Chương 52: Double Jeopardy

"What just happened?" Celestia asked Seraphina, staring at the building in a state of utter dismay.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure," Seraphina said, perplexed.

"I think we may have just lost our jobs, but I'm not sure yet," she said, looking from Celestia then back at the building. She saw Jasper quickly making his way to the exit.

"I think we may be about to find out," she said, tugging on Celestia's sleeve.

"Come on." Seraphina quickly made her way to Jasper, half pulling Celestia behind her.

"Oh, good, I'm so glad you didn't leave," Jasper said, giving the pair a perplexed look as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Jasper, what just happened?" she asked, searching his eyes for answers.

"I'm not quite sure, but after you two were escorted from the building, the entire room erupted into chaos," he shook his head.

"It was unbelievable. No one, including me, knew that was coming."

"So, you knew nothing about this until we did?" Seraphina asked, raising her eyebrows.

"This makes no sense, Jasper. Call it agent intuition, but something is off with this… way off."

"I agree," he replied, touching Seraphina's arm.

"I was furious. I made some calls, and I found out that the upper crust did send an agent Sampson Farthingsworth to the proceedings, but he was sent to be an observer. He was not authorized to take the infant or to place the both of you on leave."

"So, you're saying he went rogue?" Seraphina asked, trying to process.

"There's more," he began, looking from Celestia to Seraphina.

"He has not returned to the office, or checked in," Jasper said, shaking his head.

"I think your agent's intuition may be…"

"Sir!" a voice called out from the door. The trio turned to see a security officer waving them over.

"Sir, we have a situation," he said with increased urgency.

"Excuse me, ladies, but please wait right here," he said, walking away. Seraphina and Celestia raised their eyebrows, neither needing to ask the other what they were thinking.

"Something is wrong, and I mean really wrong, I can feel it," Seraphina muttered watching the security officer animatedly relay something to Jasper. Suddenly he turned around to face them.

"Seraphina, Celestia," he called out, waving them toward him.

"Are they planning on arresting us now?" Celestia asked nervously.

"I don't think so," Seraphina said half laughing.

"Just relax, we didn't do anything wrong." Celestia cocked her head to the side.

"Really?" Celestia said placing her hands on her hips.

"I don't know who that other person was with me today, because…" If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Seraphina stopped her.

"You know what I mean," she said gently, slapping Celestia's arm.

"Come on," she said, pulling her forward, her steps quickening.

"What is it, Jasper?" Seraphina asked, becoming increasingly concerned by the look on his face. Whatever had happened was serious. Jasper sighed.

"They just found a body in the men's room," he said, solemnly.

"It appears we now know why Farthingsworth never made it back to the office."

"Well, they can't pin that on us!" Celestia said, nervously.

"Can they?" she asked, her eyes widening.

"No, Celestia, no one is saying that either of you had anything to do with it," he breathed in deeply, rubbing the back of his neck, before running a hand through his thick graying hair. Seraphina knew Jasper well enough to read him like a book. If he was rubbing his neck like that, this was trouble with a capital T. Running his hand through his hair too? Well, that was his signature 'I don't know what to do' tell. She thought.

"What happened, Jasper? Was the baby with him?"

"See, that's the thing. Agent Farthingsworth appears to have been dead for hours now. There is no way that the man in the meeting could have been him. No Seraphina, the infant's remains were not with him," Jasper said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Seraphina and Celestia looked at each other, confused. The person in the meeting had Farthingsworth's credentials. Seraphina was sure of it. She had watched while Jasper had checked the photo with the face.

There was no way Jasper would have allowed whoever was in the meeting to continue if he so much as suspected he was an imposter.

"How, Jasper? I saw you vet him and so did every other member of the panel. If the imposter had Farthingsworth's ID, how were you able to identify the man in the men's room as Farthingsworth?" she asked, trying to understand.

"The man in the meeting was wearing Farthingsworth's face. They look identical; his aide identified him, Seraphina. If they hadn't concluded that he died hours ago, there would have been no reason to question the aide's ID on the body."

"You mean the body found in the bathroom had no face?" Celestia asked, her voice filled with horror and disgust.

"No, Celestia, all Jasper was saying is they look identical. He didn't mean that the man in the meeting was literally wearing Farthingsworth's face." Seraphina and Celestia looked blankly at Jasper. There had to be a mistake. This was just not possible.

"How did he die?" Celestia asked. Jasper looked at her and sighed.

"He was murdered; there is no mistaking the bruising on his neck. The killer strangled him. They are pulling trace evidence off the body as we speak," he said, shaking his head.

"This is something that just doesn't happen here. I can't recall anything even remotely similar happening in this realm." Seraphina shook her head.

"Well, there was that one time where we brought in someone from another realm to face charges. In his escape attempt he killed three agents, but you're right, I can't remember there ever being a premeditated act like this. Especially where it appears the perpetrator and victim are the same person."

"Well, I don't think Farthingsworth killed himself and then walked away. So it's obvious that they are not one in the same," Celestia said, shrugging her shoulders.

"I know that, Sweetie," Seraphina replied.

"I didn't say they were the same, all I meant is…" she stopped.

"You know what, never mind, you're right Celestia. Great observation," she said, shaking her head.

"Let's go inside and see if they have uncovered anything else," Jasper said, eagerly wanting to get to the bottom of things.

"We can't go in, Jasper, Seraphina and I were suspended, remember?" Celestia said nervously.

"Celestia, the person who suspended us was the…" Seraphina began but was quickly cut off by Jasper.

"You're right, Celestia, I am hereby reinstating you both," he said, shaking his head, giving Seraphina a is-she-really-this-dumb? look. Seraphina gently nudged Celestia forward toward the building.