Sir, We are doing the best we can....

"Officer it's been a week and you have neither been able to find my daughter nor have you found any clue as to who did this."

"Mr. Iqbal I assure you___"

"Don't give me that we are doing our best crap again, Stacy was one of you, she worked her ass off catching bad guys, now what it did get her, her throat got slit, her daughter goes missing and none you have moved a finger to try to do something about it......I don't need your promises officer, I need my daughter and I need that fucking killer caught"

The officer just sighed and left Umar standing there still shouting at him from behind, this had been the usual scene at the police station since the incident that day. And the officer was actually telling the truth to Mr. Iqbal, they really had been doing their best, after all Stacy was one of their own, they had searched every corner of the city but wherever her daughter was they couldn't find her.

With easy passing day Umar lost hope and gained more alcoholic content in his body. Until after a month a he was practically a walking bar, he thought whoever killed her wife might have killed her daughter as well. He stopped going to the police station and yelling at them after the first few weeks. Because all they did in return was stand there and look at him sometimes they would escort him out but that was all no progress at all. After sometime he gave up on drinking as well or maybe it was the alcohol that gave up on him as he no longer felt peace even after drinking bottle after bottle of alcohol. Now he had completely given up hope on some kind of miracle or a breakthrough.

All this time he had been living in the book store for he could not find strength to go back to his place not after all that happened. He would sometime stand in front of it and think about going in but he never actually dared taking a step closer. Jake spent all this days worrying about him, he would stay with him at the store at night, bring him food, he took care of the store well, kept the receipts, paid the bills. He was sure someday Umar is going to get better and he would need the store to be running at that time.

He was right a year had passed and Umar was a bit better now as better as a man in his state could have been. Now he was finally ready to go to the dreaded place not to live there of course but to say goodbye, just so it won't haunt him in his dreams.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with?"

After Umar did not answer Jake just nodded at him and went back to the store leaving Umar standing in front of his door. Last time he had been here it was chaos. With detectives and forensics running around looking for clues, reporters outside, Umar could swear that had gotten there faster than the cops themselves.

This time though it was quiet everything was calm just covered with dust. But he did not have a heart attack as he had been fearing he would if he ever stepped in here. Maybe he was wrong or maybe the suffering was lesser than before now, although he could not be sure about that.

He was standing in the living room looking around, slowly the images of that night were starting to get clearer in his mind, so , he though it would be best if he makes himself busy here. he did not come here to get something though. He was going to find a new place to live maybe a studio apartment in one of the busier areas of the city. But he still started going through his stuff it was weird though none of the stuff felt to him as his. Maybe he had been away for a little too long.

He picked one of the toys from the kitchen table, a kid must have left it there during all that ruckus from the party. It was one of the dolls from the box Jake's mom had sent him, the kids were pretty exited when Umar had told them that they can play with the toys if they want too.

It was one pretty doll Umar thought, pretty like her daughter had been. That thought..... that was it, how could he had given up so easily and so soon. His daughter could still be alive and he was going to make sure he finds her. Now he was just wishing he had come here sooner, maybe he would have gotten over his cowardice sooner.

At once he went to the book store, one of he cops, Stacy's old friend, had given him copies of the case file in hope that it would give Umar some courage to look thinks through, so he started going through the CCTV footage that shows the driveway to his house. The cops had gone through it many times but found nothing just a five to six cars pulling up and leaving. They had assumed they were all guests at the party that night. Umar could recognize all the cars of his guests easily as he knew all of them very well and had had crazy rides in almost all of them except for the ones that belonged to Stacy's friends. And he did recognize all of them they were party guests, except one vintage Aston Martin. Umar knew nobody who could have afforded that. And it had been there after the party. Cops did not think much of that as the car had left before the time of murder suggested by the report.

But Umar was no cop, he knew the owner of the car was there that night and he knew that that person was a complete stranger. Now what left to do was find the owner of the car and find some answers.