FULL NOVELXO Chapter Chapter Thirteen
Thirteenth Precinct, New York City
Detective Richard Hamilton rubbed his face as he leaned back in his seat. He wished that he could have given Carver more information about the murder investigation after the forensic team had pointed out the pieces of wood being very similar to what had been found when Carver’s wife had been murdered. It was still too early in the case though to make any suggestions like that.
“Who was that?” Detective Johnny Rivers asked as he sat down across from his partner. “Don’t tell me the paparazzi are already calling you for answers.” If there was one thing Rivers hated, it was the paparazzi. He didn’t believe anything good ever came from them.
“Actually it was Carver Matthews.” Hamilton replied. “He had heard about the murder in the news, no doubt one of those news stories that used a title that stuck out, and wanted to know if there were any connections between this murder and his wife’s murder.”
River shook his head. “Man’s wife has been dead for a couple of years and he still hasn’t forgotten or moved on.” He said. “Either that’s loyalty or obsession.”
“Well maybe if you ever get married, you will figure out the difference.” A woman said as she joined them. She sat down next to Detective Hamilton.
“What do you have for me Aisha?” Hamilton asked.
Aisha looked at the two. “According to our techs who went through surveillance recordings from yesterday at the library our murder victim’s daughter was last seen at, it appears that the men who chased her either didn’t take her or they caught up to her in another part of town. They’re working with the Feds on running facial recognition through the recordings in the entire city.”
Hamilton sighed. “So we have a murdered mother and a missing daughter.” He said before he frowned. “What are we missing?” He knew that his team knew it was a rhetorical question. They had the only suspects they could find in lockup being questioned, surveillance being searched and the medical examiner trying to find any other clue about how their victim had been murdered.
“Well, while we wait for something to pop up there, how about we see if missing persons has found any leads on the missing Cassidy Rose.” Aisha said.
River laughed. “You just want to know because you love that book of hers.” He said.
“Hold on. Don’t move.” Hamilton said. He turned to Aisha. “Doesn’t Cassidy know Carver Matthews?” He asked.
Aisha and River looked at each other. “Never says your friend’s last name so I can’t be sure if it’s the same Carver.” Aisha told Hamilton. “Why?”
Hamilton stood up and went over to the investigation board. “Georgia Miller was found murdered and her daughter is still missing.” He said, putting the picture of Molly under the picture of her mother. “Cassidy Rose, the famous author is missing and so is her daughter.” He took out a marker and wrote ‘Cassidy Rose’ and ‘daughter’ under it next to the two pictures. “Nichallo Pensar is also missing.” He wrote ‘Nichallo’ next to ‘Cassidy’.
River and Aisha looked at the board. “What are you saying?” River asked.
Hamilton turned to them. “According to Cassidy’s book, Nichallo had an apprentice named Carver working at his shop. They found a girl named Skye. Years later, Carver’s wife, also named Skye, is found murdered in their home. Nichallo and Cassidy are now missing. Tora is also missing and we’re dealing with another mother who was murdered and her daughter is missing as well.”
“Whoa there Richard.” Aisha said. “Remember, we already questioned Carver during the investigation into his wife’s murder. The man had a few panic attacks from the shock of his wife being murdered. I nearly had the medical team take him to the hospital because of it.”
“Aisha is right.” River said. “Even if Carver is friends with Cassidy and Nichallo, he doesn’t have a motive or reason to kill Georgia Miller or kidnap her daughter. If you’re trying to build a case against him based off of a young adult book, you’ll be laughed out of court.” He didn’t want to see his friend’s reputation get ruined because he had based everything on a book.
“What about wanting revenge on Nichallo and Cassidy?” Hamilton asked. He didn’t want to believe that Carver was the kidnapper or an accomplice to the killer but he was the best lead he now had and he wanted to make sure that he had thought of everything before going after Carver. “If he loved Skye as much as Cassidy said he did in her book, wouldn’t it make sense for him to want to get revenge for her murder and blame them for not stopping the killer?”
“Now you’re just grasping at straws.” Aisha said. “Richard, you can’t base this investigation into Carver off of a fictional book. Besides, the time of Skye’s murder, he was at the museum working, remember?”
“What about today’s murder though?” Hamilton asked. “Or when Cassidy, Tora and Nichallo went missing a few days ago?” He took his phone out. “I need to call him down here for an interview.”
“Good luck with that.” River said, causing both Aisha and Hamilton to look at him.
Hamilton frowned. “What does that mean?” He asked.
“My brother works for the same driving company Carver works for. While you were up there thinking of how Carver could be responsible, I was texting my brother to see if he had seen Carver the last two or three days.” River explained, holding up his phone. “According to my brother, Carver was working during the time of Cassidy and Nichallo’s disappearances and then left the city yesterday after asking for some time off because it’s the anniversary of his wife’s murder.”
Hamilton crossed his arms over his chest. There was no way Carver could be the killer or the one who had taken Nichallo and Cassidy then. “What about Tora and Molly though?” He asked. “Where was he when they both went missing?”
“Well, we need to first find out what time Molly had gone missing.” Aisha reminded Hamilton. “And as for Tora, last anyone had seen of her was when she had left school the day her mother had disappeared.”
Hamilton turned back to their board. They were missing something. He knew that Carver was somehow involved. He just didn’t know the connection.