Mystery Hunt (Complete - Under Major Editing)

40. The Chase

"I have decided to scrap this whole project. We are going back to Deltora today. I and Noah have already packed our bags. I suggest you do the same." William puts his foot down.

"You cannot decide for yourself. We have equal say in this." Clive is infuriated.

"No, we don't. That is just how we always did it. Legally, according to our shares, William has the most say in all our projects. And he is going to use that card today. He talked to me about it last night because of which I called Logan" David looks at William. For the first time, David was angry and William was behaving like an unreasonable kid.

"Where is Noah?" James speaks after a long time.

"I don't know. He said he'll be back before lunch. Let's pack our bags quickly." William turns to go to his room but James stops him on his tracks.

"I bet he is in the castle. You told him we are going back to Deltora, are you?" James questions it.

"Yes, of course! He was the one who encouraged me to. We have already wasted so much time and effort here. Our friendships broke too." He points at Logan and Dylan. "Friend against friend. Brother against brother. Your plan finally succeeded James; you can now demolish the castle."

"I bet Noah is still looking for the crown." It was Dylan who now stops William.

"Oh for fucks sakes! He is your goddamm brother!" William shouts for the first time in his life. He didn't want to raise his voice but they were getting out of hand.

"Why don't we try to find him? For your sake William?" It was now David.

"Yes. Prove us wrong." Clive pitches in.

William sits down, with his head buried in his hands. Should he follow his brain or his heart?

"If he is looking for the crown, then it would be in the museum, right? The cops gave it to them." Logan asks.

William gets up in a sudden move and startles everyone.

"Let's go to the museum. If he is not there, we are going back." He takes his coat and walks out hurriedly, maybe to hide his pain in the heart.

Everyone looks at each other with determination. They have to prove that this isn't their brother Noah. Dylan and James look at each other. They will take revenge for what happened to their parents.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Everyone reaches the museum only to find it destroyed. There were cops surrounding the already beaten staff who were in very bad condition. The whole place looked like how a hungry person would ravage for food once he gets a hold of it. All the artifacts were broken, glasses shattered to pieces. Even the poor receptionist had her head bashed into her table.

"......all because of that stupid crown." one of the staff was angrily telling the cop. James heard this and went towards him.

"The crown of King Benjamin?" he asks the staff and he could see him tremble with fear.

"Shh...call it King Samuel's crown. One of our staff was beaten just because he refused to say his name." fear was evident in his voice.

"Was it this guy?" James shows him a picture of Noah on his phone.

The staff's orbs became big and he knelt in front of James, begging for mercy.

"Yes, yes! He is the devil in flesh! He is the one who came here and did all of this!"

The cop helps him get up and then turns to James.

"Mr. James Reed. We meet again!" He puts his hand forward but James isn't amused. He retracts his hand. "Seems like your whole troop is a circus of criminals. Why don't you guys do all the crimes at once? It will make it easy for us." He smirks and calls for another inspector.

"Charge Mr. Noah Miller with breaking in, destruction of government property, attempt to murder and oh....." he looks at the bashed-in head of the receptionist, "Also a murder." And walks away from there.

William runs to talk to the cop and now Dylan comes there to ask the staff.

"Is there any proof?"

"Isn't the receptionist's head and our beaten state enough proof to you?" he looks at him with angry eyes.

"I am so sorry for your loss but we need to know if it was this person or no," James says with hesitation.

"Of course we have proof! There are cameras everywhere. And we have submitted it to the cops."

Clive and David overhear this and whisper into Dylan's ear,

"It would be a hell of a task to get those videos from that cop," Clive says in a sad tone.

"Guys, we are going to the police station. Hurry!" William shouts from outside. They all run to him and James asks,

"Why?" he is shoved inside the police van.

"He agreed to show us the videotapes." William was staring ahead. His voice of devoid of any emotions.

They reach the station in no time and William was the first one to jump off the van.

"Someone has to be there with William when he breaks down," Dylan whispers to James and he nods.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Since we also haven't seen the tapes, please don't interrupt in between." The cop takes them to the projector room.

William sits on a chair in the corner, eyes fixated on the screen. He was shaking his legs, his palms were sweating and his heart was beating fast.

The video starts as a normal day at the museum. Since their opening time was at 11.00 a.m. in the morning, they were just cleaning up the place. Someone knocks on their glass door but the person's face is unclear.

One of the staff goes to talk to him but the person doesn't budge from there. He just stares for a minute and then goes. As soon as the staff turned his back, the person came running and smashed through the glass. The staff got scared and the receptionist tries to stop the person. But the person just picks her up and bashes her head. William closes his eyes, unable to bear the sight. All the members knew it was Noah but the cops had to make sure.

The next thing they saw was the staff trying to call for the cops but is beaten up by the person. The other things seem to be a blur of events passing by to William. After taking what he came for, the person looked straight into the camera and the cop who was operating it got startled. He told them to pause at the right time and they could see the person grinning. It was Noah!

He had a sick grin on his face. He looked straight into the camera and placed the crown on his head, smelling some sort of satisfaction. That's it! William has had it and he dashes out of the room.

"This proves that Mr. Noah Miller was the one. Where is he?" the cop asks Dylan as James went William.

"We don't know sir. We too are searching for him." He goes out too as Clive and David thank the cops.

"Term him as a wanted and runaway criminal." The cop orders.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"That is not Noah," William says when James places his hand on his shoulder.

"He isn't. It is someone else and we have to give that soul a conclusion." James hugs him from behind. He could feel William was crying so he wouldn't turn him.

"I will fuck that person up who has done this to my Noah." He turns to Logan now, his eyes were red with tears.

"First on that list is your father, Harvey Clarke."

He walks to Dylan and stands in front of him, "Where is that person now?"

"If he took the crown, he must be back at the castle." Dylan thinks.

"Then we need to go there before the cops do." William sits in the car, ready to drive.

The others don't need another signal and they rush to sit in.

The chase begins!