Chapter 8

The animosity Salim had borne for the inspector of Vegas county took a full expression as the cunning mogul launched into emotional rhetorics, condemning the police's effort and coming up with a conspiracy theory about the security activities of Miriam and her force in the Vegas county.

''I will make sure none of you is spared if that monster out there comes for me. None of you will be spared. None of you!''

Miriam paused for a bit and took a keen listen to Salim's grievances. Salim might not particularly be one of her favorites but the political big shot had the right to air his pains and grievances. And, of course, she quite understood his position in this matter.

''Rest assured you're in safe hands, Prince Abdullahi,'' replied Miriam, making effort to calm the tension. ''The security forces of the Vegas county shall be consolidated henceforth as we join forces with the national police force.''

Salim seemed pacified by Miriam's calm words, although not completely convinced by the person of the female inspector whom he deemed an enemy to his ventures. That notwithstanding, Miriam stood on her ground to emphasise to Salim the need to keep his head down amidst the bloody mayhem.

''In the meantime, we urge you, Prince, to stay away from the press for now. It's for your own safety.''

''You keep talking shit about the press, girlie,'' Salim replied, making an arrogant gesture with his shoulder. ''I ain't even spoken to the journalist in a while; why the hassle?''

''We've got evidence you've spoken to the press about the death threat you received yesterday,'' Miriam replied, gesturing towards Donovan to unfold the daily. ''That's it, Prince. Your interview about the death threat is making the rounds at the moment, and information reaching me and my team now is that the other major national dailies are making sales of this.''

''Bullshit! Total bullshit! This is ridiculous,'' Salim yelled, pointing a disdainful finger at the piece hanging from Donovan's clutch. ''I've not had a word with the press for a while now. This must be Jack's handiwork. This is ridiculous. You must get Jack arrested now. That dude is behind all bloodshed in the city, I tell you.''

''You know, Prince, from my near encounter with the killer at the Central Ward, the killer in question is not a man,'' Donovan cut in, as he summoned up courage to speak out. ''We're dealing with some female psychopath running wild out there with a goal in mind: to kill. Jack might not be in the picture after all.''

''Cut that crap, fella. Cut that crap,'' Salim yelled again, reacting to Donovan's submission. ''Jack spoke with me on phone and left a nasty message a day before I received this fucking threat. I ain't mad, dude.''

''Perhaps, Jack is in the picture pulling strings and fronting with some woman,'' one of the lieutenants cut in, in an attempt to give more possibilities.

''Jack is supposed to be dead right now,'' Miriam cut into the argument. ''Whatever became of Jack after the mafia kidnapped him in the Gobi desert should be nothing short of death. We can't drag a dead man into this. It's unprofessional.''

''But there's a possibility that Jack might have survived the Mafia's attack that very day of his execution,'' another lieutenant chipped in. ''We need to put all possibilities in consideration and draw a conclusion.''

Miriam was not particularly pleased with her fellow inspectors' contributions and the funny assumptions they were rolling out. She felt she quite different in her opinion of Salim's submission about Jack. Perhaps, she was becoming too defensive of Jack, she thought. But then, she decided to put herself in check, making a creative effort not to divulge her personal concerns with Jack Banning.

''I think we are straying away from the current subject at hand, folks,'' Miriam remarked, attempting to creatively rubbish the conspiracy theory about Jack Banning. ''I urge you all to channel all focus on roaming killer. It would be best we don't meddle the closed case of Jack Banning with the fresh murder case before us.''

''Jack's case is not closed!'' Salim yelled in defiance and frustration. ''He's roaming the street a killer. He's fugitive and he's yet to be brought to proper book as intended. Don't you get it, girlie?''

''Order, folks. Order!'' Williams cut into the conversation as soon as he sensed that the trajectory was getting heated up. ''Let's put things in order right now, shall we?''

William's baritone voice was enough to douse the flames and command some quiet. His intervention imposed the heat of the moment as would a chief of police.

''What evidence have you of this killer's female identity, Daniels?'' Willams asked, looking in Donovan's direction. ''Can you prove it?''

In this moment, Donovan felt his ego being questioned as much as his competence being challenged. He was not particularly comfortable with William's question in that he had no sufficient evidence to prove his claim. Deep down, he wished he had nabbed the killer at the Central Ward. He wished he had outrun the mystery lady the previous night before she reached for the door. The pang of regret knocked behind his heart, but he wouldn't allow that to consume him. Out of sheer intelligence, he decided to piece some brilliant facts together in spite of being thrown on the spot.

''Comrades, I've been on this case for some time and I've followed some similar details on each occasion the killer strikes,'' Donovan paused for a bit and threw an assuring look at the embattled Miriam before shifting his gaze towards Williams. ''This psychopath, each she writes her bloody graffiti on the wall, there's a feminine touch to the handwriting. Every graffiti she had written on Mr Westgate's windscreen, the Hotel's wall and the latest one at the ward, had a stylish stroke on each letter. Psychologically, a man wouldn't dabble in such luxury.''

Donovan looked round him in a bid to ensure that the seating inspectors followed closely. On realising that he had some attention to himself with a positive body language, Donovan continued with his logic.

''The stabs on the killers' victims have taken the same pattern so far. After examining the depth of each stab--one on Kasidy's jugular and the one on the jugular of his female guest, Natasha; I came to discover that there was no depth, as the pressure in each stab was minimal. Again, that's feminine 'cause a man would naturally apply pressure without any hassle.''

Donovan looked round again, making sure he was still in touch before proceeding.

''Being at the central ward with Senator's Kasidy's guest, the killer employed guile and deception to force her way into the ward. May I tell you that I was beaten to the floor under Natasha's weight before the killer made a bold for it?''

''But one thing I can tell you now,'' Donovan continued, ''is that I caught a glimpse of the killer's legs as I struggled to get back up in the blackout last night. Those were typical of a woman's limbs. The delicate movement, the looks, the ankles. They were glaring enough, comrades.''

Williams nodded, impressed by Donovan's careful observation and analyses. He maintained a brief gaze on Donovan before shifting his gaze round the table and back to Donovan again.

''Daniels, that's quite impressive. I mean, the detailed observation and dissection of little pieces of facts. It's quite impressive.''

Donovan would not be overtaken by the moment. No, he wished he had done more in thwarting the killer that night. He deserved better praises than the one William was dishing out.

''But how about the daily you're holding? You think it wasn't doctored, too?'' Williams asked, yearning for more of Donovan's brilliant answers.

Donovan's heart thudded against his ribs as he wondered how to defend the daily he had tendered. He hadn't made his findings yet. He might in for some serious bollocking here, he thought.

''It's the daily we read everyday to get facts and figures,'' Donell cut in, questioning the Chief's logic. ''Why should this be any different, chief?''

Williams had no reaction to Donell's rude interference but to ignore the old geezer. But then, Miriam's timely intervention saved the moment.

''No special findings have been made of all dailies who have published this interview, yet, chief, Miriam said, swallowing hard. ''These papers are just seeing the light of the day this morning. But we intend to invite a couple of journalists from these media houses to ask about their beat.''

''Good, inspector!'' Williams said, reacting to Miriam's words. ''Let all the journalists involved in this unprofessionalism be brought to book. I shall be expecting the report as soon as you must, uh?''

Miriam nodded, assuring Williams of the next step to be taken about the daily publications. However, she was not particularly comfortable with William's quick assumption that the publications were doctored. Like had she had felt all along, she felt even more a biased support for Salim's claims. But then, this was a man in danger; he must be listened to, she concluded.