Agent Howard smiled and took a last sip from his cold beer bottle before putting it back and rubbing his hands like a man from a long day at work just about to tear on a piece of juicy stake. At the time, it seemed as though he got serious all of a sudden because his poker face was already gone.
“First of all, you already know that he is looking to not only kill but also cause confusion, right? So I think he had been planning this for a long time. And I also think he might be having some sort of military training, one that is lethal and that could make thing very bad for us if at all we aren’t careful you know.”
“I am listening. Now, skip to that part where I get to free myself by proving my innocence.” A wide eyed Agent Morris said without even flinching. She needed to know!!
Chapter 3:
-The breakthrough-
After the incredible discussion with Agent Morris, it seemed as though Agent Morris was starting to see things much clearer. According to what Agent Howard said, it would take someone with a considerable amount of influence and money to hire an assassin with so much skill to pull such kind of a crime and as if that wasn’t all, make a point of visiting the police officer’s home and getting her fingerprints.
If at all he had visited her home, then Agent Morris would have known all about it since she had surveillance all over her home. But from the look of things, it seemed as though no one had entered her home and so that case scenario didn’t seem to hold water no matter how much she wished it did. And without making an attempt to follow it, the next thing that she did was look for potential suspects who had the kind of money to hire a professional.
Once again, it didn’t take that long because virtually everyone, with the exception of Mrs. Moss, had the kind of money to hire a professional to take out the poor woman. But that said, they also weren’t going to just sit there and do nothing about Mrs. Moss. For all she cared, Mrs. Moss could have transferred some money from her account and paid off the killer in installments.
And being a vice president to a very big lemon pie company in the country, she could pretty much move some huge amounts of money undetected.
So still, in as much as Agent Morris didn’t want to have her investigated, it seemed as though Mrs. Moss just couldn’t find her way out of this case. She was still a prime suspect just like everyone else which was a little difficult in the end.
Agent Morris then closed her eyes for a moment and clenched her teeth, trying as much as possible not to worry that much about her situation. But from the look of things, it seemed as though everything was going to get fucked up if at all she wasn’t as careful as she was supposed to be.
But as far as she was concerned, all the possible avenues that she had been looking for had been exhausted and still, there was no way that she could have come up with a way to avoid the whole situation. And that said, it seemed as though she was going to have a very difficult time getting ahead of the curve in the end.
And since she had gotten to the point where she couldn’t defend herself or thing of anything that could get her off the hook, Agent Morris thought that maybe it would have been a good idea for her to try something else in the process.
Maybe it was about time for her to start thinking about how best she was going to be while in the cells. All her life, agent Morris had always been a law abiding person and needless to say, the idea of getting locked behind bars was a little bit scary for her. But in the end, it seemed as though there was nothing she could do about it.
What was done was done and eventually, it would have been a good idea for her to just look the other way and try as much as possible to stay focused in the end. Agent Morris also figured that maybe it would be a good idea to work on her defense since she was most definitely going to be interrogated like a basic criminal, something that she didn’t really like at all.
***
It was just about that time that Agent Morris came up with a really good excuse before the agents or else she risked being detained and interrogated – something that would remain as a taint in her file for a very long time to come. And since her record was untainted, Agent Morris felt as though life wasn’t fair at all. And that said, she showed up much earlier and asked the commander to give her some time to try and figure out how her prints got to her knife.
“Well, in as much as I would like to do this, in as much as all of us would like to do this, then law has to take its course. We need to have you detained and questioned. Look, we have already broken the law by giving you a chance to find out what was up. If we buy you more time, other police officers will start talking. And you know even though I favor you more often than not, I don’t want the rest to think that some cops are more important than the others.”
Agent Morris understood where her commander was coming with all of this. And so without wasting any more time, she decided that maybe it was a good idea if she just kicked back and accepted the flow of things.
The other police officers started trickling into the addressing room and Agent Morris decided to use the little minutes that she had left to try as much as she could to prove her innocence. But that said, it still seemed as though she was just panicking for no reason. But then Agent Howard came and sat beside her and smiled from ear to ear. And for a moment, it seemed as though he had something incredible to tell her.
“Well, you realize that I am about to get myself arrested. So if you don’t mind, it would be a good idea if you just came clean with me or else I am going to be in some deep shit at the end of the day. Understood?”
“No you aren’t. After our little discussion, it got me thinking a little bit. If the killer had your fingerprints, it seemed as though he did two things, subdue you and knock you out before taking your prints which isn’t eligible knowing that you are such a badass…”
“Or?” Agent Morris said, her eyes wide open with anticipation.
“Or he stole your knife and used it to commit the crime.”
And it was at that moment that Agent Morris’s eyes were wide open. The truth was that a couple of months back, she took her knives to be sharpened and one was missing. She just assumed that maybe it was an accident and had the knife replaced.
“Agent Howard, you are a genius!!!” Agent Morris said before almost kissing her. But then again, she realized that Agent Howard was a married man and so she pulled back almost immediately.
“I know that I am a genius ha-ha. But on the real, I need for you to be careful. Things might end up being ugly and just make sure that you are always on the right place at the right time. Oh, and don’t work too hard on this case. Sometimes some cases might just end up in the cold. Do not go crazy trying to solve it.”
That statement was very weird, especially coming from someone as committed as agent Howard. But then again, Agent Morris didn’t have the time or the interest to pursue the sentiments of an agent who had just given her something that could have been in a position to get her off the hook.
“I think we need to call the agents and give them a reason not to put me behind bars. I can’t be put behind bars.”
“I agree with you, but still, put whatever I told you under consideration. Just promise me that you will do it.”
“Ok, but still, I need to prove my innocence and get to the bottom of this.”
Agent Howard didn’t look too darn happy with her enthusiasm. And that said, the only other thing that would have made some sense at the time would have been to kick back and try out something else which was to let Agent Morris do whatever she jolly well pleased.
“So, are you going to sit back there or are you going to come with me and help prove my innocence?”
“Coming right up woman.” Agent Howard said with a tired smile on his face.
Chapter 4:
-The attack-
As soon as Agent Morris and Agent Howard had taken the stage and gave out their theory, it seemed as though every other agent was impressed by the new findings to the point that they wanted to know how it was going to play
out. Of course everyone had their own fair share of how the case was going to flop when Agent Morris’ prints found their way to the murder weapon.
And so all that was left was for them to send the forensics people to the place where she had her cutlery sharpened and as soon as that was done, they found out that a masked individual broke in a couple of weeks back and only stole a knife.
The police asked why the owners didn’t care to report a break in but it was a little bit absurd that they were to report a break in with a knife being stolen. And the police understood why they didn’t. But still, there was still a murderer out there at large. But as far as they were concerned, the only thing that seemed to matter that much was that their lead agent was free and that was all.
Another very incredible thing was that they knew that the killer was a professional and could find his size from the incredible software from the CIA. That way, they could get rid of potential killers and zero down to one.
“Now that it has been established how your prints got their way to the murder weapon, I think its about time that we needed to do something about it. We will need the forensics people to hack into the suspects’ bank accounts and try to monitor how the funds were moving up and down. I will need a report to that effect.” Agent Morris commanded.
And just like that, it seemed as though everyone was more than glad to have her back. And without having to waste any more time, it seemed as though the most important thing at that moment would have been to stay focused on handling the case.
The commander seemed a little preoccupied with something else that wasn’t about the case at hand. Ever since she had managed to exonerate herself, it seemed as though he was on the phone. But since Agent Morris was the one in charge of the case, she knew that she had to take the lead and not look up to the commander for any damn thing at that moment.
“All I can say is that so far, so good. We already have had a couple of names dropped from our list. But still, we have plenty others to go. And as the forensics people are still working on the evidence, we need to ensure that we are doing all in our power to get these suspects scrutinized. On to the next one, Mrs. Moss. Can someone tell me what we have on this woman?” Agent Morris asked, looking around the addressing room.
Someone put up their hand and she immediately gave out the platform, just to make sure that everything was going on to work out perfectly. In the end, everything had to work out rather perfectly. They were already smelling the victory as far as the case was concerned and that said, it was most definitely going to be a very big win for them at the end of the day.
“Just like we all had anticipated, there is something really queer about this woman. And that said, I took the liberty of doing some digging. I checked out some of her competition and secretly interviewed them. And guess what? We were right. No one likes her for sure. As a matter of fact, it seems as though the hate that they have for her is just too epic for life itself.
“Most of them think she did it. But still, we didn’t have the evidence. So I took the liberty of checking out her bank account information. And I was surprised to find out that she never withdraws a dime from it. It like whenever she puts money in there, it doesn’t ever come out. And as I speak, I am still conducting some investigation in a bid to finish up every single thing with a wrap and once I get something on her, you will be the first ones to know all about it.”
And with that, the agent sat down. Agent Morris was a little disappointed since she thought that Mrs. Moss was going to be caught pants down. But from the look of things, it just seemed as though it wasn’t her time just yet and so she cooled down. Even though her gut was telling her that there Mrs. Moss had nothing to do with it, Agent Morris still felt that she was just being too darn disrespectful and that said, she needed to pay for that.
Anyone who used other people as a stepping stone always deserved to be punished. But that said, it was time for the next suspect to be discussed.
***
The police officers had just taken a break when a huge explosion blasted through the door, sending virtually everyone in the air right before smoke engulfed the entire station. It was nothing but pure chaos and for that matter, the only thing that could have been done for that matter would have been to ensure that everyone was secured.
The explosion just came out of nowhere and thus everyone looked scared for sure. Ten police officers, including Agent Howard, were killed. Agent Morris and a good number of the police officers were still in the addressing room which was located at the furthest end of the police station and that said, they were saved, just like that.
But still, the explosion was too loud to the point that it blew the door off its hinges, sending clouds of dark smoke and half burnt papers all over the place. It was just too darn horrible to the point that most of them were in shock.
Thankfully, the ambulance as well as the fire department people were very responsible and they made sure that they were doing all in their power to get there on time and get to save lives.
And just like that, the police station had turned into a sudden burst of activity with people running all over the place. Some of the police officers were in shock and just stood there, not knowing what they were supposed to do while the others were trying their level best to remain calm despite the fact that they were injured.
A few of the police officers were trying as much as possible to get everything working for them by getting to save the other police officers who seemed to be incapacitated by the blast of injured. It was such a horrible scene to behold and that said, all that they could do was try to save each other before figuring whatever the heck that had happened.
Agent Morris woke up and tried to move. But she had been trapped under rabble and there was nothing she could do about it. As a matter of fact, it seemed as though she couldn’t feel her legs and the smoke in the addressing room made it worse since she was having difficulties in both breathing and seeing.
“Help, someone help me…” Agent Morris gasped for breath as she battled to say something. But still, it was somewhat difficult for it to come out right.
She then saw some blurry images rushing towards where she was and they tried to carry her up. But from the look of things, it seemed as though she was trapped. All that Agent Morris could see was that the people, who were blurry at the time, were doing all in their power to move some pile of wood from her body. And then in a second or two that followed, she was carried in the air and taken out of the room.
She tried to talk, but the ringing in her ear was too loud to the point that she closed her mouth and clenched her teeth in a vain bid to stop the pain as well as irritation. And then after that, she blacked out, only to wake up in the hospital two days later.
The commander on his part mobilized what was left of his force and they kept guard of the police station right before contacting the bomb squad to come and figure out what was going on. He had been shaken since he had never experienced an attack of that magnitude ever since he became commander. And now that it was happening, it seemed as though everything was going to work out against them in the end.
And just like it was the case with the firefighters, the bomb squad people got there right on time and begun working on the area, making sure that there was no other bomb in the place that could threaten the welfare of both the civilians as well as the scared children in a school that was situated nearby.
In the end, it seemed as though what really mattered was that everyone was safe and the police officers, the firefighters as well as the bomb squad personnel just wanted to make sure it happened.
A yellow tape was immediately rolled out and it was to keep off the curious media personalities who were more than ready to start preaching their gibberish and far fetched propagandas. But that didn’t seem to concern the police. All that really mattered at the moment was that they were in a position to stay focused at all times and get to the bottom of the matter which was the most important thing.
Once the police offic
ers had been rescued, the next order of business was getting to the bottom of the explosion. The forensics people were stuffed safely under the station when the explosion happened and they managed to get out via the emergency exit unscathed. And as soon as they got out, it seemed as though everything was back to business since they had to start on collecting evidence.
It was a dark day for the police.
Chapter 5:
-Back to the drawing board-
From the look of things, it seemed as though the investigation was over and done with. All of the news agencies as well as the top notch media personalities were already gathering around that place as though it was some kind of sacred place. All the news channels were focusing on the blast and needless to say, all sorts of conspiracy theories were being aired back, forth and center.
The nation was at a stand still. If a terrorist was in a position to do just that in a police station, a place that is presumed to be very safe and well protected, then what about a public place?
COZY MYSTERY: Lemon Pie Murder Series (Lemon Mystery Murder) Page 5
