Chapter 6
The forensics had taken pictures and collected every single, tiniest evidence they could find. They still didn't know if it was a murder gone wrong or an accident that had taken place in one of the most exquisite mansions. The pregnant woman who had been taken to the hospital had not survived. Neither did her child. To the doctors it was a murder gone wrong, because it seemed the woman had someone in the house but he or she didn't help him due to some evil plans they had.
To the police, the forensics and the investigations bureau, it could also have been a scared husband who didn't know how to help his wife and when things turned soar he fled. Afraid of people's judgement. They also advocated to the doctors to keep their theories to themselves and to stop coming to conclusions without hard, real evidence. The house had been searched and Rafael Seydou's documents were found. The large foot imprints at the doorstep were compared to his other shoes and, luckily for them, they matched and fit perfectly to each other.
Their joy was inexplicable. At last, they had a lead and in no time, they were in search of him. One thing they were sure of was that he was still in the country because his passport, ID, visa and even his wallet were all in his study room. In a drawer. They couldn't have guessed how wrong they were. They searched every nook and kin of the country but there were no signs of him nor news of him. After a tiring two weeks, they decided to revisit the crime scene and were shocked beyond recognition.
On the verandah were two pairs of shoes walking towards the parking lot and indeed one car was missing. However, the blood was dry and its color had changed to brown. One of the outside ceiling blocks was also pushed to the side and that made all of them look and feel like idiots. That day, there had been two people in the ceiling. Hiding and waiting for them to go and later came down and left the vicinity. The detective who was handling the case ordered the others to find the car number plates and try to find it. It was yet another lead but which came late.
Fortunately, the one standing for the forensic department told them that probably they had a picture of almost everything in this household. Probably, which ment most likely they had captured the cars and their numbers. It was still shocking. How had they missed this option? It had been too obvious because the steps had disappeared at the doorstep. The detective felt foolish but had no choice rather than to accept and move on.
In the precinct, the detective and her team went through each photo but they were unlucky. Jack her consultant cum 2nd eye had had a snap with the missing car but the problem was that he hid the number plates with his body and it pained the detective. Who was she working with? A celeb? ugh! The AI object eraser did not help them either. It left a very blurry picture and nothing could be seen.
Another Idea came up. They could look for CCTVs installed in the neighborhood. It would probably help them a big deal than they thought. They could also get lucky and see the faces of the two escapees. This idea coming from Jack was brilliant and again their hope was refilled. At least he made up for ' hiding the numbers.' The team hurriedly called the surveillance offices and the footages of the last three weeks were sent to the precinct's email.
Again, something was not adding up. The camera outside the compound showed the car go out and drive south towards the forested areas, however, before the car entered the forest, a helicopter came and dropped two gigantic men in black who beat the crap out of the driver and carried the latter. A ladder was released from the helicopter and one of the man ascended with the victim on his shoulder. He had no choice but to hold tight for his dear life. This made the detective angry and the rest of the team gave up and started to leave. It was all in vain. The two men who abducted the man who, by thoughts not by evidence was Rafael, had covered their faces pretty well and worst of all had flown out of the country to no one knows where.
The detective and his consultant were not ready to give up and they sat in their offices replaying the footage again and again. Finally, the detective noticed the man who had been beaten up. He must know something. He must have seen something. The detective rumbled to herself as she walked to Jack's office.
"Hey. I've got a lead" she said to him excited.
"Please don't get excited yet. We don't even know if your lead will help. Mine didn't and I wouldn't want you to feel the disappointment I felt" he said worriedly. He loved this woman, but he knew she would never even get herself to like him yet alone to love him. All he could, was to care for her like a colleague. Not even like a friend. She had kept him that far from herself.
"Who are you to tell me that?" she asked snapping at him over nothing.
"Am sorry ma'am. Won't repeat itself. What was your lead?" he asked hurt, but he managed to keep his feelings at bay. She wanted nothing from him apart from respect as his boss, not even some care. He wondered for how long he had to continue hiding his feelings. He had to move on from her. She didn't want him as he wanted her anyways.
"We saw that the man who was beaten up was nursed in Consign hospital, right?" he nodded. "We can go there and ask for some of his details and once we find him, he will tell us what he knows and maybe it will be of great help. At the hospital, they were given hid address, and they fled there. In a casino? They entered anyways.
"Raymond Balour? Detective Angie. Please come forward" the detective announced at the Dj's desk, holding her badge out for everyone to see, after ordering Jack to be at the door as no one was supposed to leave nor enter. Silence engulfed the noisy casino as everyone turned to the high table where a man with a sling on his neck due to a broken arm sat, having a drink with his circle of friends.
The detective walked up to him and asked again his name to confirm. She enquired of his relationship with Rafael Seydou and was utterly disappointed when he said that that day, he had wanted to force him to pay his gambling debts but had managed to escape. She immediately deflated and walked with a sullen face to Jack. They walked to their police car, but her tears couldn't hold anymore. She was among the best detectives and had never dropped a case but for this one she had to. This hurt her ego, and they drove silently to the nearest club to have a drink.
They had barely entered when Jack's ex came running to him and hugged him.
"My mom's dead Jack. It happened this afternoon and there was no one I could run to so I came here. I knew you would come and I would find comfort in you. I miss you. "
The puzzled look on the detective made Jack smile and he hugged his ex even tighter. She needed comfort anyways. He wanted to show him that if she wasn't capable of loving him others were. When Jack's ex kissed him on the cheek, detective Angie stomped out. Angry? Jealous? No one knew.