by Vernon Scott
After examining the body I say that there was a deep penetration in Mr. Smiths’s body. The thing that yanked him across the room had to be near. With clearance from the forensics team, I moved the body to search behind it. His body didn’t move much. It was as if he was still being pulled by something.
I thought about what I saw when the light was off. That glistening light could have been the object that yanked Mr. Smith back. It had to have been something metallic and sharp. Seeing that completely moving the body was pointless I found another way to find out how this could have happened.
I put my ear to the wall and heard the sound of an engine. I punched the wall and revealed some type of pulley system. I whistled for back up. Two techs and Mauntrice came running to see what I had discovered. The pulley system was jammed somehow. It seems as though it was strong enough to pull Mr. Smith backwards yet it was not strong enough to yank him into the wall or at least yak his spin out of his body.
With great skill, one of the techs was able to stop the pulley from spinning. The cord that held Mr. Smith body was soon loose. And Mr. Smith’s body fell.
I maneuvered the projectile from around his spin and found a chip connected to it. Next to the chip was a button that was at one time attached to Mr. Smith’s shirt.
Letting the techs examine the button, I ran to speak with the doorman. Apparently the doorman was already interrogated. He said that he didn’t know the person who had hired him. He just showed up and followed their request. He was told to get the brief case from Mr. Smith once he had arrived and place it in the back room. He was also told to place the brief case in a certain spot so the owner could find it easily and the spot was going to be outlined with the letter ‘X’.
I then ran towards the room where the brief case was held. To my dismay it wasn’t there. I walked forward to see if I could find the letter ‘X’ but did not see it. I took another step and the floor made a sound. I brought myself eye level with the floor and saw that there was a crease in it. I slid one of my keys between the creases and was able to remove the board and there it was…the brief case.
“Everyone,” I yelled, “Step away from the body! Move towards the side of the room! I need someone to shine a flashlight onto the body and another flash light on the hook! I’m about to test a theory! Turn on your flash lights now and what ever you do, do not take your eyes or the flashlight off the body and hook!”
I waited for a few seconds, I lifted the brief case and the floor began to rise revealing the ‘X’. “Mauntrice,” I started, “hold on to the boy, I don’t want him to get hurt!” I placed the brief case back over the ‘X ’. The brief case slowly sank down into the floor and then the lights went off. I heard a boom from the next room and stood erect, and at that moment the light came back on.
“What happened,” I asked the officers. They were all gaping at the body. I looked at it and saw that it was once again sitting in the same position as before, back against the wall and not falling. As I had expected, the pulley system was once again turned on.
“Sir,” said one of the techs, “somehow the machine turned back on. It moved as if it was alive…as if it were a snake. It shot out from the wall and went directly into the victim’s body and yanked him back. It was a breath taking sight.”
“Thanks for the update,” I replied. “I’m suppose that you all are wondering why I asked you to do this but it is quite easy to explain. Someone please turn off the machine and remove the hook.” I paused in my speech while they performed the task. “What is different about the hook now?” They all gave me quizzical look. “If you pay close attention to the hook you’ll see a chip. And next to the chip you’ll find a button.”
“But there are two on here sir,” said a confused forensics worker.
“My point exactly. When I examined the hook the first time there was only one button but somehow there are two now. We all know that Mr. Smith was a technical genius, but not so many people know of his next invention. Most of his inventions were made to help the world, yet some person found a way to make one of them harmful.”
“So are you saying that this is one of his inventions,” asked Mauntrice.
“Exactly. His new invention was going to revolutionized police work, well on some cases. He made a device that will seek out a missing child. It was a double invention; it was both a locator and a finder. It was based upon a hide-and-go-seek method if you will. He would place the finder chip into a saucer and it’ll seek out the locator chip. But the finder chip and locator chip had a set polarity to them to aid in searching. For instance, if a child was kidnapped and had a locator chip embedded in them, the finder chip will seek it out. The finder chip would give you the coordinance to the location of the child, but the finder never came in contact with the locator. It’s kind of complicated.”
“So what does the invention have to do with this,” asked a tech.
“I’m glad you asked. See, someone in this room new of this invention. He tampered with the invention and reversed the polarization of the finder chip and locator chip. After reversing the polarization, the culprit had then placed a locator chip in all of the buttons on Mr. Smith’s jacket and placed a finder chip on the end of this hook. Knowing that the finder chip on the hook would go to the end of the earth to find the locator, the culprit attached the hook to this machine. The hook was suppose to yank out of the victim and retreat into the wall where it would have been hidden. Unknowingly, Mr. Smith’s paranoia took complete control, and he tried to flee once the lights went out, but the hook caught him before he was able to go anywhere.
“With that being said, I must say that this crime would have been almost perfect if your uncle wouldn’t have tried to flee, am I right Kevin?” Everyone turned there heads in the direction of Kevin. “You are the murderer are you not? You would have been long gone by now if I would have let Mauntrice take you to the precinct. But Kevin there is one thing I have to know, why did you do it?”
Kevin gave off a devilish smirk, “I had to get rid of him before got rid of me.”
“What do you mean by that,” I asked.
“A few days ago I overheard my uncle talking on the phone. I heard him say these words exactly, ‘I’m tired of all this foolishness. I have to let him go. He is too lazy and does nothing productive. I took him in as a favor from you but I can’t deal with this nonsense any longer. Either you do something about it or I will!’ I heard every word. He was planning to get rid of me. He—”
At that moment a woman came up and slapped him directly across his face. Her name was Martha Dixon. “Is that the reason you killed the only person who truly cared for you,” she yelled. “He was not going to get rid of you! I was the person on the other side of the phone. He was going to fire my son. He was calling me to inform me of his decision. Do you not know that this man would have given up everything for you,” tears began to roll down her face, “he loved you as if you were hi own son.” Her words seemed to have pierced him in the heart. “He came up with the concept of the finder and locator chips because he didn’t want anything to happen to you. Yet you used something that was meant to save lives and changed it into a murder weapon. I hope you feel ashamed of yourself. Do you think he would have tried his best to come and save you if he didn’t truly care for you? I feel sorry for you; you aren’t even worth the anger and frustration. You are nothing but a common dog’s shit and I pity you.”
Kevin began to tear up and repeatedly moaned, “I didn’t know…I didn’t know.” Another crime solved but at the cost of one peaceful soul.
Chapter 14
Hard Act to Follow
Who would have known being a policeman would be so exciting. It’s kind of funny how none of the techs thought about moving the body. Marcus surely did have a lot of skills, no wonder my sister chose him. Yet he hasn’t found out who I really am which is a good thing.
I would have never expected that t
hat young boy would do something like that. When I was driving him to the precinct earlier he was crying about how much his uncle had meant to him. That goes to show you that even young adults can be manipulative.
I got back to the precinct with Kevin in cuffs. Most of the officers looked at him as if he was innocent. I was still playing my role as a police officer so I couldn’t just let the boy go. Plus, I don’t really support violence unless it is necessary. This entire conflict could have been solved if Kevin would have spoken to his uncle about what he accidentally overheard.
After putting Kevin in a holding cell, I was asked to see the chief. He was all shaken up about the note from earlier.
“You wanted to see me,” I asked after entering the chief’s door.
“Sit down,” said Commander Williams. “I know this is your first day here and all, and seeing how you have not been assigned a partner, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind working on a special assignment for me. I need you to be here tomorrow at midnight. I’m going to have several guards outside the building and on the inside of the building, but I need someone to be at my side the entire time. Do you, by chance, think you could be that person?”
He was unknowingly falling into my trap. He doesn’t even know half of what I’m planning to do, “Well sir, I am very honored that you chose me. But seeing that I had a rough day today, I might have to think about it.”
The chief’s eyebrows went up, “I understand. But let me remind you that the person coming after me is the same person who hit you in the head with a bottle.”
“Well,” I started, “since you put it that way, I accept your proposal. I shall guard you with my life.” How sorry can you get? If I would have known things would have been this easy, I would have robbed a bank instead. The game has yet to begin; you will find another surprise when you get home.
Chapter 15
A Letter to the Wife
Commander Williams was driving home. The only thing that was on his mind was the safety of his family. Was his kids okay, was his wife safe, these questions kept coming back no matter how hard he tried to rid them from his thoughts.
He reached his driveway and ran towards his door. The lights were out. He began to panic. He hurried and unlocked his door. He looked around and there was no one in sight. A light flickered on upstairs in one of the bedrooms. With his hand on his gun, he cautiously walked up the stairs ready to gun down any intruder. He got to the bedroom that had the light turned on and noticed it was his room. He opened the door to see his wife with tears running down her face.
“What’s wrong,” he asked. “Did someone try to hurt you or one of the kids? Are you okay?”
She looked up, “I’m fine. But I am worried about you. This letter flew into the window a few minutes before you enter. Honey, what’s going on,” she asked as she handed him the note.
He began to read the letter:
“Dear Commander Williams, I’m writing to you to inform you that I do not want to see your wife at the police station tomorrow. It wouldn’t feel right stealing your heart from you with your wife at the precinct. I won’t feel right doing any dirty work with someone so special to you present. And it would also seem sort of cliché to do such a deed in front of a woman of her stature. Yours truly, Phantom Keys.”
“Honey, what does this mean,” asked the commander’s wife.
“Just don’t go to the precinct tomorrow,” he replied.
“But in the note, it said that he wouldn’t do anything with me present.”
“I know that. But what would make you think that he wouldn’t. I want you to stay here, safe from harm. If he is truly going to kill me, we need at least one parent here to watch over the kids.”
“I understand dear. But—“
“No buts. Rest your pretty little head. And I don’t want to hear no more of this talk about you going to the precinct.”
The chief had then washed off and went to sleep next to her. He was unaware of what his wife was planning on doing. In her mind, she did not see it worthy of raising a family without her husband. She made it her goal to be at the precinct tomorrow no matter what her husband said.
Chapter 16
How to Steal a Heart
The heist was to occur in a few hours. Somehow, almost every news broadcaster in the state heard about the heist. Well the name of Phantom Keys had to get out there somehow so I sent a few more letters out.
The chief asked mostly all of his police officers to stand guard. He was truly scared for his life. I was standing right by his side informing him what time it was. With every minute that passed, the chief looked at the clock and asked me for the time.
We had ten more minutes before show time and suddenly the chief’s wife came bursting through the door. “What are you doing here,” yelled the commander. “I thought I made it perfectly clear that you were to remain home.”
“I couldn’t let you be killed,” she replied. “I love you too much to let that happen.”
“Do you want me to escort her out sir,” I asked, knowing that the chief was going to fall for yet another one of my traps.
“No,” he replied, just as I expected. “I need you to stand guard. I don’t want you to get distracted from your duties by dealing with ‘this woman’ and her foolishness”
“This woman,” she snapped back. “‘This woman’ is your wife. And I’m so sorry that you see my wanting to save your damn life is foolishness! Do you not know how much I care for you? I went out on a limb to save you and this is how you repay me. I have a question for you, Mr. Boss man.”
“Sir, it wouldn’t take me much hassle to remove her,” I said to ease the tension until it was time for my plan to commence.
“Stay out of this,” he said to me, “I shall handle this hussy.” Unknowing, Commander Williams was falling further into my scheme.
“Who are you calling a hussy,” asked Mrs. Williams.
“You,” he yelled from the top of his longs. “Just ask you foolish question and get out!”
“Do you truly love me,” she asked. “Do you love me the same way I love you?”
The question caught him off guard. Before he could answer all of the lights in the precinct went off and I commenced with my plan.
I ran to the top of the building to perform a daring escape for the news broadcasters so they’ll have some good photage to show on tomorrow’s news. I had then made my way back into the commander’s office and then the light came back on.
“What happened,” I asked as if I didn’t know.
“I have no clue,” replied the commander. “I’m still alive.”
“I know what happened,” said the commander’s wife. “He did exactly what he said he was going to do.” I knew at that moment that my plan was a success. “He stole your heart,” she continued. “He stole me. I can’t believe this. How easily we both fell for his trap. And I think this is yours,” she said while throwing a black object with a note attached to it. “Honey, you’re getting exactly what you wanted. I’m leaving, both your office and you. And I must inform you before I leave, that Phantom Keys guy surely does know how to kiss.” And with that, she took her leave.
“What is this,” asked the chief, trying to hold back his sorrow.
“It looks like a piano key,” I responded. “I think it’s one; a black piano key. Do you want me to read the note for you, sir?”
The commander sat down and waved for me to read the letter,
“Dear Commander, I must inform you that you fell directly into my trap. I thought you were going to ask your wife to appear to save yourself from harm but you didn’t. But that was my only miscalculation. I expected your wife to show up and I was still going to commence with my plan. Luckily you told her not to show up, but I must say that you were too arrogant to hear her out that you continuously made her seem insignificant, which made it so much easier for me to win her over. I must honestly say that y
ou were a fool for not listening to her. I hope you enjoyed my first little game because there are many more to come. Yours truly, Phantom Keys.”
“Burn the damned thing,” he yelled, “I never want to see that damned note again!” I did exactly what he had asked and burned the paper. What a waste of a clean sheet of paper.
Chapter 17
Let the Battle Begin
I’d just arrived home from a battle in Ayeguam. Somehow a tiger from the zoo accidentally enter the realm through a portal. I find it amusing how a small life form, such as a rat from this world, can change into a giant, ferocious monster. It’s kind of sad to have to vanquish a peaceful creature just because it accidently fell into Ayeguam and transformed.
I turned on the television to see a live news broadcast. There was a lady on there talking about how much she adored some character that goes by ‘Phantom Keys’. The name sounds familiar but it wasn’t all that important. The lady went on for about ten minutes talking about how cunning and swift he is.
After getting tired of the broad cast, I turned the television off. What was the point of that foolishness? Phantom Keys this and Phantom Keys that. It was all pointless to me.
I woke up the next morning, some time near nine o’clock. Marcus was calling to give me a wake up call. “Wake up sleepy head,” he said with his warm masculine voice.
“Morning,” I said. “How did your case go, the other day?”
“It was tragic,” he replied. “My client was murdered. He asked me to assist in the finding of his nephew, but the kidnapping was staged by the nephew. The nephew killed his own uncle on false pretense.”
“Oh my goodness,” I responded. “That is very tragic indeed.”
