Friday, the 6th of May.
05:10 pm
“Hey, Aiden, what’s up?”
Tia, Chester, and Zara had spent an hour, walking around the park and doing everything Zara found to be fun and exciting and they too had been having fun doing everything that she wanted and of course, staying in each other’s company, most especially for Chester. He had the most fun just watching the mother and daughter spending time together and he had the chance to see Tia being loose and being her free self too.
As they all walked towards the entrance gate, heading out and going home, after much convincing and successfully bribing Zara with another full day date, Tia’s phone had rung. It was Aiden and it was a call she could not afford to miss. She flipped it open and slid on the screen.
“Tia, where are you?” He asked immediately he heard her voice.
“I am at the park. South Cove Park. Why?”
“Something has come up. You need to come to the office like right now.”
“Right now?” She looked at Zara and Chester playing by themselves a little distance away. “Is it that important?”
“We finally have a crack in the case of Clarissa Jan. You will have to come to the office right away, I can not say much.”
“I will be there in a minute.” She disconnected the call and turned to Chester and Zara. Chester looked at her and noticed her fallen expression first, then he stood and walked towards her, leaving Zara to play with her new stuffed toy on a bench.
“What’s wrong Tia?” He asked her.
“I just got a call from work and I would have to go right now. It is pretty important,” she replied, shoving her hands deep into the pockets of her jean and flexing her shoulders, looking at her daughter playing excitedly. She had promised her the day and now work called. “I do not want her to be disappointed Chester, I had promised her the day at the park.”
“And you have done that. It is already evening, you have practically spent the whole day.”
Tia smiled weakly and shrugged her shoulders, then she walked up to her daughter and bent down beside her. “Baby…?”
* * * * *
05:21 pm
“Aiden, this better be good.” Tia said as soon as she stepped into the office, pulling off her coat and throwing it on the rack. “I had to cut off a mother daughter’s day.”
She had left the park with Zara and Chester and they had driven in his car to her house to drop off Zara first and then Chester had insisted that he dropped her off at the office. She had taken up the offer because she had to get here early. It was a good thing they had run into each other at the park after all.
“Oh, you would love this Tia.” He replied, picking up the piece of paper he had been studying on his desk for minutes now.
“Okay,” She plopped down on a desk. “What is it?”
“Clarissa Jan’s file had included an unidentified DNA sample…” He started, smiling as he told her and building up the curiosity in Tia.
She raised an eyebrow at him and rolled her fingers in the air. “Go on… you know how much I hate suspense.”
“We found a match.” He broke the news and as he watched Tia’s eyes widen with excitement, he held up a hand and added. “You would not believe whom it belonged to.”
Tia moved away from the desk and walked closer to Aiden, resting her arm on the cubicle and wanting to snatch the paper from Aiden. “Whose?” She asked eagerly.
“Pamela Neil.” He dropped it. Tia frowned slightly in confusion, reaching out to take the piece of paper from him which he gave up easily. “The unidentified DNA sample had belonged to her. Imagine that! Her DNA sample, found in the crime scene of a victim who was killed months before her. How crazy is that?!”
“Crazy?” Tia said, going through the papers over and over again. “More like impossible.” It did sound absurd but it was there, the results had come from the national forensics and they didn’t make this kind of mistake. It was confusing. She sat down.
“It says here that she had died of drowning, but traces of strychnine had been found in her system.” Tia pointed out as she kept reading. “Aiden, this is…”
“...the same murder style?” He completed her sentence and stood up. “Yes. They might have well been killed by the same person.”
“But she did not die from the poisoning. In fact, none of the victims died from the poisoning.” Tia did a small spin, raking her hands through her hair. “Aiden, we have got to bring in Stacey Rohn. She is the only clue we have got.”
He stood up. “That is exactly what I had in mind. But… have you gone through her file?”
“Yea, briefly. Why?” She folded her hands and watched him.
Aiden paced the small space between them. “Where is it? We have interrogated her before right?”
“We have, what are you trying to get at?”
“What I am saying is…”
Somebody suddenly barged in, interrupting Aiden and startling Tia who jumped a little and turned. “By God Tim! Take it easy, will you?”
“Sorry, but we have got a situation.” He rapped out, almost out of breath.
“What is it?” Aiden asked.
“There has been a reported crime.” He paused and looked from Tia to Aiden and then back to Tia then continued. “Possibly homicide at Duane park.”
* * * * *
08:42 pm
The park had been sealed off long before they had arrived, emptied of people and sealed off and now it was evening, the crime scene had been mapped out and lined around with the police “do not cross” tape with the forensics team taking pictures and marking different places within the place mapped out by the tape.
Tia and Aiden stood over the body with Aiden’s hands shoved into his pockets and Tia’s crossed over her chest, studying it and feeling terrible. Sad for the victim and feeling beat down, most especially Tia.
“It is getting complicated Aiden.” She said, unable to take her eyes off the body. She was in an unnatural position, with her back terribly arched, her face frozen in unimaginable pain, her toes curled and her hands fisted. Her eyes remained open and Tia felt like she could still see her. She looked away.
“Yep.” Aiden agreed. “Complicated and confusing.” he sighed and looked around the place, repeating himself. “Complicated and confusing. And to think that she was on our list.”
The body which they stood over and the killer’s most recent victim was Miss Stacey Rohn, the same person whom Tia had wanted to bring in for more questioning just hours ago. Now she had moved from being their prime suspect to being the killer’s most recent victim, this frustrated Tia but then something about this kill was probably different from the killer’s other victims, for one this kill was still fresh.
She was dressed in a plain black skirt that had now come up to her thigh, exposing her bare legs, the pink floral top she had on was partly tucked out of the skirt and was anything but neat; the dirt from the ground, the blood, and a kind of wetness around the neck like sweat and close to her feet on the ground were her stiletto heels. The mortal cut to her wrist still flowed out blood, her hair was a tangle of dirt and sticks and sweat and a bit of blood, Tia had to admit that this kill was actually clean. In fact, all of his kills had been clean, even cleaner than this.
She got down beside the body and pulled a nylon over Stacey’s face, the murder did not disturb her, she had been on several murder scenes but she could not stand the cold stare from her eyes. It made her feel guilty like she could have done more to prevent what had happened. She should have done more. She looked away from the body and that was when she noticed the shoe print on the ground, she snapped her head to it and shifted closer.
“There is a shoe print on the ground.” She said to Aiden who also got down and tried measuring it with his fingers.
“Excuse me,” Aiden called for one of the forensic workers. “Have you documented this? Measurement and everything?” He asked to which the worker nodded.
“It was one of the first things we noticed and did.” He replied.
“I would like to have the analysis in my office as soon as you can finish up with it.” He requested.
“Yes, detective.”
“Aiden,” Tia called, already standing up and walking in another direction away from the body and crime scene. Aiden stood up and followed her, shoving his hands back into his pockets as he walked. The evening was getting cold and darker, he was glad he had listened to his wife and chosen to wear the thick turtle neck he had on now. He breathed out and walked to where Tia stood outside the “do not cross” tape.
“What is it?” He asked her, a little worried. “Can not stand it.”
“Her DNA sample was found in the last murder crime scene.” Tia went straight to her point, her gaze still towards the body now fully covered in a blue tarp. “And a few days after, she turns up dead.”
“Beats me too Tia,” Aiden said.
“Don’t you get it Aiden?” She asked, now facing him, her expression was serious. “These murders… these killings are just a game for him.”
Aiden cocked his head at her, confusion evident in his expression. “A game? What are you talking about?”
“Look, this might sound a bit off, or maybe a lot off but I could bet on this. This…” She circled her hand in the direction of where Stacey’s body laid. “Is all a game to him, to the killer? There is a puzzle in this somewhere. And I think he wants us to solve it if we do not, or if we do not solve it on time, I fear that there will be more bodies.” She finished, worry etched on her face as she looked at Aiden, hoping that he at least understood what she was saying.
Aiden frowned and looked back at the body and then at Tia like he was processing all that she had said. Then his eyes widened in realization. “Her DNA sample was found at the crime scene of Pamela Neil and Pamela’s DNA sample was found at the crime scene of Clarissa Jan… Tia, I think you are right, there is a puzzle here. More like a pattern.”
“You get it now?” Tia asked in relief. She sighed and paced a little, pulling her hair away from her face and all the way back.
“There is more to these killings than just what we are getting. There is something we are not seeing or focusing on.” Aiden said, tapping his foot.
“I was here Aiden.” She said backing him. “I was here, in this park just a few hours ago with my daughter Aiden. We were here, having fun.”
“Tia…” He called, pulling at her shoulder until she faced him. He could see that her eyes had begun to tear up.
She chuckled. “It is crazy, is it not? And to think that this happened only a few hours after we had left.”
“Tia, stop this…”
“I had my daughter with me Aiden.” She choked and the tears flowed freely now. “My daughter! In this same park! I just…” She sniffed and looked away. “I am scared for her Aiden and I can not help it. This place…”
“Tia,” Aiden called and shook her, stopping her from talking more. “You are the best detective and a great mum, if anyone can stop this son of a bitch and bring him down, it is going to be us.” He wiped a tear from her cheek and beamed a smile at her. “It is going to be you.”
She smiled and sniffed, wiping her face. “I’m sorry.”
“We are humans. We all have our moments.” he smiled. “Now let’s get this bastard and show him who the boss is around here.”
https://m.goodnovel.com/book_info/31000096787/Mystery-Thriller/Undercover
