Chapter Five

The summertime heat-wave dipped a bit and made the day breezier than usual. The ferocious weather had caged people inside their own homes for a while, and they were feeling suffocated, and getting irritated by the noises echoing from the window wall-unit air-conditioners.

At least they get to go out and soak up the fresh air, as much as they can take it.

Jane and Dana knocked on the chief’s door.

“Come on in and close the door,” says Richard, anxiously wanting to know what they have on the case. He needs to have something to report to the higher-ups.

For a man of his position, it’s hard dealing with politics. The public wants justice to be served on a platter overnight, especially when it involves famous celebrities, public figures, or people with statures like The Walters. Politicians want anything they can feed reporters, and take a picture, to attach their names next to a story. But both sides never understand how investigations work. Or maybe they pretend to ignore that fact. They don’t seem to want to know that police work is tedious, and mostly investigations move like a turtle when either the public or the politicians are on a rocket ship.

Richard sits back in his chair, behind the mahogany oak wooden desk. Waving his ballpoint in the air, he introduces the detectives to Mallory.

“Mallory, this is Jane and Dana,” he pauses a bit and continues.“They’re the lead detectives on the case.”

“Hello, nice meeting you,” says Mallory politely, tilting her head down almost forty-five degrees, and extending her soft hands for a handshake.

“We’re so sorry for your loss, Mallory,” each detective extending their hands and returning the favor, before they continue expressing their condolences, and jump into a briefing on the case. “We’re going to do everything in our powers to catch those responsible and bring them to justice.”

“I appreciate that,” repliers Mallory.

The chief interjects, “Do we have anything so far, any hint or clue, who did this heinous crime?”

Mallory’s eyes are now wide open and fixated on Jane and Dana’s lips, hoping to hear some good news.

“We’re still looking through all the surveillance footages and images. We’re also interrogating suspects, and speaking to witness Sir,” says Jane.

Dana continues, “We’ve got a description on the vehicle, and we’re analyzing it, searching through the DMV Databases, but nothing yet on the shooter.”

Malloy and Richard’s hearts sunk with disappointment.

Richard fumes with frustration. He bangs on his desk forcefully, unable to control his rage. “So, nothing?!” As he was about to say something else, the phone on the desk rings loudly.

“It’s the mayor,” says his assistant Cherry.

He glares at the phone for a second and picks it up. He knows what’s about to come because he has nothing to report to the mad dogs upstairs.

“Hello Mayor,” he says with a cold voice as if his sugar level just dropped to zero, messaging his stiffened shoulders like he’s warming up in the GYM for a fight.

“We’re preparing for a press conference in a few hours, and we need to give the public something, anything,” says the mayor, who was yelling from the top of his lungs.

Richard didn’t need to hold the phone close to his ears as everybody in the room could hear the frantic meanness of the mayor.

“I understand sir, but as of now, we don’t have any useful information.”

As Richard listens, he waits for the screaming voice to dial down. When the mayor kept yelling, Richard cuts him off. “I’m sorry, mayor, but I’ll have to get back to you as the lead detectives are here to brief me on the case.” Just like that, he slammed shut the phone.

Soon after that, a foggy silence filled the room.

Richard breathed heavily and sat down in his chair. He never felt small and clueless like this. Maybe he’s looking at this case with too much emotional attachment. As if he doesn’t know it already, he reminds himself about why conflict of interest laws are put in place.

“Cherry, please cancel all my appointments for the rest of the day.”

He grabs his coat and Mallory, attached to his arms, leaves the suffocating police station, to take her home.

When the SUV pulled in front of her house on 23rd and Madison Ave, on the way, he saw the damaged and looted stores, and suddenly he felt his lungs gasping for air.

The city is in turmoil. The atmosphere hasn’t changed much since the murder of a business mogul and his son that went viral on social media. Their deaths have submerged the city into chaos, still leaving many in disbelief and shock.

The crime rate has doubled, and vigilante justice seekers are popping up everywhere like grass weed.

The public is trying to find anything, which they could use to medicate their insanity and fierce outcries.

However, there isn’t any prescription found that eases anybody’s mental state or heartbreaks. As of yet, no information has been confirmed or released officially by the police about the suspect or suspects of the triple-homicide.

For now, the public has to dance in the shadows, feeding off speculations and hypotheses like you’re solving a calculus equation.

A group text message with a picture and full address beeped on Jane and Dana’s official Smartphone, from Becky, a senior crime analyst.

Becky:

The search is done, and the tan white Ford Edge vehicle belongs to Shawn Hardy. 15 Mark Street, Bronx, NY 10444.