"Did you find out the paperboy Mr Unhole told us about?" Jake asked as I sat opposite to his chair.
"Not precisely but I have got five suspects. Three from the 7th Precinth and the other two from the 11th and 12th respectively."
Jake nodded his head but I could sense he was not satisfied. He blankly looked at my face without blinking as if he was in a deep thought.
"And June, any update?"
"Well, unfortunately, not many people are short like you in Hazael, so it's hard to identify a specific male of black hair and 6'3 tall," June stated.
I noticed three parabolic lines appearing on Jake's head but he dismissed her stating, "Fine, you may go and resume your research on 'black hair, 6'3 tall male', I will discuss the necessities with Venesa."
June shrugged her shoulder and showed an all the best sign to me before leaving as if...
"I am worried those paperboys are useless in this case." He stated as June left and I did not get the hint of what he was trying to convey.
"What do you mean?"
"I got the autopsy report from Doc. Kels when I was returning from my investigation on the crime site. No doubt the cause of death is excessive blood loss but apart from that, there was another thing stated which shocked me. There was a sign of sexual assault towards the victim."
I looked at Jake with disbelief and gasped, but ignoring me, he continued, "Taking the report I directly went to Unhole's house. Fortunately, he was at his office. When I went inside, the first thing I noticed was the photographs. Usually, parents keep photos of their children but in Unhole's house, there were no pictures of Lauren with her parents. Can you tell why that was the case?"
His sudden question blanked my mind.
Wait...
Sexual assault and no photographs. Does that mean...
"Was she adopted?" I questioned in doubt.
But Jake didn't agree nor decline my assumption, "We will have to get a DNA test report."
He took out a sample of hair from his packet and said, "It's Mrs Unhole's hair."
"Then what about the ring?" I asked.
As I finished asking my question, at that moment we heard a knock on the door. When the person voiced out, we got to know it was Gale.
"Come in Sergeant Gale."
The next moment the door to the office opened and Gale entered the office with three stacks of files in his hand.
"The profiles of the newspaper boy." Without acknowledging Jake, he directly stated to me as if I was in charge of this case.
Fortunately, Jake didn't mind him and instead said to us, "That won't be necessary. I found out that newspapers were never delivered to Unhole's household, it was directly subscribed to his office."
"How do you know it?" Gale asked mirroring my doubt.
"I asked the housemaid. She told me no newspapers were delivered, as the females in that household are illiterate."
P.S. Illiterate females are not uncommon in Hazael, even in the modern era.
"So did he just lie to our face with that confidence?" I asked in disbelief. In the interrogation room, he looked like a remorseful father who lost his daughter in an accident. But now, it didn't make any sense.
"Can't we arrest him without warrants?" Gale looked pissed. He hadn't even seen the man till date yet he was fuming with the fabrication of Unhole.
But I decided to remain pretty practical.
"No, we can't," I answered.
"But isn't Section 4 under Article 37 allowed this practice?"
"It has been abolished after a long debate in the parliament," Jake replied.
After Jake's reply, we three individuals seem to have travelled in different dimensions of thought land. The room fell into silence until the lunch bell rang.
"We three will go on an investigation after the break," Jake stated.
"Where?" I asked.
"To Yuzira Import Department,"
___
I gave Gale a brief summary of our early conversation so that he could catch up with the details.
"Sexual Assault?" Gale looked more than shocked, he looked disturbed. We talked more about the case before we decided to part to have our lunch.
I walked towards Canteen-2 before he grabbed my arm and brought me back.
The sudden movement caught off my balance and I stumbled upon his chest.
He lowered his mouth to my ears and whispered, "Do you still wanna go on a date?"
Shit! I can feel his breath tickling my ears and blood rising to my face. At that moment, his body seemed to be so much bigger than mine. I noticed his fingers holding my arm, they were slender and... beautiful.
"Woooaaahh, What. The. Hell. Is. Happening.?" My perverted mind came to sense after hearing June's tease.
I immediately freed myself from his body and replied gibberishly, "Yes, of course -- we are."
And I ran away from there.
My face still burned while eating the food as my heart didn't stop its turbulence. It sped faster with every minute I thought of the incident.
"Are you two dating?" I was more surprised that it was Jake who asked the question. He was back to unprofessional mode.
"What--no!" I declined. It was true obviously. We were not dating, we were going to investigate under the pretext of dating.
"But then why do I see a beautiful tomato sitting adjacent to me?" June asked before slurping the tomato soup.
"Of course, it's a normal hormonal reaction. It was just sudden so..." I ended my conversation and took the last bite of my meal. Without waiting for their answer, I said, "Bye guys, will meet you after lunch!"
I waved them bye and ran out of the Canteen to my father's office.
Reaching the hallway, I noticed something strange. Gale was running out of the exit in a hurry. His face tensed and his eyes focused on the route.
I ran to approach him but he got away before I could reach him.
Maybe some emergency?
Instead of going to my father, I went to Canteen-1 and approached his mates.
"I saw Gale leaving right now, did something happen?" I asked with concern.
The comrades looked at each other's faces and giggled before one answered, "He went to take out shit. He seemed to be lactose intolerant but the guy was stubborn and ate this."
The guy said pointing at the dairy product. I faked a chuckle before explaining to them that we needed Gale for an investigation survey.
This time, after my departure I directly went to my father's cabin. Fortunately, there was no soul except him and I directly got to the point, "Papa, I am going on a date."
My father, who was peacefully having his premium meal nearly choked on it after my words.
"What?"
"I. Am. Going. On. A. Date." I said each word clearly, ensuring no pollutants in my speech.
"With whom?" He asked rubbing his lips with a napkin.
"Gale."
He looked at me as if asking 'Really?'
"Actually, it's not a romantic date, I mean, he always gives me a ride on his bicycle so I thought it would be wonderful to take him out on a date to a restaurant."
Now my father was drinking his water instead of replying.
"That was a lamee excuse." He said after finishing his last gulp. " But, yes, of course, enjoy."
Done! I got up from my seat and said, " Don't you dare to tell this to anyone. Or else I will sue you."
"Okhay, Milady."
___
Fifteen minutes left for the lunch break to end and Gale still hadn't returned. I went alone to Jake's office for a prerequisite discussion.
I entered his office and he seemed to be talking on the telephone with someone.
"Yes, yes we understand. May his soul..." He hesitated to say the next line, "rest in peace."
Jake hung up the phone and looked at me. He looked frustrated, unhappy and scared at once. He looked at me and delivered the worst news.
"Mr Unhole is no more, he killed himself."