Chapter 9: Chapter 9
“What did they want from you?” demanded dad, sitting on his rocking chair and smoking his cigar. Mum appeared extremely worried too and had not eaten anything since morning.
“Nothing much dad,” I replied casually, moving towards the dining table and grabbing an apple, I hadn't eaten anything too since those officers had taken me and thus, was extremely famished. “I knew Emily Billings, she was in History class so it was just an ordinary inquiry, other students were taken too,” I lied fervently, avoiding the possibility of an extended curfew and enhanced fear and trepidation amongst mum and dad.
“Edward, we should change her school, it's affecting her academics plus the association with Brent High now could leave a bad mark in her resume during university application,” cried mom, nagging dad to take some action as I rolled my eyes and moved upstairs to my room. I sat on my bed, replaying the conversation I had with Jason Fox in my head. I wished they would make some better progress with the case and catch the real culprit. No matter what Emily and her boyfriend had done to me, I still didn't think that anyone deserved to die that heinously and I would do anything if it was in my power to get the murderer to trial. Thinking of the murderer, my mind recollected Matt and without wasting a single second I dashed towards my mobile and dialed his number. It was switched off, and my anxiety increased greatly. I fidgeted frantically for a few minutes, desperately thinking of a way to communicate with Matt and find the truth before the officers could reach him. Mum and dad would have never allowed me to go out, especially after today's interrogation. In a moment of utmost desperation, the daredevil inside me rose, and sliding the window of my room, I sneaked out cautiously, without making a single noise. Attempting to slide down the drainpipe, I slipped and fell on the grassy ground, hurting my waist. I flinched in pain, grabbing my waist, and rising with heroic determination to reach Matt's house which was about twenty blocks away from my house.
With a substantial struggle, I approached his house, bearing a deep sigh of relief, only to discover a police siren blaring unendurably across the area, as a group of officers lead by Jason Fox, pushed a depressed-looking Matt, who was handcuffed, inside the police van, and lead him away from my direction, as I concealed myself from their eyes by hiding behind a tree. With a shrewd man like Jason Fox on the case, I was least surprised by his quickness to act and confrontation with Matt, but that was exactly what I had been dreading. However, I didn't care about the basis of what evidence or theory he arrested Matt, I wasn't going to rest until I weaseled the truth out of Matt's mouth, or from his mind, for that matter.
I had to act instantly, but I just couldn't barge into the headquarters of the London Police Criminal Intelligence with an aching waist and an empty pocket. Therefore, I decided to return home as early as possible and come up with a plan to find my way into the highly secured building possibly the next day, as obviously, they wouldn't allow a teenager to meet someone, whom they suspected to be a brutal criminal and that too without suspecting me of being a partner in the crime.
The following morning, after immensely persuading my parents to let me off to Judy's house for completion of highly crucial project work, I hired a minicab and headed towards the only person I knew, who could help me devise a plan to infiltrate the Criminal Intelligence's headquarters. Drake's Bar emerged unnaturally crowded and a lot tidier than it did on my previous visit, with rows of tables arranged systematically and appearing spick and span. Loads of middle-class Londoners enjoyed beer and brandy and chatted animatedly, as classic pop music from the eighties, erupted out of the newly built speakers from every corner of the cobweb free and newly painted amber walls. I moved towards the counter, passing by the crowd which eyed me suspiciously and murmured in grunts.
“Hey sweet girl, would you like a drink,” jeered a drunken young man, rising from his seat and moving towards me. I tried swerving across him silently, but he raised a hand to block my path. “Come on sweetheart, join us and have a pint,” I was burning with nervousness, and was about to request him politely to move, when a huge arm caught him by the collar of his rugged shirt from behind his back, and raised him a few inches above the ground, as the drunk guy struggled weakly. The man marched towards the exit and opening the door threw him outside on the street like a sack of rubbish. Two of the young man's drunk companions rose from their seats and threw punches at him, which he firmly caught like cricket balls and twisted them with ease and without breaking a sweat, while the two drunkards yelped in excruciating pain. The man abandoned their fists, grabbed both their heads, and smashed them against each other as they passed out, then holding the duo by their respective collars, he dragged them to the exit door and shoved them outside as well.
“And stay out you uncivilized dogs!” Holden yelled gruffly, closing the door and turning to face me. The rest of the crowd, which was gazing at him stunningly till that point, went back to its chattering, lowering their noises. “I hope that drunken lunatic didn't hurt your feeling, Miss Ellie,” he said with a wink, grinning at me humorously. I shook my head with an amused smile as he moved towards me, looking well-groomed and way more jovial than he did last time.
“So, what pleasure do I owe you this time?”