by ARKOPAUL DAS
ABOUT CREATESPACE
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INSOMANIAC is a licensed product of the Create space Incubation Program.
In association with Amazon company.
Published by Create Space an Amazon Company, 2014
Copyright © ARKOPAUL DAS 2014
ll Rights Reserved.
This book is sold subject to condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold or hired out, circulated and no reproduction in any form, in whole or in part (except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews) may be made without written permission of the author.
This book has been published in good faith that the work of the author is original. All efforts have been taken to make the material error-free. However, the author and the publisher disclaim the responsibility for any inadvertent errors.
This is a work of fiction and all characters, names , places and incidents used in this book are completely imaginary and fictitious .Any resemblance with any real person living or dead or places in reality is completely coincidental.
Originally Published in U.S.A ,Washington D.C, Seattle Headquarters by create space and Amazon Company.
Also available in e-book format.
From the Author of #The Dead Veteran
ARKOPAUL DAS
INSOMNIAC
INSOMNIAC
ARKOPAUL DAS
A DETECTIVE SMITH NOVEL
For all my readers
Prologue
Part 1
Can you ever predict if your day will turn out to be good or bad?
You just can’t.
Just like this kid, who practiced his game for the whole day and after that in the middle, came over to the fence and sat down on the grass. The sun was beating down on the park and everyone was tired. He wiped his sweat with the towel beside him and started searching for the drinks bottle that was supposed to be there. He walked up to the shade and searched for the bottle but it was not there. He felt bad as he started walking through one side as the practice was over and they were given five minutes to cool off before the bus left. He wandered around the middle and then he saw a man, a tall and lean man who was looking right at him. The boy felt weird and turned his face away and the next time he turned back again to see if the man was still staring at him or not, the man was right on him as he grabbed his shirt , put his coarse hands over his mouth so that the boy could not scream . Then a car suddenly stopped by , as the man pulled the boy inside. For a moment the boy didn’t know what was happening or who was the men, as suddenly someone gave him a hard blow on his head and he fell unconscious.
Part 2
He put the files away. There were more files and papers on the other table but he ignored it. He put the main bunch in the first drawer he found and fumbled with it to open. It was dark. He stood up trying to see what happened and tried switching on the lights. It didn’t work .The lights didn’t come on. He looked out and opened the window .A warm yet so cool breeze came in. The street was also dark save the moonlight that was full and was shinning bright. But it was of course not enough to light up the whole street if the street lamps refuse to work. He presumed that it must be a power cut that occurred.
He tossed the last bunch of paper that was left inside the nearby drawer and took his mobile phone to check the time.
There was not a moment to waste. He has to make a move now. He was tensed suddenly, and cold sweat drops formed over his forehead. He opened the other door and saw that if anyone was awake or not. It seemed like it was all quiet and no one was present.
He came out and closed the door behind him as quietly as he could, and the fell to the road. He was in a hurry. He noticed that the road was quite sticky , he didn’t even remember if it rained or not. There was hardly any vehicle visible in the area. He looked around the road. It was deserted .
He quickly crossed the street and made his way to the parking lot .The parking lot was full on the both sides but he figured out the black SUV as the rear panel reflected in the moonlight.
This side was stickier, he stopped and thought. He was busy for the whole day and it must have rained and that’s the reason for the power outrage. As he came near the car he had a eerie felling .He turned and looked behind his back.
He turned to the car again shaking his head and tried to put the key inside the car lock .But it came of no use. The door of the car was already open .He took one step back utterly confused .He could swear that he locked the front door of the car the last time he left it. And it was like a habit for him, being secure and not taking any risk which were not worth it.
He pulled open the door anyway thinking that he must have forgotten to lock the car. What else could be the reason for this?
He sat on the driver seat and clicked the start button of the car. It didn’t start. He pushed the button harder and this time the car came to life but as he tried to move it, it refused to do so.
‘Damn!’ he said to himself as he knew what happened. The tyre was stuck in the mud and wet ground .
He put the car in the third gear and pushed the accelerator harder with much force than he had in him. But the car made a growling sound of refusal and it remained where it was. He killed the engine and sat there thinking of a way out of all this , at least how he could move the car.
His eyes fell in the rear view mirror somehow and his body froze instantly. The back seat was dark .The moonlight was not coming inside .But he saw something, hands....only the wrist portion of someone’s hand, white and cold.
It was a terrifying moment for him .Who could be there in the back seat sitting, or better say hiding from him in the dark? Was it someone he knew?
No that’s not possible, he thought .He didn’t call anyone today and asked him to be in the car ,did he?
He was thinking about all this when he felt something slithering behind his back. He didn’t know if he should get out of the car now or do something else. He glanced at the rear view mirror for the second time. The white wrists were not there anymore .They were at work.
And the next moment he felt a immense pressure in his throat .Something was digging inside the soft glands of his throat portion and the person who was sitting behind him, was doing it. The thin long thing pressed itself harder against his vocal cord , he could for a moment feel the breath getting out of his body .The person was trying to choke him out.
He felt his eyes bulging out and his body was gradually becoming numb and senseless. He would have to act now.
He quickly held the thing and tried rip it away from the opponent. But his opponent was too strong for him. He could not win this battle , he knew it .He didn’t have any energy in his body to fight back , nor was he in any position to do so.
He looked at the shirt he was wearing , it was white some minutes ago but now it was dripping with blood that was oozing out of his neck area.
And the black figure behind him did succeed in this battle. Soon his hands got tired and felt back in his thigh and his head bended automatically .The black figure took the thing away and left him like that , soulless and motionless in the front seat of his own car.
ONE
‘Damn !’ Ryan quickly put away the finger and said. ‘It’s too hot, man’
‘See , told ya’
Ryan was working on something on the computer ,he clicked some more keys then took a sip on the coffee that Kevin just bought to him and which was too hot to consume.
‘Let me see’ said Kevin not understanding what was going on he looked at the screen.
‘W
hat you doing?’ said Kevin taking a sip in his coffee which he found more cold and sat next to him as if he was just interested in disturbing him like this. ‘Seems to be a pretty important thing ,whatever it is’ he continued.
‘Nothing’ Ryan replied still immensely immersed in the desktop.
The other man whose name was Kevin was thirty-ish something, black, quite muscular , as he tried hard to get Ryan’s attention.
‘Your coffee is becoming cold’
‘I like cold coffee’ Ryan who was short, slim with a long face and white bony fingers, said. He wore a grey coloured blazer which made him look like a gentleman .His cheeks were a little hollow shaped with a long neck and steep bony jaws .His hair was shiny yet rough and he was dressed in a formal suit.
While the other man , the black one, was just the opposite .He was average in height, heavily built with the biceps making swellings on his arm and he was nearly bald with a round head and coarse hands.
‘Okay’ Kevin said and as he turned back he saw a large bouquet full of red flowers with green leaves.
‘What are these for ?’ he asked again.
‘You’re never letting it go , are you?’ Ryan said. ‘Okay’ he switched off the computer and stood up ‘The problem is I will have to visit my sister’s wedding and she asked me to buy her some gifts or something. That’s what I was searching for ,in the net’
‘Ryan, so that’s the first thing you should do in the morning when you come down to the precinct?’
‘I am serious buddy’ said Ryan ‘This is important too. And we got free time , haven’t we?’
‘Yeah’
‘Well ,where’s Alicia today?’
‘Who knows?’ said Kevin awkwardly. ‘Must be tracking some killer’
‘I see’ said Ryan as he sat down again grabbing the coffee glass and giving it a second sip which was now really a cold coffee.
But someone suddenly roared from the other room , which was in the left side and was half covered in blinds. But they could see him talking to his phone as he said ‘Oh, come on, you gotta be kiddin’ me’
‘Seems like’ said Kevin as they both looked at him awkwardly without him noticing them ‘Henderson got a solid joke huh? He is laughing’
‘That’s what he does anyway’ said Ryan ‘Laughing and gossiping and –’
But Ryan was cut short. ‘Who does what !?’
Suddenly they found Mr. Henderson, standing right behind them with his hands on his hip.
He looked completely charged up and fresh as ever. He never looked like a man of 48. As the morning sun came through the blinds of the windows his skin began to brighten.
‘Is there something written on my face , eh ?’ he blurted out as they forgot they were staring directly at him , blankly.
‘Nope’ said Kevin as Ryan kept the coffee glass on the table and stood up.
‘What’s up?’ said Ryan.
‘You got no work to do, I see’ Henderson asked a question back at them. They knew the day was not gonna go well if Henderson starts dictating them what work they should do. And this was just an early sign .And also Mr. Henderson was not in the best of his moods now.
‘Yes we were working on something just now, on the internet’
‘And what sort of work were you doing , may I ask?’
‘Paperwork’
‘Paperwork?’ Henderson seemed to have become more irritated hearing this. He said ‘Paperwork on internet? Paper is something which you can touch or feel , more like a hardware type of thing .It’s not something you can do on internet ,you get it ?’ his face was simple yet so angry.
But Ryan suddenly said ‘Wait a minute ....you said paperwork was a form of hardware ? So you mean you want a printout right ?
‘Will you shut up ?’he roared again and looked at them as they kept their eyes on the ground.
‘I am the Chief of this homicide department so try to call me Sir , okay?’ said Henderson.
‘Sure’
‘Sir’ Henderson had to complete the sentence again. He eyed them one last time and went away.
‘That was mean’ said Kevin when their boss was gone.
‘Yeah’
‘You shouldn’t have said that printout thing’
‘But I thought –’ Kevin’s phone suddenly rang before Ryan could finish his sentence.
Kevin received it and said ‘Connelly’
Then after waiting for thirty seconds or so he said ‘On our way’ and hung up.
‘Who was it?’ asked Ryan.
‘It was Alicia.’ He said ‘Let’s go. We got a body.’
TWO
It took them twenty minutes to arrive at the scene .The place near the West 72 nd street. Ryan put the car out of the street and parked his car at a no parking zone which he always does thinking people would leave them just because they were cops.
They both came down and found the street has been closed with a yellow label at the both side of the street with uniforms patrolling the area.
They found more cops on the other side talking to their phone and two official cop cars parked in the main parking area .A medical van was there and also a medium sized ambulance which was also ready for work.
The morning had been a fine and a glorious one. Clear blue cloudless skies with prevailing hot winds in the region. They knew it would become more hot as the day progresses.
Sunrays that fell on the skyscrapers and buildings, reflected in their eyes as they regretted not bringing the shades with them. In the middle stood Alicia ,talking to another lieutenant who was unknown to them.
As Alicia finished talking about whatever she was talking about , she saw them, started walking towards them. She wore tight jeans with white shirts and a black jacket over it. Her hair was free flowing with a hint of brick colour in it. She was of average height and her eyes were beautiful with a silvery touch in them .She was slim but quite capable and destructive when she needed to be.
She came to Ryan and Kevin who were still standing outside the yellow label where it’s written ‘ ‘Crime scene , do not enter’ ’ .
‘What are you both looking at, blankly?’ she said as she reached them.
‘Ah, yeah we were searching for you’ said Ryan.
‘Yes, that’s right’ Kevin added.
‘I thought you were both looking directly at me , and you say you were searching for me ?’ said Alicia with accusing face ‘Well whatever let’s get back to work now. I haven’t seen the body yet.’
‘You haven’t seen the body?’
‘Nope. I believe Dr. Taylor is checking the body’
Alicia went in the middle of the street near a car and both Ryan and Kevin followed her there.
‘Where’s the crime scene?’ asked Ryan.
‘The crime scene is in the car.’ replied Alicia.
As they came near the car they found two more uniforms there ,and Dr. Taylor who was indeed checking the body.
Then they saw the body. They found the body on the front seat of the car, eyes open and hollow with his fist clutched. The man sat straight on the seat, save his head which was dangling sideways and his hands were white .There was also some traces of clotted blood on the clothes that trickled down from the throat region.
‘He was strangled’ remarked Ryan.
Alicia nodded and said ‘Sure he was.’ Then she turned to Kevin ‘Hey get the specifications of our victim, it’s with him. Check it if it’s all correct.’ Alicia pointed at someone and said to Kevin.
‘Got it’ said Kevin and went to the other side to meet the constable who had a bunch of paper in his hands.
‘Hey’ said Dr. Taylor. ‘How you doing?’
Dr. Taylor was wearing white robes with white shirt beneath it. His hair was grey and his face was red from the action of the heat. He stooped and picked up a medical instrument just to pass it to another stretcher boy. He was by the side of the ambulance with another physician , checking out some blood samples and shaking it for some reason.
‘Well nothing much as of now’ he said and adjusted his spectacles with the left hand as the right one was at work.
‘You can give us a estimated time of death right?’
‘That I can ,although I would not want to, without being sure about it.’ He said looking away ‘anyway , by the amount of body temperature ,blood pressure and blood clotting around the neck ,I would say he was killed between 3 to 4 am in the morning hours.’
‘3 to 4 am ?’ Alicia repeated.
‘Yes , and I can’t be more exact at this moment than that , I’m afraid’
‘Well it’s dead night at that time’ said Alicia more to herself.
‘Yeah sure it is , and I also heard somewhere that the area was suffering from a power outrage because of the rain and thunder that was going on just after the evening’ informed Dr. Taylor.
‘Hmm’ said Ryan looking at the body ‘But what was he doing in his car at that point of time ?’
‘I can’t say everything’ said Dr. Taylor. ‘But I am sure I will be able to feed you some more information once I complete the final autopsy’
‘Sure’ said Ryan ‘No hurry, Dr. Taylor.’
‘Okay so here it is’ said Kevin as he made his way towards them. ‘Just got a short summary on our Vic’
‘What is it ?’ asked Alicia.
‘Well .Our Vic’s name is Jade Carter. Male . 35. Middle class person .Worked in New York Times. And that’s it.’
‘Where does he live?’
‘There’ Kevin pointed at the other side where a row of houses were present. ‘That house 133/B’
‘Great .So we have the address and victim’s profile’ said Alicia. ‘Only we have to check the car’ she turned and looked around circling the car looking at the exterior parts . She didn’t want to miss any detail about this.
