"The coroner's report are ready sir" came a woman's voice that jolted Flint out of his reverie.
Flint stretched his hands to receive it without lifting his head from the file he was reading.
"they called and they want you to come over in person and talk about it"
he let his hands drop.
"oh...they didn't send it over"
"nope"
"can't they just send it over"
"they insisted"
Flint grunted and got up forcibly from his desk.
His investigation hadn't even started yet it was spiralling out of control faster than a spring reaches the ground, only in this case, he wasn't so sure that particular spring had any plans of bouncing back up from the way things were looking.
Apparently, he seemed to be the only person interested in the matter.
The press carried the same news as usual, the official instruction released.
'the police were doing everything within their power to find the perpetrators of the dastardly act'
The so called perpetrators who appeared to be completely elusive and non existent. His partner had magically been assigned to another case. The chief claimed there was work in progress regarding assigning him a new partner but so far, nothing.
He used his hands to massage his temples.
Then he let out a harsh breath and went straight to the parking lot where he stowed his car. Not his personal one, the officially issued one.
He pulled out of the lot, entered the highway, occasionally sipping his coffee as he drove.
By the time he arrived at his destination, his cup was empty.
He walked straight to the office and afforded himself the luxury of a seat before the man he came to see even walked in.
While he waited, he reviewed his notes. Every damn thing from the beginning. Lord help him he thought. He had written a lot and yet, there was nothing to work with.
Philip walked in. At least that's what the name tag on his white lab coat announced.
"thought I'd be dealing with Anbar" Flint said after the introductions were done.
"she's away on other business... she's a CI" Philip replied.
Flint gave him no reply and just folded his arms.
The man pulled out a file from his desk, which he dropped in front of Flint.
"Have a look yourself" the man said.
Flint flipped the pages, then he looked up at the man.
"what am I looking at?" he asked.
"They were killed close range....the ex minister and his wife.. reeks of personal, not an assassination"
"just leave the conclusions to me and just tell me the rest" Flint replied.
The man set his jaw at being admonished then he continued.
"His wife was raped too"
Flint raised his brows. That was utterly unexpected.
"a Glock 19 gen 5..9mm" the man continued.
Flint already felt a headache coming on.
"Others were just shot, the maids and the guards same MOD, different guns"
"Minister and Wife, same weapon" the man continued.
"The rest are self explanatory" the man said.
Flint ran his hands over his face. More trouble had come.
He shut the file and thanked the man for his time.
His next stop was forensics. He got about the same report, the crime scene was completely wiped clean. There were no external prints and items or pieces of DNA except those belonging to the occupants of the house and the guards who were also in limbo.
Another dead end.
He drove straight to the precinct. When he arrived, he went straight to the police chief.
He dumped the reports in front of the man.
"The coroner's reports are in"
"mhmmm" muttered the chief without looking up from the sheaf of papers he was working on.
"you're not going to look at it?" Flint asked, surprised.
"no....I know what it contains" said the chief non challantly.
Flint raised his brows.
"unbelievable" Flint muttered.
Then the chief spoke.
"you need to stop the investigation Flint"
"what?"
"you need to close it....it's only going to turn up more dead ends and more bodies"
Flint eyed him.
"and what if I don't" he asked.
"then you'll probably have yourself added to the body count found dead face down somewhere in a ditch or in your sleep. Wouldn't matter anyway, you'll still be gone" the chief said then he put his hands on his polished mahogany desk and leaned across the desk, closer to Flint.
"there are some very powerful forces at work here Flint .... powerful men who wanted the Ex minister dead and they want the whole business to go away now you and me are going to make it happen"
"I got the call from the commissioner himself" said Flint, disbelieving his ears.
"part of the act. What better way to show seriousness and commitment than to place the most popular skilled no nonsense criminal investigator on the case.... you know, Garner attention and easy public acceptance of whatever results we dish out" the chief said, gesturing with his hands.
"you didn't bother to look for the kids did you"
"oh I did....for some reason the children are also important in this entire business. Those same people want them found"
Flint stared at him and gave a long pause as though making up his mind.
Flint shook his head and ran his hands over his face.
"I'm going to continue" he said eventually.
"what happened to protect and serve chief"
"take my advice Flint....walk away"
"take a message back to those bloody cunts for me will you" he said, getting up from his seat.
"I'm sticking to it and I'lld like to have them come at me" he said gathering up the files.
"you'll end up regretting it Flint" the chief called after him as he walked out of the office.
Flint drove straight to his favorite Cafe.. only this time, he wasn't interested in drinking just coffee.
He produced a bottle of dry gin.
He looked at the folder in his hands. "it's just you and me against the fucking world" he muttered to the green coloured thin folder as he drank.
He needed something strong to clear his head and coffee wasn't going to cut it, hence the gin.
His thoughts wandered to the dead woman found in the red haired women's house.
After the day he spoke to the officer assigned to it, the day he heard of the incident, he hadn't heard a thing about the damn case.
He picked up his phone and dialed the officer's number.
They had been partners once upon a time, worked a few cases together, but currently, he had no idea if the man was worthy of being trusted. He only wanted info.
"been meaning to call" the officer on the other end said the moment he picked up the call.
"any news?"
"whoever was in there, wasn't your red haired friends" the officer said.
Flint felt his shoulders relax. At least some good piece of news since this entire episode of problems.
"any idea who it might be?" asked Flint.
"yeah we checked... it's some woman reported missing a month ago in Audrey county. She wasn't killed by the fire...she was dead before the burn... autopsy confirmed. She got killed by dope....Was a user..... body was placed there for a reason we're not going to know"
"how in the world does a dead missing woman from Audrey end up in a house fire all the way in San Jose....a full fucking 800 miles distance" Flint said marvelling, shaking his head.
"well I guess we will never get to find out buddy"
"what do you mean" Flint asked, feeling his spine straighten as he sat up.
"The case is being closed.... Chief flagged it as an electrical outlet malfunction" Flint wasn't surprised afterall he had just gotten the same offer.
"what do you think" Flint asked
"electrical outlet malfunction don't leave fuel residues on wood and dead bodies don't transport themselves to people's houses" the man said.
" but then again, this is San Jose buddy.... anything is fucking possible" the man continued.
"don't I know it .... thanks bud"
"de nada" the officer replied and dropped the call.
Flint exhaled. At least they're not dead, but where the fuck were they he wondered.
Deep down, he hoped they were safely back home and out of this damn fucking county.
He wanted so much to drop the case and run for the hills like everyone else but his conscience would not permit him to.
He finished his drink and drove straight home. He took the file along with him. There was no way in hell he'd be keeping it at the station. He didn't want any funny business or miraculous disappearing stories. Right now, there was nobody worthy of being trusted. He remembered his car he left at work but he decided to let it stay the night. It's a fucking police station what's the worst that could happen he thought but then, three children had vanished under the wonderful watchful eyes of a place crawling with officers. He shook his head. What was the world coming to.