Waiting, A Dangerous Game

by Faizal Rahim

  “Give me the details.” Rossi’s voice was cold towards Morris. Morris was beginning to sweat. Shirley sympathised with Morris. Not many people could look Rossi in the eye.

  “Uh… while we were patrolling, we got a call from ops room to do a routine check over here. It seems victim’s sister called to say that her sister’s been missing since the previous night. We came over, knocked on the door and there was no answer. The back door was unlocked. So we entered in and searched the place and we found the victim dead in her bedroom. We reported it to ops room and here we are.” Morris was beginning to feel uncomfortable with Rossi staring away at him.

  “Which room?” Rossi questioned Morris with his coldness again.

  Morris pointed him to the room where the victim was. Rossi went towards the room; Shirley followed Rossi, smiling apologetically towards Morris. Shirley noticed that Gabriel and team were already looking for evidence. Shirley waved to Gabriel and entered the room.

  “Oh my God… what the…” Shirley was practically stunned at what she saw. The victim was lying dead on her bed. She has been murdered exactly the same way as Michelle Rogers and Neola Ponchos. Shirley felt as though she was having a sense of déjà vu. Behind the bed, there was something written on the wall in red. It read; I AM WAITING . . .

  “The bastard’s toying with us.” Shirley was clearly frustrated at the lack of options they had. So far all the investigations are leading them back to nothing.

  “Get me Gabriel now!” Rossi bellowed at a few patrol guys on scene. The patrol guys left like mice running after cheese. Gabriel came into the room in no time.

  “Give me something Gabriel. I don’t want to hear nothing from you.” Rossi though clearly upset was still visually calm.

  “Rossi, we are trying our best here. It’s not going to help if you are going to pressurise my guys. The writing on the wall is definitely written in blood. Whose blood is it? We can’t say for now but I am sure it belongs to the victim. Victim was definitely murdered somewhere else before she was dropped over here.” Gabriel was rubbing his neck and waited for Rossi to respond. Rossi just kept quiet and was seen to be pondering away.

  “Why do you say she was murdered elsewhere Gabby?” Shirley already thought that the victim was murdered elsewhere but she wanted Gabriel to confirm that.

  “Shirley as you can see. There are no traces of forced entry. Everything is in place. No traces of blood anywhere in the house except for the bed and the wall. Probably the suspect was strong enough to carry the victim and lay her on bed. No fingerprints found at this crime scene too. I talked to the victim’s sister if she could identify anything misplaced or missing in the house but even she said everything was perfectly in place. And like the other two, early signs do show traces of forceful intercourse. I am still wondering why he must make all his victims hairless. This is something I am trying to get an answer ever since the first one was found.”

  “Where’s the sister?” Gabriel and Shirley looked at Rossi. Rossi was looking back at them.

  “I last left her in the living room with one female officer. She was sobbing away. I didn’t want her to be alone. You can see them sitting on the sofa. I’m leaving the two of you now. There are lots to be done. I need a vacation soon.” Gabriel went back to his work.

  “Poor Gabby. All these are taking a toll on him. He seems so dishevelled.” Shirley watched Gabriel go on with his work.

  “He needs to retire. Let’s go and talk to victim’s sister.” Rossi left the room and went in search of the sister. Shirley shook her head and followed Rossi.

  Rossi and Shirley found one female officer sitting with a lady, probably the victim’s sister. The female officer looked so bored and pissed to be babysitting away while her colleagues were busy with things. The lady, in her late thirties, was still crying away. Rossi rolled his eyes at Shirley to go and do the talking.

  “Thank you officer, we will take it from here.” Shirley smiled at the female officer.

  “She is all yours. Just let me get back to my work.” The female officer stood up and tried to get Rossi’s attention. When Rossi did not acknowledge her, she walked away.

  Shirley sat beside the lady, “Hi, I am Detective Shirley and this is my Chief Detective Rossi. I know this is really a hard time for you but it will really help us in the investigations if you could answer some of our questions. We wont take too much of time.”

  The lady looked at Shirley and Rossi with her red tearing eyes. She nodded her head in approval. Shirley smiled at her and sat closer to her. She put her arm around the lady’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze and a gentle rub, trying to calm the lady down. Shirley signalled Rossi to start with the questions.

  “Are you the victim’s sister Ma’am?” Rossi asked the lady. Shirley was in disbelief at the question raised by him.

  “Why do you think I am sitting here and crying my eyes out?” The lady yelled at Rossi. A few of the patrol officers stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Rossi.

  “Get back to your work jackasses.” Rossi told the officers and continued, “Look Ma’am I know this is hard for you but you must understand that we need to ask you certain questions for verification purposes even if you feel that the question is dumb. I hope you can really assist us. I will ask you the question again. Are you the victim’s sister?”

  The lady nodded her head. Shirley was gently rubbing the lady’s shoulder to calm her down.

  “What is your name Ma’am?” Rossi continued.

  “Abigail Mathews.”

  “What is your sister’s name? Can you tell us with your best possible memory on what happened?” Rossi looked around the house and saw how everything seems to be in perfectly arranged position.

  “My sister’s name is Amanda. She is my elder sister. I have been married for five years. I moved in with my husband to Mansion Valley right after my marriage. Amanda moved to Mansion Valley two years back. My husband went to Iraq for his military services two years back. I was working full time and I could not afford to quit my job. I called up Amanda and convinced her to move to Mansion Valley and assist me in looking after my kids when I am at work. I am a nurse. So sometimes I might need to go to the hospital for emergency cases. Yesterday was such a day. I received a call for emergency. I called Amanda and told her to look after the kids. Once she arrived, I left for my work. When I came back in the morning, she was not at home. Asked the kids where she was but they said they had no idea. They last saw her before going to bed. I called on her mobile but there was no dial tone. I think the mobile has been switched off. Came over here to check on her but no one answered the door bell…”

  “You came over here? What time was that?” Shirley interrupted Abigail. This could be vital to their leads.

  “I came in the early morning. I rang the door bell but no one answered. I knocked on the door with the same results. I went over to the back door and tried opening it but it was locked…”

  “It was locked?” Now it was Rossi’s turn to interrupt Abigail.

  “Yes it was locked. I am sure about it. I tried to open the door but it was lock. I waited for ten minutes and when I knew she wasn’t around, I went over back to my place. I tried her mobile again but to no avail. I started panicking and was worried that something might have happened to her. That’s when I made the report.” Abigail started to cry again. Shirley was consoling her and trying to calm her down.

  Rossi looked around and found the female officer. He called out to her. The female officer was smiling broadly when she came over to Rossi.

  “Anything I need to do for you?” The female officer asked Rossi in a seductive tone. Shirley looked up at the sky and shook her head.

  “Yes. I need you to sit with Abigail again.” Rossi signalled Shirley to leave. Shirley consoled Abigail and looked at the female officer. She seems agitated with Rossi and was cur
sing him under her breathe.

  Shirley and Rossi left the crime scene and came to Rossi’s Camry.

  “That is so creepy. Thank God the bastard wasn’t around when Abigail came to check on Amanda. I wonder what he would have done if he saw her. He definitely came to dumb Amanda after Abigail left. I’m just glad Abigail was unharmed.” Shirley sat on the passenger side on the car. Rossi entered the driver seat and sat down. Rossi looked at Shirley.

  “What?” Shirley asked him.

  “Either that or he was already in the house waiting for Abigail to leave before he could escape.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “HI FELLOWS.” AISHA WAVED TO Shirley and Rossi.

  Aisha was an immigrant from Bosnia. Her parents left the country with Aisha and her three sisters to move away from the struggles and unrests of the country. Her father had to do odd jobs to make ends meet. No matter how much Aisha’s mother pleaded with Aisha’s father to allow her to find a job, Aisha’s father never relented to the idea. He was a typical old school man who believed in old school principles. Years on after their migration, Aisha’s father passed away. Her mother passed away the following year. Aisha who was in her late teens, had to play the role of her father and her mother to her three sisters and support the family at the same time. Not once did Aisha ever complain. She continued her studies and did part time jobs. Whatever money she got from her work, she used it on her sisters. She just kept aside a minimum sum for her daily expenses. After Aisha finished her college, she decided to join the Force. She knew it was a stable job which brought in permanent income. During her early years of being in the Force, Aisha just concentrated totally on her career. She knew working hard always gave you the right benefits. Something her mother always told her. With the savings, Aisha was able to see off her sisters’ studies. Each one of her sisters moved to various cities trying to build up their own lives and careers. Soon after, Aisha was posted to Crime Investigation Unit as a Profiler. It was during this period that she got acquainted to Feroz. Feroz was three years senior to Aisha. He was already a well known Detective who was climbing up the ladder quite well. Feroz was also Rossi’s partner. Both Feroz and Rossi were never shy in asking help from Aisha for their cases. Unlike other Detectives, they felt that it was good to ask opinions from a third person point of view to get leads which they might not have seen. All three got along well and shared a good rapport. One day Feroz came in and told Rossi that he and Aisha were going to get married. Rossi was so happy for the two of them. Aisha and Feroz got married and were leading a happy life when their world came crashing down. After 9/11, in most parts of the world, people started having distrust and hatred for Muslims. Everyone saw all Muslims to be associated with terrorism. Aisha and Feroz had a hard time dealing with society. Even at the Force, everyone was turning their backs on them. Rossi always pitied them and constantly told the others that it is unfair to treat them in such a way for actions done by radicals with their own principles. Everyone turned a deaf ear to Rossi. All these affected Feroz more than Aisha. Aisha knew this was just a test from Almighty and she always consulted HIM in her prayers. One day, Aisha learned that she was pregnant. She was filled with so much of joy. When she headed home to tell Feroz the news, he wasn’t around. There was a small note on her dining table. It was from Feroz. He told Aisha in the letter that he was leaving her and everything behind. He said in the letter that he just could not do this anymore. He told Aisha never to look for him and he will never come back to her. Till today, Aisha has no knowledge to Feroz’s whereabouts.

  “Come over here Aisha.” Rossi called her over to his desk.

  Shirley took the case files and went over to Rossi’s desk. Shirley was looking at Aisha. Aisha was petite and a pleasant looking woman. She always wore her headscarf proudly and she was proud to be who she was. Shirley always admired Aisha’s courage and strong mindedness. She wondered how such a petite woman like her could overcome so many obstacles in life and still be smiling away.

  “What’s so urgent Rossi?” Aisha hugged Shirley and sat on the chair.

  “As you know Aisha, Shirley and I have been dealing with the cases of the three recent murders. All three have the same MO. I think we are dealing with a serial killer here. I need you to tell me as much as you can about him.” Rossi walked over to his blackboard to do a little brief on what he and Shirley have done so far.

  “As you can see from my blackboard, three murders. All the victims are ladies. First one is Michelle Rogers. She is 17. She was found at Lake Victoria. According to Gabriel, suspect had forceful intercourse with her multiple times, only once when she was still alive. She was purely beaten to death with bare hands. As you can see from the pictures, he made sure victim was totally bald everywhere. Only her ID was taken from her. According to the victim’s mother, victim was a problem child and difficult to handle. She frequents clubs and hanged out with the wrong company. Second one, Neola Ponchos. She was 20. Found in the same conditions at a construction site located at Timber Town. Victim had a boyfriend name Martino. Neola was last seen having an argument over the phone with him. Shirley and I went to visit Martino. I strongly believe he isn’t the one but nevertheless he and his little friend are brought in for questioning. Even if he didn’t commit any murder, he’s definitely going in for the rest of his crimes. I expect to get the full term for him. Thirdly is Amanda. She is 45 years old. Found the same way as the other two. Shirley actually talked to the victim’s niece without the knowledge of her mother. According to the niece, victim will baby-sit when her mother is out for work. Many times, victim will bring in strangers to the house and seems to be locked up in her room. Sometimes, she leaves the kids at night and only returns back home before their mother comes back.” Rossi put his hands on his hips and looked at Aisha.

  “What have you done so far?” Aisha asked while browsing through the files.

  “We went through the receipts to identify if anyone bought large quantities of hair removal products from anywhere but it only gave me an eye sore. I told Rossi that we can visit nightclubs or any other entertainment places to see if Michelle was last seen at any one of these places. If she was, then we can look at the CCTV footage of the place to identify if Michelle was with anyone. As Rossi told you, we checked on Martino. So far, there are no evidences retrieved from any of the murder spot. Victims are clearly murdered somewhere else before being dumped at the locations. All we got were those two papers and the writing on the wall. He’s toying around. I just want to bring him to justice.”

  Aisha was silent and was looking through every aspect of the case. Rossi was lighting up his cigar and was blowing out smoke rings while waiting for Aisha. Shirley was rubbing her head and was deep in thought. She kept on seeing her daddy being covered in blood. Ever since that dreadful day, Shirley always wanted to join the Force and do something good in return. Every criminal she caught and every case she solved was dedicated to her daddy. She always saw the criminals she caught as the one who murdered her daddy. She knew her daddy was proud of her no matter where he was. Every time she could not go forward with a case, she felt a sense of failure within her for not succeeding. It only fuelled her determination to catch the criminals at all cost. She made a promise to herself and to her daddy that she will never fail.

  “Definitely a serial killer.” Aisha voiced echoed throughout Crime Investigation Unit.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “I HAVE GONE THROUGH THE files. Based on what I see, definitely a serial killer on the loose.” Aisha looked up at Shirley and Rossi.

  “Go on Aisha. Tell us whatever you know.” Rossi’s attention was totally on Aisha. Shirley took her pen to write down notes.

  “Suspect must be tall and have a good physique. He needs to be strong in order to overpower his victims. He seems to be a case of necrophilia. It is a term used for someone who has intercourse with dead bodies. He might have a past history of child abuse or
he might not have any past history at all. Based on the reports, suspect clearly is aware of his actions. No one acting rashly will dump their victims at another location. Normally they will just leave them over at the murdered location and flee. Even if they do dump them at another location, they are bound to make some mistakes. In this case, he seems to be fully aware of his action which is why you can’t seem to get any evidences. Whoever you’re dealing with is clearly an intelligent person. Probably he’s so arrogant that he thinks he will never get caught. That is why he’s flaunting his work. Another thing, well I might be wrong. As you know profiling is just suggestions, identifying patterns and at times assumptions, it never was 100% accurate.”

  Shirley and Rossi waited for Aisha to tell them what she was thinking. Aisha seemed hesitant and she looked at Rossi. Rossi smiled at her and told her to go on. Shirley was taken back that Rossi actually knows how to smile. Shirley could not even remember when was the last time she saw Rossi smile. When Rossi turned to look at Shirley, she quickly pretended not to notice Rossi.

  “As I said, I could be wrong but I have a strong hunch on this. You know the third victim Amanda? She was not part of the plan.”

  “What makes you say that? Clearly she was murdered the same way as the other two. Why wouldn’t she be part of the plan?” Shirley asked Aisha confused.

  “That’s because suspect did not want to leave a pattern. He chose Amanda so a pattern could not be established. Or that’s what suspect thinks.” Rossi answered for Aisha.

  Shirley still looked confused. Aisha understanding Shirley’s confusion got up from her seat and went to Rossi’s blackboard.

  “Here dear, let me explain to you. See all three victims? Michelle was dead for maybe two days or more. She was dumped at Lake Victoria which was closed for maintenance. Neola was also dead for about two days before she was found. She was also dumped at a construction site at Timber Town. See the similarities? Time of death before both victims were found was about two days. That’s the first similarity. Second similarity is that both the victims were dumped at a place where there was some kind of work taking place. There won’t be anyone around at night so it will be convenient for suspect to dump them at the location. As for Amanda, she was not dead for two days before she was found and she was not dumped at a construction or maintenance site. Suspect probably took pride in keeping his dead victims with him for some time before dumping them. And according to reports, suspect had one last intercourse with the dead victims before dumping them. In Amanda’s case, there were signs of intercourse but it was not multiple times. Furthermore, she was dumped at her own house. These two factors are important to be understood. It doesn’t match with the previous two murders. It was a cautious effort by suspect to change his pattern so we will not be able to identify it.”