Adventure in the World of Crimes

2.28 Locked Box

Warren stirred in his sleep when he felt a thing thrown on his face. Groaning, he opened his eye and took out the thing on his head, which when he looked at it was his black shirt and when he looked at the side, the senior was digging into his luggage where his things were after moving into his home last Friday, and picking out the clothes Warren would wear like a father.

He was in T's room, and it certainly meant the spiderman printed bed, along with the spiderman printed blanket was too short for him that his legs were curled up to his chest just for him to fit, the whole room was also cool since it was all designed with blue and spiderman with other heroes posters, which certainly not Warren's type of things displaying in his room, he preferred his rooms with a huge cabinet full of candies and jellies which what he was already planning to rebuild his room with his plan in mind.

He had been there for a week, the two Merits had gone out of town a week now and so far nothing odd had been happening yet aside from the crimes which seemed like no end at all, diverting their attention from catching the main enemy to these petty yet not petty crimes.

"What are you doing? Am I going to school?" He asked jokingly, looking at the wall clock which notified seven in the morning.

Instead of an answer, he was again completely woken up by black jeans which flew and hit his face, followed by a boxer and a brief. He huffed in annoyance before taking it out.

"You only have approximately five clothes, three pairs of jeans, three pairs of police uniforms, then the rest are pure packs of your jellies. I can't believe this." He uttered, standing up as he looked at Warren. "Get yourself ready, we'll go to the journalist, Leornard Corillo's house." He instructed then walked out of the room, leaving the door open as he knew the man would follow just right after him. "I already prepared our meal, I hope coffee and bread will do for you?"

He slipped out of the bed, taking the towel in his baggage, and went down where the bathroom was. "Do you perhaps have milk? I kind of do not drink coffee."

"I'm near in thinking of you're like a kid, if not only for your physique. You should teach my son about that and let him be like you, with a touch of me." He shouted as Warren went inside the bathroom. "I meant faithful and only look at one woman."

Warren laughed, his voice echoed at the four walls of the small lavatory, "Don't worry, sir. I'll supply him with milk and my gummy bears like what I did before he goes."

Warren gave T a box of gummy bears before he left, telling him to tell his mother if he wanted more and message him so he could deliver more to them. It was estimated that they will stay there until T's end of the school year, the senior will just go there frequently to visit them maybe after everything was safe.

Senior Merit had a plan on revealing everything and working it all this week so this case would be settled and everyone would have their peace of mind because the day that he revealed it all, the day the 'criminal-police' would be eliminated and the only day the community could be at ease.

He finished showering, went out of the bathroom, and saw the senior already seated and dipping the bread on his coffee while reading the white paper that he found on Mury's house. He looked up at Warren, nodding at the cup and the bread beside him as if telling him to eat.

"Is there any news about Officer Gil and Officer Kleo?" Warren asked, indulging in the breakfast in front of him. It was just plain bread, though there was a chocolate jam in front of him, he just copied the senior by dipping it in his milk.

Senior Merit sighed, he put down the paper on the side and shook his head. "They are considered as missing since twenty-four hours they were not seen. They didn't go to their house from Wednesday night a week before last until now. The police are also looking for them since their family has been alarmed and worried."

"Where was the last time they were seen?" He bit on the dipped bread, a drop of the milk fell on his chin so the senior was eyeing him with disgust.

"It was on the convenience store, Gil's car was left there, and when the man on the store was interviewed, he stated that they bought packs of cigarettes and bags of alcohol. So I think they were hiding somewhere."

"So suddenly? Are they that scared of you that until now they are hiding?" Warren asked, he judgingly looked at the senior. "You're not that scary even when you were very mad last week."

It's true, or it's just for him since he saw someone way worse than him when angry, and it was none other than Hermes, his father, himself. The aura he emitted was red and black that could send the whole agency into silence, that even the insects and pests around would be shy to make noise. It was just so scary for them.

"I don't know. I realized that I don't really know them at all, especially Gil who has been dear to me." He sadly admitted, he took his empty cup of coffee and put it on the sink then washed his hand. "Anyway, we should go."

Warren also finished his milk and put it on the sink as well, following the man who was now in the living room wearing his favorite long brown coat. Warren went out of the house, readying the car as the senior was securing every door and window.

"Let's go." He said as soon as he went inside the car, "It's in Pierson Village in Bernington."

The young techy officer typed it in his phone's map and put it in the phone holder in front of him and started following the road it provided him with roughly thirty minutes of drive.

"If the journalist was murdered, sir, then why did the police stop the investigation just like that?" He asked after a while, he could see again Reign's face on the huge boards on the road and some of them are was with a partner and holding her waist, now he wondered how the agent reacted upon someone she didn't know hold her freely. It must have been fun to watch especially that the man looked scared in the picture.

"Because there was no suspect, the murder was plotted cleanly, the CCTV was hacked, the night was dark because of the sudden loss of electricity."

"And no trace of hairs, fingerprints, footprints, and clues left by the suspects?"

"None. I told you it was planned perfectly." He answered. "I was one of the officers who checked the place, it was so clean, no trace of conflict, the books and papers were immaculately piled up, and a resignation letter was on the table."

"Resignation letter for journalism?"

"Yes, the other journalists were saying that he had started talking about resigning just a week before his death, It was so sudden, they thought, since he was devoted in his work and too young for retirement age,"

"I wonder why the writer of the white paper wanted us to go to the journalist's house instead of straight to them."

"Maybe they weren't sure of who was going to see the letter, we'll see there."

Warren just nodded and focused on driving, thinking of that possibility and the chance that somehow he was right, because if no one had witnessed the death of both people, then what did this person know? And if that person happened to know something, then their life must probably be at risk since then.

They came to the Bernington after a while, parking in front of the simple house just like in Mury's house, unoccupied and silent. It didn't have a gate so they went straight to the door but when Senior Merit tried opening it, it was locked, of course, it was. They knocked on the door, hoping to find someone in a form of the journalist waiting for them inside, but no one answered, no single trace that someone had been there nor left a key for them to open the house.

"How are we supposed to enter the house?" Warren asked, putting his hand inside his pockets. "I was expecting someone to welcome us here."

"I was expecting that too," He said as he looked around, "Maybe there's also a key hidden around here."

Warren also looked around, looking down to every plant and even crouching down to and feeling the ground in hope that he would find a metal key fit for the door, but then failed.

"It's here!"

He looked over his shoulder where the senior was and saw him looking up nearby the tree. He was motioning his hand to Warren to come there, "I can't get it."

Warren peered at it, he saw a small black box which seemed as big as a notebook, resting on the sturdy branch. He moved back, calculating his stance for a jump. Senior Merit moved to the side as he watched the young man jumped high and grabbed the box there without a sweat,

"It's heavy." He said, listening to the box when he shook it. He saw a number keyboard on top of it, six small boxes to which where the password was placed. "There's a password."

The senior sighed heavily, taking the box from him and randomly placed numbers there, and tried opening it but as expected, it didn't work. "I didn't know they'll burden as this much."

"Maybe their password is in the letter?" Warren suggested.

The senior scoffed and shook his head surely, "The only number there was the date-"

Warren snatched the box from him, smirking at him as he pressed the number, the date which was in a form of six numbers.

And as he expected, it opened, but there was another letter inside.