by ARKOPAUL DAS
‘On it’ said Ryan as he jumped on his revolving chair and started typing something on his keyboard.
Alicia went away glancing at the list and took the elevator down.
Kevin came and stood behind him. ‘Dude, how are you goin’ to do this?’
‘Do what?’ said Ryan typing on.
‘Track the purchases and everything’
‘Why? What’s the problem?’
‘We don’t have any credit card that he used, neither any bank information or any other data. So you can’t track his expenditure, can you?’
Ryan stopped typing and leaned back thinking about it. ‘Yeah you’re right. I can’t track everything just like that’
‘So we got nothin’ to do now’ said Kevin.
‘We just sit idle?’
‘Yep, unless we get the CSU and the tech results, there is no more lead we can track’
‘Hey what are you guys talking about?’ Henderson just came in .He was wearing a black blazer with a glossy red tie.
‘Just about our case’ said Ryan more politely than the last time.
‘Right, how's it goin’ on?’
‘Pretty decent’
‘No problem?’
‘Not much as of now’ said Kevin ‘We tried to track our victim’s financial information but we failed to do so as we don’t have much data to get access to the accounts’
‘And CSU got anything from that area? I mean the murder area?’
‘No nothin’ till now’ said Kevin ‘We are still waiting for some more results’
‘Good’ said Henderson as he unbuttoned the blazer ‘But are you both gonna sit like this?’
‘I mean...’ Ryan tried to make out his intention, and say something he would not regret later. He turned to Kevin and blinked rapidly ‘We actually have nothing to do, right?’
Kevin didn’t understand what Ryan wanted to say. He said happily ‘Yeah, right .We’re free now’
‘So you’re both free?’
‘Yeah....I mean...yeah’
‘Great. I got a new case in my hand and maybe you could take a look at it’ said Henderson smiling.
‘Um..actually I am not felling well today, I should probably go home and rest’ said Kevin.
‘Yeah me too’ Ryan added ‘It was a tough day’
‘No, it’s only 4 now. You should utilise the remaining hours in any way possible’
Ryan’s phone rang suddenly. Ryan said ‘excuse me’ to Henderson and the received it.
‘Raglan’ he said.
One minute later, he said ‘Perfect timing’
‘Well, Mr. Henderson. We need to go now. Alicia got something for us’ said Ryan as he didn’t wait anymore, before running out.
TWELVE
Ryan and Kevin hurried on to the other floor before Mr. Henderson could get a grip on them.
‘It was a perfect timing, damn perfect’ said Ryan.
‘You saved us’ added Kevin.
‘What’s wrong?’ said Alicia as she stood in front of the half-blank white bulletin board that was used for summarising the facts. ‘Someone tried to kill you or what?’
‘Henderson’
‘I get it. Say no more’ said Alicia.
‘Yeah’
‘Okay whatever’ said Alicia and went on ‘Our fingerprint experts ran the fingerprint on our database and found a match’
‘Who is it? You got an ID on him?’ said Kevin.
‘Negative’ she said and took the photo from the table and pasted it on the board. ‘This is our man, Henry Roberts, male, 26. Our database scanned the fingerprints and narrowed it down to two person, then narrowed it to one .So this must be the man who left his fingerprints on the seatbelt’
‘Where can we get him?’
‘Ah, there lies the problem. We don’t have any location on him’
‘Our database usually gets the location even a small biography on the particular man’ enquired Ryan ‘Then what’s the problem now?’
‘Maybe this man doesn’t live in a place much longer. He escapes from one place to another’
‘So you are telling me that he is our killer?’
‘I don’t know’
‘If he’s not guilty about something, why would he just escape from one place to another? Normal people seldom do that’ said Ryan.
‘I know. I just said that maybe it is like that. We are not sure about that’
‘I see’ said Ryan ‘So we just have a picture?’
‘Yes, even our Crime Scene Unit cannot say anything about this man. Actually no one here knows anything about him’
‘Is he a ghost?’
‘Something related to that’ said Kevin.
‘Then it’s going to be real hard finding him’ said Ryan ‘This is a big city, and we cannot roam around the streets and ask everyone if he or she knows this man, a man named Henry Roberts’
‘If we could have gotten anything more, then it would have been easy’
The man in the photo was black and wore a cap with its backside to the front. He had dark eyes and he wore black leather jacket, which was quite large, and he looked a little weird wearing it. Only half of the chest and the face could be seen in the picture and they saw a gold chain running down his neck and hanging awkwardly in the middle.
Kevin got up and studied the picture more carefully. And at the end only thing that he concluded was that ‘Doesn’t he seem like a younger version of Jay Z?’
‘Jay Z. Maybe’ said Ryan ‘But his name is Henry Roberts, not Hey H, so he’s not related to him’
‘If he was, then it would have been real easy to catch him’
‘Of course’
‘Now are we done with the Jay Z thing?’ said Alicia irritated ‘If so, then we should start to think practically now’
‘And’ Ryan added ignoring Alicia ‘If he was by any means related to Jay Z then he would also have been famous’
‘Good point, man!’ Kevin exclaimed ‘But he does look like a perfect Jamaican Rapper’
‘Okay’ said Alicia interrupting them again ‘Can we please drop this Jay Z topic?’
‘Okay’
‘Now we should think of a way to get him’ said Alicia roaming back and forth.
‘Come on Ryan, we should consider it’ said Kevin.
‘Consider what?’
‘Roaming around the street and asking everyone. “Hey have you ever seen this black dude?’’
‘Yeah, let’s do it’ Ryan joked.
‘Guys would you please think seriously...’ said Alicia still roaming.
‘I am thinking, thinking of course. He’s distracting me’ complained Ryan.
‘Come on man, I know that you still think he’s a rapper’
‘Yeah...I mean not at all. You see he’s distracting me again’
‘Okay let’s think about it step by step’ said Alicia ‘Why would his fingerprints be in Jade Carter’s car?’
‘That’s what I was thinking, what if he’s our vic’s friend?’
‘Right. But then we would have probably found him. And Mrs. Carter said that he didn’t have any friends.’
‘Well how will she know?’ said Ryan ‘She just said what she thinks. That doesn’t mean it is so’
‘But even if he is his friend then where can we get him?’
‘We know he worked in NY Times’ said Kevin ‘Maybe this man also works there’
‘I checked the list, there was no one of this name’ Alicia said.
‘You’re sure?’
‘Sure’
‘But we should still consider it. If they both worked in NY Times then perhaps one day they went for a ride and that’s how his fingerprints landed on the SUV’
‘If they did went for a ride then it got to be in the past few days because this car was rented just one week ago’
‘True’
‘But he already had a friend form NY Times, Paul Brown, so it is improbable that he would have another friend’
‘This fr
iend might be his personal friend, not his office partner’ Alicia sat down playing with a pirre cardin pen that was on the table.
‘You’re puzzling me’ said Ryan as he sat down on the chair facing Alicia.
‘No other way’ said Alicia standing up again. ‘We have to check on the NY Times if he worked there’
‘But...’ Ryan hesitated.
‘Let’s go’
‘Okay, let’s check it out then’ said Kevin walking towards the lift.
* * * *
When they reached the building for the second time the sun was going down the horizon .The sky was red with a few shades of purplish clouds hanging in the sky .The buildings had long shadows, the result of the long slanting light that was coming from the west region. Some sides of the skyscrapers were dark while the opposite sides were glittering with the last light.
They soon came out of the car and headed inside .This time they found no security officer to block their way. They were inside and found that there was comparatively less people than that day, and the buzzing noise was also less ,maybe because that day they came in the working hours and now it’s.....a relaxation hour, perhaps?
They headed straight to the floor where they found the director of NY Times last time. As the door of the lift opened and they went inside the floor, they saw some people busy with someone’s new cool camera, adjusting it. They ignored them and went straight to the other room. They soon realised that how weak the security system was, anyone could enter and go straight to the inner most sections of the building just like they did, only difference was that they didn’t have any foul intentions.
The other room was also empty, so when they moved out they met Bill Jameson coming out of another room from the main lobby.
‘Detectives’ he said ‘How very nice to meet ya’ll again’
‘I see there are not much people here today?’ asked Alicia looking around.
‘Yeah...some are working on the other floors while others just left’ said Bill Jameson ‘Anyway, how may I help you today?’
‘We just need a little clarification, that’s what bought us here’ said Alicia.
‘Anything’ he said in the same confident manner.
Ryan without wasting any time quickly held the photo of Henry Roberts in front of him, and Jameson took it in his hand and studied it for a few minutes, then said ‘Who’s this?’ handing the photo back to Ryan.
‘I thought you could help us identify him’ said Ryan taking it.
‘What’s his name?’
‘Henry Roberts’
‘Henry Roberts?’
‘Yeah, does it ring a bell?’ asked Alicia.
‘I’m afraid, not’ He said more flatly than usual this time ‘I don’t know any Henry Roberts’
‘You are sure?’
‘Yeah, there is no Henry Roberts here’
‘Can anyone here identify him? Say Mr. Henricks?’
‘I don’t think so. And he gave you the list, I believe?’
‘He did, and yes it was helpful’
‘Great, and that list contains all the names of the people working here, there is no one outside that’
‘I see, okay, our mistake’ Ryan smiled.
‘And be assured no one knows anything about this guy, neither do I’ Mr. Jameson said looking assured. ‘No one here knows him, I can bet on that’
‘Well that settles it then’ said Alicia ‘Thank you for your time Mr. Jameson; I hope we will not meet over this topic again’
By saying that they left the floor.
* * * * *
They were all back inside the car, Ryan driving, and it was unusually quiet inside. Kevin was the first one to break this uncomfortable silence.
‘You saw no Henry Roberts there, I told you so’
‘Yeah I thought so too’ Ryan said not looking at him.
‘No way to get him, unless we try out that thing’ said Kevin and looked uninterested.
‘What’s that?’
‘You know what, asking...’ said Kevin ‘Asking people around the streets about it.’
‘Will you shut up’ grinned Alicia ‘We still have another place to visit’
‘What’s that?’ asked Ryan.
‘Mr. Carter’s house’ said Alicia ‘We should ask his wife if she knows this man’
‘Good idea’ said Ryan ‘If Henry Roberts was a friend of Mr. Carter then surely his wife would be able to identify him’
‘Right, hope so’ said Alicia.
They drove on to her house and asked her about that man, but it didn’t prove to be of any help. Mrs. Carter denied knowing him .She just said the same thing ‘No I never saw him’
After they made sure that Mrs. Carter was telling the truth, they came back to their car worrying much more. They didn’t talk in the rest of the way, they just stared at the evening street with vacant eyes thinking about what should be their next move.
It was late so Ryan dropped Alicia in her apartment and came back to their flat.
Ryan opened the door of their room, switched on the fan and started cooling himself, just like yesterday.
‘Hey Ryan’ Kevin called.
‘I’m listening’ said Ryan.
‘You know I have been thinking about something’
‘And what would that be?’
‘So this man Henry whatever is a complete outsider’
‘Yah?’
‘So he’s not any relative, not any friend of our victim, yet we got his fingerprints in our victim’s car .Then how can it be possible?’
‘Right’ Ryan shrugged looking at the ceiling ‘So what’s your point anyway?’
‘I believe there’s a simple explanation behind this’
‘Go on’
‘Where?’
‘With the simple explanation, of course’
‘I have got no explanation, I just believe that there is one’
‘Just don’t tire yourself with all these shitty thoughts of yours’
‘They’re not shit man’ Kevin sat up ‘These are all possibilities’
‘Yeah yeah, I know that’ said Ryan and he too sat up ‘Now don’t disturb me’
He took out the folded bunch of newspapers that they got from Paul Brown’s house.
‘Now they are the real shit’ said Kevin but Ryan ignored him and started making the crumbled papers straight , as if like ironing them.
‘What are you gonna do with them?’ Kevin asked again.
‘I will check them to see if there’s anything important, just like I said I will’
‘Do you seriously believe that you will find anything?’
‘Do you seriously believe that I am going to listen to you?’
Ryan spread the paper on the bed straight and started glancing at the first page then remarked ‘Okay, so they’re dated 10th March, so they’re only two months old’ he said this more to himself.
The papers were a little yellowish and old, and they were also crumbled in a manner that they would never find themselves straight again. Ryan then became quiet for a few minutes and gave all his attention available into the paper, and the pages. He studied the headlines carefully and read some of the paragraphs, nothing important came up until now.
Then he just started scanning the pages one at a time and kept changing them. He kept the first lot aside and started reading a topic and some articles but he soon got bored and then changed the page. He did the same and continued for most of the pages, reading some, and then leaving some, ignoring some. He still thought that there might be a reason for this papers to land on Paul Brown’s house.
The paper was more crumpled so some of the lines were hard to read, he left them just like that and started flipping through the pages.
He then turned the third last page and found lines drawn with a red-inked pen as if a child played with a pen and by mistake, he drew the lines in the paper. Then his eyes caught something, something he wasn’t looking for, something that was completely unexpected to him. His eyes
lit up.
He turned and said to Kevin ‘Hey, Kevin’
‘Yeah what?’ he acted like he was asleep.
‘I don’t think there is anything more to check’
‘Like I didn’t figure it out. I told you so’
‘Because I’ve got what I was looking for. Something more than what I looking for, actually’
‘You’re bluffing’
‘Not the least’ said Ryan ‘Man, you got to see this’
THIRTEEN
Kevin lazily sat up, came beside Ryan, and said ‘What?’
‘Look’
He looked at the page and gasped out instantly ‘Holy Christ!’
‘That’s what I’m talking about’ smiled Ryan.
This particular page of the paper not only had lines, irrelevant lines drawn but also with red ink, written in block letters, it’s written ‘YOU DON’T GIVE IT. YOU’LL BE DEAD ’.It took nearly the whole page, from the middle till the bottom.
‘Now that is some kind of threat for sure’ said Kevin quite astounded by Ryan’s discovery.
‘So you see, checking some waste papers are also important’ said Ryan ‘And look at this, it’s the seventeenth page , so not always everyone will look into that part of a waste paper. They would think these are shit just like you thought’
‘At least I am not the only person who thought so’ Kevin got something to defend himself.
‘Anyway so what do you think about this?’
‘First of all it’s a threat. Second , someone is quite angry. And third, the person who wrote this is asking for something’
‘Right’ said Ryan ‘Your third part is the main part here. And also Mr. Brown knew this man who wrote this all along that’s why this man was not bothered to describe anything about the thing he was looking for’
‘He knew that Mr. Brown will understand who is this’ Kevin added.
‘But what is this man asking for? What can Mr. Brown have in his possession that our killer or whoever , wants to take?’
‘Something that might prove very fatal to this killer’
‘Sure, but we searched his whole house, even the CSU did it, but we didn’t find anything?’
