Flashback From The Future XIV

"Thank you for letting me see this footage" said Pete as he looked at Alfred.

"It is no problem Commander, all I want is justice for the Madam" said Alfred as he was trying his best not to cry, the memory was still fresh in his mind, he still could not believe that Natasha was gone… it pained him that she went too young, and in the wrong way.

All he wanted was that whoever murdered Natasha be brought to justice.

"If there is anything else you need commander, please feel free to ask me, the Young Master has gave his word that you are allowed to do anything that you want to do" said Alfred as he finished opening the security shed.

"Thank you Alfred, but I would like for you to stay here, just in case I need some assistance with looking through the security footage" said Pete.

"Of course Commander, anyway I can be of help, I will" said Alfred.

"Thank you" said Pete as he walked into the security shed, and he saw the many computer monitors as he sat down on the chair and Alfred walked to stand behind him.

"Which footage would you like to check first?" asked Alfred.

"Go to the day that it all happened… when Natasha left the house" said Pete as he was trying to hold himself right now, he was on a professional mission, he could not let emotion take over him now.

Maybe Morales was right, he was too close to the victim, and he needed to calm down, but that was easier said than done, he could not calm down not at all.

"Alright Commander… that would be about two weeks ago" said Alfred.

"Yes, how much footage does the security system store?" asked Pete as he looked at Alfred as he moved though the security footage.

"Well it saves daily footage, which is then transferred to the cloud" said Alfred as he explained.

"So how long does it stay stored?" asked Pete.

"Well forever, unless I personally sift through them and delete some footage" said Alfred.

"I see" said Pete.

"Yes" said Alfred.

"Alfred, where were you on the day of the incident?" asked Pete.

"Well Commander, I left earlier that morning with Joy to the Master's house, there were some documents that he asked me to come look for, for him, and it was also an opportunity for Joy to see her great grandfather, so she went along with me" replied Alfred.

"I see" said Pete.

"So Natasha was left at home all alone?" asked Pete.

"Well yes she was… and well things took longer than expected, so Joy and I only returned back home at 7pm" said Alfred.

"And you drove?" asked Pete.

"No, the driver drove us there and back" said Alfred.

"And when you returned, did you see Natasha?" asked Pete.

"No Commander, Joy and I came home to seeing the young Master the only one at home, we could not find the Madam anywhere, and well, when Joy asked where her mother was, the young Master replied that he also had no clue, seeing as he just arrived home, and the house was empty, but the front door was left unlocked" said Alfred.

"I see" said Pete.

"Did Natasha and Dom have any arguments before that day?" asked Pete.

"Well they always have arguments Commander, small ones, but they are usually always resolved, or the Madam apologizes" said Alfred as Pete sighed internally, he knew that of course, Natasha had just been so obsessed with Dom.

"Commander, I have the footage, although there are many angles of the cameras, in different places of the house, which would you like to see first?" asked Alfred.

"Dominic said that you had a front door camera installed?" asked Pete.

"Yes Commander" said Alfred.

"Start with that" said Pete.

"Alright Commander, which time should I start with?" asked Alfred.

"Start from 5pm" said Pete.

"Alright" said Alfred as he let the footage play as Pete watched the screen, he could see the front door, from the angle the camera was positioned, he would be able to see anyone and everyone who walked in or out the door.

"Fast forward it a bit" said Pete.

"Alright Commander" said Alfred as he did as he was told, and still yet, nothing seemed to be happening.

"Go a bit faster" said Pete as Alfred nodded and he increased the speed of the fast forward, and Pete told him to speed it up, which he did.

"Stop" said Pete as Alfred stopped.

"Right there…" said Pete as he looked at the screen, and he saw her… he saw her once again, her beautiful face.

Pete just stared at the screen, to think that was the last time she would ever walk out that door, the mere thought was enough to bring tears to his eyes, but he could not cry, at least not right now.

"What time is this?" asked Pete.

"Well 6:15 pm Commander" said Alfred as he replied and Pete kept his eyes on the screen, Natasha was dressed in a pink t-shirt and jeans, as she put on yellow jacket.

Pete's mind went back to the night of the scene of the crime, when he saw Natasha in that state, of all the gruesome things he saw, he suddenly remembered that Natasha did not have her yellow jacket on, no not at all, he could remember it vividly.

This was strange seeing as she was seen leaving the house with her jacket, Pete was sure that when she was trying to escape from the killer, she did not leave her jacket behind, because nothing like that was found at the scene of the crime.

Pete's mind was raging… what if the killer was so psycho as to take Natasha's jacket with him as a memento of his crime, but that was not possible, the chances of this being a serial rapist case was low, after all the forensics report came out, and nothing pointed to this being a rape case.

So then what if Natasha had gone to meet the person who sent her a text message, and then, she trusted the person, and took off her jacket, but the person removed it from the scene of the crime.

"Continue the footage Alfred" said Pete as he kept all his thoughts to himself, he needed more evidence before he would be able to draw up one of many conclusions.

"Alright Commander" said Alfred as he played the footage, and at about 30 minutes later, Dom was seen walking into the house, and 15 minutes later, Alfred and Joy walked in, and Alfred stopped the footage.

Well now Pete could be sure that Dom was out of the house when Natasha left, and he arrived to the house when she was already gone, and Alfred's story and times checked out, which was a relief here.

"Alfred, I want to see Natasha's room, maybe I will find something leading there" said Pete.

"Alright Commander, but the Madam shared a room with the Young Master" said Alfred.

"Oh yeah" said Pete to himself as he scoffed, he would be entering what used to be Natasha and Dom's bedroom, even though there was nothing between them, Pete could not help but feel anger, anger that Natasha was with another man.

"That is fine, I just want to go through some of her stuff, she might have left some clues" said Pete.

"Alright then Commander, please follow me" said Alfred as Pete stood up and he led the way.

Pete really hoped that he would find something that would give him more hope, he wanted to know what Natasha was up to before she left that night, that would be a big clue to them.

…

"Here we are commander" said Alfred as he opened the door to Dom's room as Pete walked in.

"Where is Natasha's stuff?" asked Pete.

"Right there in that closet commander, the Young Master has not touched anything of the Madam, he requested that everything be left in the exact same way" said Alfred.

"I see" said Pete as he opened the closet, he could see some of Natasha's clothes, and what looked like documents, and there were some pictures in her closet, he immediately recognized one of those photos, it was one taken of him and her on his 25th birthday, he never knew that she still kept that picture, it made him smile, he smiled knowing that she still thought of him, the same way he thought of her.

"Alfred, while cleaning the room, did you happen to find any receipts or something?" asked Pete as he closed the closet and he turned to look at Alfred.

"Well no Commander, none of that sort" said Alfred as he shook his head.

"Apart from this room, where did Natasha like to spend most of her time?" asked Pete.

"That would be the Young Master's office, followed by Joy's room" said Alfred.

"Can you please take me there?" asked Pete.

"Of course Commander, please follow me" said Alfred as Pete followed after him.

…

"Boss, you called for me?" asked Morales as he walked into Pete's office.

"Yes Morales, I did" said Pete as he looked up and Morales sat across him.

"How did the interrogations go?" asked Pete.

"Well they all seem oblivious to what happened that night, and well, they all have solid alibis, I was going to check through them" said Morales.

"Give me a detailed report" said Pete.

"Mr. Michael White said that he was not at home on that day, he was at his Grandfather's house, and Mr. Xavier White, and Mr. Charlie White can testify to that, seeing as they were with him as well on that day, and there is security footage of them being where they all claimed to be, and they did not leave the house at all, only Mr. Michael White did and that was around 11pm" said Morales.

"And Dominic White?" asked Pete.

"He was at the office all day, he only returned home at 6;15pm, and he said that you could crosscheck that time with the security footage" said Morales.

"And Miss Cecilia Thomas?" asked Pete.

"Well she was out with friends the other day, they went to a Chinese restaurant, she returned back home late, until she received a call from Mr. Dominic White and she rushed to meet him" said Morales.

"Any backing that she was actually with friends as she claimed?" asked Pete.

"She wrote down the phone numbers of the friends that she was out with, she wrote down the address of the Chinese restaurant, and she showed a receipt of her payment and order at the restaurant" said Morales.

"I see" said Pete.

"Boss if you ask me, they all sound clean" said Morales.

"Too clean" said Pete.

"How do you mean boss?" asked Morales.

"Someone has to be lying, because according to the phone records found on the victims phone, it would seem that she went out to meet a friend, and these are the only friends known of the victim" said Pete, it irked him to call Natasha a victim, but he had to be professional here, this was an official case after all.

"And who do you think that might be?" asked Morales.

"I don't make up conclusions Morales, just check on their alibis, if they are solid or not" said Pete.

"Alright Boss, I will" said Morales as he stood up and he walked out of Pete's office as Pete sighed, they seemed to be getting to a dead end, but not on his watch, he would punch that dead end into an open end.