INSOMNIAC: ALAN SMITH #2 (Alan Smith series) (49 page)

Kevin sat at the edge of the bed and was looking around. Mostly Ryan was doing the examination in detail.

‘What?’ Ryan asked when he saw Kevin sitting apathetically.

‘Trying to make sense of all this’ he said still not looking at Ryan, his eyes wondering on the windows, a small tiny one. ‘Do you think we’re gonna find anything here? Or do you think that this guy can be a killer?’

‘I don’t know and neither do I wanna know’ said Ryan as he went over to the bedside. ‘I’m doing just what I’m told to do’

‘And what exactly we’re trying to find out? Don’t you wonder why we’re told to do this?’

Ryan turned his face back at the mirror and saw himself in it. ‘Man, I look cool!’

‘Yeah, as cool as our case’

‘Shut up’

Then Ryan went down on his knees and checked the grounds and also the platforms of the bed. Which was also a small one so there was not much place available to hide anything; still he wanted to be sure about it.

Ryan at the end moved towards the closet and studied the exterior portions quietly. He held the handle and also wiped his hand on the front. He was not sure himself what he was doing but he did it anyway. Then he pulled the handle back in order to open the closet. The door was jammed up first, as Ryan realised that his own knee was in the middle, not letting it open fully. So the next time he moved his leg away and the door flung open.

For a moment, Ryan was quiet, looking at the belongings then after a second or so he mumbled. ‘O, Christ!’

‘What?’ asked Kevin casually.

‘I see something here’

‘Like jeans, shirts and suits right?’

‘Something other than the clothes’

‘Let me guess, a belt? A wallet?’

‘Shut up and see’

This made Kevin sprang up, as he pushed Ryan out of the way with a little irritation and he looked more closely inside the closet.

‘Whoa, you got to be kidding me’ Kevin exclaimed.

It was a nylon wire, or better say a cord. Not more than 3O cm long but the nylon was quite hard and some at places it was also a little slippery .There was also some dry blood marks in the middle, so Kevin held the end avoiding the bloody area and let it hang from his hands.

‘Dude, looks like we just found our murder weapon’ Ryan smiled.

* * * * *

Alan ,Alicia , Kevin and Ryan all four of them walked up to the house and before Alan could yell Ryan pushed the door bell and he thought it would be better to wait for a minute without informing the neighbours that there was police in the neighbourhood.

As soon as he pushed the doorbell, a nice melody began playing in the background. Was it the same melody they heard the last time they came? They couldn’t quite remember.

The breeze was steady, calm and cool but it was full of humidity so it could easily make you perspire. The sky was turning red and the afternoon sun was like a red deuce ball .They could only see one of the stars in the sky along with the moon, but they were quite far away from each other. After the melody stopped, the background now got filled with the chirping of the birds and the car horns. They knew that there was no sign of rain till now, which everyone was longing for. But before they could see any more of the nature, the door opened and they found the same man the last time they came into Mr. Carter’s house.

‘NYPD’ Alan said with a firm voice.

‘O, right’ the man said ‘You must be looking for Sally. But well she is not home now’

‘Where is she?’

‘Just went out a few minutes ago to buy some groceries. She will come back soon for sure; maybe you can wait in here...’

‘No that’s fine. We don’t wanna talk to her. Rather we would like have a quick chat with you’ Alan smiled.

Jacob looked confused at first. He wore a pair of formal pants, a coat over a white T shirt with not much design in it. The sewer kind of smell was still there in the place and his eyes were dark and depressing. His hair was combed but it still showed some signs of bushiness.  His face also showed some signs of tiredness.

‘With me?’ he said.

‘Yes, if there is no problem’

‘Ok, no problem. Come in anyway’

He led them inside the ground floor living room as Alan and all them wanted to finish their jobs quick so they avoided the stairs.

‘Okay then, maybe we should get started’ Jacob looked at them with questioning faces.

‘Let me have your name first’

‘Jacob Grant’

‘Okay Mr. Grant from how long are you suffering from insomnia?’

There was a moment of thought in him after which he replied ‘Two years or so...’

‘Very well, and what kind of medication do you take in order to keep this in control?’ Alan’s questions were inscrutable yet so simple. Just like a perfect cop or detective should ask.

‘I used to take a lot of steroids which was not so effective, so recently my doctor recommended me the valerian root and it doesn’t taste good , but it’s good I must say’

‘So you use valerian root now?’

‘That’s right’

‘Good, now tell me why did you kill Mr. Carter?’

The question hit him like a way a truck running at 80 miles per hour, hits a Mercedes. That would have done a lot of damage to the Mercedes just like it did damage to his mind. At least, puzzled him a lot. It was all written over his face.

But he quickly regained his composure and said ‘What?’

‘Why did you kill Mr. Carter?’ Alan’s voice was hard.

‘I didn’t kill him...’

‘Yes you killed him’

‘This is ludicrous’

‘This isn’t, trust me’

‘Well no I didn’t kill him’

‘Cut the crap Mr. Grant.  We have enough evidence with us to prove you the murderer right now. So why act?’

‘What should I say then – that I killed him?’

‘Yep. Then you can give the reason for that’

‘But I’m not going to say what I didn’t do’

‘Mr. Grant look’ now Alicia spoke. ‘The first time I came here we got a nasty smell in this house’

‘That must be the smell of the valerian root. So what can I do about that?’

‘You don’t have to do anything about that’ said Alicia and continued pausing for a brief second. ‘Your coffee was also off chocolate colour so it was actually not coffee but it was the drink that people drinks mixing the valerian buds and the roots’

‘Okay? I still don’t see how this makes me the killer?’

‘These were just some facts Mr. Grant. Let me tell you the main thing. We have also found a bloody nylon wire from your house when we searched it’

‘What? You searched my house?’ There was more concern in Jacob’s voice than anger.

‘Yes, and by the way that’s not really your house, it was a cheap motel room which you rented last week’

‘But you can’t search anyone’s house just like that’

‘Yes you’re right we can’t. And we will talk about it in a minute. But for now let’s focus on the main topic. At first we didn’t suspect you, or better say  we completely forgot about you but something made us remember about you, and then we did some research on you’

‘Research?’ Jacob was getting more and more confused by every minute.

‘And the results were positive for us’ Alan continued. ‘You were kicked out of the office quarters where you lived for free. You even worked in the trade centre for a few months but you started selling goods to illegal parties ,and added to your misery  the share market failed heavily and you were......’ Alan let that word hang and went over to the next sentence. ‘That’s why you rented a room in that motel, but you thought no, things can’t go on like this. You killed Mr. Carter, in the middle of that night. You waited in his car so that when he comes in the morning you will kill him and abscond. But it was lucky day for you of course so when your target came right at the edge of the dawn you strangled him and escaped without anyone noticing you because of the power outrage and even the patrol cops were not so alert about anything. You knew if Mr. Carter were dead, you would be one-step ahead of taking control over the house. You knew there were no will, no spouse, and no children. You could have easily killed Mrs. Carter or even if you didn’t she would have let you live here for free just like you are now’

Then Alan stopped and studied him for some minutes letting him absorb the words, while he lowered his head. Then suddenly he looked up and said ‘No, it was not how it happened.’

‘Then how did it happen?’

‘It was Sally who provoked me to do this. When I lost my job and everything Sally first gave the idea that we can kill this man and take over the house then we can sell it, live somewhere else, and begin a new life with the money we get. There was no other way. I also thought that Sally is right that is the best thing to do. So I did it...that’s it’

‘Great! Your story is absolutely beguiling’ said Alan. ‘And let me tell you something, thanks. Thanks for clarifying my mistake or else would have been wrong for ever’

‘Hey Ryan’ said Alicia and Ryan knew what to do; he came forward and cuffed him although they knew that surely the man would not try to escape now. But still...

Then before they could go out Kevin came forward rested his hands over his neck as if they were buddies then said ‘Seriously man who the hell keeps a bloody murder weapon in his house for over a week?’

‘I shouldn’t have kept that’ Jacob said weakly.

‘Of course you shouldn’t have. You should have got rid of it...maybe burnt it or something at soon as you finished your job’ said Kevin and patted on his back.

Just then, Sally Carter entered the house with a few bags and looked at everyone with awkward faces. ‘What’s going on?’

Alan and Alicia first went near the door, then Alan turned back and said ‘Nothing Mrs. Carter, it’s just that Mr. Grant needs to pay a visit to the precinct. And I trust you will also accompany us there if it’s okay with you?’

EPILOGUE

On Friday, according to our sources, - suggests that Hall Donovan, the most wanted man of New York City was arrested. Homicide Detective Alan Smith was responsible for this affair and it was said that a he saved a fifteen year old boy from getting killed. The very same day Mr. Henderson the chief of the Detective Bureau Squad also witnessed a shooting spree in the middle of the River Side Bronx and backups were called in order to regain control of the situation. The shooting was also said to be instructed by Donovan himself.  Rumours are that Donovan didn’t resist his arrest or he also didn’t try to shield himself from the police. But the homicide investigation is still on.  Awaiting further information on this subject.

Watch out this space for the full report on 17
th
June, 2015. And also an exclusive interview from Detective Smith and Chief of the homicide sqaud Mr. Henderson.

Alan closed the first page of the paper and said ‘The press didn’t get it quite right. But they tried their best at it’

‘Yes...’ said Alicia. ‘And you see that thing that tomorrow they will give the full report, that’s because a live press conference is going on the ground floor main hall right now’

‘Oh, doesn’t they have any work to do?’

‘I think not’ said Alicia then made a sorry face. ‘I could have finished this case so easily if I ever thought that this man could have been a suspect’

‘He was always a suspect. But you failed to bring him in the middle of the picture’

‘Yes I overlooked him.’

‘True. Anyway’ said Alan. ‘How are our prisoners doing?’

Ryan soon came and joined them and before Alicia could answer, he said ‘Okay so I have showed Mr. Grant his cell, and I have also taken the report and the tape of what Mrs. Carter said about this. She didn’t deny anything or give us any tough time. It went all well. I asked one of the uniforms to take care of her’

‘You did well Ryan’ said Alan.

‘And the other news is that Mr. McRae was also released 20 minutes ago and he’s still angry over all of us to keep him here for so long, but other than that it’s all well’

‘Naturally he would be angry’ said Alicia. ‘We gave him a hard time here’

‘Yes we should have believed him when he said that he didn’t kill anyone’

‘Yeah, we’re too obsessed with the schizophrenia thing’ said Ryan.

‘Right’

Ryan pushed his drawer to check if anything was left, then he took his mobile from the table put it in his pocket and looked to see if everything was in place.

‘What’s the matter with him?’ Alicia whispered to Alan as why was he in such a hurry.

‘Beats me’

‘Maybe he’s going somewhere.’

Ryan pushed the drawers back, kept all the files inside it and locked it tossing the key in his pocket, he turned to Alan. ‘And the last thing. Henderson told me to sent you downstairs to attend the press conference’