Mystery in Misery

Episode 16

Saturday, 2:43PM
“You think I would be interrogating him if he isn't guilty,” Joe yelled. He couldn't take in any more of the critiques. It's like the whole GCPD was against him. Only that, he was in a room of 7 people, including himself. The police chief, CSI head, detective Marie and her partner, and 2 other high-ups in the police department. All they have done since they started the debrief, was criticize his every move, opinion, even evidence. He wasn't surprised. He just wished one person would support him. If only Stanley was here, he thought.
“Joe,” a chubby man with grey hair called. The man would probably be in his 60s judging by the way he talks and the color of his hair. “You do know you can't keep that young boy for more than 6 hours.”
“Your point?” Joe sounded impatient. He tapped on the table with his fingers.
“It’s almost 3 and I'm guessing you have just an hour more to hold him, since you have no clear evidence.”
Joe picked the files in front of him and slammed them on the table. “It's all here!” He yelled. “Motive, evidence, the clues. It's all in there but you all fail to see that.”
“Joe,” Captain Nate called gently.
Joe ignored him. He stood up and continued, “Tell me! How much are his parents paying that make you want to protect him? Oh! Of course, he has no parents. They died in a car accident. Probably, you all pity him” - he pointed a finger to everyone in the room - “Or he has something against you all. Some dirt or -”
“Joe!!!” Captain Nate was visibly angry. “He slammed his fist on the table. “Enough, I'll take no more of this.”
“I'm afraid sir. He's a little lying bastard. All of this” - he gestured around the room - “is part of his plan. He wants this. He wants us to fight each other. He's a criminal mastermind.”
“Yes, he's smart. Who wouldn't? Tell me, Joe.”
Joe sat back down. The anger replenished.
“He's a criminology student and he knows the law.”
“Exactly!” Joe laughed cunningly. “He knows the law and can manipulate everything. He killed the professor for his own selfish interest and covered his tracks.”
“I don't think he killed the professor,” Marie chipped in. “I mean nothing placed him at that murder scene.”
“That's because he's so good at covering his tracks,” Joe countered.
“Or, maybe someone is trying to frame him,” Marie said.
“Joe, you fail to see the big picture here. That boy is innocent,” the chubby man spoke again.
“You are the ones failing at that.”
“Enough everyone!” Captain Nate yelled. “That boy.” His lips turned inside out. “That boy you accuse so much of being a murderer… He’s my ward.”
The captain's final sentence took everyone by surprise. They all murmured amongst themselves. Joe was the most surprised.
“Yes, he's my ward,” he repeated. “You all remember The Bryant’s case from ten years ago?”
‘A whole family died in a ghastly car accident.’
‘Where the body of the girl was never found?’
‘The children were twins?’
‘A boy and a girl. The boy was pulled from under the car?’
‘He died before they arrived at the hospital. Poor boy.’
“You're all right,” Nate affirmed. “Only that the boy isn’t dead. He’s alive”
Now, they were all shocked.
“What has that got to do with any of this?” Joe asked.
“That boy is David. He's my ward.”
“Perhaps, you are blinded by the affection you have towards him that you fail to see the truth. You fail to see what he’s capable of.”
“I know him, Joe. He's innocent.”
Joe flipped open the files in front of him and went through each page in quick succession. “Right there.” He stamped his thumb on a part. “It says his parents were believed to be murdered by the Shadow organization.”
All eyes were on Joe, as he opened a couple of pages. “Professor Johnson is a suspected member of Shadow organization. Well, he was annihilated.” He stared at the captain, who seemed to be lost for words. So is everyone in the room. “9 months ago, we arrested another member of the organization. Guess what? He died two days later.”
“The police chief that died 3 years ago was suspected to be a member too,” Marie added to a list of murders, Joe was pointing out. Everyone, except the captain was shocked to hear that. Joe noticed and questioned him.
“You know that, captain?” Joe asked.
“Of course, I know. I'm the captain,” he admitted.
“Don’t you see? He’s out for revenge. For blood! He is out to kill everyone involved in his family murder”
Immediately, the captain hated Joe’s gut and swore to put an end to him soon. “And what do you have to say about your own vendetta against the criminal organization?”
“My Vendetta? Is that was this is about?”
“Of course, Joe. We all know the one who murdered your wife goes by the Shadow.”
“That has nothing to do with anything. I did my job at the expense of my wife’s life, to save a thousand more life.” Joe was getting scared. He felt like he was being interrogated now and feared the worst, if Richard’s mysterious murder was brought up.”
“Eventually, we saved your daughter but the damage has been done. Your wife was still dead.”
“And her kidnappers are dead too.”
“Except the one who claims to be shadow,” Nate pressed on.
“He never admitted to be shadow and besides – ”
“But you were confused that he was and he had a hand in your wife’s murder.”
“Detectives’ instincts.”
“Remember what you said to me when we found his body behind this very station?”
Joe stammered and wanted to say something but the Captain’s voice interrupted him.
“You said he deserved it. Makes me wonder if you knew something about his murder.”
Joe was quiet and looked at all the faces in the room. They seem to demand an answer from him but the captain wouldn’t let him speak.
“He was your suspect. You interrogated him but he escaped your custody just to be dead few hours later,” Nate concluded.
“Are you saying I killed those men based on your theory?”
“Are you saying Dave killed the professor based on your theory?”
Joe sighed and rested his case. The captain seemed to have a point. But then he had actually murdered Richard. ‘… and maybe, just maybe David killed the professor too.’ Yet again, the captain's voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Detective Marie was sent here to investigate the face behind the murders. He goes by the name, Tibepx.” Nate had said.
“He always leaves that name on his victims and every of his victims is related to the organization except David's father or should I say, Max Bryant.” Marie picked up from where Nate stopped. She opened her own file on the murder of the professor and brought out a photo which she gave to the person beside her. “Pass it on,” she said. “That's Max.”
After everyone had had a glimpse of the photo, she retrieved it. “He was getting close to revealing their identity, so they had him murdered, with this same note found at his apartment” – she handed out another photo, showing a crisped note with ‘Tibepx’ inscribed on it – “that was the first and the last time that happened, before it began again, three years ago.”
“With the death of Locke,” Nate added.
“When the revenge started.” Joe smirked. Everyone ignored him.
Marie stood up and picked up a remote control from the center table. “That is” – she pressed a button on the remote and an image displayed on the screen adjacent the center table – “Late Chief detective Locke and this” – she pressed another button and the image changed – “was the note that was found in his breast pocket. It was believed to be put there before the murder was committed.”
All eyes were fixed on the screen as another image was displayed. The body of a man lying lifelessly on the street. “He was the suspected member arrested nine months before today. Am I right?”
“Yes,” they chorused. Joe was trying his best to understand everything that was being said. If Marie was right, then all he had believed in up till that moment was a lie. ‘Maybe, David is innocent after all. Damn it!’ He cursed under his breath. Joe knew in his mind that David isn’t capable of those murders. ‘He lied about everything, which means he’s as guilty as the culprit.’ He however, knew that the last man wasn’t murdered by their suspected serial killer but he and he had followed the same pattern of placing a note on the dead body with the word, Tibepx.’
“Upon further investigation we found out the dead body on the street is that of a man named Richard” – she pressed a button again but this time, the image displayed wasn’t that of a dead person nor a crisped note. It was the picture of Richard Baines – “and he goes by the street name, Shadow.”
‘Damn it,’ Joe cursed again. He always knew that Richard is shadow and that was why he had staged his murder. But with this new revelation coming up, he couldn’t help but think there was a copycat which is likely to be David. The deaths started again from three years ago, starting with the then police chief, Detective Locke, just before he murdered Shadow, himself. There's a high probability that Richard Baines had murdered Locke, and now the professor is dead. Obviously, Richard didn’t do it but someone else. He felt the urge to say something but kept mute, when the image of the professor’s lifeless body was displayed on screen.
“This is professor Johnson of Barbington university,” Marie introduced the new image. “He was murdered last night in front of a club on Expressway. You might wonder how his murder is connected to this so called Shadow organization.”
“Of course, no crisped note was found on scene,” Joe answered. He was beginning to get interested in what Marie was saying, only because he has something to point out.
“Remember, I said David didn’t kill the professor. Here is why.” She pressed another button, then an image of yet another crisped note was shown on screen. “At exactly 2PM today, shortly before this briefing started, Detective Stanley sent me this picture. As you can see, it’s another crisped note.” She paused to examine their faces. “Only this time, there were three words and there’s a number written in front of the word. The note was found in the professor’s private study in his own home.”
‘Lakers bar. Tibepx four,’ someone read out from the screen.
Virtually everyone present, sighed. Joe still watched as the events unfold. He looked at his wristwatch and then at the captain. The captain's facial expression reminded David of the countdown to find the murderer, which team B are closing in on. He swallowed hard.
“Detective Stanley also made us realize,” Marie continued. “After interrogating Maryam Hussein, the professor wrote those words down himself, during a call he received on Friday evening.”
Dr. Fabian stood up to speak. “We checked his phone records and we found a number registered to Maxwell Bryant.”
The phone number was displayed on screen and Joe couldn’t help but check his call log. It was the same number that called him last night, predicting the murder. Probably, the person had wanted him on the case for a reason or worse still dead for killing Richard.
‘Maxwell Bryant?’
‘David’s real father?
“Yes, Maxwell Bryant, David’s father,” Dr. Fabian affirmed. “My team also found out that the bullet found at the murder scene was purchased by Tibepx, whom we now have a name for.” He left his seat and walked to where Marie was seated. Everyone was curious to know the name of the person behind these murders. He took the remote control from her and punched a button with his thumbs. A new image displayed on screen.
“Blood traces, other than professor Johnson’s blood was found at the murder scene,” Dr. Fabian continued. “My team analyzed it and ran a match. At first the name Tibepx was displayed but on further experiments, we found a name.” He paused and pressed the remote again. An image of a blood match result was displayed. ‘Maxwell Bryant.’
“That man is dead,” a detective said. “How come his name keeps appearing?”
“We believe the criminal is using the name to eliminate the shadow gang and the blood sample was intentionally planted on the scene,” Marie answered.
“Also, that serial killer is within the organization himself for him to know everyone involved,” Nate added.
“The criminal is a mastermind,” Dr. Fabian pointed out. “He’s smart. Has been able to erase all security footage at the crime scenes, contaminated evidence. He planned the murders, so perfect that he can never be suspected or caught. I’m thinking he’s an officer or has someone on the inside. Someone with power.”
Everyone murmured while some agreed with Dr. Fabian but still no lead to pursue that line of investigation. So, they were back to square one.
“What about the dead officers?” the chubby man asked.
All eyes turned to Joe. He was in charge of the case, so they expected him to say something but he kept mute. After all he heard, he was sure that David killed the professor and might have started this killing spree, 3 years ago. He figured now was the best time to voice out his thoughts. “He killed them all.”
“Who?”
“David or Gabriel. Whatever you are calling him now.” Someone was going to say something but Joe wouldn’t let him. “You all had your chance. Now is mine,” he said. “All this is probably a revenge for killing his family. I mean why use a dead man’s name to murder people. The officers were just collateral damage.”
“Joe, the boy doesn’t remember anything from before the accident,” Nate said and added, “The doctor said he has zero chance of remembering.”
“He might not have murdered the others” – Joe stood up lousily – “but I’m sure he killed those officers in cold blood! And I’m going to prove that to you.” He proceeded out of the office.
“Joe,” Nate called. “You are a fine detective and I’ve always held you in high esteem.” The captain spoke in a way he had never spoken to Joe before. Like a father would to his son. But Joe wasn’t moved. He only stopped to listen not to obey. “But if you interrogate that boy one more time and he happens to be innocent. I’ll see to it that you lose your badge.”
“Is that a threat?”
“You have 10 minutes to release him to me.”
“No.” Joe checked his wrist watch. “I have 45 more minutes to question my suspect.” He strolled out.
“He had better be guilty,” Nate said after him.”
“I’ll take my chances!” Joe screamed back. He stormed out of the meeting.