by ARKOPAUL DAS
Kevin drank the completely cold water bottle that was kept on every table with some stylish spoons, napkins and other things.
Alan looked at the menu card and found that most of the dishes were costly.
Alan gave the menu card to Ryan as he ordered some Cheese kielbasa, Rye Spaetzle and Sauerkraut .Kevin also ordered some mushroom lasagne with spinach and pine nuts. It was an inappropriate dish for someone who would go out running in the sun again. But still they wanted to do justice to their taste buds.
The waiter brought the dishes soon and asked them. ‘Anything for dessert, Sir?’
‘No, this would be more than enough. Thank you’ said Ryan as the waiter went away. He took a bite soon and said ‘It’s good isn’t it?’
Kevin took off the sunglasses and said ‘Yeah’
Alan didn’t eat much, he looked outside and at others and just ate two spoonfuls of Rye spaetzle and the pine nuts. He didn’t want to stuff himself up with these foods, it will be really unhealthy.
‘Can I taste the mushroom a little?’ asked Kevin.
‘Sure, I’m already full. I’m not sure how we will eat the remaining foods.’
‘Too good. If you’re full then give it to me’
‘Who says I will not give you. Take the cheese’
They ate as they have never eaten before.
Alan was not interested in foods. He said ‘We better hurry okay? We got to find our man’
‘Right. Just wait. Alicia will inform us soon’ said Ryan with his half mouth, full of cheese and lasagne.
‘Great, then’
‘Are you feeling tired, Kevin?’ asked Ryan.
‘Why do you ask?’
‘You look tired’
‘Man, isn’t it natural?’
‘Hey Mr. Smith’ said Ryan suddenly.
‘It’s just Alan’ he corrected again.
‘Okay, tell us a little about yourself’
‘What should I say?’
‘Your past life?’
‘My past life?
‘Yeah’
‘I don’t live in past anymore’
‘Still?’
‘My past was with precinct and my present too’ said Alan. ‘So there’s not much to say about it’
‘Okay’ said Ryan. ‘What did you use to do before you joined the precinct?’
‘Nothing’
‘Nothing?’
‘Yeah, just a jobless teenager’
‘Oh...Then you started serving in the homicide, right?’
‘No, as a junior officer at the 28th precinct’
‘What about you?’
‘I was a patrol cop’ replied Ryan.
‘Me too’ Said Kevin gleefully. ‘We’re both partners from the school till now...’
‘I see’ Alan was uninterested in this conversation .There was much more important things to discuss about.
‘But we haven’t heard much of you, Alan?’ Ryan said his name for the first time in correct manner.
‘Because it’s just two years that you are serving in the detective squad’
‘Well’ said Ryan taking another mouthful of lasagne ‘How many years did you serve the homicide squad?’
‘Can’t conclude the exact number, really’ said Alan ‘fifteen maybe, if you exclude the last two years’
‘That’s what Henderson said. 15’ replied Kevin. ‘That’s a long time’
‘Yeah, and I’m still here’
‘But you don’t look too old to me?’ said Ryan and looked at his face awkwardly. ‘What’s your age? 35?’
‘Soon to be 40 actually’ said Alan and started stirring his coffee with the red coloured straw that he just found.
‘Quite a senior, I see’
‘No, I’m no senior. Think me as a friend’ said Alan.
‘Yeah, ok. And we’ve only heard good things about you from Henderson’ Kevin stated.
‘He has a tendency to exaggerate things’
‘That’s not true and you know it’ Ryan chuckled.
‘No, it’s true’
‘Okay...and.’ Kevin started to say something but forgot midway.
‘And?’
‘Yeah..and who was your partner that time ?’
‘Well there was one. It was Alex. Others had formed another team in this department only. But officially I only had one partner’
‘Where is this Alex now?’ asked Ryan. ‘Transferred to another precinct?’
‘Not precinct, but transferred to a prison actually. He murdered someone two years ago and that was the last case we worked on, before I went to Washington to help out the FBI’
‘Oh, Christ’ Ryan exclaimed to himself.
‘So that was your last case?’
‘Yes, and this is the first case after I came back’
‘What happened, that you had to fly to Washington?’ asked Ryan.
‘Well some agents were getting murdered and they both somehow had a connection with the precinct. That’s why they wanted a detective from the precinct itself who knows the matters more than them, or at least the NYPD side. And when they chose the 13th precinct for unknown reasons, the DA and the chief, Henderson, everyone had only one person in their mind. Henderson sent me there; the case was a complicated one. But I solved it anyway with the help of a FBI member and then the FBI asked me to join their squad. I thought about it and I did join, but I felt it was better back here. Quiet cosy and confusing murders, it was easy, a lot easy, I liked this kind of stuff, and I’m not getting any younger, am I? So I resigned and came back here, again’
‘Hmm’ Ryan muttered visualizing the pictures in his head. ‘Tough work’
‘But the federal jobs were supposed to be full of action and interesting’ said Kevin.
‘Action - yes, interesting? Not so much’
‘I see’
‘Well so you both are working for the last two years, and what about Alicia? Her background?’
‘Same as ours’ Said Ryan wiping his mouth with the paper napkin ‘a common patrol cop to a detective. Maybe she also served as a lieutenant in the middle, I’m not so sure about it’
‘I was here for 15 years at a stretch and everything was just the same’ said Alan. ‘But see, I was out for only 2 years and now everything is changed. Terrific!’
‘Well what about your family?’
‘I don’t have one’
‘Orphan?’
‘Yes, had a far away uncle but lost touch with him .Not sure where is he now’
‘Is he in the city?’ asked Ryan.
‘I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe somewhere else. Or maybe dead’
‘Don’t you feel lonely?’
‘I like being lonely’ said Alan ‘You don’t always get much time be yourself. If you do get some, then never miss it out. And also you’re only mature when you start enjoying your own company’
‘That’s right, too’ agreed Ryan.
‘So anyway, I think we should be focused on our present case than our past life’ said Alan at last.
‘Yes, you’re right’
‘So what do you think about this particular case, which you got, so suddenly?’ asked Kevin.
‘What’s there to think?’ Alan looked outside and the waiter presented them with the bill. ‘We should just go on with it now, and see where it leads eventually’
‘But it’s all blank ahead’
‘I know’ Said Alan. ‘First we need to solve the mystery about this tattooed dude’
‘Yes, well what do you think about him?’
‘There’s nothing to think’ Kevin answered in place of Alan. ‘Henry is a bloody liar and no one can deny that’ said an animated Kevin.
‘But he said the truth about his brother. The name Ronald Roberts seems to be a valid one’
‘That’s not yet proved, that this is valid’ said Kevin. ‘It might as well be some random name that he gave us’
‘We’ll see’
‘And you’re right Kevin’ Alan backed him. ‘He
is a bloody liar. But there got be a reason behind all this’
‘No reason. There is 90% chance that he killed someone and doesn’t wanna let it out’ said Kevin.
‘We don’t know anything regarding his background’ said Alan. ‘We will have to get everything we can and then see if he has got the quality of a killer or not’
‘Yeah’ said Ryan looking at the bill and counting the money he had with him, thankfully. ‘You know what? I don’t understand why do people lie. Look at me, I haven’t ever lied in my life, except when necessary’
‘Huh’ Alan nearly laughed ‘You think, why people lie, I mean seriously? Thinking why people lie to you because you don’t lie to people is like standing in front of African lion and wondering why would the lion eat you, ‘cause you don’t eat a lion’
‘Not at least if it’s a lion. Man, I’ll never be able to digest the mane’ said Kevin.
They made a nice laugh, which made other’s head turn towards them.
Ryan’s mobile buzzed, he quickly wiped his hands and tried to receive it. But it was not a call, it was a message .Ryan stopped the laugh and said ‘Okay guys just got a SMS from Alicia.’
‘Go ahead’
‘She got the place, where to find both of them. I mean both the locations’
‘One is in the 59th west end Ave and the other one is somewhere in the Amsterdam Avenue’
‘Good’ Alan stood up. ‘Kevin, you take Alicia and check out the Amsterdam one, I will see the west end side.’
‘Can I come along?’ asked Ryan.
‘Sure’
TWENTY
Ryan kicked the clutch and pulled the gear down to the third, he pushed the button, and the car came back to life. He used the handbrake for some unknown reasons then raced passed the Third Avenue before dropping Kevin at the precinct. Alicia was on the street too, Kevin took another cop car and left through the other way.
Ryan took the Madison Avenue shortcut, although this was a busy street, you would not be able to move your car on a working day, but today’s heat kept everyone in, so the street was empty.
‘How much time it’s gonna take from here?’ asked Alan.
‘Not more than 45 minutes, or we can even make it in an hour’ said Ryan as he pushed the gear to the second level.
The streets, mainly all the streets were deserted except a few people or cars. The heat was unbearable for everyone. After a few minutes, Ryan took the straight 11th Avenue and passed the Manhattan Automobile Company.
It took another ten minutes to search for the exact place in the 641 W 59th Street.
As they entered the street they parked the car in a shade as the tall and wide buildings on both the sides have blocked out the sun and the direct rays .On the right hand side, a string of luxury busses were parked .They came out and looked around.
‘Are you sure this is the place?’ Alan asked scanning the area with naked eye. There were also more buses and trucks parked on the other side of a netted area .A bridge could also be seen far ahead .They found a large building in front of them with a sign hanging that says ‘PARK open 24 hours.’
‘Well this is the place, or that’s what the address says’ said Ryan after a long time as he was busy checking the street.
They chose the netted area where the cars were parked inside. The nets were tall and rusty and it was recommended not to enter .They pushed the narrow cage kind of gate and entered anyway. Here, there were some normal cars and some huge trucks, oil tankers, so and so. They walked a little more inside and understood that there was not much houses or residential complexes available here, this place was mainly for car shelter and grooming.
They moved again, passing a line of small trucks, they easily found a garage at the end with a man working on a car.
‘The dude looks familiar’ uttered Ryan.
This man was also black, had a lot of tattoos in his body, wore a white vest and a gold chain and had solid arms and the biceps were just perfect. His face was shaved and had a spiky hairstyle with plain hair at the edges.
He was working on a car, it was a ford. He was trying to do something with the engine and the headlights with some fancy instruments that he had. The car was crumbled, maybe it was new before and it faced an accident or something like that which made the car like this. Even there was no air in the tires.
He looked up and saw two of them standing and watching him work, so he left the screwdriver on the roof of the car and stood up straight to face them.
‘Who the hell’re you?’ he said with an uncommon accent.
Alan offered him the badge, then said ‘Ronald Roberts?’
‘Oh man, not again’ he became disappointed and looked away then again turned back to them and said ‘Yeah yeah, that’s me’
‘You know this guy?’ Ryan showed him Henry Roberts’s picture.
He said ‘Yeah, sure I know him’ waiting for the cops to ask him something more.
‘Right, and his relation with you?’
‘He’s my brother’ said Roberts then added ‘But let’s just be clear about this, what’re we actually talklin’ about here?’
‘Your brother had been involved in a murder’ said Alan. ‘And we’re investigating the case’
Ronald was surprised to hear this. ‘What do you mean he’s involved in a murder? Man, this is a total mistake, he’ll never kill anyone. Where is he now?’
‘In the precinct itself’ said Ryan. ‘When we caught him, he tried to flee, but still we got hold of him somehow, but the problem is that he’s not willing to talk and we’re also on a very short time.’
‘So what do want me to do?’
‘Nothing’
‘Nothing?’
‘Yeah, nothing. Just some answers’ said Alan. ‘Starting with where you both live? Is this where you both live?’ he pointed at the garage. The garage also had two more cars in it, and a lot of mechanical instruments. The place was dusty and dirty, black oil, petrol, more lubricants were lying all around and the whole place smelled of burned charcoal. And all the other cars were broken or half open, it only had a Porsche which was still new and looked unused.
‘Yes this’s where we live’ he replied.
‘Henry also lives here?’
‘Yes’
‘But you don’t have any bedrooms here’ said Ryan.
‘There is a small room which we rented just some yards away from here, that’s where we live’
‘So this is what you do professionally?’
‘Yes, we both work and fix cars for a livin’ ’
‘I see’ Alan changed the topic. ‘So how is Henry as a man?’
Ryan suddenly interjected. ‘Because we think he’s just great at lying, he said you live in UK and he doesn’t know you’
‘I don’t know what made him say this, but all in all he’s a good man’
‘Any reason why he would want to kill someone?’
‘Look man I told you, I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure that he ain’t goin’ to kill anyone’
‘You see, he’s just another Henry’ Ryan said silently to Alan.
‘No I don’t think he would kill anyone’ the man repeated again.
‘Was he all okay this few days?’ asked Alan.
‘What do you mean okay?’
‘Was he irritated all the time, or disappointed maybe, or feeling guilty about anything? Anything like this?’
‘None of it’ said Ronald ‘He was all okay and fine. I don’t see any reason about why he would go murdering someone’
‘Then why is he lying to us?’ asked Ryan.
‘How would I know?’ said Ronald. ‘Ask him. I have no idea about this. But you should leave as soon as possible; I’m having trouble at work’
‘Sure, as soon as everything gets sorted out’
‘You’re making a mistake’ said Ronald again.
‘Okay tell me Ronald, where were you between 3 to 4 am Monday morning?’ asked Alan.
‘We’re working that night, here
’
‘You also work at night?’
‘Yeah, well not everyday .But we do work when the pressure is more’
‘I see’
Alan turned to Ryan and said ‘Let’s go Ryan.’
They, without saying anything more left him there standing awkwardly looking at their backs and still thinking what was all this really about.
They came out of the netted area and moved outside on the street near the parking lot. The street was full of shadows but still it was hot. Only standing there could drain all your energy. The sky was turning violet and the sunrays were slanted but still it had enough power in it.
They walked to their car and Alan stood there balancing himself, relaxing on the cool wind that suddenly started blowing.
He also looked tired; his long white face now had some droplets of sweat. Ryan stood beside him thinking about what they should do next.
‘Now what?’ asked Ryan as Alan kept looking at the cemented street.
Alan turned to him. ‘I don’t think there is much we can do now’
‘So what should we do next?’
‘Get anything we can on this to guy’ said Alan looking up at the sky, ‘And I don’t quite believe this Ronald guy too’
‘Yes, maybe he’s also lying’ Ryan suggested.
‘Not maybe. He certainly is’ Alan persisted on this ‘Henry was certainly not with him that Monday morning, he was somewhere else, and the main thing is that he entered our vic’s car, so they were certainly not working here that day. The fingerprints were fresh, so it was in that very night that he entered the car, and later you all found the body.
‘Right’
‘And the other thing, you saw when I showed him my badge, the way he reacted, like ‘Oh man not again’ now what is that supposed to mean, there’s certainly something going on here’
‘Right’ Ryan said again failing to find the right word here.
Ryan’s phone rang and he received it and said ‘Raglan...yeah...we got the man, yes the right one...we’ll talk at the precinct...okay’
‘Alicia didn’t get the original Ronald Roberts’ said Ryan.
‘Naturally’ said Alan. ‘Okay’ he pulled opened the door of the car. ‘Let’s go then’
Ryan sat on the driver’s seat and Alan took the opposite one, Ryan took the west 49th street and zoomed away.
