03

Shirley sat at the other side of the apartment, silently and attentively watching the horrific scene. She’d been completely lost in thought for several minutes that she didn’t realize that all her colleagues had cleared the room. The strong vibration from her ringing phone made her snap right out of it. She took a hesitant look around the room and then realized shortly after that she was alone. She chuckled. Shirley: Hey! Thanks for bringing me back. Everyone else left without notice. Ackermann: Wait… Huh? Shirley: Oh, never mind. What’s up? Ackermann: Well, I just woke up and, heard the news… He really killed a baby…? Shirley: Hmph… We need to put an end to this. I want to say “before this gets out of hand”, but it’s already gotten out of hand. Ackermann: I know right? Anyways I’m sure you didn’t get any sleep last night, so um, after you’re done there, direct Azriel to me then you go get some sleep, okay? Shirley: Yeah, alright. Sounds good. Shirley hopped out of the chair almost immediately and started walking towards the door. But before she moved out, she took a second look at the dead mother and the baby for a few seconds and then whispers something to herself. She immediately remembered the disgust and indignation she felt at the very first time this “angel of death” madness began, and those feelings were accompanied by absolute compassion. The state of the first victim at that point was unreal and disgusting, and frightening at the same time; what the perpetrator put her through was so utterly inhuman that each and every officer at first glance of the outcome, had to bolt out of the building to get a great deal of air, except for Shirley. It wasn’t an act of bravery or anything close for that matter, the scene was unlike anything she’d ever seen, and that made her freeze for some time; her eyes fixated on the victim the entire period. “You’re most certainly trying to give yourself nightmares, or you’re just too weird!” The voice echoed in her ears, and she spun around almost right away because she didn’t recognize the voice. Shirley: Oh! It’s you. What are you doing here? Ackermann: Yes, it’s me. And what do you mean what am I doing here…? Someone has been murdered! It’s my job to be here. Shirley: Yeah well, this is my crime scene. Ackermann: Not anymore it’s not! Chief Tador: Hey you guys… Relax! This case is for you both to crack. Shirley: What’s that mean, Chief? Ackermann: It means we're partners, genius. Shirley replied to Ackermann’s statement with a condescending sneer. She turned her eyes to the chief, expecting him to nullify what Ackermann had just mouthed but that wasn’t going to happen. And she realized it shortly after reading his face. Her eyes widened as she stared at the chief, and they looked like they were about to exit their sockets. She’d never thought she’d be partnered with this guy whom she’d always referred to as “An Asshole” from the moment they met each other for the first time at the FBI Academy. The guy made fun of her look and her precious scarf; that’s where the hate started from, and the fact that he’d always top the class at her expense made that hate grow. Not that she disliked losing to someone, but the fact that Ackermann was that someone made her detest losing overall. Shirley was almost about to protest to the Chief about having Ackermann as a partner, but the chief raised his hands to stop her. “Enough of this drama Agent Shirley.” He said. “Whatever problem you two have, I advise that you solve it before I take you both off the case! Now Agent Shirley, tell me what you’ve learned about this homicide so far, and why there’s “angel of death” written on the wall, in red.” ---------------------------------------------------- Shirley came out of the apartment building and spotted Azriel right away; she hurried to her and tried to apologize for keeping her waiting for too long. She tried. She called her out countless times, but it seemed Azriel had been kept prisoner in her own mind for some reason. Her thoughts were so far away and lost and running wild that she literally lost connection with the real world. Shirley went ahead and tapped her on the shoulder. That brought her back alright, but in a frightening way. She gasped and jumped the moment Shirley’s hand came in contact with her. But that wasn’t the weird part; she whimpered and her legs collapsed underneath her, sending her right down to the ground, the moment her eyes met Shirley’s. She looked up at Shirley from down there like she was frightened of her and begging for her life. The color had drained quickly from her face, making her look like she’d suddenly lost pounds of blood.“Azriel what’s wrong?” asked Shirley, hesitantly. Shirley had never seen Azriel this way before, and it made her worried and a little frightened because she had no clue what was really happening, or what had caused it. Well, yeah they just examined a horrific homicide, but that wasn’t enough to make an officer act like this, and Shirley knew it. There was something else wrong. Shirley lunged into her and put her arms around her. “You are okay Azriel… You are okay…” She kept whispering that into Azriel’s ear until she bounced back to her senses. Shirley wanted an explanation for what had just happened but then Azriel’s face showed that she was more confused than a chameleon in a bag of Skittles. She was worried about Azriel, no doubt about that. But what really disturbed her was the fact that Azriel looked at her as if she was a monster. The amount of fear that she saw in Azriel’s eyes made her very uneasy. “Oh, Azriel wasn’t in her right mind”. She thought, but yet still she couldn’t shake off the feeling. For some reason, she was almost familiar with it. It was as if something like this had happened before; someone looking up at her with frightened eyes. It wasn’t a memory, but a Déjà vu. And she felt so uneasy. Azriel sat tight in the car while she went into the Jewelry store. ----------------------------------------------- Shirley went straight for the receptionist immediately she walked in. “Hi, I’m Special Agent Shirley. I need to ask you a few questions.” said Shirley as she showed her badge. The lady behind the desk leaned a little forward and squinted her eyes to take a better look at it. She nodded. “But before I’ll answer any of your questions…” she pointed to a petit box sitting idle on the other side of the desk. Shirley tilted her head quizzically. A look of puzzlement crossed her face. She took a second look at the box before she understood. “Oh, donation…? You should have just said so” she chuckled and reached for her pocket. She remembered that she had some loose dollars that she wasn’t going to use for anything. “But wait for a second, what’s this donation about?” “Oh, um, yeah it’s a small program my church is running right, and we hope to get a huge sum at the end of the month so we provide food and toiletries and other stuff to the various charity homes in the city to support them. Again, we hope to get a huge sum at the end of this month”, the receptionist pointed out. “Okay, Madam Receptionist, “HUGE SUM” I get it. I’m sure you’ll get there but this is all I have.” Shirley went ahead and slipped the cash into the tiny hole. ”Now let’s get down to my business here!” “No wait! Before that I just want to say, I dig your hair and your scarf. One would think you dyed your hair but then your eyebrows and lashes say differently.You look weird amazingly and beautifully” Shirley squinted her eyes and sarcastically tilted her head. “Well, uh, thank you…? I mean I hope that’s a compliment” She joked. The receptionist smiled and nodded in response. “Now, shall we?” ----------------------------------------------------------- Shirley came out of the store almost reluctantly, with her phone in her hand. She went through her contacts list and phoned Ackermann. She strongly caressed her eyes as the phone slowly beeped. She was unsure about what she’d just learned. “What is the meaning of this…?” She kept asking herself for she couldn’t believe what was happening. The phone vibrated slightly, and Ackermann had answered her call. “Hello Shirley, what’s up? I thought you were going to get some rest?” “Yes I am. I just found a lead on the case, and it’s…it’s…” “Wait, you’re telling me you just found a lead on our “angel of death” case?” “Yes.” Replied Shirley. “Seriously? Yet don’t sound even a little delightful about it. We’ve been on this maniac for years, and he’s made us chase our own tails since. But then you find a lead on him and sound like this? Tell me what’s going on Shirley.” He recognized the discontentment in Shirley’s voice immediately. Shirley just kept silent. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to talk; she was pretty dumbfounded. She wasn’t short of words. The thing is she wouldn’t know how to arrange them when she starts explaining; that is if she had an explanation for it. “I just sent you a video. I’ll drop by the station later to discuss it. See you then.