Rise Of The Dusk - Part 3

Once outside the lab, as the ladies walked back to the parking, Natasha’s mind still hovered over the final words of Windy. Christi, why does the killer dump the body in the woods when he/she had other better option? Well, to answer that question a plethora of reasons can be brought in Natz. Yes Christi but the killer might be aware of the fact that cops would start searching the victim’s body once she is reported missing, but placing the body in the vicinity of the murder irks me every time I think of it. As she heard Natz say it out, Christina’s face flushed with elation. Natasha, it clearly narrows down to the point that the killer was well aware of the fact that someone will report her missing and he/she could make a clean chit out of the city before the pieces are put into place. If that is the case then it should be someone close to the victim or someone from her close circle who had known knowledge to her routine. You are right, so our killer could be someone who knew Leena very well. If that is the case then we know who it might be, Greg (cried both the ladies in unison). It is better we head back to the precinct and you ring Jade to give him a heads up on the find and to set up a high alert tracker on Greg’s movement. We need to track him down very soon before he gets under the blanket and vanishes. But wait, there is something that we missed it out here. Or actually I had missed it out with you. What is it Christi (Natz gave a puzzled look)? Actually when I was out at the Manhattan College enquiring about the victim, I was informed that very lately Leena had rented out an apartment, very close to the college, with a girl named Adara, also from the same college though into a different major. And here she is someone who also knew Leena, in and out. Hmm!! it’s very strange that we never laid an eye upon her roommate so far. So why don’t we surprise her roommate and find our luck with any possible trace. Running through the streets of upper Manhattan to reach the neighborhood of Riverdale, the car finally parked outside a grand apartment in a posh village. Christi heads out to the security to know where the girls stayed while Natasha was observing the apartment and the society around it. Right from the lawn to the attic it was sparkling, giving an upper middle class touch. Minutes later Christi walks towards Natasha. Natz, they live on the second floor and the guard claims that Adara has not left her house right from morning. Well let’s hear it out from her. Hey Christi would you ever rent such an apartment if you were still pursuing your degree? I mean look at this place. Everything gives you an elegant feel and how do these girls manage their rent and bills. We even found a clean sheet of Leena’s financials but what about Adara? Well may be Leena would have covered upon Adara too as they were roommates. As a matter of fact Leena’s father is a real estate baron and that should answer to her clean financials and renting such a place. Christina (in a furious tone)!!! Why do you surprise me every time? You never mentioned anything about her family back at the precinct. Well to answer that Natz, I was actually checking on her background and her family’s business. As I was probing into any potential threat that the family ever had or so, I was summoned by you to join in for a fun ride down to the lab (having an awkward face while saying out the last word). So in the rush I would have missed it up.

 Chill out Christi (Giving a sarcastic smile) come on let’s find out from Adara as to what kept her all day at home and not even coming forward to report her friend’s missing? The house was loaded with antiques and which matched the richness of the society. It gave a clear impression that Leena’s father was silk-stocking. Right from the moment she opened the door, there was not much that Adara spoke off. She remained silent and was staring at a picture of Leena in the wall opposite to her. Natasha approached to solace her and brought her to the living room. Adara, I understand the pain that you encounter and the fact that it is hard to digest such a sudden loss. However unless you speak up, we will not be able to catch the person who was responsible for her death. So tell me, did Leena had any trouble with anyone. Like was she into any relationship or did she ever receive any kind of threats, anything that you recollect off? No detective, during her first year she was all alone and had a close circle of friends. However later in the second year she met this guy called Greg and was very happy being in a relationship with him. She was a lot happier only after he came into her life. And she had never complained of any threats so far. She used to be a silent person at the college and mostly sticks to her work. She hardly had a social life apart from meeting Greg. Ok, so in the last few days did Leena show signs of abnormal behavior? No, nothing like that. Apart from the incident that happened two weeks ago, she never had a monotonous face. Can you elaborate on the incident? (In a puzzled tone) Well, there was this guy, Naobi, who kept approaching her most of the time at the college. At first he just hung up everywhere Leena went but later he even started showing up at the apartment, couple of times. I just figured out that she was having a tough time handling this guy and so she confronted him from disturbing her by filing Restraining Order couple of times, which aggravated him heavily. In fury he mentioned of going any extreme just to get her, just as how psychopaths act. I ignored the incident thinking that he was just speaking out of fury then, but today she is really gone far away from me (Tears start rolling down Adara’s face). Calm down Adara and can you tell me where you were yesterday between 9 and 11 pm? Uh!! (Struggling to find words), I was up to the Central park to meet my friend over there. Oh that’s Ok and why did not you lodge a complaint with the cops since Leena had not turned up all the day? Well, it is routine with her. What do you mean routine? Every time Leena heads up meeting Greg, she spends the night with him at his place and turns up very late to the college. Likewise even yesterday she was off to meet Greg at a restaurant somewhere downtown and that is why I did not bother much to make a complain since she did not turn up by morning. I was in my lab, when the news hit my ears finally. I could not stay there anymore and so returned home early. Fine, don’t worry, we shall nab the suspect very soon. And I believe someone would alibi on your visit to the park too. Meanwhile stay in the city until the case is closed. Hey Christina, it’s time to leave. Christi comes out of Leena’s room and gives a small nod beckoning nothing found which Natz understood and they head out.

 As dusk was fast approaching, the streets of Riverdale pose a calm yet alluring look. The detectives were now out of the apartment and onto the streets. Wow!!! A new face of New York to be cherished for the next couple of month’s right (Exclaimed Christi)? Natz, if you can spare some time now, shall we take a walk before we hit the precinct? Yeah sure we can and they both headed in the pavement as it took them across the beautifully lined villas and apartments. Natasha, do you believe in Adara’s statement? If you ask me, seriously I had a bad feeling right from the moment I stepped into that house. Well unless her alibi turns up against her, we cannot lay hands upon her charging for a murder. So until then we do not have any clue as to who killed her roommate. And Christi, I could hardly frame a motive for her to kill Leena. How about digging into her records Natz? We might hit a hole, if we are lucky. Ha ha!!! Your suspicion turns deadly these days Christi, chill out buddy (Giving a small smile at her) we shall soon grab the suspect. How couldn’t I Natasha!!! As you know I am a tough detective with a sturdy look and therefore I should suspect anyone who cross the line, am not I? (In a rugged tone). Natasha gave out a hefty laugh, well enough to shiver the birds in their nests, onto Christi’s statement. I assure you that we shall nab the suspect very soon, Christina. So now just shift your mind off the case and enjoy the beauty around you. And to answer your doltish question, yes you are a tough cop. No one messes with you my darling (Laughing out loudly once more). Natz, you are crazy. An hour later, the ladies were busy jotting down the points from Adara’s statement on to the murder board at the precinct and Jade turns up there. Any hits from Adara’s statement, Natasha? Yes, she claims Leena having trouble with a kid from the college. I want you to track him down and produce him here ASAP before he frisks out from our radar. So once he turns up, we can proceed based on his report. And not to forget is the statement from Greg, who is also under suspicion, is very important to move the pieces to the next block. Therefore unless these two guys doesn’t show up, we might not know the motive behind this poor girl’s death (Pointing a finger at Leena photo) or our killer, which leaves us back to square 1. Well if that is the point Natz, then I believe there is nothing much to work upon now and which means we can head home straight. Yes Jade, we shall wrap up and hey you guys joining me for a drink? Actually Natz, we have other plans, well you know what we mean (said Jade & Christi in unison). Oh yes!! Not a problem, just carry on. I can manage on my own. Meet you tomorrow people. She bid good bye, went to her desk, picked her coat and headed towards the elevator. Though Natasha was successful in her profession, she was not quite fortunate with her personal life. Over the time, off the college, she hardly ran into any serious relationship for the sole reason that it might drift her off the work. Also she had to admit that she was not too good at romance, which once had a serious effect on her once at the college. So she never bothered staying single after that. However this day, she felt odd since both her best friends were out on their date while she had nothing to do.

Next morning the Precinct was slowly filling up with officials and uniforms. However one corner of it witnessed a vigorous activity, well ahead of the schedule. It was Natasha, instructing her colleagues on the task that she had entrusted upon them with while she was busy going through the system trying to narrow down the motive for the murder. As Christina entered the office, she was startled a little to see her friend in a serious mood. Taking a cup of coffee from the coffee maker, she headed straight towards Natasha’s desk. Hey Natz, Good Morning!!! Is there something that I, but before she could complete the sentence she was bombarded with activities for the day. Sensing the situation, she just placed the coffee on her desk and moved to her desk to work on the items listed for the day. As hours flew by, the precinct was bustling with activities, when Jade brought in a guy of African nationality straight into the interrogation room while signaling Natasha on the way. Natz senses who it might be and so she pulls the file from her desk and heads to the room. Mr. Naobi, uniforms came in searching for you yesterday night at your apartment. Where were you and why did you try to buck up today with one of our detectives? Naobi spoke in a swift that Natasha could hardly catch a word. Excuse me Mr. Naobi, I cannot understand what you just told. Slow down and reduce the rate of your speech so that I can get your statement. Ok, I feared that uniforms will come looking up for me and i will be locked up for our act. And as expected this guy of yours turned up morning at my doorstep. I panicked on seeing him and that is why I resisted his arrest. So you feared that you would be arrested for the murder of Leena, am I right? What!!! Did I hear it wrong? Murder of who? Natasha, brings out a photo of Leena and places it in front of him. This girl Leena, whom you murdered. Whoa. Whoa, I did not do anything and who could commit such a horrible act to her. I mean I never intend to hurt her anytime in my life. How could you frame me for killing her detective? I am innocent and only after you showed me this pic, I did know about her death. Calm down Naobi, you confessed of committing a crime and now you act as if you are innocent. Do you expect me to believe it? Detective you got me wrong. Yes, I did say I committed a crime but it was never a murdered. So what does that mean by “I committed”? Ok, here it is detective. A week back, I along with few of my country men, put up graffiti (anti government slogans) on the Yankee Stadium wall, the venue for the presidential election campaign, which really irked the cops and the congressmen. We were sure of not getting caught but one of our men was cornered two days ago by NYPD and since then we knew they will on our toes anytime. So we went hiding uptown and only this morning I came home just to pick up few of my stuffs, when the detective cuffed me up. Oh!!! So you say these 2 days you were out of the city. Well if your alibi turns out true then maybe there are chances of me believing to your well framed story. However until then I don’t have any idea of letting you out as I have strong evidence against you for having the motive to kill the victim. Detective please you have to believe me. I did not kill her and I would never commit such a sin, especially to her. If you claim to not hurt her then why did you menace her of killing, couple of times, outside her apartment? Look detective I shall tell you everything but you have got to believe me first. Fine, let us hear what you have now. I was on a student exchange program with the college pursuing my studies in Psychology. As you can see I am a Jamaican nationality, the initial days at the campus were confronting especially because of my race. Though anti-racism law was in force at the college, we still faced the discrimination at most places. And that is when Leena, who was into peace studies came into my help as she was lending her help to most of my kind (Hope you get what I mean). Eventually we became good friends, which later blossomed into a kind of infatuation towards her. So I thought of expressing my feeling towards her, only to find her in a relationship already with a guy. I just backed off and distanced myself from her, wishing her a happy life every time that we met. And during one of the weekends, when I was out at one of restaurants in the downtown, I saw the same guy with few other girls, who were mostly hookers, only to find out later that he was a pimp. I confronted and threatened him to stay away from Leena but he hardly listened to me. So I thought it would be best to warn Leena and so I went to meet her at the apartment. But only after I reached there I came to know that the guy had already rang her and turned the story up on me. Since Leena was so blind in her relationship, she refused to speak a word to me and she slammed the door right over my face. Frustrated, I yelled at her “I would rather kill you than letting you live with him”. But it was just out of love and not vengeance, as I could not see her life getting ruined. After that incident I tried meeting her couple of times at the college, but she would just turn me down. She blocked my number and even went ahead filling a Restraining Order against me. So I decided it would be the best to stay away from her. Since then I had no clue about her whereabouts. Trust me detective please (pleading on his knee). Control your emotions Mr. Naobi, I cannot guarantee anything until your alibi turns true. Meanwhile can you help us identify her boyfriend? You can sit with a sketch artist. Yes sure I can detective. How will I forget this son of a b****!!! I can identify him anywhere. And Naobi tell me if you have seen this guy before or does he look familiar (Picking out Greg’s photo from the file)? Bingo. Detective, I believe there is no need for sketching the man. You have him right under your eyes already (pointing his finger towards Greg’s photo). Catch this bastard before he lays his hand upon other innocent girls. Natasha gives a stern look at Greg’s photo and signals Jade to take Naobi out as she heads out of the room with the file.

She returns to her desk and checks in the system for the list of criminal charges filed against Greg. But Natz was still unclear about the motive for the murder. As she googles her way through the system’s result, she notices Christina in a serious discussion with an aged couple. Initially she did not care much about them until she saw the lady’s face. It was a close resemblance to the picture of the girl on the board, who was murdered a day back. Hmm, so this must be Leena’s parent Mrs. & Mr. Dickens (Natasha’s mind voice). She stood up just as to speak with them but only to sit back because she knew, though less experienced Christi was passionate about her job and always excelled in her feat. So she would definitely take care of the situation and at the same time extract even the tiniest details from the Dickens. As Natasha was deep in thought, Jade sat across the desk observing her. Is something bothering you Natz? No, nothing it is just that I was delighted by the way our Christi is progressing with each new case turning up. Yes, she does and I have got something for you too here. Have a look at this. Natasha examined the content of the file and placed it aside. Why hasn’t he turned up yet, Jade? Check with the units if they had a hold on him. Saying so Natasha picks up her phone, looks for a number in the directory and dials it up right in. On the final ring the person at the other end answers. The call doesn’t last long and she slams the receiver down in agony. Chill out Natz, let me get you some coffee. And so Jade clears his ass off from her desk while she still seems unconvinced by the way the case is progressing. The murder board still does not connect the dots leading to Leena’s death. Minutes would not have passed as she gazed at the board when Jade approached her. Yo check this out. Uniforms have brought in Greg.

...to be continued

Rise Of The Dusk - Part 2

Back in the interrogation room at the precinct, Natz takes Roger to probe in for any clue on the murder. So Roger, tell me what led you to the crime scene and did you find anyone suspiciously moving around the area by that time of day? You see detective, I was setting up the camera waiting for the sight of the birds to flow in. But, all that caught my attention was the strange act of the Cooper’s hawk at a distance and it was all strange only because they do not mostly turn up flying close to the grounds. Out of curiosity I trailed to the spot only to find the body of the girl lying there. My instinct then was nothing but to call the 911 as the sight of her dizzied me. Okay, so by the time you entered the park did you find something atypical? I would say it as a negative detective. Wait!!! Actually there was something eerie this morning. Usually, one of the guards at the gate hamper’s me from entering the park every time I drop by, but not today or was missing today. So why do you feel it odd? It is because once I spied upon him having an affair with his wife’s friend. Since then he had become estranged and furious upon me. As a personal vengeance he humiliates me in front of other photographers and ruins my reputation among the bird watchers community every time I turn up at the park. So this morning I expected a similar greeting, but much to my surprise he was nowhere around to be seen. So does this bizarre occurrence of him give a catch to the murder detective? (With a curious tone) We shall look to it further while you do not move out of the city until the case is closed. And before you leave do we have a name of the guard? Yes of course, it is Damon, Damon Foster. Natz dials in Jade’s number and passes on the information about Damon and moves out of the room.

Listing out the points about the murder on her white board, she was greeted by Mr. Roy, the captain of the 13^th precinct. Good morning Natasha. Been out of the academy much early than I see you every day? Yes captain, there had been a murder reported this morning. Leena, 21, undergrad at Manhattan College, no attempt of robbery or sexual assault, body been dumped into the woods of Van Cortlandt park, no gun shots or stab wounds found on the body, pointing her finger towards the board where she had listed it out all. Jade and Christina are out canvasing the area and gathering reports. I had to interrogate Roger, the guy who found the body first and who reported it to the uniforms. So far the cause of death is unknown, while Dr. Windy is running down the autopsy. Once the ME reports turn up on the table, maybe we can conclude on the cause of death and thereby narrow down to the list of suspects. Fine Natz, find this son of a b**** soon before he takes the streets of New York, piling up with more bodies. And do report the murder to her family. Yes sir we are already in search for the next of her kin and we shall keep you reported on the progress. Thank you Natz. Half past an hour trying to find the victim’s close circle, Natasha ends up with no luck in the system. Feeling little exhausted, she heads over to the pantry and picks up a nice cup of cappuccino, in order to trigger her grey cells and hence to dig deep into the case. As she sips her hot coffee, “Hey Natz!!!” (Came out Christina’s voice right from her desk). Oh Christi, do not disappoint me by saying that you had no catch too (as approaching her desk still sipping the coffee). Actually Natz to be honest I just got a grab on the victim’s background and nothing more related to her murder. Well at least something to cheer up, fine tell me what you have got. Checked out at her college and our victim Leena was into Peace Studies, the brightest of the batch, no reports of misconduct or drug abuse, goes away with a clean chit till date. Not even one at the college had seen her in conflict with fellow students. Running down on her financials too, no suspicious transactions found, no pending dues or credit over limit till date turned out. All looks clear and I even found that she had paid for the dinner at the restaurant the previous night using her credit card just before the murder. The time says here as 9.10 pm. Good, so we have to narrow down on where our victim was in between 9.10 and 11 pm. Anyways I have uniforms canvassing the restaurant. May be they could provide us with something valuable. Hey Christi, why don’t you run a check for the list of all missing people filed over the city and try to fetch her family details from the college. I hardly found a result in our system against her. Got it Natz (says Christi and moves towards her desk). 

As the clock ticked away, it was around noon, when the uniforms were finally back. They headed straight towards Natasha’s desk, only to find her in front of the investigation board, trying to pick out a tip out of the available reports. Detective we have something for you (and the Sergeant continues to talk). Our victim was at the restaurant yesterday night with this guy (handing out a photograph taken out of one of the restaurant’s CCTV camera). The owner seems to recognize the duo as they were one of the loyal customers around the place. So, officer did the owner indicate any signs of argument or depressed behavior between them, either yesterday or in the past few days? No, detective they were one of the most loved couple who turned out there and no such incident was ever witnessed by the owner or anyone over there. Says our victim had a very big heart towards humanity. Any detail about when they left yesterday or like did someone meet them over? The owner remembers seeing them leave around 9.20 pm and it was just the two of them. Ahaaa!! Which mean the guy was with Leena either at the time of murder or somewhere close to that. Thank you Sergeant, I shall take forward from here. Adrian (Natz gives out a loud call), get me the details of this guy in the picture.

Around mid-noon Jade finally turns up at the precinct. Phwee!!! It had been such a bad day riding around the crowded streets to find Damon. Ha ha, so got any luck finally Jade? Nope, he claims not seeing anyone entering the park after 11 as it is usually closed for public by 9 pm. However he seemed little agitated when I questioned him. Hmm!!! Something is shady here. And do you think he might know something which he is trying to cover it up from us. Yes I do Natz. You should have checked his face when I interrogated. Well then send out uniforms to bring him in. Adrian (Natz gives out another loud call) where is the report about the guy in the photo? Natz, your voice cracks me down. Give me two minutes as I have almost assembled the details. Come on buddy, you do not take so long to pull out the details of hot chicks around the city and now just to find a guy, it takes you hours huh? I just can’t believe what a lazy ass you are. Yo Natz, I am almost there and don’t lose your cool. Hey, I sense you fancy Adrian, don’t you? (Christi turns up at Natz desk with a naughty expression on her face). Shit, what makes you think so? It is that all the day you keep calling out his name and the whole precinct can see that. What!!! Me hitting upon him; go to hell Christi (giving out a wicked smile). It is just that this idiot is too busy with those huge bosom chicks that he hangs out with and that he hardly bestows his time for the investigation. It just irks me and you don’t bug me even more by saying that your results turned out negative too. I am worried that we have not spotted a connection yet and that we are in square one still. Chill out buddy, I have some news for you. Our victim is a resident of Moncton in the New Brunswick province of Canada. I have sent out a word to her family and they might be arriving here by mid-morning tomorrow. Also I found out a missing report filed by a person called Greg, an hour back at the 32^nd Precinct, across the 135^th street North of Manhattan. As Christi was about to continue with her report, Adrian finally appeared with a pile of reports. Placing them all in front of Natz at her desk, he started making a mess out of it trying to pull out the report that she had asked for, often knocking down items from her desk. With every minute passing by Natasha was getting furious over his actions and it was not long before that she could blow him off, he finally retrieved the one. Here you go beautiful, the report that you asked for. However I should caution you that the guy in the picture is not of your kind. I could see his preferences were mostly narrowed on to brunets as his records clearly endorse it. Thank you for the word of caution as I shall find out what is he headed towards and you better move your ass out of here before I blast you. Yo detective chill out, I am pretty sure someday you would ride over me (with a wicked smile Adrian walks off). Oh Natz, someday you are gone be over him!!! (In a childish mocking tone) Wow, it gives me an impression of how nice it is to visualize the act (Christi laughing out loud).

Natz opens the file and just to be startled looking at the information in it. Christina, settle down and look who we have here, as she passed on the file to her.  Meanwhile Christi’s booming laugh was enough to bring down the whole precinct, which even enticed Captain Roy to check on the ladies if they were normal. Christi looks at it and reads out loud. Greg Hampton, single 25, enrolled with the City College, New York. Charged once for a minor assault with a student at the college, forcing her to come under the influence of drugs. Overall a bad conduct at the college, as filed in here. So, our guy is not only interested upon brunets, as per Adrian’s word, but also fancies drugs. Natz walks off from the desk, turns around her investigation board and lets out a stern glance towards Greg’s picture. Jade; get him here as soon as possible. But I still doubt why did he file a missing report with the precinct when he had such a dark history? May be just to drift off the suspicion away from him and to prove him being the nice guy. You may be right Christi (said Jade, as he set off to grab him for interrogation). Anyway he might shed out something useful, so let’s grab him. As Jade heads for the elevator, uniforms bring in Damon which Natz notices and gestures to take him straight into the interrogation room. Natz returns to her desk, picks up certain reports and heads straight towards the room. As she does, she calls out, “Hey Christina, back me up”.

Soon the interrogation begins and things do not turn up healthy as the conversation builds up. Damon seemed to lose his cool every time that Natz tries to make up a connection with the murder. Look Mr. Damon, just because you get furious to my questions will not actually help you turn up against the murder. And I should warn you that if you continue to take away this session in the same manner, then I have to charge you for the murder of Leena as you were on duty that night and with your past charge sheet of assaulting women many a time gives you the right opportunity with her on that night too. Summing up all these will get converted into an easy life term jail sentence or even a death penalty. Christi gave a broad smile and a big nod to which Damon got perturbed. No no!!! Don’t do that. I shall provide with all that you want to know but please don’t harm me. Well that settles our matter. So tell us where were you between 11 pm and 1 am yesterday? Damon hesitated a bit and said I was in rounds across the perimeter of the grounds. As you are aware it is a pretty huge area to cover and so we split up regions among us on duty and take cover of our assigned spots. Ok, as per our records the entrance to the park which is very close to the lake has your name on the guard list duty. So tell me yesterday did you find any one sneaking into the park after the regular closing time? Hmm, I am sure there was no one littering around the park post-closing hours. Any other possibility of coming into the park apart from the main entrance? No, I know the park like the back of my palm. If there was one, then we would have sealed it highly but so far I do not remember of any loop holes. Ok and Damon if you were assigned the guard duty, then as per your duty schedule, you ought to be there till 9 this morning (she riffles some papers to show him his duty sheet). But evidence close to us has committed in reporting your absence of duty during your out time. Can you explain your absence? See detective, public visiting the park, who know me are sporadic and so you cannot just go by their claim. May be your claim is true, but I think Roger is an odd man out of that sporadic crowd which you mention, if I am not wrong, as you are much familiar with him, am I not? On hearing Roger’s name, Damon banged the table heavily out of aggression, making the papers on the table rise few feet in the air. So it is that f***** because of whom I am being framed of a murder charge. I am gone kill that bastard. Settle down now and tell me where you were this morning? Ok look detective you got to believe me. Yes I left the park much early than the schedule since I was seriously ill. It was the ham which Tariq gave me yesterday during the guard time that took me off from the work and I had been staying all the day at home, or to be more specific at the restroom until when the cops came knocking on my door this afternoon. Hmm, that does not make up a convincing story to cover up a murder and go hiding in your own lair. Does it convince you Natz? (Question’s Christi) Well no. I am calling in the uniforms to get him locked up. All these words were enough to make him fall on his knees. Detective, I am not lying. You can even check my medical appointment and the medicines that I had purchased. I left off much early from my guard post only to hit the doctor’s clinic, as the pain was getting miserable and unbearable. You can even check on my alibi anytime please. Chill out Damon, there is lot more to come on the way. You better save up your energy now, in case you are convicted of the crime then you got to shed them during your term in jail (Christi collates the paper as she says it and prepares to leave behind Natz). Wait detective, before you leave can I say one more thing. This might sound of accusing, but the truth is that you better check out on Roger even more closely. I do not know what information he gave regarding me, but here is something that I shall provide of him. He would never turn up at the park when I was on duty. And even if he does some day, then it usually ends up in a brawl. Why is it so Mr. Damon? This son of a b**** sneaks into the park not just to shoot pictures of the birds. Rather he turns up on couples, picturing some of their intimate moments at the park and later extorting exorbitant amount against those evidence. There was couple of reports made with us by the public but solid evidence failed in every time that he was charged and so we had to let him go free. And since it was I who had charged him the most, he went to the extreme of forging a picture of mine and thereby making my wife believe I was in a relationship with another, leading to her split up with me. Thank you Mr. Damon, we shall look at it meanwhile you don’t leave the city till the case is closed. Yes I shall and can anyone show me the way to the restroom. I need it very badly.

Once outside the room, Christi’s stops Natasha midway and asks, do you believe in his story? Well not exactly until his alibi turns out true. No, not that part but the one about Roger. In regards to that let us check out what the Photographer has hid from us before. Summon in Roger to be here by tomorrow morning while you go through his records. As the conversation builds up, a phone rings at a distance. Natasha heads towards her desk to pick it up, gives a small nod and disengages the call. Grabbing her coat and the car key she headed towards the elevator and called aloud, “Christina come with me; Windy has got something for us”. Sensing the seriousness in her tone, Christi dumps the file at her desk and rushes towards the elevator just in time the elevator closed. Half an hour drive through the crowded streets of New York took them to the lab where the autopsy was performed. Dr. Windy was just having a bite out of her sub when they both entered the lab. With a sub in one hand and a dead body right next to her, Christina could not assimilate the scene. Sensing her discomfort, Dr. Windy gave out a humorous statement, “How many get the chance of hosting a lunch even with the big shots of the state? I do”. Am I not lucky (giving out a loud laugh)? These words were enough to ruin Christi’s mood as she detested Windy’s humor sense. So Dr. Windy, what have you got for us? Apart from sharing the lunch with a dead body (came in Christi’s voice from behind Natz). No not at all Christi. I summoned you here because I wanted to show you something that I missed during the initial probing of the body at the park. As you know our victim neither received a gunshot nor a stab, the reason for her murder irked me for long. So running down quite a test revealed me with the presence of arsenic mixed in her blood. What Arsenic!!! (Christina was shocked hearing it). Regaining her sense instantly, she was puzzled as to how such a radioactive substance could have been mixed with a civilian blood and that too who had no connection in the past or present dealing with one? Observing their puzzled look Dr. Windy brought them close to the dead body. Lifting the head a little and turning it slightly to the left, she pointed her finger towards a small hole on the back of her neck. Lowering the head gently, she said, it was injected right at the tip of spinal cord that holds the cluster of blood vessels, running right till the tip of the toe, which circulated the substance instantly throughout the body. Natasha was examining each and every aspect of the body finding more traces but Dr. Windy cut short her stating someone had held her from the back as you could see few rough bruises around the neck and injected the radioactive substance within her, causing instant death. Also regarding the blood loss, she had fainted and hit the stone statue in the park when the substance started reacting with her internal system. And since all was done it was finally the time to hide the body. So the killer could have used the woods, which none would access or would notice at least for a short period of time, until it comes out to daylight. As Windy finished reciting her ME report, the final part caught Natz attention. Windy, could you come again. How did you conclude your report now? Repeat the final part again please! Well as I said the killer dumped the body into the woods so that it will remain concealed for a short duration. Why, did I miss something when I said it earlier (in a quizzed tone looking at both the ladies)?

..to be continued

Rise Of The Dusk - Part 1

Crime Scene 1

The city of New York wakes up to the first rays of spring, right after an extended period of extreme winter, with feet’s of snow piling around everywhere, marking a question of sustainability among everyone. The downtown is bustling with the usual traffic as office commuter’s pitch into every mode of public transport to reach their place. As the routine life of the New York's residents play in at a fast forward mode, amidst the busy population a section of life seems to be rather busy with something else. Something that is distinctive to the routine office goer’s.

Located approximately 3.5 miles South-East of Yonkers city is the famous Van Cortlandt park, housing the city’s largest freshwater lake. Though the lake draws in little crowd, it is usually the park which fills in with a heterogeneity community, but less than that of the central park. However during the migratory season, one could witness flock of birds nesting on the lake and the nearby forest area residing within the park zone which adds to the number of footprint recorded. 

The possibility of finding the common Snipe (a bird) from the perimeter of marsh is on high odds especially post winter, though one may be lucky to sight a few around the grassy area of the marsh. And if one goes north along the wetlands and take the first path on the left, you find the wooden footbridge. It is the best vantage for wood duck and warbling vireo, with the wood duck even occasionally spotted in winter too. Amidst the union of onlookers, budding and tenured Ornithologist are found wandering the park most of the days studying the behavioral pattern of each home and visiting birds, making a record of each. There are times when limitless tripods are found set up across the hot spots of the park, wherein the bird photographers, ranging from amateur to pro, awaiting for their right shot, that may bring some spotlight onto their career. So a bustling of activity can always be recorded over there.

As the spring has pitched in, it is the time of the year for the songbird’s migration to the lake and Roger was way ahead of his schedule at the park, to glimpse and picture a few. He was one of the other photographers who throng at the park every day looking out for these birds. This day as he was setting up his tripod at his usual spot and waiting for the birds to turn up, something phenomenal caught his sight. Far away from the lake and very close to the parade ground, birds were flying in an unusually low and closed pattern. This rare sight stuck his senses and so he made his way towards the woods. As he closed upon the spot, he was flabbergasted to see the Cooper’s hawk soaring way down its flight level. He was taken aback as it was an unusual behavior of them, as they were mostly seen prowling above the forest edge or field using just a few stiff wing beats followed by a glide. But here it was just the other shade of life. 

As he closed on into the woods, he was welcomed not just by a few but almost by a dozen of them, all in an attacking maneuver. Confused with the bizarre behavior of these birds early in the morning, very slowly he starts connecting the dots over the picture, which the reason probably could be that the flock had hunted down their prey, if I am not wrong. As he was observing the act and drawing his theory around them, one of the bird swiftly flew past his head missing him by inches and thereby disappeared shortly behind a bush, a few feet away from where he was standing.

Since Roger had much knowledge about the bird’s behavior, especially the ones that he mostly snapped on his camera, this sudden flight of the hawk did not blow him out actually. He knew that in pursuit of a catch, their flight almost becomes powerful, quick and acrobatic, allowing the bird to drift its way through the tree branches at top speed. Disregarding this behavior of theirs seriously, he turned back to get out of the woods and get back to his camera. Taking few steps back, that is when he noticed something unusual. There was a long trail of drag mark right from the park heading straight into the woods right across him. Is this the trail of the golf cart which someone would have accidentally driven into the woods (Mind Voice)? Wondering so, he bent down to check the mark of the trail and finds it negative for any traces of the cart’s wheel. So what could it be then? 

Trying to reason it out he started searching the area when some shredded leaves, few feet from him, caught his attention. Observing them closely, he was blown out as smudge of blood were found around the trail and leading straight into deep woods. With the blood dried out and the sight of Cooper’s hawk over the woods, he sensed something dubious had happened here. He made a swift move in the direction of the hawk that had earlier disappeared behind the bush.

OMG!!! What the hell is this? 

He was completely thrown off by the scene. In such an unpalatable state lies the body of a teenage girl, somewhere in her mid-20s. The Hawk’s had already feasted upon her though not completely leaving little traces of identification. Though shaken up by the scene, he did not panic and had to think of something very quick since the number of birds had picked up in number over the area. String of thoughts kept bombarding within his mind but nothing seemed virtuous. “Should I get out of the park and find some help?” No, that would not help since no one would have turned up at the park this early. So what else? “May be I should go to the lake and seek the help of fellow photographers?” Hmm, no. That would take me a lot of time to reach and get help. Meanwhile the flock of hungry predators will feed upon her completely leaving just the bones behind. So sensing the severity of the situation, he immediately grabbed his cell phone and dialed in 911.

In the meantime, somewhere far in the downtown away from the crime scene, the steam from the room was getting hotter and hotter with every minute departing. The 2 inch foam lined soft filled heavy punch bag responded actively with each of the rhythmic punch that it acquired. With every punch, the muscle seemed to flex and sculpt the person’s body and there was a complete professionalism seen in her every move. The sweatshirt was completely drenched with sweat. Focus and determination were discerned with every punch that the bag received and there were no room for an error. 

After long hours of mercilessness, the punch bag finally finds its mercy with the cell phone ringing in the background and the punch lightens up with the rise in the ringtone volume. The person walks away from the bag and grabs the cell phone. “Detective Natasha here”. With every passing minute on the call her tone tightens up and finally drops the call saying “Find you in the next 20”. Natz, as how she is popularly known among her community, is a homicide detective with the 13^th precinct of the New York City Police Department. She comes round every morning to the NYPD police academy across the 28^th avenue in Flushing village, north central part of the New York City for an intensive training just to orient her mind and body for the day’s work.

Meanwhile at the park, the CSU (Crime Scene Unit of the NYPD Detective Bureau's Forensic Investigations Division) had taken over the area and covered its perimeter from public access. Natasha arrives at the park only to find it unusually crowded just as line of NYPD’s car were parked at mad angles over the Broadway 9, one of the busiest highways of the city. She directs few cops to clear out the traffic and leave the crime scene out of any trouble. She then finds her way towards the crime scene when she was greeted by Detective Jaden, one of her other colleagues at the precinct. So Jaden, what have we got here? Jaden starts debriefing on the primary investigation report. Our victim is a teenage girl somewhere in her mid-20s. No ID’s found or recovered so far. Chances of robbery or sexual assault too seem negative. Christina is out around the park, gathering information from the ornithologist and the photographers who were present early in the morning for any suspicious activity recorded. And a guy named Roger, a part time bird photographer, was the first to report the scene to 911. He claims that the body should have been there for couple of hours. You mean our guy knows something about the murder (Stopping by). Well not exactly Natz, but he claims to know it by the behavior of the birds that were feasting upon the body. He claims to know about the behavior of the birds around here.

Oh that’s great and please tell Roger to meet me at the facade of the park. Meanwhile let me go and check out on the body. Being a homicide detective and handling a dozen of criminals, Natasha holds the credit of solving a good number of mystery cases similar to the one she is about to take up. As she enters the wood amidst busy law enforcement agents working on the scene, a stench of foul smell greets her heavily. She sensed the body would have been beyond decomposition as she walked her way towards it. With blotch of blood around the body, the epidermis layer of the skin was clearly visible, credits to the hawks. Apart from that, there were no traces of any stab or bullet marks on her body. As she examines the body, she is greeted by Dr. Windy, the medical examiner associated with the precinct and a close friend of Natasha. Hey Windy, any luck so far with the victim’s body? To be honest there is nothing much I can say until I take it to the morgue. However to give you a heads up on the case, my primary findings shows the victim had few bruise marks on the hand and shoulder as you can see it here, pointing her finger towards it. She would have received quite a blow or two from the attacker. There is skull fracture leading to complete blood loss, which explains she could have either hit something hard on the ground or was beaten up hard. Finally to dump the body out of sight, the attacker would have dragged her into the woods. The approximate time of death stands somewhere around 11 pm and 1 am. Apart from that, the ancillary attacker, who seemed attracted with her, were the Cooper’s hawk, which started feeding upon the body this morning. Oh!! Thank you Windy. Give me a call if you get a catch out of the lab.

Taking a walk outside the woods, Natz was quite puzzled as to what would have led to the murder? As day breaks in slowly, the park seemed to sparkle in with the lake’s beauty with the first rays of sun hitting it. Flock of birds were seen flying in and out, giving on lookers a sight to behold. Natz seemed to love it too and so she drifts her course in the direction of the lake. Minutes later, a mile from where she had started walking, a sumptuous statue greeted her on the way. It was the statue of an American White Pelican, giving out a resplendent pose, with its wings wide open to the lens of the world acclaimed bird photographer, Mr. Arthur Morris. She was quite impressed with the craftsman’s skill in chiseling the statue to such perfection, however something more amazed her over there. As she closed on to the statue, she witnessed a smudge of dried blood over one of the wings. 

The ground around the statue too seemed disturbed recently with patches of earth upturned. Apprehending something could turn out there, she called out for Jade repeatedly. However minutes later it was Christina who turned out. Yo Natz what happened? Jade is out looking for the security official in charge during the time of murder. And I enquired couple of people out there and they seemed positive to not know our victim or had hardly seen her visiting the park in the recent past. Oh okay, thank you. Christi, have this area covered up too for investigation, especially the blood on the statue. Check for any available prints and canvas the perimeter for any evidence. Call the CSU and ask them to sweep the area for any possible prints available. Send out this small piece of cloth from our victim’s sweatshirt, which got ripped off during her fall, for any possible match of DNA against our record. Acknowledging her, Christi moves on fencing the area, instructing cops to clear the crowd and look out for any kind of evidence. Detective Natasha, Dr. Windy asked you to have a look at this, which she found it inside the victim’s pocket. 

It was a neatly folded tissue from the “Hyacinth’s Haven Restaurant”. Thank you sergeant, I shall take forward it and I remember seeing it downtown. Well yes if I am not wrong, it is on the 139^th street and close to the City College of New York, detective. It is a fine little restaurant that serves palatable Jamaican food. I have been there twice with my girlfriend. The in-house music was soothing over there. You feel a sense of calmness when you're in. Thank you sergeant and kindly send out uniforms with photograph of the victim over there, just to check out if she was dining in with someone or if people around there recognize her. Roger that detective. 

As Natasha turns her back to the sergeant, Christi comes running towards Natz. Natasha, I have found something here.  It is a couple of credit cards along with a college ID. Looks like out victim had dropped in during the duel. Aha!!! So the victim is Leena, an under grad in Peace studies from the Manhattan College, which is right opposite to the park. Well, this tells us why she had traveled all the way uptown from the restaurant. So Christina, why don’t you get a catch of her record from the college authorities and run down a search on her financial statements too? May be we can narrow it down to something. Meanwhile let me head back to the precinct with Roger and hear out his statement. And put on a word with Jade to meet me over there, if you could? Don’t worry; we shall meet you back at the office with something useful. You have my word Natz (giving a thumbs up).

...to be continued