1 Prologue

Carla walked over to her window, looking out at Star City. The city was buzzing with activity as usual. She smiled in fondness before walking back to lounge in her chair.

Looking over at the table in front of her, stacks of files littered the table and she thought back to the past few weeks. Crimes had happened a lot lately and she rarely had time to relax. She couldn't say she was complaining though as that is how she got her money as a detective. She wouldn't even be surprised if she had another crime waiting for her to solve today.

Just like she had expected, the bell at the door rang as the door opened, signaling a new customer. She almost couldn't keep the smile off her face. Even with the hectic weeks, nothing made her happier than solving cases... except maybe when she got a higher pay than usual for that case.

"What seems to be the problem, Mister?" Carla asked casually with a smile still present on her face, observing him as he came closer.

He appeared to be a middle-aged man, according to Carla's deduction. He had brown hair with equally brown eyes and a sharp jawline. He would have been a ladies' man when he was younger.

Detective Carla leaned back, crossing her legs as the man walked closer.

"Prototype high-tech gadgets were stolen," he informed briefly, sinking into the chair opposite her. He set a stack of files on the table between them.

"Oh! You mean the high-tech gadgets Mac. International was working on?" She asked with a knowing smile.

"How did you know?!" He exclaimed confused, immediately alert.

"You should calm down a bit, I am not your enemy here. After all, you are here because I am a detective so, of course, I would be able to figure it out," Carla said chuckling as he relaxed a bit.

"I understand but even enemies could disguise as a person who isn't a threat to me so for me to believe you, would you mind explaining how you figured that out?" He asked with a guarded but polite tone. After all, if she wasn't his enemy, she would deserve his respect for her correct deduction.

"It was just easy to know you are part of Mac. International since the badge was slightly showing in your pocket and I happen to have pretty good eyesight," she said as he looked down at his pocket which indeed had his badge showing.

He nodded at her in understanding but still looked suspicious as he gestured for her to continue.

"Also, only three organizations are working on new gadgets recently and Mac. International is the only one who has completed their prototype according to my sources. Trust me, my sources are never wrong," she said with a cold glint in her eyes at the last sentence. She then smiled as the coldness disappeared and she dropped a pen on the table.

He nodded as respect filled his eyes as he realized that she deduced most of that from the four words he uttered when he entered.

"Now, what do you want me to do for you, Mr. Clegg?" She asked smoothly as she faced him.

He didn't even bother to ask how she knew his name and went straight to business.

"We need you to find the culprit and get the gadgets back. We can settle with you just finding the culprit and leaving the rest to us, but take note that if you also get the gadgets back, your payment will be higher," he said with a tempting smile.

"20,000 for just finding the culprit," She stated as he smiled.

"Deal. You would get 50,000 if you find them and bring the gadgets back."

That was a huge difference of 30,000 dollars and Carla smiled at the offer.

"Consider it done. As per my usual dealings, I will collect half the money now and the other half once I bring it back," she said smiling as the man's eyes gleamed.

He nodded and made a phone call to someone.

Some minutes later, someone knocked on the door and Mr. Clegg walked over. He was handed a suitcase and nodded at the person before closing the door and walking back to Carla.

He dropped the suitcase on the table and opened it. It was filled with money and she smiled, counting it to make sure the money was complete. She smiled again once she was done.

She brought out a detective form as she wrote the necessary things before handing it to him to sign. He read through it before signing.

"Pleasure working with you, Mr. Clegg," she said collecting the form.

"Same here, Detective," he said, tipping his head before leaving.

Once the door shut, Carla got down to work as she made her way to Mac. International.

She was easily granted access due to Mr. Clegg's arrangement and made her way to the scene of the crime to search for clues.

Detective Carla was the one everyone came to once the cops couldn't solve the case or when they wanted to keep the paparazzi away. Since she wouldn't attract as much attention as police officers with their sirens, and she had never failed to complete any case as long as the money was provided, she was the best choice.

After collecting the clues and checking the cameras for any suspicious behaviour, she easily got the situation.

The culprit had gained access to the gadgets with the help of a high positioned employee's ID card. This was a two-man job, one was in charge of keeping the employee occupied while the other made his/her way to the gadgets. After getting the gadgets, they returned the card and left without raising any suspicion. What gave them away was that the employee was in a place that had security cameras at the time his ID was recorded to have opened the vault.

"Bingo!" Carla whispered as she watched the security footage showing the woman distracting the employee as the woman turned her face slightly towards a hidden camera.

"Now to check out who she left the building with..." She trailed off as she checked the security cameras for the exits.

She smiled once she got the faces of the culprits.

.....

"Well, here are your gadgets and the information on the culprits," Carla said beaming at Mr. Clegg.

It was just the second day yet Carla had already gotten all he wanted.

"How did you manage to do all that so fast?" He asked impressed.

"A detective never reveals her secret," she said smiling as he handed her another suitcase. She counted the money inside to make sure it was complete before giving him a form to sign, signaling that the job had been completed and fully paid for.

Now back at her office, she smiled as she looked at the money lying beside her while checking the cases she had solved since the crime rates skyrocketed. Work was flourishing a lot lately.

She smiled again as she checked the case of the stolen gadgets, stolen weapons, stolen vehicles and so much more. She suddenly paused as her smile fell.

Somethings were common about all these crimes; it was always two people who did the job, they always took something valuable, they always made some little mistakes or oversights which led to them getting caught, and they always managed to escape after she solved the case.

It might not be her problem if the culprits managed to slip away from her clients' hands, since her job was just to get their information and the stolen items, but something was bothering her.

All these crimes were connected and started a month ago in full blast, even though it was a good thing for her as it brought her more money, she was also worried that there was something bigger brewing.

"Tsk! How did I not notice?" She asked annoyed as she realized something.

These crimes were all performed for one big final crime!