Copyright Notice:This story is an original work by Muntasib_Ihshan789. All rights reserved. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.
The night was colder than usual. Shuhi could feel a strange kind of silence.
Luckily for her, all the gabling stuff was done by her in a single night. She returned home at half past 11 at night. The street lights were still glowing. Some dimming.
Shuhi sat at her desk, Suddenly the electricity went out. Her mind was buzzing.
"The 4 Loop Case..." she muttered under her breath.
That's what the police had started calling it. Four murders. Four houses. And yet… all of them seemed to loop back to the first one. A circle that is not breaking.
Utaro had handed her extra copies of the clue sheets earlier that night. He looked tired, eyes half closed, but determined.
"Looks like You're better at this than even me," he said, forcing a smile.
"Figure out what we missed."
Now back home, Shuhi stared at the calendar, a pen tapping rhythmically against her chin.
Suddenly the electricity came again and the light bulb of the moon lighted the area around.
"There has to be a pattern in the date. It's a criminal mastermind we are dealing. No mastermind would just pick random days like that."
She glanced at the calendar again.
11th October.
19th October.
23rd October.
21st November.
The numbers danced around her mind like puzzle pieces refusing to fall into place. And then it hit her.
The first house had two broken clocks. One showing the number 5. Other was showing the numbers 16 and 10.
She whispered to herself and started noting down, eyes lighting up, "Wait… 11. One plus one is two. Add sixteen. That's eighteen. The riddle says don't forget to add half…"
She scribbled furiously in her notebook, calculating aloud.
"Half of eighteen is nine… add ten… nineteen! That's 19th October! That's the second murder date!"
She stared at the paper.
"This can't be a coincidence."
She redid the math for the second and third murders, then the third and the fourth. Each time, the numbers lined up.
"This is it. This is the pattern. The riddle wasn't just symbolic. it's literal."
It was 2:30 in the morning by the time she allowed herself to stop thinking. She fell asleep without even realizing it, slumped over her desk, calendar under her cheek, pen still clutched in her fingers.
The next morning, Shuhi stood in front of the first house again. The air was fresh but cold and dry, with dew clinging to the blades of grass like tiny secrets. She waited, arms crossed, until Utaro arrived.
Late, as always.
"You won't believe this," she said, without even saying hello. "I found the pattern. The dates, they follow a sequence."
"You look like you haven't slept. Dark spots under your eyes, or is it part of the goth makeup of yours huh?"
"Just shut up and listen." She pulled out her notebook and read the riddle she made aloud:
"Add the numbers. Then add sixteen. Half it. Add ten. And don't forget the decimal when it hides."
She explained the logic behind each date, her voice trembling slightly with excitement.
"Every single murder date lines up with this formula," she finished. "It's not just riddles and creepy notes. This killer… is following a plan."
Utaro stared at the notebook, then at the first house. "That means we can predict the next date."
"Exactly," Shuhi whispered. "And maybe stop it."
They calculated the next date. 21st November. That means two plus one is three. After adding 16 it becomes 19. Half of 19 is 9.5 and add 10 makes it 19.5. But the formula was telling them to add 0.5 if it's a decimal number.
"That means according to the formula, the next murder will be on 20th December." Utaro said after calculating the date.
They decided to revisit the crime scenes. It felt necessary to look back the killer's steps.
First the first house. It felt the same empty when entering. They searched all the house but nothing could be traced. The calendar was hanging. It reminded Shuhi of a riddle line. "Listen to what the days whisper, don't forget to add half" It meant calculating the dates needed to half the number at some point which Shuhi did. The riddle also said "Your answer is hidden here."
They then went to the second house. Nothing had changed. No new clues. The place had a strange the same emptiness to it now, like a shell with the soul gone.
"Why does it feel like we're always one step behind?" Shuhi thought, kicking a loose stone with frustration.
Evening was already settling in. Shadows stretched long across the sidewalk.
"I've to go home," she sighed.
When she reached, something unexpected greeted her.
Her parents were home.
"Oh no," her mind screamed. "The dishes, the laundry, the floor—"
But then she remembered. She had done it all. Somewhere between cracking murder codes and chasing riddles, she had cleaned, swept, folded, and arranged everything.
Her mother blinked in surprise. "You cleaned?"
Her father inspected the floors, which shined like polished glass.
"You cleaned everything?"
Shuhi gave a smile. "Just… wanted the house to feel warm when you got back."
They didn't say it, but she could see it in their eyes. They were proud.
And something about that made her heart feel warm.
The next day, she waited by the bus stand. Utaro was late again, naturally.
"Why does he always show up ten minutes after the time he says?" she groaned internally.
"If he ever becomes a detective, I bet the killer will die of old age waiting for him to show up."
But when he did arrive, they got straight to business. One of the riddle had said:
"Connect 3 with 4 and the truth awaits."
They took that literally. It meant revisiting the third house. Mr. Mintaro's home.
"I swear if his daughters start screaming again" Utaro muttered.
Shuhi stopped him by saying, "We'll be quick."
They knocked politely. Mr. Mintaro opened the door, slightly cautious, but calmer than before. He remembered them.
"You guys, didn't you just came a few days ago? What is it now?" Mr. Mintaro asked.
"We just need a quick look around," Shuhi explained.
He nodded, stepping aside.
Inside, the house felt a little heavy with air. One of his daughters peeked from the hallway, clinging to the wall. Shuhi offered a smile, then turned her attention to the room.
They scanned every inch, paying special attention to windows, shelves, corners. Suddenly, Shuhi's eyes caught something, a carving on the window sill, faded and shallow.
It was a number.
4.
"What is this?" she murmured.
Utaro leaned in. "Connect 3 with 4…"
"It's a message," she realized. "The killer was here and left this. They knew this place would lead us to the fourth scene."
She turned to Mr. Mintaro. "Has anyone ever been in this room recently? Even before the murder?"
"No one… except…" He stopped.
"Except who?"
"A plumber guy came the day before. A water tap of bathroom was broken."
Shuhi and Utaro exchanged eyes.
"The killer was here. In this room. Watching his next target, maybe already planning the target's death." Shuhi said.
This case wasn't just a game of riddles anymore. It was becoming a race against time.
"Connect 3 and 4 and the truth awaits...what is the truth?" Shuhi muttered.
Dead Logic © 2025 by Muntasib_Ihshan789 is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International