Exponential

by JM Addison

  *

  Dell ended the day hopeful. He was being very careful about how, but he was able to make some discoveries. First and foremost, a close examination by the New Hampshire State Police discovered Mara’s demolished car had a bullet buried in a rear tail light assembly of her Subaru. It went unnoticed at first because the collision with the rock pile in the field quite severely dented the back end of the car, so gun shots were not evident at first. This indicated some obvious foul play and removed a little of suspicion from Mara. At least from the New Hampshire side anyway. The police also concluded that it would be unlikely that someone fitting Mara’s description of ‘slight build’ could move her mother’s body into the trunk alone. This either indicated an accomplice, or perhaps a set up. Finally, enough evidence in the field remained to indicate a second car which apparently was somehow removed from the scene before the police were called.

  However, the Massachusetts and New Hampshire police wanted her for questioning and she was still the prime suspect in the disappearance of her brother. She was a subject of a bulletin and would likely be held if captured. Especially since she seemed to be evading the police which increased the suspicion that she had some level of responsibility in all the things that were going on.

  His investigation of Viiradium was going nowhere. It became apparent that he was dealing with an influential opponent that seemingly targeted him and Mara with the clear goal of getting them out of the way. He did not like to be the victim of such manipulation, so he was even more determined to discover their real motivation and root problem they were apparently trying to cover up. He thought about going through private means to conduct an investigation. If any hint of official involvement reached the chief, it would likely be the end of his investigative profession.

  It was well into the evening and he was starting to worry about Mara. He had expected that she would contact him by now and the fact that she apparently made no attempt at such contact began to really concern him. She was the real victim here and he was amazed how well she seemed to be holding up. Her mother murdered, her brother missing and presumed dead and Mara being the prime suspect by the police as killers repeated their attempts to apparently make her disappear. He didn’t know how she was doing it. She had to be running on pure resolve to maintain such diligent persistence. He found himself dwelling with admiration of her a bit too frequently these days.