?THE UNKNOWN?
?By Authoress Pinky?
?Chapter Six <6>?
Subtitle: [There is more to the killing…?]
Gina kept pacing about in the office while Zoe just sat down and was staring at her dear friend like she was crazy. But she wasn’t. She was just angry. Angry at the new guy who hasn’t arrive yet for work.
Gina glanced up at the wall clock, it was 10am and ‘this guy’ hasn’t arrived yet. Those he think they are joking here? This is business and business needs to be treated strictly.
A murder case has just being reported and they are waiting for the guy so they could leave together but look, just take a look, he isn’t here. Yet.
“You know what, let’s leave first. We can’t wait for him.” Gina said to Zoe as she stopped pacing and looked at her (Zoe).
“But Clay isn’t here yet. And besides, this is actually his first time in coming by this time.” Zoe pointed out, getting up to her feet.
“Really? Is that what you are telling me right now? The killer of that other victim is still on the loose and now another murder as been reported. More murders are still going on. So tell me, are you worried about this cases or you are concern about that idiot? Which of them?”
“That is a strong word to use to describe a human, Gina.”
Gina rolled her eyes. “And who cares? Definitely not me. let’s go to the murder scene now. I gat no time to waste right now.” She grabbed her phone and her bag before walking out of the office along with Zoe.
They had already walked out of police building when they sighted the newbie making his way to them. He was putting on a black sweatshirt with a hoodie and a black trouser with a black sneaker.
“Hey.” He greeted as soon as he got closer to them. “I’m sorry for arriving late. I had something to take care of first.” He explained.
“Something to take care of? Something like what, Mr late comer?” Gina asked harshly as she folded her arms across her ch-est and was glaring at him.
He cleared his throat. “Something.. um,… it’s personal. At least I’m here now.” He said.
Gina scoffed. “Listen, I don’t like you. I never liked you. In fact, I don’t trust you and I also never wanted you to be a part of my department but I had no choice than to accept you in. You see, I’m quite blunt. Or very blunt.” She pointed her index finger at him. “And there is one more thing I hate so much. Late comers. So this should be the first and the last time for you to arrive here by this time. I don’t care about the personal thing you need to take care of. All I care about is my work. My job. And you should better respect that or submit your resignation letter to the chief. Okay?”
“Are you done?” That was the guy’s reply. Zoe stared at him in shock. She was so surprise over the guy’s courage to speak back at Gina.
“Excuse me?” Gina questioned.
“Listen, I know you don’t like me but trust I don’t care. And even if you don’t trust me…I still don’t care. I am not here to serve you but I’m rather here to serve my country and do what’s right for them. Yeah, I know I’m late which I’ve apologized for. And just so to remind you, do not mix personal feelings to business.” He said, boldly.
Gina and Zoe stared at him wide eyes but Gina did everything within her power to hide that shock expression.
“Fine. But this shouldn’t repeat itself again. Let’s go now.” She said and walked out, heading towards the car they are to take.
“Is she always like this?” Clayton asked Zoe.
Zoe shrugged. “Sometimes. But hey, you’ve known her for like two months now. Anyway, let’s leave now.” She quickly said, running towards the car alongside Clayton.
****
“Look around the house. There should be something that we might be missing.” Gina ordered as she looked around the victim’s house. The victim had being taken away by the forensic department to do some autopsy on her.
The place where the victim had been laying down was chalked. Her body was sketched out. That is, the way she had laid down dead had been sketched out.
Gina took some pictures of the victim’s house and also took some pictures on the chalked area. She sighed as she headed towards the bar. She found a note laying across the table and a bottle of whiskey was left opened with two glas-scups by it side.
She grabbed the note and stared at it for a while. She was going to open it when she heard a manly voice that almost made her heart jump out of her body from behind.
“Sorry if I might have scared you. But I found nothing in the CCTV. But it was very obvious that some part had being deleted.” Clayton said as he stuffed his hands into his pan-ts pocket.
Gina glance at his dressing from head to toe before asking. “Why are you dressed like this?”
He look down at himself before looking up at her. “Um, because it’s my choice?” He stated, giving Gina a look as if she was crazy.
“But this is mostly a criminal way of dressing.”
“And does that make me a criminal now?” He questioned back. He sighted the note on her hand. “What’s that?” He asked.
“What?” Gina asked.
“The note in your hand. Did you find it in here?”
She glanced at the note before nodding her head yes. “I haven’t read it yet so don’t ask me the content of the note.” She sighed again as she stared at the chalked area again then her gaze diverted to the bar area then back to the chalked area then back to the bar area. Clayton could see the confusion in her face as she knitted her brows.
“What is it?” He had to ask.
“Look. It was quite obvious that she had had a drink with someone….now look at the chalked area, it’s a few metre away from the bar.” She pointed out as she made her way to the chalk area. “The place isn’t scattered….but…there is a blood spill beside the chalked area. Which means one thing.”
“Either the blood belongs to the killer or it belongs to her.” Clay said as he made his way to Gina. “Could it be that she fought back or what?”
“I don’t know….But, it could be that the killer was the guest she had the drink with.” She bent down and stared at the sketched body before trailing towards the door, it was closer to the door. “Was she going to see the guest out before she was being attacked?” She asked no one in particular but Clay still heard her clearly.
“So are you trying to say the killer is someone she knows?” He questioned.
she shrugged. “You need to know someone first before accepting the person into your home and having a drink with the person. Duh.”
“Not everyone reason like you. What if she was heartbroken at that time and needed someone to have a drink with her.”
Gina stood up and stared at Clay. “Are you trying to say that she just went out there and picked up a murderer to have a drink with her? Is that what you are saying?” She questioned.
“I never said that.”
“Then what are you saying because I don’t seem to be getting you right now.”
Clay was about to talk when Zoe appeared from the staircase and made her way to them with a framed photo in her hand.
“Here.” She handed the framed photo to Gina who collected it and glance down at it while Clay moved to stand behind Gina to see what was in the photo. “She had being married. If I could remember clearly, we had solved a case relating to this family.” Zoe said.
“Yeah. But…this girl kind of look familiar. Anyway, she had reported her family dead and had said that she believes that they were killed and that the accident wasn’t a coincidence. Could it be that the killer came after her now?”
“I can’t say. What did you find?” Zoe now asked her.
“A note.”
“A note? Wait. Gina, isn’t this case reminding you of the last case?”
Gina gasped. “The note we had found in the last victim’s case.” She quickly opened the note and read out loud for the others to hear. “ ‘You are right. Death is the only option to a peaceful life. Life can be crazy but death is the only solution….*LOL* Just kidding. But hey, if this isn’t done then your brother in law would surely have to kill you himself. Get prepared, Jane. your end is near….’ The killer had left a sign. A red sign just like the last note.”
“Could it be that the killer is actually the same people?”
“I would have suspect her brother in law but he couldn’t have been the one. Because he was being mentioned in the note. Could it have been the postman?” Clay questioned.
“The post man? What if she had found the note in front of her door and no one had actually sent it to her? Zoe reasoned.
“Well, I had seen a post man standing in front of her door when I had watched the CCTV. A man had walked out of the house when the postman had knocked the door. She had answered the door and had collected the note while the rest of the video had been deleted.” Clay said.
“But you told me you found nothing.” Gina said.
“Well, I a-ssumed it wasn’t necessary. Sorry.” He said.
Gina sighed as she ma-ssaged her temple. “But this case is missing something this time around….” Her phone suddenly rung. She fished it out of her pocket and answered the call.
“Detective Gina?” The doctor who was performing the autopsy voice came in.
“Yes. Is the result out?” Gina asked.
“Yes. You just need to have to come yourself so I could explain the situation more better to you in person. But you need to know something first. I think this murderer has something to do with the other case.”
“Why do you think so?” Gina questioned.
He hesitate for a while. “The red rose. It was attached to her body as well just like last time.”
“What?!?”
****
“Are you saying a serial killer is on the loose?” Doris asked wide eyes.
“I think so. And it’s quite scary.” Zoe said.
“Yeah. That reminds me, Olive could you tell me ways on which a killer could kill someone without strangling or stabbing or injecting.” Gina asked, turning her attention to Olive.
“You can kill someone in so many ways without doing any physical thing. You can poison the person. You can use a drug as well. I don’t know…But hey, I’m a doctor not a killer.”
“Wait. Drug. The last person had taken a painkiller drugs to ease the headache after drinking some vodka which has being given to her by her ex boyfriend’s brother. Ryan. And Ryan had told us that he never poisoned the drink. He even said he drank from the vodka himself before leaving her house that same night. The next morning, she had received a visitor and they had both drank a cup of coffee together. Before she died but then, she had received a note and also, a red rose had being placed by her dead body. Now this one, she didn’t take any Painkiller drug. And it’s quite obvious that the whiskey was something that had been in her house which means no one bought it for her or something. She had also received a note and there had being a sign on each note. The only common thing here is the red rose.” She gasped. “The fragrance used for the red rose.”
“It could be poisonous.” Olive said.
“That could be the way the killer uses to kill the victim. The red rose!” Both Zoe and Gina said in unison.
“And what if they are not really the same killers.” Maddie questioned. “ Like I mean, what if it is coincidental?”
“How is that even possible? The handwriting is the same. The red roses are also the same. It can’t be coincidental.” Zoe said.
“I was just trying to contribute.” She said with a shrug. “But is there any common person between the both of them?”
“That’s a very good question and that’s what we are going to find out. The common person between the both of them.” TBC.