GARY KING

“What do we know so far Chen”, I asked my assistant who came to the crime scene in the morning after getting the call from Mrs Joffrey, the wife of the victim Mr Joffrey James, the mayor of the town and the owner of The Pine Wood Manor. He was found dead in his study room, with a stapler puncture on the back of his neck and no other wound on his body. I’m Detective Gary King, appointed specially to deal with this case as the victim is a well-known man, yes the mayor of the town and just like most rich businessmen, he’s corrupted too.

“Nobody was in the manor when the incident took place, Sir, his wife was out of town and she came to know about his death when she came back in the morning”, Chen tells me with his notebook in his hand listing down every detail which he had collected since morning.  “Let’s start by interviewing the staff and family members”, I said to Chen before entering the Manor and lighting up my cigarette. I looked around the manor and I have to admit, it does give out the rich man feels and it’s creepy too. 

Mrs Joffrey, 7 of his Manor staff, 4 of his guards and his bodyguard were all sitting in a room, Chen and other Junior Detective’s were inside taking their statements one by one as I was looking through the Manor and the crime scene. “No other injury on him, no bullet wound, no stabbed wound, just a puncture wound, using the stapler–that’s something new and pretty weak for a cause of death”, I was having some thoughts in my head as I was looking at the crime scene and the victim laying on his desk, but suddenly something caught my eyes. 

“Chen get here, quick!!!”, I called Chen loudly after seeing a glass of whiskey which was on the table, and the left hand of the victim’s hand was near the glass. After seeing the glass I had a feeling that he might be poisoned through the whiskey first and that could be the cause of death. “Then why did the murderer use the puncture if Mr Joffrey was poisoned”, Chen asked me looking confused. I looked at Chen and even before I could say something the look of Mrs Joffrey caught my attention, she looked like she knew something about all this. 

“Get me Mrs Joffrey quick, and privately”, I told Chen before walking out of the crime scene area and exiting the manor. As I was standing near my car, lighting up another cigarette, Mrs Joffrey was walking towards my car followed by Chen. I looked at Chen, signalling him to leave us alone out here which he understood and left us before walking back into the manor. “Detective, I know you might feel like I knew something about all this but no, I didn’t leave the town because I knew about this, but I was asked to leave the town, by my husband”, she said. 

“She was asked to leave the town, by Mr Joffrey himself? Was he expecting something going to happen earlier? But he was unarmed, wait, maybe not!!, I need to check his room again”, the thoughts were running through my head as Mrs Joffrey was telling me what happened, sobbing and wiping the tears running down her cheeks with her hands. I placed the lit cigarette in my mouth, took my handkerchief out of my pocket and offered to her before asking her to get back inside the manor. 

 I looked at the manor, took a few long puffs from the cigarette and threw the cigarette bud on the ground before letting out a big sigh. “This is going to be a headache”, I told myself before walking inside the manor once again. I walked into the study room once again to check the place once again all over. The study was adorned with antique furniture and shelves filled with books, it was too clean, the furniture was all in place, the books were arranged nicely on the shelves, and even the files and papers on his desk were neat and in place. 

I then took out the gloves from my pocket and started to check the drawers of the desk where the victim was. The first drawer contained nothing but his box of cigars, and the second drawer was filled with letters, and when I opened the third drawer I found a revolver in it. I took it out and checked its chambers, the bullets were all in, and it was not fired. I showed the revolver to the team and asked them to run a fingerprint test on it before moving towards the window side. There was no break-in sign from the window side, it was all intact and clean. 

Chen came into the room and stood before the victim’s body before calling me,  “Sir, the staff and the guards are waiting in the room, you may come and question them”, he said. I nodded towards him and walked out of the room to the other room where they were all at. I went towards his butler and asked him how long has he been working for Mr Joffrey, to which he said it’s been 25 years now. “No, sir. I retired to my quarters early”, he said when I asked him if he saw anything unusual last night. The answers were quite the same from all the other staff. 

“Everyone left early, seriously, this seems fishy Sir”, Chen said while rubbing his head when we were done interviewing all the staff of the manor. “Something doesn’t make sense here, all the workers were not in the manor, they were asked to leave early, and to my surprise, even his wife, he asked her to leave the town 2 days earlier…this is going to take some time” I was lingering in my thoughts as Mrs Joffrey, the elegant widow of the victim, approached us. She handed me my handkerchief which I had given her earlier and said thanks before walking away. 

Chen looked surprised and gave me a look filled with so much of questions, I kept the handkerchief in my back pocket and told him “Just being a gentleman Chen, you got a lot to learn”, before getting in my car as Chen quickly followed me in. As I started my car and reversed, I saw Mrs Joffrey standing in front of the manor looking towards me, her eyes were saying something, something which I feel like only I know, I nodded towards her and drove away. The look she gave me kept running in my head, although Chen kept talking nonstop.

We reached the station and got out of the car, Chen walked in quickly but I just stopped for a moment as the look the widow gave me felt like it meant something. I slid my hand into the back pocket took out the handkerchief slowly, and opened it gently. My pupils enlarged when I saw what was hidden in the handkerchief, I quickly folded the handkerchief and looked around before walking into the station and straight into my room, locking the door. I sat in my chair and unfolded the handkerchief again, revealing the hidden note. 

Dunhill…gun… That’s what was written in the note, but what could that mean? Dunhill and gun? Dunhill is a cigarette brand, what’s related to it? He’s a person who smokes cigars, why did he mention a cigarette brand? And a gun? Yes, there was a gun in his desk drawer, and the fingerprint tests were being run through. I was looking through the note again and trying to deduce something from it but then Chen started to knock on my door distracting me. I quickly hid the handkerchief in my desk drawer and walked towards the door to unlock it. 

“Yes Chen, anything?”, I asked Chen after opening the door and he mentioned that they had sent the victim’s body for postmortem and the report could be received by the end of the week. I thanked Chen and asked him to send me the details which he had collected from the investigation earlier which he said he would send it right away. As Chen left I closed the door and got back to my table, drowned in thoughts based on the note which was given by Mrs Joffrey. I leaned back on my chair, closed my eyes and kept thinking about the words written on the note. 

About 20 minutes later my phone rang and that is when I realised that I dozed off, I then leaned forward towards my phone and saw I was receiving a call from an unknown number. I answered the call, and it was Mrs Joffrey who was on the other side of the call, with her soft voice she said, “I hope you saw what was hidden in the handkerchief Mr King, that note was written by my husband I believe, I found it beside his right hand when I found his body in the morning. I kept it with me since morning and I didn’t want to give anyone as I don’t trust anyone”, she said. 

I told her that I saw the note and I would make sure that I would get this job done before putting the phone down. It was around 8.45 p.m., and once I was done writing down the notes from Chen and going through the staff interview I left the station, I made sure to keep the note with me when I left as I didn’t want anybody to find it if they entered my room. As I was driving back home, I decided just to drive around the town and ask about Mr Joffrey and his contribution to the community. As I thought, there were many reviews, some good while some are just bad. 

After spending nearly an hour asking around about Mr Joffrey, I drove back home. Parked my car outside my gate and got in my house, switching on the lights before taking a seat on the couch at the hall. I realised it’s been a few days since I got back home, well it’s pretty normal to happen, most times I spend my night at the station or just at a friend’s place after finishing up my work late at night. I got up and walked to my room, took off my clothes and went into the toilet to take my shower. 

20 minutes later I got out of the toilet and checked my phone to see whether any messages or calls I have received. When I ran through the texts, I saw Chen sent me a document, I clicked on the message and opened the document. It consists of the details of the victim, some of his criminal records and the things he has done for the community. I replied to Chen thanks before sending the document to my email, just to keep a copy on my laptop. I then got into my boxers shorts and went to the kitchen to get something from the fridge. 

I took a box of orange juice and poured it into a glass before walking to the hall to watch something before getting to bed. As I was drinking the orange juice, my phone vibrated and when I checked it was from Mrs Joffrey. I opened the message, she texted me asking if is it okay for me to come to the manor tomorrow morning as she had something to share. I replied okay, and got back to my room to take the note which was in my pants pocket. I took the note and came to the couch, sat there and looked through the note again and again to find something. 

The sound of my alarm got me startled, I got up in a shocked state just to realise that I slept off on my couch last night when I was looking through the note which was still in my hand, just a little crumbled as I grasped it pretty tight in my sleep. I checked my phone, it was 6.30 in the morning, I sighed and rubbed my eyes before taking the glass to the kitchen and washing it. I then went to my room, placing my phone and the note on my bed before getting in the shower. 15 minutes later I got out of the shower and got ready before leaving my house to the station. 

I reached the station, went into my room after unlocking it and started arranging all the notes according to the date and the time which I wrote down yesterday. I then pinned them all on the board according to its timeline and looked at the board trying to connect all the dots with the note evidence which only I have. Once again I was clueless as nothing was connecting to the note that he wrote, feeling frustrated I took out a cigarette from my box and lit it up, something caught my eye which made me check my cigarette box again. “Dunhill”, I said softly to myself as I smiled. 

I rushed out of my room and left the station quickly getting into my car before driving to the manor. I called Chen while on the way to the manor and told him that I was heading to the manor first and I would meet him later in the evening to discuss. I know he didn’t understand a single thing I meant as he was still half asleep while answering the call. I reached the manor and got inside calling Mrs Joffrey as she walked down the stairs, still in her robe. “I’m sorry, am I too early” I asked her as she was still in her robe but she said no before offering me a glass of coffee.

As we went to the hall, the butler brought a tray with two cups of coffee for us and placed it on the table. “I asked you to come over because I just want to ask if I’ll get in trouble for not handing over the note earlier Detective”, she told me as she took a sip of coffee looking at me. I smiled at her and told her there was nothing to worry about and also told her that I deduced something based on the note that the victim wrote. “Does any of your staff or guards smoke Mrs Joffrey”, I asked her pointing out the Dunhill which was written on the note. 

“Please, just call me Amanda, Detective and to answer your question, Mr Jacob the guard does smoke”, she said before asking the butler to bring Mr Jacob in. Mr Jacob got in the manor and stood in front of us, Amanda then asked him to sit before getting up and saying “Take your time interviewing him Detective, if anything I’ll be up in my room”, before leaving me and Mr Jacob at the hall. I looked at Mr Jacob, he looked quite uncomfortable and worried just sitting there, with his lips getting dry and sweat dripping down his forehead. 

I smiled at him before asking him about his smoking addiction, he was stuttering as he answered. “Mr Jacob hey, it’s fine, just stay calm, I’m not saying you murdered him, I’m here to ask you a few questions and that’s it, I’ll be out of here, just cooperate with me, you wouldn’t want to see the other side of me, trust me Mr Jacob”, I said before smiling at him. He gulped and nodded yes to me before telling me about the cigarette brand that he smokes and also another information which he didn’t mention the other day when Chen asked him. 

“You didn’t tell Chen this the other day didn’t you, why?”, I asked him as I stood up, taking my handkerchief from my pocket and wiping my hands. “I’m sorry sir, I was afraid, I wanted to cooperate with the cops, yes but I was just too scared”, he told me. I looked into his eyes, breathing heavily before asking him to leave as I noted down the information which he mentioned. I then finished my coffee and got up the stairs to Amanda’s room after informing the butler. 

An hour later I walked out of the manor towards my car while texting Chen the information I got from Jacob, the guard. As I got in the car and drove away Amanda was looking at me through her window, waving me goodbye. When I reached the station and got in, Chen walked towards me and asked me why didn’t the guard informed him the other day and I just repeated back the answer Jacob told me. Chen sighed and got in my room with me, standing in front of the board as I went to add the latest piece of information to the board. 

“Our suspect is a smoker, wears a long black coat and drives a Jeep”, Chen was saying as he was looking at the board with me. We got to know about the long black coat and the Jeep only today when Jacob decided to tell us finally. One thing that Chen doesn’t know is about the gun which was mentioned in the note, which is still with me. I looked at him and asked if there was any news from the forensic team to which Chen replied there was nothing for now and there were no prints found on the gun which was in the drawer. 

Days passed and we were at the end of the week when Amanda called me, I picked up the phone and walked out of the station to talk as I was with Chen and the other officers. “Yes Amanda, what’s with the sudden call”, I asked as she giggled and asked whether I was free tonight for dinner. I looked around before answering yes to her, she then asked me to come over to the manor around 7.30 p.m. before hanging up. I then slid my phone into my pocket before joining Chen and the other officers back as they were discussing a previous similar case. 

Around 7 p.m. I left my home to the manor, wearing a black long-sleeved turtle neck tee matched with my black jeans and my black sneakers with white stripes on them. As I parked and got out of my car, I was welcomed by the butler who was waiting outside the manor. “Welcome Mr King, Miss Amanda is waiting for you at the dining hall”, he said before ushering me inside. As a policeman, I’m always armed and ready for everything although I know this isn’t a trap and Amanda invited me with no ill intention. 

As I walked to the dining hall I saw her waiting for me, wearing a long sleeveless red dress with a high cut on the side, looking all so elegant and breathtaking. “Welcome Mr King, are you stunned seeing me”, she asked me with a beautiful smile on her as she walked close towards me. We were then served one of the finest dinners by the manor chef, Julio, who was one of the top chefs back in Mexico. As we were done with our dinner, Amanda then brought me to the whiskey room, I was stunned to see the amount of whiskey bottle which was in there. 

She then poured me a glass of whiskey and one for herself before handing it to me. “Is this wrong Detective? I mean all this, you coming over to the manor, us spending time, having a fancy dinner and all this. It’s not even a week since my husband died, and I’m doing this with the man who’s trying to solve this case, I feel like I’m going mad King”, Amanda said as tears rolled down her cheeks. I quickly went to her and hugged her, consoling her and telling her it was alright before giving a kiss on her forehead. 

We then hugged each other for a bit before finishing up our drinks and went for a few rounds after the first one. After her 4th glass, Amanda was already feeling a little drunk and she lay on the couch near the whiskey racks while I poured the whiskey into my glass for my 6th round smiling at her. I was slowly sipping the whiskey as I kept looking at her slowly closing her eyes, and once she fully closed her eyes, I whispered to myself  “It’s time” before walking out of the room and walking towards the study. 

As I opened the second drawer wearing a glove which I kept inside my pocket which contained the letters to the late Mr Joffrey,  I ran through the letters and found a letter which I was looking for, a letter from me, Gary King to Mr Joffrey. “What are you doing here–King?”, Amanda’s voice stunned me, and I stood up quickly before sliding the letter into my pocket but it caught Amanda’s eyes. I didn’t expect her to be standing there quite steadily after having that much whiskey with me. 

“Why are you wearing gloves King, and what are you hiding in your pocket”, Amanda asked me as she started to sound worried and scared as I started approaching her. I took out my gun from the back and hit her head to make her pass out before she fell right into my hands. I then gently carried her, got out of the manor and lay her in my car before getting back in the manor. I fixed the silencer on my gun and started to hunt every one of the staff who were in the manor who saw me tonight. 

Once I was done, I got out of the manor and drove away with Amanda lying in my backseat still passed out. 45 minutes later, I reached the lakehouse which was only used by me when I had to ‘clear out’ some criminals. I carried her gently inside and tied her to the chair, tried waking her up slowly by slowly hitting her cheeks. She opened her eyes slowly, and she started panicking seeing me in front of her with a gun in my hand and seeing herself somewhere new realising she was unable to move as she was tied to the chair. 

I smiled at her, pulled another chair towards me and sat in front of her before leaning close towards her. “Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, well, first of all, I just want to thank you for making sure the guards weren’t in by the time I came and also for switching off all the CCTV coverage in the manor, it just made my job easier tonight”, I said before letting out an evil laugh. Tears were rolling down Amanda’s cheeks as she felt helpless and betrayed, she then shouted why to me and cried out loud. 

I stood up and walked around her, before admitting that I killed Joffrey James. “Yes, I, Gary King, murdered that bastard Joffrey James, oh please I know you don’t love him either Amanda”, I said as I got close to her. She couldn’t say anything as she was just crying and struggling to move. “The same mistake which he made the other day was asking all the manors staff to leave early, as he was waiting for his young girlfriend to come over, but too bad, it was me who he had to meet that night”, I said which surprised Amanda finding about the affair. 

I then pulled the chair and sat again, rubbing the top of my head as I continued saying “He offered me whiskey, just like how you did, and as we were talking I spiked his drink without him releasing before telling him the reason why I was there and also that he will be dying in a few minutes as his body will slowly paralyse due to the poison which I mixed in his drink. The poor man was so shocked after hearing it and I just went around him before using the stapler to puncture the side of his neck”. 

“ I didn’t expect that he would’ve managed to write down that damn note at that moment”, I said before taking out my cigarette box branded Dunhill as I point it towards her. Amanda was shocked to see the Dunhill cigarette box and the gun that I was holding which was what was written on the note that she found near her late husband’s body. “Don’t worry Amanda, I won’t kill you–yet”, I said before laughing at her as she cried and cussed at me. “I trusted you, King, I gave everything, I gave myself to you, why did you do this”, she screamed at me. 

I smiled at her and walked towards her, I ran my fingers along her beautiful face and played with her hair before sitting back on the chair. “It’s pure revenge, my dear Amanda, now the score is even, that’s all”, I said which made Amanda look at me all confused. I laughed again and leaned forward towards Amanda who was feeling defeated and confused at that point before saying “You want to know why, you really want to know why I killed him–well it’s because…”

-THE END?-