The Case, The Ring

     “I just don’t understand. What exactly is the importance of the ring?”

     Diana buried her face in her hands, feeling a migraine headache incoming. The group of investigators had been gathered in the police station for hours by now, gathered around the stiffening corpse of Sebastian. They had proposed a multitude of possibilities and tested every single one through, yet none yielded any results.

     “Well there has to be an explanation!” Vincent said furiously, slamming his fists on the table. “Does anyone remember specifically what the ring looked like?”

     “I can only remember it being made of gold, with a bright sapphire crystal in the middle. Nothing else.” Giani shook her head.

     “Well, it must be something about the rings. Diana, could you do a little digging into the ring? Maybe try and find an image of it somewhere?” Cienna requested, turning to the short detective.

     “I can try, but there’s no guarantee. Sebastian might’ve never worn the ring in public before.” Diana confessed, pulling out her computer and beginning to research.

     A few weeks ago, mysterious murder began to occur in the city where Diana resided. All of the victims had been found without a noticeable cause of death. It wasn’t blood loss, it wasn’t burning, not poison, or fatal wounds, just…nothing. Each and every one of their deaths had occurred due to the fact that their hearts just stopped beating out of the blue. It had occurred far too many times to be just a coincidence.

     Earlier that night, Diana and some other famous detectives from town had met up at a fancy restaurant to discuss the case. But when Sebastian, one of the investigators that had come, left to get some fresh air, he died in the same unknown circumstances. Except this death confirmed a coincidence from before: each of the victims’ deaths had to do with a ring that they were wearing. 

     They were wearing a ring before their death. The ring was gone after the victims each died. That was the likeliest possibility: the removal of their rings had caused the deaths.

     Yet here they were, the remaining four detectives, with a lead on the cause of death yet a long, long way to go before the case could be solved.

     A somber mood had settled over the group as they mourned the death of such a respected detective. But there was no time to dilly-daddle, and they needed to continue the investigation. 

     That was why Diana was scouring the Internet, looking for images right then.

     “Guys! I think I found one!” Diana exclaimed, zooming in on an image of Sebastian that he’d posted a few days prior on his Facebook. “I think he’s wearing the same ring!”

     Cienna, Vincent, and Giani crowded around Diana’s computer, eager to get a look at their one lead. It was an image of Sebastian making a weird sign with his fingers—and he was wearing the sapphire ring on his thumb.

     The ring itself wasn’t too special. It had a plain gold band with some small gold decorations around the sapphire, and the jewel itself was a smooth sphere, held in place by golden tendrils. Yet there was a shine to it; an odd glimmer that it shouldn’t have given off in such a dark environment such as the place where the picture had been taken. There was definitely something supernatural about the sapphire ring.

     “It’s definitely odd, that’s for sure,” Giani confirmed. “But still, it still leaves the biggest question out there. What exactly is the importance of the ring?”

     A little ‘ding’ sounded as a new notification rolled into Diana’s mailbox. As the rest of the group went back to pondering what to do next, she opened up the notification. Octavia, one of her good friends, had posted a new picture on Facebook! Distracted by the new development, Diana opened up the new photo.

     The contents absolutely stunned her.

     “Guys! Wait! Come back!” Diana nearly shouted, jumping out of her seat. “I’ve located the ring!”

     “Wait, what? How did you do that so quickly?” Vincent cried, dashing back over to Diana’s side.

     The new image that Octavia had posted was of her holding the exact same sapphire ring that Sebastian had been wearing in the picture. The title of the new post was, “Just found a new ring lol.” This couldn’t be a coincidence.

     “Diana, we have to get to this lady immediately.” Cienna said briskly, with a worried undertone. “Her life could be in danger!”

     Less than five minutes later, the group found themselves speeding down the highway at 90 miles per hour, absolutely breaking the speed limit just to get to Octavia.

     Diana had already sent a text message to Octavia about the fact that she was coming over with some guests. Octavia hadn’t responded. That was worrying news; what if the murderer had already gotten to her?

     They arrived at Octavia’s apartment ten minutes later, where Cienna and Vincent immediately burst out the door, running straight up to the third floor.

     “Cienna, Vincent, slow down!” Giani hissed as she and Diana followed. “You’ll wake up everyone in the building!”

     “This lady could be dead. We don’t have to be stealthy!” Cienna shot back hotly. They arrived on the third floor, where Cienna immediately began to knock hastily at Octavia’s front door. When nobody responded, Cienna let out a hiss of annoyance and promptly kicked open the front door…

     …revealing the lifeless body of Octavia Black.

     Diana held back the urge to let out a horrified scream, covering her mouth instead, eyes wide. Vincent instantly rushed up to Octavia, checking for any signs of a pulse. When that failed, he checked her hand.

     No ring.

     “She could have just put it somewhere else, couldn’t she have?” Giani suggested weakly. Cienna shook her head.

     “Then why else would she be dead? No, Octavia’s just another victim of the Ring Murders.” Cienna responded grimly.

     Diana rushed up to Octavia’s side, shedding two tears for her deceased friend. Why did it have to be her? No…

     “We have to call the local police immediately.” Cienna stated in a dark voice. “But there’s something that I still don’t understand, and this death has only further instigated my curiosity.”

     “What exactly is the importance of the ring?”