The God Experiment

Chapter No. 89. Cold Case.

Chapter No. 89. Cold Case.

Robert was the only one home when a call came in from the FBI. He answered it. "Yes?"

"We're not sure if you're interested in this case, but we've been working on it for a long time with no luck."

"I'll come there, and we'll see."

He arrived at Mark and Joe's office in his casual clothes. "Good morning, gentlemen."

"This is what we call a Cold Case. It's a crime that's hasn't been solved for a long time or was considered accidental when it happened. Usually, we don't get involved in these cases unless some new event occurs that is related to it."

'I assume this is a murder."

"It could be but isn't labeled that at this time."

"Interesting," Robert reacted.

"Ten years ago, a young female was found drowned in a motel pool. The autopsy noted that she had a contusion on her right cheek, but the cause of death was listed as drowning, which I might add, is not out of line. There have been a number of drownings in Motel pools, usually involving children. What was noted in this case however was the fact that the victim didn't know how to swim."

"What about her parents?"

"They were not there. She was with Charles Vinton, a guy who roamed from job to job but didn't have a record sheet. He claimed he was in their room sleeping off a drunken spell."

"I assume that the investigation was closed after the autopsy results."

"Yes, and no one questioned it, until just recently."

"Oh?"

"A similar event happened in Freemont, which is at the edge of our district. It involved another accidental drowning of a young woman in a motel pool. Again, the coroner found no obvious reason to suggest murder. However, the case came to us because the prosecutor knew about the previous cold case, especially since it was the same Vinton character with her."

Robert sighed. "I see what the problem is. There's no direct proof that he was involved except the similarity to the previous case."

"Yes," Mark said.

"When did this new case occur?"

"Three weeks ago."

"The only way that I could solve this crime is by reversing time to see how he does it. I'll have to do it without stopping him, but it would reveal the method he used."

"It would help if we could actually witness it," Mark said.

Robert rubbed his jaw. "Yeah, I think I could do that. The time reversal process can be rather upsetting."

"We're willing to go through it to convict this scum bag."

"Okay," Robert said. "Let's do this."

Robert transported them back three weeks to the motel pool while remaining invisible. A few children were enjoying the pool, but they finally vacated it because it was getting late. They watched as the victim, an underaged girl that appeared older, and a guy in his thirties appear. Vinton had an object in his hand with buttons, which he pressed. He waited until the girl was near the edge of the pool before he slugged her, causing her to fall into the pool. He waited to see that she was not going to come back out before he left.

Robert and the two FBI agents returned to their office in the present.

"What the hell did he have in his hand?" Joe asked.

"The object that he had is a WIFI device to turn off the camera in the pool," Robert said. "That's your incriminating evidence."

"Yes," Mark said. "But that wouldn't be the case in the first crime."

"I realize that, but he didn't need it then. He only had to adapt using modern technology for this second crime."

"Even if we do find the device on him, I'm not sure that a jury is going to buy the argument. They're going to question the motive in the first place."

"The motive is that he likes to kill young girls. Maybe you can find evidence of that if you examine his phone or computer."

Mark sighed. "I suppose it's worth the try. Thanks for helping us."

"I am always at your service, gentlemen," he said with a smile before he returned home.

"If we do end up getting a conviction, we'll never be able to explain how it happened," Joe said.

"It doesn't matter. The upper echelon realizes that we're one of the superheroes handlers."

Joe smiled.

The days went by without any major event, except for one. President Hollis' term ended, and he was replaced with the new President, Herold A. Fenton, a more conservative man with a conceited ego.

Of course, the Steris family discussed this new development as it related to them.

"We have no idea what this change will do for us," Robert said while relaxing on the patio. "I assume that he will honor our original agreement."

"You know what Benny Hill said about that, Dad. Assume makes an ass out of you and me."

He smiled. "Yes, I recall that, and you're right, it might end up bad. We'll just have to wait and see."

"I think it's a bad sign that we haven't had a call from the FBI or NASA," Janet said

"Yeah, it has been quiet of late."

"Oh, oh," Sylvia said after looking at her phone. "It says here that Jason retired."

"You mean the head of NASA Jason?" Robert said.

"Yes. It doesn't give a reason for why he retired. As I recall, he's not that old."

"That's a bad sign," James said.

"I agree," his father said. "We must stay alert even though it might not be necessary."

"I hate this," Janet said. "We shouldn't have to put up with political nonsense,"

"Unfortunately, it's part of the game," Robert said. "We knew that this situation was not going to be peachy keen. The affairs of man are not compatible with people like us."

Robert's statement proved to be prophetic.