One Hundred and fourty nine

CHAPTER 149

There is nothing more uncomfortable than managing several cases at the same time. Nicholas sat in the corner, massaging his forehead which was beginning to throb with pain. It was like he had a migraine. His head was filled with the horrible cases that had just happened. But of all the cases, Nicholas realized something... that their deaths pivoted on Alicia. The girl he loved.

"I didn't know that being in charge would give me such a headache," Nicholas muttered in the middle of the meeting.

Noel glanced at Nicholas, then at Hendrick and Peter who were also in the same room. "Well, you're too modest. You not only have a headache but you've been shot. Did you forget that?"

"Thanks for reminding me, Noel," Nicholas replied sarcastically.

Everyone laughed quietly. They knew that Nicholas had really had a bad day all week since gaining his new status as Chief.

Instead of enjoying a lighter life due to less work, Nicholas had gotten into a lot of trouble in a fairly short time. He was really unlucky.

Nicholas pointed ahead, at the large whiteboard in the internal meeting room. "So... Where should we start?"

"We'll start with the case of Alicia's parents' death," Noel said.

Noel had been standing in front of the board since the beginning. She was going to be the moderator in the internal meeting between the four of them. Noel raised his face and explained, "The case of Alicia's parents' death, happened after the explosion at Fine Steak. Both cases have the same pattern, an exploding gas cylinder." Noel scribbled on the board with a marker, and then circled it. "The incident of the gas cylinder leaking and exploding has a 90% chance of happening in the kitchen of the steakhouse, but in Alicia's parents' house? Why would that happen?"

"Can we just assume that it was all Ace's doing?"

Noel rolled her eyes lazily. "Don't be so short-sighted! Ace was still in prison when these two incidents happened, Nic."

Hendrick interrupted, he chose to speak up. "Meaning... those two incidents were committed by someone else, and not Ace?"

"Fifty percent chance," Noel said, circling Alicia's parents' names on the whiteboard again. "But do you know who Alicia's adoptive parents are? They are the founders of the Alpha Foundation, the largest investment company in the main cities of England."

"England?" Nicholas raised one eyebrow, as if remembering something. "Do Alicia's parents have business in New York?"

"Our team is still investigating that. We haven't finished with Alicia's parents' background yet, you should be shot. Masked man, let's mark this," Noel wrote the masked man on the board like a teacher giving material to his students. "You saw him, what do you think... how would you describe him?"

Nicholas frowned, he seemed to be remembering again. His memories returned to the past. The incident that happened to him and Alicia a few weeks ago. Time passed, but Nicholas still clearly remembered the tall figure who immediately shot him without the slightest hesitation.

"He must have used a gun a lot," Nicholas guessed. Hendrick, Noel and even Peter looked at Nicholas seriously. "He shot me without hesitation. Boom! I got shot in the leg, that's bad luck."

Peter raised his hand. He asked, "Do you remember any details about him other than his skill? He could have shot out of a sense of urgency, or... he could have shot out of a sense of purpose."

"He could have fired out of urgency, he already knew Noel was on her way. Although I'm not sure if he knew about Noel's arrival or not. But... he was tall. That's a proportional height. Her shoulders are too broad, that must be the effect of the cloak she's wearing. Wait, is that a cloak? It's like a slippery material."

Peter piped up. "What if it's not a cloak, but... a raincoat?"

"Raincoat?" Nicholas and Noel chimed in at the same time.

As Nicholas dug deeper into the investigation, his thoughts swirled around the mysterious figure who shot him. The details of the raincoat struck a chord, resonating with distant memories that he could not comprehend. Yet, with each passing moment, it feels like an elusive puzzle piece, one that gets closer to fitting into the bigger picture.

Meanwhile, Noel pulls an exploration into Alicia's past. Unraveling the veil that shrouded her parents' relationship with the Alpha Foundation and their ties to New York became their primary focus. An intricate web of financial transactions and potential motives began to emerge, leading to a larger scheme.

"Is it possible... that all of Alicia's adoptive parents are connected? A network of mafias, con artists... murderers, perhaps?" Noel spoke her mind to the point, unable to hold back any longer. "They are rich people, but behind that wealth, they all have hidden criminal records."

"We're short-handed, it's impossible to solve this many cases at once," Hendrick added, to which Peter immediately added a nod of approval. "You'll have to decide and divide us all into different teams, sir."

Nicholas let out a long sigh. "You're right about that. Well, uhm, all the cases related to eyewitnesses, field examinations, and lab reports will be worked on with Noel. As for the paperwork, reports, audits, and digital searches, I'll leave that to you and Peter. And, your main focus is to go after Ace. He escaped from prison, that means there's something wrong with your work and you need to fix it."

Hendrick and Peter replied in unison, "Yes, sir!"

Noel crossed his arms over his chest. He raised one eyebrow, awaiting orders from Nicholas who was now the supreme leader of the city's police force. "So, what are we going to do to start all over?"

"First, Hendrick and Peter will find out more about Alicia's parents. Once we have that information, we'll connect it to the explosion at the steakhouse. That's all."

"That's it?"

"We'll start from there. And we better start moving now."

Nicholas and Noel glanced at each other, their minds filled with possibilities.