"Um, yeah, I was going to say the same thing, Dax," Sam replied.
Dakota get closer to the white board; every image in front of him might hold crucial clues.
"The perpetrator wants to show how they could pull off such a big performance and how they managed to execute it perfectly. They’re even willing to do dangerous things to demonstrate just how high their confidence level is. The problem is, in this world, there’s no such thing as a perfect crime."
"I know! It's like one of your famous lecture titles, right? I've watched the video over and over; it's so cool, Prof," Rina exclaimed.
Sam turned to Rina, furrowing his brow, wondering what the young woman meant.
"What video?"
"That one, Boss! The title is 'There’s No Such Thing as a Perfect Crime.' So in Professor Dakota's lecture, he gives examples of some murder cases that are so tough they’re almost unsolvable. But even if the perpetrator isn’t found, the crime is still imperfect because of the evidence left behind, just waiting for the real culprit to be caught. And over time, the crime becomes even less perfect. There are also cases where the perpetrator deliberately commits a crime to debunk that theory."
Sam looked at Dakota for a long time; the young man was a genius in his field, as if he lived in his own world, where he alone could see the oddities in every complex case. He had known him for a long time and didn’t even know what he had in mind with all the habits that keep changing. Or maybe he just aren’t observe him enough.
He still remembers when he compromised with Dakota so they could start helping each other solve that gruesome murder case together, especially since the package Dakota received still had an unknown sender. From that moment on, he and Dax would always be together, and Sam said he would help as long as Dakota helped him too. Sam sighed heavily; actually, Dakota had already said he could handle his problems on his own without Sam's help, but because Sam pleaded with those cute, puppy eyes, he couldn't resist.
"Pleaseee"
After a long pause, Dakota finally agreed, and remembering that made Sam chuckle to himself.
"Hehe"
****
"There was no such a perfect crime, it's just hidden beneath until someday it reveals, and if people could read minds, every killer would show by themself only just by seeing the color of their mind, it's so dark that almost no lights in it, and he builds a very high wall around his mind and didn't let anyone enter to reveal his darkness"
~~~~Dakota Sorrenson ~~~
Sam walked ahead, with Dakota following behind as they made their way to the parking area. A luxurious white vehicle pulled up right next to Dakota, and the driver’s window rolled down.
"Baby!" a high-pitched voice called out, causing Dakota and Sam to stop in their tracks.
Sam put his hands on his hips when he realized who was already there.
"Hemh, when I thought this day won't go any crazier"
The young, stylish girl stepped out; it was Elena, who claimed to be Dakota's girlfriend on the side.
"Dakota darling, I've been trying to call you all day, don't tell me you forgot we have an appointment for dinner tonight, and oh yeah, yesterday grams asked me about you, you didn't call her, didn't you?"
Dakota ignored her and continued walking with Sam.
"Dakota!" The girl quickly chased after him, even though Sam kept blocking her way.
"Hey young lady, please come back later, we're so busy here, next time at least you should have made an appointment before stopping by, okay?"
No matter what, Elena tried to reach Dakota, who was getting further away, but Sam kept blocking her.
"Ach this man, Dakota! I'm being so serious, you owe me dinner, wait for me babe, Dakota Baby!"
****
Elena was standing as far as she could in the corner since she followed Dakota and Sam who walked straight to the autopsy room.
It's so quiet. Even the big round clock on the wall makes its sound which fills the room.
Emma, who was standing next to the autopsy table, paused to look at the woman who was so scared she couldn’t move. Of course, this was the experience of a young woman, the daughter of a conglomerate, who was infatuated with Dakota and willing to follow him anywhere, witnessing the dismembered body of a mutilation victim laid out on the table.
“Hey Boss,” Emma whispered pointing at Elena.
"She looks like will faint in no time now"
Sam waved his hand dismissively.
“Just leave her be, who told her to tag along?”
Dakota glanced at Elena a few times before approaching her and pulling her hand to lead her out of the room.
“Come on, El.”
*-*-*-*-*
Soft music played in one of the five-star restaurants in the city, not far from the police station, creating a stark contrast between the bustling atmosphere outside and the calm inside. Dakota had just finished his dinner and raised his drink when he saw Elena returning from the powder room.
The young man couldn't let that young girl go any further by reporting anything she saw to his Father, something he had so much prevented from happening, so he fulfilled their dinner appointment that time. Elena stared at Dakota for a long moment before reaching out with her delicate fingers to fix the messy strands of hair falling over his forehead.
“Oh my handsome Dakota, looking all disheveled. You must be tired, huh? After this, I’ll take you home, okay? You need to rest a lot.”
Dakota gently swatted Elena’s hand away.
"I still have a lot of work to do El, and we're finished here, thanks for the dinner, I have to go back to the office now"
Dakota prepared to stand up after wiping his lips with a tissue, and before Elena could stop him, he stood and quickly walked past her.
“Oh Dakota,” the young girl said, getting ready to chase after him when, accidentally, her bag fell from under her chair, spilling several items onto the floor.
"Oh Dakota please wait" she put all of her items into her bag and rushed after Dakota who had already passed the door, right on Elena's slender right ankle a quite large tattoo adorned it.
“Dakota! Baby!”
Sam was still sitting in his office. It was eight in the evening, and he hadn’t moved yet. Looks like he had to work late for their ongoing cases which keep coming.He lifting his head when he saw Dakota appear at the door. “Dax, aren’t you going home?” Dakota walked closer, observing several photos that Sam and the team had arranged on the whiteboard in front of the desk. He stood there for a while, just watching intently, his brow furrowed.He just keeps being calm and quiet, as he used to be, just observing with forehead furrowed deeply, sometimes Sam has a little doubt does this young man heard him or not.Sam got up from his desk, pulled out the drawer to take out something out. He was carrying a clear plastic bag with a letter that Dakota had received. “Do you recognize this handwriting? This letter is really addressed to you. I’m worried that people might still be following your every move; you need to be careful, Fax.” said Sam.Dakota glanced at the plastic bag with the paper
"Ugh!" His neck was gripped tightly; two large hands were choking him with all their might, making it impossible for him to breathe. Dakota struggled to free himself from those hands, but he couldn't; his strength was fading. The massive figure pinned him down and continued to choke him, even pressing on his chest. He was gasping for air, and no matter how hard he tried to draw in a breath, it was slipping away. Soon, he thought, he might die. But... A dream. Suddenly, Dakota opened his eyes and could only see darkness around him. His breathing was heavy, but at least he could catch his breath again. It was just a dream—his bed, his room, a nightmare that had haunted him repeatedly, feeling so real that it could have killed him. The trauma overwhelmed him. As a psychiatrist, he could read the deepest thoughts of every first-class criminal's brain he had worked with but he missed the most important thing. He even opened some free consultation sections at social institutions for som
Rina handed a sheet of report to Sam. "What’s the result?" "As what you guessing, Boss"Sam frowned after reading the test results on the paper that caused Dakota's hand to blister. "Sulfur? Again?"Rina nodded. "Well, we didn't find it during the initial test; it seems the lab missed it. The substance was neatly tucked away in the folds of the paper and spread out when Dakota read it. All this time, we kept it in plastic, so there was minimal physical contact." Sam straightened up. "Yeah, and Dakota has a severe allergic reaction to some chemicals like this, so it would hit him harder. I only touched it a little and didn’t feel anything. The package sender seems to know Dakota really well, down to those little details. It's very suspicious." Rina pointed to Dakota's desk. "Is the wound really serious? Does he need someone to take care of him at home? Oh It's a pity he's alone in the apartment, he can't cook with a hand like that. I should have to go there and take care of
Katrin still stood where she had been, the spot where Dakota and Elena had left her, taking a deep breath as memories of the past flooded back. “Heh.” Claudia was depressed and deeply obsessed with Dakota. She went crazy when the young man said they were just a friend, but the girl wanted more than that. She goes crazy every time someone comes near Dakota and holds his hand, she was often getting into catfights because of him. One long night, she slipped a sleeping pill into the young man’s drink and took him out of town. For two days, there was no news until one day Dakota managed to reached her, saying that Claudia might be in trouble. Dakota could have called the police, but he reached her instead.Claudia had killed a young man whom she claimed was trying to assault her, stabbing him dozens of times. But Dakota thought it was the opposite; he couldn’t possibly lie about it. It was actually Claudia who killed the young man while trying to help Dakota escape—A young woman, who
Along the narrow path by the riverbank. "Stop!" Sam's voice was loud as he and Rina chased the suspect who fled upon seeing them approach his boarding house. The man, dressed in old, tattered gray clothes, ran as fast as he could, even without shoes. He was blocked by a few people in his way and pushed them to make way. "Hey!"Sam, with his long legs, jumped over a pile of trash and continued chasing the man. After run of the choice, the skinny man jumped into the river. "Ach God damn it! Why do you have to go down to the river, these are new shoes and pants!"Sam halted, panting; the man, suspected to be Rus, was also out of breath and stopped to look at Sam warily. "Hoh hoh." Sam extended his hand. "Come on, get up! Get up or I’ll shoot your legs!" Sam shouted. He started to run out of patience.Rina ran up behind him, and a few uniformed officers were already following them. Sam pointed at the man, Rus, who was getting ready to flee again. "What are you guys waiting for, hur
The man bit his nails again, cold sweat trickling down his forehead, his legs shaking non-stop. His eyes darted around the room until they landed on Sam, who was standing with a sharp gaze fixed on him, then on Dakota. What was he thinking? Sam, growing wary, moved closer as he saw Rusdy suddenly stand up and lunge at Dakota. "Bang!!!" The man got up from his chair which fell to the floor with a bang, tried to reach Dakota, thinking he might be the weakest among them. He would have almost grabbed Dakota's clothes if Sam hadn’t quickly caught his hand, restrained him."God damn it!" With just a few movements Sam had the man's head flat on the table. Pinned him. The man was still thrashing around, trying to break free, while Thomas motioned for Dakota to step back as other officers entered and restrained him. "Let me go! It wasn't me! I told you my card was lost! Why doesn't anyone believe me?" His eyes widened as he glared at Dakota, as if he wanted to swallow him whole. He continu
"That guy, he’s not the perpetrator; he doesn’t have the guts for that." Sam frowned; Dakota’s words were always well-founded. "You think so? What makes you think that? He’s a lunatic, unemployed, a desperate person with no future; he’d do anything, right?" Dakota nodded. "Yeah, that’s true, but with his nature, he doesn’t have a strong motive to kill the victim especially do that at his former workplace. He might be crazy and desperate, but he’s not someone who craves attention. Looking at how restless he was among so many people, it led to him rambling to cover up his fear; he might be insane, but not that clever." Sam took a deep breath. Pulled his lips."Heh, I think so too, but some evidence at his house suggests he might have actually sold his pass key; that guy is probably part of the killer's crew," Dakota nodded. "Yeah, that could be it. And even though this guy isn't that smart, he wouldn't be dumb enough to give out information about who bought his pass key. From
Sam shook his head, according to Erw, who didn’t want to be disturbed, he would get the address in just a moment. The address where the live broadcast was happening, in just a few seconds. “Got it!” Erwan shouted as he pressed the last key on his keyboard. Immediately, Sam left Erw's seating area. “Send it to my phone!” He rushed out. Ron gestured to a few of his men who had just entered through the door. “Send a few teams over there, notify all teams in the field to head to the location as quickly as possible, come on, move it!” Ron shouted to his subordinates, who quickly left the room. Sam ran into Rina in the parking area and not slowing down rushed to his car. “Come on, Rin!” Rina had just bought two cups of coffee from the nearest café and some snacks for their breakfast; it was only six-thirty, she wasn’t late, right? But Sam was in such a hurry, he had missed the info since his phone had just turned on, and he rushed over there as fast as he could. “Wait up, Bo
Emma sat back down, and it was now Rina's case. Sam looked serious until his phone in his pocket vibrated. A call from someone he wasn't expecting, just as he thought. Jack Moris from the federal agency."Yeah," Sam said, getting up from his seat. He glanced at Ron across from him, then got up to answer the phone.“You’re incredible! We haven’t even released any reports to headquarters, how did you know about this? Did you plant spies in our office?” Sam asked. Jack Moris’s voice boomed in his ear; Sam had to pull the phone away, his ear aching from the man’s thunderous tone.“Ouch, that’s loud,” he muttered, pressing the phone back to his ear.“This might not even be the same case. Why don’t you let us handle this first? You won’t be late getting information, trust me. It could just be a random attack, like what usually happens. Anyone can go crazy, right? Are you sure this is
Morning comes. The sun shone brightly until it hit the highest part of the Bayward One tower and reflected all around it. The busyness of the metropolitan city has been visible since the sun was bright. Far below, the city's main roads are starting to fill with vehicles of all sizes sharing the pollution.Sam had just put on his leather jacket, today was going to be a busy one. He had to go early in the morning to the office for the weekly routine meeting and to analyze the various cases that were piling up.The bombing case at the center has not yet been resolved and several other cases have emerged. He came out of his room, and saw Dakota who was ready at the dining table in the kitchen. As usual, chef Edi looks quite busy in the kitchen.Don't look at his appearance like that, what is clear is that his monthly salary is much bigger than Sam's, he knows that from Kim. Sam just wanted to resign and become Dakota's personal driver, that would be more profitable
It was getting late, midnight, and Sam had just finished cleaning up. He came out of the bathroom, toweling his hair with a small towel, his upper body bare except for a towel around his waist. He approached the bed where Dakota was already sitting, opening his laptop."Wow, it's midnight, my dear professor. Time for bed, why are you still working?" Sam said, stopping beside Dakota.Dakota looked up, seeing Sam's slightly wet, bare upper body displaying his muscular chest. Sam seemed quite proud of showing it off.Dakota just pursed his lips, ignoring Sam and continuing to look at his laptop screen. Sam smirked; he'd intentionally teased Dakota, but the young man was completely unaffected. He'd hoped for some kind of reaction.Sam sat down next to Dakota. But before he could sit on the soft bed, Dakota moved the pillow from his left side onto the bed, preventing Sam from sitting down."You can get a blanket from the closet. The couchis very s
Dakota looked at the takeout container Luke had placed on the table. He watched him slowly sit down."Aren't you with guests? Why aren't you eating with them?" Dakota asked. Luke waved his hand dismissively."Let my secretary keep them company, I said I had important business. Look at this, supposedly amazing steak, almost perfect reviews. Next time we have time, we'll eat at the restaurant, they say it's much better there."said the man excitingly.Dakota looked at the logo on the box."I tried it last week with Sam."said Dakota.Luke's hand movement stopped; he looked disappointed."Oh, really? Was it good? How’sthe rate?" Luke asked."Yeah, pretty good," Dakota replied casually.Luke placed the plate in front of Dakota and carefully took out the neatly arranged steak from the box. Even though it was in a delivery container, the restaurant paid attention to quality, keeping it aesthetically pleasing wit
Rina approached their office just as Sam came back in after dealing with the attackers. She looked annoyed.“Boss,”Sam turned. He was applying a compress to his jaw, which was swollen and slightly red from the hard hit.“What about the woman? Did she confess?” Sam asked.Rina and her boss went into their office. It was dark outside, and the air was getting cold. Everyone was exhausted.“She’s very good at making excuses, Boss. According to her secretary, there was information about a room that couldn’t be used; she told Amelia because she was in charge of the seminar. After that, she got word to move everyone to the auditorium at the last minute. All the information fits Amelia Roy’s alibi,” Rina replied.Sam sat down, wincing slightly from his bleeding lip, a souvenir from the thug’s punch.“She must have planned everything meticulously. Find out the woman&rsquo
The wail of sirens echoed in the distance. Fire trucks had arrived and were tackling the blaze that erupted from an explosion of some electronic equipment in the now-destroyed auditorium building. Several ambulances pulled up, administering first aid to the victims, including Dakota, Luke Osborn, and Sam, who sat on the side of an ambulance, their faces and bodies covered in dust."Here, let me brush off your clothes," Sam said, brushing thick dust from Dakota's sleeve. They both looked like they'd just cleaned out an abandoned warehouse.Dakota had some scrapes on his forehead, and his clothes were torn; besides the aches and pains from the impact of the debris, they seemed alright. Medics bandaged a gash on Dakota's arm and Luke Osborn's forehead scrapes."Why did they target this building? Man, this was built less than two years ago. If they wanted to blow something up, they should've gone for that old building behind the lab," Luke said, propping his chin in his hands.Sam sat b
"Having no one to eat with is kind of weird, right? Is Mr. Meyers still reaching out to you?" Luke asked as he opened his takeout bag and pulled out his food, setting it in front of him. Dakota closed his laptop, watching Luke unpack his meal from the carton and arrange it neatly. The guy even opened the chopstick wrapper to hand it to Dakota."Why would he reach out to me? We're not that close," said Dakota.Luke raised his eyebrows at Dakota's response. "Oh, really? I thought you two were close. He often invites you to lunch and waits for your class to finish. If that's not close, then what is?"Dakota opened his lunch box. For some reason, he felt like trying the wet noodles Rina had recommended a while back; they looked pretty good."We have lunch together too,
The sun shone brightly, breaking through the curtains and hitting the long sofa in Dakota’s room. Sam lay face down there all night, still in the clothes he wore yesterday.“Ouch, my body,” he turned over, feeling sore after sleeping on that couch all night.Even though it was the softest, highest-quality sofa money could buy, it would still be more comfortable to sleep in a bed. He remembered that last night because he was so tired, he fell asleep on Dakota’s very tempting bed, so why did he end up there?“Boss, let’s go out!” Edi’s voice still echoed in his head. His forehead was hot, and he was sweating even though the room was cold. He pulled himself up and sat, glancing at Dakota’s neatly made bed. It was nearing noon, eight in the morning when h
Sam frowned; he had misspoken.“I mean, don’t stay up too late. You’re still in recovery. The city is now in chaos; it’s better to stay in the apartment and lock all the doors. I’ve already asked Roger to add more people if needed.” Sam added.“What does that have to do with me? I have Edi here; don’t do unnecessary things. Since when does Roger have to listen to you?” said Dakota.Sam bit back the urge to shout. That stubborn one.“Since the honorable Prime Minister said I have to keep an eye on you, twenty-four hours a day, every second, every minute, even microseconds if necessary. So Roger and anyone else has to listen to me,” he said, annoyed.