by Mir Quadri
On realizing that the tables are now turned at Dan, Dan was left with no words. He looked at Sarah and murmured “when…did I call?”
“What? You’re stressed idiot!” said Sarah brushing Dan off to a corner.
“That’s okay. I was just kidding. How’re you holding up, Dan?” asked Evelyn.
“Everything is good ma'am. I just had a word with the doctor, who confirmed that Ms White is stable right now. She is out of coma, but unconscious because of the medication. She will wake up anytime now” said Dan when they got interrupted.
“Hey boss! Morning” said Kate emerging from the room.
“Looks like this is some kind of a reunion” said Evelyn smiling.
“He is here. Her brother, Matthew White” said Kate.
“Wow, that was quick. Is he in there with her right now?” enquired Evelyn.
“Yes. He flew-in this morning. He was very anxious to see her, so I brought him here directly. I will take him to the station and interview him later. Just giving them a few minutes” said Kate.
After a brief moment of thinking seriously, Evelyn responded “Kate, I was thinking I will take him in my car to the station. Maybe a more informal meeting will help him to be more open with me”
“Sure boss, sounds good” replied Kate enthusiastically.
“Alright, we have a plan” declared Evelyn. After a brief pause, she continued “Dan, did you get a chance to look into Mr Zhu?” asked Evelyn
“Yes ma'am. I wanted to talk to you about our colorful Mr. Zhu. He is one piece of work” he said, while fondling papers with one hand and trying to see where he could put the mug when Sarah offered to hold it for him. He gave her the cup and went through some papers from an orange colored folder.
“I have a friend in the District Attorney’s office who was kind enough to let me have a more detailed look into his profile” he said.
“Is that friend a he or a she?” asked Sarah.
“It’s a he. He is actually my sister’s friend and I just know him casually. Why is that important?” asked Dan.
“Nope, just checking” said Sarah while Evelyn and Kate looked at each other and smiled.
“Okay, so what did this friend reveal to you?” asked Evelyn.
“Well, for starters, Stephen Zhu is not his full name. His full name is Stephen Tyangu Zhu, or Stephen T Zhu, per his Social Security. He moved to the States when he was four. His mother died when he was ten and that’s when his father married again to a Chinese American lady called Stephanie Chen. They had one more son, named Evan Zhu. We don’t have anything on his brother yet. His father died of a heart attack when Stephen was 15. Stephen apparently dropped out of college when he was twenty one and went on a trip to China. He lived in China for two years making some connections with some top businessmen. He then came back to the States at twenty three and soon married the daughter of a big banker, Chloe Bell” said Dan when he got interrupted.
“The same Bell Corporations, Bell?” asked Kate.
“Yes. He married Bell corporations founder’s daughter. How?, no one knows but he married her within the first year of getting back to the States. Rumor has it that he was a charmer!” said Dan and after a brief pause, continued “anyways, after inheriting some wealth from his father in law, he went back to China and signed a deal with two major banking partners and opened up his very own Chinese bank here in the States.”
“Hmm… quite a business man” muttered Evelyn.
“Well, that’s not all ma'am. He then started dating his young secretary, Ms White while he was already married to Ms Bell. It’s said that this was a torrid affair! Anyways, a couple of years after that, Ms Bell died in a car accident and one year later, both Mr Zhu and Ms White got married. So as I said, this Zhu has quite a colorful history” said Dan.
“Yeah, until his throat was slit” mumbled Sarah.
“Yeah” replied Dan.
“So Ms White was his second wife?” asked Evelyn.
“Yes, ma'am” answered Dan.
“This is good work, Dan. How did you do all this in a day?” enquired Evelyn.
“He did not sleep at all ma'am” said Sarah.
“Well, good job” said Evelyn and continued “you should get some rest now. It’s already eleven in the morning, you should take the day off and come back fresh tomorrow”
She then turned to Kate and said “Kate, this is good information but I still want to know more about his step brother and his mother. I also want to know more about his first wife and her death, autopsy report and everything there is to know about Mr Zhu”
“Sure, boss. I can take it from here” said Kate.
“I am good ma'am. Honestly, this is the first case where I am feeling that I am contributing to the team. I would like to continue investigating him” interrupted Dan.
“Well, you have done a lot already Dan and we are a team. Take a few hours off and come back fresh. There are plenty of things to follow-up on. Here, give me the file” said Evelyn and took the orange colored file from Dan’s hands.
“There are a few pictures of his family in there too with their current addresses etc” he said while handing over the file. Evelyn handed over the file to Kate elegantly and said “make a copy of this file and keep it at my desk before you take off. I will go over it later today’ she said.
“Sure, boss. Let me introduce you to her brother who’s sitting inside the room” said Kate jabbing her thumb backward.
“Sure. Nice work again, Dan. I will see you later” said Evelyn as Dan and Sarah started walking out and Kate and Evelyn walked into the room.
This was an unusually bright hospital room. The numbers on the monitors were glowing with a constant beeping sound like a clock ticking in the background — only that this was actually her heart rate beeper. There were four police officers standing in the corner, attentive and ready to shoot if something were to go wrong. This was a large room as compared to the general rooms at a hospital. In the middle of the room was the big bed, and there she was, lying down in deep sleep, with a million wires connected from her body to a string of machines surrounding the bed. Just beside the bed was a big chair and a big guy, over weight, munching a donut and reading the newspaper through his glasses.
Kate walked up to this man and said “Mr White. This is my boss Evelyn Monroe who is leading this investigation”. Matthew got up and shook hands with Evelyn.
“Nice to meet you, Mr White. I am sorry for the circumstances we are meeting in” said Evelyn.
“Sure. Any news on the man who did this to her?” asked Matthew.
Evelyn was a little surprised of who Matthew is referring to. After a few seconds she responded “Sorry, Mr White, who are you referring to?”
“The scumbag Mind Hunter who did this to my sister” he retorted.
“Mr White, the police is chasing multiple leads at the moment. We are not really certain who did this to your sister” she said.
“I know it’s him. This happened because he played all that mind tricks on her. And you guys just let him go?” he retorted again, this time in anger.
“I am sorry for what happened to your sister Mr White. Please believe me, investigating this case is really important for our department and we have plenty of people on the case” said Evelyn.
“What leads do you have so far?” he asked anxiously.
“Sorry, we can’t give you the details without jeopardizing the case” she replied.
“I want to help. Tell me what I can do” asked Matthew impatiently.
“Absolutely. This is why we had you fly over here. Do you mind if we go back to the station and you can give us your statement. We would like to get some details about your sister” she said while turning towards the door and continued jabbing her fingers out “I am parked right up and I can drive you back.”
Matthew rolled the newspaper he was reading from and kissed his sister on the forehead and murmured “I will be back soon”. He then joined Evelyn and Kate out through the door
.
“I will follow you guys behind” said Kate while walking in the corridor.
“Sure, remember — a copy on my desk before you start working on it” reminded Evelyn pointing out to the orange folder.
“You got it, boss!” said Kate while all three of them walked down the stairs and to their cars. Evelyn opened the car door for Matthew to get in, turned the car on and started driving.
“So Matthew… can I call you Matthew?” she asked while driving.
“Sure” responded Matthew.
“How old are you Matthew?” she asked.
“I am forty” answered Matthew.
“Any family…wife, kids perhaps?”
“Nope. No wife and kids yet.”
“I see. Are you one of the kinds who don’t want to marry because you don’t believe in the whole business?” she chuckled.
“Not really. Just never thought of it like that” he said.
“Well, it’s fine. I am not judging!’ she grinned and continued “When did you move to LA?”
“About ten years ago. There isn’t much to do here, you know, in terms of writing” he said.
“You mean no Hollywood?” she chuckled.
“Well, yeah”
“Were you and your sister close?” she asked.
“Well, not really. I did see her on her wedding. We did text a couple of times in the middle. I think the last time she texted me was a couple of years ago” he said.
“That’s strange. You guys grew up together right? Generally, siblings of similar age group are close, especially when they grow up together” she said.
“Yeah, I mean, we were close, until she was in college. Something happened to her post that, she became very different. Like overtly ambitious about her career, and for the lack of a better word, very aggressive in her nature. I am and never was that aggressive! I mean, considering that I have been a writer for fifteen years and not being able to publish anything is proof enough. Anyways, I think after college is when we drifted a little and things never went back to the way things were before” he explained.
“Okay, per her record, she did Masters in Business Administration at St Peters, correct?” she asked.
“Yeah, you’re right. Then St. Peters now St Davis, but you’re right?” he said.
The moment he said that, Evelyn suddenly realized something. Her eyes spread like she had seen a devil.
“What did you just say?” she asked hastily.
“I said you’re right!” he confirmed.
“No no, tell me about the University again? Where did she get her degree from?” she asked.
“St. Peters” he responded.
“St. Peters was shut down few years ago, correct?”
“Well, not technically. It was merged into St. Davis right? Well, I guess you can say it’s shut down but technically speaking, it was merged into St Davis almost eight years ago. I read they retained the faculty, students etc…” he said as Evelyn suddenly applied brakes to the car and pulled over to the shoulder as cars behind her started honking on this busy freeway.
“Geez! What happened?” asked Matthew anxiously.
“Give me a minute, Matthew” said Evelyn and got out of the car. She pulled her mobile phone out while walking a little away from her car and called Sarah.
“Ma'am. Did you really call me?!” said Sarah on the phone.
“Sarah, are you back at the station?” asked Evelyn
“Yes” replied Sarah
“Great. I want you to pull all the records for St Davis University, Miami for last twenty years” said Evelyn.
“Okay, anything particular I should look for?” enquired Sarah, still on the phone.
“No, just tell me was there any merger or anything done for this University?” she asked.
“Okay, hang on ma'am. I would need a few minutes” replied Sarah.
“Okay, I am on my way. I will be there as soon as possible. I am five minutes out. See you in a jiffy” she said and disconnected the call. She then rushed back into her car and started driving. She then turned on the police siren to clear the traffic and started speeding up.
“What’s the rush?” asked Matthew anxiously.
“I need to rush to the station, Matthew. Sit tight” she said as she speeded through the traffic and reached the station. In her hurry, she just braked the car into the gate, got down and ran straight to Sarah’s desk.
“Do you have the information ready?” she asked anxiously.
“Yes, ma'am” said Sarah and continued while reading from her laptop screen “you were right. St Davis University was initially called as St. Peter’s university. This was done as a mark of respect for the people of this community, who migrated over from Britain almost hundred years ago. This bill was passed ten years ago and the name was finally changed eight years ago. They also put up a statue of St Peter Davis on the site, but renamed the University to include his family name, Davis, instead of his first name Peter, as the name of this University”
“Can you pull the curriculum of Masters in Business Administration course?” she asked.
“Of course… umm..yeah, here it is” she said while pulling out the curriculum on the screen.
“Okay, any mention of any Psychology subject” she asked.
“What, in Business Administration, I don’t think so ma'am” replied Sarah.
“Just check Sarah” said Evelyn.
“Well, as I said ma'am, no Psychology in the curriculum” said Sarah.
Evelyn had a sigh of relief when she heard that. She blew some air off her mouth and said “great!, I was scared there for a moment.”
“Scared about what ma'am?” asked Sarah.
In the midst of this exciting conversation, a thick voice suddenly interrupted them “Evelyn, you have minute?”
Evelyn turned around and looked at Harry, who was standing with another tall, skinny, black descend guy. “Do you have a minute” Harry asked again.
“Hey Harry, I will be with you guys in just a minute” replied Evelyn.
“I think now would be better, Evelyn. I know what you and Sarah are trying to find out” he said and pointed out to the folder he had in his hand “it’s all in here” he said.
“Sarah, I will get back to you” said Evelyn as she joined Harry and the other guy into her office.
“Firstly, let me introduce you to my lead detective on Will’s case, Ron Casity” said Harry as they walked into Evelyn’s office.
“Nice to meet you, Ron” said Evelyn while shaking hands with this tall guy.
“Nice to meet you too, Evelyn. Is that okay if I call you Evelyn. I know people around here call you ma'am or boss” said Ron.
“Call me whatever you want to call me, Ron” said Evelyn. She then looked at Harry and asked “What’s going on?”
Harry looked at Ron and said “please tell her.”
Ron first closed the door of the office. He then said “hearing you guys talk just now, I am sure you are aware that name of the University, St. Davis University was changed from St. Peters eight years ago. And per Ms White’s records, she went to St Peter’s university, which is now St Davis university.”
“Yes, we just checked that” confirmed Evelyn.
“You also know that Will taught ‘Human Psychology’ at St. Davis University, which was St Peters University back then” said Ron.
“Yeah, it’s a sheer coincidence. We just confirmed that she never took up any Psychology class there. “Human Psychology is not a subject in their curriculum” said Evelyn.
“That’s right. It’s not a mandatory subject in the curriculum” answered Ron.
“Mandatory subject? What do you mean?” asked Evelyn.
“St Davis University offers a wide variety of courses to students. In here, students can take up any course they want to study, and earn credits. They need 24 credits for every semester to go on to the next one. However, they can take up a maximum of four mandatory subjects per semester. Each mandatory subject giv
es them five credits, so that is a total of twenty. The other four credits come from optional subjects that students need to sign up for. Each of these optional subjects give them four credits” explained Ron.
“Now, we pulled Ms White’s college credits history. In her first year of college, Ms White selected the subject ‘Human Psychology.’ Guess who the instructor was for the course?” asked Ron.
“Will?” asked Evelyn.
“Yes. It was William Ross” said Ron.
Evelyn, in her state of shock, just sat on her chair in dismay, rubbing her forehead with her sweaty right palm. Harry slowly walked towards Evelyn, pulled a chair and sat right next to her and said “I know this is all very hard for you, Evelyn. This was not the first time Will saw Ms White”
“This could all be a coincidence as well, Harry. I mean, do you remember all the people you met during college. Even if he knew her then, what does that prove?” asked Evelyn.
“Well, it just proves that Will is hiding a lot of things for starters” said Harry as he looked at Ron “show her” he said.
“We have been doing a lot of follow-up on the night of the murder of his family, which Will says that he was at the ‘Para Psychology Conference’ at San Francisco. We went back there and pulled some pictures for the day one of the two days conference. Before Ms White showed up, we had no idea of what to make of this picture” said Ron while pulling out a picture from the file. He then handed it over to Evelyn. Evelyn looked at the picture, and could not believe what she saw - the picture had both Ms White and Will, hugging, with a glass of wine in both their hands. At the background of this picture, there was a hoarding which read ‘18th Annual Para Psychology Conference, San Francisco’.
Harry continued “this picture was taken just one day before the murders. This was day one of the conference. His family was brutally murdered on the second day of the same conference, so this picture was taken 24 hrs before their murders. We have looked at every single picture and went through every single frame of the recorded footage from the second day of the conference, but we could not locate him in any of these. We are mostly certain that Will did not attend the day two of this conference.”