Radical

by Sijal Aziz

  He walked over to the side of the house and threw a brick in the window shattering the glass. Then he went upstairs and went back to sleep.

  At 7 in the morning, the police received a call from a hysteric boy that his parents had been murdered. When police arrived at the scene Simon was crying hysterically clinging to the police asking them to save him. Once the investigating detective looked at the crime scene, he knew why Simon was so scared.

  The investigation into the murders took around three years but they could not find the killer.

  Simon’s parents were rich, so they had set up a trust fund in his name and nominated Aunt Edna as his legal guardian.

  Aunt Edna was Gellar Carter’s third cousin.

  Because neither his parents had any brothers or sisters so Aunt Edna was the closest thing to family they could think of and she lived in Sherwood too, so they talked with her and made her Simon’s trustee when Simon was two.

  She had no objection for two reasons, one because Carters were not dying anytime soon and two, even if they died, she will be able to live in a nice house with lots of money at her disposal.

  When the Carters were murdered, Aunt Edna simply moved into the house and hugged Simon for the first and only time in his life. She told him that he could come and talk to her if he had any problems.

  She never cooked for Simon. She did do a lot of grocery shopping every week so that there was enough food in the house. She never asked him where he was if he came home late or didn’t come home. She never asked him about school.

  She was only obsessed with shopping and brining a new man home every night. Initially Simon had thought about killing her too but then decided against it, because Aunt Edna was the perfect guardian for him, she didn’t care what he did and when he did it.

  By the time Simon was 19 he had committed 8 murders excluding his parents. He liked killing for enjoyment. Once he was watching porn on his laptop and he came across the term Dark Web, where assassins were available for hire. He thought about it long and hard and decided to put up his murder resume there. I enjoy killing, so why not earn money from it, he thought.

  His reputation as an assassin for hire was established in the coming year and now prominent people were hiring him for assassinations.

  His various jobs included killing boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, business partners and rivals.

  He was careful not to take any assignments against police or other law enforcement agencies. Because if it was one of their own, they never rested until the culprit was caught. There were horror stories of what had happened to cop killers in the prison.

  Alexander Cooper had offered him 3 million dollars to get rid of a woman and he had messed it up. He wanted to make sure that he made things right the second time around. Messing up assignments was bad for his business.

  At first Simon had thought that somehow Alexander Cooper had gotten the Hawkins woman pregnant and was afraid of a paternity suit. Women, he thought with contempt, were all the same. All they needed was money. That was why he had never entered into a relationship with a woman before. All his sexual episodes were with prostitutes and the women he had kidnapped, raped and killed over the years.

  After the call from Alexander Cooper, Simon knew that Alexander Cooper wanted Hawkins to be killed because of some other reason. But it was none of his concern. Whatever a customer wanted, he did, and Alexander Cooper was a good customer.

  Simon needed to find Katherine Hawkins before the police caught her.

  He sat down on his work desk and started making a plan.

  After one hour he knew how he was going to get to Katherine Hawkins and how he would murder her. The first step in his plan was to identify which station was handling Hawkins’ murder case. It wasn’t too hard since it was all over the news.

  Next step was identifying the officer in charge of her case.

  In order to conduct his business in a professional manner Simon had bought a van.

  The van was equipped with latest surveillance equipment and some tools of the trade. He was careful never to overspeed and kept his van in an immaculate state so that he would never be stopped by police. Bleach, camera, rope, shovel, duct tape, gloves, one gallon fuel containers and a few other odds and ends were always available in the van, in case a situation warranted their use.

  Simon sat down in his van and drove to the police station. From outside the police station he placed a call on the police switchboard.

  “Hello, I have information about Katherine Hawkins, and I need to speak to the officer in charge of her case”

  His call was forwarded to detective Derek after a wait of about 3 minutes.

  “Detective Derek Markus, how can I help you?”

  “Detective Markus are you in charge of the Katherine Hawkins case?”

  “Yes, do you have some information about her?”

  “No, I just wanted to call as a concerned citizen to know if you people were actually trying to catch her?”

  “Yes, we are actually trying to catch her. Now I was told by the operator that you had some information about Ms. Hawkins. Do you?”

  “Yes, I do. Would there be a reward for me if I provide the information?”

  “Not at the moment, but you would be doing your civic duty if you let us know what information you have?”

  “Hmmm. Ok, I cannot provide you the information over the phone. Can you meet me at the steps of the National Capitol Columns in the National Arboretum within half an hour? I will provide you the information face to face”, Simon said driving to the National Arboretum.

  “Sure. I am on my way. This better be good”

  “It is good”, Simon said hanging up.

  Detective Derek picked up his coat and got into his car.

  When he reached Simon was already waiting for him behind the columns. Although there were many people arriving alongside detective Derek Markus, but Simon could see him from miles. There was something about police officers that made them different from the general public and Simon was very good at recognizing them.

  He took some pictures of detective Derek Markus while he was waiting for Simon to arrive and then headed back to his van and drove straight to the police station.

  After one hour when the mysterious caller did not arrive detective Derek headed back to the station. Simon was still outside in his van when detective Derek arrived back at the station. Once detective Derek went inside, Simon drove his van straight to this house.

  Once Simon reached home, he took printouts of detective Derek and pasted them on his work board alongside Katherine Hawkins.

  Once his job was done, the pictures and the notes will go into Katherine Hawkins files. Simon believed in planning and professionalism.

  He maintained files on all his assignments and murders. He kept these files as souvenirs from his conquests. He knew that if he would be caught someday the police will get their hands on the files but the joy of keeping them was much too great to destroy them. Besides, with his carefully planned executions, he knew he would never get caught.

  Over the years Simon had done his research on why assassins and serial killers got caught.

  Most of the assassins and serial killers got caught because they made mistakes like associating with other criminals, confiding in other people, using only one kind of killing method, acting on impulses and leaving forensic evidence behind.

  Simon was careful not to commit any of these mistakes.

  One of the prerequisites of being a professional assassin was making sure that the client could never be linked to the murder and none of Simon’s clients had ever been indicted in any of the murders he committed. So, the word in the affluent circles was that if someone needed to get rid of a problem they should get in contact with Simon. Although his fee was high, but he got the job done.

  CHAPTER 20

  Detective Derek was looking at the surveillance tapes from the Union Station and Union Metro Station. It was not hard to miss Kate on the tapes. She was th
ere calmly talking to people on the escalator and joining the group and calmly walking out of the Union Station without being spotted by the police.

  For the first time in many days, detective Derek smiled to himself. He had to give it to her, she was smart and the more he investigated, the more he believed that she did not commit the murder.

  He took out a list of Kent and Copper employees from his desk and went over the list. He highlighted people working in Kate’s department.

  He started placing calls to the highlighted employees one by one and invited them to the police station for an interview, making sure to tell them that it was not an interrogation and only a friendly interview. Alison was part of the highlighted employees.

  Detective Derek then asked Jeff to be present during the interviews to analyze the IT side of the interview and assist Detective Derek in questions.

  The first one to arrive was William Jacob. Detective Derek introduced himself to William and invited him to the interview room. Jeff accompanied too.

  The interview room at the station was cozy and comfortable and did not bear any resemblance to the interrogation room.

  With two windows and couches and a coffee table, it put the citizens at ease so that they didn’t become tense during the interviews and forgot important information related to the cases.

  “So, Mr. Jacob I understand you worked in the accounts section of the Beta testing department. How long have you worked there?”

  Bill was sweating profusely. His heart was pounding. Although he had never done anything illegal in his life, but he was always scared that one day the police will frame him for something he did not do.

  “Um, you can call me Bill. I have been working there for about 8 or 9 years”

  Detective Derek could see that Bill was visibly nervous. He tried to put him at ease

  “As I said earlier, this is not an interrogation. We are only conducting interviews with people who were working with Katherine Hawkins to see if we can figure out where she is hiding”

  “I understand but it’s just that I don’t feel comfortable in a police station”

  “I am sorry to hear that. But this is really important. We would never have invited you, if it wasn’t important. Now can you please tell me how well you knew Katherine Hawkins?”

  “Well I did not know her that well. But I can tell you that she was interested in me. I had to tell her many times that I wasn’t interested but she kept pursuing me”

  Detective Derek looked more closely at Bill and wondered if he was telling the truth and what Kate saw in him. But he had to investigate this claim further since Kate had said that she loved her boyfriend Matt.

  “Didn’t she have a boyfriend?”

  “Yes, she did. But you know women, they are powerless against my charms and my many qualities”

  So, Bill was one of those guys who thought every woman in the world was crazy about him, Derek thought.

  Derek also felt relieved because he could not imagine that Kate would be running around and following Bill. For the past few months Derek had been working on nothing, but this case and it was as if he was living and breathing with Kate.

  He should have been angry at her for running away from police, but he was not, instead he was impressed that she had managed to stay on the run this long. He did not want to believe that she would go soliciting men and he did not know why he didn’t want to believe that. Somehow it mattered.

  “Did she ever discuss any of her friends or family members with you that she was close to?”

  “Hmmm. No, she never discussed anyone. Maybe I was the center of all her attention”

  Detective Derek and Jeff exchanged a look. Jeff cleared his throat as if to stop himself from laughing. Detective Derek gave him a serious look.

  “Ok. Thank you for your time Mr. Jacob. We will contact you if we have any other questions.

  “Come to think of it. I think Kate and Alison were close. I saw her at Kate’s desk many times although they were from different departments”

  Detective Derek made a mental note of that and thanked Bill for coming down to the station.

  On the way out, Bill saw a female police officer who was giving him an alluring look or so he thought. He left the station with a smile on his face.

  When Alison got the call for the interview from detective Derek Markus, she was a bit worried.

  She had helped Kate and she knew she would be put in jail for aiding and abetting a fugitive, if she got caught.

  She had to be very careful with what she said to detective Markus. On a whim she picked up her laptop and started searching for police interrogation videos on YouTube and did a thorough research on which pitfalls to avoid during a police interview or an interrogation for a couple of hours.

  Then she put in a request for a short leave for the police interview with her supervisor and left the office at 2:00PM.

  Once she arrived at the police station, she identified herself and was taken to the interview room. She had seen the interview room and interrogation rooms many times in the movies and TV shows and it felt like she had already been there.

  Detective Derek Markus introduced himself and Jeff once they were seated.

  “Mrs. Alison Garner, thank you for coming down here. Can I get you some coffee or water?”

  “It’s Ms. Alison Garner. No, thank you”

  “My apologies, Ms. Garner. How well did you know Katherine Hawkins?”

  Alison had watched enough police shows to know that there was no use lying to the police about little things. That just seemed to complicate things and make police suspicious.

  So, she decided to tell as much truth as she could, carefully hiding the fact that she had helped Kate.

  “Enough to know that Kate would never ever hurt a fly leave alone kill her boyfriend”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because I know that she was in love and she was the most normal and non-aggressive human being I knew. Bill at our office was pestering her like an animal, even then she never raised her voice at him or reported him to human resources.

  Kate and Matt were in a serious relationship. You know detective, some people live in a normal world with no police, no criminals, no problems. Kate and Matt were living in a world like that and they never had any problems.

  If they had disagreements, although I don’t think there were any, they would have sorted them out like civilized adults”

  “But here we are with the evidence pointing to your friend as the killer”, Derek said.

  “Well evidence does not always point to the truth. Have you tried any other angle? I mean what if someone had framed her?”

  “We are investigating all angles. But we still think she is a murderer”

  “I was having lunch with Kate the day Matt was murdered. I was hysterical because my boyfriend was killed in a road accident and Kate was there to support me and comfort me.

  She was there with me until after lunch. And then you say she just got out and went straight to her boyfriend, who had just arrived from abroad and killed him?”

  “Ms. Alison, I have interviewed several people from your office over the past weeks regarding Katherine Hawkins, while I was trying to put a timeline on Ms. Hawkins whereabouts. No one from your department knew where she was around lunch time. Is there anyone who could corroborate that you were having lunch with her? Where was that?”

  “I was having lunch with her at the cafeteria at our office. I am sure several people saw us. My office will also have CCTV footage of us having lunch there. Kate left for home at around 1:30”

  “Hmm are you sure about the time?”

  “Yes, because I had to finish my report and send it before 2:00PM and when I paid for lunch, I checked the time to see how long I had before the deadline”

  Detective Derek was getting excited. If what Alison said was true. Then the chances of Kate having driven home and killing her boyfriend was becoming more and more slim. The ME office had put the tim
e of death between 1:30 to 2:00. He arrived at the apartment along with detective Ryan at 2:05 and had found Kate there.

  “Ms. Alison did you pay for your lunch by cash or card?”

  “I paid with my credit card”

  “Do you happen to have a receipt for payment?”

  “Yes, but I don’t have it here. It’s at home”

  “Ms. Alison it would help Katherine Hawkins immensely if you can provide us with that receipt”

  “Of course. I will bring it tomorrow”

  “Also, you should check the CCTV footage from my office too”

  “We will do that. Ms. Garner you have been most helpful. Can you please let me know if Ms. Hawkins has tried to get in touch with you?”

  “No, she hasn’t”

  “Will you let us know if she does?”

  “No, I don’t think so”

  “What do you mean, you know it is a criminal offense to aid and abet a criminal”

  Alison changed her statement to, “I meant, no I don’t think she will get in contact with me”

  “Ok. Ms. Garner thank you so much for your time. You have been very helpful”

  Alison got up to leave but then turned around, “Detective Markus, I had a boyfriend Ian Richards. He was working in the Gamma testing department before Kate was posted there.

  He was killed in a car accident. Twenty-four days before he died, he called me and said that he wanted to meet. I told him that I was busy and seeing someone else and could not meet him. I asked him to meet me later. Before hanging up he said that would be too late”

  “Have you discussed this with the officer investigating his case?”

  “Yes, but he said it was just a simple accident with no evidence pointing otherwise”

  “Can you let me know which unit was handling his case?”

  “I think it was someone in your station. I don’t know about the unit but do check up on Ian Richards”