Chapter 7

  I was really hungry. The mug of tea had temporarily pushed down the hunger but not satisfied it. I really wanted to get to the cafe and get something to eat. Even if it was only a small donut or a cookie. But not only was I short of time, I was short of money as well.

  Matt was one of the few people I could trust in the police force, and he helped me for his own reasons. Like he said, the junkies and the lower-level criminals were happy to talk to me when they wouldn't talk to the police. What I didn't tell Matt was that some of the people who helped me were of the life-challenged type, the type who had died but refused to move on; the information I gave him was always gold, so he knew to trust me.

  I had to rush to the crime scene before he turned up with a van full of police officers and started locking down the place. I had to know more about the crime and also had to know about the other dead body that had been found there earlier. Why the hell were there two murders at exactly the same place? Was it a coincidence? It could be, but I don't like coincidences.

  The streets were still dirty from last night, though I knew the cleaners would be coming soon. A few minutes' walk, I found red stains on the hard floor from where the two brothers had been mauled by their dog. It was clear that city workers had tried their best to clean the blood, but clearly they hadn't been using the high-quality detergent liquid that woman on the TV kept trying to get me to buy. It was too early for the pub to be open, but I could hear voices inside. Maybe the owners were tidying up and preparing for the lunch rush.

  There were a lot of birds in the air - sparrows twittering around and starlings aggressively trying to eat any piece of bread lying on the floor. I was glad to see there were no ravens. Mainly because they always tried to talk to me, and mainly because they had nothing good to say except giving me useless advice I already knew. Stupid ravens, plus they were so pretentious and holier-than-thou, like they were smarter than me. Always thought, “If you're so smart, how come you're a bird?”

  The burnt-out restaurant was still there, but it was blocked now. Dark black smoke was coming out of it, and the ambulance and the fire truck I'd seen were parked outside it. The smoke smelled of kerosene and burnt rubber - a very disgusting combination that almost made me vomit.

  I knew the burnt rubber must be from the few electrical wires that had remained on in the building, but the kerosene smell told me that this was no natural fire. Clearly somebody had been trying to destroy the evidence, but had failed.

  Still bothered me - why? I mean, whoever had committed the murder had left their body there for a reason - right in front of the mirrors. If they had wanted to destroy the evidence, they could have done it earlier. So why come and finish the job now? Was it because they had been discovered?

  I felt a buzzing in my trousers, and knew it was a phone. Even before looking at it, I knew who it was from. I picked up the call.

  “Royce, it's Matt here. Do not go there. Do not go into that building. I just found out that there was a report of a fire there, and the firemen found two bodies. Burned to crisp. Looks like whatever evidence there was has been destroyed. We'll still try our best to investigate, but I would vanish if ever you. At least three police cars are making their way there, and some of them don't like you. They'll arrest you if they even see your face within five miles.”

  “Thanks Matt, I owe you one.”

  I turned around and quickly started walking back. Yeah, Matt was right. Some of the police officers would just arrest me if they saw me within 5 miles of any crime. They had been warned by a judge not to harass me when I had been found constantly innocent in multiple cases. But that didn't stop them. Some of them seemed to believe that I was a reason all the crimes were happening in the city.

  I quickly made my way back to my office. My stomach screaming for food all the way. I was still angry at those two gangsters for taking away my last ￡10 note. Even the fact that they were dead did not reduce my anger. As I entered my building complex, I saw that the detective Tobias was back waiting for me upstairs. I waved my way up.

  “Did you find everything I asked for?”

  He nodded. “Unfortunately, my sister's roommate wasn't there, so your secretary couldn't do any investigations. But I'm sure she'll be back some other time, and you can talk to her then.”

  He gave me a phone and a diary. The diary was completely empty, as was the phone. No text messages, no calls, nothing.

  “Sorry, it looks like she wiped her phone before she vanished, and that's her diary, but it's empty. I don't know why. I'm told you're a supernatural investigator. Maybe somebody's trying to destroy evidence of why my sister vanished. Your secretary said she needed to buy some food and she'll be back in some minutes. I have to go now, I have to make some important calls. I hope this is enough.”

  “It's more than enough. Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time. What about that strange mirror your sister was talking into?”

  “Yeah, that. It vanished. I couldn’t find it anywhere.”

  He took out a wad of cash and gave it to me. “The first week's payment as we agreed. Please help me find my sister. I'm really worried about her. Please.”

  He held my hand with both his hands like a politician trying to ask me for my vote.

  As he was leaving, I heard Eve walking up the stairs. “Before you go, sir, just one last question. Did your sister Bethany have any enemies? Anyone who hated her or wanted her dead?”

  He laughed. “She was only a copywriter, not a police officer. Why would anyone want her dead? She was the sweetest person ever.”

  Saying so, he vanished down the stairs.

  Eve came in, and I was a bit angry at her. Seeing as how she was carrying a bag full of shopping for herself and nothing for me. Well, at least I had cash now I'd go buy something.

  Just as I was about to leave, she reached into a bag and pulled out a cheese sandwich.

  “I don't know what you like to eat, so I got you this. Is that enough? I also have a cheese pizza if you want it. Frozen, so it'll take half an hour to cook.”

  All my anger vanished as I bit into the cheese sandwich. In less than ten seconds I had stuffed half the sandwich down my throat and was choking on it. But I managed to shove it down with a jug full of water. And suddenly I felt nice and relaxed. I no longer hated Eve.

  And it seems she realised my mood had gotten better because she spoke up. “I noticed you tricked him, so that means you'd suspect him. I don't trust him either.”

  I don't trust you either, little girl. I thought to myself, but didn't say it out loud.

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  Instead, I said to her, “Why do you not trust him? And why did you say that? That I tricked him.”

  “You said his sister Bethany, and he didn't correct you. Just an hour ago, he said his sister's name was Melanie, and he called her Mel. How can one forget one's own sister's name? Clearly he is lying.”

  She took a bite into her own sandwich but in a posh way. Such a small bite I doubt she got anything in. But it allowed her to keep talking.

  “That's the same thing I realised when we went to the house. He claimed it was his sister's house, and she lived with a room-mate, but I only saw one toothbrush in the toilet, and it looked like only one of the two rooms had been slept in. The diary and the phone he got you are empty. Look at the diary, it's brand new, still with a price sticker on the back. It seems to me he went into his own room, just picked up an old phone and a diary in an attempt to trick you, though I still don't know why.”

  I had just stuffed both pieces of the cheese sandwich down my throat, so I was feeling a lot better. I was in a much better mood, and normally I would've let it go, especially since she had also put the pizza in the oven, and just the thought of having a proper meal for once was making me really happy. But inside me, a strange Scooby sense was tingling. This woman was dangerous. She noticed my hesitation.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You seem to have very good observation skills for a literature major from Cambridge,” I said.

  She saw through my attempt to catch her out.

  “Historical Architecture. From Oxford, not Cambridge. Listen, if you think I'm lying, I can prove that I am truthful. I can show you my degree or I can show you the official website.”

  She opened up the official site for Oxford University after clicking a few places. She showed us pictures of all the graduates from two years ago, and there she was in the first row, still looking as glamorous. The caption clearly said “BA Hons, Historical Architecture.”

  “If you don't want to hire me, that's fine and understand. But I'm telling you the truth. I really want to become a private detective. As for my observational skills, I did spend a lot of time in the field doing research and digging up old archaeological sites. You have to have a keen observation skill and sharp eyes if you want to survive in the field, especially as a woman. Especially everyone who looks like me. Men think I'm just a silly dumb blonde who only got in because of my daddy's contacts. Everyone, even the teachers, refused to believe that I got in through my own hard work and expected me to fail in the 1st year. I've had to work ten times as hard as the boys to prove that I'm as good as them.”

  She looked a little hurt, and I moved forward to reassure her. But as I got closer, I felt it would be creepy if I gave her a hug, especially since we had just met. She might think I was a creepy old man who liked to hit on young women. So I ended up giving her an awkward pat on the shoulder.

  “Listen, it's been a hard day. I've already found two dead bodies, and that guy, Detective Tobias, I think he's lying. You're right, he made up this bullshit story about his sister gone missing. A sister whose name he can't even remember. What was the other suspicious thing he did? Go on, think about it in our meeting. You were there.”

  She paused for a few seconds. “When he hit you? I thought that was a bit harsh. I mean, even if he suspected you of killing his sister, just coming straight out and punching you was a bit extreme, I thought.”

  “Yes, not only was it extreme, it was out of character. Somebody who spent 10 years in the police force, especially as a detective, will have more self-control than that. Even if they thought I had harmed their sister, they wouldn't be foolish enough to go around throwing punches. Someone with that much anger issues would have been kicked out of the police force a long time ago. No, there was something wrong with him. He was angry with me, and it wasn't because of his sister.

  And that story he told about his sister talking to a mirror and vanishing. That's a case I solved a few weeks ago. While the newspapers didn't report it, it was reported on some unsavoury websites and some conspiracy theory websites. I'm sure he read that somewhere and picked it up.”

  A part of me felt I was going too fast and trusting her too much. After all, the detective was suspicious, but so was she. Even if she had been in Oxford, it didn't explain why she was here.

  “Listen, when he was punching me down, you were willing to go toe to toe with him. Did they teach you karate at your Oxford Historical Society as well?”

  I tried to hint I was joking, but only so much. Luckily, she wasn't offended and burst out laughing. “Not karate, but Wing Chun. That's the martial art Bruce Lee taught. We had a Chinese master who taught us at Oxford. Martial arts is one of my hobbies. My family have all been in law enforcement. I told you my daddy was a judge, several of my uncles have been prosecutors, and a few have been famous detectives. I was expected to become a lawyer and then a judge just like my family, but I hate law.”

  “Why not join the police then? Surely with your contacts, it will be easy for you.”

  “It might be. But I have reasons for not wanting to work with the police. If you don't mind, I don't want to go into them now. I've had some bad experiences with them, which is why I wanted to become a private investigator.”

  The pizza in the oven was starting to cook, and I could hear the good smell. At the same time, I heard the kettle start to boil, and I realised she must have turned it on earlier. My full tummy meant my guard was a little low, but I was still a private investigator. Let's see if I could dig out some more facts from my new assistant.

  “But why a private investigator? Did you really go to 27 agencies in London? I'm surprised they all rejected you considering you're happy to work as a secretary for me while you're learning the ropes. Surely an attractive woman like you could have found somebody to take you on as a secretary.”

  “They were happy to take me in as a secretary, but they wanted me to be sort of a friend with benefits. If you know what I mean.”

  “I know what you mean, and I say this with the greatest of respect. How do you know I am not a creep as well? How do you know I won't sexually harass you later this evening? I mean, you just turned up at my office wanting to be my secretary and wanting to train as a private detective. But maybe I'm also a creepy old man like all the other detectives you went to.”

  She wasn't offended at all and burst out laughing, her perfectly permed hair shaking from left to right. “It's okay, if you had acted as a creep I would have done what I did in the last three offices: kicked you in the balls and walked out. I may not have much experience in the real world, but I'm not an innocent babe in the woods either. I know how to handle myself and I know how to get out of tough situations.”

  “Listen,” she continued. “Give me a chance. I'll act as your secretary and welcome any people. I'll keep the tea and coffee jars filled and I'll get regular milk and sandwiches. You don't have to pay me a salary. As you may have guessed by now my family is quite well off. But I really want to become a private detective, a real one. I would appreciate it if you gave me some chance to investigate.”

  It must have been the cheese sandwich, the promise of the pizza almost finished baking, the cool wind blowing through the open door, the nice sunny weather, and the sweet little sparrows tweeting on my windowsill. But I decided to give her a chance even though a part of me still doubted her.

  “Fine. Here's your first task: Do you remember where that fake detective took you? By now, I'm assuming he's a fake detective, though he might be a real detective. I don't know; he just sounds fishy. Do you remember the address he took you to?”

  “Of course. I've lived in Oxford and London for many years, but I grew up around here, so I knew that town very well. I know exactly where it took me.”

  “Good. After lunch, go there and talk to the neighbours. Try to find out who he is and if he actually had a sister who lived in that house. I know you said you only found one toothbrush, but it's possible she left and took her toothbrush with her. The neighbours might not talk to you, so you will have to use all the charm you can. After that, go online and check the city records - do we know who owns that house or if it has even been on rent? All this information should be available publicly. Get me as much information as you can. It might take you two or three days, but that's fine. I made him pay for the 5 days, so we have a few days.”

  “That sounds like a great idea. What will you be doing, boss? Can I shadow you?”

  No, you can't shadow me because I don't like or trust you, I said in my head. Out loud I said, “I need to go through some places and visit some people. These are not respectable people. And they might not take kindly to a woman. Even if the woman knows Kung Fu. You can shadow me later. For now, we need to solve this case as quickly as possible, especially since I also have to investigate the homeless woman's death.”

  The oven started screaming like a little baby who wanted attention. Clearly the pizza was done, and Eve went to get it. We didn't say anything as we ate, and I slowly tried to think about my next step. While it was true I knew some homeless and junkies who would talk to me, I doubted any of them would be able to help me with the homeless woman's case. I knew all the homeless people in the area, and I knew she wasn't from around here because I had never seen her before. That meant I'd have to try a new tack. I'd have to go ask advice from the Nice Witch of the East.