Arabella Academy: Perfectly Imperfect

14. Murder 2.0

Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often.

~Mae West

***

They were two black Chevrolet Tahoes. They stopped at the clearing where the three teenagers had stood. Marcus and his friends watched in anxiety as two men in black suits alighted accompanied by four men wearing black t-shirts and black jeans. The men had the sort of face you forget even while you're looking at it. Their faces were without expression, with the black sunglasses effectively hiding their deathly gaze. Their physical structure gave a shout out to the gym with their muscles bulging hard enough nearly tearing those t-shirts that were obviously for a small child. The men in suits were no different, apart from the fact that they were not as muscular as the men in t-shirts.

They scanned the area they were in for a moment. One of the guys in suits was the first one to talk.

"Where is that goddamned son of a bitch?" He asked impatiently as he glanced at his watch, which appeared to have cost him a fortune.

"Just chill Rocco. You know how these rogue cops are, always behaving as if they are the ones in charge," the other guy in the suit answered him.

While hiding, the three kids responded in shock to the news of a rogue cop. They had heard of rogue cops in the news before but they had never got this close to actually hear it. Suddenly Marcus was afraid of the people who were out there with them in the garage. If they had referred to a rogue cop, then they were definitely a gang of some kind, and maybe those two guys in suits were the leaders. God knows what would happen if they found out they were not the only ones in that abandoned garage. The situation would only turn to worse if they found out who the rogue policeman was.

Speaking of the devil, Marcus did not have to wait any longer. The revving of an engine was heard and a car with the words MPD and its logo on the car's body entered the garage. The car parked beside the other two cars and a man alighted.

Lo and Behold! It was none other than Timothy, Middlewood's Chief of Investigations. He approached the two men in suits and nodded to them in greeting.

"Where is the witness?" Rocco asked.

"He is in the trunk," Timothy replied. He looked at the man beside Rocco and said, "I see you've brought along a friend."

"Name's Jax," the other man said and extended his hand. Timothy shook it in apprehension and then told Rocco, "You know more people knowing about my business with you is not good."

Rocco let out an ugly laugh that scared the wits out of the three teenagers who were hidden. He then signalled his men to open Timothy's trunk and bring whatever that was inside out. The trio under the shed gasped when they saw Tyron, the school gatekeeper, being carried and mishandled like a sack of potatoes. He was dropped before Rocco and his fellows and he knelt down looking at the three the way a puppy looks at its owner when asking for food.

"He says that he saw a man enter. And when I asked him to give me a description of the man he gave me a detailed description. He could make a really good detective," Timothy added on a light note.

"Please," Tyron started pleading, "I could swear I didn't see anything. I don't know what he came to do that morning. I don't even know whether he is responsible for the girl's death."

"Wow! He is saying that our man here may have killed the poor young girl," Rocco exclaimed sarcastically. "Tell me, old man, do you think he was capable of such a thing?"

"N-n-n-no," Tyron stammered.

"What shall I do with you now?" Rocco asked, feigning a thinking face.

"Look, please don't kill me," Tyron begged, his tears visible. "I have a wife and kids. I depend on this job to give them what they need. Please, I don't know what will happen to them if I'm gone. I'm begging you, for the sake of my little children, please spare my life."

Marcus saw Timothy look away struggling to hold back the tears that were balancing in his eyes.

"Oh! Mr Family Man here thinks I want to kill him," Rocco's voice clearly showed that he was toying with Tyron. "I could never do such a thing. In fact, I am going to let you go."

"Really?" Tyron asked, appalled by Rocco's kindness.

"Go, before I change my mind," Rocco replied with the same sarcastic tone.

Tyron did not wait for a whistle to tell him to run. He got up on his feet and ran for the exit.

Suddenly Rocco flashed out his gun and aimed at Tyron. He fired and the bullet went straight through Tyron's head. The man fell down and didn't move an inch, confirming he was dead.

Michelle held back a scream. She had certainly never witnessed a killing, not until this very moment. She couldn't hold back her tears and mourned silently. Marcus and Jeff were paralysed with shock. They could not believe that they were hiding in the midst of a cold-blooded killer. What kind of world was this?

Rocco turned towards Timothy and put on a serious face. "Anyone else that may have seen Redhound?"

"No," Timothy answered. "But that guy told me that the deputy principal was in at the time Redhound got rid of the girl. I've scheduled for him to meet me the day after tomorrow. If he knows something I'll call you and you can deal with him."

"Please do. You know that this operation is crucial for all of us and I don't want anyone compromising it," Rocco told him. He motioned for his men to enter the car and followed them. He was about to get enter his car when he remembered something and stopped. He turned back to Timothy, "Do you have the file about the Dragon Pearl?"

"Yeah. It is in my office, lying there, waiting for you to come and pick it up."

"I will send someone to come and pick it sometime the day after tomorrow."

"What do I do with the body?" Timothy asked, eyeing the fresh corpse before them.

"Just leave it there. Maybe with a little bit of luck, someone will find it," Rocco replied as he closed the door to his vehicle. The drivers started the engines and the two cars went out of the garage. Timothy entered his car too and sped out of the garage, leaving behind Tyron's once breathing body.

The three students were left in a state of shock. So many things had happened at once and they were all confused. But one thing was troubling their minds. Those guys had just confessed to killing Sheila and were making plans on knowing whether Stevens knew anything about the murder, yet the voice note was saying a completely different thing.

So who the hell killed Sheila?