CHAPTER-IV

"Good Morning, Glen." Shawn waked me up and yawned. I woke up to find out that I passed out on the chair last night. Shawn told me to get ready and left for lord knows where to. I looked at my watch, 7:45 am. I went to brush and then had my breakfast. Cereals. Sugar coated cereals. With milk. Read the newspaper while eating and then had a shower. By the time I got ready Shawn came back.

"We are leaving now, Glen." "To where?" "House Philips, the investigation there is still left." Can't we have a normal morning like a normal person? This is why I sometimes regret being indulged into a case with Shawn, when he finds something interesting, he becomes reckless. "It's seriously 8:00 in the morning." We walked our way. At least I got to look around the city a bit.

It was a cold winter morning. Birch trees bearing a few old leaves on their branches, like a person on last breaths. We passed a school, a janitor sweeping in front of the main gate, sweeping away leaves like nature sweeps away the dead souls. We reached the police station.

"Good morning constable Rose." Shawn said. Constable Rose was waiting for us at the gate with a gypsy. Though the man was sometimes got me thinking if I should be around him, he was handy. "Good morning Mr. Carter, Mr. Sanders. I received a call from you Mr. Carter. I apologize for not being able to answer, my junior answered it. He said you wanted to meet me." "Yes constable Rose, I happened to be in need of your help again. I want to go to house Philips once." said Shawn. "Oh! Of course Mr. Carter, I knew it would be something important, I got a gypsy ready beforehand. Shall we leave then?" excited for his another new day with us, said Constable rose. "Ah, thank you Constable Rose, but I would like to take a walk there, and I would like to go there alone. I want you to send a police force to house Philips if I do not return in half an hour."

A moment of silence with a cold gust of wind. I could feel the sudden tension and seriousness in the air. "What? Mr. Carter is everything alright? Did you get a lead?" exclaimed Mr. Rose. I stood there in both shock and a bad gut feeling. I wanted to go with him, "Shawn, now that you have said this, I want to go with you and please don't deny. I will have an arrest from the suspense."

"Glen, stay with constable Rose and do exactly as I tell you. You will be coming along the police force. And if anything happens to me, constable Rose, then the culprit is Mrs. Annie." "But Shawn! At least tell me what are you going to do? You can't leave me here! I want to--" "Glen! I don't have time in my hands currently, I want you to listen to me. Please, do me this favor." saying this, Shawn left. We went inside and had a force arranged. As Shawn said, I wrote a letter to the parents of Mr. Bruce. Shawn said it to post it immediately if anything happens to him.

10 minutes passed, no sign of him. My knees were wet. He never had me in such a fear since when he came to my home for the first time after his mother passed away. 15 minutes passed. I am looking at the clock and my face is pale by now, but he doesn't return. 20 minutes, I am waiting at the door with constable Rose and his few men. The clock showed 9:18, exactly 30 minutes passed since he left. Constable Rose, five of his men and I hopped in the gypsy and raced to house Philips. My heart was beating but it was as if I am already dead. I could feel my cold heart slow down every second.

The house was now just a few meters from the next turn, looking at me constable Rose said, "It'll be alright! Mr. Sanders, don't you worry a single bit, Mr. Carter is surely doing good. There is nothing to worry!" I could not help but feel more disturbed by his doubtful and worried voice.

The gypsy took a sharp turn and stopped at house Philips with a screech. That screech was the last sound I heard before my mind went numb, I was not able to hear anything, my heart would not stop beating faster and faster. We all rushed in the building, I didn't care how big the building was, how many floors it had, where were the gates, where were the rooms, I just wanted to see Shawn. Before I knew, I was crying and opening doors like a serial killer trying to find his escaped hostages.

No one on the ground floor, I ran and went on the first floor, panting and crying his name out loud I opened every door, one by one, looking in to just get a glimpse of Shawn.

The next floor, I couldn't feel my fingers, couldn't feel my legs, my hands, my face, my heart. I just screamed "Shaaaaawn! Where in this world are you?!?!?!"

I opened the first room and in just in front of me was a window, the sun was shining brightly, the hallways were dark, sunshine suddenly fell upon my eyes, turning me blind for a second.

At that moment, I thought of all the lovely memories I made with Shawn, the night when we both got drunk and slept on the floor of my house. The day when we went on a tour to Spain, the time he sat beside me when I wrote, the fact that he was always there when I went to the publishers to get my books published, I was always with him in every case that he solved, and how he thanked me every time he said, "The hell of a case was it mate, but we've finally solved this."

When I got my sight back, I saw a man standing on the left side of a round table, with the window right in the middle, dressed in black coat, red tie, a hat on his head, black sunglasses on his eyes, with a 9mm gun pointed at Shawn, who stood on the other side of the table with his gun pointed at the other man. The moment I entered, everything happened in a second, but it felt like it took eternity; in slow motion, Shawn raised his eyebrows, turned his head left and looked at me, it was when he was about to say my name, that I heard a gunshot.

I looked left and the bullet had left the pistol, the man stood with a grin on his face. I looked right, the bullet had hit Shawn on the right side of his head, his eyeballs rolled up and his gun fell from his hand, seeing this all happen in slow motion, I saw blood flowing in the air, Shawn, now on his left leg, falling slowly, like the last leaf from that birch.

I shouted his name at the limit of my throat. And the moment I gained control of my senses, his head hit the floor with an echoed thud.

I was on my knees, with my hands on his face covered in blood. I saw him smiling in peace while a stream of tears filled my heart with sorrow till a point it overflowed.