The Eye Witness

Chapter - 7

Serkan shot off a quick text to Eda, 'Hi, checking in – all your artwork and supplies make it today?'

He turned back to Engin, "Fatma also confirmed for us that Aptekin is reporting to someone else. He isn't making all these deals and decisions on his own. We need to know who his boss is and bring them down too."

And incoming text pinged on Serkan's phone, 'Hello to you too – all supplies here and accounted for – hope your day is going well'

Serkan glanced over at Engin who was absorbed in his phone, "Engin, have you been listening to me?"

"Yes, Serkan. Fatma. Aptekin. Big boss. I'm listening. I'm trying to connect Melo and Kaan Karadag and the security work so pardon me for doing your bidding. Also, can we stop at the hospital that Ceren works at? I need to run a couple of things by her, it shouldn't take long."

"Sure Engin."

He had no idea why they were going to the hospital but Engin said he needed to go there so that was where he headed. Serkan assumed that it was case related, he wasn't sure how though. Engin was being particularly obtuse. They were both familiar with the hospital, having interviewed both victims and suspects at the facility. The trip to the ER was made without difficulty. Whatever Engin needed to discuss with Ceren wasn't planned ahead as she was surprised to see them. He asked for a moment of her time.

Ceren excused herself to speak with Engin, they stepped over to an empty bay, Serkan waited outside the room.

Engin was explaining to her, "Ceren, I cleaned my office and have gotten maid service for my apartment. So I'm working on that step, what do I need to do next?"

Serkan wondered what he had done in life to deserve this. They weren't here about the case, no, they were here for dating advice. If there wasn't so much paperwork involved with discharging your weapon he would consider shooting Engin on the spot.

He walked over to the nurses station, "If my partner is looking for me tell him I'm waiting in the car."

While Serkan walked back to his car there was activity at the police station, someone was trying very hard to find the name of the witness. They saw that all the names had been redacted in both the paper and the computer copies. The boss wasn't going to be happy about this turn of events.

Eda and Melo were settling into the Bolat estate. Aydan was the perfect hostess, she was a combination of available and invisible. So far they only saw her at mealtimes. Melo was busy working in her makeshift office, making wedding dreams come true. Eda knew how focused Melo could be so she didn't bother her, she had her own work to manage.

The truck had arrived that morning with all of the artwork that was in her studio as well as blank canvases, paints, brushes, and her easels. Eda had set up her new studio to catch the light. She had been working on a piece and had that on an easel, but something made her start a second one. Eda rarely did portraits, not that she wasn't good at them, she was, they just weren't what drew her. Today though, she found herself drawing a portrait.

It was Serkan, her first sight of him yesterday when she woke up. She remembered at first being drawn in by his eyes, then the shape of this jaw, the line of his nose, the curve of his brow. Eda worked on the portrait for hours, making slight changes as she went along. She really wanted to compare the painting to the person. She stepped back, knowing that she needed to see him again before she went further. She threw a light cover over the canvas, not touching it, just enough to keep it private.

Eda wandered back to her original painting, wandering around it, knowing that it was missing something. She began mixing colors. She had captured a fiery sunset in abstract but realized that it needed movement, it needed how the light would dance off of the water. Eda was so absorbed in her work that she didn't hear Seyfi and Aydan when they knocked two hours later.