27. No Reason At All!

O ctavius sniffled, pressing his bat face harder into the seat. How could this have happened to him?!

“There, there,” Turney said softly, while patting his back.

Scarlett sighed. “So, basically, what you are saying is…Octavius installed a virus on his phone that likely was used to track his online activity. And then he installed an app, where he proceeded to give whoever is involved constant access to his whereabouts.”

“It wasn’t on purpose!” he whined, unmoving from his spot of shame.

“I’d say, hold off on calling it a virus. We’ll know exactly what he clicked on and downloaded once Cormac gets back to us. I assume you contacted him, Turney?” Theo mused.

“Yeah, I texted him,” the male zombie confirmed.

Great…now Cormac knew too! He let out a distressed whine. “Why did you have to tell himmm?! He’s going to make fun of me!”

He flailed, trying to get away, when hands grabbed him.

“No, no, no! Leave me to my shame !”

Turney barely stopped himself from laughing and blurting out ‘Aww,’ as he stared into the large, watery bat eyes. The vampire let out a whimper, trembling in his hands.

“SHAMEEEEEFULLL!” the bat cried out dramatically, and started to wail.

Chuckling softly, he rested Octavius on his chest, rubbing his back as the bat continued to cry.

“I d-didn’t m-mean to! I di-didn’t know this would ha-happen!”

“I know you didn’t. But it has happened. Which is why Cormac had to know, so he can figure out what they did. We all know you didn’t mean for this to happen. But he has to deal with it now with caution, while also taking precautions. The question is…who is the email from…and how were they able to set up a convention here?”

Sniffling, the bat pulled back from his chest and looked up at him with a frown. “It would…be a bit too much of a coincidence for them to just have one going on…I suppose...”

“So, we are assuming he was lured here, right?” Min-ji drawled. “But…if they only just found out his interests, would four months really be enough time to set up such an event? And four months would be the most time they’d have, if they assumed after the first time he searched up the show that it would draw him in.”

Turney frowned as he thought it over. “I mean…it’s possible. I’ve seen Octavius accomplish a lot more with a lot less time. All it takes is…”

“Money,” Scarlett finished for him.

“And connections,” Theo added. “This wasn’t done by some low-level employee.”

“You know…” Octavius gasped, his mood beginning to brighten already. “I have the owner’s business card. I know where his office is, so we could ask him.”

His brow rose as he eyed the bat. “You have his card?”

“Oh, yes! I ran into him in the hall the other night, while I was…getting ice,” the vampire finished almost sheepishly.

“Getting…ice, huh?” Turney growled.

“Heh, yes.” The bat slipped out of his hold, tumbling back as he scurried to his own seat. Looking away from him, Octavius turned back into his normal humanoid form.

The vampire cleared his throat and started blinking at him innocently. “What else would I be doing?”

“I don’t know. Planting a glitter bomb in someone’s hotel room?” he deadpanned. “You are so lucky you weren’t caught on the security cameras.”

“There are no cameras in the hallways of the hotel,” Theo stated.

Turney blinked. “What?”

Theo, who was seated directly in front of Octavius, shrugged. “We’d hear them if there was.”

“He’s right,” Scarlett said slowly. “Is that not a bit odd nowadays?”

Min-ji hummed. “It’s uncommon, but not unheard of. However, it would mostly be the case in older hotels. This place is only five-years-old. Which I think should bring us back to possible suspects. One being the hotel owner. Really…he's the only suspect right now, because we have no other names.”

“Right!” Octavius chimed. “Well, we can’t check out the murder scenes until tonight, but that gives us time to carefully narrow down where all of the security cameras are. How about Turney and I go to speak to Aurelius about the convention, while you all check out the cameras, and afterwards, we can have some fun before nightfall!”

Turney rolled his eyes. “Octavius, someone is trying to kill you. Possibly the owner. Whose name, once again, is not pronounced that way.”

“That’s no reason to not have fun!” Octavius huffed, apparently deciding to ignore the name part, as he smiled and added, “Theo, this is…not in your job description, so you are free to do what is best for you. Min-ji and Scarlett, you have no choice.”

Min-ji and Scarlett didn’t react whatsoever to the man’s words. But then, would there be any point if they had? Probably not.

Theo shrugged. “Considering I am not as…hardy as you three, and don’t have protection runes to warn me about danger like Min-ji, I’ll just grab my sunglasses from my room and change my eyes, so I can help look for cameras. As while it could be the owner…it could also be a number of other people at the top of the organization. A lot of times, owners are pretty hands off with daily operations. I’d rather not end up a pawn because I decided to laze about.”

“Fair enough! Min-ji, drive us back to the park!” Octavius cried, pointing forward, before frowning and pointing to the left. “That way!”