Again, he had no idea what Freeland was talking about.
Orginal, original, we need the original, without it we cannot do anything, we have to find it, until then we don’t have anything…
Hyder kept going, spending the next twenty minutes going over the contents of all the pages, but when he was done he was more confused than ever.
It looked as if Freeland had written gibberish. Was this the writings of a sane person? Hyder wasn’t so sure.
Could Freeland had been so depressed that, prior to him taking his life, he had written everything down and sent it to Hyder?
Why him in particular, though? Hyder hadn’t been in contact with Freeland for some time. So why did Freeland choose him?
The reason was as cryptic as the scribbles on the pages.
Hyder went back to the pages, noticed that certain words and letters were underlined. He began jotting them down. When done, he had no idea what any of it meant, but he knew who he had to contact right away.
TWENTY-FIVE
Jessica lay in bed, feeling terrible.
The trip to the police station had been a waste of time.
The result she was hoping for had not happened. Instead, she felt stupid for bringing Hyder along with her.
She had thought having someone else with her would make it easier in finding out the truth about her father, but that was not the case.
She worried what Hyder thought of her. She wanted him to believe her. Her father had spoken so much about him that she felt in many ways she already knew him.
She felt that she had let her father down by not proving to Detective Nolan her father had been murdered.
More importantly, she would never know what pushed her father to end his life.
She rolled over and stared at the alarm clock.
It was easier to watch time go by than ruminate on her current situation.
She wanted to close her eyes and shut out the noise inside her head.
She wanted to go back to the time when her father was still alive, when everything was like it was before.
She heard a knock on the door.
“Yes?” she said, not even bothering to look up.
Chloe stuck her head in. “Jessica, there is someone here to see you.”
Jessica turned over. “Who?”
“I don’t know, but he seems to know you.”
Jessica pulled on a robe and went out.
She found Hyder standing in the hallway of the apartment.
“What are you doing here?” Jessica asked.
“I needed to talk to you,” Hyder said. “It’s important.”
“Sure, come in.” While Hyder took a seat on the couch, Jessica quickly snuck a peek in the mirror. She moved her hands over her hair, flattening any strands that were sticking out. She hoped he didn’t see her do this.
“How did you find me?” she asked.
“I know I shouldn’t have done this, but I looked you up in the phone directory.”
“You could have called,” she said as she sat across from Hyder.
“I did, several times.”
Jessica realized her phone was still in her bag. She was feeling so low that the last thing she wanted to do was talk to anyone.
“Jessica,” Hyder started to say, but stopped. Chloe was in the kitchen. She quickly realized she might be intruding on something private. When she walked by Jessica, she gave her a smile. Jessica knew what the smile meant. He’s cute.
When Chloe had shut the door to her room, Hyder said, “Jessica, I have to show you something.” He pulled out a thin package from his backpack. He removed a few sheets of paper and placed them on the coffee table before him. “This came through the mail,” he said. He could tell she wasn’t sure why he was showing them to her. “They are from your father. These pages were taken from his diary.”
Jessica’s eyes widened. She pulled them closer and began scanning them.
“What do they mean?” she asked, looking back at him.
“I don’t know, but I made a list of certain words that were underlined.” He showed it to her.
XLX Ltd.
JVL
Whistleblower
Bribes
Murder
Catch Them in the Red
Student
Money
Auditor
Don’t Trust
Pandora box
Hold Them
“I don’t know what they could be,” she said, looking up at Hyder.
“Well, I was hoping you would,” he replied. “Your dad could be cryptic when he wanted to be and I have no clue what they are.”
She went back to the list. “What if they are clues… about something that happened?”
“Like what?”
“For instance, XLX Ltd could be a company. JVL could be working for them. There is also a whistleblower who was murdered because he needed money… or something.” She shrugged.
Hyder thought about it. “What if XLX Ltd was involved in bribes and JVL is the whistleblower? He was killed because he wanted money.”
“What if JVL doesn’t mean a person?”
“Okay, what else could it mean?”
Jessica wasn’t sure. “We’ll consider JVL is a person then. But what about Catch Them in the Red, Student, Auditor, Don’t Trust, Pandora Box, and Hold Them? What do they mean?”
Hyder wasn’t sure, but he enjoyed brainstorming with Jessica. It gave him an excuse to be with her.
“What if… and I’m going to make this up, so go along with me, JVL was a student or former student of your dad’s. They were now or had been working at XLX Ltd. When they stumbled upon the bribes, because they were an auditor there, they blew the whistle. They were killed because there was a lot of money involved. So your dad wants us to catch them red handed—and I think he meant the ones responsible, and hold them to their crimes. Also, he doesn’t want us to trust anyone because our findings could be a Pandora’s Box filled with severe consequences for those involved.”
Hyder waited for her response.
“Wow, I am impressed,” she said with a smile. “You actually made it sound plausible.”
He smiled back. “Hey, I’m a reporter, aren’t I? If there isn’t a story out there, I’ll make one up.”
“What now?” she said. “What do we do with his information, if it is what we think it is?”
“I don’t know. We can’t go back to the police. They wouldn’t believe us.”
“We have to start somewhere.”
Hyder nodded. “Your dad sent this to me at the Daily Times because he knew I was a reporter. He wanted me to take this information and search for the truth and that is what we’ll do. If our story is correct, then JVL was a student of your dad’s. We have to get access to the school’s records.”
“I don’t think my dad kept any university stuff at his home. He was paranoid that a student might break in and steal the information.”
“Then we’ll have to go to his office at Franklin University.”
TWENTY-SIX
Mariam Stenfield was in her mid-twenties. She wore big, round glasses, and had dark hair which fell to her shoulders.
Mariam was still shaken up about the death of Professor Freeland.
“I’m so sorry about your father,” Mariam said, wiping her eyes with tissues.
“Thank you,” Jessica replied.
Jessica had called her dad’s assistant at the university. She had told her that she wanted to grab some personal items from her father’s office.
Mariam was more than happy to oblige.
Jessica introduced Hyder. “He’s helping me through this tough period.”
“That’s so nice of you,” Mariam said.
Hyder nodded.
Marian took them down the hall. “Your father’s death came as a quite a shock, so we didn’t have time to clear anything out of his office yet. You’ll find everything as he had left it.”
There were a few bouquets of flowers outsid
e the door. Mariam quickly picked them up. “You should have seen it right after we found out what happened. The pile was so high that it made it difficult to even get in. Your father meant a lot to his students.”
“I know,” Jessica said as a sad look creased her face.
Mariam unlocked the door and opened it for them.
“Do you mind if we had some private time in here?” Jessica asked.
“Sure, of course. Take your time.”
Mariam left.
The office was small and cluttered.
Being inside the space suddenly overwhelmed Jessica. The thought and even the smell of her father sent a surge of emotions through her.
Hyder put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.
She bit her lip and nodded.
“I can do this myself. You don’t have to be here.”
“No, I want to help,” she said as she suddenly straightened up. “We have to find his student list.”
During the next twenty minutes they went through everything. It wasn’t easy, as Freeland wasn’t known for being clean and organized. They went through his desk, his shelves, the boxes stacked by the wall, the piles of paper, and even an old briefcase he used to carry until the handle broke.
The list was nowhere to be found.
Jessica looked at Hyder. “What do we do now?”
“I don’t know, but grab a box,” Hyder replied.
“Why?”
“We told the assistant we came to pick up some items. It would look suspicious if we left with nothing.”
On the way out they dropped by Mariam’s desk.
“Did you find what you needed?” she asked.
“Yes, thank you.” Suddenly Jessica had an idea. “Would you have a list of my father’s students?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Can we have a look?”
Mariam looked uneasy. “I’m not sure if we are allowed to show that to non-faculty members.”
“Well, you see, there were so many students at my dad’s funeral. I just wanted to thank them for coming.”
“Oh that’s so sweet of you…” she said. “But I’m sorry. We have strict guidelines about that stuff.”
“I understand,” Jessica said, sounding disappointed.
“You know what? You can go to the Registrar’s Office and speak to them. Maybe they can help you.”
“What time do they close?”
“Around five.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
He was snoring loudly.
Nolan was slumped over with his face planted on the table. Drool was flowing from the side of his mouth.
Captain Ross stood behind the two-way mirror with his hand on his forehead.
Next to him was Sergeant Halton, who was fuming. “See? This is what I have to deal with.”
Nolan had found an empty interview room and was now taking a nap.
“He is using one of the department’s facilities for his personal use,” Halton continued. “That is grounds for dismissal.”
“Sergeant,” the Captain said. “While this looks very bad, I think we need to cut him some slack.”
“Slack?” Halton looked like his eyeballs would pop out. “He is sleeping on the job!”
“I can see that.”
“And still you are defending him?”
“I am. He has been through a lot and if we abandon him, then we are failing to do our duty to an officer.”
“What about his duties? He is failing to do them entirely. On top of that, he is disrespectful, belligerent, and has no respect for authority.”
“He seems to respect me,” the Captain said. “I asked him to come back and he did.”
“What choice did he have?” The Sergeant was beside himself. “If he didn’t, then we would have had to dismiss him.”
“And that is something I will not do.” The Captain’s voice turned hard. “I will not turn my back on him. Detective Nolan was an exemplary member of the force. If tragedy hadn’t struck him, I can guarantee you he would have not stayed on as a detective. He would have moved up, perhaps, even taken your position. So I think we will show some compassion in this matter.”
The Sergeant looked at the Captain. He then blinked and nodded. “As you wish, sir.”
Halton left.
Ross stared at Nolan sleeping peacefully in the room. He wasn’t sure when the last time Nolan had gotten a good night’s sleep. A part of him wanted to let him be, but he was still the Captain of this department. He was taking a lot of heat for bringing Nolan back, and if he continued to show favoritism, he wouldn’t be able to protect him for long.
Ross sighed and went into the room.
He sat across from Nolan and rapped his knuckles on the table.
Nolan kept sleeping.
Ross tapped on the table again. Still no response.
He then slammed his fist on the table.
Nolan jumped up. “Where’s the fire? Someone call 9-1-1.”
“Hello, Tom,” the Captain said calmly.
“Sir?” Nolan looked at him blurry-eyed. “What’re you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“I… I…” Nolan looked around the room. “I was interviewing a suspect.”
“Were you?” the Captain raised an eyebrow. “Where is this suspect now?”
Nolan looked around once again. “He’s not here.”
“You are right, he’s not.”
“Then, sir,” Nolan said seriously. “We need to let everyone know that a dangerous criminal is running around the building.”
“Tom, sit down.”
Nolan did.
“What’s going on?” the Captain said.
Nolan realized he couldn’t bullshit Ross any longer. “It’s been a trying day, sir, so I thought I’d shut my eyes for a bit.”
“That’s understandable. When was the last time you had a drink?”
Nolan made a face. “I’m not sure, what time is it?”
“I’ll assume it’s been many hours, at least.”
Nolan thought about it and nodded.
“So, I’ll gather that your preoccupation with the job has so far had some positive effect on you?”
Nolan shrugged.
The Captain leaned forward. “Then my advice to you, Tom, is to keep doing your job.”
“I’ll try.”
“You will do more than that. I stuck my neck out for you. There are those who want nothing better than to see you never work in the department again.”
“That comes as a shock to me. I thought everybody loved me.”
The Captain didn’t laugh. “Over the years, you’ve managed to piss off a lot of folks here with your smart mouth. You can’t blame them for not wanting some form of revenge on you. Remember Fogel?”
Nolan nodded.
Eli Fogel was an up and coming recruit. He was moving his way up the ranks so fast that people thought he’d be chief in no time. But during his brief stint in the detective division Fogel had a disagreement with Nolan. One day, Nolan found out that Fogel had an assault charge on his record when he was a teenager. Fogel was never convicted, though, as the girl, whom he had been dating at the time, retracted her statements. Jumping on the opportunity, Nolan began joking around the office that Fogel was a ‘wife beater.’ This affected Fogel so much that one night he went on a bender. On his way back from a bar, he crashed his vehicle into a pole.
Eli Fogel was now confined to a wheelchair, his career as a police officer over.
Naturally, Nolan had not forced Fogel to drink that night, but there were those in the division who still blamed him for Fogel’s current state.
What many of them didn’t realize was Nolan also blamed himself for what happened to Fogel that night. It was why now he was forcing himself to drink as much as he did, perhaps, to end up with a fate far worse than Fogel’s.
Ross stood up. “Get back to work, Tom.”
“Yes, sir.”
&nbs
p; TWENTY-EIGHT
Hyder and Jessica were able to find out that the Registrar’s Office did indeed keep lists of all the students in the university, past or present. But that list was stored on a network. Breaking into the office, then somehow finding the passwords required, and then locating the list from the university’s database would be nearly impossible.
They were, however, able to chat up a student employee in the office who explained that hard copies of all the documents were stored securely in the basement of one of the faculty buildings. This was done as a back-up in the event something happened to the digital records.
They further found out that the employee had once dropped off boxes of records in the East Wing of the engineering building.
That was where Hyder and Jessica were going to now.
“I still don’t know about this,” Hyder said.
“If you're uncomfortable with it, then I’ll do it myself,” Jessica said.
Hyder had reservations about their plan. He wasn’t concerned about getting caught. He was more concerned whether it was the right thing to do.
Jessica stopped and looked at him. “Listen, I don’t want to do this anymore than you do. But my father was murdered because he was working on something. If this list leads us to finding out why then I won’t hesitate in the least bit. Think of it this way: we are doing more good than harm.”
Hyder thought about it. “Ok, but we can’t just go in and hope they’ll let two non-faculty members into their storage facility. We’re not students, either.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find a way.” She smiled.
This should have reassured Hyder, but it didn’t.
They proceeded toward the engineering building, found the East Wing, and took the stairs down to the basement. When they entered, they were confronted with a narrow, winding hall. They moved further in and abruptly stopped.
At the end of the hall was an opening. In the middle was a desk with a security guard sitting behind it.
“I don’t think they just store records here,” Hyder said.
“How do you know?” Jessica replied.
The Silent Reporter (A Police Procedural Mystery Series of Crime and Suspense, Hyder Ali #1) Page 7