Free Web NovelChapter 19: Chapter 19 - The pieces
Vincent reached for the wire hanger, unwound its hook, and unfolded it out. Thirty seconds later, he had a long, crooked piece of hard and strong wire in his hands.
He re-twisted and reshaped the hanger until he had an L-shaped, foot-and-a-half-long piece of wire, with a small curved hook at the end of it.
He then cautiously superglued the small magnet piece to the tip of the wire hook.
"And here we have it." He said, walking over to the door.
Holding the security chain’s wall mounting back in its original place, he tested his new device.
The magnet at the tip of his wire hook firmly snapped itself to the circular metal piece at the end of the security chain.
Using the wire device, Vincent then slowly and very easily slid the chain all the way across, until it was free from the lock.
"He probably practiced a few times in here to get the hang of it before stepping out onto the corridor." Vincent said.
"All he needed to do was to bring the door to. The original open-door gap that the security chain provides is more than enough for anyone to be able to push the wire device through, snap it onto the chain, drag the chain over to its lock, carefully prod around until it slots into its spot, and just slide it across to lock it. I’m sure it took him a few tries to get it, but it wouldn’t have taken him long. Once that was done, he closed the door, used his key to lock it, and got out of here. Luckily for us, he bumped into Mr. Guilt as he returned home."
"Clever son of a bitch." The officer Leo sighed, studying the wired device Vincent created. "When did you figure this out?"
"The idea came to me when I was leaving Miss Emily. The fridge in her kitchen is covered by fridge magnets. Suddenly everything made sense." Vincent said.
The officer Leo looked back at the detective.
"I am sorry." He said, extending his hand. "I’m sorry to have given you such a hard time earlier on. I allowed all the superficial scene readings to guide my judgment. Everything indicated suicide, so I assumed it had to be suicide."
Vincent shook the officer’s hand.
" But I guess that’s why you are a detective, and I’m not." The officer Leo smiled. "Now what?"
"Now we get a warrant, go arrest Mr. Goldberg." Vincent smiled, a dark spark formed inside his eyes.
"I’m sure that some of the hairs and fingerprints found in Ms. Emma’s room will have come from Jake Goldberg. If we’re lucky, something might give us a DNA match. But if not, once we put a person like him inside an interrogation room and present him with what we have, it doesn’t take long for whatever bullshit story he had prepared to start showing its cracks. Trust me, Officer Leo, we’ve got him." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Vincent reached out for his phone and called the captain.
***
The captain had listened to Vincent’s entire report without interrupting once.
"I’ll be fucked in the ass, tonight." He laughed.
Vincent didn’t know it was an expression or a statement. Maybe it was a statement, considering how serious the captain was.
Scary. Maybe with this conviction he became the captain.
He needed to try once in his life.
"I stand corrected, and I guess I owe you an apology, kiddo."
"No apology necessary, sir. Like I said, just doing my job." Vincent replied.
"Of course you are, kiddo. But I do indeed owe you an apology. You did prove me wrong. And in time you will learn that that doesn’t happen very often."
Vincent said nothing. He heard the faint noise of pages turning coming from the captain’s end.
"The warrant will be on its way to you soon," Captain Hugle finally said. ’Now go arrest that piece of shit boyfriend . . . Detective Vincent.’
Vincent smiled. It was the first time the captain had called him by his proper title.
More pages turning.
"When you get back to the division, I’ve got something else lined up for you." The Captain said.
"Another suicide case, captain?" Vincent half joked.
"Not this time, detective." There was no play in the captain’s voice anymore. "This time we’ll see how good a hunter you really are."
With the ominous tone, he hung up the phone.
Vincent sighed and turned to the officer.
"Well, then, I will be going."
The officer Leo nodded.
Vincent left the building with Dawnstar beside him. She continued to stare at him, chuckling to herself.
"What?" Vincent asked, opening the door for her. She thanked him.
"I am just laughing at how cool you look."
"It isn’t funny at all. I can’t comprehend your sense of humor, Miss Hero." Vincent sighed, closing the car door.
He walked to the driver seat and sat down, turning up the engine.
"To Jake’s house?" Dawnstar asked.
"No. I haven’t gotten the warrant yet." Vincent smiled, shifting the gear. "Now, it is time to eat. Hungry right?"
"Yes." She didn’t deny it.
Vincent liked that about her. She was bold and easy to get along with.
"Any places you have in mind?" He asked.
" A fews." Dawnstar smiled mischievously. "Your treat right?"
"Just so you know, I am not rich yet." Vincent sighed. "Pick a place where you won’t drain my wallet."
"Sweet." Dawnstar smiled, shaking her head in rhythm. "I will guide you to the place."
***
Vincent stepped out from the car and stared at the sign.
Yummy Yummy Food.
He laughed softly seeing the sign. If he thinks about it, he hadn’t really met a good name for a while.
Dawnstar immediately came to his side and grabbed his hand, dragging him inside the restaurant with her strength.
He almost felt his shoulder popping out from the socket.
"Two people." Dawnstar yelled at the owner.
"Coming." The old man replied from the kitchen.
The restaurant was a small one, the place where only a worker around here would eat. He didn’t know how Dawnstar found the place. For now, the restaurant was devoid of people.
Maybe because they had passed lunch time already.
The old man came out and guided them to the clean table. Vincent grabbed the menu and ordered his food. He just saw the dead body so his appetite was low. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
But he needed to eat to fuel. Even with the unlimited energy, there had to be a limit right?
While waiting for the food, they both chatted. Nothing serious, just asking about hobbies and such.
During the conversation, Vincent noticed that she avoided talking about her family. And even friends.
He frowned.
"Wait a minute." He stared at her face. "Do you have friends?" He asked bluntly.
Dawnstar coughed, choking the water she swallowed. Vincent took out the towel from his pocket and gave it to her.
"Rude. I have friends."
Vincent squinted his eyes, observing her intently. His lips formed a thin smile and curved.
"You are lying." Vincent snapped his finger and crossed his arms. He stared at her without giving her a rest.
"I am not lying. I really do have a friend."
"A friend?" Vincent raised an eyebrow, a bit dubious of her tone.
"Friends." She corrected herself immediately. She then scratched her head and sighed, laying on the table with her cheek pressing on it.
She was staring outside.
Vincent noticed the mood changing around her. He followed her eyes and saw her looking at the group of girls, shopping around, clearly having a good time.
Jealousy flicked in her eyes. She lifted up her head and faced him, her green eyes now lost its light.
Vincent stared at her. Suddenly, a silence between was louder than the cries from the baby. He was waiting for Dawnstar to say something.
He knew that if he interrupted right now, the chance to see her opening up was low. The deeper their relationship got, the tighter her heart would be.
For now, he was a stranger. Someone she could speak to and forgot everything since the chance of meeting again was low.
The old man came with dishes and placed them between them.
"Eat up, youngsters. Eat and fix your relationship. I am sure you both are a wonderful couple. An empty stomach can’t lead to nothing." The old man dropped some wisdom and left, leaving the two dumbfounded.
Vincent and Dawnstar stared at each other and laughed.
"Gross." She said, "He thinks we are a couple."
"There is nothing gross about me. Anyway, let’s eat."
She nodded, staring down at the food in front of her.
"You are right. I don’t have a friend." She admitted. "It’s not like I am not friendly enough or didn’t try enough or anything like that. I did have friends in the past. Before my journey as a hero, but all changed. I realized they all were fakes. Fake. Haha."
She chuckled drily. "Everything about me was so fake."
"So, I am starting from zero." She smiled, looking at him. "I am truly starting from zero. To get the real thing. Please don’t laugh at me for that."
Vincent put down the spoon and sighed. His hand moved without his control and reached toward her eyes, wiping away the single tear.
Strangely, he knew that she was strong. Not the sense that she could beat him up a thousand times. Strong in the heart.
"I don’t know anything about you. What I am saying is probably coming out as a man trying to come inside your pants but trust me. I won’t laugh at you for this. I can craft many stories from the tears you shed already in my head." Vincent smiled.
"Gross." Dawnstar said with a smile on her own.
They both continued eating the food, without mentioning the strange things happened between the two.
Suddenly, midway, Dawnstar lifted up her head and asked.
"Wait, are you seriously able to craft stories in your head form that?"
"Shut up, I am a detective."
