Elise tapped her feet anxiously as she looked around the cafe. It had been more than ten minutes since her arrival. But she was yet to find the person she was here for.
Finally, after a few more minutes of waiting, Elise saw the man walking towards her with a tray in his hand.
"Hello, welcome to Cafe Myriad. Here's your menu?" The man handed her the menu and gave her a mysterious look, which Elise was familiar with.
"I'll have a Mocha, please. Thank you." Elise didn't even see the menu and ordered her regular.
"Anything else?"
"How long will it take?"
The man looked around and Elise followed him, watching the few people in the cafe. Since it was the working hours, the place wasn't crowded. However, there were still quite a few people.
"Another five minutes. Are you in a hurry?"
"You could say so." Elise pursed her lips and nodded subtly and the man returned the nod with a barely noticeable movement.
"We'll try to make it quicker."
"Thank you."
Elise smiled and the man picked up the menu before returning to the counter. She stared at him no longer and scrolled through her phone, attending to her unopened emails. There were quite a few reports regarding the minor cases she was working on and she read them thoroughly as she waited for her Mocha.
Keeping his word, the man returned with her mocha five minutes later.
"Is there anything else you'd like?" The man stood before her as he waited for her to start and Elise noticed that he had now changed out of his shirt.
Even though he was wearing a similar shirt as he had previously been wearing, the color shade was minutely different, making it seem like he was a staff at the cafe but not quite at the same time.
"Yes, please. Can I?"
"Be quick, Officer." The man finally took the seat opposite her.
"What do you know about the recent events?"
"Explosion?"
Elise nodded.
"I may have some information."
"Do you know who did it?"
"Not quite." The man shook his head.
"But I do know that the case is not as simple as it looks." The man gave a cryptic reply.
"What do you mean?"
"Did you find Craig's body?"
Elise nodded.
"How was the body?"
"Badly mutilated."
"It's not the twins' style," the man mused.
"Huh?"
"The twins are known for being clean. They wouldn't make things messy." The man revealed.
"But..."
"But I cannot say the same about their underlings."
That got Elise thinking and she ran her finger on the cup handle.
"What do you think about Rowen?"
"Be careful of him, Officer. Rowen is anything but nice and gentle," the man warned and Elise gave him a questioning look. "He is worse than a venomous snake. You need to be careful, especially you," he emphasized and Elise understood the meaning behind his words.
"Who do you think did it?"
"Well, that depends on how strong the enmity between Craig and the three men was. Let me give you a piece of information which no one knows." The man beckoned Elise to lean forward and Elise did so immediately.
"One of the twins was recently injured," the man revealed and Elise's thoughts went back to his injured foot. "And the Sephyr twins are protective of each other. They'll not let go of anyone who injured them."
"Do you think Craig did it?"
"What do you think?"
The man didn't reply directly. But it was enough for her to understand.
"I got it. Thank you." Elise's eyes narrowed as she leaned back.
"I need to return to work, Officer. A piece of advice before I leave." The man clasped his fingers as he gave her a thoughtful look. "Sometimes, the one you think is dangerous is anything but that and the one who looks harmless is the most dangerous. Be careful."
With that, he stood up and returned to the counter while Elise sat thinking. She couldn't discern who he was speaking about. Recently, she had been acquainted with quite a few dangerous men - the Sephyr twins, Rowen Andrews, and Craig Tyrell, although the man was now dead.
Elise didn't have much time to dwell on it as her phone started vibrating and she let out a defeated sigh when she saw who it was. She felt drained when she thought of the obnoxious person. How she wished to reject the call and block him.
Alas, Elise couldn't do it. The man was her Chief. She'd lose her job if she blocked him and she loved her job alright.
"Chief," Elise greeted him and rolled her eyes.
"Where are you, Officer Winslow?"
She heard his haughty tone and once again, she felt the intense desire to strangle him bubbling inside her.
"I'm investigating the case, Chief. What's wrong?"
"Any updates?"
"Yes, Chief. We found Craig Tyrell's dead body."
"I see. Officer Winslow, you need to buck up now."
Elise started to have an ominous feeling at his words and she held her breath.
"The case has been handed to us. We'll be investigating it while the police will assist."
'What the fuck!' Elise screamed in her mind. It had been only an hour and some minutes ago when Kai and she were discussing it and the case had fallen into her lap right on the very same day. What a fantastic coincidence!
'Kill me,' she thought as she listened to the annoying man's instructions which were nothing but him warning her not to ruin his reputation and be a failure.
'If you have the guts, handle the case yourself.' She was close to losing it. If not that she loved her job, she'd have surely quit and thrown her ID card at his face.
"Yes, Chief. I understand," she said when the man finally stopped speaking.
"Remember, Elise. Be careful," he warned and Elise knew he wasn't warning her to take care of herself. Instead, he was warning her, low-key threatening her not to implicate him.
"Got it." Elise didn't show him any respect and ended the call before the man could say anything more.
Elise was frustrated. The case was anything but normal. On one side, she was dealing with influential people who could end her life as easily as killing a fly, and on the other side, there was her stupid Chief who didn't know anything but behaved as if he knew everything and kept throwing his weight around.
Elise let out a deep sigh and glanced at the counter where the man was watching her. With a nod, she placed a ten-dollar note under the saucer before leaving the place.