The Plan

Chapter 12

December 1996 (8:00am)

She never slept.

Sleep wouldn’t come to her. Some people from child services took her in their care. They said the police would come back to talk to her. She knew what they’re going to ask.

And she knew what she’s going to tell them.

“Kyla,” a beautiful lady said hours later. “Can you talk?”

She nodded.

“Can you tell us what happened last night?”

She told them everything. She just left the part about what the man said to her father and the name she heard from her father’s mouth.

“Did he say anything to you?”

She shook her head.

She decided she’d keep everything to herself. They told her the bad man was a robber.

Her mind—innocent as it may seemed—knew the man was not a robber. She wouldn’t tell them that because no one believes a little girl who had been in shock as what they believed.

She’s too smart for her age and she’s taking that to her advantage.

She had made up her mind. She had a plan.

And the first step was to disappear.

 

March 27, 2011 (3:00pm)

Leonard Carlson was a good man. He had always been faithful to his wife, he loved his children, and he’s trying to be the best in his job.

But he had one dirty secret he’s trying to forget: 1996.

He was young and scared.

He was still haunted with guilt and woke up in cold sweat every night.

Just like now as he watched the news of the green-eyed killer, he’s convulsing with fear. He wanted to run and take his family somewhere safe. He knew he could be on the killer’s list.

But unlike the others, he did not dare talk to them. He hated them as much as he hated what he did fifteen years ago.

Walking out in the rain, he prayed for mercy. He couldn't undo the past, but he could pray.

She watched him walk blindly out of his office and into the rain. Now would have been a good time to approach him. But something was stopping her.

She decided to follow him to his home.

She’d been watching him for almost a month now. And she’d been delaying the kill for some reasons.

He’s different.

He had a family.

She’d spare him for now. She drove off as he climbed out of his car and walked to his door and to the arms of his awaiting wife.

(5:00pm)

“I got nothing. The man was impossible,” Lawson said with a sigh. “He won’t say anything about the case.”

“I got something though,” his partner said.

“What?”

“You said I should dig into the Howards’ case, right?”

“Yes, did you?” he said doubtfully. She rarely did what he asked her to do unless she really wanted to.

“Of course. And I found something interesting. The Howards,” she slid a family picture across the table, “had a daughter—Kyla Howard. She was ten during the robbery incident in ’96. No, she did not die that night. She was abducted by the robber.”

“Abducted?”

Tanaka nodded, “Yes. According to this report of her interview, she said the man took her and ordered her to ring the Lightmans’ house.”

He nodded in understanding, “To trick them to open their door.”

“Exactly. Then, she saved their little boy Sean Lightman who was by then aged eleven by telling him to go out the window and call for help. The boy was able to escape, called for help, the police came, found Mr. and Mrs. Lightman dead on the scene, jewelries gone, and they found the girl. They took her to the station and called child services.”

“Tanaka, you’re telling me this for some reason, right? Because I don’t have time to listen to some story about an orphaned little girl who lost her parents in a robbery case.”

“Look at her eyes, Sunny,” she said seriously.

He did and he mentally slapped himself. Why didn’t he see it? “She’s got green eyes.”

“And now we know she has black hair.”

“No, no, no…you can’t mean she’s—”

“She can be.”

“She was just a child then. It was a robbery case. How do you—”

“Not if we look at it as a murder case,” she cut in. “Look, this kid disappeared. Poof—just like that. She ran away the day after her interview. She was not found after that.”

“Wait, wait, now you’re telling me it’s now a murder case? Just hours ago, you said it was a solid robbery case.”

“Yes, I know, but look at the big picture. We have three murders all connected to ’96. We know they got something to do with the Peter Thomas case because of Halloway’s missing files. And we also know that this girl—this girl—had spent hours with the alleged robber slash killer. She witnessed her parents’ murders and she was there when the Lightmans were killed. She must have learned something and she kept it to herself and disappeared.”

“Okay, I’ll go with you in this,” he positioned to lean closer, “Why do you think she’s killed these men?”

She shrugged. “My best guess is that the case was dirty. Was Jackson Howard that unlucky to be killed the day before the final trial? I don’t think so. What I think is that someone in this case wanted Peter Thomas to be convicted.”

“You’re now saying he was framed up.”

“Yes.”

A long silence ruled as Lawson took time to think it through again. “Okay, it’s a bit of a long shot but I think I believe you.”

“What do we do now? Should we tell the chief?”

“No, not yet. We still have to confirm the killer is the girl. Go check for any of the Howard’s dental records and cross-match them with the DNA we acquired from the kiss marks. If this girl is the killer, her DNA will surely match any of the Howard’s. We have to back up this idea with something strong first. I’ll go check the system for any records of the girl. You go visit the other lawyer.”

“Who? Leonard Carlson.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s do this tomorrow. We have to run through this again and have a rest. We need a pair of fresh heads tomorrow.”

“Okay, ready your marker.”

“Why does it always have to be me to do the writing?” Tanaka whined.

“Because you have a better penmanship.”

They stayed up all night reviewing files and completing the puzzles on the board.