by Luis Samways
Five
‘I’m just saying Ben; get the reports in before five. I need to file the 10’s and 4’s before Wall Street closes. I’m faxing the returns over to them before New York goes down for the night…I know right…The city that never sleeps my ass…Yeah sure, I’ll catch you tomorrow…Please get the returns done. Thanks Ben.’ Henry Ledger puts the office phone down. He shuffles the files on his desk and hits the power button on the computer monitor in front of him. He buzzes his secretary.
‘I’m going out for lunch. Hold my calls until two.’
He gets up from his plush office chair and grabs his suit jacket that’s draped over it. He wriggles himself into it and takes a deep breath. He turns around and see’s Boston in the massive office window, akin to a pent house view. He brushes his sweaty hands on his sides. His office door swings open. He quickly turns around and see’s three men enter. They are all wearing Italian suits. They are well built and have a scouring purpose on their faces. The lead man, a brown haired business type with a grey streak through his hair extends his hand out to Henry.
Henry remains confused and takes a few steps backwards. The front man still has his hand extended. He moves closer to the scared business man as both of his companions close the towering office door behind them and stand guard side by side. The door closes with an echoing thud, like bars on a prison cell. The front man with the grey streak finally puts his hand down, a smile still donned on his brown storied skin.
‘I’m Antonio Bandello,’ The Italian man says, standing tall in his expensive suit. His eyes dig a hole into Henry’s conscious and fills it with dread. The golden butterfly cufflinks the big man is wearing catch Henry’s eyes. He immediately knows why they are here. He relaxes and walks forwards, tilting the office chair away so he can shake the burly man’s hand. Antonio smiles as he grips the business man’s hand with a firm and colossal grip.
‘I was expecting you three hours ago,’ Henry says while sitting back down in his office chair. He waves Antonio to the seat in front of his desk. Antonio sits down and lays his hands on the large oak desk. He taps his fingers a few times in a rhythm of terror as Henry tries to collect his thoughts.
‘Yes, I know. There was a hold up. We do apologise for the inconvenience Mr Ledger,’ Says Antonio in his thick husky voice.
‘Don’t worry about it. So, are we on schedule?’
‘Yes. We are searching everywhere for the missing merchandise’
‘Have you come up with any leads?’
‘No.’
‘That’s unacceptable Antonio’
‘Let me remind you whom you are talking to Henry.’
Henry swallows hard as he looks across at the large man. Antonio grips his cufflinks, rubbing his wrist with his fist clenched tight.
‘You don’t need to remind me of anything Mr Bandello. Just remember we need to find our property’
Six
‘I don’t know how it got there. I just turned up, and that was there. Right on the floor, nearly a hundred people were gawping at the box. No one called it in though,’ Officer Santiago tells Detective Mullins as he lights up a cigarette under the crime scene tent. Forensics was adept and precise as usual. They had erected the white tent in record time. It was already up when Mullins had arrived, twenty five minutes after officer Santiago showed up on the scene.
‘Sorry Detective, you can’t smoke in here. It will contaminate the scene,’ a woman says while putting on her protective mask.
‘I doubt it,’ says Mullins as he opens the zipper on the large tent and throws the butt out. He zips it back shut and turns back to Officer Santiago.
‘So let me get this straight. You turn up on the scene and see around a hundred people surrounding a toppled giant Christmas tree…’ Says Mullins
‘It’s not unusual for the tree to blow over, but this call was specifically about someone actually tipping the tree over.’
‘Right…and no one even rang about the box?’
‘Nope, must have been shock sir.’
‘I guess,’ Sighs Mullins
‘Well they did find a Christmas gift box with severed limbs in it. That would shock me as well.’
‘Human limbs?’
There is an awkward silence in the room.
‘Yes…Why do you ask?’
‘I thought maybe they could have been artificial. Some sort of Christmas prank, maybe a scare tactic.’
‘Unfortunately they are real sir, by the looks of them, female. CSI are saying that from what they have seen already, the woman in question was most likely young. Maybe five foot one, a hundred pounds. Around eighteen years old.’
Mullins looks on, impressed.
‘Wow they can tell all that from a set of legs?’
‘Nothings certain until an autopsy is done. The only thing is, about sixty per cent of the body is missing.’
Mullins brushes his hand through his sleek hair.
‘I’m sure the rest of her will turn up somewhere’
Seven
‘Don’t go turning up in some gutter now will you Frank?’ The pudgy dark desk clerk says as Frank signs the release forms. He smiles down at the bulky Detective as Frank rolls the pen back to the clerk; the man’s heavy finger taps the rolling pen to a stop. Frank rips the yellow copy from the clipboard and hands the white copy over to the man. He winks at the friendly man as he reaches for a cigarette in his tanned leather jacket, pulling out the bright red and white pack that’s familiar to most Americans. The heavy man winces as he looks around at the packed hospital foyer.
‘You can’t smoke in here Frank. It’s a hospital,’ the desk clerk says in a firm but informal way.
Frank grabs the unlit cigarette out of his mouth and flicks it at the dark man’s chest, it bounces off the blue hospital scrubs he’s wearing and hits the glistening pearl white tiles at his feet.
‘I’m thinking about quitting anyway,’ Frank says.
He turns around and makes his way out of the hospital towards the sturdy automatic doors. They open up with a swoosh and suck in as the cold Boston air hits Frank’s face. The desk clerk looks on in admiration as Frank turns around to give him another look.
‘I’ll see you real soon Frank, real soon,’ the man laughs as he waves Frank off.
‘Whatever Charlie, keep up the good work,’ Frank says as he walks through the stout doorway and out of the hospital. He sighs as he looks up at the rain clouds forming in the Boston midday sky. He darts his vision to his right and lets out another mouthful of air. The taxi rank is empty.
‘Fuck waiting for a taxi. I’ll walk home,’ He says to himself. He steps a few feet forward and stops still as he sees a yellow cab in the distance approach the Hospital.
‘Taxi it is,’ Frank says to himself as he sticks his hand out, hailing the slow moving cab.
The car turns into the Hospital’s rounded road and veers towards Frank. It slows down as it approaches him. The bumper hits the kerb as the wheel flicks onto the pavement. The windows are deep black, tinted beyond normal. Frank catches the name of the Taxi Company on the driver’s door. He doesn’t recognize it. Before he can react the back window rolls down, a pair of gloved hands pierce through the frame. The back of the cab is as black as the cars windows, as the gloved hands toss something bright out of the window. The mounted car swerves to the left and launches off the pavement. The tire tracks kick up smoke and dust at Frank as he watches in amazement at the speeding Taxi as it bolts back out towards the hospital entrance and disappears into the horizon.
Frank looks down at his feet and spots a box shaped package wrapped in Christmas paper on the floor a few feet from him. It’s tied up with a bow and shines in the afternoon overcast sun. Frank kneels down on the ground and runs his finger across the paper wrapping on the box. It feels sleek and wet as he watches the corners of the package redden. He gets back up and reaches for his phone. He presses speed dial as he watches the blood trickle out of the package at his feet.
Eight
>
‘Good tea, I like it milky, and it seems as if you have gotten the right sort of formula…so to speak,’ Humphries says as he takes another sip.
The white china echoes off the sleek marble table as he gently puts the delicate cup back on the table’s stonewashed surface. Humphries is a striking man, the sort of man that fits well into a suit, the type of man that could only be envisioned in a high price two piece tux. There have been days when he has been spotted wearing nothing but a polo shirt and shorts, but even on the golf course he looks pristine. His trademark butterfly cufflinks clang on the table as he taps his finger on the rim of the sturdy china. He looks across at the bewildered Henry Ledger as he sits across the other end of the table. Humphries nods the tea wielding waiter away. The large doors to the conference room shut forcibly as the waiter disappears out of the room. Ledger looks on nervously as he rubs his hands on his trousers trying to get rid of the clammy feeling in his hands. Humphries smiles at Henry as he takes yet another sip of his tea, this time taking his time enjoying the rich taste in his mouth. He finally looks at the folder in the middle of the long stone desk. He reaches his arm out and grabs it. He casually opens the folder and rolls his eyes down the documents. Humphries’s face changes from a placid look of enjoyment to a stern look as he glances at Henry over the file in his hands.
‘So, its grim news then,’ Humphries says as he flicks the documents back on the table.
Henry Ledger swallows hard as he looks at the smart businessman in front of him.
‘Well sir, the numbers are off,’ Says Henry
‘I can see that, but why are they off in the first place?’
‘Some of the girls have gone missing’
Humphries tilts his head to the side as he digests Ledger’s tone.
‘What do you mean…gone missing?’
‘They just did sir. We checked the facility, it’s like they were taken away in the blink of an eye.’
‘Elaborate’
‘Well sir, we checked the CCTV and the cells were untouched, unopened and clear. Next thing you know, we get breakfast underway and cart it to the cells. They were gone.’
‘How many?’
‘All of them sir.’
Humphries sighs loudly as he takes another long sip of tea. He thumps the china cup down and gets up. He pats his suit down and grabs the files. Henry looks on in confusion as he gets up off his chair.
‘I’ll be in touch,’ Humphries says as he opens the heavy set door and walks on through letting the door swing back shut. The sound startles Henry as he looks on at the empty silence in the room.
Nine
‘Anything on the victim?’ Asks Santiago as he stares at the CSI surrounding the crime scene. The sound of popping and hissing is fierce as the group of forensic officers take pictures of the area. The light’s from the camera’s temporarily blind Mullins and Santiago as the gleam of the flashing bulbs bounce off the surface of the white tent. One of the CSI personal turns around to face the two men. He takes off his goggles.
‘Well from what I can tell, nothing much, as I already said, the victim was female, and that’s about it. We have taken some DNA from the limbs and sent it off to the crime lab. Other than that all we can do is wait.’
‘Have we got any leads on the killer or the people who tipped the tree over?’ Asks Detective Mullins as he scans the floor, looking at the yellow triangle picks making the area.
‘I’m afraid not. The place is clean. It’s incredible actually, seeing this is a busy area in the main street. A lot of shoppers and people pass through here every day. You would expect there to be some sort of evidence of that happening, but we have nothing, not one single strand of rubbish or foot tracks.’
Officer Santiago shakes his head in disappointment as he taps his foot on the ground impatiently.
‘How is that even possible?’ He asks.
‘Beats me, the place is cleaner than any public road I’ve ever seen,’ says the CSI man as he scratches his temple, the white sweat lines on his forehead from the pressure of the straps on his goggles are shining in the dim light.
‘Is it possible that the road was cleaned?’ Asks Detective Mullins
‘Well it’s a bit of a long shot, giving the time of the incident, it wouldn’t make sense to clean the street at that time of the day, but I guess anything is possible.’
‘Okay, I’m going to go down to the local contracted company that cleans this area and ask them if and why they cleaned it,’ says Mullins as he reaches for the zip on the tent.
‘How do you know which company cleans this street?’ Asks the CSI man as he fiddles some more with his goggles.
‘I’m a Detective, It’s my job to know who does what in this city, plus we were working on a racketeering case that involved the company that cleans 8th street and the surrounding area. So my guess is that they still clean the area.’
‘Is the case still on going,’ asks Santiago with intrigue as he walks up to Mullins.
‘Nah, they have some good lawyers.’
‘Don’t they all,’ says the CSI man as he puts his goggles back on and carries on snapping pictures as Mullins and Santiago leave the tent.
Ten
‘Okay, just stay there and I’ll send a patrol car to pick you up…Don’t worry about him, I’ll sort him out, you stay put and as I said, I’ll have a car meet you,’ Chief Shaw hangs up the phone and looks overwhelmed for a few minutes. A knock on his office door startles him back into reality.
‘Who is it?’ he shouts as he shuffles his case files on the desk.
‘It’s me, Alvarez.’
‘Shit,’ Shaw says under his breath. ‘Come in,’ he finally says as he finished tidying his desk. The door creaks open and Commissioner Alvarez sways on through holding a case file in his sturdy polarized grip. He slams the heavy folder down on Chief Shaw’s desk next to the tidy files the chief was stacking high moments before. Shaw looks on in confusion.
‘What’s this?’ He asks as he gestures at the new files on his desk.
‘Homework,’ Alvarez says while smiling.
‘What for exactly?’ Asks Shaw impatiently.
‘Every case needs a backdrop, some sort of history if you like. Believe it or not, this case we are working on has a compelling distant cousin so to speak.’
‘What case? We have quite a few Sir.’
Alvarez sighs in annoyance at the ignorance of Shaw.
‘The Christmas gift box decapitations.’
‘Is that what we are calling it now?’
‘Yes, and I would appreciate it if you would take this more seriously.’
‘With all due respect sir, I have an enormous amount of work already. Some of these cases have been open for a good while now, I can’t just drop everything for this one off Christmas prank.’
‘This isn’t some Christmas prank Shaw. This is much more than a normal case.’
‘Yes Sir, I understand, but until we have more on this, we can’t drop our current case load. It will be given the attention it needs, nothing less, nothing more.’
Alvarez shakes his head in disapproval. He turns around and reaches for the door handle when the door opens suddenly. He steps a few feet back and is met by a small eyed uniformed patrol man. He smiles at the Commissioner nervously.
‘I’m sorry to disturb you two…’
‘Haven’t you heard of knocking Officer…?’
‘It’s important. Detective Frank McKenzie just walked in. He has some evidence with him relating to the recent decapitation case.’
Eleven
Detective Mullins puts the shifter in neutral and pulls the hand break on. He catches a glimpse of himself in the rear view mirror. He looks worn out, burnt to a crisp. His recent escapades in New Mexico have given his skin a reddened texture. He burns easily in the sun; the long days in Mexico have taken a lot out of him. It was his first assignment as a Detective. Ever since the shifting events of the summer where he and Frank McKenzie were involved in the mu
ch publicized case of Connor Chase, both men had hit peaks in their careers. Mullins had been promoted, McKenzie had been hospitalised. Both of them still felt fresh off the battlefield. Both of them wanted to move on. Mullins shook his head at the thought of Connor Chase still being at large. He felt at ease though, knowing that a case like Connor Chase wouldn’t come around twice in one life time, or so he thought. He breathed in deeply and exhaled. The air exited his body much like the moral he sourly lacked. It had been a long couple of months. In between Boston’s worst crisis in recent memory and chasing cartels in Mexico, this case felt a bit more relaxed. Even if the circumstances seemed bleak, decapitations were worlds apart from bomb scares and maniac killers on the loose. Mullins felt as if this case was a walk in the park compared to the past few months. He felt confident and tested. Surely his luck would kick in, and an easy few months would pass where every murder and robbery in the Boston area would be solved by him. He wanted to be a Detective, but figured that a few more weeks like the one’s he had just witnessed wouldn’t be missed. He needed a break, an easy case. Even if this current one seemed barbaric, he figured that he would be able to get to the bottom of it. Maybe it was just a one off for all he knew, it didn’t matter because now he was deep into it. His mind was focused, and his woes were held back. It was time to do some work. He stepped out of his car, a 1973 Mustang Boss 302. It was a flash car, black, with a white streak through it. The marginal pay rise he had received helped him qualify for the finance the bank was asking for the purchase on the car. Mullins hadn’t always imagined himself as a flash guy, but being a Detective meant you needed to look the part. And the way his career was going, car chases didn’t seem unlikely so a fast car it was. He shut the glistening heavy door of the car. It echoed in the derelict side street. He looked up at the sign over the way. “Mason Humphries Street Cleaning”