Dark Secrets (Thriller)

Chapter 5

Neil and George stood before Melanie mum's door, getting ready for the other phase of the interview. Neil knocked softly and they both waited for a response.

“I can’t believe you made me pose as the CO just to get you into that freaking race!” George whispered. Neil placed his hands over his lips.

“Be quiet, George. You cannot say that here,”

“Sure! As usual I will pretend you are not going to get me in trouble. Why did you go for the race anyway? Why are you risking your life for no reason?” George hated confidence.

"This is not the right time to talk about this,” Neil rung the doorbell again.

"You have a crafty mind, Neil. You're crazy,” George insulted with a frown.

They both stopped the conversation when the door knob turned open. An elderly woman walked out, carrying a toddler that happened to be Melanie’s child.

“You are from the police?” She asked as soon as he showed his ID.

“Yes, Mrs Hopper. We have some questions for you,”

Mrs Hopper nodded in agreement and gave them a seat. She offered them cookies and they gladly accepted them.

“Has there been any discovery yet?” Mrs Hopper asked.

“For now, no. We only got a hint of how the person may look like,”

Mrs Hopper’s face showed disappointment.

“O…”

“But we are closer than we think. All we need is your cooperation and we are good to go.”

She nodded, gripping her cup of coffee tightly.

“Ask me whatever you want.”

“Alright, thank you ma’am,” Neil pulled out his note and pen. “Did Melanie fight with anyone?”

Mrs Hopper shook her head.

“My daughter might be energetic and stubborn. But she never gets involved in a fight. Since she was a child, she avoided conflicts at all costs. Everyone can vouch that Melanie is all talk, but no fight.”

“Alright,” Neil believed her. Melanie was known to be a troublesome but non-violent lady. “Do you know anyone that might want to hurt her?”

Mrs Hopper tried hard to think.

“Not one I can think of. I mean, if it is her sister Ruby, I can think of a hundred people. But Melanie is the opposite. She would rather shut people out and stay on her own than pick up a fight.”

“You mentioned her sister, Ruby. Isn’t she a runner? There is a rumor that she won an award for the best runner in high school.”

Mrs Hopper smiled with pride.

“The girl did. She is very good at it, but she is also very good at picking fights as well. Melanie never liked her one bit. They don’t even talk to each other like siblings do. They rather ignore each other’s existence.”

The baby cooed and Mrs Hopper gently tapped her.

“So where was Ruby at the night of the murder?”

“She was here with me. We prepared some lemon juice for sick children,” Mrs Hopper answered sharply. She frowned with anger. “Do you think Ruby did it?”

“I do not know, Mrs Hopper. Since she was with you that night, she couldn’t have been in two places at the same time, right?”

“Ruby might not llke her sister, but she would never kill her. Melanie is still her blood sister and they manage my husband’s business together. Melanie has more knowledge in finance than Ruby. Of course they need to work together.”

Neil got worried they arrived to a dead end again.

“Are you sure Ruby was with you all through that night? From evening?”

“I run an NGO that supports poor sick children. We visited the sick children together that day and gave them the lemonade. Of course, we only gave those the doctors advised us to give. If you want, you can ask the sick children yourself.”

Neil raised his arm in defeat.

“It’s fine. I will rather not do that.”

“Have you asked her exes?” A voice asked from the stairway. They both looked up and caught sight of a chubby lady, who stared sternly at them. Yeah! The killer couldn’t be Ruby herself. Ruby had added weight over the years and the elderly man hadn’t mentioned chubby.

“We would love their contacts,” Neil requested.

“Alright, hold on,” Ruby agreed and went back upstairs. In few minutes, she got down with a phone book.

“Melanie dated six guys, before this present lover we know nothing about. From the information I got while I digging into the case myself, all her lovers aren’t here in Wenner. They moved to other cities a couple of years back. There is no way we can get tangible information from them.”

“All of them?” Neil asked with disbelief.

“Melanie dated older rich guys. It is no surprise that since Wenner inflation skyrocketed, people moved to other places to either settle down or get better rates. It’s not their fault,”

Neil clenched his fist in anger. He was back to where he started.

“I am sorry that I couldn’t help,” Ruby apologized. “If you want, you can still have their phone numbers and contact them,”

“Thank you,” Neil accepted the phone book from and she smiled.

In a few minutes, they were back in George’s car, listening to a terrible song neither of them hoped for. After minutes of enduring the terrible voice, George stopped the song.

“What do we do now?” He asked.

“Take me to the crime scene again,” Neil ordered.

George didn’t understand why he wanted that, but he agreed. Seems he was his temporary driver from then on. They both arrived to the crime scene and pulled up. Nile widened his eyes on seeing a lady with three men, inspecting the area. They were engrossed in a conversation, tracing the chalk diagram of the corpse.

“We should get out of here. I think she is the new detective,” George dragged him back.

“There is no way I will let this people look down on me!” Neil pulled his hands off grip and walked towards the caution tape.

“So, you’re Morrie Harper?” He asked as he crossed the tape. The British lady turned around and instinctively pulled her gun at him.

“You shouldn’t be here sir. Go or I will get you arrested!” She warned.

“I am Neil Schoenfeld. The man whose job you took,” Neil explained, placing his hands in his coat pocket.

Morrie Harper instantly got the hint and lowered her gun.

“O! I see,” she turned back to the diagram. “You shouldn’t be here. We do not want anyone tampering with evidences,”

“Trust me, I know how to handle evidences,”

“If you do, why were you replaced?” Morrie roasted him. He hated her guts. “You never did anything concerning the previous cases. It is obvious you do not know what you are doing. Please let me do my job in peace, thanks.”

“We could do it together,” he suggested.

“You are crazy,” she hissed. “I do not work with noobs.”

“I am not a noob, Morrie. You do not know how complicated this case is. You do not even know anywhere in Wenner. Let me help you.”

“Will you leave me alone or should I call the police?” She was getting angry.

“I have some clues that can help with your investigation,” he eventually confessed.

Morrie became calm. She gazed at him with an inquisitive look.

“What is it?”

“The murderer is a runner. We suspect the person could be an athlete. There will be a marathon race next week, and this could be our chance to catch the killer,”

Morrie gave him a mesmerized stare.

“Are you really saying this?” She folded her arm in shock. “Who made you a detective? I can’t believe I wasted my time to listen to that,”

She turned back to the other three guys. Neil forced her attention back to him.

“You’ve got to trust me. The runner could be one of the 10 registered adults above the 5’5ft. There are three females and seven males. If we investigate well, we could get a grip of him or her.”

Morrie gave him a stare of disdain.

“Stay out of this, Neil. Let me do my job. You aren’t making any sense.”

“Why would you think that?”

“The murderer might choose not to be in the competition. The murderer might not even be an athlete. It could just be a regular person that runs fast. The murderer might not be in this town. The murderer might be part of the spectators!”

“We are talking about 500,000 dollars here.”

“Not everyone likes money, Neil. Not everyone wants money. This serial killer might be more concerned about quenching his thirst for blood than making money.”

“You cannot be so sure…”

“Do not be dumb,” Morrie said. “Your CO advised you to get some training done, right? Do it! Learn the right psychological skills and help others. This city has suffered unsolved cases for too long and I Morrie Harper is here to help with it. Now get lost!” She shoved him off rudely.

“You know I was just assigned personal cases this month, right? Detective Sean was the one who headed the last few cases. I was only his assistant.”

“I do not care,” Morrie shrugged. “You didn’t help Detective Sean the way you ought to. This is why everyone is blaming you for his laziness. Believe it or not, your reputation in the police department is stained, just like Detective Sean. Don’t bother embarrassing yourself more.”

Neil couldn’t believe she said that to him. George took his arm and dragged him back.

“You will pay for this Morrie!” He threw her a f***k sign. She ignored it with a feeling of embarrassment.

“So unprofessional,” she told the other team.

Neil got into the car and punched the dashboard hard.

“Do not ruin my car, Neil,” George screamed in anger.

“Why would she say that to me? That lady is damn rude!”

“Yeah, she insulted you real bad. I had to pull you out so that she won’t insult you anymore. I do not know how you could listen to all that.”

“She is a problem, George,” Neil confessed as they set back home. “She won’t let me continue this investigation.”

George sighed.

“Maybe it is for the best.”

Neil gave him a confused stare.

"What?!"

"Look, George. You might be crazy, but you have a good heart. You need to prove your capabilities to Morrie and the CO. If you like it or not, they are your way to the top. They are more experienced than you are." George said.

Neil huffed with a nonchalant look.

"Morrie should be the one proving her capabilities to me since she took over my job. I have to know how good my successor is."

George didn't find any sense in that.

"That makes no sense," he confessed. "You were suspended. She doesn't have to prove anything to you. By the way, she has contacts with one of the most popular detectives in the world. She could be your savior. She could be your ladder to the top. You need to gain her trust and use her to get transferred."

Neil eyes widened at the idea.

"You think?"

"She could recommend you a good training institute or a mentor who could brush you up a bit. She is gold for you, Neil."

Neil nodded, realizing he was right. He placed his hand on his lips in a thinking mood and sighed in disappointment.

"Freak! I threw her the middle finger. She will never help me, even in her wildest dreams. I disrespected her."

George shrugged.

"It is a your problem. You've got to figure it out."

Neil thought deeply for a moment and grabbed George's gun.

"What the heck do you think you are doing?" George asked with surprise.

"I have a plan,"