Association for National Security

" Hey man! Is that Dr.Micheles laptop?" Richard asked as Mike entered his cabin. He was tired from the long drive but he had to keep going. " Yeah! We will look into this later. What do we have?" He asked sitting. Richard picked the telephone and asked George to come in with the notes.George was an intern at A.N.S."Hey Mike.How are you"." Good George.So you are doing the notes part for these cases?We make good use of interns" he chuckled looking at Richard. "That is ok.As long as I get to be a part of them. They are gold for someone who is getting trained" George replied nonchalantly." That is the spirit my boy" he gestured with his thumb up and continued,"So start".  "Well. Male, Timothy Grey, aged 26.Female, Rebecca Oswald, aged 30.Bodies found at Crimson square at an under construction site. Site belonged to -" he paused shuffling some papers,  "to one Mr. Gilbert Donaldson. No physical injury or any signs of struggle. Cause of death heart failure. Unlike the previous case, we have an estimated time of death. It could have occurred between 11:00 pm-2:00 am  yesterday" he paused, Mike was biting his upper lip, something he did when he concentrated." Now that is better than the previous one" he said nodding George to continue. They were under the influence of alcohol. Their dresses suggest they must have been at a party. The man's body was obtained with a condom intact in its place, suggesting physical intimacy" George knew Mike and Richard too well and hence expected them to crack some cheap joke at this "What the-.That is bizarre.Death due to copulation, is it?" Mike guffawed. Richard grinned at him making George roll his eyes."Families have been informed. The bodies are on the way to the medical examiner's office." he finished. " Anything else? Did they talk to anyone around the place,if they noticed anything" Mike asked "The land was barren, not a single soul.Only after the workers arrived early in the morning, they were found and the police has been informed","Ok.Thanks George, keep us informed of anything else  you get to know". George nodded and left.

"Let's meet the boss Rick"Mike said walking to Ronald's room. "Where is Dr.Pete?"Richard asked." He did not come along. He stayed back with Preeti. They seem to have been very close back in time" He winked as he entered the room." Hey Boss.I am back". "Did you get anything useful?" he asked Mike as he settled down. " No. She does not know anything about the key. However, I requested her to look into his computer. I got it along, we will have a look at that later" Ronald nodded. "We have to work fast. We cannot let him kill anyone else"." Yes I will look into it." A call informing the arrival of the bodies made Mike leave to inspect that.

"Hey Rodriguez", Mike greeted as he entered the room. The medical examiner's was only a ten minute drive from the office, suitable for the investigators to visit it often. " Hello Mike.How have you been?". " Good!. So where are they?", Mike asked. " The usual.Let's go" he said taking Mike along."Did you notice anything interesting?" Mike asked as they walked. " Well nothing that could tell us why they ended up there. If not for the location and their attire, it could be pronounced natural death. Whoever has done it, must be very smart. I am waiting for the kin to arrive and identify, I will then store them away until autopsy. " he said.Mike nodded," What do you think you should look for in autopsy?" he asked. " Of course, nothing regular. I might need to look into. Sad, Dr Micheles cannot help us. His inputs would have been valuable. I had interned with him a while ago.Great man"he said as they arrived to a huge room.

The room had ten tables set  equidistant from each other. A spot light hung on the top of each table that would expose anything put on the table optimally. Five of the tables were occupied, while three were being worked on, two  contained only the bodies. On one wall, covering it entirely were sliding draws to hold the corpses. The temperature was much lower than outside and there was a characteristic stench in the air. There was a small dressing room for the examiners to change before walking in. They wore aprons and gloves , Rodriguez handed Mike a nose piece to protect himself from the strong smell. " I am used to it" Mike smiled as they walked back.

They first walked to the woman dressed in white. She looked like she belonged to a wealthy place. Her eyes were closed. " Did they find her with eyes closed?" Mike asked. " No clue. You better ask the team that found them." he replied. Mike reached his pocket for a  small book and a pen. He made note of the point. He also noted that she was not wearing any jewellery.He examined her closely for any signs that would give away her sudden cardiac arrest, he could find none. He then moved to another table ."Did they both die at the same time?" he asked examining the body of a man who was tall and his hair had a clear sign of hair gel being used.His face was calm like the woman." There might have been a difference of one hour"."Who died first?"Mike questioned." Looks like the woman". He nodded.Rodriguez noticed him looking at the open flyer of the man's pants." If you are wondering where the condom is I have removed it. I will send it with other items for forensic examination"he said as he continued examining.

A sudden shriek made them both jump as they turned towards the source of  sound. A fat old lady dressed in a frock came rushing towards the table that held the woman's body. Mike and Rodrigez rushed to her before she touched and tampered anything." Madam, please stay away" Rodriguez said politely.The lady stepped back, her eyes fixed on the woman's face. " My baby.Rebecca" she sobbed. "How are you related to her?" Mike asked with a hand on her shoulder."Mother" she choked. " I am sorry for the loss Mrs.Oswald. We need you to identify the body and sign some papers". She nodded as she sniffed. Rodriguez left to get the papers. " Ma'm where was she yesterday night?", Mike asked her. " I don't know. She stays with her friends. I told her it was not safe but she never listened to me.Look what she's gotten herself into" she sneezed.Mike gently tapped her to console. "Did she have a boyfriend?" Mike asked. " Boyfriend?" she seemed surprised, she looked up at Mike with red eyes and a fresh set of tears." I don't know of any. Is this because of a boyfriend?Oh my God! I have always told her to protect herself from these wile men.But no!she never bothered" she continued. " No ma'm it was just a formal question.Where is her friend?" he asked. "She is on the way.She had been to her parents for a holiday. She is rushing back from there" she said still looking at the still body of her daughter. Rodriguez walked in with some papers and assisted her out to a room where she could finish filling the forms. Leaving her there and giving her a glass of water, he got back to Mike."She seems shaken" he said. "What did you expect?By the way, she does not have an idea where she was yesterday and she says no boyfriend" Mike said. "Oh! Let us wait for his identification then" Mike nodded." Ms. Rebecca's friend will be here. After you finish your formality guide her to A.N.S. Similarly any of Timothy's kin, guide them there. If the press tries to reach you, keep your lips sealed. I will deal with them". Mike waved to Rodriguez, got himself out of the extra clothing and headed back.

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"Gosh! I missed you so much Pete" Preeti said, her voice tender and  hand caressing his. " I missed you too" Pete smiled. " I am happy you opted out of it and joined Micheles. Better late than never" he said relief in his eyes. She sighed " I had to. After you were gone I could not survive it all by myself. I tried but it was too much for me. It was difficult to leave though" she said pain apparent in her voice. He patted her hand to soothe her. " I was lucky, Micheles was ready to take me in. I made good friends. Life had been quite stable since then, but I miss those days. The adrenaline rush it gave, I can never have it again" she grinned. Pete remained silent listening to her every word. " Enough about me. What are you up-to? I tried to contact you several times and I know all my messages reached you but you did not bother to reply to any of them?" she wondered more to herself. He stared at the busy road with people bustling around. They were sitting in a local Chinese restaurant with their chairs to an open window overlooking the street. He had never imagined or expected to meet Preeti again. The only thing that pulled him here was Dr.Micheles. He had not known she worked with him now. When he heard Ronald mention her, his heart clenched. He knew it was her, part of him wanted to leave without letting her know he was here. But he was so close to her and the thought of not meeting her was hurting him."I wanted to be away, away from everyone I knew and everyone who cared for me", He said still staring out. She asked slowly " How's Jessica? She must be a big girl now". A smile formed on his face and the red light from the Chinese lamps twinkled in his eyes. " She's fourteen now. Eighth grade. She wants to be a dancer" he chuckled. Preeti was pleased to see him happy. " She is getting trained?" she asked realizing this to be the only topic to keep him going. " You will be happy to know what she's learning.Any guesses?" he asked like a child. " Hmm. Ballerina??"." No.Bharatanatyam" he said leaning back in satisfaction as he saw her expression. " Really?! Pete that is wonderful. I would love to see her perform.Who is she learning it from?" , she asked impressed with what Pete said. " Mrs. Anuradha Pillai, she lives a few blocks away from my place. She is a wonderful lady. Jessica is so passionate about the art, I am sometimes reminded of you", he sighed inward. " Hmm. Remember? you accompanied me to the classes once a week. Oh my! it was so embarrassing to dance with you sitting and staring at me" she blushed as she spoke. He looked at her and smiled contently, nothing has changed. It has been ten years since they last met, yet here they were like always. They fell silent remembering the times they were together. Times they had been more than just friends. But one incident changed everything, Pete decided to leave everything behind and move to a new place. Preeti din't know where he was heading, he insisted her to stay out of his way. She tried all that she could, to stop him, but he was adamant. Jessica was four and got very attached to Preeti, even that could not stop him. She could not blame him for the decision he took, he had lost something big, that could not be replaced, not even by her. She could only silently pray he found peace where ever he was.

" So, what do you think about this case?" she asked handling the chopsticks like a pro. " I don't know and I am not interested" , his voice was suddenly harsh. "Don't you think that is why Micheles wanted you here?" she said trying to get him to the point. "He knows how much I want to stay away from this, yet he pulls me into it" he was frustrated. " Pete, Micheles will never do anything that will harm you. You know that" she stressed. " It is not him Preeti, it is me. I have lost too much in this game. I do not have the energy or the patience for anything more" , he rubbed his temple to calm his nerves. "That was one bad incident. I know it was a very difficult time for you but you have to bury it. You cannot ruin yourself, at-least for Jessica" she tried to reason. "Exactly, that is why I want to stay away." he declared. She realized it would be futile to argue with him any further, she knew well how stubborn he could be." One thing Pete, Micheles called you here, knowing you would be angry. He had been tirelessly working to get some answers. The body is still lying in the morgue untouched waiting for his orders. He felt you could fill in his shoes. He really needed you to help them Pete. Think about it. For all we know, this might be the last thing Micheles would ask you" she choked. He looked at her as the thought of Dr.Micheles death made his heart heavy."Okay! I will think about it" he finally said. The night breeze was soothing and they decided to walk until they find a cab. Preeti's home was conveniently on the way to Pete's hotel so they decided on sharing it. "So have you met any interesting guys?" Pete asked as they strolled. "Noo. Not really. I would not like to lie to you, yes I dated few men, but no one interesting", she said. "You?". "I do not have time for that. I am too busy at University and with Jessica. I feel lonely at times, but I am content with myself", he smiled. They walked for a few minutes when they found a taxi.

~~~~~**~~~~~~

It was almost ten in the night when Mike was busy going through the details of both the cases, when he observed a young lady dressed in a knee length gown wrapped in a shawl walk into the building. She was looking for someone for assistance and Mike walked to her." Yes. How may I help you?", he asked. "My name is Flora Jacobs. I am-" she hesitated but took a deep breath " I am Rebecca Oswald's friend", she said. "Oh! Please come in Ms.Jacobs" Mike took her to a room that looked like it could hold conferences." Please sit down.Would you like to have some tea?", he asked sensing it was too cold outside." No. thank you", she smiled. " Firstly, I am really sorry for your loss." he said sympathetically and she nodded as a tear trickled down her cheek." How long have you known each other?"."For almost five years. We met at a common friend's party. We hit it off instantly. I was living with my boyfriend then. That jerk broke up with me, after that she moved in" she recollected." She was a great friend. This is difficult to accept" she said wiping tears away. "I can understand. Did she have any enemies?",he asked." No. She only had friends. A lot of them. She was very helpful and people loved her". He noted something down nodding " Do you know Mr.Timothy Grey?".She sighed," Yes, they had been talking to each other on the internet for a few months now and yesterday they met for the first time. It is sad it turned out this way"." Do you have an idea where did they plan to meet?"." Yeah.At club  Nectar.She called me two days back. She was so excited that she was meeting Tim",he nodded. " Do you know him?"Mike asked." I spoke to him a couple of times on Facebook. Incidentally , his cousin is my high school class mate.I informed him about this. His family lives quite far away from here.", she said. " Did either of them have a vehicle?Could they have driven themselves to the club?", he questioned." Tim was new in town, he just moved in two weeks back so I do not think he would have. Beck and I own a car, but I took it along to my parents house "She was silent for a while like she was thinking about something."May I ask you something?", she asked finally" Ofcourse Ms Jacobs". She contemplated for a minute," Where did you find th-"," Crimson square, at a half finished building" he replied understanding what she wanted to know.Her eyes went wide " That is very far from Nectar" she exclaimed." Yes, we do not know what they were doing there. But they had gotten intimate a while before they died",he said." Oh! If they wanted to get intimate, they had our house all for themselves.It was just ten minutes away. I know Beck, she would never take the risk of  doing something so reckless", she replied." Do people at Nectar know you two by face?Would they help us in understanding what happened yesterday?" he asked. " Most probably, yes. They know us quite well, but in the rush I do not know if they keep track of people" "Can you come along with me tomorrow to the club.May be we will get some answers. If you are there, they might open up better" he said. " Yeah sure" ,she replied. "Should I get you dropped at you place? It is already late." he asked."No. Thank you. i will manage", she said walking away.

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To be continued...