Bertelli Investigations Volume 1: Noteworthy Mysteries

Chapter 1

Monday, April 25th 2024 | 6:00 am

"Today is the day Tino. It's what we've been working so hard for our entire lives." Tino's twin brother Tony was rummaging through their long walk-in closet, throwing shirts and pants everywhere.

Tino rolled his eyes." Well, this might be the first day of the rest of our lives, but do I have to remind you that we are investigators? Not models?"

Tony held up a gray, long sleeved, button up shirt to Tino's slightly smaller built frame, switching it out with a long sleeved, black turtleneck. Tony was built slightly bigger than Tino, being 6'2 and muscular, while Tino is 6'0 and not as big. It made the way they wore their clothes different from each other, and Tony made sure they both always dressed well. He took the job upon himself since they were teenagers to dress them up. He always had a bit of style with a mix of vanity. "It's all a part of the role. We have to dress like we know what we're doing."

"Even though we don't?", Tino interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

Tony dropped the 2 shirts he had been trying to decide on for his brother onto the bed and fixed his attention right on him with an annoyed look. "What are you talking about?", he asked seriously. The Bertelli brothers excelled at what they did. They had 4 years studying criminology at a top-rated university, both had a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, and worked 3 years as police officers. They were promoted to detectives and have had 4 years of experience in that. "We know exactly what we're doing! We're just...." Tony glanced away, rolling his hands around, trying to find the words. "New", he added.

"All of that might be true, but we were always under training as detectives. We never solved a case on our own. And now we are becoming private detectives with no other help from another investigator."

"So what? We can do this", Tony said confidently. He always had more confidence than Tino. And he always believed in himself, while Tino was quieter in nature, always second guessing himself. The two were extremely close to each other and were much alike, but at the same time they had a lot of differences and could unfortunately clash. They were the perfect description of completely the same, yet totally different.

Tino glanced at the two shirts for a few seconds. "If you say so. And I better wear the gray shirt. Black would make me look like a funeral home director."

""If you say so?"" Tony repeated, handing Tino the gray shirt and sighed in aggravation. "Valentino Mario Bertelli where is your self-esteem?! You're not backing out now, are you?"

Tino threw the shirt over his muscular built arms and started buttoning it from the bottom, focusing on the buttons and trying to distance himself from the conversation. He knew he did not fully believe in their abilities like Tony did, and he didn't want to argue about it either. "No of course I'm not backing out." Tino looked down and let out a small sigh. "But what if all of this falls from right underneath us? Then everything we've done will be for nothing." It was Tino's biggest fear, that what they had worked so hard for would not work out.

Tony put his hands on his brother's shoulders. "It won't bro. It will not fall out from beneath us. You know we are going to be great detectives, and I don't want to hear anything else."

"You don't want to hear that we might crash and burn?" Tino asked with a bit of tension in his voice.

Tony ran his fingers through his curly, long, black, hair. "No. I don't want to hear that. Because it is not going to happen." He rested his right hand on Tino's face, trying to make eye contact." And we are going to do it for our sis, right?"

Tino felt tears welling up in his eyes. He batted his eyelashes, keeping the tears back. "Of course. Everything we have done; it's been for Tia. She's out triplet...Our blood."  Tino wiped away a small tear that ran down his cheek. "She's a part of us."

Tia had been the triplet sister of the brothers. She was beautiful with long, black, curly, thick hair and big black eyes like her brothers, and a unique beauty mark in the shape of a heart beside her left eye that made her stand out. She was also like her brothers in smarts. She did very well in school, always getting straight A's and working hard to be at the top of her class. Although she personally didn't have a desire to become a detective like Tino and Tony wanted to, she did have a desire to make something of herself. Being interested in electronics like their mom who was a computer engineer, Tia had taken computer science in high school and planned to go to a university to obtain a degree in computer science. She was also very well liked in school, being popular with lots of friends, and had boys after her all the time. Her family also all loved her, and they were remarkably close.

But one day everything changed. One morning the Bertelli family awoke to Tia being gone, with no trace left of her except a note left behind that said, "Mr and Mrs Bertelli: We have your daughter. You will never have her back. But don't worry, she's safe. - Sincerely, Don"

That happened when Tino, Tony, and Tia were 15. Now 10 years later there has still not been a trace left of Tia, despite the FBI getting involved. There had been different stories that people talked about. One was that Tia had a boyfriend at school named Don who she ran away with. Another was that Don was a serial killer who would leave different basic names at the end of notes. Both scenarios were checked into and turned out to be false. While Tia did get into trouble at times, it was for typical things teenagers do, such as vaping or staying out too late with her then boyfriend. But the FBI determined there was no reason for her to leave, as she was happy at home with parents that never hit her or yelled at her, and she was planning on a career in computer science that she was, what some would say, obsessed with. And while there was an active serial killer in New York City where they lived, the name Don didn't match up with the other names the killer was signing notes with. The other names had consisted of popular serial killer names, such as Ted, John, and Jefferey.

The only thing the FBI discovered to be odd was that when Tia went missing the only item taken with her was her diamond birthstone necklace that her parents gifted her when she was 13. All other items, including all other jewelry, her phone, and her purse she always had with her were left behind. No fingerprints were left from the kidnapper, and no sign that Tia even voluntarily ran away. Even as DNA advanced over the next 10 years it was helpless. There was no DNA to collect. It could be a good thing though that DNA wasn't found. It meant that a murderous crime most likely didn't happen.

The case went cold after 5 years, but Tia's family have never given up looking for her. Nobody ever knew the pain Tony and Tino had went through all those years. To have someone created right next to you and then one day they're gone...it was a grief that was beyond describing. The whole family still felt the deep, dark, spirit-breaking grief in their own ways.

Tino took a breath and sighed. "You're right Tony. We're going to do this. We're going to find her, like we always talked about."

The Bertelli brother's plans were to dig into Tia's investigation the second their new business opened. It would be what they would work on in between getting other clients.

Tony smiled and patted Tino's shoulder. "Glad I can boost your confidence. And we better hurry there because we have a lot of work to do."