The Mind Hunter

by Mir Quadri

  After a brief pause, Harry continued “I just wanted to give you a heads-up, Evelyn. I have had a conversation with the District Attorney already, and we have an arrest warrant for Will for further questioning. As far as I am concerned, at this time, he is the most wanted man in America.”

  “BREAK HER OUT”

  ‘There’s something up’ thought Sarah as she sat at her desk gazing at all the Federal agents walking around the station. She knew that her conversation with Evelyn was interrupted by Harry, and something was discussed in her office. She turned around and looked at Evelyn, who was sitting quietly in a corner in her locked office, distraught, still surrounded by these agents who seemed very excited while she quietly sat in that corner, holding a bunch of folders, like a lawyer who had just lost a big case.

  As she continued to gaze around, her eyes met Ronald Casity’s, who was leading whatever was happening inside that office. He jerked his head as a gesture to say hello but Sarah immediately turned around and looked the other side. ‘It’s all his fault, I am sure’ she thought as she fumbled the papers lying on her desk. She looked up the time through her pink colored, heart shaped wrist-watch on her right hand. It showed 11 PM. ‘I get paid only for 8 hrs a day and there is no overtime, and there is no Dan. No reason for me to stay back’ she thought as she got up and gently, placed her laptop into the laptop bag, hung the bag to her back and started walking towards the exit door.

  As she walked towards the door, she saw Kate, who was sitting at her desk, and looking at Evelyn’s office. As a matter of fact, the entire office was looking at the drama that was unfolding inside Evelyn’s office through the glass pane that was engulfing the office. Sarah took a detour and went to Kate’s desk instead.

  “What do you think is going on there?” she asked.

  “I am not sure Sarah, but from the looks of it, it seems to be something big” replied Kate, still continuing to gaze at Evelyn’s office.

  “How the hell can you not know? You know everything, Kate” said Sarah hesitantly.

  Kate turned around and smiled “Well, that’s precisely why I think this is something big. The Feds have shut us out of whatever the hell they have found.”

  “Do you think it’s about Will?” asked Sarah curiously.

  “It’s got to be. I think they found some evidence in his family murder case” responded Kate.

  As they both continued to guess what could have been going on inside the office, Harry, Evelyn and the other agents just stormed out of the door. Harry came forward and screamed “listen up, everyone. I believe we have some news to share with all of you.”

  “Alright, here we go” murmured Sarah as the entire staff slowly circled around Harry.

  Harry turned around and looked at Ronald Casity, signaling him to continue “go ahead, agent” he said. On given the big responsibility, Ron hesitantly moved forward from the group and after a brief pause, started “my name is Ronald Casity. I work for Mr Haimesh in the Special Investigations Unit. We have been investigating a few murder cases which I cannot give you any details about. All I can say is that we believe we have some substantial evidence against Mr William Ross. He is now our prime suspect in a big murder investigation and we wanted to give everyone a heads-up that my department has issued an arrest warrant for Mr Ross” he said while waving a piece of paper, the formal arrest warrant, with his right hand.

  “From here on, we need to work together to bring him in. If any of you have any information about his whereabouts, please speak up now” he said.

  On hearing this announcement, the office floor suddenly turned noisy with people discussing this new development amongst themselves. Sarah, along with others was shocked. Kate looked at her “what the hell does this mean?” she asked Sarah.

  “I don’t know” replied Sarah anxiously. Kate rose from her desk and shouted “what nonsense is this? What kind of evidence are you talking about? Which murder case are you referring to?”

  “I am sorry but I can’t give you more details. Just know that he is our prime suspect in a case and we want to bring him in” replied Ron.

  “Why can’t you give us any details? What kind of evidence do you have against him? You expect us to just believe you?” said an angry Kate when Harry interrupted.

  “Kate, I understand that you’re upset” he said and turned around and scanned the entire room through his eyes “I understand what each one of you is feeling right now. However, at this point in time, we can’t disclose anything more than this without compromising the investigation.”

  “So you expect us to just believe you?” asked Kate again.

  “Yes” replied Harry firmly.

  “And why would we do that?” asked Kate.

  “Because I am your boss’s boss and I’m saying so, that’s why” responded Harry firmly again. After a brief pause, Kate continued ranting “I don’t care. I am not going to do shit unless I know the full story” she said as she turned around and looked at Evelyn “are you okay with this, boss?”

  Evelyn slowly moved forward from the group and said “I understand how everyone is feeling right now. However, I have to say that for now, William Ross is a prime suspect in a murder case and we will do everything we can to help Harry and his team in finding William. If anyone is not willing to help, then that’s the door. Leave right now and don’t come back to work tomorrow” she said while pointing towards the exit door. On hearing this, the room became completely silent as she continued “now, has anyone had any contact with Mr Ross since yesterday?”

  Everyone nodded signaling no in the room. “Alright, then let’s ensure we keep our eyes and ears open. Let’s find him people. Let’s get to work” she said.

  ‘That was quite a revelation without revealing anything’ thought Sarah as she kept on watching from a distance. Meanwhile, as the room slowly dispersed off, Harry walked up to Evelyn, with a sigh of relief on his face and said “thanks, Evelyn. You really got a hold on these people. They trust you. Thanks for helping us here.”

  “That’s okay Harry, but I’m still warning you that you guys are barking at the wrong tree. There’s nothing substantial about the evidence you have. It’s all circumstantial. Me and my team will help you get William in for questioning. I am sure he is not your guy” she said.

  “Sure” said Harry and walked away with his team. Evelyn then walked to Kate and Sarah “how’re you ladies holding up?”

  “This is ridiculous, boss. I don’t like being kept in the dark. How are we suppose to help these guys find their murderer when we don’t even know which case they are working on?” asked Kate furiously.

  “I understand, Kate. But I am afraid at this time, it’s best if you guys don’t know the details” said Evelyn.

  “Do you believe all the nonsense about Will killing someone?” asked Kate

  “No, I don’t. Which is why I am eager to get Will here. This is not going to clear up until he comes in. I have been trying to reach him since yesterday but he has not returned any of my calls. Let’s stay put until we get this resolved” said Evelyn.

  “How are we suppose to do that boss when we have our own shit to take care off? I am busy investigating Mr Zhu” complained Kate.

  “Well, I think according to them it is the same thing” said Evelyn. Her eyes turned red as she continued “they think the murder that they are investigating and the murder of Mr Zhu are related” she said and walked away into her office.

  “Geez! Did you hear that? Do they think Will has anything to do with Mr Zhu’s murder?” asked Kate profoundly, looking at Sarah.

  “I don’t know. Honestly, it’s been such a shitty day, I just want to go home and sleep. You should take off too, Kate. I am out of here” said Sarah as she walked out of the station.

  As Sarah walked out of the station, she realized that the night was cold. ‘It’s not suppose to be so chilly in July!’ thought Sarah as she continued to walk out of the gate. As she stood outside the gate of the station, she realized that she was
probably the only one on the street at this time of the night. She had parked her car on the other side of the street and she knew she needed to do a little hike to get there. Holding her arms closely to her chest, she started walking slowly. ‘Dan really missed all the excitement today’ she said as she took out her phone and called Dan.

  ‘I am unavailable at the moment. Please leave me a message’ answered Dan’s voicemail.

  “You don’t know what you missed today idiot! Get off your lazy ass and call me” said Sarah, hung up the call and continued to walk. As she got closer to the car, she saw a drunk homeless guy peeking inside her car as if he was trying to break into it.

  ‘Oh my god,what do I do now!’ thought Sarah as she looked around the street to get some help. The street was deserted like a graveyard at night. She quickly took out a black colored pepper spray from her bag and screamed from the other side of the street.

  “Get the hell out of there or I will call the cops” she said raising the phone from her hand.

  The guy turned around and looked at Sarah. “Is this your car, miss?” he said slowly, while his body moved with the wind. He was drunk and could hardly open his eyes.

  “Do you want Policia?” asked the guy and continued “call the Policia.”

  “I am warning you, mister. Please walk away or I will call the cops” said Sarah. As she said that, she realized that she did not have to call the cops. She was a cop herself. She quickly reached out to her gun from the bag and raised it against this guy and screamed “I mean I am the police. Step away from the vehicle or I will shoot” she said.

  “Policia! Catch this person!” said the homeless guy and ran off.

  “This night is not over yet!” she thought as she slowly walked to the car, after watching the homeless guy get lost in the darkness of the night. She then put the gun inside her bag, unlocked the car and sat in it. She looked around to see if there was anything missing.

  “Everything is just where it should be” she said when suddenly, a black gloved hand covered her mouth from behind.

  “What the hell!” she thought as she tried to move this hand away from her mouth.

  “Sheesh” said a voice and emerged Will from the backseat. “Sarah, it’s me, Will” he said and slowly removed his hand from her mouth.

  “Jesus Christ, Will! You scared the hell out of me. This night is getting crazier by the minute!” said Sarah, while breathing heavily.

  “I am sorry, Sarah. I need to talk to you” said Will.

  “I can’t really talk to you, Will. I mean, where the hell have you been. Everyone is looking for you. I can’t really talk to you” said Sarah.

  “Listen, I want to talk to you about the Hunting Session” said Will.

  “What the hell are you doing hiding in my car?” asked Sarah impatiently.

  “I am sorry, Sarah. I did not know how else to talk to you. Why did you say you can’t talk to me?” asked Will

  “The FBI is looking for you, Will. They think…” she stopped.

  “They think what? Do they think I killed Mr Zhu?” asked Will.

  “Well, I don’t really know what they think. They haven’t shared any details with us. But yeah, they have an arrest warrant for you and want to bring you in for questioning” said Sarah.

  ‘See, this is why I am talking to you like this. Listen, can we just move out of this area. There is a park at the end of the street, let’s pull over there and talk” said Will.

  Sarah just gazed at him suspiciously as she did not know if she could trust Will anymore. She knew that FBI have found something on him, but did not know what it was.

  “What?” asked Will. “Do you suspect me. Do you really think I had something to do with that murder?” asked Will.

  “Of course not. But why aren’t you going to the station? Like surrender yourself or something?” asked Sarah.

  “Listen Sarah, why don’t we just drive to the park and we can talk about it. I really don’t want any cops to see us right now. Please?” pleaded Will.

  Sarah slowly started her car. “Alright” she said and started driving. She drove to the park and pulled over underneath a big tree. This was a big park that was deserted in the night. There was fog surrounding this big tree and everything about this place looked haunted. Sarah pulled over and got out of the car.

  Will came out of the back door. As he got out, he looked around to see if anyone was watching them. He then looked at Sarah and said “alright, you need to listen to me. I think I am being setup.”

  “Setup? How? What’s going on, Will?” asked Sarah.

  “That’s what I am trying to figure out and I need your help” said Will.

  “Ma’am said that the FBI believes that you had something to do with Zhu’s murder and somehow you are connected” she said.

  “That’s bullshit. As I said, I am being setup” said Will while walking to and fro the car.

  “Setup by who?” asked Sarah.

  “I can’t say for sure, Sarah. I think this was a setup by Ms White”

  “How can that be? She is at the hospital because of you” said Sarah and continued “what exactly happened in the Hunting Session, Will?” asked Sarah.

  “Listen, I just need you to trust me. Will you help me?” asked Will, dodging Sarah’s question.

  “I want to trust you, but then you didn’t go to Evelyn or Kate. You came to me. How can I trust you?” she said.

  “I don’t understand” muttered Will.

  “I am the naive one in the team. You come to me asking for help, so how can I trust you?” she said.

  Will interrupted “hey… hey okay. I came to you because I think only you can help me. Not because you are naive”

  “I can’t help you Will unless you tell me what happened in the Hunting Session” said Sarah firmly and continued “I was monitoring your pulse and your pulse went high all of a sudden. And then you snapped out, I mean not procedural ‘Snap out’ but snapped out. Why?”.

  “Okay, I saw something during the Hunting Session that freaked me out. It freaked me out to such an extent that I instantly came out of the session” said Will.

  “Did you see Mr Zhu getting killed?” asked Sarah anxiously.

  “Yes” replied Will.

  “Did you see who killed him?” she asked.

  “Yes” responded Will.

  “Who was it?” asked Sarah.

  “It’s complicated!” gasped Will.

  “Who killed him, Will?” asked Sarah again.

  “I don’t know” replied Will.

  “But you just said you saw the killer?” asked Sarah.

  “See, for the first time, I was not in control of the Hunting Session, Sarah. That’s what I am trying to tell you. Something happened to me the moment I went inside her memory. It made me see things that weren’t true” said Will.

  “What did you see?” asked Sarah.

  After a brief pause, Will looked straight into Sarah’s eyes and said “I saw myself killing Mr Zhu”

  Sarah got flabbergasted and her eyes widened. “What, you killed him?” asked Sarah.

  “See, that’s my point. I did not” answered Will and continued “I don’t even know who Mr Zhu is. I never saw him until before the Session. How could I, of all people, kill someone I don’t even know?” replied Will.

  “Then how did you see yourself kill him?” asked Sarah.

  “This is exactly what I am trying to find out. I am innocent, Sarah and I need your help to prove it” he said.

  “Does anyone else know about this?” asked Sarah

  “No. I trust that you will not share this with anyone. Listen, can we please get to the part where you start helping me?” asked Will.

  “Why did you not go to ma’am? She has been trying to call you all day” asked Sarah.

  “Because I can’t talk to her unless I figure out what exactly is going on. No one can explain what happened to me. I need to figure this out myself” said Will.

  Sarah gazed at Will, stil
l suspicious of his guilt.

  “Come on, Sarah. Just think about it— if I was guilty, would I take the pain of coming to you to prove my innocence? I would have fled by now to some country or would have lied to you about what I saw in the Hunting Session. If I had really committed the murder, why would I just come out of the Session leaving Ms White in coma. Come on, just think about it. This is me we are talking about here” explained Will.

  Sarah looked at him for a brief moment and felt that he was telling the truth. ‘And yeah, why would he take all the pain to prove his innocence if he was guilty’ she thought.

  “I am sorry, I am sorry. Of course I trust you. What do you need?’ asked Sarah.

  “Great, do you know where they are keeping Ms White? Which hospital?’ asked Will.

  “Ms White is in the City Center Hospital” answered Sarah.

  “I need to get to her” said Will.

  “You can’t. There is a lot of security at that hospital. You can’t get in” said Sarah.

  “Okay, can you show me the blue prints of the hospital” asked Will.

  “Sure, but I don’t think I can access our network to connect to our servers” she said, as she opened the car door and took out her laptop from the bag.

  “Sure, you can” said Will.

  “How do you know?” asked Sarah as she moved to the car bumper, placed the laptop on it and turned it on.

  “I know because the range of a WiFi network depends primarily on the number and type of wireless access points used to build it. A traditional home network having one wireless router can cover a single-family dwelling but often not much more. Business networks, like our office networks, with grids of access points can cover large office buildings. Last year, there were fifteen wireless hotspots panning several square miles built across this street, and three of them installed in this very park” said Will.