Fifty Five

CHAPTER 55

Golden Hospital, New York. 3 years later.

The sound of the hemodynamic monitor in the hospital's VVIP room seemed to be a humming of hope for the young man. The graph on the monitor screen showing the changes in the waves rising and falling was the only sign that - at least - his father was still alive.

His father being declared alive was enough for Ace Blake.

For the past week, Mr. Wilson Blake (Ace's father) had been hospitalized in a coma due to a sudden heart attack. This is said to have happened because his business had declined drastically.

The old body lay weakly on a white-clothed bed. At the same time, his nose was protected by a breathing apparatus to supply oxygen. As far as the eye could see, Ace could see that the old body was surrounded by several other medical devices - such as a yring pump, a heart rate recorder and even a suction machine - to keep his condition stable.

"How is he now?"

Ace Blake, was finally asked to replace his father as CEO of several large companies in New York City as his father's health declined over the past few months.

And to top it off, Ace was forced to not be able to continue his education to university with his girlfriend because he had to be busy with some of his business affairs. Ace at least had to hold on so that his father's company wouldn't completely collapse.

"He's still unconscious and we haven't seen any significant changes in him," the doctor explained. The bespectacled man then tapped Ace on the shoulder. "You'd better go home and rest. We'll take good care of him here, you don't need to worry."

Ace smiled slightly before finally saying, "I'm fine. I'll be here in a minute."

And the doctor nodded in understanding. "Alright then, I'll leave you," he said. "The nurse will be back to check on him again in the next hour."

"Thank you, doctor."

The lanky doctor finally waltzed away, leaving the predominantly white room and leaving Ace and his father lying there helplessly.

Ace sat on a chair next to the bed. He watched his comatose father sadly. The old man's eyes were tightly closed while his lips looked paler and drier. The wrinkles on Mr. Wilson's facial lines were clearly printed and made him look thinner than ever.

"Dad," Ace called softly. "Can you hear me?"

There was no answer from the man, other than the sound of his father's heart rate machine echoing in the room.

Ace exhaled heavily before finally getting up from the Chitose chair. As if his father could hear him, Ace piped up again, "I'm going home now and I'll fix everything for you." He sighed and turned his face away. Unable to watch his father's suffering in front of his eyes for long. "So promise me, dad."

The tall man walked towards the exit and stopped just before he opened the handle. The man named Ace turned around and looked pityingly at his father once more. "I promise I'll fix everything. But, you must promise me that you'll stay alive and watch all these fates change, Dad." He took a deep breath and continued, "Don't leave me, please." Then his body stepped out leaving the room where his father was.

**

Town Square, New York.

"The victim was found dead by her office mate, Detective."

Nicholas, the handsome detective who was now twenty-five, immediately frowned in confusion. His eyes continued to stare at the victim in disbelief. Occasionally, the hazel irises also looked at the surrounding CCTV cameras and sighed in frustration.

The victim was found dead in a small alley next to the large theater center in Town Square in a terrible state. On the victim's neck, there was a ligature wound but not a trace of fingerprints. All of the victim's possessions such as her wallet, cell phone and even her purse were found to be missing. Which means, there was no robbery motive when the murder took place.

"The perpetrator killed his victim in a location that was blind to CCTV," said Nicholas. "He carried out the action in a very planned manner apparently." Again, Nicholas shook his head in despair. "What about the witnesses? Have they been questioned?"

Then another detective named Noel nodded his head. "The witness said that the victim was going to the sushi restaurant opposite the theater center at the time of the incident. The victim and the crew at the theater had two scheduled performances, at six and eight o'clock."

"What is the testimony of the forensics who examined the victim's body at the scene?"

Noel looked back at the notebook she had been holding. He did not want to make a mistake in conveying information to his superiors. "From the change in body temperature and the bruises on her skin, the victim is estimated to have died an hour ago. But for the details of the death, we will still examine it during the autopsy process, detective." Nicholas immediately looked at Noel seriously. "I think she was murdered just minutes before her second scheduled performance."

Nicholas finally turned around, his back to the victim's body. "Have you contacted her family?"

Noel again had to check his notebook to answer Nicholas' question. "The victim's name is Natalie Heele, she lives on 1st Avenue and she only lives with her mother. The eyewitness contacted her family as soon as we arrived, I think she's still on her way here." He then cast his eyes in another direction. "The witness was asked to wait there with Jack, detective."

And the detective wearing a gray suit just let out a long sigh. "I'm going to meet the eyewitness, can you check the crime scene one more time." Nicholas looked agitated as he looked in the same direction as Noel. "Perhaps there's a little trace that the perpetrator left for me," he said sarcastically.

"Yes, detective."

After Noel left, Nicholas made his way to an eyewitness who had been secured by the police. The witness was a woman around thirty years old who worked at the same place as the victim. She was sitting with a policeman who had been asked to guard her earlier, Jack.

"Jack, I'm going to talk to her. Can you leave us alone?" asked Nicholas.

"Sure, Nic." and Jack quickly left the two.

The woman's name was Jean. "So, Mrs. Jean?"

Jean, who was born with gray irises, immediately looked up. Staring at Nicholas with a worried look mixed with fear. "It seems that my men have asked you some questions before." Nicholas started and sat down next to Jean. "But I think I need to confirm something. Do you mind if I ask you a few more questions, ma'am?"

Jean shook her head. "But I'm so scared right now." Her body also seemed to be shaking now. "I still can't believe Natalie had to die so horribly like that."

Nicholas tried to smile, calming the only eyewitness to the murder. "Everything will be fine, ma'am. But may I know, when was the last time you spoke to the victim?"

The woman in the fiery red dress exhaled heavily. "We were resting after our first scheduled performance. Then he said he was going to get some sushi at the Japanese restaurant across the theater before we had to go back for our second show." Jean sounded soft now. "Then I tried to call her because I thought the intermission was only ten minutes away. But she didn't answer my calls even though I called her several times." Nicholas then recorded all of Jean's words into his notebook. "I had a bad feeling and I decided to look for her. I even only wore sandals when I left the building."

Nicholas looked down at Jean's feet to make sure. "Then how did you finally find Natalie in there, ma'am?" he asked again. "The victim's position inside the alleyway and covered by many boxes should have made it difficult for you to find her. There aren't even any lights in the alley, are there?"

Could someone from inside the theater be the culprit?

Honestly, the lack of evidence and eyewitnesses only made it harder to investigate this case.

Until suddenly he remembered someone who might be able to help him.

Alicia Perth, someone he knows very well.

But did Nicholas really have to ask her for help now?

~