Mystery: Double Cross - The Davenport Mysteries (Suspense novel series of adventure mystery books and Crime mystery thrillers)

by V. S. VASHIST

  “All yours,” Robert said and took position near the mirror.

  “You’re not coming?”

  “She didn’t like the way I interrogated her earlier,” he said and smiled. “My presence may make it difficult for you too.”

  Kiara ignored the smile and pushed the door. Her mind was running but she had to be as calm as possible.

  Rebecca looked towards the door, wiping tears off her face. As soon as she laid eyes on Kiara, she got a bit scared.

  “I am really sorry. I did not mean to hurt him. I did what I was told to,” she said and got up.

  “Be seated,” Kiara said and pulled the chair opposite her. “I have been told that you have confessed breaking into my house,” Kiara said calmly.

  “I need to speak to Jake. I know he’s in Lake Sivan, but he will talk to me if you call him,” Rebecca said with a frail voice.

  “You know that we’ll hear every word of it. Then why not tell us directly?” Kiara did not want to drag Jake and create a scene.

  Rebecca nodded. “I know that. But, he’s the only one who understands me. No one else will give me a chance.”

  “And he will?” Kiara smirked and dialed Jake’s number. Robert called his partner. It was the time for big revelation, he thought.

  Kiara got up and walked across the room.

  “I was about to call you,” Jake said from the other side.

  “Before that, I want you to speak to Rebecca.”

  “Who?” Jake asked.

  “That’s her real name, Jake,” Kiara said while looking at her.

  “Oh … so you’re already questioning her?” Jake asked.

  “I want to, but she only wants to talk to you,” Kiara said.

  “What?”

  “She feels you will be able to understand,” Kiara said in a mocking tone. “I’m putting you on speaker.”

  “Wait … wait. After this entire episode, she wants my help?” Jake said and paused for a moment. “Okay. Go ahead.”

  “Don’t let your feelings come between our interrogation,” Kiara murmured, and kept the phone in the middle of the table. Robert was looking at her with bated breath.

  “Hello, Jake,” Rebecca said softly.

  Jake did not say anything. He did not even know what to say. He felt a pain in his heart. He didn’t know if it was out of anger or he still had feelings for her.

  “I am sorry for everything,” she said. “Please listen to me once.”

  “What do you want from me?” Jake asked without showing any emotion.

  “I want to be jailed,” she said softly.

  “What?” Jake said. Kiara looked at her with confusion.

  “I have nothing to do with Brendon’s murder. They wanted the antiques. We did not know where the antiques were hidden. We knew running away was futile. They will find us anywhere in the world. And yesterday … ” Rebecca said and started crying. “Yesterday they killed him in front of my eyes. They made me watch him die. I couldn’t do anything. They left me because I lied to them that I was pregnant. But, they will come to know about that sooner or later. They will come after me too, and won’t spare me this time. Please put me in the safest prison. I don’t want to go out and die. I confess to the break-in. I will confess to it in the court too. You can give me the harshest punishment that you can.”

  Jake did not know how to respond to it. Robert and Kiara were equally flabbergasted.

  “You know you are the prime suspect in the antique theft case?” he asked, surprising Rebecca.

  “I know … but I will be of no use. I don’t know anyone involved in it except my husband. I didn’t even know about my husband’s actual work till the date of the wedding. I was not involved in anything. In fact, he was trying to leave all of this,” she said.

  “It’s really hard to trust you after what you did to me,” Jake said in angst.

  “Whatever I did was to save his life,” she said and looked down. “But, I couldn’t save him.” With that she began crying again.

  Kiara patted on her shoulder. “Who was he working for?”

  Rebecca looked at her and wiped the tears. “I never saw anyone. The only thing I know is that he used to get calls from someone whom he called Chief. My husband had never seen or met him. Even the voice used to be digitally altered.”

  “When did he get the last call?”

  “Yesterday afternoon.”

  Kiara looked towards the mirror.

  “Get his phone scanned for the calls that came yesterday.” Robert looked at his partner who nodded and left.

  “How did it work? Did the Chief give instructions on what was to be done?” Kiara asked further. Jake was listening carefully.

  “I have no idea. I married him three months ago. He told me that their last consignment was intercepted by the police. So, the Chief had told them to keep a low profile for some time. He did not do anything in the past three months.”

  Kiara shook her head. She was not getting anything substantial. She had to ask something else.

  “What about the murderers?” she asked. “Can you recognize them?”

  Rebecca shook her head. “They were wearing masks and had switched off the lights.”

  “How many of them were there?”

  “Two,” Rebecca replied.

  “Did they say anything?”

  “No … they handcuffed him and killed him within two minutes. We did not even get to know what struck us,” she said and resumed crying.

  Kiara looked at her phone. “You want to ask something, Jake?”

  “No … I feel she needs our protection. These people look dangerous,” he said and paused. “Rebecca … let us know whenever you remember something.”

  Rebecca nodded as Kiara disconnected the call. She patted her shoulder one more time and came out.

  “So, nothing,” Robert said while waving his arms.

  “Get his phone scanned. We may get a tip,” she said and started to walk away.

  “One minute,” he said from behind. “Why did they break into your home?”

  Kiara’s fear had come true. She took a moment to gather her thoughts.

  “As she said, we had intercepted one of their deals. However, when we followed the lead, we found that a small shop owner was helping them out. Jake, my partner, went after him and they had a fight. The suspect was injured severely. The department had to suspend Jake. Fortunately or unfortunately, Jake happened to spend the suspension period in Lake Sivan where she and her husband were planning one more heist. They were ordered to threaten us so that we’ll stop pursuing them. She poisoned the food offered to him under the disguise of a friendly neighbor. I was here in New York …”

  “So they came to your house and did all this to threaten you too?” Robert completed her sentence to her relief.

  “Yes. I knew they would do something like this. That’s why I had installed the CCTV cameras,” she added. “But I guess the Chief knew that we have the footage. He eliminated Brendon. Since she doesn’t know anything, he spared her life.”

  “How could he possibly know that you have the footage?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” she said. “One thing you should understand is that the person behind the murder is the same one behind the antiques theft racket.”

  Robert nodded. “This is much deeper than I thought.”

  Kiara was about to walk away when Robert looked into her eyes. “I hope you haven’t hidden anything from me.”

  “I wouldn’t do that. I want to get to the end of this case just like you,” she said in an assuring voice.

  With that, she walked out of the station. Her mind was racing and she knew even Jake would be restless. One thing that had surprised her was the change in Jake’s tone as the interrogation had progressed. His last words about Rebecca’s safety did not go with the anger that he had at the start. She called him immediately.

  “What’s up with you?” she said as Jake picked up the phone.

  “What do
you mean?”

  “How did you go from cursing her to praying for her within ten minutes?”

  There was no reply from the other end.

  “Jake? Are you there?”

  “Do you know why she didn’t speak to anyone but me?” he said in a low voice.

  “Yes, what’s with that? She did not say anything that we could not have interpreted,” she said with surprise.

  “No … there was something that she knew only I would understand,” Jake said. “Did you notice that she did not mention the ring?”

  “Yes,” Kiara replied.

  “Because she wanted to protect me—” he said, but Kiara cut him short.

  “That’s bullshit. She doesn’t want to associate herself with the antique thefts,” she said firmly.

  “It’s not about that. She explained how she didn’t know about anything or anyone. Still, she had to be a part of it because her husband’s life was at stake. You think the poisoning was just to threaten me. After knowing everything about me, would they take that chance?”

  “So, you mean they were supposed to kill you?” she asked.

  “Yes, and they could have done easily. But she did not add the full dose. She protected me then, and she’s protecting me now. She had feelings for me,” he said. “She wanted to speak to me because she knew I’ll understand that she saved my life once and now I could do the same for her. I had noticed the same thing when I had spoken to her about her marriage. I also saw her arguing with him about something—probably about poisoning me. She was a bit agitated the day she executed the plan, as if feeling guilty.”

  “Well, I’m not too sure about this. But I also noticed the hesitation in her demeanor in the video footage,” Kiara added. “Still, I’m not going to trust her completely.”

  “Neither do I. whatever she did was wrong. Doesn’t matter if she was made to do it,” he said. “We definitely need to keep an eye on her.”

  “Well, she is going to be in custody. So, that won’t be difficult,” Kiara replied.

  “About that. How is this guy who’s handling the case?”

  “Robert? Well, he is a difficult person to deal with. He’s not going to let us do things our way,” Kiara said thoughtfully.

  “Did he ask why they were at your apartment?”

  “Yes, I told him everything but the ring part,” Kiara replied. “That will keep him quiet for some time.”

  “Yeah. I think so. How was your visit to the Windsor Estate?”

  “It was a dead end, I guess. The guy I met was not a Windsor. He’s related to them from his mother’s side. He knows the stories about the ring, but doesn’t have a full history of it. In fact, he has not even seen the ring.”

  “Hm … We need to find something on the Chief, then. He is the one behind all of this. Let’s hope Brendon’s phone reveals something,” Jake said.

  “I am not too confident about that. He’s too smart to make a small mistake like having a traceable number,” Kiara mused. “I’m thinking of checking Brendon’s apartment. Maybe some clue is hidden there.”

  “I was about to suggest that. You have to ask Robert about that though,” Jake said.

  “Yeah,” Kiara said and remembered something. “You wanted to say something when I called you?”

  “Yes. I almost forgot,” Jake replied. “I went to check on the kid, Pablo, who told me about Natalie’s … I mean Rebecca’s profession. Well, it seems he has gone on his yearly vacation. He will return after a month.”

  “How convenient,” Kiara said. “Was the owner aware of Natalie?”

  “Well, that’s the interesting part. Pablo did not send me to Rebecca, he actually guided me to Natalie. The whole story about being an heir to an imitation jewelry business was not a false one. It’s what the old lady, Natalie does. Pablo gave me her contact details, not Rebecca’s.”

  “That means Rebecca did not know Pablo,” Kiara said with surprise.

  “Apparently, yes. It was just a coincidence. She played along when I praised her for the imitation jewelry I saw at the shop,” Jake said with a faint smile.

  “Well, again a dead end, then,” Kiara said softly.

  “I checked with the agency that had sent the handyman to my house.”

  “I suppose even he is gone now,” Kiara said.

  “They played a different game there. It seems someone called them and cancelled the job. The man who came to my house was not from the agency,” he said. “Every move that I made was followed. They ensured that there were no loose ends.”

  “There has to be something. No one works with that precision,” Kiara said. “Everyone has vanished barring one: Gary. We should catch him.”

  “Based on what?” Jake asked. “If we go after him, everyone in the department will come to know about the ring. We don’t have any explanation about keeping the ring with us.”

  “You’re right. But, he’s the only link.”

  “There is one other way. If Rebecca was there for the ring, she would definitely know to whom Gary gave the fake ring. She won’t talk about the ring in front of everyone, but if you speak to her alone, she may reveal something. I would have come down and talked to her, but I won’t be allowed for another twenty days or so,” Jake said ruefully. “Can you speak to her?”

  “Hm … Let me see what I can do,” Kiara said thoughtfully. “I have to seek permission from Robert.”

  “OK. Let me know if there is any update,” Jake said.

  “You know I will,” Kiara said with a smile. “Take care.”

  Kiara started the car and noticed that Robert was looking at her from his office window. She looked in his direction before he stepped away from the window. There was something about Robert that was bothering her. She had heard about him earlier too. However, she was not able to recall it. She shrugged the thought for a moment and looked at her watch. There was no point going back to the office. She thought of going back to her apartment and took a left turn.

  Kiara looked at the apartment. It was not as bad as yesterday, but still needed a lot of work. She had covered the couch with a sheet, but it was still unusable. She was not expecting the landlord to help in any manner either. In fact, he may demand money for the entire ruckus.

  She took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and pulled the old chair from near the kitchen shelf. The day had been a long one; still, there was no clue about who they were chasing.

  She closed her eyes and thought about the whole day again. Brendon Jones had died without leaving any clue behind. His wife was in police custody, but she didn’t have any clue about Brendon’s work either. Or maybe she had and was not willing to share.

  There were still questions to be answered about her though. She was at Lake Sivan to steal the ring. Brendon used to come at night. Still, she did not give him the ring even after the third day—why? And, as Jake had mentioned, he had seen Brendon carrying some boxes on two occasions. One thing was clear: Rebecca knew more than she had confessed. She had to definitely meet her in the morning.

  With that, she opened her eyes and switched on the microwave. She opened the refrigerator and looked at the frozen dinner that she was eating on a daily basis. It was difficult to eat the same bland thing day after day, but she mustered the courage and put it in the microwave.

  As she was trying to chew the food, she started to think about Ralph. He had a great life. Living in a nice house; enjoying the riches of his uncle. The way he was conducting himself meant he was pretty satisfied with his life. There was nothing unusual there. Though it was going to be a wild chase, she thought, of getting a background check done on him too. He was no way related to this ring, but the Windsor Estate was full of its own antiques.

  The last piece of the puzzle was Robert. He was not that cooperative in the start, but Rebecca’s denial of giving any information to him made him cooperate. Now he had to rely on Kiara for any further investigation. She had to ask him to take her to Rebecca’s apartment.

  Kiara finished dinn
er and as she placed the dishes in the sink, she thought about what she was going to do next. There were many parts to the story, but which one needed her attention first? Maybe a new day will bring some clarity to the whole situation, she thought, and switched off the lights.

  The next day indeed started with a bang. The front page had news about the theft of a fifty-year-old Egyptian gold statue from one of the uptown mansions. Though the surprising thing was that it was reported, unlike any of the previous thefts. Maybe it was a legal piece. This was the first time something was stolen for which the owner had the papers, she thought.

  As soon as Kiara got a call from the local station, she rushed to the site. As she parked her car, she could see police cars already parked inside the mansion.

  She showed her badge and made her way towards the main door. The officer from the night shift looked at her and felt relieved.

  “Thanks for calling,” Kiara said.

  “Thanks for coming. I don’t even know how to handle this. I’ve circulated the pictures to all stations in the state and have asked to check every vehicle leaving the city.”

  “Thanks. I’ll take it from here,” Kiara said. “Any details about the family?”

  “He is the owner. He is into real estate. He bought it from one of his clients,” he said and pointed towards a man sitting in the middle of the hall.

  “Let me speak to him,” Kiara said and walked towards him. She kept looking around. There were few idols lined up on one corner, a huge painting on the other, and a small fountain in the middle of the hall. However, all those things were either imitations or made by some local artist.

  “Mr. Johnson, I am Agent Kiara Davenport. I will be handling your case,” she said as she reached him.

  He got up and shook her hand. “Call me Don.”

  “So, Don … I am sure you’ve already explained it to my colleague, but can you tell me one last time what exactly happened?”

  “Sure. We have two bedrooms on the upper floor. My wife and I use the master bedroom and the kids sleep in the other one. The idol was kept in the master bedroom. Since my wife and kids have gone out for the summer holidays, there’s no one in the house during the day. I generally come back late in the night. Sometimes when I have dinner with clients, it becomes really late. Yesterday I arrived around two in the morning. I didn’t notice it until I got in the bed. It was worth a hundred grand.”