Chapter 23
It was almost eleven. The room cleaning lady had neither arrived nor answered his calls. John had sent a team member to look for her two hours ago but there was still no news.
All of a sudden, Sam rushed over to where John was seated, he was out of breath, “She’s dead.”
“What!?”
“She’s dead, a jogger found her at the Lowline Park.”
John lost all appetite for his brunch. He put his Subway sandwich down and jumped up from his swivel chair. It rolled to one end of the room and hit a water cooler, causing bubbles to rise to the top of the tank.
“Any witnesses?”
Sam shook his head, “No, not yet. We’re still rounding up more people. She was bludgeoned.”
“What?!”
“Um… she was blu—”
John cut Sam off, irritated, “I know what you said.”
He clenched his jaws as he shut his eyes tightly and rubbed at his temple. A headache was forming.
Damn! We were so close!
The room cleaning lady had been their only link to the mysterious man.
“Murder weapon?”
“Not on site.”
“Blood samples?”
“Forensics are on it right now, but there were too many onlookers, chances are it might have been contaminated already.”
“Great. Just what we need,” John said through gritted teeth, as he put on his coat. “Get me the autopsy report asap. I’m heading to Lowline to check out the place one more time.”
Bludgeoned. Could it be the same person? he wondered.
On his way out of the station, he bumped into Rebecca who almost fell backwards. John caught her in time, but the cake she had been holding crashed onto the floor. It was a black forest, John’s favorite.
“Becca! You alright?” he scanned her face, looking for injuries. Rebecca looked at John. He hadn’t shaved, and his eyes were bloodshot. He had been up all night again; her heart went out to him.
She gave him a big, reassuring smile and patted his head, “I’m fine. You go, I’ll clean up after you.”
John nodded absentmindedly, his mind on the case, “I’ll call you later Becca.” And with that, he and Sam Park ran off to get his car.
Rebecca waved them goodbye and bent down to clean up the mess. She had wanted to celebrate the printing of her article on the Silverman Corporation with John. Plus, she had just handed in her report on the senator to her editor. Boy was her editor a happy man.
John had been the tour de force behind her passion for journalism. Once upon a time, when they were still in junior high, Rebecca had not been as outspoken as she was now. She had been a shy and quiet girl, often expressing her thoughts and feelings only through her writing. Then one day, John secretly mailed one of her writings to a national writing contest. She won first prize and the rest was history. Rebecca smiled at the memory of her win, she had run barefoot over to John’s place, squealing all the way. Their neighbors thought she had gone cuckoo.
It had become a tradition for them to celebrate together every time she published an article of significance.
Just then her phone rang, it was Jean.
“Bitch! Your face is plastered all over the papers!” Jean screamed as soon as Rebecca pressed the ‘answer’ button.
That fast? she thought.
“But the Silverman piece is just fresh off the printing office….” Rebecca was confused.
Jean laughed, “No, no, the gala silly! Here…let me read it for you. ‘Business or Pleasure? Rebecca Grey Hits It Big With Silverman and Gregor’.” Gregor was the senator’s last name.
“Oh, that,” Rebecca rolled her eyes, slightly disappointed that her article had not taken precedence over a tabloid report.
So much for celebrating it with John, she shrugged to herself. A part of her suddenly worried whether her professionalism would be overshadowed by her relationship with William. That was not what she had wanted.
“Aren’t you thrilled?” Jean asked, giddy with excitement, “I have to show Sam this when he comes back later.”
“I just bumped into him and John.”
“Yeah…they were working all night. I’ll let you in on a scoop. But promise me that you’ll keep it to yourself first. Nothing's concrete yet.”
“What?”
“They can’t prove that Jolene Knowles is Irana Long’s murderer. It could be someone else.”
“What?!” Rebecca’s eyes were as big as saucers now.
“Shhh… like I said, nothing’s proven yet.”
“But Silverman Corp issued a statement saying that it’s all over now…” Rebecca whispered, quickly walking to a secluded corner at the station.
“Well, they can’t possibly say that a murderer might still be running loose around the place, can they? That won’t look good for their business.”
That was true. The Silverware was to be launched in a week. Of course, William and his team would have to bullshit their way out of the mess. But still, Rebecca felt that it was wrong to cover up the truth.
“That’s not fair, what if another murder occurs?”
“Well, that’s what my man and John are doing right now. I heard they found a lead.”
“Oh,” was all Rebecca could say. The image of William’s lookalike flashed through her mind and she wondered why she suddenly thought of him. She would have to talk William out of this, whether he liked it or not. It just didn’t feel right to put other peoples’ lives at jeopardy just for the sake of a software launch.
Yes, a launch which involves billions. Of course, he had to cover this up, you dumbass!
Rebecca shook her head again; she could imagine the devil on her shoulder trying to talk her into keeping mum while the angel on the other shoulder asking her to stand up for justice. She chose to ignore them both and hurriedly cleaned up the mess on the floor.
***
Miles away, a man stood naked in the shower. As the water droplets rained down on him, it washed the red from his body. The man watched quietly as the white marbled floor of the shower became coated in a dull mix of warm colors, and as they drained off, the water became clear again. The man looked into the fogged-up wall mirror and smiled.