Waiting, A Dangerous Game

by Faizal Rahim

  I just like to say thank you again for giving me such wonderful time. It is so much fun to be playing this game with the two of you. I seem to outsmart all of you every single time and none of you can do anything about it.

  What is the best way to show my smartness? I thought about it a lot and that’s when I decided to dump her at your Boss’s house. I mean, even the two of you must admit that there’s smartness written all over my actions.

  I hope whatever I am writing makes sense. It is difficult to write and please myself at the same time. She can please me so well even hours after she is dead. But I have to admit that she is getting bored. So by the time you find her, I will already be looking for my next one.

  So till then, I AM WAITING . . .

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  HE WAS SITTING INSIDE HIS new car which he bought two days back from a black market dealer he knew. The new car was a black Chevrolet with tinted windows. He told himself that black was the most common colour and no one would suspect him on the road. He got rid of his Mitsubishi by pushing it into the beach late one night when no one was around. He knew there was no way anyone was going to find the Mitsubishi and make use of it for evidence gathering. He was looking at the commotion outside Head Investigations’ house. Head Investigations’ house was located at Third Ave, a place known for its best Italian restaurants. He has often seen Head Investigations bringing his family for lunch at these restaurants. Third Ave was a place always known to be peaceful and crime at a low level. Today is different. Today I bless the residence with a little havoc of my own. The journalists and news personnel were all sticking their voice recorders and microphone at Deputy Head Investigations’ face. He knew that Deputy Head Investigations was never going to tell the truth.

  He was yawning away and was feeling bored. He was already on the lookout for a new victim. He knew he was addicted to his actions. He felt almost God-like when he does all those things. What makes it even more special was that he always got away with it. Maybe I am God.

  As he was looking at Deputy Head Investigations giving his speech to the gathered crowd, he noticed a young journalist who stood out from the rest. She was pushing her way into the crowd to get the best position possible so that she could record the speech. Whenever someone tried to get into her space, she used her elbows and blocked them off. A real tigress, he told himself. He kept on observing her. She was a white woman in her mid twenties with brunette hair that fell till her shoulders. She had white skin that radiated in the afternoon sun. She was wearing a casual top and jeans. Something about her instantly attracted him and he knew what it was. He smiled to himself and waited patiently for her.

  After thirty minutes or so, Deputy Head Investigations entered the house. Finally Bastard’s done lying.

  He saw some of the journalists leaving while the others stayed behind to chit chat about the speech. He saw her taking down some notes before walking away from the scene. He followed her until she was far away from Head Investigations house. When he knew for sure that they were alone, he parked his Chevrolet and got out from it.

  “Excuse me; I need to tell you something?” He called out to her.

  She turned around and saw him walking towards her. She had no clue who he was and what he wanted. She put her hand into her pocket and felt her pepper spray. It was still in her pocket. It made her relax.

  “Please don’t be afraid. I need to tell you something.” He called out to her again.

  “Who are you?” She asked wary of him.

  “Deputy Head Investigation was lying to all of you. I know the real story. Head Investigations is perfectly alright.” He threw the bait at her.

  “How would you know that? How can I trust you?” Her hand was still in touch with the pepper spray.

  “It’s your choice. I can always give the story to another person.” He lied and pretended to walk away.

  “No. Wait please. I trust you. I need that story.” She sounded desperate.

  He knew that she will surely take his bait. A news was always worthy whether true or false.

  “My car is parked over there. I will tell you the story while we travel.” He ushered her to his car.

  “Where are we going?” She asked him.

  “We are going to my place. That’s where I keep all the evidence.” He smiled at her with lustful eyes.

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

  “I HAVE DONE THE SCREENING for the hand writing. No matches found.” Gabriel entered Crime Investigation Unit and walked towards Rossi’s desk. Aisha, Rossi and Shirley were looking at the letter from suspect.

  “I said there were no matches found.” Gabriel spoke again.

  “We heard you Gabriel. Take a sit. I’ve poured a cup of coffee for you.” Rossi offered Gabriel a sit. Gabriel sat down on the chair and took a sip from the cup.

  “Is it possible for us to say that suspect is a new criminal since he is not found in our records?” Shirley raised the question.

  “We can’t say that for sure Shirley. He could have used his none writing hand to write the letter or suspect could be an ambidextrous, someone who is trained to write with both hands. So if that is the case, we will only have records of his writings for one hand which we feel is the stronger hand. There will not be any records for the other hand so matching might not be possible. Of course that is always not the case, most of the common criminals don’t think in a wider sense, so testing their hand writings will come up with matches almost eighty five percent of times.” Gabriel explained to Shirley.

  “Is there anything you can come up with by reading the letter Aisha? Is there any hidden message in there?” Rossi asked Aisha.

  “It’s difficult to say Rossi. What he has written seems to make sense though I would need more time with the letter to see if there is anything I can find. The only thing I personally found disturbing is when suspect wrote that he is writing the letter and pleasing himself at the same time. That’s giving me the chills about this guy. He is a real threat to society.”

  “What about the records you were looking at? Is there anything from there?” Rossi lit his cigar.

  “As I mentioned, all four cases from the Missing Person Files seems to have the same pattern as our first two victims. I went through records for past murder cases and I did not come up with any cases in relation to our current case. The MO used by suspect is totally new and I believe suspect wanted to create something original to call as his own. The Missing Person Files for all four cases are still open. If these fours girls are victims of suspect, suspect would have disposed them off at some construction or maintenance site based on the pattern provided. That’s why I told Rossi that sending a search team to these locations will not be so bad.” Aisha gave her opinion.

  “I agree Aisha but the first case dates more than a year back. I do not think sending a search team will be a good idea. Lots of construction and maintenance sites might have been completed already. The only leads we have somewhat right now are the receipts. Once we get hold of that, we should be able to work out something from there.” Shirley responded.

  Shirley looked at Rossi who in turn was looking at the letter while Gabriel was falling asleep on the chair. Shirley’s mobile vibrated she looked at the message. Thinking about you. Miss you. It was from Morris. Shirley smiled at what Morris messaged her. She was feeling shy about how she felt towards Morris recently. She noticed Aisha and Rossi looking at her.

  “Just message…” Shirley smiled awkwardly at them.

  Rossi stretched himself and rubbed his eyes. He combed his hair with his hands. Aisha was looking through the letter again. Gabriel was fast asleep on the chair.

  Shirley was thinking about Morris when she saw Rossi hurriedly reaching out to Gabriel.

  “Gabriel, Gabriel, wake up.” Rossi shook Gabriel and Gabriel woke up from his chair in a state of panic.

  “
Gabriel, how did you check for the hand writing match?” Rossi asked Gabriel.

  “I checked it through the system of course. What question are you asking?” Gabriel frowned.

  “Just answer me.” Rossi raised his voice.

  “I scanned the letter through the computer system for matches. No matches were found. I have already said that, have I not?” Gabriel informed Rossi.

  Rossi quickly got up from his chair and walked over to his blackboard. He immediately took down the two notes from suspect. He placed the two notes together with the letter on the table and compared them. Rossi looked up at the three of them.

  “What is it Rossi?” Aisha asked.

  “The two notes and the current letter from suspect show that the hand writing for all is the same. The two notes and letter were scanned through a computer system and checked for analysis. The sole purpose was to check for matches. What if we can check the notes and letter again?”

  “Check them again for what purpose?” Gabriel interrupted Rossi.

  “What if there are hidden messages for us?” Rossi suggested.

  “Hidden messages?” Aisha asked Rossi.

  “Yes Aisha. What if there are hidden messages written. What if he has written more which are not visible to the naked eye? I don’t know, maybe an invisible ink? Is there anyway we can check Gabriel?” Rossi asked Gabriel.

  “The simplest way is to use Ultraviolet lights or UV lights in short. Use the light and just place it on top of the letter. As absurd as you may sound, it is a possibility. If invisible ink was used, then you will definitely see the words.” Gabriel explained.

  “I have UV lights in my office. Give me five seconds.” Aisha went running to retrieve her UV light.

  Five minutes later, Aisha returned holding onto a UV light. She passed the light to Rossi. Rossi placed the first note, which they have received at the crime scene of Lake Victoria, on the table. Rossi switched off his desk lamp and turned on the UV light. Aisha, Gabriel and Shirley came close to Rossi and looked at the note. Rossi placed the UV light over the first note, found at the crime scene of Michelle Rogers, with all four of them silently observing.

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

  EVEN IN THE UV LIGHT, the words I AM WAITING . . . was staring away at them in bold. Rossi scanned through the entire note from top to bottom but there was nothing detected from the UV light. There didn’t seem to be invisible ink or hidden messages written on the note.

  Aisha and Shirley’s disappointments were clearly visible on their faces. Gabriel gave a satisfactory smirk at Rossi thinking that Rossi was wasting his time. Rossi did not look at anyone of them. He was in no doubt that there will be something.

  “Maybe you should flip the note and scan with the UV light again.” Gabriel told Rossi in a tone of sarcasm.

  Aisha, Rossi and Shirley looked at one another for a split second before coming close to look at the note again. Rossi flipped the note and scanned the back.

  “Oh Allah…” Aisha commented.

  “Jesus Christ.” Shirley remarked.

  Gabriel wanted to know what made the two ladies animated. He leaned over and looked at the note. Rossi was holding the UV light at the bottom right hand corner of the note. Gabriel’s eyes widened at what he saw.

  “A mirror of the sky which laid the foundations to fire.” Rossi read out loud what was written on the note with invisible ink.

  “What the hell does that mean?” Gabriel asked.

  “Suspect has been giving riddles. Solving the riddle will lead you to either the place where victim is hidden or to another riddle which will eventually lead you to the victim. It is a classic case out from the books.” Aisha explained to them.

  Shirley quickly brought the other note and the letter from suspect and placed it on the table. Rossi used the UV light on the second note, found at Neola Ponchos crime scene and found another riddle.

  “Foundations of fire forgotten by Man who saw the brightness from deep down.” Shirley read out loud this time around.

  Rossi reached for the letter and scanned the letter with the UV light.

  “A place waiting to be reborn in the name of Noah.” Rossi read out.

  Rossi looked at all three of them and said, “We solve these, we are that much closer to him. I am certain of that.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

  HE DRAGGED THE GIRL’S DEAD body by her ankle across his basement, leaving a trail of blood behind. Even he didn’t know when she had stopped breathing. He could not stop his fury from taking over him. He bashed her up so badly that even he didn’t recognise the face anymore. He brought her to the side of the basement where he kept a metal bathtub. He had been heating up the bathtub first before pouring in the ingredients needed for the sugaring process. The process was complete but the solution was still boiling away. He waited for the solution to cool down to 121°C. When the solution was beginning to form as a gel, he placed the dead body into the bathtub.

  While he waited for the hair removal process to be completed, he went through the girl’s belongings. He had already torn the blouse, bra and panty to pieces. He checked the girl’s jeans and retrieved the pepper spray from the pocket. He knew the girl was wary of him as she kept her hand in her pocket. He didn’t want to take chances. The moment they entered his house, he used his elbow and hit the girl hard on her head. He threw the pepper spray away and tore her jeans. He sieved through her handbag and found her ID. Shannon Banks, Born in 1985. He took the ID and walked to his desk. He opened the drawer revealing ID cards of all his victims. He threw the ID of Shannon Banks into the drawer and closed it. He walked over to the bathtub to check on the process. He saw strands of hair floating and decided to wait further in order for victim to be completely bald. Another thirty minutes. He wore his clothes back which were stained with the victim’s blood. He walked over to the desk again and took out his note pad. He sat down on the chair and wrote the words I AM WAITING . . . in bold. He took out another pen from his drawer and flipped the note. He thought about what he wanted to write for some time before writing words which could not be seen.

  When he was done, he walked over to the bathtub and pulled the dead victim out. The dead victim was completely bald with visible burn marks at some parts of her body. He checked every inch of her body to make sure no hair was stuck to the victim. As he was checking, he felt aroused by the dead victim’s nakedness. He looked at the dead victim with lustful eyes and took off his clothes to please himself again.

  CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

  “THERE IS NOTHING FOUND. I have checked the phrases on Google and Yahoo. All I get is rubbish.” Shirley told the rest of them.

  “I thought so, suspect wants to be original as much as possible. He isn’t going to write something out from the internet. He would have made sure that he was the creator of these phrases.” Rossi took a sip of coffee from his cup.

  Aisha nodded in agreement to what Rossi said. Sometimes Aisha thought that Rossi would make a good profiler with practise. She had told him countless times to cross over to the Profiler Section but Rossi preferred to hang out on the streets. You can’t make an Italian sit in office when he can be out on the streets. Though Rossi never followed in the footsteps of his family, it was in his blood to be out on the streets.

  “A mirror of the sky which laid the foundations to fire, Foundations of fire forgotten by Man who saw the brightness from deep down, A place waiting to be reborn in the name of Noah. Well you guys have a good time trying to crack these; I am going back to my lab.” Gabriel told them.

  “I didn’t need you for a long time already. You are free to go.” Rossi informed Gabriel.

  Gabriel started at Rossi for a split second before walking out from Crime Investigation Unit.

  “Can you be nicer to the poor man?” Aisha asked Rossi.

  “Is he being nice to you?” Rossi pose
d the question back to Aisha.

  “Be nice to your friends and family and even to your enemies. These were said by Jesus and Prophet Muhammad.” Aisha reminded Rossi.

  “I lost my faith long time ago Aisha. So let’s just get back to business alright.” Rossi took out his cigar and lit it up.

  Aisha shook her head and smiled at Shirley. Shirley smiled backed at Aisha and shrugged her shoulders as if to say that’s the way Rossi is.

  “Aisha you mentioned that these phrases could be riddles that might let us in on where the victims are right?” Shirley wanted to clarify her doubt.

  “That’s right Shirley but it might not be right all the time. In most serial killer or psychopathic cases, the criminals always want to brag about their achievements. They don’t find the satisfaction if no one knows what they are doing. They will always end up bragging and they constantly want to push their own boundaries, hence all these clues pop up. Sad to say but criminals are always adamant in proving us to be simpletons.” Aisha explained.

  Rossi was still smoking his cigar and listening to the two ladies. Shirley waved her hands vigorously in front of her face to get rid of the smoke from Rossi’s cigar. Rossi stared at Shirley for a moment before stuffing out his cigar on his ashtray.

  “So as what you have mentioned, if these phrases are leading us to where victims might be, then we are looking at places right Aisha?” Rossi asked her.

  “But we have already found the victims right? The phrases don’t make sense.” Shirley told them.