One Hundred and sixty four

CHAPTER 164

"Because everything burned down in the fire?" Elden confirmed, he was very curious. This was his first case after being transferred to the serious crimes division team, it was only natural that Elden felt the need to be really serious before his leader. "It was premeditated murder, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was premeditated murder," said Noel, interrupting Hendrick who was about to answer. The lanky man held out a folder, making Elden accept it quickly. "You can read in there, I've summarized all the cases that happened in the past few weeks. Everything is interconnected."

Elden looked at the first page of the journal thoughtfully. There was a photo of Alicia and her profile there. Elden's brow furrowed, he then looked at Nicholas with a look that Nicholas did not understand.

"What's wrong, why are you looking at me like that?" Nicholas wanted to know.

Then, the American-German turned the first page of the journal so that Nicholas could see Alicia's profile that Noel had tidied up. "This girl... Alicia? Is she your girlfriend, sir?"

"Yes. Do you have a problem?"

"She looks younger than me," Elden said honestly.

And the whole room couldn't help but laugh at Elden's innocence. Elden looked confused at all the friends in the meeting room, then scratched the nape of his neck in embarrassment. He bit his lip, then looked at Nicholas guiltily.

"I think I just misspoke," Elden continued, then smiled awkwardly.

Nicholas spluttered, he looked at his colleagues and said, "What's wrong, age is just a number. Besides, my body is still so nice and fit, young girls will love it!"

Noel interjected casually. "But you've liked her since she was in high school, Nick. Oops!"

"Tsk, enough, Noel. I'm the leader now, stop flirting!" Nicholas wasn't serious when he said that, he laughed afterward and made everyone laugh along with him. Nicholas then snapped his fingers in the air, trying to change the subject. "We should get back to the point. Is it necessary to discuss personal romance in this complicated and complex situation?"

Suddenly the room became silent. Their laughter subsided after some time. But Elden's hesitation was becoming more and more obvious. He wasn't sure whether asking Nicholas about Alicia was the right thing to do or not.

"So far, what conclusions can you tell us, El?" Nicholas wanted to forget their conversation about Alicia, and changed the main topic.

"I'm thinking... the killer broke into the house, manipulated the gas explosion, carried out his plan and began to commit his main crime of ramming the victim's body into a hard area, making them die suddenly from a heart attack. And to top it off... he detonated the gas and created a fire to end it all."

"Well, that's very good. So, who was the killer who did the explosion?" Nicholas squinted, he was curious about the new detective Elden's point of view.

But Nicholas did not hear an answer from Elden. Elden was silent, pursed his lips while trying to think. Everyone looked at Elden, everyone was curious about what the young man would say.

"Um, I'm... probably, his business colleague."

A disappointed sigh sounded out from Nicholas. Nicholas looked away for a moment, then looked back at Elden with a dismissive expression. "I thought you would guess someone more out of the box!"

"What do you mean?"

Noel took over before Nicholas could open his mouth. "Alicia had an ex-boyfriend, he was Ace. And we're all guessing, that he's the culprit of this explosion and fire case."

Elden frowned. He wanted to know more and more. Seeing as how the case was difficult to solve even with the three seniors on board, it made the case even more interesting.

"Ace just got out of prison. He went through heavy security and that left Hendrick to deal with the comments in the media for a whole week non-stop!" Noel looked at Hendrick who was now watching him in awe, Hendrick appreciating Noel's excellent memory. "And, Ace disappeared until this moment. Our focus is to find him. If possible, even to the end of the world."

Elden nodded his head, signaling that he understood the case at hand.

"We didn't explain this to Peter even though he's also a new cop, because he's been involved since the beginning." Noel lifted his chin, to point at Peter who was sitting next to Elden. "He worked behind the computer to find the people involved. Incidentally, he was recently promoted and joined the serious crimes team."

Nicholas chuckled softly, teasing slightly. "You're more competent than me, Noel. You deserve to be called Senior Detective!"

"Your compliments sound like those of a child," Noel said, protesting Nicholas' words.

Everyone knew that Nicholas and Noel were not that far apart in age. Their positions were only one level different. They were very close. And the rest of the office didn't need to ask why Noel could be so casual and disrespectful to the NYPD chief.

"Ace is missing, and we're trying to find him. Do you have any ideas, El?" Noel ended his explanation session, and then smiled at Nicholas. "It looks like Nicholas' head is going to lose hair because he's too stressed."

"Noel is right. I think I need a hair growth shampoo to prevent hair loss if Ace hasn't been found by next month." Nicholas ran a hand through his hair, responding to Noel's joke aimed at him. "So, out of all the places in the world... where do you think this fugitive will go?"

"He'll probably go home, to see the family he has," Elden said.

And that answer left everyone speechless. What Elden had guessed, was the right answer. Ace was indeed going home to see his father in the hospital. But, how could he?

That was also what Nicholas wanted to know.

Nicholas then looked at Elden suspiciously. "How did you know that Ace was going home to see his family? Of all the possibilities... why would it be like that? What does he want?"