The Meeting at The Ayodale Oasis - Part 3

#The Meeting

The repetitive use of the word 'suspect' made Dr. Juli so furious that it was showing on her beautiful face. She looked like a red apple.

"Please, please, Colonel, Doctor, please, settle down! We can work on this situation together! Please, have patience!" Mr. Mayor spoke up to take the heat down a few notches.

"This is why we have requested help from your side, Col. Evans! We would love to hand over the responsibility of guarding the child to you, but not give the child away to the military."

"The child will remain a civilian patient at her current location. Please help the hospital with some of your trained men. We will appreciate that!"

"With due respect, Mr. Mayor! We will not dispatch our men to a civilian area, knowing full well the danger they will be facing while guarding the child! However, if you relinquish the custody of the suspect to the military, that's a different matter." Mr. Evans remained as stern as always.

"Please, reconsider! It is because of your valiant people that we sleep safely at night, knowing you will be there to keep us secure from foreign enemies! If you don't consider it, who shall we go to for help? We need your eyes, ears, and knowledge. Help us!"

Mr. Evans could not respond to the mayor negatively. "Then we will take over the control from the police. We will be in command. The police will cooperate with us if we have to deal with civilians at any time. We will set up a command center at the hospital to monitor the girl."

"Thanks a lot, colonel!" Now that the situation was under control, the mayor looked at the police commissioner, Mr. Aroon Gupta, and asked, "Is there anything new about the girl?"

Mr. Aroon Gupta, the police commissioner, was a short man of around 50 years of age with light brown skin, black eyes, gray hair, and a gray mustache. He looked to be in discomfort from the enormous girth of his waistline. He came with two of his investigators, Mr. Kenzo Akiyama and Ms. Kim Eun Jeong.

Mr. Gupta said, "Ms. Kim, please tell us what you have found so far. Please, understand. It is an ongoing investigation, so we may not reveal everything right at this moment."

Ms. Kim Eun Jeong was quite young, at twenty-four years of age. An agile and strongly built stature of five feet, three inches. She has a tanned complexion on her skin, black eyes, and long, wavy jet-black hair.

Ms. Kim was quite happy to have the opportunity. It was her first official assignment after she graduated from the academy. She had a degree in criminal psychology. She was not as beautiful as a fashion model; however, she could easily have looked the part if she dolled up.

"Ah..." Ms. Kim looked a bit startled at the opportunity. She thought her experienced partner would get the floor. She gathered herself quickly and began, "The main challenge is to find the identity of the girl. As we don't know her name, we looked through the missing child reports from a few months ago; however, nothing came up."

She continued, "This means she was not lost. She went there with her parents or someone she knew. No fingerprint, no dental record, or DNA Unless someone comes forward to claim her guardianship, we won't know her origin."

Ms. Kim paused for a moment and then continued, "We also searched for her school records in this city. Results from neighboring cities are still not in. So, we'll have to wait. As we can't go public with her information, this will take a long time, I'm afraid."

"Could we not find anything from the site of the incident?" the mayor asked.

"Sir, there are some photos in front of you from the site. Nothing remained of the village. No humans, animals, houses, or anything else. Everything vanished into the air. Only the girl survived mysteriously. As if the fire left her alone."

Her eyes came back to the audience. "We tried to look desperately for a clue, but there was nothing. However, we are still waiting for the report from the forensic investigation team."

"So, we still don't know the reason for the fire and the sound blast?"

"Sorry, sir! I'm afraid not yet, sir." She nodded in affirmation. "However, we have found a few interesting things!" She pulled up a few photos on the projector screen from her laptop. She turned the lights off for a better viewing experience.

"Exhibit one, the burnt soil. As you can see from the photo here", she pointed to a picture on the white screen with her laser pointer. "This seems to be the point of origin in the village. Even the ground turned black, dried, and hard. You can put water in it, and it will stay there as if the water is being held in earthen pottery."

She looked at the commissioner, and he nodded. She changed the slide. "As no animal bodies were found in the vicinity, we cannot say if any damage was done to the wildlife."

"Here is the most interesting part." She pointed to the photo and zoomed in. "Do you see a pair of shoeprints on the ground?"

She was extremely excited about the discovery. "The prints were normally etched on the ground. There was a bit of rain a few days ago, and the soil there was still soft, it seems. However, that's just it; the prints did not move from the place. And unlike the rest of the area, the ground near the footprints remained normal. It did not get burned. It's really mysterious. It's as if he was standing behind a wall or something that saved him from the fire. Most probably, this person also witnessed the cause, and the fire did not harm. How?"

"The girl was safe from the fire, and so was this unidentified person. Was the fire not targeting them? Or, was this the person who started the fire?"

She expressed her thoughts aloud. "However, from the position, we can say the girl was running from the village while this person stood his or her ground and witnessed the fire and was unharmed. He can't be a victim. I suspect this person to be the reason for the fire."

"So, did you come to any conclusion about the shoeprint?"

"We are still investigating. We hope we will get a positive result soon. We have taken details of the shoe sizes and prints. The forensic department is looking for detailed clues. Now, here is exhibit two, the cloth fiber."

Ms. Kim looked at the audience and continued, "We have found a strand of thread, most probably from someone's clothing. It was hooked onto a thorny bush near the scene. We almost missed it. As we followed the prints into the jungle, we found this. Mysteriously, the outsole prints vanished into thin air, as if the perp flew away."

Ms. Kim turned the lights on and ended her presentation.

"Thanks a lot, Ms. Kim!" The mayor thanked and looked at the participating members. "I thank you all again for your time. My office will keep in contact with you all. We will end our meeting here today. However, please let us know if you need any kind of help with anything. We will try to provide all kinds of support."

After that, there were a few more issues to discuss. Later, tea and refreshments were served to the attendees. At quarter to five in the afternoon, the meeting was adjourned.

As everyone left for their respective stations, Ms. Juli sat for a few more minutes and looked at the pictures given by the police.

She was wondering if it would be a good idea to show these to the girl; perhaps she might remember something. On the other hand, there was also a possibility of shock.

She might remember something she wanted to forget. Anyway, she kept the photos in her folder for reference.