His Dark Obsession

Chapter 43: A Gun and a Note

A gun and a note. A gun and a note.

'You are next.'

Why? Why Tara? Why Jake? Ian racked his brain considering all the possible suspects. Things were becoming increasingly labyrinthine. This wasn't someone who had killed Jake out of professional malice (although Ian had initially concluded just that)...this was personal. Tara was a target. The killer had been brazen enough to let them know in advance. A person who had killed someone and was ready to kill again. And why? The questions circled around in his mind - why Jake? Why Tara?
"Ian, this note says...I am...next?!" Tara remarked, petrified. She then looked at the gun in the package closely. "Is this the gun?"
"Yes...this is most certainly the murder weapon." Ian was a reasonable shot who had learnt how to fire guns at a shooting range on the outskirts of New York. He had caught the police talking about the model of the weapon that had killed Jake. He was positive this was the very same gun. Was it the killer's way of incriminating them both? Why else would they send the murder weapon to Ian's place. How would they know of Ian's connection to Jake, how would they know Tara was staying with him? Ian realized that Tara was not safe. Somebody was keeping tabs on them. There was no other way of knowing Tara was with him. Somebody was watching them last night. The murderer had been close; watching their every move.
Ian and Tara had left holding hands at the police station. Calvin had been a witness; a couple of police officers too. They had stood in the lot outside, got in the car together, anybody could have seen them from a distance. Ian had to ponder carefully over what their next move was going to be. He concluded that they would go to Jake's apartment building first and then take the parcel to Detective Kelly.
"Ian, what is going on? Who could this be? I can't seem to process any of this...why does this killer want me dead now?! I don't remember ever being involved in something that might put me on someone's hit list!"
"Tara could this be someone you have crossed in the past? Someone who has it out for you because of a personal grudge?"
"Ian, I have had very few close friends, I haven't had a falling out with any of them. And professionally...well I am a florist, how much of a conflict do you think my professional life can have?"
Tara had a point, Ian reasoned. This probably wasn't anyone that she knew. This had to be related to Jake...but how? "Get changed, Tara. We are leaving."
"But where are we headed?"
"To Jake's apartment building!"

Ian went to the building manager's office along with Tara. They entered a plush and elegant office space with glossy wood table and chairs.
The manager stood up to welcome them both, immediately recognizing Ian who had frequently visited the building in the past. "Mr. Blaine, my sincerest condolences. Mr. Cada was one of our most esteemed tenants and also an exemplary one."
"Thank you, Rodney. He often spoke fondly of you too."
Rodney signalled them to sit comfortably and Ian and Tara settled themselves down in the visitor's chairs. "Rodney, I need a favor from you. I want to see the video from the surveillance cameras on the day of Jake's murder."
Rodney considered his answer for a few seconds, "Sir, I would have definitely helped you out but I don't have the authority in the matter. It is against the building policy to share sensitive data. We have also been forbidden by the police from showing the footage to anyone."
"So the police has seen it already?"
"I am not at liberty to reveal even that information." Rodney regretfully informed Ian.
"Who do I need to contact in order to see those tapes then?"
"Sir, you could reach out to Mr. Cliff Abrams. If he allows it, I will be able to show them to you."
Cliff Abrams was the owner of the building Jake lived in and also several others in the city. He was quickly being hailed as one of the top real estate developers in the city.
Ian was reminded of the fact that a friend of his was close to Cliff. He immediately ringed him and requested that he ask Cliff to grant them permission to view the tapes.
Ian's friend asked him to wait for a couple of minutes so that he could get in touch with Cliff.
Ian and Tara waited in the office for a call from Cliff but instead the office door opened and in walked Cliff Abrams.
He walked straight up to Ian and extended his hand. "Hello, I am Cliff."
Ian stood up and took his hand in a firm grip. "Hi, Ian Blaine."
"Ian, I just got off the phone with our mutual friend Steve. And he told me you needed to see the surveillance tapes from the day of murder."
"Yes. I wasn't expecting you to show up. I hope you can help us in this matter." When Ian used the word us, Cliff turned around to extend his hand to Tara. His eyes, Ian noticed, viewed her with marked interest.
"Miss Jones."
"Mr. Abrams!"
They both shook hands for what seemed like an eternity to Ian. He realized that he was becoming increasingly posessive of Tara.
"It wasn't a bother, Ian. I live in this buiding. Had it been anybody other than Steve who would have made this request, I probably wouldn't have entertained it. But since it is him, and he spoke very highly of you, I don't want to say no. I consider Steve one of my closest friends."
He then addressed Rodney. "Rod, bring the tapes."
"Alright, Mr. Abrams." Saying this Rodney disappeared to a room in the back.
"Ian, I don't want to disappoint you but there's nothing much you'd find out about the killer from the tape." Cliff commented.
And when the disc was brought in and played over on a large led screen in the room, Ian realized what he had meant.
Rodney forwarded the tapes to play the the afternoon recordings of the building. There were very few people entering and leaving the building at that time; none seemed dubious, no one went near Jake's apartment. And then appeared a spectre amongst men, walking past the camera in a navy blue hoodie and matching trousers and Ian knew. Ian looked at Tara at that moment and found her suddenly alert. The person moved at a leisurely pace, doing best to avoid attention. The hoodie was lowered over the face and it cast a shadow over the part of the face the hoodie didn't cover. The shadowy figure expertly evaded cameras, never revealing their face.
The clothing was nondescript. It was also oversized. The sleeves were long; the hands and the fingers didn't show. The boots were black.
It was all premeditated, Ian realized. The killer had been meticulous; they had intentionally shielded their face and lowered their head while passing through cameras' visual range. This person had entered the building with the intent to murder.
Ian then looked at the footage from the camera close to Jake's apartment door - the killer rang the bell and then entered the apartment when the door opened. The killer was let in, which meant that he was most certainly someone Jake knew and trusted. The killer therefore was related to Jake and not Tara.
Other than this, the only idea Ian gathered about the killer's person was that he was possibly lean and medium in height, around five feet and a few inches. The killer had successfully not shown their face, hair or any part of their body in the video and the baggy clothing made it hard to identify what body type this person was.
There was nothing else to see. The killer hadn't been on any elevator and had chosen the emergency stair case to enter and leave. The outside back alley of the building from where the killer made the exit (undetected) just had the single camera, which showed him leaving incognito. And then he walked to the street and became part of the crowd.
"Ian, this person didn't even show their face on a single frame on video." Tara remarked in horror.
"Yes, he has rendered modern technology useless." Cliff stated in agreement.
The killer had avoided suspicion by being as casual in the given setting as he could be, Ian observed. Nobody had noticed them coming in or going out. Whenever someone would pass, the killer would lower their head and walk by quickly.
"Cliff, did they question the people who had passed him? Did anybody see this person's face?" Ian asked already painfully aware of the answer.
"No. He came and left like a shadow." This statement by Cliff summed up the killer's actions in the videos. Ian realized that there was a reason the man had become a real estate mogul, he was both astute and observant.
"Alright. Tara needs to grab her clothing from Jake's apartment. She had been living with him."
"Yes, I am aware of that. Jake mentioned Tara to me but unfortunately she can't just walk into his apartment like this. It has been locked and sealed. She will have to bring permission from Detective Kelly himself. He said the apartment needs to be throughly looked over by the police and therefore civilians aren't allowed to enter, yet."
Tara began to protest but Ian put a hand over her arm in a soothing gesture, "Tara, it fine. We have to go to the police station anyway. We'll get the permission on our way out."

Thirty minutes later both Tara and Ian were standing in Kelly's office as he went through some paper work that lay in a disarray across his desk.
Ian had given him the package and he had confirmed that they had in fact been sent the murder weapon. The gun was immediately sent for analysis and the note, which was printed in black ink, was also analyzed for hand prints and as Ian had predicted, it was all wiped clean or handled with extreme care so as not to leave any prints. It seemed they had reached a dead end again. No reliable witnesses. No fingerprints to go on.
"Ian, before yours, and Tara's arrival at Jake's apartment, there was a hooded person who entered the building and then went to his apartment." As Detective Kelly related this bit of information which Ian was already privy to, he placed an enlarged, printed screenshot of the killer walking past the surveillance cameras and asked, "Can you recognize this person? Maybe from the clothing or the physique?"
Ian and Tara both replied in negative.
"We believe that this person's arrival and departure from the building coincides with the time of murder. This person might be our killer! Furthermore, we have worked out their height by measuring it against the heights of the wall panelling that he passed in the building. His height is five feet eleven inches, which is considerably shorter than Ian's and a few inches taller than you, Tara. This effectively removes you as our prime suspects; but suspects you still are."
Tara who was about to sigh in relief, questioned the detective in confusion, "How are we still suspects?"
"One can always pay someone to kill!" Ian replied to Tara. Tara nodded her head, brooding.
Detective Kelly gave Ian a crooked smile, "Mr. Blaine, you are an intuitive man."
"I don't think you meant to praise me there, Detective." Ian replied with thinly veiled sarcasm.
Detective Kelly made no comment to Ian's rancor, "We will ask around the neighborhood. The hooded figure emerged from the side alley on to the main street. Maybe someone noticed him there." After a pause he continued, "why is the package addressed to Tara and mailed to your address, Mr Blaine?"
"Tara's been staying with me since last night." Ian replied audaciously.
Detective Kelly suppressed a grin (which angered Ian to no end) and inquired, "How long will this arrangement continue?"
"Till she finds a place of her own."
"I am going to put two officers on patrol outside your apartment building then."
Detective Kelly then stood up and looked at both Ian and Tara, "As much as I want you guys not to be incriminated for this, you keep giving me reasons to doubt you!"
"It isn't intentional, Detective." Ian intrepidly informed him.
"I hope not!" Kelly shot back menacingly.