Murder on West 50th street.

Chapter 5: Cathedral tunnels and drugs.

For the last three days, I had been going through everything that James had done in the 24 hours prior to his death, trying to link anything back to Eric. I still didn't know how or where they could have met; it must have been a secluded area if James was tortured and killed without anyone hearing anything.

Even after three days, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that my best friend was dead.

I couldn't believe that James couldn't go to the ice cream shop with me anymore, that we couldn't watch our favourite shows together or cry when we watched Titanic. We couldn't make fun of the people that tripped and fell at the office and we certainly couldn't hug each other when we were feeling down. He was gone, never to come back or to be seen again. It all seemed so unreal; less than a month ago I was sitting on a bench in front Central park, James by my side, laughing at something stupid he had said. He wouldn't be telling anyone stupid jokes where he was now. I snorted. Not only was James gone from my life, Eric had been avoiding me since our 'date' at the museum. I didn't mind much but it annoyed me that I didn't know where he was. I knew he had something to do with James' murder but I didn't have any evidence to prove it. He hadn't been showing up at work, hadn't been helping with the case at all and didn't even answer my messages asking his whereabouts. Come to think of it, I sounded like a clingy girlfriend. I shuddered at the thought. I had a meeting with Lucy that afternoon at New York Public Library and, hopefully, she had more information about Eric than I did.

"ELLA!"Screamed a voice.

I jumped up from my seat and went into defence/attack mode.

"Whoa! Calm your horses young lady."

I looked at the person that disrupted my pity party, sending him a heated glare before I relaxed.

"What do you want Zach." I said in a neutral voice.

"I just wanted to say that you have the day off that's all. No need to get your panties in a twist." He stated playfully.

"Thanks but I'd rather stay here and try and find any new leads to find el hijo de perra4 who killed James." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

He sighed.

"You have been in this office more than you have been home these past few days Ella. Go home, have a rest and don't come back until tomorrow, okay?"

It was my turn to sigh. "Fine but if anything comes up and I mean ANYTHING, you call me, understood?"

He didn't answer me and walked out of my office.

"I'll take that as a yes!" I shouted after him.

I packed my stuff and went home; only letting myself cry once I got onto my bed.

...

Buzz buzz

I grabbed my phone and read a message from Lucy.

"Library 30 minutes." I ran into my bathroom to try and tame the bird's nest that was on the top of my head I put my hairbrush down after being satisfied with the result that my efforts had given. My hair was in a simple high ponytail but, unlike earlier, it was knot free. I decided to wear my black combat boots (of course), a pair of black jeans and a plain white top to go under my leather jacket. I brushed my teeth, grabbed my phone and locked the door behind me, once I was outside of my apartment. I went downstairs to the ground floor, went outside, mounted my Harley and sped off towards the library.

...

I arrived in front of the library and made my way up the steps, between the two majestic lion sculptures. I entered through the glass doors and turned right, going up the stone stairway leading to the first floor. I walked past aisles of books and proceeded to the drop off point. Lucy and I had reached an agreement; we would not meet during the case. All the gathered information was to be put into a folder and left behind the great works of Shakespeare.

I turned into the aisle and saw a body, crumpled on the floor below the window. Oh my God it was Lucy! I ran to her body and, putting my fingers to her throat, searched for a pulse but found none. I retrieved my bloody fingers from her throat and saw that it had been slit open. Her phone lay beside her body. I turned it over and stood to read her message to me that illuminated the screen. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone running across the street below. It was Eric. I realised, looking back at the phone, that Eric must have thought that Lucy and I were meant to meet. He probably thought that, by killing her, I wouldn't get the information that I needed to put him behind bars. Had she hidden the file? I quickly checked behind the works of Shakespeare and to my relief, there it was. I opened it up and scanned the documents hurriedly. I noticed that Lucy had written that, each evening, at 6:30, he visits St. Patrick's Cathedral. I stood upright in realisation. He was leaving to go to the cathedral now! I ran out of the building calling in the murder, started my Harley and headed to St. Patrick's.

Soon enough, I arrived at the cathedral and hid my bike in an alley off the main road. I arrived just in time to see him enter the sacred building. I hid under a bench, watching his every move from between the latches. He went behind one of the columns that supported the ceiling and disappeared into thin air, not coming out the other side of the pillar. I got up slowly and inspected the stone, trying to find how he escaped. I pushed a certain part of the pillar and, LOW AND BEHOLD, a little door clicked ajar. The opening was just big enough for a grown man to crawl through. I hesitantly got down on my knees and started crawling inside the dark and damp tunnel, effectively getting my jeans dirty. The tunnel started going downwards, making it harder for me to not fall head long onto the cold hard ground. I finally came to a large and well lit room with different sized crates around the corners of it. I made my way towards them and as quietly as I could, opened one up. I gasped when I saw what it contained. Drugs; lots and lots of them! The drugs all ranged from heroin to crack cocaine. Hearing footsteps come my way, I placed the lid back onto the crate and hid behind it, hoping no one would come towards me. Eric was giving instructions of where he wanted the crates delivered. He then told the accomplice that he had a special delivery that he would take of himself because it was to his illustrious boss at the Waldorf. I knew their conversation was over when the man with the raspy voice called out "Night Boss". That's when it all clicked, everything suddenly making sense. Eric was not only a dirty cop but he was the city's biggest drug lord! He was the one the police chief had warned me about; the one that killed all the police officers that worked on his case! Not only did he kill James but he also killed other police officers before him!

Once I made sure the coast was clear, I sneaked out from behind the crate and went back up the tunnel. I made my way outside and located my bike.

4 =son of a b****; b*stard

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Marie