Five black stones

Chapter one

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“What brings you to my office at this time of the day? It’s almost 5pm, I’m about to leave.” Edward couldn’t hide the fact that he was irritated by Ivy’s presence.
“This is getting out of hand, we have already lost four officers in this madness, eight of them quit today…!” she entered his office with a few documents in her hand, but didn’t bother to take a seat as she didn’t want to irritate him further.
“I’ve been to school, I can count perfectly fine thank you.”
“Sir we need to take drastic measures before we lose every individual in this station.”
“Look, I’m the captain here. As head of this police station it should click to your mind that I am twice as concerned as everybody else already is…”
“I’m not saying you aren’t. I just think we need to take drastic measures to this case before it’s too late…”
“And that’s why I assigned a serious dedicated officer such as yourself to solve the case. So why are we still talking?”
“This is beyond me. It is extraordinary.”
“I like you, Ivy, I really do. But you are currently making it hard for me to continue doing so. We’ve been talking about the same thing every day. If you keep visiting my office every now and then, the others will think we are in some kind of relationship. Do you know how embarrassing that is for me as a married man?”
“I’m sorry, captain. It’s just that I’m under pressure. I need to solve this case before we lose any more men. This nightmare is…”
“Don’t tell me that you too are beginning to believe it is a ghost.” Edward interrupted.
“I don’t believe in ghosts, just clever minds. And all I’m asking for is for you to give me access to the one and only…”
“Let me stop you there. I know where this is going and just so you know, I will not permit it. I forbid you to even go anywhere near his cell. Do I make myself clear?”
“But captain…”
“Do I make myself clear?” he raised his voice.
“Yes, Captain.”
“Good. I don’t care whether we are dealing with a ghost or some type of crazy mastermind, you will not involve any one in prison into this. Especially him. Now if you have nothing more to share, you may leave my office. Otherwise there are many other cases we still have to deal with. We haven’t yet captured that drug dealer that claims to own this town.”
“Rhino?”
“It’s kind of a stupid name for a Mafia if you ask me.”
“Well… that’s what people on the streets call him.”
“Any findings on him?”
“Not quite. We still don’t know who he is…”
“You are failing to find a simple person who is visible to the world and expect to catch a ghost we have not seen even on camera? You got to be kidding me.”
“This is different, captain. The only reason we find it hard to capture Rhino is because I suspect he bribes some officers, that’s how he gets away with most of his dirty work.”
“The information you’re giving me is out of blown proportion. Let’s stick to facts and not tunnel minded opinions. By the way, have you given your friend a name yet?”
“Who?”
“That ghost you’re trying to hunt.”
“Well, the team and I have decided to refer to him as The whisperer.”
“Stupid name. Get out of my office before the next thing I hear is that you and your team refer to yourselves as the Ghostbusters.”
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…….
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“So… how’d it go?” George asked Ivy on her way out of Edward’s office. George was a police officer that worked on parking duty. He’s shift was done, he was only waiting for Ivy because he had a date with her later that evening. It would be his third date with her in two months of dating, as she had always been too busy for social calls.
“Not good. I couldn’t convince him to.”
“Look, you’re a smart girl. I believe in you more than you do in yourself. I’m sure you’ll find another way to crack this case.”
“Each week, George, each week there’s an envelope that appears in a bank out of the blues in the middle of the night. No one knows who puts it there, security footage shows nobody entering or leaving the bank at that hour, yet this envelope mysteriously appears there. No footprints, no fingerprints, no clues left behind. This envelope contains five black stones, and a photo of a police officer. After five days, the police officer mysteriously disappears. Ghost or mastermind?” Ivy asked as she paused at the exit door of the station. George could tell that though she had agreed to go with him on a date, her head was just not into it. She looked rather pale and depressed.
“Well…”
“Yesterday we lost Steven. It was his fifth day. To protect him, Edward gave him a leave to go abroad. We escorted him to the airport with heavy security and watched him get on board. Hours later when we called the hotel he was to arrive at, he wasn’t there. He did not arrive at his destination. Ghost or mastermind?”
“Well… maybe it really is a ghost.” He said in a low tone,
“Don’t be stupid, George, Ghosts are not real.”
“I really don’t like being called stupid.”
“I’m sorry, love. I’m stressed out, I’m living in fear. Today the so called ghost is going to strike again. By tomorrow morning the bank is going to call us again and we’re going to find an envelope with five black stones and a photo of a police officer. It might be you, it might be me, it might be anyone in the station. Eight men have quit today. How come you’re so calm about this?!”
“Simply because no ghost nor criminal mastermind can get to me. I have contingency plans.”
“Oh yah? Let me here them.”
“We can talk about them at dinner. So what do you plan on doing now?”
“A stake out. I’ll have officers patrolling all night long around the bank. They’ll remain hidden though. At least until we know how our little ghost mysteriously enters and leaves the building.”
“Please don’t tell me you’ll be working tonight too.”
Ivy rather drifted her gaze to the ground to avoid answering him. George read the signs and was disappointed because he was really looking forward to being with her that evening.
“Oh… I see.” Was his sad response as he too dropped his gaze to the ground. The weather become cloudy, a clear sign that a heavy rainfall was about to pour. The lightening in the sky sent people running to their homes. There were a few people on the streets as some remained indoors because of the tale of The whisperer. In a small town as such, tales like that would spread as quick as wild fire. The tale of The whisperer spread faster when the third policeman went missing.
“But you know what, I’ll let the boys patrol. They’ll notify me when they find something.” She told him after noticing the disappointment on his face. She felt bad for always postponing their date.
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……..
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Later that evening around 8pm, Ivy and George went out to a small restaurant for dinner. George tried to take Ivy’s mind off the case of The whisperer by talking about his plans for their future together, but she just didn’t seem into it. Though her eyes were on him and her smile was evident, her mind was in a totally different place. The whisperer would strike tonight and all she could think about is which police officer would fall victim. She had tried looking up all the cases of the past four officers that went missing, to see if they were involved in one serious case that’d involve a person with a burning urge to seek vengeance, but she found no special case. She was brought back to reality when her phone began to vibrate. It was Jason, one of the officers she had assigned to patrol that night. He alerted her that there was a person standing by the door of the bank wearing a long coat and some hat that tilted to cover most of his face.
“Alright, I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t move away from your spot, I want you to observe how he enters the building and leaves.” She ordered him
“What if he leaves and you’re not yet here?” Jason asked.
“You should stalk him. Follow him and see where he goes, but don’t make a move on him. Don’t scare him away. Do not underestimate him, I’ll send the others. I want each and every officer on the lookout, on each street. We should not lose him tonight.” She hang up the phone immediately.
“I’m really sorry George, I …” she apologized as she got up.
“I understand. Go save the world.”
“I’ll make it up to you tomorrow, I’ll take you to the the…” she coughed before she could complete her sentence.
“Are you alright?” he asked her as he got up too.
“It’s nothing, just a cold. I’ll be alright.” She frowned as she left immediately.
Fortunate enough she had carried her uniform in her vehicle. She quickly changed her attire from her car and sped off towards the bank. She was really excited for finally bringing an end towards the terror of the whisperer.
“How long has he being in there?” She asked Jason after joining him in the bushes that were not so far from the Bank.
“Twenty minutes now.”
The rains then began to pour whilst they were in the bushes. Ivy didn’t see a point in hiding anymore as the rains were getting intense. One possible outcome is that they could lose him in the rains, so she called fourteen officers to come over.
“Alright, here’s what we do; I want four of you guarding the entrancing. Two can go to the back, and a Pair of two by each side of the building just in case he tries to make a window exit. The remaining four can come with me.”
They cautiously went into the building with Ivy courageously at forefront with gun in hand, ready to confront The whisperer. But unfortunate for them the found no one in the building. They searched high and low, left no table unturned and no room unattended to, but could still not find any trace of any one in the bank. After an hour of intensive searching, Ivy gave up and went outside.
“Are you sure you didn’t take your eyes off the door when he came in?”
“You found it open, didn’t you?”
“This does not add up at all. How could he just disappear like that?”
“Perhaps the rumours are true…”
“Ghosts are not real, Jason!” she yelled out of frustration. She had failed and she knew it. It might have as well been true, perhaps it really was a ghost.
“What should we do now?” he asked in more of an apologetic voice.
“We’ll wait in our vehicles and pack them right here by the entrance. If he is in there then he’s trapped.”
They waited all night long in expectation that the Whisperer would eventually give up and surrender, but to no avail.
By the time it was 4am, Ivy gave up and called off the stake out because in as much as she wanted to get The Whisperer, she still had to report for work at 8am.
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………
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“Heard about your hunt yesterday. Did you Ghostbusters bust that ghost?” Edward made fun of Ivy on his way in the police station, they arrived at the same time. In his hand was briefcase
“Well actually we did, but it told us that it was only looking for you, so we let it go. A new captain sounds like a great idea.” She played along.
“Jokes aside, I need you to come to my office to explain to me what really happened.”
“As you wish, your majesty…” Ivy replied as she tailed him to his office after exchanging greetings with the receptionist and other officers they bumped into.
However, when Edward opened the door to his office, he paused for a while before he could enter.
“Strange…” he said as he entered his office and went towards his table.
“What’s strange?” Ivy asked him as she tried to follow his gaze. There was an envelope on his table. In disbelief, Edward quickly walked towards his table, unwrapped it and removed its contents.
Five stones, and a photo. A photo of Edward himself. Edward froze as steal as a ghost with eyes as wide as an owl upon seeing that photo.
“Ivy, remember yesterday when I forbid you from turning to that genius in prison for help?”
“You mean Stanley?”
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea after all…”