Book- Misunderstood

Chapter 15

I remember this event being one that had perturbed us for a long time, as when I told Alley about it, she merely told me it would be my first case. I never agreed to it but it was my job, and even so, what was down the rabbit hole was nothing like the wonderland that one would call 'Hell' but one that could only be described of the events that occurred after. This would become the event that somehow led to 'Pandora's box'. Closing the box though, would always become the greatest feat the force we had would NEED to accomplish. Of course, Rea and I were always up to a challenge.I sat inside the chiefs office as we slowly looked over the pictures that we had taken of the scene and the video evidence that was in the cameras and recorders. What was left of it at least. When we searched the premises, we found that three things had occurred that were found to be out of an ordinary robbery. The first was the fact that when we searched one of the rooms, we found a man hanging upside down with blood coming out of his mouth, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, almost naked save for the boxer's he wore. We left him hanging around for a little bit as to find whatever else we could before touching evidence. The second was when we searched the small managers room, we found that the recording's and tapes were all missing, smashed, and/or changed in a way that would most likely cause the equipment to overload and short circuit if someone tried using it. The third and final mystery was the briefcase we found in the back, behind the dumpster, the carving of a commonly known gang that held large enforcement in downtown area, but with any contents that my have been inside, gone. I sat back in the chair as Rea watched the video evidence until he raised his hand, grabbing my attention."Jack. Take a look at this." I turned the chair and looked at the screen, seeing the man who was hung upside down working the cash register, then for it to be fast forwarded, seeing he worked the register each day. I cocked my eyebrow at Rea."What am I looking at exactly Rea?"He pointed at the screen but it still didn't catch on to my thoughts yet. Rea decided to fill me in on what exactly I wasn't seeing."The video cuts out on that particular day, but what your not seeing is THAT man is the attendant."My eyes slowly began to widen as the thought began to make it's way into my decrepit mind, pulling free what was the first 'segment' of my life, realizing what Rea had actually meant."Then who the hell was that guy?!"Rea shrugged and continued watching the video up until the robber with the opera mask, approached the camera, swung and smashed it, static filling the screen. I relaxed a moment, then stopped a moment."Wait. Did the guy have an ID on him?"Rea looked through the small sorted pile of evidence until he pulled free 2 ID's, one holding the face of a man smiling, the attendant who actually had worked there, and another as the ID of the robber we had apprehended. Salem Miller, a name that would be something to lead to the next segment I would discover."Run a check on the name. Send the data to the lab, now."Rea nodded, giving me a look of confusion as he went to the phone, dialing in the research labs number and coined the code as well as the name. Finally he hung up the phone and looked at me."It'll be a minute."We sat there and stared at the screen as we ran through the videos again, trying our best to find any piece of information we may have missed or something that might have been caught, but we still ended up short before we could actually get any true clues as to what occurred other than the person who drove away. The only camera that wasn't destroyed was one that hung in front of the car, the car holding no license plates, meaning we couldn't track it. Soon an officer entered the doorway, Alley behind him."Got your info."I smiled at Alley who smiled back and gave me a blush, though I still did not understand why she did so but I was happy she had not failed like over half of our peers did. Rea took the info while the officer looked at me then behind him. He gave me a small smile, awkward and left. I turned back to Rea as Alley came into the room and sat down in my chair. Rea began to sift through until he stopped and looked at me."Any ideas? You did tell me to get this stuff."I swiped the papers from his hand and heard the small creaking of his chair, telling me he was relaxing. I looked quickly through until I stopped and pushed all the papers together in a stack. I heard Alley."Find anything?"I nodded slowly toward her and turned toward Rea who was still waiting for the connection as I placed down the papers. The masked Robber's identity confirmed as the face of what was the 'victim' lay on the paper."That man, the person we arrested, the guy who got away has HIS face. This guy..."I pointed to the picture."And the guy with the mask are the SAME."Rea stopped relaxing and looked at me as he realized exactly what I was saying. The man we let get away had planned the entire thing from the start. Whatever purpose he had, he had accomplished it, getting away unscathed and with whatever was most likely in the briefcase we had found. Rea stared at me, I stared back, then looked at Alley who merely had watched the entire time, her eyes not leaving me. Whatever this case was, it was deeper than we had wanted it to be. I could only hope, that we would all get out without major losses.