James Locker- The Duality of Fate

by Martin Lundqvist

  Thomas Anderson:

  - Well, a girl like that would not even consider fucking you. That would be your motive.

  Adam Smith:

  - Well true as that may be, there was still no sign of sexual violence. Why would I kill someone for getting rejected and don't fuck her afterwards?!

  - Oh, this sounds wrong even to me, I am not into necrophilia, after all, I fucked two women that were alive and kicking this weekend, and one of them last night.

  - You, on the other hand, seem to get nothing. Do you have any confessions to make Thomas? I am sure James would appreciate if you gave his career a boost by turning yourself in.

  Thomas Anderson

  - I've told you several times already. I made passionate love with a remarkable woman I liked last Friday.

  Adam Smith:

  - Picture or it did not happen!?

  Thomas Anderson:

  - Goddammit. I am not going to tell you who it is until I know where it’s going!

  Adam Smith:

  - I see. "I respect that" Anyway here is the picture of the psychologist and me.

  Thomas Anderson:

  - What the fuck? A picture of a hand, dick, and pussy. What the hell is this?

  Adam Smith:

  - I would call it proof. As you can see it's my lower arm with my watch on it and my penis; as you can guess it's the pussy of my date.

  Thomas Anderson:

  - I can’t understand why I am always hanging out with you. Where is the picture of her face?

  Adam Smith:

  - Why would I have a picture of her face? What would that prove?

  Thomas Anderson sighed loudly and then commenced the conversation

  - About proof. Did you see the test results from the blood on James' mirror?

  Adam Smith:

  - Yep, I saw it. A great relief. It was the same DNA as one of the two male samples in the DiMaestro mansion. At first, I thought it might have something to do with the way we handled the Vasquez cartel last weekend, so this was a great relief.

  Thomas Anderson:

  - You might call me crazy, but what if James Locker has finally snapped and is the killer? I mean why would the killer otherwise come by James' house paint the bathroom with his blood but otherwise do nothing?

  Adam Smith:

  - Well, I am buying tickets for the lottery dreaming about the jackpot even though the chance is 1 in 72 million. So I am not going to call you crazy...

  - But your theory seems highly unlikely and anyway how would you check it out? By going to the BITCH and telling him about your insane theory and requesting to have James DNA tested? It’s undoubtedly more likely to get you fired than solving the case.

  Thomas Anderson:

  - Hmm...

  - I know a better way. ..

  - Considering the amount of blood we found in the bathroom in the vicinity of the mirror, whoever it belongs to must have a pretty big cut on his body. So if James indeed is the killer, he would have a pretty big cut somewhere. The easiest way to find out would be to make him come along to the gym, and that way check out his body in the sauna afterwards.

  Adam Smith:

  - Let's do it. If nothing else to beat that lazy bastard; I have not seen him at the gym for ages!

  Thomas Anderson:

  - Great, I figure out some great reason to have him tag along. Let's head to work now; I have some things to prepare for the 3 PM meeting.

  Adam Smith:

  - Great make sure to tell me what you find; I am heading to the airport for my flight to the Tamworth region now.

  - It will be great. Hitting on some outback women and “solving” the case.

  Thomas Anderson:

  - "I am sure you will succeed."

  Having finished their meal and their conversation the Thomas Anderson headed back to the station to complete his tasks for 3 PM meeting, while Adam Smith headed for Sydney Domestic Airport.

  5.6 A dilemma for James Locker

  IN TWO STRESSFUL HOURS, James Locker managed to compile a satisfactory eight hours report to send to Barry Itch and the high command. He was not satisfied with the result as the language and grammar carried the specific characteristics of something done in a hurry. Still, he figured that the most critical task at hand was to get the report out; so the continued police work had a direction that was imperative for the first 24 hours of a case. After all the stories would be rewritten and audited several times before going up to court.

  James Locker checked his E-mail and found a new piece of evidence that was both a relief and posed him with a dilemma. Apparently, the blood of the person that broke into his house and painted his mirror with blood was one of the two males who had left DNA traces at the DiMaestro mansion. The relief for him in this was that he indeed was just looking for one man. If the one threatening him had been another person, he would need to find two separate perpetrators, which would divide his attention. The dilemma was to find this man. Theoretically, it could be someone from the Vasquez cartel who wanted to send him a message because of his behaviour against them the weekend that passed. By chance, this person could also be the killer he was looking for. But he could not follow up on this thread since he did not want his colleagues and superiors to know that he beat up at mafia thug to get free hookers and cocaine. That would be a severe breach of protocol which in the best case scenario would lead to his dismissal and in the worst case scenario would put him behind bars.

  When thinking about his behaviour the weekend that passed James Locker was angry with himself. Why had he put himself in this situation? He was so close to obtaining his career goal at the age of 32, and now that his feelings for Emily Luong finally were fading he knew that he would have excellent prospects of finding a new love. Still, he was risking all of this for a crazy night out; and he could not for his life understand why?

  James Locker thought of the second possible scenario for why the killer had broken into his home; that there was a connection between him and the murders, and the killer wanted to send him a message. This scenario made him very uncomfortable. He could not understand how and why he connected to any of this. He had never met Miranda DiMaestro before, and as for Jessica Hall he had seen her once before but never spoken to her. As for the principal suspect Antonio DiMaestro, he knew that this man had been of interest for another murder investigation a while ago, but James Locker had been sick at the time and had never even participated in that investigation. All in all, he could not figure how any of this connected to him, but the thought of the killer somehow being after him was a petrifying thought indeed.

  Finally brushing these thoughts aside, he prepared himself for the 3 PM staff meeting.

  5.7 The 27th August 3 PM team meeting

  THE TIME HAD COME FOR another staff meeting, and as usual, the first session after a new case was crucial as the whole team needed a general idea of where the case was heading to know how to proceed. Every member of the group was present except Adam Smith who was on the flight to the Tamworth region where he was supposed to find out if Jessica Hall had any noteworthy enemies from the past. With everyone present, James Locker decided to start the meeting.

  James Locker:

  - Good afternoon everyone, thank you for coming.

  - After discussion with Barry and the High Command, we have decided to focus on the theory that this murder and the murder of Miranda DiMaestro are connected. I am sure you will understand why when you hear what you hear about your colleagues finding so with no further ado, let's start with you, John.

  John Dean had feared all day for how he would react on the staff meeting, but he managed to keep his composure. After all, he was in big trouble if someone found out the extent to which he had been sabotaging the investigation. First of all, John had been handling Michael Fuller sensitive information. Furthermore, he had not been sharing his well-founded suspicions against Michael Fuller and finally he had stolen money from the crime scene. Since it was too late to come out clean, however,
he had to continue on the path he had chosen, and the corruption within manifested in his body by making him feeling very nauseous and sick. John Dean realised he had been stuck in his thoughts for too long when James Locker spoke to him again.

  James Locker:

  - John? Are you okay? Say something.

  John Dean:

  - Sorry, sir. Just feeling very tired with all this stress and my daughter being sick and all.

  - Anyway, I have not found out much. We believe the killing must have taken place between 1230 and 2 am. Most likely closer to the latter as the neighbours heard noises around 130 and that was the reason the police got there in the first place.

  - But here is the catch. There are security cameras in the building where one of them is overlooking the corridor on level 27 where Jessica Hall's apartment is situated. But no-one is seen entering or leaving Jessica's apartment during this period.

  James Locker:

  - I see. Are there alternative ways of getting to the apartment?

  John Dean:

  - Not from the outside. There is a fire ladder down the corridor, but if the killer entered that way he or she would still be visible on the surveillance tape. Theoretically one would be able to get into the apartment via the ventilation shaft, but that is a very long shot as that would be implying the suspect was climbing from another level just to reach her apartment undetected.

  James Locker:

  - It could also imply that the killer is one of her neighbours as they would have a much easier route to climb. Still, I agree that it's unlikely but check it up anyway.

  - How do you know that the cameras were not turned off by the way? After all, that was the procedure of the DiMaestro murder.

  John Dean:

  - Well, that would create a black spot on the surveillance tape, but I did not see any. Besides the security officer for the building would be alerted if all the cameras went down.

  James Locker:

  - Well, I guess you are right. Well keep looking through the feeds and see if you can find any discrepancies. Oh and have another chat with the security officer. He might have seen something.

  - Moving on, Samantha what do you have to report?

  Samantha Robinson:

  - Well, two interesting things.

  - First of all, I went around the building talking to the neighbours. No one had seen anything, but one of them had heard Jessica Hall argue with a drunken man a couple of hours earlier. Or well they don't if he was drunk as they did not see him but he sounded drunk.

  James Locker:

  - This testimony is very compelling since Miranda DiMaestro also argued with a drunken man a few hours before her death. If this alcoholic is in fact not Antonio DiMaestro, this could be another lead.

  - Samantha, can you go back to the neighbours and ask how the conversation sounded? I believe there would be a different tone when you argue with a stranger compared to when you argue with someone you know.

  Samantha Robinson:

  - Sure sounds like a plan boss.

  James Locker:

  - Great, what was the second point of interest?

  Samantha Robinson:

  - Well, the killer left a package at the crime scene, on top of Jessica Hall's corpse. We opened it and found an exclusive piece of jewellery inside. I took the jewellery to a jeweller, and he estimated its worth to at least $100,000. Considering how expensive the article is I reckon we should be able to trace whoever ordered it as there are only a few jewel shops that deal in this price range.

  James Locker:

  - Samantha. You are indeed a dream to have as an employee. Take a picture of the piece and leave the original in an evidence locker. I am sure you know better what jewel shops to visit than I would.

  - Moving on to Thomas, what do you have to report?

  Thomas Anderson:

  - Well, quite a few things:

  - The building manager indicated that Antonio DiMaestro owns Jessica Hall's apartment. A text message on Jessica's mobile phone shows that she was expecting Antonio to come, the night she was killed. Furthermore, I have checked the electronic swipe key log to the building. Antonio entered the building via the garage at 0101am and left the building at 0129am. I have requested the location of Antonio's phone from the telephone company, but they are yet to get back to me.

  James Locker:

  - Damn that we don’t have the same resources and rights as the Federal Police. Then we could just trace his phone and find him in no time!

  - No matter, I am sure the fucking snake was there, but where is he now? We need to find him fast.

  Thomas Anderson:

  - We don’t know James; the man is a ghost no-one seems to have seen him for over a month.

  Samantha Robinson:

  - Sorry to interrupt, but to me, it appears that Antonio is unlikely to be the killer. If he were the killer why would he make all this effort not to be seen by the security cameras, just to walk in using his swipe key with his mobile phone turned on?

  James Locker:

  - Well, you do have a point, but he is still our only clue unless we find the mysterious drunken man.

  - Anyway, this concludes our meeting keep on working on your tasks. I will contact the federal police to see if we can get a permanent trace on Antonio DiMaestro's and his associates' mobile phones.

  - Now let’s wrap this off and get back to work.

  5.8 Barry Itch feels frustrated

  BARRY ITCH PUT DOWN the eight-hour report he received from James Locker and felt the frustration overwhelm him. Such a sloppy work! It was not the findings per se that disturbed him but the presentation. To Barry a perfect performance was everything, and he expected clean results every time. He had been frustrated with Michael Fuller's sloppy works for ages, and he had hoped for improvement now that he finally got rid of Michael but instead what he received from James Locker was even worse. It was like the report was written by someone fresh off the ship and the level of the writing was entirely unacceptable for Barry Itch.

  Barry Itch reflected over the entire Michael Fuller story again. He wondered if he had done the right thing when he investigated the cocaine theft charges against Michael Fuller and then let him go without severe consequences when it turned out that the suspicions were correct. For sure Michael Fuller had to resign. Officially Michael Fuller had left due to health reasons. Letting Michael off the hook was a very lenient treatment, and he hoped that Michael Fuller would not do anything stupid now that he had received this favour. Barry Itch had had some thoughts about whether it was morally correct to let Michael Fuller go, but morality was less critical than perfection, and at least the reputation of the department and Michael Fuller seemed to go unsullied.

  Barry Itch was thinking about his past relationship with Michael Fuller. It has a far as he remembered always been mostly negative. Barry Itch was seriously upset by the fact that Michael Fuller would not adapt to his standards of perfection and often delivered sloppy reports or showed up with a hangover. Barry had on several occasions reassigned the worst employees from the other murder investigation teams to undermine Michael Fuller's performance so he could get rid of him. But Michael Fuller had just kept performing in spite of having the far worst team members of all the groups. In a way, Barry Itch was genuinely fascinated by this performance in spite of his other objections.

  Barry Itch looked down on James Locker’s report again. Barry decided to go easy on him for now. James Locker was not a star like Michael Fuller and with incompetent misfits like Adam Smith, Elias Baker, Elliot Johnson, Vinnie Chung and Oscar Lee in his team, to expect excellent results from James Locker would be to expect too much. Besides Barry Itch was well aware that he was known as the BITCH to his subordinates and he did not want to grow that myth more than necessary!

  5.9 Muscle flashing in the sauna.

  THE TIME WAS 8 PM, and James Locker and Thomas Anderson had just finished a boxing class at the gym, and they were now sitting in the sauna. James Locker had
been a bit hesitant about going to the gym since he had not been working out for a long time. Thomas Anderson, however, convinced him with the motivation that he was seeing his mysterious date later tonight and wanted to look pumped up for the occasion. Thomas Anderson was thinking about his conversation with Adam Smith and the theory that James Locker might be the one who wrote on his own bathroom mirror with blood. Thomas Anderson needed a way to see all of James's body to figure out if he had any significant wounds that all that blood could come from. Thomas Anderson decided to start off with some idle chatter.

  Thomas Anderson:

  - Look how fit I look today; I hope it will be good enough for my date...

  James Locker:

  - Feeling a bit needy today, are you?

  - Your body is toned. I am sure that your reason for failure if you fail, will be something else.

  Thomas Anderson:

  - Well... Thank you, I guess.

  James Locker:

  - Yeah. Why do you keep it a secret by the way? There is only one woman it can be, Samantha Robinson. A good catch if you ask me

  Thomas Anderson:

  - Hmm, why would you think it’s Samantha?

  James Locker:

  - Well, partly intuition of course but it's quite easy. You see I know you well enough to realise that fact you won't say who it is, means that it's someone I know; otherwise it would be easy just to say the name and show a picture.

  - Secondly, I know you have a crush on her.