7. Crime scene analysis - Part 1

"This is so fucked up." Kai raised his hands and grumbled in annoyance as he looked at the remains after the explosion.

Everything was a mess. The building was utterly destroyed and blood was splattered everywhere. The fatality rate was a hundred percent. Nobody in the vicinity of the building had managed to live to tell them how exactly the situation had come to this. Moreover, they were yet to find the death count.

"It was a time bomb." Elise kicked the fragments by her leg and squatted to examine the piece of the explosive. Although it was utterly destroyed like the place, she still saw a part of the timer clock. "And if the people who heard the explosion are telling the truth, then five timer bombs were used to wreck the place.

"Five, you say?" Kai stood behind as he analyzed the place. "Seems fair, considering how massive the building is. But just five time bombs are not capable of causing such a massive explosion."

"No. But I think you forgot that this place had tonnes of RDX."

"Tch, tch, tch." Kai clicked his tongue and squatted beside Elise. "There was no chance for anyone to survive this. Whoever was the mastermind planned it well."

"Yeah. They were brilliant at it." Elise sighed and dropped the piece of timer bomb before she patted her palms and stood up.

"I will talk to the person leading the investigation. Let's see what he has to say." Elise pushed back the strands of hair that had escaped her pony and searched for the man who was actively guiding his team in the investigation.

"Hello, Officer. I am Elise Winslow from the National Crime Investigation and this is my colleague, Kai Anderson. We are here to assist you in the investigation." Elise introduced herself to the young man who was leading the team.

"Officer Winslow, Officer Anderson, it's finally nice to meet you two. But I'd have loved it if it was under different circumstances. I am Derek Lewis and this is Daniel Blake. We are leading the investigation." The man held out his hand, which Elise and Kai took turns shaking.

"May we know what you have found till now, Officers?" Although Elise and Kai were friends, she was his senior. So, she took it upon herself to lead the conversation.

"Officer Winslow, five time bombs went off successively, according to the people who heard the explosion. We suspect these time bombs triggered the RDX bombs in the building." Daniel answered as he ran a hand through his blonde locks.

"Any idea about the number of deaths?"

"That's the hardest part. We have only managed to recognize a few possible bodies. Most of them are burnt and reduced to smithereens." Daniel sighed. "But according to the information we have received, at least two hundred people were inside the building."

"Any information about Craig Tyrell? Have we found him?" Elise enquired, his eyes roaming around, looking at the place she would be visiting frequently in the upcoming days.

"No. There is no news of him and we are unable to reach him either. It's as if he has disappeared all of a sudden." Derek shook his head and gnashed his teeth.

The reporters were trying hard to gain their attention for news coverage. But all four ignored the audience, who were watching their every move like a hawk.

"Then, there are high chances he is dead too," Elise stated all of a sudden, gaining the three men's attention to her.

"Why do you say so, Officer Winslow?" Daniel frowned, unable to comprehend her words.

"Because the mastermind behind this explosion must have targetted him for vengeance and if my analysis is right, Craig must be lying cold somewhere."

"Are you a..."

"Yes, she is a profiler too and a brilliant one at that," Kai stated with pride.

"I might be wrong too." Elise countered.

"I don't think so. Your analysis seems plausible. We might get a lead if we find all the people Craid had a beef with." Derek and Daniel looked at each other, a silent conversation ensuing between the two.

"Possible. But I doubt you will find anything." Elise mumbled to herself and other than Kai, nobody heard her. But he did not reiterate her words loudly, keeping the matter to himself for now.

"Can you brief me about this place?" Elise frowned when a notion hit her and she looked at Derek for help.

"Well, yes. Of course." He opened the folder he had with him and looked at it briefly. "This building, though it looked sophisticated and luxurious, was, in fact, his warehouse where he and his people stored weapons." Derek passed her a picture and Elise stared at the building that looked nothing less than a hotel.

"This was how it looked before it was destroyed."

From outside, Elise could not imagine the place as a warehouse for weapons of mass destruction. It was easy to fool people.

"I am just curious. We had received complaints over the years about Craig's involvement in illegal activities. But why haven't we uncovered anything?" Kai was genuinely curious.

Although he had followed some of the mafia gangs, including Craig's, he had not received any orders from the higher-ups or any request for help from the police for the NCI to intervene.

"Officer Anderson, we have conducted a few raids over the years. But Craig was too careful and we returned with nothing." Derek gave him a helpless look. "After failing three times, we received orders from the higher-ups to stop putting our noses in this matter."

"Craig is not a simple man. He had connections with powerful people." Elise remarked and pushed the tip of her tongue against her right cheek.

"And that makes it all the more difficult for us to crack this matter." Daniel agreed. "The person responsible for this must be more powerful than Craig to destroy his empire in a blink."

"Have you interrogated anyone who worked for Craig and perhaps had not been present at the time of the explosion? Or maybe anyone who witnessed the explosion?" Kai looked at the two men, hopefully.

"We are on it. We are yet to catch hold of the people."

"I see. Please keep us informed about your investigation." Elise looked at her phone, which had not stopped vibrating since the time she had entered the crime scene. "I need to take this call. If you'll excuse me?"

Elise smiled at them apologetically as she stepped aside while observing the forensics team doing their work amidst the chaos and destruction.