by Sijal Aziz
So, I go close to him and tell him that your girlfriend was in the toilet and I was a friend of hers from the office. He just stood there, as he didn’t trust me. So, I go close to him with my hand extended as if to shake his hand. The dope comes forward to shake my hand and I drove the knife into him over and over again. The sucker shouted for help so I had to get out of there before anyone came otherwise, I would have taken care of both of them in one day. Case closed.
And you already know who ordered the hit on your girlfriend, it’s that fucking Alexander Cooper. That piece of shit. If I ever get out of here, he is going to get it”
Derek relaxed and felt relieved, “Would you be willing to write it all down?”
“Sure detective, anything for our city’s finest”
Derek put a paper and pen in front of Simon.
Simon picked up the pen and then said, “Just imagine the publicity I will be getting all over the world when you people put this out. There has never been and there will never be a killer like me on this earth.
Think about how many important people I will be taking down with me? I am pretty sure. I will be out of any jail you put me in. But right now, I need the cameras. When are they coming?”
“They will be here as soon as you right the confession. Now start!”
Detective left the room and went to the adjacent room to talk with captain Todd. The room was empty, which was strange. Derek then went to the captain’s office.
Pat, Carson and Jeff were standing in the captain’s room. There were a number of boxes in the captain’s office. Captain Todd was reading a file.
“Come in detective join us. All of these nicely documented files are evidence against Simon Carter”
Derek walked over to a box and took out one of the files. The pictures in the files made detective Derek’s bile rise up to his throat, he immediately closed the file and looked at Pat and Carson who were giving him a knowing look.
Captain Todd continued, “Simon Carter has been quite busy, we have found tens of files on his targets. Each file is very detailed, with information about each victim like name, address, contact number, age, height and gender. There are pictures of the victims before and after the killing. Who ordered the killings, which communication method they used, how long the assignment took and how the payment was made. There must be victims in these files right here from DC. We can close many cases based on the data in these files”
“Yes, captain and his confession proves, that Katherine Hawkins did not commit Matthew Raymond ‘s murder”
Captain ignored what Derek had said, “If what Simon Carter has said, is true, it means that you have been aiding and abetting a fugitive. You can kiss your job good bye, if I decide to go ahead with reporting it to the DA”, detective Derek did not say anything as he knew that captain was not finished yet, “I am not going to do that. Because he is a psychopath killer and I do not trust him. But if I find out that you have broken the law detective, I will have you by the balls”
“Yes, sir”
“Now tell me about this Hawkins, how did she help you in breaking into the driverless car hard drive. Jeff told me that he was unable to retrieve the data from the drive for three days and she did it in under 8 hours”
“Yes, sir, not only that, she is the one who found out that Alexander Cooper was married to Jasmine Al Abdali. He was set off by her death. He wants to kill Americans in the same way his sweetheart died. Ms. Hawkins informed me that during the commission of the kidnapping Alexander Cooper told her that every American will pay for what they did to his wife and kid”
“Kid?”
“His wife was pregnant when she was killed”
“Oh”
“Captain we need to focus all our energies on Cooper. He had planned something big. We need to get to the bottom of it otherwise thousands of people will die”
Captain Todd was thoughtful for moment. Simon Carter’s arrest had literally thrown a goldmine into the captain’s lap. But Alexander Cooper’s case was a lot bigger. There was no harm in checking into it deeper before the FBI got involved.
“Our forensic department has gone through Cooper’s laptops and they have found nothing suspicious in them. If Hawkins is as good as you both claim, bring her here and show her the laptops”, the captain said looking at both Derek and Jeff.
“Should I arrest Ms. Hawkins?”
“Yes, I want you to place her under arrest, but I don’t want you to process her arrest. Take her to the conference room and give her his laptops. We need to know where and when Alexander Cooper was planning to launch his attack and if he was working with someone else as well. Pat, Carson and Jeff will also be working on your team. Go set yourselves in the conference room”
Derek headed straight to Kate’s hospital to tell her the news. Captain Todd wasn’t as stupid as Derek thought, when it came to his future.
CHAPTER 30
Kate couldn’t wait to get out of the hospital. She knew she looked terrible and smelled even worse. She wanted to take a shower, but she didn’t have any clothes.
Derek knocked lightly on the door and entered Kate’s room.
“Derek! I need to take a shower and change my clothes. I must look and smell like a dumpster”
She blurted out before Derek could say anything to her.
“That can be arranged. Captain has told me to arrest you but not process your arrest”
“What does that mean?”
“That means that although I will arrest you, but your arrest never makes it to the paper and we never inform the DA that you have been arrested so they don’t move you to the jail. Captain wants you to work from inside the station and assist us in locating important information in Alexander Cooper’s laptops. Our forensic teams have gone through them and they have found nothing”
“Well I suppose, that is good news. What if I am unable to find anything in his laptops?”
“I know you will. Now let’s get you cleaned up”, Derek said helping Kate get up from the bed.
“Can we go to my apartment? I have all my clothes there”
“Your apartment has been sealed by the police, so we cannot go there. It is still a crime scene and the murder is still under investigation”
“Well how am I supposed to get my clothes? I don’t have any money and we cannot go to my apartment”
“We can go to my apartment. We can buy clothes for you on the way over there”
“Thank you, I do not know what I could have done without you”
“Always”
“I must look like hell and smell like shit”
“You are right, you look all black and blue, nothing like the beauty I met yesterday, and you do not smell like shit but like a hospital cleaning solution”
Kate looked hurt for a moment but then let out a laugh, “That was not very subtle detective. If I didn’t know you better, I would say you are trying blow me off”
Derek turned to look at Kate and once he made sure that she was looking into his eyes, “On the contrary, Kate, I think you are the most beautiful and smart woman I have ever met” Derek put his arm around Kate’s waste and drew her closer to him lightly, aware of the bruises on her body and gave her a light kiss on her lips. Kate kissed him back and then backed off, “Should we leave? I don’t want you to leave me because I smell like bleach”
Derek smiled and responded, “Yes, let’s go”
Derek gave Kate his arm to steady her and Kate took it.
“Well this is something new”
“What?”
“When I usually arrest someone, who has broken the law, I prefer to put handcuffs on them. I don’t wrap them around my arm and walk them to my car”
“Yes, it is a bit different from last time. Isn’t it? Detective?”
“Maybe we can make it even better, if I arrest you for the third time”
“Hope that never happens. But you can put handcuffs on me anytime you want to?”
Derek stopped and looked at Kate
, she had a mischievous smile on her face, “I am looking forward to it”
“Me too”, Kate replied, “But we have to close this damn case first and get out of this whole thing”
Derek put his hand on her and said, “We will, I am sure of it”
Once they were seated and Derek started driving the car, he said, “I don’t understand something”
“What?”
“When was Cooper planning on killing people? Sure, he put a backdoor in the software but killing people in every street will take a lot of manpower. I mean, one person cannot control all the drones. So where would he have found thousands of people?”
“Hmm. If I were him, I would wait for an event where there were thousands of people, so that I could do maximum damage”, Kate replied.
At that moment, they crossed a huge billboard, with pictures of president Trump and Alexander Cooper on it with the caption, “The biggest event in the history of America! We did it! United States becomes the first nation on the face of the earth to use drones for public safety. Join us for this historic occasion”
Derek and Kate both looked at each other and said together “He was planning on killing the people at the event”
“I wonder if the drones are going to be armed at this event”, Kate said excitedly.
“If they are, it would provide a perfect playing field for Cooper to murder thousands of people. Hell, he could even kill the president of United States and every dignitary there”, Derek said.
“When is the event supposed to take place?”, Kate asked.
“In two days”
Kate was thoughtful for a moment. Derek looked at her, “What?”
“Well the billboard says that Alexander Cooper was to join the event, how would he control the drones while attending the event?”
“Can’t he pre-program them?”
“You are quick learner detective. Of course, they can be pre-programmed but with the first shot the people will run away in every direction, how would he know where to hit them and how would he know where the president would be standing?”
“Good point. So, you think he is definitely working with someone?”
“Unfortunately, yes, there is no way on earth that he could pre-plan for something so unpredictable”
“You are good Kate. How come you didn’t join the police force? With a brain like this you could have solved every murder in the city”
“I just hope we can stop him”
They stopped in front of the Macys, they both almost ran to the women section where Kate picked up a pair of jeans and an informal shirt for herself along with a pair of underwear and bra. Derek paid for it.
“I will pay it back in full Derek”
“No need. Remember I have your wallet back at the station, I will just take the money back from there”, Derek said jokingly.
Kate held him by the arm laughing.
They reached Derek’s apartment building in around 25 minutes. Kate liked Derek’s apartment the moment she entered it. It wasn’t very big, but it was comfortable and inviting.
“Would you like a drink before taking the shower? I have cold beer?”
“Maybe later”
“Ok. Let me show you where everything is”, Derek led Kate to the bathroom. The bathroom was huge, as if it was made for a bigger apartment. It had cabinets on one side for towels and bathrobes and ceiling length windows on the other side. It had a shower cabin and a bath tub.
“Wow, this is big”
“Yes. The person who was living here before me, used to spend a lot of his time in the bathroom”
“Really?”
“No, I am just kidding. But that is the only logical explanation. Sometimes I feel that my bathroom and bedroom are almost the same size. If you need anything, I will be right outside, just call me”
“I will”, Kate said, and Derek left.
Kate turned around to look at herself in the mirror. She was looking at a woman with a badly swollen face. She wondered what Derek saw in her, in this condition. She slowly took off her clothes and underwear and put them in the basket.
She went into the shower and let the warm water flow all over her. She had had pain killers but still she could feel her ribs ache.
Derek went to his kitchen and put on a fresh pot of coffee for both of them.
Kate was done with the shower in 15 minutes. She looked at herself in the mirror again. Her face looked a bit better after the shower but still there were blue and black marks and swelling. Her ribs still hurt. She dried herself carefully and put on new clothes. Although she still looked like shit, but at least she smelled better.
Once she was out, Derek handed her a cup of coffee, “I know with the painkillers in your system, you must be feeling sleepy. The caffeine will be good for you”
“Thank you, I really needed that”
They both finished the coffee quickly, doing small talk.
Kate wondered whether Derek offered coffee or wine to every woman before he banged them. She blushed at the thought. If Derek saw the blush, he didn’t comment on it.
Derek saw the blush, he wanted nothing more than to take Kate in his arms and make love to her. But with the case and the fact that Kate was badly bruised, he would have to wait.
“I better call captain Todd, before he gets a heart attack”, Derek said out loud.
“Yes, let’s go”
They both left the apartment for the station.
Once they arrived at the station, detective Derek went to Captain’s Todd’s room with Kate. Captain Todd was pacing in his room when they reached.
“What took you so long detective?”
“Just the traffic captain. This is Ms. Hawkins”
“I know who she is, I hope you have already briefed her. Jeff is in the conference room with Cooper’s laptops.
The tech is going through Cooper’s phones. He has two phone sets one for his official use and another one, which we suspect to be a burner phone. It was found in the safe of his office.
Ms. Hawkins, I want you to know that although you are clear of the murder charges, but there is still the matter of you running away from police. Your first task of the day is to go through Alexander Cooper’s laptops.
Jeff had been going through them and he has informed me that they are not password protected and there is nothing of value in them. I find that very hard to believe. Either Jeff, doesn’t know what he is talking about or Cooper has another laptop stashed somewhere.
If you assist us in this case, I will talk to the DA and tell him how helpful you have been. I am sure he will drop the charges of running away from police, if you can show good results”
“I will try my best, captain”, Kate said not sure if she would be able to find anything of value in Cooper’s laptops.
“Captain, Ms. Hawkins is of the opinion, that Alexander Cooper was planning to launch the attack at the drone policing launch event”
“So, he can’t right now, because he has been shot and is in the hospital”
“Yes and no”, Kate said.
“Would you care to explain Ms. Hawkins?”
“Well, Cooper was supposed to be attending the event. He could not have carried out the attack while he was there. If he wanted to carryout mass killings or kill the president, he would need support from someone. So, we believe that he was working with someone”
“What if he didn’t want to carryout mass killings or kill the president of the United States, what if he had planned it for later?”, Captain Todd asked.
“It doesn’t make sense, captain. Why would he go through all the trouble jeopardizing his company and putting his life on the line for a few people? We think that this was his big plan, to kill thousands of people at the launch”, Derek said.
“I still do not believe that. But there is no harm in testing your theory. If he is working with someone, he must have met her or him over the past four years after the death of his wife. Someone who hates America and would be sympathetic to
his cause. I want you to start your investigation on this angle. Is there anything else?”
“No captain”
“Ok, go now and keep me updated”
Kate and Derek scrambled out of the room.
“Let me show you the conference room”, Derek said and led Kate to the conference room.
They entered the room where Jeff was sitting in front of a laptop.
“Kate this is Jeff, Jeff this is Kate, I told you about her. She is the one who broke into the car’s hard drive”
Jeff got up and shook Kate’s hand, “It’s an honor to meet you”
“Nice to meet you as well, Jeff. So, these are the laptops?”, Kate said sitting down with Jeff.
“Yes, but here is the thing. Both his laptops are not protected by any passwords.
One has tons of office stuff on it.
The other one contains movies and songs with some short programs that he compiled himself. So far there is nothing in there that appears out of the ordinary”
“Hmm. Let us see, which one is his home laptop?”
“This one”, Jeff picked up the laptop from his left and handed it over to Kate. Kate sat down next to Jeff and Derek sat down next to Kate. Pat and Carson, who were sitting in their seats got up and stood behind Kate and Jeff.
Kate turned the laptop on and as Jeff said, it was not password protected. It was a Mac Pro. Kate started going through the files one at a time. After about half an hour, she was about to announce the same conclusion, that there was nothing of value in Cooper’s laptop, but then she thought of another angle.
Captain Todd also came into the room and stood alongside Pat and Carson.
Kate checked the solid-state disk space on the laptop. It had a whopping 4 terabyte hard disk.
Kate checked the size of files, that could be seen on the mac. The files were taking 80GB space on the hard disk.
She went into the system preferences and checked the storage there. The system showed that the files on the laptop took up 2 terabytes of space.