ILLUSIONS

The Discovery

I quickly got out of bed, threw on a pair of jeans and a V-neck sweater, found my favourite loafers and was out on the road soon after.

This being a homicide, I would be choosing the wrongest time to arrive late at the scene. The Captain was so particular about his time, none of us dared to be tardy. His call meant I had just ten minutes to make it to the scene, that was his standard routine.

Anything later than that meant hell.

I sighed audibly.

Putting those thoughts away, I stepped hard on my accelerator.

I stared at the body. I was appalled. This was definitely the work of the serial killer we had come to know and name 'The Met', short for meticulous. This guy went through the pains of ensuring that his victims were well cleaned before staging a squeaky clean scene and always moved his victims from wherever he committed his atrocious crimes. This was obvious because there was never any evidence left at the scene or even a clue as to how to nail the bastard.

He always left his victims in front of any home he could find and they were always left in a kneeling posture,as if praying. Never was any shred of evidence found.

This one was in front of the home of a family of three.

And his victims were always males.

Even before we were to get the forensic report from the lab, I  already knew the outcome.

There would be a case of sexual as well as physical abuse. This man would have a mark on his left wrist, indicating which number he was in the line of victims, and taking a closer look he was the 10th. Finally, he was going to have a vertical laceration down his back and though he was fully clothed I could see the beginning of the laceration at his neck.

This was The Met alright. I was livid with rage. Who did this guy think he was anyways? I was mad because all our efforts to bring him to justice had proved futile.

And as usual he had left no clue what so ever. I kicked the mailbox in frustration and a sharp pain tore through my leg. I swore.

As I turned to walk away to speak to the captain, something caught my eye. I took a closer look at the mail box.
It had blood on it. It was easy to miss but then again, this was The Met we were talking about and he never made mistakes.

Unless of course he had got too sure of himself and his capabilities so much so that he was getting sloppy.

I quickly called the attention of the captain and got a pair of gloves. Opening the mailbox, a piece of paper fell out and on it were written some numbers, which of course didn't make any sense.

I shook my head in wonder. This guy wasn't being sloppy. He wanted us to find this note and as usual, had been one step ahead of us.

Turning the paper around what I saw made my eyes nearly pop out.

The captain had just run over.

'OMG...'

The look on his face was all the confirmation I needed.

It was a picture of a flame with the inscription THE BLAZE.

Grid stopped the car. She still wasn't so sure if going to see Kemuel was a good idea. The last time she had decided to see him and end things, she had chickened out at the last minute.

Now she had packed a few blocks down the road from his house, contemplating if she should make the visit. Well, she couldn't just keep avoiding the inevitable. It was bound to happen anyway. Better to get it over with.

Grid sighed.

She decided to  walk the  rest of the way to Kemuel's. At least just to clear her head before she got there. Grid wanted to be ready for whatever happened and walking there was going to buy her some time, no matter how small.

She alighted from her car and started the journey.

She wondered how this was going to end.

'Look, I can't keep this up anymore,' Esme said in frustration.
'I'm tired of lying to Grid each time we meet. She knows something is going on, and trust me, that girl will soon figure it all out.'

Kemuel drew her into a hug as she suddenly broke down in tears.

'Look,' he begun, 'I know this is hard but you have to trust me on this. Let me deal with Grid, hmm?'

Kemuel gently stroked her hair and pulled her away from himself staring into her eyes.

'Esme, for now let things take their natural course okay? Trust me on this, we will find a way to tell her everything, when the time is right. For now, just hold on a little longer alright? '

Kemuel pulled her into a hug again.

Esme's body racked with sobs.

'I can't....I just can't...I...'

'Hey, it's all right.' Kemuel stroked her hair.

'It's all for Grids own good. We'll tell her at the right time,okay ?

The door leading to the hall suddenly burst open and there stood Grid. She took in the scene before her and was shocked beyond words.

The hug abruptly ended and both of them moved away, akwardly from each other.

Esme wiped her eyes frantically. 'Grid, it's not what you think.'

Grid shook her haid in disbelief. So this was why Esme had been acting strange.

And how could Kemuel do this? That son of a ....

Esme shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to calm down.

Slowly she felt herself relax and opened her eyes.

'Tell me what at the right time, Kemuel? Huh? I'm ready now. And judging from the look of things, you guys look ready enough.'

Grid took slow strides into the hall and sat down in a sofa.

'Go on,' she said slowly. 'I'm all ears.'