As the clock hit 9:27 PM, two police officers came through the door. “I didn’t murder anyone,” I said hastily.
“We don’t know that yet,” the tall brunette woman replied. “Get me my drink.”
“The usual?” I asked.
“The SECOND usual,” she replied with a somewhat excited voice.
“Oh, going wild today. What’s the occasion?”
“You tell me, Asher. You tell me.”
“And for you, Mister…Peterson?”
“Not my name, but a cappuccino, no sugar,” he replied.
“No milk, no human flesh, or anything else disappointing. I was ready for anything today. I even have my barista T-Shirt on. So, what’s the case?”
“There is none until my coffee is ready,” the woman said.
Sarah and Dave are two regulars at the coffee shop where I work as a waiter. Actually, they are the ONLY regulars we have. I don’t know why this place hasn’t closed yet. Actually, it’s because my boss, a really rich guy, wants a place where he can drink his morning coffee and smoke his cigarettes in peace. Not that doing all these anywhere else in this town would be any less peaceful. This town is small.
I met these police officers two months ago when I happened to help on a case in which I was a victim. Since then, they stop by every two days and tell me about the stuff that’s happening around town. I even get access to restricted information from time to time. I help with their investigations. At one point, they even invented a story to involve me in a case so I could help them officially.
“Asher, what’s taking you so long? I crave caffeine,” Sarah asked with an exhausted but still “I’m nicer than you” voice.
“Take up smoking. You’ll never have to wait again, nor will you have the money to buy coffee,” I replied.
Sarah usually orders a mocha, that’s her usual. As for the second usual, that means two of the same thing. Dave usually orders something new every time, but cappuccino seems to be his go-to.
“Here’s your coffee. A hard day at work, I presume,” I said.
“I would kill to have your job, boy,” Dave said jokingly.
“You can always kill Trevor,” That’s the other barman. He works 8 AM to 4 PM, and I take over from there.
“I wouldn’t do that. He’s a good boy! But I’ll tell you who isn’t. Our number one suspect for the newest murder case,” Dave said.
“I’m listening,” I replied.
“Oh, can we please not do that right now?” Sarah said, seeming very much against it. “Let me have 10 minutes of normality today.”
I sat down with them. Sarah is a 21-year-old, 5’11”, brunette lady who joined the police force about a year ago. Dave, on the other hand, has had this job for 12 years. He’s in his early 30s, has a big brown beard, he’s 3 inches taller than me, standing at the massive height of 6’3”, and he’s a bit overweight. Both of them are hard workers and have a strong sense of justice. After 10 minutes of casual chatting, they finished their drinks.
“Can I speak now, Miss Police?” Dave asked jokingly.
“I might arrest you later for giving out confidential information to a civilian, but it’s your decision,” the brunette woman replied.
“I’ll take the risk,” Dave replied hastily. “You see, boy, a mass murder happened today. Three people were found dead in an apartment after a concerned neighbor called the police. The caller said he heard two shots, and the other neighbors confirmed, but we have 3 bodies, all of them with a bullet in their skull. Two of the bullets are from the same gun, the third one not so much. We found no guns at the crime scene. What’s weird is that none of the ex-humans live there. We contacted the owner of the apartment, and he’s been on a business trip for 4 days now. He also has no idea who any of the dead men are. There are no signs of breaking and entering, although we didn’t find any key on the bodies, and the owner said no one should have access to it except for him. What else…” He paused.
“What about their names?” I asked.
“Oh right. James Carter, an ex-marine with PTSD, Harlen Garcia, a construction worker, and Kevin Main,” Dave replied.
“Wait, the same Kevin Main you told me about last week?” I asked.
“Yes, the supposed drug dealer we’ve been keeping an eye on. So, what do you think, Mister Ex-Detective? Who’s behind it this time?”
“Give me a second to think,” I said.
“Work your magic, Asher!” Sarah said enthusiastically.
“Give me more to work with. An agent’s been following Kevin, right?” I asked.
“That’s the thing. We had someone following him. He claimed our suspect went to sleep at his usual bedtime and likely sneaked out through one of his windows, one that was found unlocked when they searched his house today,” Dave replied.
“What about his connections? Was he ever seen with the other guys?” I asked.
“Nope, and his phone says the same. That goes for the other guys too,” Dave replied.
“I’m guessing this ‘sneaking out’ hasn’t happened before. Which one was shot with the second gun?” I asked.
“That would have to be James Carter, the marine guy,” Dave replied.”Whose apartment were they found in?” I asked.
“I can’t tell you his real name for reasons. Let’s call him John,” Dave said.
“Were the bullets shot one after another?” I asked.
“The neighbor said there was a 5 second delay,” Dave replied.
“Two important details you missed, Peterson,” Sarah said in her “detective” voice. Dave gave her a disappointed look and muttered something. “First, Harlen’s daughter died, not long ago, from an overdose. Second, Kevin had a 5 pound bag of meth on him.”
This information is a little too much, so let’s recap. Sometime last night, Kevin Main sneaked out of his house with a 5 pound bag of meth in his possession. At some point, he arrived at the residence of John, who’s been on a business trip for the past couple days, along with James Carter, an ex-marine, and Harlen Garcia, a construction worker whose daughter died from an overdose. At 3 in the morning, two shots were fired with a 5 second delay. A neighbor called the cops, and when they arrived, they found the bodies of all 3 men on the ground.
“I don’t think I can help you with this one,” I said after a short pause. “But what do you think about it?”
“Me, I think it was a bloody mess,” Dave said. “I’m not paid enough to think.”
“I think the dealer was there to sell his stuff, and the construction worker was following him to take revenge for his daughter. As for how or why they were in that apartment, I have no idea, but like Dave said, bloody mess. How come you can’t solve this, Asher?” Sarah asked.
“Well, I need more time to think,” I replied. “I could let you know if I figure out anything, but I would need your phone number for that.”
“Not in a million years,” Sarah replied.
“You have mine,” Dave said. “I’d better get going. Jane’s food just isn’t the same after 10:30 PM.”
“I’m going too. I don’t want to be left alone with a wannabe detective or possibly a serial killer,” Sarah said.
“Have a good night, you too. I promise I won’t forget you when I go big,” I said.
Dave raised his hand, and Sarah turned and gave me a smile as they left the shop. All I was left with was 3 cups to clean, a shop to close, and a big case on my mind. “If this kind of crime would happen every day, there would be no one left in the town by the time I turn 30,” I thought to myself. That’s 10 years from now. I left the shop and locked the door.
“Hey,” a deep male voice with malice came from behind me.
I turned around as fast as I could and tried to hit whoever was behind me. He blocked, but the distraction worked, as I managed to pull out my secret card, pepper spray. The guy reacted quickly, but he didn’t manage to block all of it. I ran away, and after a couple seconds, he took off after me. He was screaming something, but stopped and started coughing instead. Maybe my pepper spray got in his nose or mouth. My adrenaline kicked in, and I was faster than him, but I wouldn’t be able to keep the speed for 3 miles to reach my house. Maybe he had a gun. I couldn’t risk going straight; I had to try dodging bullets if he started shooting. The closest house was a quarter mile away. Maybe if I could reach it, I could scream for help. I looked behind to see if he gave up, but sure enough, he was still on my tail, closing in, maybe 30 feet away. 29, 28, 27, 26. I was getting tired, and I couldn’t keep up the speed, but I knew if I didn’t run, I’d fall victim to whoever that was. I could see the house ahead of me, so I ran with all my force, screaming for help. As I got closer, I felt a sense of hope washing over me, but that all faded when I felt a glove touch my shoulder and pull me back. I fell. In those moments I could only think about how I was the fastest in my class in 4th grade, where did I go wrong?
“You’re pretty fast, kid,” the man said as he stopped me from falling. “I’m a detective.”
“You couldn’t start with that?” I asked, irritated.
“You’re pretty calm. You didn’t seem angry at all just now,” he replied.
“Think straight in any situation. It doesn’t run in the family,” I said.
“Your mom must have had an affair. I’m kidding. Sorry for scaring you earlier. I do that sometimes. I tried telling you I’m a detective, but your spray got in my nose.”
A woman looked out the window of the house we were near.
“Sorry for the noise, ma’am,” the detective said, pulling out his badge. “Everything’s alright.” The woman nodded and went back inside.
“Mind telling me why you came to visit me?” I asked.
“I’m just after some information,” he replied as I silently started recording our conversation with my phone. “Let’s go to your house, and we’ll have a talk.”
We walked to my house, and I pulled a pot of brown rice from my fridge. He said he didn’t mind waiting for me to prepare the food, so I did. I gave him a portion when I was done, and we started eating.
“You know, this is pretty good. I should start eating healthier too,” he said.
“What did you want to talk about?” I asked.
“So, I heard you talking to Sarah and Dave,” he said.
“You planted a bug?” I asked.
“Sure did. They’re not supposed to give information to a civilian, but I’m willing to let that slide if you help me on the case they told you about,” he replied.
“You’re more or less blackmailing me,” I pointed out.
“Come on, we’re all friends here!” he said.
“I didn’t even know your name,” I said.
“Oh right, what was I thinking. My name is Richard Gremor. You can call me Richard,” he replied.
“You’re the popular guy, I knew I recognized you from somewhere. They talk about you on the news whenever you solve a big case,” I said.
“Between us, I don’t like attention that much, I just do my job,” he replied.
“How would you feel if I pressed send on this recording of all we’ve talked about until now? You didn’t identify yourself before coming into my house and tried to blackmail me,” I asked.
“First of all, I don’t care that much, second of all, I think I’m pretty reasonable, third of all, that would mean your friends from the police station would get fired for their actions. We both know you’re not going to send that. But good move, you’re smart kid. And I see it in your eyes, you want to tell me what you think about the case. Why didn’t you tell the others your true thoughts?” he asked.
“It seemed too complicated, I thought maybe there is a simpler explanation,” I replied.
“I will, so how about I show you two pictures from the crime scene and then you start talking,” he said, pulling out some photos. He pointed to the first one. “The first corpse, the marine’s, was found at the entrance of the bedroom. He was shot from his left from the corner of the bedroom.” He pointed to the second picture. “The construction worker was shot in the dining room, which connects the bedroom and the entrance. He was shot near the window from the bedroom door and the drug dealer was shot at the entrance from the same place.”
“I see,” I said. “X, an acquaintance of the apartment owner, whom I’ll call John, arranged all of this. X knew that John would leave town and somehow made a copy of his key. Maybe he has something against him or he just didn’t have any other place to do this. X contacted three people. X contacted the ex-marine, who he probably had something against, to come over to John’s apartment. X contacted the construction worker and convinced him that the guy who sold his daughter drugs was Kevin. X promised him he’d help him get revenge if he protected him from someone. X contacted the drug dealer and said he’d buy a big bag of meth if he followed his instructions exactly by sneaking out of his house and coming in 10 minutes after the marine went inside. That day, X showed the construction worker that the drug dealer was staying outside to show him he wasn’t lying about their deal and gave him a gun, with a silencer, with which he shot the marine guy. X then took the gun from the marine or just had a second one and waited for Kevin to come. As the moment came near, Harlen became nervous and X took the chance to shoot him the moment Kevin came in the room. He then aimed at the drug dealer who thought he was saved and killed him too.”
“Bravo Mr. Ex-Detective, you really are K.”
“What?” I replied baffled.
“I have to go. Thank you for your time,” he said, standing up.
“I don’t get it. You’re kind of an asshole, you know that?”
“It’s fine, I’ll contact you again.” I thought that was the end of it but as he turned to leave he looked me dead in the eyes and threw me a piece of paper. Something cryptic was written on in: “Someone’s playing a really fucked up game, we are the prey.”
I know this is an abrupt ending, but I’m a bit overwhelmed right now. I will update you on the situation as soon as I can. Please feel free to ask any questions, I’ll try replying to them in my next post.