Unraveling Secrets Of The Devil

Chapter -One

Strange. There isn’t a day without a crime making to the front page of the newspaper. k********g, assaults, cybercrimes, murders and the list goes on day by day. Few cases are solved, few are covered up with strong influence and few are left unsolved. My mentor used to tell me that it’s impossible to solve all the cases and give justice to everyone because we aren’t God. All we can do is give our best shot in solving the cases which we take up. Maybe this attitude helped him in being one of the successful detectives with the most number of successfully solved cases. Being his mentee, officers do have a lot of expectations from me. It’s been three years since I’m officially dealing with crimes. Before that I used to check the cases which he used to take up and try analysing some clues. He used to check how observant I was in inspecting the cases and gave suggestions in improving my skills. I cleared my thoughts and got back to reality. I poured coffee in my mug and grabbed the Seattle Times on the table. I sat on the patio glancing at the headlines.

‘The famous palaeontologist, Jeanine Alonso, is missing since yesterday evening. Her team members are claiming that it’s the work of the members of other team who were envious of her success in discovering the ruins of a new species of dinosaurs last month. The Seattle police department have invited a special officer from Vancouver to take over this case. Most of the details are kept confidential from the public to prevent the kidnappers from knowing about the progress of this case. The media is eagerly waiting to have an interaction with that special officer regarding how he is going to deal with this, since it’s a very crucial case involving a famous personality's life'

My mentor always mentioned about how the media could effect the investigation by pressurising us and firing so many questions. So it’s just better to ignore their criticism while solving the case. I kept the newspaper aside and got back to my room. I took my files and went to the garage to take out my car. I drove past my neighbourhood which was yet to be discovered. After a twenty minutes drive I reached my destination. I walked towards the receptionist and showed my ID. “Mr. Dexter Lee. Pleasure to meet you sir” we shook our hands. A guy entered from the entrance and stared at me for a moment. “Mr. Lee?” he asked. “Yes” I replied and his face lit up. “Hello sir! I'm Mason and I’m one of the crime scene investigators. We have been waiting for you since morning. I'll introduce our team members to you” I nodded and followed him through the corridors. We entered a quite huge room with four people inside. They got alerted and stood up by seeing me. “This is Ansh, Sarah, Luna and Sameer” he introduced them as I shook hands with them. “Sameer and Luna are from forensic department. Ansh is from cybercrime branch but also works as a crime scene investigator with me and Sarah” I nodded with a smile.

We turned towards the door as someone entered the room. She was busy checking something over her phone. As Ansh cleared his throat she lifted her head to see me. She jerked a little and stood still. “Morning Chief! I'm Stella from Crime scene investigation department” I shook hands with her. There was something intriguing about her. Maybe her curious eyes or the confident look on her face. “So, six in total?” I asked while crossing my arms. “Yes Chief” Luna replied. “Ok, so what information do we have right now?” I asked. “She’s missing from the cellar below her villa. That was her working place and used for research” Luna answered. “Did you guys investigate the cellar?” “No Chief, we were instructed to wait for your arrival” Ansh replied. I had to arrive here from Vancouver on the immediate flight yesterday night. “Ok then, let’s get to the crime scene then”

Sameer and Luna stayed back at the Forensic lab and five of us drove to Ms Alonso's place. We entered the gate and the security guard came behind us as I signalled him. We stood in front of the entrance of the cellar. “Get all the servants who work here, including the ones who weren’t present yesterday” I ordered the security guard and he went to call everyone. I signalled Mason and he understood. The two FBI officers at the entrance saluted as the rest of us entered the cellar. There were spiral stairs leading to the basement. The entrance was barricaded with tape. We stooped down while crossing the tape and wore our gloves as we got down the stairs. Table at the centre displaced from its place and chair fallen on the right, she would have scuffled while being dragged. Few papers were dispersed on the table and few on the floor. There were dried muddy shoe prints, few clear and few smudged. Stella opened the forensic kit and started taking their samples. I glanced around to see few cupboards filled with files and items. I went near the table to check the papers. They had information about their recent excavation. “Found any fingerprints?” I asked while checking the cupboard doors. “Not yet Chief” Ansh replied. “Keep going and don’t miss any single clue” he nodded and got back to work. I climbed up the stairs to check with the servants.

“Chief there are totally four servants including two maids, one cook and the security guard. The cook claims that she went home early yesterday after preparing dinner since she wasn’t feeling well and both the maids were busy cleaning the home inside” Mason explained. “And what about you, what were you doing when your ma'am was being kidnapped?” I stared at the security guard. “Believe me sir, I don’t know how but I dozed off for a while yesterday evening. I usually don’t sleep while on duty” he replied with a guilty look. “Who was the last person to see her?” one of the maids lifted her hand. “Before going to the cellar, ma'am told both of us to clean the house inside. It was almost 8:30 pm when we were done with our work and we went to the cellar to inform her before leaving. That’s when we saw that she wasn’t in the cellar” she completed her sentence with a worried look and the other maid continued “And then we searched everywhere in the house, including the backyard but she wasn’t seen anywhere. We went near the guard to see that he was sleeping. We woke him up and informed about her missing. We even tried calling her phone but it was switched off and that’s when we called the police” 

“Does he usually sleep on his duty or is it the first time?” Mason asked pointing at the guard. “No sir, he is alert most of the time and doesn’t doze off. That’s why ma'am specifically chose him” the maid replied. “Did you eat anything before you dozed off?” I asked and he started recalling “Yes sir, I ate my usual burritos from the food truck. That’s my everyday lunch” “Then that’s an easy way for the kidnapper to mess around with your food by adding a sedative” Mason commented. “When does he arrive on this street usually?” “Everyday he comes around 3:30 pm sir” “Then we should search him before he tries to escape with fear Chief” Mason said. “Check with the shops and other food trucks nearby to know where he'll be right now. Do it quickly because we have to find those kidnappers before they harm Ms. Alonso” Mason nodded and headed towards the gate.

“You people can go now but you should always be in our contact and come whenever we call you” they nodded and left. Stella came out of the cellar with the samples of shoe prints. “Good. Place them in the car and come with me to check Ms. Alonso’s room” she nodded and went towards the car. I entered the villa. The huge the living room had a half spiral staircase leading to the first floor. Along with the living room, the ground floor had a single room, kitchen and the door leading to the backyard. I went upstairs to search her room. I entered one of the three rooms on the first floor. It seemed like a store room. I went to the next one. It was a large master bedroom with a small study table and a king sized bed. This has to be her room.

I started with just inspecting her stuff which lay outside on the nightstand . Nothing was much useful , just some work related papers, box with contact lens fluid, some jewellery on the table beside the mirror. Her bed was made up , maybe because the maids cleaned up the room last evening . There was a photo of her and a guy smiling hanging on the wall . Stella entered the room and started looking around . “ Stella, just find out who this guy is and let me know his details” I asked her. “Yes Chief” with that she took a photo of that guy in her phone and went downstairs. They both looked happy and contented . I started rummaging through the closet and cupboards when a notebook caught my eye. It looked like a diary. 1992 was engraved on the cover. Maybe it was printed then. I opened it to find some appointments. Looked like medical appointments. I directly went to the last page of the writing to find that her last appointment was with Dr.Ethan last week . The name sounds familiar. I went back through the pages to see that she consulted him frequently over the last year. Strange, why did she consult a doctor so many times?

I took the book and was about to go to the other room when Stella came back. “ Chief, he’s Mr. Logan, an entrepreneur and Ms. Alonso’s boyfriend. They’ve been dating for around two years now . He owns a new food company 'Logan foods' down the street” She said . “Ok. So, have they been happy together?” “It seems like they were, based on their frequent posts together on social media” she replied. I’ll have to ask the maids again about their relationship for clarity. “By the way, do you know who Dr.Ethan is?” I asked her remembering the book “Yes Chief, he’s a famous neurosurgeon and a counsellor in Seattle Multispecialty Hospital” she said . “Ok. Let’s check this room and then go downstairs” I said as I entered the third room . 

There was a small bed and a cupboard. It seemed like a guest room . I didn’t find any clues here so I just went downstairs . One of the maids still hadn’t left so I decided to ask her more about Jeanine’s relationship with Logan . “Umm.. hello . I wanted some information from you” I said as I approached her . “Sure sir” she nodded . “Who exactly is Mr. Logan to Ms. Alonso?” “ He is her boyfriend” “And how is their relationship? Like are they an on and off couple or do they used to fight a lot usually?” “No sir. They were like an ideal couple . Mr. Logan usually comes on the weekends here and they both used to spend a lot of time together . We never actually saw them fighting except for this one time, maybe a few months ago” she said . “Ok. Can I have Mr. Logan’s phone number?” “Sorry sir , I don’t have his number but I know where his office is. You can find him there” she said and gave me the address which Mason wrote down in his notebook “Thank you” I greeted as I left the place.

We went back to the headquarters after I asked Mason to meet Logan. “Sarah, did you get any details about Ms. Alonso’s family ?” I asked. “Yes chief, she was born in Spain but came and settled in Seattle when she was very young . The only family member left in her life is her elder brother Mr. Daniel. He also lives here in Seattle with his wife and his son. I have already contacted him and he said he’ll be here tomorrow morning for the interrogation” “Good” I said as I got back to the notebook which I brought from Ms. Alonso’s house . Why did she have so many appointments with the neurosurgeon? I planned to visit the doctor the next day in the afternoon after interrogating Logan and Daniel. It was already getting dark and I decided to get back home. I didn’t get much sleep last night due to the flight journey and tension about this case. I don’t know if I would get some good amount of sleep tonight but I think I can try to sleep early . I got up from my seat “Ok guys, I’ll get going. See you all tomorrow” I said but then Stella stopped me “Chief, do you have any plans for tonight?” she asked. “No” “We all have planned to go out for dinner. Why don’t you join us Chief?” She asked. There is no harm in having dinner with your teammates. Anyways I don’t have patience to cook today “I’m in. When are we going?” I asked “In a few minutes Chief” Sarah replied. “Ok”

   We went to a good restaurant. I was sitting in the corner with Stella beside me. We ordered some drinks and pizza . “ So Chief, tell us something about yourself” Mason asked. “What do you want to know? I just can’t answer that question. Anything specific?” “ What was the best case you have ever solved ?” Mason asked. He was highly professional even when given a chance to ask casual questions. “Ok, so, there was this one case which really took a toll on me . It was a murder case of the owner of a Jewellery showroom. It was his brother who had killed him . He took this to such an extent that he erased all the evidences of the victim even having a brother. We had to go through his personal belongings where I found a locket which had his photo and then upon further extensive searching we got to know that the victim had a brother and then we caught him” I explained. “ Whoa Chief that’s awesome . You have a lot of experience” I just chuckled at Mason’s reply.

“Chief, what are you hobbies?” Ansh asked. “ Ok, so I like to read novels. Mainly thriller ones and some romantic drama novels too. I love cooking but sometimes I don’t have the patience to . I usually try to make time for it . Apart from that I like to watch web series more. I don’t like movies usually” I don’t really have many hobbies . “ Wow Chief , I never expected to meet a person who hates movies but loves web series” All of us laughed at his reply. “Oh, and I love travelling too” I added. “Even me Chief. Travelling is the best! Which is the best trip you have ever had?” Luna asked. “ Best trip was actually to Maldives. I had been there with my siblings . It was amazing” I said. “ Chief, what’s the next thing on your bucket list?” Sameer asked. I thought for while and replied “ In traveling wise, I want to travel to Barbados islands . I think that’s the next one on my list”

“Umm, what about your family Chief?” Stella asked grabbing my attention. “ You mean girlfriend?” Sarah teased her and everyone giggled when Stella stared at her. I chuckled “ To clear your doubt, No. I'm single” I said. We randomly spoke and I got to know more about Stella. She likes pets , especially dogs, those big and fluffy ones. I could gift it to her on her birthday. Wait. Why am I thinking that? We both spoke a lot about each other. I dropped Stella at her home because she didn’t get her car and we even stay nearby.

 After going home I sat on my couch and started thinking about their personalities. Sarah didn’t talk much. When I spoke with the head of the department about all of them in the evening , he told me that Sarah was kind of mysterious and she likes to solve cases in her own way and doesn’t usually follow the Chief. Stella always flirts with the new guys and I found her doing that today with me too. I kind of like her actually. Luna and Sameer usually stay back in the forensic lab most of the days so, I basically get to talk to them only on phone or on dinners like tonight. He said that Mason will basically be like my secretary and he’ll be with me almost everywhere. He mentioned that Ansh is very observant and usually is the one who would get evidences at the crime spot . He is usually very cautious and helpful during danger. It is a good team and I hope we all can c***k this case together as soon as possible.