Detective Casey:
It was a crisp cool morning on the streets of Rome. Already 7:15 am and yet hardly any souls on the streets. A day that quiet in one of the biggest cities in Italy? On the last day of our trip to one of the most historic and influential places in this side of the hemisphere? Yeah right.
I knew something was up the moment I woke up, and that wasn’t just because of the seagulls in a city with seemingly no sea.
I had arrived early in the hotel lobby for a hike to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica, as organized by the sunrise-enjoying Alex. Along with us were fashion forward Riley, kind Ana, bubbly Audrey, curious Ashwin, corps cadet Noah, caring Rachel, hilarious Alec, and fellow detective Sarah. (Another fellow detective, Lucas, was taking a bath). I noted how only two out of three of our student leaders — Elsbeth and Zach — had come.
Interesting.
As I took each grueling step up the winding and dizzying stairway to the top of the dome, I felt a sideways feeling grow in me that wasn’t just due to my own lack of athleticism.
Elsbeth, Zach, Riley and Alec went farther ahead, leaving us behind to enjoy the scenery.
Looking at the city of Rome, stretching far below me as I caught my breath, I felt in awe at the power of human belief in creating such a place. The Tiber river flowed in the distance as buildings both new and old mingled in the streets. The green fields and the plaza in front of the basilica created a clean contrast against the noise of a city so alive.
Suddenly, my Whisper radio began to ring.
Dang.
Code 95 from Dr. Kotinek, which could only mean one thing: a case.
I looked again at the beautiful cityscape below me. Nothing good can last.
…
Returning to the hotel, Dr. Kotinek, a man with a large ginger beard the size of a house cat, paced agitatedly around the lobby. Nearly always donned a cowboy hat that announced his foreign nature to all Italians in viewing distance, he was a notable presence.
As soon as he saw me and the rest of the group with me, an expression of calm took over his face, relieved that at least we were unscathed. However, that relief quickly became fear as he told us what had happened this morning.
“Rick! He was attacked this morning!”
An expression of shock took over my face. How? Why? When? All these questions rushed through my mind as I tried to make sense of the gibberish that Dr Kotinek was telling me. Only segments could be understood, but through my detective skills (and the crime scene right in front of me), I got a clear picture.
Rick was lying splayed across the spacious and comfortable lobby of the hotel we were staying in, with his back cut up by 23 paper cuts.
“That’s like Julius Caesar isn’t it?” Rachel said, “And we’re visiting the Colosseum and the Roman Forum today. What are the chances of that?”
“Ha, I guess the attacker wanted to match the vibe of the day’s activities,” Dani commented.
The nurse that we had brought over for our COVID tests (so that we could leave Italy) got up from where she was crouching at Luke’s body and turned to us, whispering to the hotelier at the counter. “She says that this is far out of her pay range, but that he’ll probably be okay. He’s lucky that his would-be killer is incredibly incompetent,” he translated slowly.
“Well let’s not underestimate them,” Dr. Kotinek said slowly, “I want to figure out who it is. It must have been one of the students, since Rick would have only trusted them enough to turn his back to them.”
Jeff suddenly appeared from out of a corner, as he does occasionally, pointing to an object across the room, “Hey is that the culprit’s?”
A pair of glasses – not his own – laid fallen across the floor.
“Maybe.” I said shortly, “Could be a red herring.”
At that Sarah turned to me with an eyebrow raised. I shrugged; I had better things to be doing anyways.
“Anyways, sorry Dr. K, but I gotta get my COVID test done. Don’t worry though, I’m sure Lucas can handle it.”
I hurriedly shuffled around the corner of the stairway, hoping that he didn’t see me duck past the hallway to his door. Dr. Kotinek was focusing far too much on my relation with the case; it was time to get Lucas.
———
Detective Lucas:
The water was clear.
I could see the ondulations of the water above me, with a bright light in the corner of the eye slightly blinding me.
I was in peace, floating down the water, deeper into the darkness.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp, excruciating pain grow from my chest through my body.
What started as peace quickly became fear.
A black shadow was now covering the light, and darkness was engulfing my body. I tried to swim towards the surface, but the dark shadow had pinned my body, impeding movement. I threw my limbs in random directions, desperately hoping to be saved. I felt my leg hit something, and the black shadow cowered away, revealing the light. I swam towards it, but the pain was growing larger each second. As my vision was fading, I quickly sprung out of the water, breathing fresh air like it was the first time in years.
I looked around, and surprisingly, I found myself in a hotel bath. I remembered that I was taking a bath early in the morning, but I must’ve fallen asleep and only now woke up. The dark shadow was gone, but there was a small black fragment in the ground. Upon close inspection, I realized it was plastic, and that it must’ve flown out of the black figure after I kicked it.
I quickly got dressed, put the black fragment in my pocket, and left towards the lobby to warn Dr. Kotinek. However, to my surprise, I wasn’t the only one that got attacked this morning. Casey called for my attention, wanted to debrief me about Rick’s almost-murder.
After hearing the briefing about the case and we with the shock of a murder having passed, I assuring Casey that the murderer would be found. She was confused, as why would a college student try to act like a professional detective? However, I read enough Dan Brown and Agatha Christie books that I could perfectly understand the mind behind an investigator, deciding to finally bring this knowledge forward.
I pondered. Why? How? When? I would give everything that I had to find the answers. My life was on the line.
As I had no permission from the hotel staff, I was forced to sneak into the room. However, there was one little detail that changed my plans. His room was on the fourth floor, and all stairs and elevators were constantly monitored.
I surpassed my first challenge as an investigator by buying a spinach pizza from a local restaurant.
Using the power of spinach and Popeye, I was able to strengthen my legs and jump from the streets of Rome into the patio of Rick’s room.
Entering the room, I realized that Dr K forgot to mention a very important detail.
A very large and bloody pentagram right in the middle of the room.
I wondered why he left this detail out.
I proceeded to investigate the room for any clues that could lead to the identity of the murderer. After looking for 10 minutes throughout the room, I finally found something interesting. I was looking at Lucas’s corpse, and his hands interested me. One was open, showing fear. One was closed, showing strength. He fought back, but also was ready to give up? It didn’t make sense.
Following this idea, I decided to open his closed fist, and what I found was key to the investigation. Hair, most likely torn from the killer as Rick fought for his life. This was what I was looking for.
While I had profoundly tampered with the crime scene and most likely made any attempts at recovering DNA or forensics work utterly useless, at least the cool detective found his clue.
Suddenly, I received a message from Dr. K, telling me to return to the lobby. As I arrived there, everything was strangely calm. Apparently, Dr. K told everyone that the victim acquired the disease known as Coronavirus-19, attempting to reduce panic. While this made sense, it also seemed as Dr. K was attempting to hide the murder.
Interesting.
As we went with our day, I looked for any clues that could relate the murderer with the black fragment. I followed the tour, hoping to find suspicious behaviors within the group.
At our first stop, I noticed many things. One, the Pantheon was really beautiful. The sheer grandiosity and improbability related to its architecture and construction is simply absurd. Also, it was so influential that it inspired many pantheons around the world, so it felt like I was at the birth of a style.
Two, Mack’s glasses were slightly broken. The frame, which was black, was slightly cracked, with a slight black fragment missing from it. This was very suspicious, as I had a black fragment in my pocket after the murderer tried to kill me, but this alone wasn’t enough evidence, so I continued to investigate.
It led me nowhere.
Just kidding, I actually found a crucial clue on the Coliseum. As we were passing the beautiful Roman arches, I noticed how Mack, one of the student leaders, was uncharacteristically nervous. He was almost always calm, so seeing him like this was suspicious. However, I soon forgot about him after viewing the beautiful inside of the Coliseum. There was something about the stands and the underground tunnel that amazed me, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.
After leaving the Coliseum, we were headed towards the Roman Forum, the main square of Ancient Rome. While most of it was ruined due to the passage of time, the sheer history behind the remaining columns was enough to take our breath away.
For example, we found the tomb of Caesar and St. Lawrence, two historical figures that profoundly changed the history of the Roman Empire.
Something also profoundly changed the way I looked at this investigation, when I looked at Mack from a top view. There was a section that had less hair than the others, like if someone tore the hair straight from his head. I felt like I cracked the case, and was ready to arrest Mack for his crimes. That is, until I saw a seagull. They were even more breathtaking than the forum, so I decided to take some pictures of them.
After looking at the seagulls for an unhealthy amount of time, I completely forgot everything about the case, so I decided to pass the responsibility to detective Sarah.
———
Detective Sarah:
A man with time is the most dangerous of all.
Upon leaving the Roman Forum, the entire group of thirty was left to their own devices—left to wander the city with little restraint. As Americans, we claim to promote free will. However, under the guise of “free time,” the suspect was released into the city, free to run amok at large. Some say time is money, but no — time is power.
I led Detective Casey, Alex, Rachel, and Dani as we trudged through the city, feet aching and knees quaking. Hours of walking had left us all but dead, but we knew our best bet to find the culprit would be to visit the most popular spots—where suffocating crowds of tourists and Italy fish alike would provide shelter for the criminal on the loose.
Ever suspicious of those around, I carried my detective-grade anti-theft backpack in front of me as we visited the Trevi Fountain, searching for some clues. With a start, Detective Casey cried out as she saw our main suspect, Mack, in a black hoodie, dashing through the crowd. Mack was spooked and ran away with such velocity that I didn’t even see his face. I decided to trust Detective Casey’s word. After all, I was too distracted by the grandeur and beauty of the Trevi Fountain. The bright water that glittered in the sunlight, the detailed and proud statues — I’m getting distracted again.
After that, we traveled to the Spanish Steps. As a proud Rick Riordan & Heroes of Olympus fan, I traveled Rome through the eyes of a wannabe demigod. I pointed out the hypogeum where Percy and Jason fought the giants in the Colosseum, I noted the Tiber River as the location where Percy and Annabeth ate an early lunch, and I beamed with excitement at the premise of going to the Spanish Steps, which Leo, Hazel, and Frank discussed in the third novel of the series. Though our tour guide primarily focused on Catholicism, free time allowed the Roman mythology fan in me to roam free as we, too, roamed the city in search of the suspect.
Rome is good for roaming; it is too big to see in just a day, but if the goal is the experience, Rome is easy to enjoy. After an hour-long walk back to the hotel, our small group settled into a couch with gelato in hand. Who needs a mission when you’ve got gelato?
In the middle of eating our gelato, an epiphany struck me. I didn’t want to say it, but I knew I had to. “Casey,” I said slowly. “Where are your glasses?” My mind flashed back to the murder scene, where a pair of glasses lay in fragments on the ground. In a flash, Casey’s gelato was on the ground (true story!!!), Casey was on the run, and my suspicions were confirmed. “Detective” Casey was the true culprit.
Alea Iacta Est.
The die is cast.
———
Ending Note:
In all seriousness, we wanted to put a spin on these blog posts lest they become too mundane, but we would be amiss if we didn’t properly conclude the trip with a genuine reflection. Every single person on this trip to Italy had their own unique adventure. All of us grew in different ways; all of us saw Italy through our own very different lenses.
Watching sunsets and sunrises and running around the small towns of Italy with new friends felt like our very own coming-of-age movie. Gaping in awe at the Statue of David and turning corners to unexpectedly stumble upon great works of architecture and art was the power of Florence and Rome. I saw each of us grow in appreciation for Italy, for the world, and for those we traveled with. Our openness to a new culture, new language, and new people created an unforgettable experience.
We are not the same students who left IAH nine days ago. New experience has shaped us, molded us to become more mature, more aware, more open. We gaze at the world with appreciation and gratitude, finding meaning in the wonders of the past and the growth soon to come. Our boldness brought us to this trip, our determination kept us walking, and our hearts kept us curious.
There is nothing more important in this world than gratitude. We are grateful for this opportunity to come on this journey, a journey that was fun, meaningful, and most of all unforgettable.
Thank you.
ciao ciao & grazie,
casey pei, lucas schuh, and sarah voon
(in order of writing)
