THE INVESTIGATION SURPRISE
689 Words
“His last call was with his mom at 1:39 p.m. yesterday,” Diane said, calm but sharp. “He was trying to explain how hard he’s working to take care of his sister. They argued. Then he hung up.”
“Play it,” Xavier said, expression unreadable. “Turn up the volume.”
Just before the call ended, a faint click echoed through the audio—like a photo being taken.
“Did you hear that?” Xavier leaned in, fingers flying across the keyboard. “Someone else was in the house. Not just his sister.”
“Any security cameras inside?” he asked.
“Only outside—at the entrance of the condo and outside each unit’s door,” Diane replied.
“That sound came from an XCxane digital camera,” Xavier muttered. “My company makes those. We’ll dig into that later.”
Diane continued, “After he left, a girl entered—Xeida Charles. Jason’s sister’s best friend. She came for a slumber slam. A few minutes later, Jasey arrived. That’s our guy. He’s holding something.”
“Zoom in,” Xavier said.
Diane zoomed the footage.
“It’s his phone. He was trying to buy a movie ticket,” she noted.
“Did he succeed?” Xavier asked, sipping his coffee.
“No. His credit card was low on funds,” Diane replied.
“So he came to Jason, hoping he’d pay before tickets sold out,” she added.
Xavier smirked.
“What’s that look for?” Diane asked.
“I know where he is. This guy’s good—almost as good as me,” Xavier said, half-smiling. Then he turned serious. “Pull up the entrance cam again.”
Diane complied.
“There he is, walking toward Crystal Palace Charity Home. He placed his hand on the door—trying to make us think he went inside. But then he slipped into a dark corner. Next, he’s at the mini mart. Ate something. Then back to the charity home. Donated money. Walked down the road... and vanished from the camera.”
Diane frowned. “So?”
“That’s the movie theater,” Xavier said cryptically. “But it’s not. It’s just what we see.”
“What do you mean? What are we seeing?”
“It’s an illusion. A projection from a device my company developed. Designed to mislead—to hide his real location.”
Diane groaned. “Can you stop being cryptic? Where the hell is he? Is this some kind of game to him? You’re not helping by playing the wise man, Xavier!”
“He’s at the park,” Xavier said finally.
Diane blinked. “Holy crap. All this investigation... and he’s just feeding birds?”
“He needed to clear his head. The park’s quiet, isolated. Perfect for reflection. Honestly, I think it was worth the chase,” Xavier said with a half-smile.
“We should send the police,” Diane said, heading for the door.
“Hold on,” Xavier said. “We can’t send a whole force to drag a peaceful guy out of a park. He won’t cooperate. It’ll escalate.”
“So?”
“So we send one cop, his best friend, and a detective.”
“I’ll be the detective. Alexander’s the cop. Then his best friend.”
“A male detective.”
“Why?”
“He was yelled at and belittled by a woman. Sending another woman won’t help.”
Diane narrowed her eyes. “You really lack empathy, Xavier. Your emotional void could ruin this mission. Actually, it *will* ruin it. That’s why it has to be me. I’m your boss. I make the call. I’m going.”
“You’re not listening. Don’t be dull, Diane. Are your brain cells malfunctioning?”
“I *am* listening. And I’m going. Stick around or stay back.”
“Sending you will ignite the situation.”
“I know. Now sit back or stick around.” She grabbed her phone and walked out.
Xavier just stood there, wondering if the knots holding her brain cells together had finally come undone.
- Writer
