5 CHAPTER 4

The exact method of murder, exact traces of evidences, the exact reports of examination, but two different assailants. With all of the rollercoaster incidents of the past days, there is this new turn of the case. Can anything be added more to it to make a person a living corpse?

"So the murderer of Charlotte Wilson is someone else, with the exact scheme as the other one. Is this what you mean?" Cole confirmed.

"What? Is it true? Seriously?" Zienna jumped out of nowhere.

I just glared at her without responding.

"But how did you know that? Did you find out anything? What is it?" Here she goes again.

"Eavesdropper!" I replied.

"That's irrelevant. Back to the relevant point, how are you so sure? And how did you figure it out?" she pumped.

"Next time we've got to choose an eavesdropper-free place. Don't you think, Cole?" I said facing him. He chuckled and we left immediately, chuckling on the way, to avoid her questions. I'm in no mood to answer her loading queries.

"We should tell her, shouldn't we?" Cole asked me. "Probably. But I'm not telling her. You can. I don't have time nor the patience to answer her. She's worse than me when it comes to questions." I replied. Cole nodded with a laugh.

As we were at the entrance of the station, a mid-aged man came running towards me, teary-eyed. "Sir! I've been trying to meet you. Please help me!" he cried. I took him to my office after having someone nurse him with a glass of water.

"Please proceed. How may I help you?" I asked him after he calmed down.

"I'm Santiago, and I live in the St. Martin Streets. I'm a social worker and I tutor high school students on a daily basis. My student, Mina has gone missing and it's been a day already. Since I don't have a family, I see those kids as my own. Please help!" he cried.

As I asked him for further details about Mina, he began, "She is seventeen. She lives with her single mom, few blocks away from my place, so we're practically neighbours. On Wednesday, she attended my classes as usual and left. The last thing she mentioned was that she was going to get some 'Cheese Tapa' at the Bakeshop at the corner of our street. It's been a day.. and.." his voice began shaking as he spoke wistfully.

He looked so pale that he might pass out any moment. I collected his residential address, contact number and as well as Mina's Mom's. I walked him out and asked Tommy to drive him home as he was too weak on his own.

Just when I was about to head back to the office, I heard a woman in her late thirties cry. She went to Santiago, all the way weeping, "Sir! What do I do? What do I do? My daughter! She's gone! It's been a day!"

I saw him console her, teary-eyed. I went to them. When he introduced me to the woman, she held on to my hands and pleaded me to find her daughter. It was rather a dismal sight. I assured her that we were going to give our best and sent her to Cole for the interrogation.

I, along with a few other cops of the team, advanced to Mina's neighbourhood, each one parted to ways in search of hints. Nothing was suspicious about the place, at least on the exterior. I walked through the street until I found a Dine at the corner of the street named 'Dane's Dine'. As I observed the Dine through the glass walls from the outside, the interior and the atmosphere were cosy. There was a young guy with golden brown hair chatting near the counter. He must be the guy, the girl met to get the snack, according to the statements of her mom and the tutor.

Just when I was about to enter the building, a familiar voice exclaimed, flashing towards the guy, "Mark!? Is that really you?" and the guy responded with a long-lost hug, "Zee! Oh my Goodness!"

And the 'Zee' was none other than the Ms Poker Face. Probably, this must be the time I should shot an entry to ruin the mood, according to the script.

"Hello. I'm Jayden" I said handing my ID to him, and pretending I saw nothing. "Oh, hello sir. Can I help you with something?" he asked quite baffled. "What are you doing here?" Zienna interrupted. "Ah, me? I stopped by to get a Jelly Belly, and was showcasing my job ID to see if I could get some discount. Why?" I replied in pure sarcasm. I mean isn't it obvious enough? I could tell by her eye roll that she was annoyed.

I turned to the guy, "Regarding a missing report, I just need to ask you some questions. I hope you'd cooperate with us." He nodded, still baffled. I proceeded, "May I know your name? Residence and how long you've been in the Dine?"

"I'm Marcus Dane from Canada. I own the Dine, and it's been around two years since," he stated.

"By chance, do you know a high school student named Mina?"

"Uhm.. Not sure. Why do you ask, sir?"

"There's been a report of her missing, and it's claimed that you were the last person she met."

"O-Oh, There could be some kind of mistake. Sir, how would I know the names of every customer that comes here? I don't usually talk to customers personally, just taking the orders and wishing their day is all I do. So, pardon me."

"Got it, Mr Dane. It wasn't an accusation. Please notify us if you find anything sceptical around. I'll take my leave now, thank you." I stated with a glum face as the enquiry went futile.

It was already late, so we were ready to return. Night shift constables were assigned to guard the area. I was waiting in the car for someone, I knew would definitely hop in. There she came, hopped right onto the front seat without even asking for my consent.

"Let's get going!" said Zienna as cool as possible.

Quarter way back was silent when Zienna began, "He's not a bad guy. We've been pals since middle school. But he dropped out, out of the blue. He might be a little too sensitive but is like a 10 year old trapped in the body of an adult."

"Because he's your Mark and you're his Zee?" I added on a pure note of sarcasm.

"You heard us? And someone's calling me the Eavesdropper," she snapped as I gave a slight chuckle.

She continued, "I heard about you from Cole. I still don't wholeheartedly believe such things. But whatever, let's say partially."

I nodded, "I couldn't get this together myself, it all occurred in a trice. The time would answer I guess."

I drove Zienna home and reached mine by half past midnight. I went straight to bed, it was indeed a tiring day.

I was using my powers on a person. I had no idea about who the person was. As I was holding his hands with the intention of seeing through him, I could only see flashes and zippy scenes, but not the whole incident or at least a part of one. I was trying so hard that the nerves in my head started to hurt.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. Your ability has a limit. Do you know why?" a similar voice said behind me.

I turned to Ralpha and said," Why? What do you mean it has its limits?"

She spoke calmly, "You do not only possess the power of psychometry but also precognition. That is why you could not attain both of the powers on the whole. You could use both of them partially. Zor."

She left and I woke up from the dream. It was morning already. After organizing the usual morning things, I was all set to start my day. I headed to the station.

After greeting everyone, I paced to my office. Cole, along with Zienna were waiting for me. After some small talks, he filled me in with the interrogation information with Mina's mom and Santiago yesterday.

According to the interrogation, Mina's mom, Martha, works as a housekeeper at Santiago's place. Martha and Mina live a few blocks away from Santiago. He is the only support the duo has, in financial terms, as he takes care of her tuition and sometimes the grocery expenses as a social worker.

Any possible spot that Mina could've gone had been thoroughly inspected, including schools, her classmates', cafes, and all of her contacts.

Cole handed me the photograph of Mina. As I was looking at her naive face, someone barged in, "Sir, this is serious! Another one of my student has gone missing. This can't be a coincidence!" Santiago cried. Along with him was a woman in her forties, whom I assume was the kid's mom. I gestured Tommy, who was trying to get them out to wait, to let them be.

After calming them down, we came to know that Mina and Bianca, the two girls who went missing were friends; they went to school together and hung out often. Her Father had passed away last year. Her mother Alice, was a Chef at a restaurant nearby.

Santiago, tears filled with agony, cried, "Sir, she was so happy the other day that she aced the class test. I rewarded her with some money so she could buy her favourite food. When she was about to leave, I asked her to get home quicker as her mom here said that they were having dinner together. She told me she had to buy something at the Dane's Dine for the dinner. I'm afraid this can't be a coincidence. Please help!"

So, it's the Dane's again.

We called in Marcus to the station this time. He had a blank face on, that it was hard to read through. The photographs of Mina and Bianca were shown to him. He placed his hands on his head and cried, "I'm not sure, sir. I don't remember. I've been sick lately, I have an appointment at the hospital. Can you please let me go?"

Throughout the whole enquiry, he claimed that he doesn't recognize the girls in the snapshots. Thus, it was of no use to hold him there. I walked him out and formally shook hands with him, "Thank you and sorry for the trouble Mr Dane." He nodded with a slight smile and left to the hospital as for his headache.

When I paced back to my office, Cole and Zienna were seated, twisting their heads for a loophole.

I began as I crashed on the couch, "What do you think about this guy?"

"I think he might not be the one we're looking for," Cole stated in a brown study.

"I believe the same; not only because I know him personally, my detective intuition says so as well", continued Zienna.

"I don't think so," I replied sternly.

The both of them steadied their postures and looked at me out of curiosity.

"Are you aware of something?" Zienna pumped.

"You shook hands with him!" Cole caught me.

"The girls went to his Dine, he had met them right before each one of them disappeared," I replied.

***