Chapter 36: Suspect

Raziel and Maya were standing outside the church. Raziel turned to look back at the church, "Shouldn't we be confirming his alibi?"

Maya didn't answer his question. She pointed to a cafe three buildings away from the church, "Let's go in there and go through the file he gave us."

Raziel admired the view as they walked into the cafe. Tenebren was a very beautiful place. Maya picked a table that was empty and alone in a corner of the cafe. She eased into a chair and Raziel sat opposite her.

Raziel spread the file on the table and they both started going through it. Raziel raised his head and asked with confusion, "You know for a city filled with superhumans, people don't commit a lot of crimes.

"I meant that I've not seen a superhuman suddenly kill another person since I've been here."

Maya replied without looking up, "Superhumans commit a lot of crimes. They just don't do it in broad daylight except they are crazy.

"If you want to witness live action crimes by superhumans, go to the slums and outskirts of Tenebren.

"But those places are not in our jurisdiction. We deal with crimes in Central Tenebren. Criminals in this place tend to use their brains when carrying out a crime."

Maya finally looked up, "So what can you deduce from this information?"

Raziel relaxed on his chair, "That's impossible for just any male member of the church to know all the five victims addresses.

"I've gone through the profile of all the male members of the church. None of them knows all the five victims personally.

"Who is the witness that said the perpetrator was a male?"

Maya replied, "It was the neighbour of the first victim. She said she saw a man take the old lady by her hand and took her into a car.

"It was dark. She didn't see the man's face. She couldn't even identify the vehicle according to the report."

Raziel was confused, "The former handlers of this case were killed. It means they must have found the kidnapper. How did they do it?"

Maya shook her head, "If I knew, I would have solved the case."

They sat in silence for a while before Maya spoke again. "The only people that knows these victims personally is Pastor Emmanuel, his son and his wife.

"When the first victim was kidnapped, why was Pastor Emmanuel's wife not at home to watch the game with them?"

Raziel nodded his head in agreement. Maya picked up her phone and dialed a number, "Hello Sergeant Grace, can you please check out something for me?

"You know the kidnapping case I got yesterday, can you help me to check where Pastor Emmanuel's wife was on the day the first victim was kidnapped?"

Maya held the phone for a few seconds before she spoke again. "Thanks." She said to the person on the other end of the phone.

"His wife was out of town. That explains why they couldn't watch the game together. The records show travelled by plane that morning." Maya said to him.

Raziel knocked his fingers on the table repeatedly, "You could have just asked Pastor Emmanuel where his wife was that day."

Maya placed her phone back on the table, "I know. I just don't want to spook him."

Raziel frowned, "What do you mean? You think Pastor Emmanuel is the culprit?"

Maya replied, "I don't know yet. I've gone over every information on the case several times and arrived at the same conclusion. Only three people know the victims well enough to know their addresses. The Pastor, his son and his wife.

"I'm not trying to confirm their alibi because if one of them is the culprit they would have covered their tracks very well.

"Aside from the night of the first crime, the Pastor and his wife were together during the night of the other crime."

Raziel interjected, "Apart from the night of the first crime, what alibis did Zach produce for the other crimes?"

Maya replied, "Zach lives with his wife at Park Avenue. It's on the outskirts of Tenebren. According to the timeline, there's no way he could have driven in a car to kidnap those women. It's a five hours drive.

"Besides his wife was with him the night the other kidnaps occurred."

The two of them sat in silence going over every detail of the case. Raziel broke the silence, "If Pastor Emmanuel is the culprit, then all of them must be in on it.

"There's no way the wife of Pastor Emmanuel alone could have been the culprit because she was not in the capital the day the first victim was abducted.

"That leaves us with Zach. He could have been the culprit if he rented an apartment somewhere close to this place. All the victims live not very far from here, at most they live an hour's drive away.

"But Zach has an alibi, his wife. It looks like we're stuck."

Maya smiled, "No, we're not. I have a suspect."

Raziel frowned. He can't see how she had a suspect in mind. "Who is it?" He asked.

Maya responded with a smile, "Zach!"

Raziel shook his head in disagreement, "On what basis?" All of them are equally suspicious. He hasn't seen anything to tip the scale in Zach's direction.

Maya placed her right hand on the table between them, "I'm a metal pathway superhuman, I can sense the faintest trace of human blood through the iron present in them.

"When I shook hands with Zach, I could perceive the smell of iron from human blood on my hand.

"That smell came from Zach's hand. I guess he killed someone recently. I'm betting it's one of the old women he kidnapped."