THE MOTIVE (FOUR)

The red, blue, and white lights glowed in the dark, silent street until they succeeded in forming a beautiful kaleidoscope. In a normal setting, it would be wonderful to look at, but in an atmosphere like this, the kaleidoscope would only be a sign of something bad.

"Tomorrow the medical team will pick up Alma Emerson's body for an autopsy."

Tyler said to the morgue officer who just a few hours ago put Alma's body in the corpse drawer. Even though Alma's body looked terrible for storage, the police were forced to do so because they had to carry out an autopsy procedure to find the perpetrator of Alma's murder. So far, Tyler and his team have not been able to identify anything other than the cause of death, which is thought to be because Alma's body was repeatedly beaten to death, then Alma's body was thrown into a drainage until finally the body was found in a rotting condition.

Tyler felt nauseous every time he remembered Alma's rotting body, which had doubled in size from being left in the water for too long. Not to mention the rotten smell that wafted from Alma's body which was previously covered in blood. It seemed like Tyler would not be able to eat for the next three days without imagining Alma's hideous body.

But so far he has not received any reports regarding missing people from the local community. No one has lost a woman named Alma Emerson who is thought to have been in the aqueduct for two days. That's weird, Tyler thought. At least Alma's co-workers or anyone who knows Alma will feel lost if the woman has not appeared for two days. Unless Alma is an unemployed person who has no friends and lives alone in her isolated house.

"What does the office get?"

After making sure Alma's body was safely in the mortuary cabinet, Tyler immediately approached his guys who were now waiting near the loan patrol car owned by the local police. He had ordered Jackson and Morris to collect as much information as possible about Alma Emerson. And from the signs shown by his men, he was sure that now they had thirty percent of Alma's data.

“Alma Emerson, that woman is the former wife of property entrepreneur Alexander Enzo. They were rumored to have divorced two years ago. And after the divorce Alma lived with her daughter, Heidi Enzo, because Alma won custody of her daughter in court."

"Only that?" Tyler raised an eyebrow in dissatisfaction. It's very standard information and can be found easily in all the cheap gossip magazines that are sold by the side of the road. That information is simply not enough to solve Alma's murder case.

“What about her relationship with her ex-husband? Maybe they were involved in fighting over custody of their daughter."

"That didn't happen at all, sir. Alex volunteered to let Alma take care of their daughter and provide huge financial support for their lives."

"Tch, rich people." Tyler chuckled. Maybe for Alex, it will be a distinct advantage for him. Because then he is free to date any woman without ever thinking about his daughter's feelings — who, if left with him, might feel hurt by her father's jerk.

"Wait!"

Suddenly Tyler thought of something. "If Alma is killed, then where is her daughter?"

Jackson and Morris stared at each other. Then they immediately tampered with their gadgets and searched all sources regarding Heidi Enzo's whereabouts. If today the mother had just been found rotting in the drains, the little girl would probably experience the same thing. Or maybe they have experienced the same thing with their mother and are being hidden in a certain place.

"Sir."

Jackson called Tyler and handed the tablet to Tyler who had just crushed his cigarette butt using his muddy boots.

"The news regarding Heidi Enzo came out three days ago."

Tyler then reads all the news about Heidi Enzo's condition. In the news featuring Alex's flat face, Tyler manages to find points that will be the main point to investigate the murder of Alma Emerson.

"Angry, infidelity, and neglect of children. Huh, this will be an interesting case.”

Tyler returned the tablet to Jackson and gave instructions to get into the car. "We continue tomorrow. Call the pilot so that Helicopter can be flown home as soon as we get to the helipad."

Before getting into the passenger seat at the front, Tyler checked his watch, which showed eleven o'clock. There is still time he thought relieved. After this, he had to meet Amber to settle the quarrel that had not been resolved this afternoon. Yeah, this is his fault. Early in the morning, he may need to drag Amber to buy a ring at one of her favorite jewelry stores before he can continue investigating the Alma Emerson murder case.

While scratching his face in a huff, Tyler then opened his cellphone which did not get a single message from Amber as usual. Even though all this time this woman has always been chatty sending messages to remind him not to forget to eat and rest or whatever things he thinks are not important. But after their fight today, he thought all messages were important. At least with Amber sending him a message, it shows how much Amber loves him all this time.

-00-

A dog looks surprised. Next to the overturned trash can and its stinking contents strewn along the narrow, grungy alley, the dog stood there staring at the two men who had just smashed the window of the convenience store.

Two hooded men whose faces were obscured by the darkness of the night barged into the convenience store through a side window. The window had just been broken using a boulder they found behind a trash can.

“Wingert asked for canned food. Warm food is said to be very tempting to eat at midnight."

"That idiot. He is lazy but too picky. Luckily we still care about him."

Bratt and Jim then immediately looted the contents of the shop that was not open twenty-four hours with greed. The sacks they had prepared contained various kinds of canned food, liquor, soda, and a few pieces of clothes for them to go undercover while the police were still hunting them.

"Put in a shaver, soap, and shampoo. My body feels itchy. Two days I didn't take a shower."

Jim snorted in disgust at Bratt who looked so relaxed and was picking socks from a nearby wooden shelf. During this hideout, bathing, and food were a luxury for them. Not infrequently they live or loot empty houses left by their owners for holidays. But of course, it doesn't happen all the time. If they were unlucky, they could only scavenge from the trash can next to the restaurant and eat leftover food that was still good to eat.

"Look what I found."

Jim whistled happily when he found the cash register's drawer filled with cash. The Agincourt North area is indeed very safe in Toronto. Everyone lived peacefully in this area for many years. For this reason, this area does not have too tight security for shops and high-rise buildings for business premises. That was what Jim and Bratt finally took advantage of to rob a convenience store they had been stalking for days.

The shop is open daily from eight in the morning to eight at night. The owner is an old man, retired from a private bank, who just wants to find something to do with opening a convenience store.

Mr. Fleming, that's what people call the old man who owns the shop. Mr. Fleming is a kind-hearted old man who loves children very much. Every afternoon, between one and two o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Fleming often gives the children free chocolate or free soda. Apart from children, Mr. Fleming is also very kind to women, especially young mothers who have just had babies. Mr. Fleming often gives out free milk or diapers for their cute babies.

This morning when Jim pretended to buy gum and a box of cigarettes, Mr. Fleming generously gave him a bonus can of soda. No one thought that a friendly and kind-looking buyer would rob his shop tonight.

"You're going to take the money too?"

Bratt walked over to Jim, who was emptying the cash register drawer to move it into his trouser pocket. "My money is running low. The rich widow doesn't want to give me any more money. The last time I asked for money from her, she refused."

Jim then remembered the rich widow he had met at the bar a few weeks ago. Their relationship is going well. They both were satisfied with the relationship. Unfortunately, the woman did not want to give money to Jim anymore for his services in bed.

"If I had a face as handsome as you and a muscular body that dazzled every woman's eyes, I would also look for as many rich women as I want."

"Huh, then you're out of luck man."

Jim mocked Bratt while tidying up the cash register as before. Then lifted his head, to the CCTV which is currently highlighting his face. He doesn't need to bother keeping his face away from CCTV or trying to find blind angles that are not caught by CCTV. After all, all the police in this country are looking after him. Tomorrow his name will be back in the newspaper because of tonight's robbery.

"How do you think?"

"What?"

“That beautiful widow. What do you think? Doesn't that woman also have a daughter?"

“I don't know, I haven't dated her for almost a week. She is the widow of a famous property entrepreneur in Toronto. Her daughter is very beautiful and cute."

Jim unconsciously closed his eyes imagining the innocent face of a rich widow's daughter who was no less beautiful than her mother. Her cute little face always made Jim feel dizzy from thinking about her.

"I wonder, how did you first meet that woman?"

“At the bar. She was drunk and I drove her home. Since then we have been close."

"Does she live with anyone other than her daughter?"

Jim glared at Bratt with a face that said, are you stupid, on his forehead. "You think? She is not a loving mother. She often locks her daughter in the room when she is out having fun at the club or to the bar."

"Does she taste good?"

Bratt deliberately showed his perverted face in front of Jim. He knew that Jim must have slept with the widow many times. He saw that Jim was always at the woman's house all night. Usually, Jim only returned to their house when it was late afternoon.

"Not too bad. Because of this damn escape, I can't enjoy a woman's body in peace. I don't think the woman has ever seen television, so she doesn't know I'm a fugitive.

“Stupid but profitable enough. What is her name?"

"Alma. That's all I know. Her daughter is named Heidi. I have heard her scold her child several times when the little girl accidentally spills the milk or makes a typical kid's mistake. Alma is very fierce with her daughter."

Between the two-meter-high shelves on his right and left, Jim stood there observing the row of magnificently built houses in Toronto's safest area. Several times Jim spent the night there. Enjoy all the facilities of a luxury home that he has rarely found so far, who is only a manual laborer on a building project. But now the house looked dark. No signs of life as usual. On the second floor, where the little girl slept, Jim usually saw the room shining brightly with lights. Heidi is afraid of the dark. Alma herself is very embarrassed by her daughter and often turns off Heidi's room lights when the little girl is asleep. But in the middle of the night, he had heard Heidi cry and turn on the light in her room so that no monsters would eat her while she was sleeping.

It felt funny remembering the times he had interacted with Heidi in the past. It is a coincidence. He is not the typical man who likes kids. Even Heidi was the first little girl to talk to him. But after talking to Heidi several times, his opinion about children began to change. He thought children were not as bad as they used to be. Smart and adorable little girls like Heidi are a lot of fun to chat with.

"Are you done?"

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Bratt walked over to him with a beer he had taken from the fridge. The man sipped his beer in an incredibly fast. He threw the beer bottle carelessly onto the floor, adding to the number of glass shards that littered the floor. They immediately went through the same window hole and disappeared behind the bushes which were not far from the convenience store building they robbed tonight.

-00-

"Good morning."

Harper greeted Amber with joy while showing the paper bag she brought from the twenty-four hours restaurant near her apartment. With a beaming face, Harper entered Amber's house which was always quiet without noticing Amber's sleepy face and messy hair sticking out here and there like a haystack.

"Breakfast?"

"Just put it on the table."

“Have you brewed coffee? It smells very good."

"Not me," Amber replied lazily. She was still very sleepy this morning. And suddenly Harper came over with a breakfast muffin which smelled making her like a hungry dog ​​dripping saliva.

"Hi, Harp."

"Tyler? Hi, I can't believe I found you here. This early morning?"

Harper squinted at Amber suspiciously. Amber looked back at her indifferently. She felt guilty for disturbing the couple on such a bright morning.

"I think I'm bothering you two."

"No. I was just going to have breakfast too. Amber has no schedule this morning. Meanwhile, I had to come to the office this morning to take care of the new murder case that happened in Sherbrooke."

"Oh my. Who was killed?"

"A woman. She was in her early thirties. Her body was found in drainage yesterday. But the estimated death was probably two or three days ago. Beatings with blunt objects until the victim died."

Tyler gave Harper a fairly complete explanation as he took a sip of his coffee. He saw Harper looked horrified by his story. The woman immediately rubbed her arm repeatedly to relieve the goosebumps she had just felt.

“Sometimes things like that make me paranoid. You know that I live in a condo alone."

"I also live in this house alone," Amber said quickly. She was busy munching on a muffin sprinkled with chocolate chips. It's her favorite cupcake. At least her morning wasn't so bad because Harper brought her what she liked.

"You have Tyler."

Amber glanced fiercely at Tyler. "Having him or not, it feels the same to me."

"You just fought?" asked Harper a little awkwardly. She felt uncomfortable in the middle of the dog-and-cat-like couple. Almost every day they fight and scream at each other. Don't know what their household life will be like.

"He broke his promise to buy an engagement ring." Amber pointed at Tyler from a distance with a mouth full of muffins.

Tyler also looks as angry as Amber. But he tried to hold back his anger because he didn't want to make Harper more awkward between them.

"I already said if it was against my will. That case suddenly came. And another team is pursuing a group of suspected terrorists. Didn't I promise to take you to buy a ring today? Even I also sacrificed my sleep time last night to come here and apologize to you."

“You must apologize to me. You canceled your appointment suddenly."

"Whatever. I won't say anything more to a stubborn girl like you.”

Harper felt like getting out of Amber's house right now. It's not good when you have to be an idiot girl in the middle of a cold war between that stubborn couple. Besides, she thought this fight was ridiculous. If she were Amber, she certainly wouldn't have made a big deal about Tyler's actions, which were not entirely her will. But Amber is Amber. She is too selfish and childish, so it is very difficult for her to feel sympathy for others.

"Sorry, I thought I should go so that you guys can solve your problem."

"No!" they answered simultaneously.

Harper gave a small grimace watching the ferocity of the two humans. She really couldn't stay between them for too long. “I have a scheduled morning visit to the ward. I better go. See you at the hospital, Am. "

Before Harper walked out of Amber's door, Tyler suddenly called out to her. "You brought a car?"

"No. I used a taxi because my car was still in the repair shop. Maybe later in the afternoon, I’ll take it."

"Then I'll drive over you to the hospital."

Harper wanted to refuse. But seeing other intentions in Tyler's eyes, made Harper finally unable to refuse and just got into Tyler's car. There was something that he wanted to say to her. It was obvious the look on Tyler's face was pleading. It must have something to do with his problem with Amber. Tyler had always relied on her to help him get an apology from Amber. He had never tried to use his own power to apologize to Amber every time they fought.

"I think you'll have to fix it this time, Ty."

"She's too stubborn."

"And also selfish. I know it. But you have to learn to understand her and also solve your problems without involving me.”

Harper folded her arms across her chest firmly and looked like she didn't want to be denied at all. "Think about your life later when you are married. You can't rely on me all the time."

With a heavy sigh, Tyler nodded and stopped discussing Amber's issue. He chose to remain silent for a while until Harper then provoked him with questions about the new case he was currently working on.

"What about the new case you're working on right now?"

"It's a murder case. My team and I still can't decide anything until the autopsy results come out in a few days. Apart from that I am also still thinking about the motive behind the murder."

"What do you think the motive is?"

"I have no idea." Tyler shrugged his shoulders curtly. His hands swiftly lowered the gears of his car as the car started to slow down in a busy lane by pedestrians. "The woman is a widow. And currently, I'm still trying to find the whereabouts of her daughter."

"So the woman who was killed had a little girl who was missing? Jeez, what if that girl is also killed like her mother?"

"The little girl is not completely lost. She is with her father. It's not all my will, Harp." Tyler looked so frustrated as he brushed his slightly long hair that it touched the collar of his police uniform. The light in front was still showing red. The opportunity was immediately used by Tyler to talk about Amber's issue.

“That case suddenly came while I was preparing for my engagement party with Amber. I've begged Amber for understanding many times because this is what my job is like. But that woman doesn't want to understand."

"There are things that Amber considers why she does this. I guess she just wants you to prioritize her occasionally over your work."

"I'm doing that," Tyler replied weakly. "But I also can't avoid my job."

"Slowly Amber will understand," said Harper with a smile.

After that, there was no more conversation between them. Harper got out of the car after Tyler stopped in front of the lobby. They just said a quick bye, and Tyler drove towards the police station. It would be best for them not to talk about Amber's issues and just focus on their work today. Because everything is in vain.