The Last Spade Master

Chapter 45: The fourth Murder

Daniel Smith has been busy since he took charge of the serial murder case. He was so frustrated for the first time in his eight years of experience in dealing with the case. He stands with a grim expression before a corpse. 

The dead man was attorney Francis Douglas from Hutson law firm. Daniel was informed of the murder when he went to collect the information on the spade card he had told his assistant to investigate. At first he thought he would ask his subordinate to deal with it but when he was informed that the spade card was found in the crime scene he handed the work to his assistant and rushed to the spot.

When he arrived at the law firm he was even more shocked to find that the corpse lies in the middle of the lobby. There was a deep cut on the man’s neck, his eyes wide open and blood pooled around his upper body. The rectangular object was still stuck to his neck. The bright silvery edge shone under the light. Seeing the big and bright spade symbol with number four at centre, Daniel clenched his fist.

Murder in the lobby with this many people. How outrageous!

The members of the law firm and onlookers stood at side whispering among themselves. They were terrified at the turn of events. All they heard was loud thud when they turned around, they saw a person lying in the pool of blood.

While Daniel was inspecting the crime scene, a man walked towards him and greeted him.

“Carig Hutson, CEO of this law firm” 

“Daniel smith, Chief officer of crime division” Craig and Daniel shook hands with each other.

“We want access to your law firm's footage for investigation,” Daniel requested.

“Of Course Mr. Daniel. We will cooperate. After all, Mr. Douglas is a good man. It's sad this happened to him” 

Craig couldn't believe such a thing happened in his law firm. He was saddened by the fact that their attorneys are suffering one by one, first it's Mr. Carlos and now it’s Mr. Douglas. He wondered whether someone was playing with him. Afterall his law firm has gained quite a good popularity and wins a good number of cases these days.

“By the way Mr. Daniel there is another casualty during the incident” Craig informed him not wanting to miss even a simplest clue that might help them to find the murderer as soon as possible.

Daniel frowned, “Where is the person?” 

Craig led him away from the lobby to the resting room nearby. Daniel saw a man seated at the couch and a young woman tending to his injury.

“This is Mr. Carlos Oswald,” Craig introduced him without delay. He heard from the members that Carlos was accidentally injured by the murderer.

After introducing him to the cops and vaguely explaining the casualties Craig took his leave to deal with pressing matters in his hand. It is always a headache to deal with those reporters.

Daniel noticed a thin line on the man’s cheek. The cut was very thin but still blood leaked from the wounded area. Seeing the cop approaching, the women left the place with the medical kit. 

Carlos stood up from the seat. As an attorney himself he could understand the need for the investigation. He provided the details needed for the investigation.

He was about to exit the firm for the case investigation. Something flashed in front of him before he heard the loud thud at his side. At first he was shocked to see a man falling dead who was just fine a minute ago that he didn’t notice the blood leaking from his cheeks. It was because of the slight sting he realised he was injured during the scene.

When he turned to see in the direction where that light came from he saw a man exit through the entrance with urgent steps. The man wore a brown suit and a hat covering his head. He saw something flashed in his ring fingers but he wasn't able to remember the exact details of the thing in his fingers.

After getting the details from Carlos, Daniel ordered the cops to clear the site and to send the corpse to the lab for further investigation. Even though he saw the spade card stuck to the body his intuition tells that the previous murderer is not related with the current one.

Carlos stood at the side and watched the corpse carried in the stretcher into the ambulance. People here thought that Mr. Douglas is an upright and righteous man who abides by law, but he knew the true face of that man. When he joined as a junior he was allotted to work as his assistant for the time being. 

At first he admired the man for his intelligence and astute in solving the complicated cases. But the more time he spent with him he found that the man was less principled and cynical. It was the case three years back when a young boy of seventeen accused of hit and run. A pregnant woman was hit by the car by him. The woman was severely injured and lost her child. The husband of the woman protests to seek justice for his wife and an unborn child.

Unfortunately the young boy was the heir of one of the influential families. They approached the Hutson law firm for their case. But being the man abiding by law Craig Hutson immediately refused to take the case. It was Douglas who convinced Craig, saying that the young boy was framed and the woman was never pregnant. Of course money played a big role behind the scene destroying every evidence stating that the boy was minor and escaped with minimal charges.

Poor Craig still didn’t know that he was surrounded by wolves and foxes. 

But does Carlos pity him? No he envies the power and money of the people above him. Money even makes the cat growls like a lion.

What Carlos didn’t understand is who had the guts to kill Douglas at his own den. If he is not wrong he recently won the case for the renowned social activist Gaston Regis who has been accused of assaulting a twelve year old orphan girl.