Clue Research
1402 Words
They were in the same office yet everything felt different to Mikhail. Perhaps it was weekend blues; if something like that existed. Louis was back with her impenetrable wall, not looking like someone who could collapse at any time.
She dropped the food on a small table in her office, adjusting the thermostat. Mikhail peeped into the package and his eyes widened. The package was from a brand that up until now, he thought they didn’t do deliveries! They were an exclusive restaurant in A district that catered to the tastes of politicians, celebrities, and wealthy people.
Just how wealthy and influential was she?
“Drop the box there and let’s eat”
She gestured to a cabinet close to her desk. He dropped the box and sat a small distance away from her on the couch. She handed him a pack and opened hers without even looking at him.
The sweet aroma of well-prepared seafood hit his face, igniting his taste buds. He salivated, never expecting he would get to eat from the restaurant ever in his life. Besides, he loved seafood a lot.
He spied her with the side of his eyes and saw she was eating something different. It was actually a vegetarian dish. Yet, it smelt so good.
He put it off his mind and dug it into the food. It was as good as it smelt, maybe even better. The way it melted on his palate, he wanted to cry. He felt Louis’s gaze on him but she said nothing, finishing her food. They finished at the same time and packed it up to be thrown in the trash.
“Thank you for the food” He said. She nodded and walked to her chair. She exhaled and waited for him to bring the box. Realizing that was what she was doing, Mikhail carried the box and placed it on her desk.
Looking through Pornographic materials was nothing for two adults in their thirties. It was just, the pornographic material was a little too graphic. Child pornography was something frowned upon by basically every normal human being, especially the ones with children.
It was like they made a silent agreement to just peruse it without looking too deeply. It was some form of mental torture but an hour later, they had finished the pile. It was useless. There was nothing to be gleaned from it.
“Do we perhaps have to watch…….that?” Mikhail said, gesturing to the set-aside pile of CDs. Louis looked horrified. Mikhail knew opening his mouth was a bad idea. So, they were stuck at an impasse.
Mikhail gave a brief glance to the last magazine in front of him. There was something that caught his attention. He looked again. It was a string of letters; a name. It looked familiar, like he had seen it countless times but pushed it to the periphery of his mind. He immediately searched the magazine but the name only appeared once; where he saw it.
He picked up the other magazines and found the name there too. Like the first one, the name was only mentioned once with the same position. He checked the CDs too. It was the same thing.
“Did you find anything?” Louis asked after watching him flip through everything.
“Yes. This name” He showed her a section in a magazine.
“Frances Motoki?”
“Yes. It only appears once everywhere with the same position but it’s very constant in everything here. I think this might be our first clue”
“Hmm, you’re right” She checked the other magazines and confirmed this. Mikhail was excited they were finally on track.
“I’ll get permission to talk to him after tracking him down. Do you…..want to come?” He hesitantly asked her.
“No. You go talk to him. I’ll go to Seraph magazine. I’m affiliated with them so I’ll try to get as much information from them as I can”
“Oh okay” Once again, he was reminded of the difference between them. He had a feeling that it was her original plan to go speak with the organization directly. She held a considerable amount of influence in the underworld after all.
“We’ll meet here to share information here in a week”
“Alright”
When Mikhail left her office, the sun was already getting dim. She offered to pay for his cab back to the office but when he refused, she didn’t press the issue and dismissed him the way she would an employee.
It irked him in some ways. The difference between them and the way she made it blatantly obvious by ignoring his presence and sometimes, opinion.
Sighing, he waved down a cab and took it to the office.
With the case of the runaway convict, the office was busy even on the eve of a weekend. The chief wasn’t in the office so it took a lot of time to get the information he needed on Motoki. Eventually, he had to leave the office and get a better place. He was going to visit his informant.
After he checked in to the office in the morning, he left his car, taking a bus to the hospital. He didn’t have enough to splurge endlessly on a cab; he only took one from Louis’s office to avoid giving a cheap impression. It was something stupid but his pride couldn’t take it, especially with a powerful woman like her.
He drove downtown to G District. It was known as the forgotten district or Hell of New York. It was the place where the influence of the law meant nothing. Thousands of dead bodies turned up on the streets every year and both the police and the government couldn’t care to do anything about it. It was all thanks to it being the dwelling place of the underworld. Drug trafficking, human trafficking, prostitution, everything took place there.
Mikhail didn’t consider himself a good person but if he preferred, he wouldn’t want to stay there for so long. It made him physically uncomfortable. He drove to a small convenience store and parked beside it. He made sure to check his police sticker before going in. It would be troublesome if his car was stolen or bashed.
“Welcome” a grumpy middle-aged Asian man greeted him as he walked in.
“I’m here for the monitor”
“Oh, you’re a customer huh? Please hold on”
The man turned around and opened the door to the backroom behind him.
“Leon! You have a customer!” He yelled.
“I’m coming!” A muffled voice yelled back.
The Asian man unexpectedly gave Mikhail a smile and went back to manning the counter. Mikhail could only assume he thought he was part of the mafia. For some reason, people always made that assumption.
A head poked out of the backroom, the owner smirking as soon as he saw Mikhail. He came out fully. He was a short black teenager with a cross earring piercing on his left ear. He wore a black hoodie and worn jeans. His curly hair came out in tufts in his old blue cap.
“If it isn’t my favorite detective? Why are you back so soon?”
“I need info on someone. I didn't want to come back if I could help it”
“You’re still on that case, eh? I thought I told you to stop. Those people are dangerous Mikhail” Leon frowned.
“You’re too young to be lecturing me, Leon. Just do the job”
“I refuse”
“Come on, I can’t double the money. The last one made me broke!”
“I don’t want your money. Getting involved with the executives is dangerous”
“The executives? Damn, that’s bold” the Asian man whistled.
“I can’t just stop. It’s my job”
“.....Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you die, I’ll at least bring flowers to your grave, that's assuming you have one”
“Thanks, dude” Mikhail smiled.
“So, who do you want me to investigate?”
“A dude named Frances Motoki”
The panic in both their faces almost made Mikhail reconsider. However, he had said it before. He was a stubborn man.
- Writer
