John Ray

Chapter 1- " Dead body on Stairs."

Officer brian was a new recruit for the NYPD.
" Hey man, so how is Brooklyn? Have you settled in yet?" Asked Officer Ron to Officer Brian who was a new recruit in NYPD.
" It's good. I like the way people here behave and respect their law, unlike from where I am.....Chicago. Crime is at its peak there. No law, nothing, just goons running in the city." Said Officer Brian, the new recruit.
" Yeah man, Brooklyn really is a good place to live. But all this credit goes to our Chief- John Ray. He is the best cop in action here. " Said Officer Ron proudly.
" Yes he is my inspiration, I have heard of him and that's why I joined the police department and that too NYPD, so that I could work under him and truly see him in action. What do you know about him, Ron?" Asked Officer Brian.
" About him(chuckles), ok hear it then. Chief John Ray is a Prodigy in the entire Police Department. He is young, he is genius, brave, and has a great deduction skills. He has solved many unbreakable cases. He is the Hero of NYPD and my childhood friend and actually speaking we joined the police force together. He has a very charming personality, and he is very friendly. John became the Chief of PD at very young age. He is a highly decorated Police Officer who has stopped many national threats.Truly he is a genius. There's no criminal in this world who can outsmart John Ray. So you are very lucky to be in NYPD." Said Officer Ron.
" Woah, no kidding, what a man! " Said Officer Brian.
" Officer Ron there's a distress call near house no. 11 on Franklin Street....Make it there and report back to HQ. I repeat. There's a distress call near house no. 11 on Franklin Street. Make it there and report back to HQ. Over. "  They heard over the radio.
" Copy that Officer Sergeant. " Replied Ron on the radio. " Looks like we got work to do Officer Brian."
" Good morning Mrs Gonzalez, should I drop you to your house? we are going at the same place. " Asked Ron to a lady on the side walk carrying loads of bags.
"Oh sure, that would be lovely." Said Mrs Gonzalez and sat inside the car.
" Ma'am what happened to your hand?" Asked Brian to Mrs Gonzalez  who had a bandage on her hand.
" Yesterday a school bus hit me while I was bringing groceries home,....the drivers these days are so rash. I hope all the kids are safe, there were small small kids in the bus.It's very wrong for a school bus driver to drive rash. " Said Mrs Gonzalez.
" Don't worry ma'am we will see to it that no citizens or school kids fall prey for rash driving. " Said Ron. " And we have reached. Hey Brian help Mrs Gonzalez with the bags".
Mrs Gonzalez left and thanked them for the lift.
" She is the sweetest lady in the town Brian. She brings us food, cakes and is very cheerful. " Said Ron.
The distress call was a just block ahead from Mrs Gonzalez. They reached house no.11 at the Franklin Street. They were shocked to see a crowd outside the house. Brian went to see what happened and shouted back to Ron shockingly " A DEAD BODY ! "
" Ohh Shit! " Said officer Ron to himself. He turned towards the radio.
" Officer Ron Williams to Head Quarters. A dead body reported at 675 main. Ambulance and backup needed...... I repeat.... Dead body reported at 675 main. Ambulance and backup needed. Over." Officer Ron reported on the radio.
" I need all of you to stay back. STAY BACK EVERYONE. This is a crime scene for god's sake, stay back!" Shouted Officer Brian on the crowd that had gathered......
Soon the back up and ambulance arrived. The Chief- " The Famous John Ray " came along too.
" What's the status report, officer? " Asked John.
"Sir, the victim's name is Ben Clayton, the MD of Torres Systems. We found his driving license, he was 32 years old. He was found dead at the stairs of his house. Looks like he was stabbed to death... The blood trail shows that he was killed inside the house and then his body was dragged on to the stairs. " Reported the officer.
" My God ! .....It looks like he was stabbed to many times, maybe even after his death the murderer was stabbing him. Too much blood shed all around. It's a clear case of revenge. Who saw the dead body first Ron? " Asked John.
"A local reported to  have found the body at 5.45am. He says he was walking his dog, on the road right besides the house, when the dog started barking suddenly, so he took a look, out of curiousity, & he saw the body lying on the stairs of the house and called 911." Answered Ron.
"Ok inform him to come to the station at 12 pm, and not to leave this city. Everyone is a suspect till the culprit is caught." Said John. " Forensic officers, take this body to the lab and I need results fast. Move!"
"Officers inspect the whole area. Don't miss a single clue. Get me the list of all the people who lived in this house with him & who he had contacts with......Why are these people gathered still here! Ron send them away fast."
" Chief, we have found a foot trail. It leads to the backyard. Hey Brian, check the victim's foot size. " Said Ron.
"Victims foot size is 9." Replied back Brian after checking.
"Chief, the foot steps here are a solid 10 and a half, so definitely these must be of the murderer. " Said Ron.
" Take the markings and see what else can you find. " Said John.
Soon after a woman arrived at the crime scene crying aloud.
" No! This can't be happening " Shouted a woman from the gate and came running towards the body & started crying.
" Who are you Ma'am? " Asked John.
" I am his wife, Mary Clayton. " Cried Mary. Mary was crying and screaming. She definitely was very sad. The fact that her husband was gone, was too much for her to handle.
" Ma'am please try to handle yourself."
" He was my husband, he can't leave me like that." Said Mary sobbing. " We had so many plans, you had promised me to stay with me till the end. Please come back. Please ! "
The situation was mournful, his wife's condition was miserable. But still John had to find the culprit who was still on loose. He tried to comfort her, they sat down, John gave her some water and then asked her " Where were you last night? " Asked John.
" As you see it was Sunday yesterday I went to my mother's place. She is old and I pay her a visit every Sunday. "
" Ma'am I know this is hard for you, but we need your help to find the murderer, so plz can you tell us who might have done this? Do you suspect anyone? "
" Umm....Yes. His friend Thomas Miller.
Recently Ben had a very big argument with him. They even fought that night. He is definitely the one who killed my husband. Arrest him now itself, what was my husband's fault, why did he kill him? " Said Mary still crying.
" Ron, contact Thomas Miller soon and tell him to come at my office. Ok ma'am, is there anyone else you suspect? " Asked John.
" Yes yes, 4 days ago Ben had an argument with his office colleague Henry Brown over some office documents. Henry accused that Ben had stole some important documents that made and he even threatend Ben at that time. I think Thomas and Henry both planned this. Arrest them officer please. Give justice to my husband. " Said Mary who was still sobbing.
" Please calm down ma'am, we will find the culprit soon, till that time please take care of yourself. " Said John and got up turning towards Ron." Ron I need both of them in my office in the right now and also the local who reported this body. I am going to the station now. "
" Ok chief, I will contact them right away. " Said Ron.
At the police station the three arrived right away . It was half past 12 in the afternoon.
John interrogated each person thoroughly and made sure he checked there shoe size. 1st was the local, he was a tiny fellow, his shoe size was 7 and a half. He had nothing else to say other than the story he said in the morning. John asked him his name and what exactly was he doing at that time.
" My name is Bill Johnson. I  walk my dog everyday in the morning and similarly I went out with my dog today also and then I noticed the dead body and contacted 911 immediately. " Said Bill.
" Did you see anything unusual or heard something? " Asked John.
" Umm..... No I was scared too much to notice anything, Sir. " Said Bill
"Try to think, something should have been different that morning? " Asked John.
" Yes I saw a man standing at a distance. He is never there in the morning. This was the first time I saw him. He was standing and staring at me." Said Bill.
" Did you see his face? what was he wearing? " Asked John.
" I couldn't see his face as he was far away, but he had long hair and he was wearing a brown round cap and big brown full length coat ." Said Bill.
After few cross fires of questions John sent him home and ruled him out from the suspects list. The next was Ben Clayton's office rival Henry Brown. Henry's shoe size was 9 so the footprints on the crime scene weren't his. John asked about the the argument they had over the office documents. Henry said " Chief, we had an argument but I would never kill someone over stealing the office documents. We started together in this company on the same post, but he became MD by cheating and by using his contacts. That's why I was so angry upon him. I wanted to catch him red-handed stealing documents. But the way he was living his life, he had this coming. "
"What do you mean? " Asked John.
" Chief, he used to steal plans made by other people in the company and sold it to different companies & then used to blame it on the people he stole it in first hand, so many loyal and brilliant minds have lost their job & reputation because of him. . He was the most crooked person I had ever seen in my life. " Said Henry.
" Ok, you may go now, but remember you have to stay in this city till the culprit is found. " Warned John. " Aaron send Thomas in ".
When Thomas entered John checked his shoe size and boom they were a perfect match. John immediately asked " What were you doing at Ben's house yesterday? "
"Chief, I wasn't there. Why would I go to his house. " Said Thomas.
" Don't play games with me, you were there I know, now just tell what were you doing there? Or else the consequences will not be good." Said John angrily.
" Ok ok, I was there, but I didn't murder him, I am innocent." Said Thomas, scared by John's threat.
"We will decide whether you are innocent or not. Now tell me why were you there?"
Asked John again.
" Chief I just went to talk to Ben and his wife Mary. Just to clear the misunderstanding caused about Eva. "
" Eva, who is Eva? And what misunderstanding? ". Asked John.
" Eva Johnson, she was a therapist. Ben used to go to her because he was stressed about some things. And his wife Mary used to doubt him, she said they were having an affair and she even threatened him that she will kill them both. But Ben and Eva were just friends, and to clear this misunderstanding". Said Thomas.
" How do you know Eva? " Asked John.
" Chief, Eva is my girlfriend and that's why I went to their house, but they were arguing very much so I went to the backside to check what's happening and there I saw Mary with a knife in hand, and they were arguing loudly, so I ran away from there. "
"Ohh, so Mary was doubting on Ben & you saw her with a knife yesterday. Aaron, call Ron and ask him to check all the knives from the house and also see if the set is missing any knife. Now, Thomas tell me what fight you had with Ben? " Asked John.
" Sir, actually we fought because of Mary, she was badmouthing Eva in front of me and I got angry and badmouthed her, on which Ben got upset and we had a fight eventually. "Said Thomas.
" Ok....you may go now, but don't leave this city, we will call you anytime for investigation, is that clear? " Asked John.
" Yes sir. " Said Thomas and left.
" Aaron, take a team & keep an eye on all of them, they are all hiding something, even Mary she has been hiding a lot of things too,.....who might it be? Thomas, Henry, Mary or Eva? Whoever the murderer is, he definitely is a professional. He didn't leave any clue behind. I am going to the crime scene again, there are some things I need to look into. You keep a watch on them. " Said John.

Chapter 1 end.