MULTIPLE VISITS - 3

Newton gritted his teeth as he just lost the boy that could be the key to the main suspect of the Mayor's son murderer. Easton was not his playground. He knew almost no one in Easton that could be his little birdies.

He sighed, thinking of what to do next. After having a lot of thought, he decided to go to the forest by himself. He hoped he would find his clues there. If what the maid said was true, it only meant that there was someone living in the forest.

Did Newton think that the murderer live in the forest? Maybe. Or maybe not. He thought to himself. Deep in his heart, he had a strong feeling that the murderer was not from anywhere else but residing in the Mayor's house himself.

While he was walking towards the forest across the river in the village, Newton received a lot of curious look from the villagers. Some of them guessed it right about him being from the council. Some just had no idea who the man was. It was not everyday that someone who dressed up like an elite — a handsome young man on top of it — walked around in the village.

"Mr. Piper?" Came the familiar voice of his second in command.

After dropping off the old woman at her home, Turner quickly went back to the town to only meet his leader walking towards direction where he just came from. He jogged towards Newton who was walking elegantly around the villagers that were staring at him.

Newton flashed the man a grin. "Look at you, Turner. You found me again. How was the trip with the Lady?"

Remembering the trouble that he had to go through while walking the blind-looking lady to her home, Turner's face turned sour.

"It was good, Sir." He replied to Newton.

"Did you really drop her at her house?" Newton chuckled. "I hope you did."

"Of course, I did. She's at her house now. Safe and warm." Said Turner, irritated by his leader's question.

"Where did she live?"

"She lived in a small hut near the river. For an old blind lady, she's tough for sure to live on her own."

Newton smiled hearing his second in command praised the lady. "Haven't you heard, Turner? The older we get, the tougher we become."

"No, Sir." He shook his head. "It's my first time hearing that."

"You need to learn more." Newton patted Turner's back playfully.

Their steps turned slower as they descended into the river. The clear water was flowing steadily down to the south. Seeing how clear the water was, Newton could not help himself but to drink some water. He used his hand to get the water, curving his hand into a bowl and scooping the water using his hand so he could bring it to his mouth.

"Are you thirsty, Turner?" Asked Newton. His head turned around to see Turner that was too busy looking around as if he was searching for something.

Turner was sure that he had dropped the lady right before the river that he and Newton was going to cross over. There should be a small hut over there, thought Turner. His eyes looked around more carefully, searching for the small hut where the lady lived in. But the hut he was seeing with the lady before was nowhere to be found. Was he imagining things?

"Turner!" Newton yelled.

Turner turned his head towards Newton, to finally give his leader attention. A puzzled look was set on his face as he said to Newton, "The lady's hut should be around here. But look," his hand waved along the river side, "there isn't any hut or a house around here."

"Maybe you were drowning the poor lady into this river." Newton remarked scornfully. "I don't have time for your bullshit, Turner. Let's start moving."

"But it was strange, Sir. The lady was-"

Newton glared at him hard and Turner got silent instantly. He then step aside and said, "Lead me to the forest, will you?"

Turner wanted to scowl at his leader but he stayed quiet and did what Newton said. Never did he go to the forest himself. He always managed to stay away from a place like the forest: an uncivilised place. Turner was a town man. The reason why he wanted to work for the council in Claremont, was so he could stay away from doing farming.

However, being in the same team as Newton, he had to be able to go anywhere and do anything in any kind of places, so they could solve their cases. Not to mention how strict his team leader was. Nevertheless, he was glad that he got to work alongside Newton, the most honest man he had ever met.

"Do you know which way to go, Sir?" Turner asked. As they entered the forest, Turner started to feel like he was about to get lost here. The temperature began to drop. It was cooler than the temperature in the village. Turner buttoned up his coat to keep himself warm.

Newton shook his head. His expression was nonchalant, unlike Turner that showed his anxiety vividly through his facial expression and his body movement.

"I asked you to lead the way, didn't I?" Newton knew Turner did not know where to go. Neither did he. He wanted Turner to walk in front of him so he could take his time to inspect everything around the forest and by putting Turner at the front, he would be able to see what Turner was up to.

"But I didn't-"

"Just keep going straight, Turner." Newton interjected.

As Newton instructed, they both walked straight without really knowing where they were gonna stop as there was no actual destination.

For Turner, he felt like they were just wasting time. He started to consider that his leader really just wanted to go for a walk in the forest.

Only Newton knew what he was doing in the forest. While he was walking, he kept his eyes and ears open. Newton used his eyes to study everything in front of him and his ears to picked up the sounds around his surrounding.

Apart from the sounds of insects, rustling leaves, wind blowing and their own footsteps, Newton had been listening to another sound that he had noticed since they were crossing the river. He did not want to alert his team member as he knew Turner would go into panic mood straight away.

"Do you notice something, Mr. Piper?" Turner spoke, unable to handle the silent they had in the already silent place.

"What is it, Turner?"

"I haven't heard any sound of any birds chirping around in this forest." Turner turned his head around slightly without stoping from walking. "Don't you think it's weird?"

"Hmm." Newton hummed before he casually suggested, "Why don't you start chirping like a bird? See if you could attract any hidden birds in this forest."

Turner did not respond to Newton but pressed his lips together. He knew his team leader was good with words but he was expecting him to, at least, entertain him along their journey in the forest, after he dragged him there almost forcefully. Only if Turner had another choice.

Newton chuckled lightly on Turner's silence. He could tell that turner must have been irritated by him right now. To ease his second in command's irritation, Newton started to whistle, imitating the sound of a bird.

"Argh!" A crying sound of a person was suddenly heard, making both of the councilmen to halt their steps and jerk their heads to where the sound was coming from. Newton leapt into action, running towards the source of the voice.

"Wait!" Said Turner, who was reacting ten times slower than his leader.

When newton arrived at the scene, his eyes went narrow at the sight of a human he had discovered. A little girl, who looked no older than ten years old, sat on the ground with one of her knees bleeding.

"What is a little girl like you doing here?"