Second – Eva Connelly is the final decision maker as she heads the board. As you said, she is clean, but she uses Niklas’s car and that too to go to a salon, something missing here. What happened at the hotel that day when we were following Niklas?
Lastly – I saw Eva meeting a man that I’m sure is her husband. They had an argument about something. Was that related to the divorce or the business – you need to investigate.”
Jason didn’t respond for a few seconds. He was still digesting the information.
“You’ve found so much just by your analysis, and we’ve done nothing in the last two days,” he said reluctantly, “Even now Jeff and Robert are stationed outside the hotel.”
“Yeah, that’s why I took a U- turn,” Kiara whispered.
“What?” Jason asked.
“Nothing,” Kiara said, “You have a chance to take this case to its end. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit. The main thing is that the culprits should be punished.”
“You don’t want any credit at all?” Jason asked.
“You still have doubts.”
“Well, it’s difficult to find selfless people these days.”
“This is the last time I’ve discussed this case with you,” Kiara stressed, “Now, the ball is in your court. It’s up to you how to deal with it. It’s your call if you want to share the credit or not.”
“Why would I do that?” Jason replied immediately, “I mean… let me check the veracity of your information first.”
“You are an ass,” Kiara mumbled.
“What?” Jason asked.
“Bye, Jason,” Kiara said and disconnected.
The bookstore was at the extreme corner of the market. Though it was just half-past three, the street looked deserted.
Jake looked at the store name scribbled in his journal and stepped inside. He gazed around and found one of the employees arranging books on the shelf to his left. As soon as their eyes met, he came running to Jake.
“How can I help you?” he asked but Jake showed his badge in reply.
“Oh… I thought you were looking for some books. The business is not doing that good and….”
“And?” Jake raised his brow.
“Nothing,” he tried to evade the question.
“And?” Jake asked firmly this time.
“And, Mark’s death has further affected the business,” he replied in a low voice.
“How so?”
“This is a small neighborhood. Everyone knows about everything. They… they think some ritual is behind his death,” he replied with great difficulty.
“What ritual?” Jake asked.
The salesman came near him. “He used to talk a lot about death and stuff. People feel he was into some cult or something.”
“Okay,” Jake said with a slight disappointment at not finding anything new. “Was Mark under any financial stress?”
The salesman looked around the store with a wry smile. “Our condition wasn’t much better even before all of this happened. Sometimes, there were months before we got our salary.”
“I meant if there was something different during these past few months... financially?” Jake stressed.
“It’s always been the same,” he replied.
Jake nodded and was about to ask something when his phone rang. He looked at the number and shook his head. “RYAN,” he said in frustration and looked at the salesman. “Anything else?”
“I told you what I knew,” he replied.
“Thanks,” Jake said hurriedly and picked the call. “Sorry, Sir. I told Ryan not to disturb you.”
“What? He didn’t say anything,” Carlson said from the other end, “Anyway, this isn’t the time. I want you to come to the division immediately. We found Donald Coleman or rather he found us.”
“WHAT?” Jake shouted, not believing what he had just heard. He realized the salesman was looking at him. He stepped out and walked to the car.
“He surrendered an hour back. I got a call from Captain Gregson of the NYPD. They’re bringing him to us. He’ll be in our custody any minute now,” Carlson said with excitement.
“He surrendered. I… I can’t believe it. I’ll be there in half an hour,” Jake said with equal zest. “Sir, you won’t believe what this means to me… I mean to this case.”
“Yeah… let’s see what he has to say this time,” Carlson replied. “He has fooled us enough.”
“I’m on my way. Thank you, sir,” Jake said and jumped inside the car.
“See you then,” Carlson said and disconnected.
“That’s it,” Jake said in exhilaration and punched the air. “Donald Coleman – you are a dead man.”
He backed up the car and drove hurriedly towards the main road.
CHAPTER 8
By the time Jake reached the division, he had thought of a thousand questions that were bothering him from the day he had taken up the case. However, one question was making him mad.
“Why did he surrender?” he asked Carlson, who was waiting for him outside the interrogation room.
“You have to ask him. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone else,” Carlson said while still looking at Donald from the one-way mirror.
“What?”
“He said, and I quote – I want Agent Carter; he is the one who needs to hear it. We even suggested him to call his lawyer, but he wants only you.” Carlson said and turned to Jake, “I hope he hasn’t committed the crime already.”
Jake hurried to the interrogation room. Carlson took a couple of steps forward.
As soon as Jake entered, Donald’s expression changed from nervousness to happiness.
“Oh… you’re finally here,” he said and got up. Jake gestured him to remain seated.
“Why did you surrender?” Jake asked directly.
“You haven’t changed – you want the straight answers, whatever the situation may be. Direct and to the point,” Donald said with a sneer.
“You want to play games? Do you even know where you are?” Jake shouted. “No one will ever come to know what happened to you.”
Donald greeted him with an even wider grin. “I was a victim for seven years, and now I’m the criminal. There is a lesson for both of us in my story – don’t try to fight something that’s beyond our control.”
“I miss Kiara so much,” Jake said in frustration and looked towards the mirror. Carlson knew Jake was going to lose control. He walked to the interrogation room.
“This is a better view. Isn’t it?” Donald mocked him, but Carlson gestured Jake to control his anger. He walked to the other corner.
“I’m not going to interrupt anything. You wanted to speak to him – you’ve got him,” Carlson said.
“Thanks,” Donald mocked him. “So, as I was saying; I thought I was a victim, but I was always confused about who put me in that situation. Were those people who experimented on me the culprit or the law enforcement agencies who ridiculed me and made my whole life a living Joke? I tried to fight both, but I made the mistake of choosing one over the other. I thought the law of the land was for everyone, but I forgot the people who did this to me were not from this land.”
“That’s bullshit,” Jake said and came forward. “Why did you surrender?”
“We’ll come to that later,” Donald said and looked at Carlson.
“Let him finish,” Carlson urged Jake, who reluctantly nodded.
“When I was declared insane; I thought there was only one way out – to go underground, but I was wrong. You kept an eye on me the whole time. Those who did this to me never got any punishment, but my whole life became a never ending sentence,” Donald said and began to shake with anger.
Jake knew he wasn’t going to give straight answers. He had to ask in a different manner.
He passed a glass of water to Donald, which he gulped in one sip.
“We have a different theory,” Jake said. “Would you like to hear that?”
Donald looked at him. “That I did this to mys
elf?” He asked and showed the injury mark.
“It’s not going to be fun if you directly jump to the end of the story,” Jake sneered back.
“JAKE,” Carlson said firmly.
Jake waved his hands, “My bad; old habit.”
‘Okay, so here it goes. And, listen to this carefully; because you’re not getting out of here any time soon and by not having a lawyer you have only increased your troubles.
Seven years back, you hatched a plan. You played a game – you pretended that aliens attacked you. You smartly chose Sedona as the place of attack. All the conspiracy theorist came out in your support. You had your moment under the sun or rather eight Suns – no pun intended, but couldn’t fool us. Within a week, you were defaced, and all your theories were debunked. You couldn’t even detail out the experiments that you claimed were conducted on you. When the pressure built, you displayed your cowardice and went into hiding. We knew you’ll take such a measure and kept an eye on you. You, on the other hand, thought that everything had gone silent and started attacking random people. But, the profiles of your victims gave you away. These people had a life just like yours. In fact, life had no meaning to them. Also, you found their weakness – money. You offered them money in return for doing some rituals. You lured them with money but took away their lives. And, when you found out that we were on your trail – you had no choice, but to finish your work as fast as possible before we caught you. That explains why you came to New York in such a hurry and carried nothing but the murder weapon with you. Did I miss anything?”
Jake had expected Donald to break down. Instead, he began to laugh uncontrollably. Jake looked at Carlson, who was equally stumped by Donald’s behavior.
“He is a crazy psychopath,” Jake said while shaking his head.
Donald didn’t like it. The laugh evaporated, and a murderous look replaced it.
“Don’t ever call me that,” he snarled. “If I was that smart to fool you for seven years, why would I surrender?”
“Maybe for mercy?”
“Mercy?” Donald smirked, “Your argument has as many holes as your fanciful story.”
“Care to enlighten us on that,” Jake said.
“If I’ve committed all of these murders; what am I going to get by surrendering? and if I had to surrender why would I come to the city and not commit the last murder before surrendering?”
“Maybe, your plan failed – your victim escaped or maybe you couldn’t find him. And, with the whole city police closing in, you had no other choice left. Either you could’ve been killed in an encounter, or you had to surrender.” Even Jake was not going to give up so easily.
“No one can win an argument with you,” Donald smiled, “I noticed that the first time I met you. You want what you want. And, maybe they knew it too.”
“Don’t bullshit,” Jake punched the table in anger. “I’m going to ask for the last time – why did you come to New York?”
“What time is it?” Donald asked ignoring Jake’s question.
“The time to tell the truth,” Jake said drily.
“Jake,” Carlson said from behind.
Jake shook his head in frustration. “It’s half past five. Why?”
“Are you sure?” Donald asked.
Jake showed him his watch. As Donald looked at it, his whole body started to shake like a dry leaf in a storm. His face turned pale. “What have I done?” he cried, surprising both Jake and Carlson.
“He is having another attack,” Jake said while throwing his arms in the air.
Donald looked at him; his whole face was covered in sweat. He wiped it with the sleeve of his shirt.
“I can’t keep this facade going on,” he said in a frail voice.
Jake was baffled by his sudden change of demeanor. He looked at Carlson, who was equally clueless.
“What facade?” Jake asked.
“I lied to you,” Donald said.
“Lied about what?”
“Where is your partner?” Donald asked looking alternately between the two.
“What?” Jake asked and then remembered something. “He went to your old address.” Jake said and then a shiver ran down his spine. “What have you done?”
Carlson walked closer to them. “What’s happening?”
By now, Donald had started laughing nervously. “Why did I go to that damn place seven years back? WHY?”
Jake dialed Ryan’s number immediately, but the phone was switched off. He tried again, but with the same result. He looked angrily at Donald and before he could’ve taken cover, Jake punched Donald on the face. “Where is he?” he shouted. Carlson had to intervene.
“I’ll track his phone,” he said, “You make this bastard speak.”
Carlson stormed out of the room. By now, Donald had begun to sob.
“Where is he?” Jake shouted. “I swear if you don’t tell me in next two minutes I’m going to do things to you that you can’t even imagine.”
“He is with them,” Donald said feebly.
“With whom?” Jake asked angrily.
“The people from the other dimension,” Donald said while staring blankly at the opposite wall, “And, you are responsible for that.”
“What?”
“You brought them to me, and they made a deal,” he said and started to sob again. “What have I done? Why me?”
Jake knew there was no point arguing with the lunatic. He tried Ryan’s phone one more time, but it was still unresponsive.
“Don’t think this ends here. Whoever they are; they may have spared you, but I’m not going to leave you just like that,” Jake said and came out of the room. Donald didn’t notice any of this and kept mumbling incoherently.
Jake saw Carlson coming his way. “His phone was traced to this address.” He showed a piece of paper to Jake.
“This is the same place where we were supposed to meet – Donald’s address from seven years back,” Jake said and kicked the nearby table. “I should’ve called him when I came here, but the news of Donald’s surrender made me forget about Ryan.”
“It’s not the time to blame yourself. Three men are waiting outside to accompany you to Donald’s old house,” Carlson said and paused, “Did he say anything?”
“Oh.. he is a nutcase. No word of his makes sense except that he worked for someone,” Jake said, “I’ll deal with him once Ryan is with us.”
“I’ll try to get something out of him,” Carlson said.
“Okay,” Jake said and left.
His heart was pounding like a train engine, and his brain had ceased to act. Three men in gear were waiting in the car. “Let’s go,” Jake said and got inside the car.
The place was thirty minutes’ drive from the division and all the while Jake kept cursing himself for not telling Ryan about the change in the plan. He just hoped that it was a false alarm, and Ryan’s phone battery had died out.
However, Donald’s last words were not making it easier for him to believe that. Who were the people that had used Donald as a bait for Ryan? And, what did they want from him? Many negative thoughts crossed his mind thinking about the last question.
He shrugged the evil thoughts for a moment and pulled out his gun. He looked at it with determination.
The house was in a secluded place with no establishments around it. A small gravel pathway led to the two-storied stone house from the main road. The path was covered on the both sides by large trees and unkempt bushes. Though, it was only ten past six in the evening, the canopy of trees made it feel like eight. The occasional sun rays filtering through the tree leaves were the only light that could show them the path ahead.
Ryan had hired a cab, but the path was so narrow that it was impossible for the cab to go to the house. This thought made Jake’s heart sink. He kept looking on both sides for any signs while walking towards the house.
The house was old and gave a gloomy look. There was a small garden in the front, but even that wasn’t well maintained just like the rest of the
vegetation. Jake gestured the three men to take positions near the door while he pressed the doorbell.
He heard the voices of kids playing inside. After a moment, a man in his forties opened the door. Jake hid his gun behind his back and showed his badge. The man took a moment to recognize it and then a flash of nervousness engulfed his face.
“What… what do you want?” he asked in a feeble voice while coming out of the house. As he came out, he saw three men in gear holding guns. He lost his balance at their sight and had to take support from the door.
“We’re looking for one of our agents who came here today,” Jake said drily.
The man took a moment to understand what Jake meant. “I have been at home throughout the day. No one came here.”
“What?”
“Yes, in fact, we haven’t had a visitor in days. If you want, my wife can confirm that,” he said with some confidence this time.
“Sorry, but I’m not in a position to believe anyone,” Jake said in frustration and shoved him aside.
“Hey… what do you think you’re doing?” he said and tried to get hold of Jake but was pushed again.
One of the agents came forward. “We don’t have a search warrant.”
“I don’t care,” Jake said and opened the door. “You can stay here, but I’m going in.”
With that, he got inside. “HEY STOP,” the man shouted, but Jake was unfazed.
There was a living room on the left. Jake went inside with a gun in his hand. Two kids were playing there – a boy around ten in age and a girl around six.
“Dad, who is he? Why is he holding a gun?” the boy asked.
The father rushed and gave cover to the kids. Jake didn’t care. He turned the couch upside down and opened all the cabinets. After finding nothing in there, he rushed to the kitchen and then to the bedroom. He kicked anything and everything that came his way.
Davenport Mysteries 04-Loose Ends Page 13