Rod - The Weapon

Chapter 2: Podcast

I feel a slight bit of excitement today. The only emotion other than sadness that I have experienced in this week, feels like a change.

I look at the watch on my wrist and realize that I am late for my meeting with Henry. I grab my car keys and dash to my car, because I like being punctual. I drive under the speed limit, as fast as I can, because as much as I would love seeing my wife again, not so soon. I reach the cafe and realize that he hasn't arrived yet. Its already 12:01 pm, and he is late. Kids these days!

I see a blue leather jacket waving at me and I squint my eyes to see that boy running down the street towards me.
"Oh, I'm sorry for being a little late Mr.Quinnell, my car broke down," he says, panting. I excuse him and say, "No problem at all, so what's the plan for the day?"
He replies, "Would you accompany me to our office Mr.Quinnell? All the equipment has been set up." I give a small smile and a nod.

The next minute I know, we're in Henry's office. I enter and see another guy just chilling wearing headphones. He has a few tattoos, but nothing too scary. I feel like we might sync on another level, but its just a feeling though. Never mind.

"Uhm Mr.Quinnell, would you like something to drink? Maybe some water or juice?" asks Henry, to which I reply, "Water would be nice, thank you." Kids these days are unpredictable, some are the most unhinged that you'll ever meet and others are the most polite ones ever. I guess I came across a gem for hospitality.

He reminds me of Rach, she used to be the nicest person ever, even to people who were rude to her. She called it 'killing with kindness'.

Henry walks up to me with a huge beer glass filled with water. I give him a concerned look and he says, "Thats all we had lol, the rest of the dishes haven't been washed yet."
I chuckle and then tell, "You don't have to call me Mr.Quinnell anymore, just Aiden.

I feel like it would be more convenient for our future conversations." Then I look at the guy with the headphones and give out my hand for a fist bump and say, "You too, I'm Aiden Quinnell, call me Aiden."
He gives a sweet smile and introduces himself as Guy.

We all sit down and I prepare myself for what is about to go down, which I am actually not sure about.
"So, are you ready Aiden?" asks Guy and I give a quick nod.

"To warm you up a little, how about you give a small introduction about yourself and your wife?" asks Henry.
I start by saying, "Uhm hello, I am Aiden Quinnell and my late wife's name is Rachel Quinnell.

I am 39 years old and my wife is two years older, 41 when she passed this week. We married when I was 29 and she was 31. Both of us are orphans and we met in college. You might be wondering about the surname, but it's hers. Even though she was an orphan, she took her biological parents' name.

Her parents passed away in a car crash, so she and her orphanage knew about her parents. I was just abandoned in an orphanage, so I took her last name. Her ambition was to become a detective and she was a wonderful one for 7-8 years.

She became a detective because they couldn't find the culprit who crashed into her parents' car. So she wanted to be the best in her field and catch all those deserving of jail time.

She resigned after her last case, which was about 10 years ago, due to depression and other issues. After that, I worked for the both of us.

I didn't mind it at all because she had taken care of me when I was still in college and she got the job of a detective. She helped me pay off my student loans and fed me for free, so I will forever be in debt to her for taking care of me during my difficult times.

After her resignation in a few years, she got diagnosed with breast cancer. She did chemo, I stayed by her side the entire journey. Unfortunately, she was taken from me, but I hope she stays happy wherever she is now. I'm not big on god, but I do hope she is in heaven."

I look at them both, on the verge of tears, one of them wiping it away says, "Aiden, your love for your wife stood by her when she passed, so she did know you loved her more than anything, may her soul rest in peace."
I look at him and just give a painful smile and nod.

I continue by saying, "She always stood up for what she believed and had faith in, whether it was right or wrong. She had a few morals, like everyone deserved a second chance in most cases. She valued her job a lot, even though sometimes it didn't agree with her. She was very skilled, solved every case, except for one, the very last one."

The look at me as if they were asking me to continue. Henry speaks up, "I think that we can start the story of the cold case now". I look and just nod. I can't just jump right into the story, I'd have to give few introductions before. I will have to think about how to frame the whole story properly. I think I do remember everything that happened, even if I don't, I brought our detective journal so that should help me.

Then suddenly Guy startles me by interrupting my thoughts, "Aiden are you okay? Do you need a minute? Some more water?" I reply, "Oh no, I was just compiling my thoughts. The beer jug full of water is more than enough for me." They both give a little laugh and we continue.

"So uhm, I'll start from here," I say and continue, "My wife and I used to live on Whitestreet at one point of our lives, like 10 years back-," and then Henry suddenly interrupts me by saying, "Thats the street which my parents told me about, where we both were at one point friends."

I still give the confused look and say, "So you used to live on Whitestreet? But why do I not remember you? I knew the entire neighbourhood." He just shrugs and we brush it off. Then I continue, "I'll give a quick summary. This case was about a woman who was brutally murdered in the middle of our street like at midnight. It was Halloween night.

There were a bunch of teenagers from our street having a party with loud music during the time of murder. The adults were all at their houses, sleeping. The kids basically snuck off, but the music was quiet loud. I noticed it but seriously didn't care much, because kids are kids. They held the party, I believe in the abandoned house down the street.

It didnt have any bad reputation, like for being creepy, but it hadn't been sold yet. The thing which surprised me the most is the fact that none of the neighbors woke up to shut the music down, because all of them are kind of like karens to be honest.

So basically no one noticed anything, and since there was alcohol in the party, all the kids dozed off there and only went home in the morning, after discovering a dead body in the middle of the street. Our street had a reputation for good safety, before this incident.

The body was not recognisable, brutally beaten up and cut. It was a sore sight to see. The case was handed over to Rachel's team, on which I was there too. She lead the team as always. During this case, our whole house was filled with things related to this and it was suffocating."

Henry says, "Wow, it actually seems interesting. I don't remember any of these things at all. But during that time I had a small accident where a guy from school hit me with his bat on my head. I apparently lost a year worth of memories."
"Oh, could be, but, also maybe because you were too small to remember, because all of this happened long back," I reply suggestively.

It is around 3 pm now, and the hunger has started to set in. I kind of move uneasily, and a sound escapes from my stomach. Both of them look at me and we all start to laugh. We all go out to the cafe for a late lunch.
I ordered a coleslaw sandwich and a strawberry smoothie while they both got a coffee and chicken sandwiches.
We then started to talk again.

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Hey guys! Please do tell me how this chapter was. I hope it got more interesting this time. Stay tuned, and follow for more updates almost daily. There are a lot twists and turns to discover. Please like and leave few encouraging comments. Hope you enjoyed!