A Discovery

The heavy rain had receded. It drizzled lightly while lightning and thunder persisted.

One of the paramedics attended to the lady that was in shock and soon she was stabilized. 

They left her behind at Shane's order and drove down to the emergency unit with the other bodies.

The bedroom became still. Besides the bloody patterns on the floor and the bloody beddings, there was no clue that suggested that such height of brutality was met out in the room.

 Shane noticed two doors within the bedroom. He kicked one and it opened up to a toilet. He ransacked it for clues and walked out after a futile search. 

He kicked at the second door which was standing opposite the toilet's. It opened to a kitchenette. 

 The smell of burnt substance permeated the air. Shane wrung his nose and his forehead burrowed as he examined the cooking place. 

All the cooking ware seemed cool but the set up did not add up. 

An electric cooker was plugged in and its switch was on. On the cooker, sat a pot without a lid. The lid was obviously laying on the floor. 

Shane picked up the lid and it fitted perfectly for the pot. 

He opened up the pot and picked up the black powdery substance therein. 

It was all burnt, he could not tell what the substance was but one thing was certain, someone was definitely cooking in the kitchenette before the mishap. 

Shane took shots of the cooking place. He switched off the cooker and unplugged it as he led Roy out of the kitchenette. 

"Thank goodness the light was out, we might have needed a firefighter too," Shane muttered as he gave the bedroom a final look. 

 The living room was spacious with high quality finishings and furnishings. The walls were covered with beautiful patterns and bright colors. 

There were few picture frames on the walls while few large ones were displayed on the tiled floor. 

Bright flowers contained in vases of varying sizes beautified the room. The flowers on the center table were exquisitely arranged. It bespoke professional's craft.

"Esther?" Shane asked. The lady now seated on one of the sofas looked up and nodded in affirmation. Her trepidations had stopped and she was calmer.

 "Thanks for the call," Shane said and placed his hand briefly on her shoulder as he made his way into the main kitchen.

 Spices and cooking ingredients were all scattered on the kitchen table. Shane took shots and returned to the sitting room. 

He sat on one of the sofas and maintained eye contact with Esther.

He was just starting to speak up when Esther looked away sharply. She fixed her gaze towards the main entrance and slowly, she rose up to her feet.

Roy pointed towards the main entrance and Shane turned around.

There were Intruders. Shane rose up swiftly and took a few steps forward. He stared into the face of the man who had just walked in. It was Daniel Sawyer.

He gave Shane a piercing look and turned to Esther. He thundered, "tell me, did Nicole do it? Did she kill my son?"

Esther gave no response. Her head remained bowed and she shook slightly.

 Shane realized at that point that the dead man was Trevor Sawyer; Daniel's only son and Nicole Colgate was his wife.

"Nothing is conclusive yet… we just began an investigation," Shane spoke up and brought out his identity card.

 Daniel grunted. He snatched the card out of Shane's grip and read out his name with a frown, "Detective Shane Wilbert?" He asked and glanced at Shane. 

 "I want your hands off this case!" He yelled.

"What!?" Shane asked in confusion. 

"I need a more competent handler… I will hire a private homicide detective!" Daniel said as he walked away from the scene.

"What? A more competent handler? Ridiculous!" Roy said from behind while Shane glared at him to shut up.

Shane stood still and watched Daniel leave. 

"What was that?" He asked himself. 

This time, it was more than a hunch. He had seen the glint in Daniel's eyes. "He wanted me out for some undisclosed reasons," he thought but chuckled at the absurdity of his thoughts. "An undisclosed reason? What reason could that be? It's our first meeting," he muttered.

"Boss! I saw this! It seems we have another fan here!" Roy yelled and shoved a novel at Shane.

It was 'The Cliff'; the latest novel written by Shane's favorite author of mystery novel; Sandy Mills.

"Common Roy!" Shane yelled angrily.

Roy bowed and threw the book aside but Esther rose up and snatched it out of the air.

"It... is… mi..ne!" she stammered and clutched the book to her chest. 

Shane eyed her and looked away. Their only witness was a bad stammerer. it would be pretty difficult to get her testimony. He thought. 

Suddenly, he turned around and stared back at Esther.

 Earlier when she had called in to make the report, her voice was smooth and despite the shock she did not stammer. 

"We need you to come with us. You are a sole witness," Shane said. 

Esther nodded and continued to clutch at the novel.

Shane and his crew set out by 4am. He could barely keep his eyes on the road as he stared at Esther through the front mirror.

Her face was emotionless and she clutched at the novel that they had picked from the crime scene like it was a priceless possession.

Shane pulled over at the precinct. He led Esther into his office and made her comfortable.

"Try to relax but while you do, you can write down your testimony. Do not leave out the smallest details." Shane said and handed a pen and a paper to her.

Esther dropped her novel on the table. She collected the paper and the pen and began to write immediately.

Shane assumed his seat and watched her surreptitiously.