Chapter 2 Two

CHAPTER 2

Metro Tunnel, Seattle City.

The scene of the crime.

The detective with a thin beard that covered his entire chin returned his attention to the machine before his eyes. The smoke from the fire was still there. He looked carefully at the engine components of the best-selling car in America in the 1997-2000s. "The sparks don't seem to have come from a hard impact," Noel said. "Looking at the dented front end, doesn't it look like this car was run over by a big truck instead of hitting the road divider in the tunnel?"

Smith, who had just finished taking a few pictures with his cell phone camera, walked over to his colleague and joined him in taking a look at the machine in front of him. "What do you think happened?"

"Brake failure, but the fire didn't come from here." Noel touched the edge of the car and sniffed the scent. "There was gasoline left on the outside of the car, but why didn't it fall onto the road?"

That's right, Smith thought. As he photographed the rest of the car for evidence, the man who was one year younger than Noel found no damage other than on the front of the car. He then grinned enthusiastically and raised his camera into the air excitedly. "I'll take a picture of this one," he said with initiative.

Smith immediately took out his cellphone and returned to photographing the remnants of gasoline on the side of the car as well as the condition of the tires and the road around the white Toyota Camry.

Noel then checked the watch on his left arm. "It's been thirty minutes since the mysterious call. The caller must know something."

"But isn't it too soon to conclude it as a murder case now, Detective?" Smith scratched the nape of his neck awkwardly. "He's a little... famous. I mean, really famous in this town," he explained in a nervous voice, worried that Noel would be angry with him.

"If he really is that good, assuming now might not be the right choice."

Smith breathed a sigh of relief as it turned out that Noel was not an easily offended colleague. He then smiled proudly and tucked his phone into his pants pocket. "That's what I wanted to tell you, Detective."

Noel put both hands in his pants pockets while looking at Smith. "By the way, is this guy really rich? Usually, wealth always follows one's fame, right?"

"As a CEO and sole heir of a diamond company, how can he be called poor?" Smith chuckled. "Gosh, he's really rich and has everything. I even envy her."

"If he has a big business, he must also have bigger enemies. It's all about the money," Noel said. He shrugged and closed the hood using his latex gloves. "Don't release this case to the media, we have to get the autopsy results first. So, make sure you get both. The identity of the complainant and the forensic results of this man."

Smith nodded obediently. "Yes, Detective. I'll contact the victim's family immediately."

After a few minutes, an ambulance arrived and several medical teams rushed down to evacuate the victim's body. Assisted by two police officers who also arrived a few minutes later, the victim, suspected to be Louis Harrison, was transferred to a body bag that had been prepared for an autopsy for investigation purposes. Once completed, a police line was set up to protect the scene. Perhaps this was indeed a murder case and the culprit could have left evidence around.

Knowing that Noell was the one leading the evacuation, a doctor from the field medical team approached him as soon as the body was loaded into the ambulance. He was Dr. William, at least that's what the nameplate on his shirt said. A lanky man with a thin black mustache above his grayish lips. From the frown lines on his face, Dr. William was probably in his late forties.

"Are you the detective in charge of this case?" he asked politely to which Noel nodded in agreement. "I'm William."

"Noel." Noel and the doctor shook hands before returning to the conversation. "So how was it, Doc? Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Judging from the body temperature, skin discoloration and rigidity of the victim's body, we suspect that he died about thirty minutes ago." William's black eyes stared at the ambulance door that had just closed. "But, there's something odd here."

Noel's brows furrowed. "What is it, Doc?"

The man in his medical coat turned to Noel. "If we're not mistaken, the victim has a head wound and several bruises on her face." The doctor with thin frown lines on his face then mumbled before continuing, "But the head wound on the victim, which is visible from the outside, is not in the position it should be. She... appeared to have been beaten before she died. That's just a guess, we still have to wait for the autopsy results to come out."

Noel took a breath and nodded in understanding. "I'll make sure we get permission for an autopsy from the family as soon as possible," she said matter-of-factly. "When the autopsy results are out, let us know immediately."

"Sure."

The doctor was about to leave the scene when Noel ran to hold him back. "Wait, Doc!"

"Yes, Detective?"

"Promise not to release the autopsy results to the press before you give them to me." Their eyes met and the meaningful look was immediately understood by the doctor who nodded quickly. "Thank you, Doc."

And the doctor left with the body of the victim along with the rest of the medical team in an ambulance. The two police officers, meanwhile, stood guard around the victim's car and secured the scene.

Everything went normally for a while, until Smith - who came out of nowhere - suddenly appeared with a panicked face.

"Noel!" His voice was panting while his face was pale and looked exhausted. In his panic, he even called his partner's name informally. "There's bad news!"

"What is it now?" asked Noel curiously.

"Sorry, one second." Smith tried to stabilize his labored breathing first before finally continuing, "News of this accident is suddenly all over the internet, Detective!"

Smith pulled out his cell phone from his pants pocket and showed Noel the internet news article on his phone screen.

"What?!" Noel's brown irises rounded in disbelief as the article about the accident actually made its way onto the timeline. A furor had just broken out in cyberspace. "How could that be? We've only just arrived at the scene."

"I don't know."

Noel squinted suspiciously at his partner and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's just me and you here. You didn't betray me by sending those pictures you took to the media, did you?"

Smith was stunned. He gave a short snort and folded his arms across his chest. "You suspect me now? Unfortunately, I really didn't, Partner." He emphasized the word 'partner' as a form of sarcasm for Noel who didn't believe him. But it seemed his partner really didn't care.

Noel let out a long sigh and looked at Smith straight on. "Someone must have planned the whole thing." []