Because of You

Chapter 15- Right off the Bat

Helena had placed a checkmate on the imaginary chess board with a breath taking move. Tim was cornered.

The clue she had pointed out was much more than useful, for on the screen showed the last locations of all the victims on the 25th of March the previous year to be the same as their murder locations.

"You see that?" Helena asked pointing to the upper corner of the screen.

"What? What more could you possibly want to find?" Tim spoke up, completely defeated, "You have literally solved a major portion of this case, making us, the experienced seniors, look like amateurs."

Helena smirked, "All of them switched off their mobile phones in between 8:00 and 8:10 PM. That's got to count for something right?"

"So?" Tim asked, still confused.

"Based on the pattern, we know that Victim Number Five would have been at the Warlock Avenue when they switched of their phone, right? So all we have to do is shortlist and identify, who she is."

"I give up!" Tim fell on his knees and brought his hands together, "Our Bat girls are great! I admit defeat."

"No, not like that!" Helena blushed, "You should do it in front of everyone. Now, get back to work, peasant," she commanded and Tim obeyed.

"OK, Warlock Avenue had about thirty two phones active, out of which three of them got switched off at that time," Tim observed.

"Any DC's?" she asked.

Tim groaned in frustration, "No! There is a Edmund Lockhart, Dutch Johnson and Greta Melody."

They both slumped in sadness. They had almost found it!

________________________________________________________

Stephanie and Cassandra waited at the hospital cafeteria for not even five minutes, when a very handsome man sat beside them.

"Cassie!" he had exclaimed, "Long time, am I right?" he asked and they shared a hug.

"Dr. Jake Weatherby," he introduced to Stephanie, who reciprocated the gesture.

"So what prompted you to message me, out of the blue, after two years?" he asked hurt.

"I was really busy, Jakey. I'm sorry. Forgive me?" she asked innocently, trying to widen her eyes for effect.

"Your eyes!" Jake exclaimed, "They do things to me!" he exclaimed, while Cassandra blushed.

"You're an Emergency Medicine Specialist, here right?" Stephanie asked him and on seeing him nod, she continued, "We need your favour."

They explained the situation to him, excluding details of their vigilantism.

"Were you here that day, when the Kidnapped were brought here for treatment?" Cassandra asked.

"Yes, I was," Jake agreed, willing to help them at any cost, "I wasn't in-charge back then, but I was in the team. There were thirty people brought here, actually. Three of them were already dead. The others that died succumbed to their injuries. The needles they were pricked with contained Tetradotoxin, the poison from puffer fish that causes paralysis and could kill. It doesn't even have an antidote. The atmosphere here was downright depressing. I remember passing by a casualty room to hear the cries from the survivors. They each had lost someone dear. The most heartbreaking was the cry of a woman who had miscarried as a result of the poison. I never saw her, but my colleagues had called her Hope. Anyways," Jake continued, "You wanted a list of the survivors?" he asked.