5 The Confrontation

Paris was still wondering who it was that was knocking on her door when it opened noiselessly and a towering tall and huge lady walked in. Her skin shone under the light of the fluorescent bulb hanging at the center of the ceiling. The fragrance of her powerful perfume mixed with the stale air in the room and the result was a scent calming to the nerves. This visitor smelled rich. She also looked beautiful, more beautiful than what Jessy Paris thought she would ever be. She knew this woman. She had seen her before but her brain just couldn't recall where and when. It was when the police uniform the visitor was wearing registered in her head that she realized who had just walked through her door.

Judith the famous female Detective of Middleville.

Paris frowned.

The lady closed the door and studied the room with a kind of interest Paris didn't like. And then she walked up to where Paris sat twirling the last strands of pasta on her plate with a fork, and smiled.

"Hi, I am Judith. I believe you must have heard about me. I work with the Middleville Police Department as a Detective." She produced a badge from her pocket and waved it at Paris's face, then returned it. Her voice was intimidating. Paris had to admit in her thoughts that the lady was beautiful and powerful, but with a naturally commanding aura.

"Okay. I'm surprised. Have we met before?" Jessy Paris asked still keeping a warm voice . She emptied her plate of pasta and pushed it aside. "Ermmm my house is a mess and I'm sorry about that but I had no idea someone was coming to visit."

"Jessy Paris." Investigator Judith said, retreating her smile and replacing it with a cold stare.

"Answer my question." Jessy Paris sized her from head to toe, already guessing why this powerful woman was here in her house.

Judith moved closer. "I admire you. I have heard much about you. Your name flies around town sometimes. I am 26 years old and as you already know, the only female Detective in town." She chuckled. "I know you are wondering why I'm here, uninvited. Well, I suppose Max hasn't told you yet. The Police... and I mean I in particular, are in charge of the James Robinson's case. Now I don't know why but somehow, Max must have felt I am not doing my job well enough, so he hired you. But you do understand that you hold no legitimate rights to handle such a case, don't you?"

Paris rubbed her face and sighed heavily. "Okay, I'll pretend I understand the first part of what you said but just in case you feel you've just passed me a message, I want you to know that I do not understand a word of what you just said. By the way, I am 25 years old and whatever you have heard about me is probably true."

Judith smacked her lips. "Okay let me make this easy for you. You are not a kid and I'm sure you know exactly what I'm driving at here. I am the one with the badge Paris. But because Max is desperate which is understandable, I will grant you access to work on the case, under my supervision. You are not licensed, remember? I am allowing you do this because I've heard so much of you and the wonders you have done. And I am not one who supports dragging other women down. I honestly hope your wits are a match for mine though."

Paris threw her a sharp distasteful look. "Listen Miss Detective or whatever you are. I am not a friendly person so listen carefully, I am not interested in teaming up with the police over a case they can't even solve. You don't even have any leads yet but here you are suggesting I work under your supervision? Okay I'm not licensed but is that crime? Finding a missing person is a crime? Okay arrest me. I am not going to work with you and most importantly, not under you."

Judith threw the smaller woman a scornful look and covered the small space between them with a few strides and stood towering above her. Biting her lips, she looked down hard into the eyes of Paris. "Jessy Paris, one thing you might not have heard about me is that I have an Hippo's temper. When I charge, everything in my way dies. And believe me, I don't joke with these things."

Paris stood up, coming chest to chest with the bigger woman and stared back defiantly. The hot heavy breaths now escaping Judith's nostrils landed on her face. "I am Jessy Paris and I am more like the king Cobra. And trust me, when I strike, I don't miss. It's always fast, sharp, and precise. And believe me, I don't play games either. Now walk out of my house the same way you walked in. Noiselessly."

Judith took a step backwards. "Fine then. Since you don't want to be reasonable, I dare you to crack this case first."

"Accepted. Now get out."

***

It was past midnight and instead of sleeping, Paris found herself searching the forest with a dim torchlight. The confrontation with the female Detective earlier that evening had challenged her to even take the case more seriously. Before Judith left, she had dared her to crack the case first and that was what she was going to do. And it felt really good to have walked such an intimidating woman out of her house. The night was unseasonably cold and she shivered. She thought searching the forest for the boy was an absurd idea but he could be anywhere. The Middleville rainforest was a very dangerous place and a lot of people had gone missing there, never to be seen again. So it was practically a good place to start with when searching for a missing boy. But something in her heart told her she would not find much, that she was being crazy. Searching an entire forest was an impossible task and there was very little chance she would find anything to help build a strong lead.

As her boots struggled through the dense undergrowth of the forest floor, she scrutinized the trees. At night, the forest was tomblike silent and ghostly eerie. The brightness of her torch piercing the darkness even made everything weirder. Anything could be out there ready to devour her. Apart from the chirping of night birds and the squeaking of rodents, everything else was buried in graveyard tranquility.

As she moved past a huge oak tree, a pungent smell instantly hit her nose. She ignored it at first and moved away from it, but something drew her back. There was an unusual neat clearing under the oak tree. Threading carefully to avoid creeping weeds that could make her trip, she pushed wet leaves aside, her eyes probing the roots of the huge tree. As she drew nearer, the foulness of the strange odour grew even worse. This forced her to put her torch in her mouth so she could cover her nose with the relieved hand. Curious about what could be producing such a pungent smell, she bent down and studied the surrounding of the tree. After what passed as two minutes, she spotted something dark and shiny half buried between two of the tree's enormous roots. A polytene bag. Releasing her nose, she used both hands to pull out the bag. Her nose wrinkled with disgust and her stomach turned with vomit as the foul odour doubled. The polytene was heavy and she wondered what made it so. Her jaw began to ache from the torch she was holding between her teeth.

A sudden rustle of leaves from behind her sent her torch and bag to the ground almost immediately and got her heart beating fast. She spun arpund and to her shock, found someone standing there, holding a torch.

"Jessy Paris." The person said.