Detective Red

Chapter 5 [ Witnesses ]

After sighing to an extent, McKayla grabbed her suitcase and walked into the room. 'Is she actually accepting this?' I thought. Even though we had a job to do, this was way pass the line of justice.
"I'll be down the hall in my office finishing the papers for construction!" Darius walked off with the two men in suit following.
"Oi! Xavier! Get in here and shut the door!" McKayla ordered.
The room actually looked nice. Wall-sized windows shone the sun's light. A king sized bed lay in the right corner, covered in grey and white bedsheets. A whiteboard sat on the wall overlooking the pens, sticky notes, notepads and two laptops were resting on the desk below. On the opposite side of the room was a wardrobe with empty coat racks hanging on a plastic pole. If you looked carefully, a camouflaged wooden password panel stuck to the side of the plank. On the same wall as the whiteboard were two slate doors with maté black handles. Behind those doors was a marble floor and a wall-mounted toilet in the corner with a medicine and lotion cabinet hanging above it. On the left side was a shower with a blurry glass door. A nacreous silver shower head stood above a space in the wall that held soap and shampoo. I was very sure Darius said it was solitary confinement.
"Red, focus!" McKayla yelled as I stared in awe down the toilet.
She pulled out her laptop and a USB and plugged it into one of the computers on the desk.
"Why you doing that? The computer already has everything that we need?" I asked in wonder.
"Are you that dumb?" McKayla asked me like I knew something.
"I'm not that dumb, thank you very much." I definitely violated her.
"If you noticed, the Warden said he wasn't able to see the body with its head chopped off, yet he also said that is was so gruesome and he ' never wanted to see it again.'" McKayla stated, "It's obviously him! All I need is some hard proof evidence. Fortunately, I recorded everything he said about the murders!" She smiled.
"To earn the title warden, you'd have to be smart at least. So, how on earth would it be this easy?" I mentioned.
"You are correct, but I think he was just nervous about have the world's greatest detective around him." McKayla declared.
"You are talking about me, right?" She ignored me.
"Right?..." She ignored me again.
"Anyway, as I was saying, we need to wait until the warden leaves his guard down. But, his two guards are always beside him; it won't be easy." McKayla said.
"Alright. Perhaps, we just act like we're doing our job and then soon enough we 'interview' the two guards." I suggested.
"Good Idea!" She agreed, " Now then, you go 'interview' some of the gang members! I'll be in here downloading loading the data!" She said.
"Alright!" I walked out the door.
I ambled towards the other solitary rooms around the corner. I walked passed the men blocking the doorways, heading to seventh one down. Supposedly, this one was the second weakest link of them all, so I had to make haste to meet him. I told the two men my Identity and opened up my jacket so they could pat me down. Whilst one of them was doing that, the other pointed his rifle at my pupil, threatening me.
"Move and I'll blow your brains out, pal..." He said bluntly, as if he meant it.
"Calm down little boy, I'm just here to talk to him." I informed him.
The other guard opened the door. After seeing our room, I thought they would have the same thing; I guess reality is always as it seems... The corner was marked with rally numbers and claw marks. On the side was a pile of mashed potatoes and sausages, all expired beyond date. A guy in full black uniform -who was twitching intensely- sat in the corner singing 'rain, rain, go away' whilst sharpening a toothbrush into a polished blade.
"Smith?" I closed the door behind me, gripping onto the shotgun they gave me.
The man stopped. He stood up from the ground.
"You're not the Warden..." he turned around pointing his toothbrush at me.
"I can see you're scared, but I only want to talk." I said.
"YOU'RE HERE TO KILL ME! LIKE YOU DID WITH KRABS AND TANK!" He started shivering to a point where he dropped his toothbrush.
I gradually dropped my shotgun, hoping to relieve his fear. He stopped shivering allowing me to examine him clearly. 5,7 man, weighing around 89 KG, dark brown curly hair, freckles across his face and a 'K' branded on his right cheek.
"Nice to meet you Daniel. I'm Red, a detective." I explained.
"Let me guess," he panted, "you're here to interview me about the killings." He guessed.
"You're right, but I can only do that with your help. So please Daniel, help me so I can help you." I asked.
"Does it benefit me?" He countered.
"It does indeed. I can give you a shorter sentence and better security, but that's only if you're willing to help." I gave him a choice.
Daniel was thinking. His eyes looked so innocent; how did he get himself involved in this?
"Fine..." He finally came to an agreement.
"Great! Is there anyway you saw all the gang members during the shower attack?" I questioned him.
"Yes, I did," he said, "Although, one of them looked weird. His face looked pale and after the steam started rising from the showers, his face looked like it was dripping." He replied.
" It had to be makeup..." I muttered
"Is there anything else that felt weird to you?" I asked.
"Well, we get the same guards for each thing; showering, eating, sleeping and other stuff. So when the guards checked us for showering, one guard let that guy through, plus he seemed different." He answered.
"Alright..." I said.
"The weirder thing was that this guy had a scanner on him!" He shouted, "I mean, lots of people have scanners! Like my aunt Mary who scans her tags on her black bags for drugs! And Marco who starts scanning our 'K's to check if it's a spy; which happens a lot!" He kept speaking.
Now I see how he was one of the tattletales. This guy talks a lot.
"Was this guy wearing a suit?" I asked.
"No, he was in the same uniform as the other guards." He said.
"Then he was probably just a regular guard." I assumed.
"What are you going to do?" Daniel stepped closer.
"I don't know, we think we know who it is. But, we need hard proof." I said, opening the door.
"Sounds like you're having a hard time!" He laughed.
"Sounds just like it." I mutter underneath my breath.
"Watch out! Or else the dark man will stab you in your lungs!" He started giggling, which soon turned into a chuckle and then a maniacal laugh.
I picked up my pump action shotgun and left the room. The sounds of his laughter filled my ears with anger. The walls felt as if they were closing in on me. I pondered about why he was doing this. The warden had a great history; having the worst criminals, the most strongest prison, over 1200 arrests and a great history within the army! Soon enough, I made it to the warden's office- whose door was wide open. I couldn't help but to peek inside. The key was left on the door lock. Files representing criminals sat on the desk. I slowly opened the door.
"Hello? Sir?" I checked.
The curtains were closed, the wardrobe was open and a corpse was on the floor... IT WAS DARIUS! I jumped down, checking his pulse. He was still breathing! 30 heart beats per minute. His pupils were dilated. The foam at his mouth was around 2.5 inches thick. A wound to his lungs was highlighted by the cracked knife spewing out blood.
"I NEED A MEDIC, STAT!" I yelled at the door, hoping someone would come.
The door burst open to reveal McKayla and the men in suits behind her. The look on her face seemed as if she expectedly this.
"Back to our room, now." She said sternly.