received applause from everyone. It was Marco’s idea to celebrate Christmas together.

"Oh, Levi that was lovely!" Mrs. Whitehall complimented, standing beside her husband. Clad in their best clothes.

It had been two weeks since Marco’s last visit. Fortunately, upon Mrs. Whitehall’s observation, Levi hadn’t been sneaking out, as if he knew Marco was made aware of his nightly escapades.

"Fantastic, Mr. Jackson!" Levi heard Sam’s voice, making him turn. He scanned the room, but she wasn’t there. It was all in his head.

Levi vacated his seat and made his way towards the sofa quietly.

The group ate, sang Carols, exchanged stories, and Christmas gifts.

Mrs. Whitehall gave Levi a pair of socks, while Marco and Lisa gave him a white dress shirt. And Janet gave him a new pair of gloves, but one gift remained unopened under the small Christmas tree, and it was wrapped in red.

Levi shot Janet a look, she was the one that brought it there, he noticed it when she arrived.

Janet looked sheepish,

"Ms, Hart asked me to give it to you. She says, ``Dr. Gray purchased it 6months ago online, it was meant for you," she said, catching everyone’s attention at the mention of the redhead’s name.

Levi took the wrapped gift, and everyone watched him take it with him towards his office. He had an inkling of what it was, based on the size and weight of the object inside. Levi placed it on his table and opened it, removing the red wrapper and revealing the brown box.

He tore the tape over the box with his pocket knife, and the gift was revealed.

It was an AmScope 40x-2500x biology compound microscope.

A professional microscope, and a powerful and advanced electronic device that has one of the best compound lights there is; features precise optical magnification settings for enhanced observation.

The device has a sturdy metal framework with separate coarse and fine focusing for advanced studying, with USB digital imager which captures precise microscope images or even streams videos of the subject analyzed.

Marco whistled from behind the psychologist,

"Oh, that’s a beauty!" he said, looking at the microscope Levi pulled out of the box. Janet gaped at the door.

"6 magnification settings of 40x, 100x, 250x, 400x, 1000x and ultimately 2500x. Regarded as one of the best compact light microscopes there is." Levi described, well aware of its features, he’d been thinking of getting a new microscope since his was a bit out of date. But he never did have the time.

"Amazing, you can record videos and capture images, and save them, Levi," Janet commented, fawning over the device. In mind, she knew how expensive it must have been. But knowing Sam, she was rich; the world knew that now. Money may not be an issue for her, like most.

Levi couldn’t help but recall his kitchen Lab upstairs, it’s a chaotic mess unlike how it was when she used to come over and they did experiments together. She liked things in order, that’s for certain. She had been very upfront with him regarding that. Saying she wouldn’t do experiments in a place that may inevitably compromise the result.

.....

Last year, 3 days after Liz’s 3rd Birthday Party

"Okay..." Sam muttered unsure, standing in her Lab looking at the slicked blond. She was wearing her white lab gown over a pair of AC/DC T-shirt and jeans.

Levi stood across her, inviting her to 7 Eastbourne Rd. for some experiments.

"I have to decline," Sam said, earning a baffled look from the psychologist.

Sam sighed, "I’ve seen your kitchen Lab. Admittedly, you do have the right tools and equipment and are trained to use them. But, I’m concerned about the obvious signs of health and safety hazards." she states, crossing her arms.

She stared straight to his hazel eyes,

"Your Lab set up can inevitably compromise the results of experiments. I don’t feel comfortable working in a place where I can produce a result with 100% accuracy, Mr. Jackson," she explained, gesturing to her own personal lab that they were in. How her Lab met all her requirements, compared to his.

Sam pointed at her face, "So, in summary...OCD" she says.

Levi considered her statement, putting a hand over his chin. Then he nodded in understanding,

"Saturday, come by around 9ish," he stated, taking her surprised silence as a yes. He turned swiftly and left.

What just happened? Sam thought, watching the blond walk out her lab.

Didn’t she just say no to him?

She was very clear, wasn’t she?

....

9:05 AM, Saturday. 7 Eastbourne Rd.

Sam knocked on the door, still confused as to why she was there in the first place. Mrs. Whitehall opened the door and greeted her happily. "Dr. Gray, Come in. Levi is expecting you." She said.

"Hello, Mrs. Whitehall. Please, call me Sam." She said before climbing up the stairs.

"Levi! Sam is here!" Mrs. Whitehall called, advising her to climb up to his flat while she made them tea.

She knocked on the door, ’come in’ Levi said from the other side.

Sam walked in his flat, "in here" Levi said from the kitchen, and Sam followed the source of his voice.

Sam looked at the slicked blond, in the kitchen minus his suit jacket as he boxed his lab equipment.

"Ah...what,-- are you doing?" she asked. "Reorganizing, like you said," Levi said, clearing the whole kitchen sink and table.

Sam blinked twice, and she stifled a laugh. So that’s why he...Shrugging she removed her jacket and left her bag on the couch.

After scanning his kitchen, "So, which side of the sink will be your dry and wet station?" she asked, ready to help him re-set up his Lab under some specific safety requirements.

....

4months ago

Sam stood beside Levi in his kitchen, a memory that seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Why don’t you like riding the Tube?" Sam’s voice broke the silence.

She and Levi were working on some unstable chemicals in his flat. They were both oddly dressed in goggles and face masks, and non-flammable aprons and gloves. Almost giving Mrs. Whitehall a heart attack when she walked in half an hour ago to ask them if they wanted some tea, since she was about to make a fresh batch for the boys in the office downstairs. Something they refused since their hands were full at the moment.

Levi arched an annoyed brow from behind his protective glasses,

"A bit chatty today. What is that third? " he said, gesturing to the now empty can of coke beside her.

Sam rolled her eyes, "Just answer the question," she said, pursing her lips. She had been under Elle’s strict healthy diet regimen, in mind Sam calls it Torture. Due to an annual physical and medical exam she’ll be taking, which she knows she’ll pass with flying colors even with too much garbage in her system as what her assistant calls junk food.

Levi ignored her, finding her too chatty for his own liking. She had too much sugar in her system, thanks to the carbonated drink she was drinking.

"So? What is it?" She pried, taking a seat on the kitchen surface, after being satisfied with her work. They just need to cool the chemicals, before they proceed to the next step.

"I see everything," Levi answers, removing his gloves, mask, and taking a seat at the kitchen table.

There was a pause.

"Hmm...by everything you mean, everything?" Sam confirms, copying his Irish accented voice.

"Cheating husbands, businessmen on the verge of bankruptcy. The waitress that hates her job. People who lost their loved ones. I see people’s frustrations and problems. And the public stench will stick to my suit! What’s to like?" he shots back.

Sam shrugs, that question was easy

"Everything’s new." She states, and he waits for her to continue.

"I see new faces. You do know I remember everything I see?" Sam says.

"Yes, how can I forget. You pulled a trigger to your head." Levi said eyes narrowed. He could still remember it, it was too fresh still in his memory.

Sam smiled sadly,

"I can’t forget. Not even all the books on my granddad’s bottom shelf when I was 6. I can’t erase information I no longer need or may never need in the future. When I see it, it’s stuck there. Like the frown on your face right now. Like what you wore the first time I saw you, a list of useless things right here...I am incapable of erasing." Sam said.

Levi shifted to her, listening.

"Like every corpse I’ve seen. Every crime scene, every moment that my eyes are open are recorded here." She said, tapping her temple.

"And when I close them..." She continues, tone lighter and she closes her eyes for a second.

"I can relieve it, the images imprinted in perfect accuracy. Every star in the sky, every crevice, or wrinkle on your face. Everything’s here." Sam says, a hint of melancholy in her voice.

Like the death of my parents.

The disappointment on my grandmother’s face.

The rejection of other children.

The fear in all her child psychologist’s eyes.

And the Anger underneath mine.

These words were left unspoken.

Sam turns towards the sink minutes after, and she starts to boil water, she asked him if he wanted some tea, and the slicked blond nodded curtly. Still working on his little experiment.

"Seeing new things helps. Seeing live, living human beings going on with their lives, instead of corpses at the morgues all day long, helps." She muttered.

Levi snorts, morbidly amused.

"And one day when one of them is found in some alley, dead. You could help identify them." he offered, grinning. He receives a playful shoulder punch from her.

Levi glared at her,

"You and violence, it’s there. You try and hide it but it’s there," he commented while rubbing his shoulder.

"Careful, Mr. Jackson. I’m making you tea, and I have a Ph.D. in Chemistry and I am not afraid to use it!" She threatened. She could easily poison him if she wanted too

Levi chuckled behind his mask,

"And I can cover up a murder without breaking a sweat." He shot back in the same threatening tone but his eyes held a glint of humor. There was a pregnant pause then the two erupted into laughter.

Sam raised her cup of tea in a toast, whilst offering him a cup.

"To solving puzzles we call murder, and annoying people on the way," she said.

Levi snorted amused, accepting his cup of tea.

"To Murder," Levi says, raising his cup like her. Sam’s lips crack into a huge smile, sipping her tea.

.... 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Present

Levi stood in his empty kitchen, hand on the box. He placed it on the kitchen table, and he left the AmScope there, where it remained untouched for weeks to come.