The Virgin Homicide

**The Virgin Homicide** is a case featured in *Criminal Case*. It takes place in the Roman imperial region of Graecita.

## Plot

**You are now experiencing the story in third-person view.**

At the Imperial palace, Nebet is tidying up the guests’ room, still thinking about Livius’ proposal, when suddenly she felt somebody entering the room. She looked to see who it is and when she realized it was Carolus, her heart skipped a beat and she immediately looked away. Carolus enjoyed her fear and a grin formed on his face and he began approaching her. Nebet tried to ignore him, but put his arms around her and grabbed her by the bottom. This startled Nebet, and while she usually did nothing whenever he did that to her, this time she felt a dose of bravery and pushed him away, warning him to keep his hands away from her. Carolus did not react well to her rejecting and smacked her on the face, reminding her of who she is and that she should “know her place”. At first, Nebet was scared of what Carolus would do to her, but then she remembered she is a free woman now, got up from the floor and began insulting Carolus’ character, telling him that once she becomes empress he will pay for every time he’s forced himself on her. The threat made Carolus laugh, but he then looked at Nebet’s to see her reaction, but she still held a serious expression on her face. That is when he realized what was going on and he became speechless from both shock and fear for his life. Carolus was about to strangle Nebet to silence her, but he resisted the temptation and went looking for Livius to have a talk with him.

**You are now playing as Marionette Patrick.**

Previously, after the team successfully bought Shirley’s freedom, they caught a young boy running the streets of Rome, announcing that there was a murder at the Temple of Vesta. Once they’ve heard the news, the team approached the boy and asked him to take them to the body and he led them to the temple where they saw the Vestal virgins anxiously waiting around a sarcophagus where one of the priestesses was laying, lifeless.

After having a look at the body, Norah and Marionette went around talking to people in the temple and they discovered through the priests that the victim was called Drusa Livia, a name that seemed familiar to them, and that she had stayed up at night to guard the fire of Vesta which is likely the time her killer had struck. The team suspected the temple’s high priestess, a woman named Vesma, and the young boy that took them to the body, whose name was Aegidius, and they also found reasons to interrogate the Pontifex Maximus, Franciscus. The girls stopped to recap the case only to by Roman centurions who informed them that the crown prince would like to see them.

Wondering what Livius wanted from them, Norah and Marionette followed the centurions back to the palace, finding Livius in complete panic. The girls then discovered that the victim was his sister and they sat down to talk with the devastated crown prince and he revealed that he was planning to remove her from the Temple of Vesta as a nobleman by the name of Sussus Amogus have requested her hand in marriage and she agreed. Norah and Marionette went to interrogate Sussus and recognized him as the bloke who took them to Flavian’s domus. The girls expected Sussus to be saddened by his fiancée’s death, but instead he acted calm and unfazed, and even tried to have his shot with Marionette. During the investigation, the duo discovered that the Pontifex Maximus didn’t react react well to Sussus’ request to marry Livia and that he asked Vesma to find out whether she is truly a virgin, giving the duo a reason to re-interrogate them. While they were discussing the murder, the girls noticed that smoke stopped coming out of the Temple of Vesta and feeling concerned, they went inside to check what was going on.

Norah and Marionette entered the Temple of Vesta, finding that Aegidius has slipped while bringing water to the priestesses and all the water in the jar he was carrying was spilled on the fire, putting out. Vesma was furious, the virgins all began panicking and Norah tried to calm them down by suggesting that they could just reignite the flame, but this made Vesma even angrier, telling them that the fire brings protection to Rome and by putting it out, they’ve offended the goddess Vesta and must await their punishment. Norah gave up trying to talk sense to the priestesses, so she and Marionette put their focus back to the investigation where they learned that this wasn’t the first time the flames were put out this week and that Aegidius caught the victim relighting the fire after it mysteriously went away and that she forced him to stay quiet about it. They also found out that Sussus only wanted to marry the victim to brag about her losing her virginity to him and that he and Livius were rivals when they were young and Livius was furious when he learned his sister planned to marry him. In the end, the killer turned out to be Pontifex Franciscus.

When confronted with the allegations, Franciscus tried to use his title as “Pontifex Maximus” to show that there is no way he’d commit a sin as bad as murder, but after Norah and Marionette presented their evidence, he admitted that he killed Livia to silence her from revealing his sinful acts. Seeing that he’s in trouble anyway, Franciscus revealed that he had a habit of perving on the Vestal virgins while they were changing and he had gotten away with it for many years until one day, Livia caught him. Livia was disgusted at what she saw and Franciscus tried to convince her into staying quiet, but instead she called him a pervert and threatened to tell everyone what a disgusting creep he was. Franciscus knew that Livia’s accusations could cost him his title and that he to do something to stop her from spreading them. At first, he thought about making his own accusations on Livia to discredit hers and have her executed, but when he heard that her brother was named as the emperor’s successor, he had to think of another way to eliminate her without getting himself in trouble. So when he learned that she was monitored the flame alone last night, he crept up to her and caught her. In order to not spill her blood and make himself a victim of Vesta’s wrath, Franciscus forced her inside the sarcophagus and trapped her inside to die of suffocation. Disgusted, Norah and Marionette brought the Pontifex to be judged by the crown prince and for murdering his sister, he punished Franciscus by stripping off his titles and put him in custody until he decides what else should be done to him.

Once Norah and Marionette have arrested Livia’s killer, they were finally ready to focus on their quest. Shirley approached them and asked to speak with them, claiming she believes she knows more information on their prophecy. The girls were going to talk with her, but they were interrupted by Kaleb who told the girls that an old lady from the Temple of Vesta wishes to speak with her.

Norah and Marionette guessed that the old lady Kaleb was talking about must be Vesma and went to see what she wanted from them. When they talked to her, Vesma revealed that she had spoken to the chief priest before their arrest where they discussed the incident that happened earlier this day and they agreed that in order to save the city from Vesta’s wrath they must punish Aegidius for failing his duties and causing the fire to go out. This horrified the duo and Norah questioned Vesma if they were seriously going to kill a kid, but the priestess assured her that they wouldn’t and they’ll simply strip him off and beat him to teach him a lesson. Norah still enjoy what she heard but bit her tongue and Vesma then revealed that she called them over because Aegidius hasn’t returned to the temple since she sent him to call the Pontifex and that she wants them to bring him over here for his punishment. Neither Norah or Marionette wanted Aegidius to be beat up for something s tupid, however they knew if they refused Vesma would send someone else for him who will likely terrify him so they agreed to go get him. Since Vesma mentioned that she sent him to call for the Pontifex, the duo decided to head to the basilica to look for him and it didn’t take long for them to find him. The boy was shivering from fear and when he saw the duo, he knew that Vesma had send them to get him and he started panicking. They tried to calm him down, but the boy revealed that he had come back to the temple after calling the head priest and he knows what the priests plan to do with him. He then began crying, begging the duo not to take him back as he doesn’t want to get whipped. Norah felt bad for the kid and she agreed with Marionette that they can’t let the priests hurt Aegidius and they have to do something about this. Norah then got an idea and asked the kid if the priests in the basilica keep any wine, and in response he pointed at the door which he revealed leads to a cellar. The door was locked so Marionette had to use her lock-picking skills to open it and the girls began collecting bottles of wine from inside. Aegidius was confused on what’s going on, and asked Norah what they were doing, but she simply told him to trust them and asked him to come back to the temple with them. The boy hesitated, but he chose to trust the duo and he followed them back to the temple where Vesma is waiting for them. Before Vesma could beat Aegidius, Norah convinced the priestess to give him time to get ready and asked if they could be left at the temple alone with him. Vesma was wary of what’s going on, but she allowed them and as soon as the priests have left, Norah told Aegidius to offer the wine as sacrifice to the fire and then she prayed to speak with the goddess Hestia, “Vesta”’s Greek counterpart. Suddenly a beautiful woman emerged from the flames, greeted the three of them with warmth, asking how she could be of service to them. That’s when Norah began telling her about everything and the goddess was horrified when she learned about the Vestal virgins (which she had no idea about as they were serving for her under the name “Vesta” not Hestia), the labor they were going through to serve her and was furious when she discovered that many of them were killed over allegations made regarding their virginity. When told about what will happen to Aegidius, Hestia assured them that she’ll be here to protect him before fading away. Aegidius was shocked over what he saw and he wanted to ask the duo about the goddess, but before he could say a word Vesma entered the temple with the other priests, announcing to the kid that it is time for his punishment. Aegidius tried to run, but the priests caught him and were about to strip him up for beating, but suddenly Hestia emerged from the fire again, but this time introducing herself as the goddess “Vesta”. Vesma could not believe her eyes and she bowed to the goddess, begging her to forgive them for putting out her fire and told her that they’re punishing the person responsible for this. “Vesta” assured the priestess she isn’t angry about the fire, and that the reason why she summoned herself is to stop her from beating the boy. “Vesta” then continued by saying that she doesn’t she approve of what the Vestal virgins are going through and that she doesn’t expect her followers to go through such labors just to have her blessings. She then revealed that she is aware that many of the virgins, Aegidius included, did not get to chose this life and demanded that any priest that was signed up to serve her by their parents are let go off their duties and only those who wish to continue serve her stay at the temple. After hearing “Vesta”’s requests, many of the virgins decided to quit and only Vesma and few faithful priests chose to remain in the temple.

Wondering what information Shirley gathered, Norah and Marionette decided to go talk to her. Shirley explained that while they were investigating Livia’s murder, she heard people gossiping about a “golden warrior” and how excited they are for next two weeks to see him fight in the Colosseum. She didn’t think much of it at first, but then she remembered that their prophecy mentioned their prince was dressed in gold and thought immediately of telling them. After receiving this information, the duo began looking around the phantom to find more clues on who this warrior was, only to find a torn poster which after restoring, it showed an illustration of gladiators running away from a lion which was painted in gold. At first Norah was confused, but then Marionette suggested that this lion may be the “golden warrior” Shirley was talking about. Things still didn’t add up to them, but Kaleb overheard what was going on and he told the girls that he believes he knows who that lion is. He then told them to follow him to their ship and when they arrived he began searching the shelves for book about greek myths and found one that features a story called “The golden apples”. The story tells a tale about a princess whose father wants her to get married, but she only agreed to wed whoever beats her in a race. Many men competed to win her heart, but no one succeeded until a prince from a faraway land came to the kingdom and not only did he win the race, but also the princess’ heart. Like many greek myths, there was no happy ending for this story because while the newlyweds went to a journey to the prince’s home, they decided to have sex at the goddess Rheya’s temple and she punished them by turning them both into lions who she used to pull the carriage. Once he finished reading the story, Kaleb revealed the names of the characters: The prince was called Hippomenes and the princess was **Atalanta**. This revelation shocked Norah, and she then realized why her lioness was depressed: She is the princess in the story and that lion being paraded at the Colosseum must be her husband and she could sense that his life is in danger. After learning all this, Norah rushed to the Colosseum to see the lion, but Lord Flavian was in there and he stopped her from entering, stating that the place is not opening until two weeks from now and she can only come in if she has a ticket. Norah tried to tell him that there is someone she wanted to see, but Flavian held his ground and informed her that the tickets for the upcoming show are sold-out so she’ll have to wait until next month to enter the Colosseum.

**You are now experiencing the story in third-person view**

After discovering the true meaning of their prophecy and being kicked out of the Colosseum, the team came back to the palace with Shirley, disappointed, thinking about what their next move would be. As soon as they entered the palace, they could hear Livius and Carolus arguing in the Imperial office and Nebet was eavesdropping on them from behind the door. Suddenly, Claudilla came out with Audenzia by her side and when she saw Nebet peeping through the keyhole, she scolded her for acting nosey. This startled Nebet who went away to avoid further trouble and Claudilla then turned to face the team and realized they brought a special guest with them- Her former slave, Sherise. Claudilla was displeased and she demanded to know what she was doing at the palace where Sherise responded by telling her she’s a free woman now and did something she’s always wished to do- She smacked Claudilla on the face. That infuriated Claudilla, who had to be restrained by Audenzia and suddenly, the door of the Imperial office opened and Carolus got out, clearly not in a good mood. Curious, Marionette asked Carolus what they were talking about back there, but Livius answered her instead, saying that it’s “nothing”, and “they” agreed not to speak about it any further, giving Carolus a look daring him to argue. Livius then addressed Audenzia, asking to speak to her privately in the office, making her feel excited as she hoped he’ll bring their engagement back. But before she entered the office, she approached Norah and Marionette and gave them letters she was asked to deliver to them. The girls looked at the letters and it was from Sussus Amogus who invited them to an orgy being held at the *Villa Amoga*.

Meanwhile at Graecita, Zachary is at the dock chatting with Mary and Alex about the “date” he promised Madelina and how he could possibly get himself out of this awkward situation. Mary gave the suggestion of blowing her off, an option that Zachary chose not to go for as it may humiliate Madelina so instead Alex advised him to go through the date and either tell Madelina he wasn’t feeling it at the end or show no interest toward her to turn her off and she won’t ask him to go out with her. Suddenly, Maylin approached them midst their conversation and asked them what they were talking about, which made things awkward but Alex eventually told her that Zachary landed himself into a date with a woman he doesn’t like and he’s afraid it could affect his relationship with another woman who he actually has feelings for. These news disappointed Maylin and feeling concerned, Zachary asked her if something is wrong but she assured him that everything is okay and that she came because she received a letter in her mailbox which was meant for him. Zachary took the letter and as he read it, he began panicking. The letter was written by Mia who was inviting him to watch her perform next week at the theatre, in a play which he and Madelina are going to for their date...

## Summary

### Victim

* **Drusa Livia** (Died from suffocation in a sarcophagus)

## Suspects

AegidiusVesmaPontifex FranciscusSussus AmogusGaius Livius
## Quasi-suspects

HestiaShirley KennedyFlavian LucretiusClaudillaMaylin Park
## Killer’s Profile

* The killer is a vegetarian.
* The killer takes oil baths.
* The killer knows Roman mythology.
* The killer has white hair.
* The killer is male.