Darcy

“Darcy is not in her usual self anymore. She has completely lost control over herself. I want to help her but only if she wants me to”, Ryan told his Chief, Mr. Dooley. 

It was 5th June, 2012, Saturday night when the first mysterious murder of the town was reported to the police. The environment of the town changed and the people were in terrible and utter shock. The town was in peace and harmony until the death of Mr. John, a thirty-five-year-old married businessman was found dead in the George Lake. His body was recovered a day later he was reported missing by his wife. The shocking news spread like a wildfire among the people and everyone lost their cool. After the post-mortem of the body, the doctors concluded that he was stabbed twice in his chest and then drowned in the water. Ryan Stan was appointed as the head of the team from the police department to investigate the case.

 He was one of the finest and brilliant officers in the department. He was intelligent, observant and honest in his profession. The very next day, the appointed team was on their way for the thorough investigation. The team left no house, no spot to cover for evidence until they found a knife in the greenery near the lake. The knife had blood on it but shockingly no fingerprints. It was clear that the killer did not want to leave any trace to be found. Mr. John’s wife was interrogated on a wide range of questions to get hold of any enemy or someone they might have suspected to be a potential threat. But no suspect was found in the case, all they had was a knife with no proper evidence on it. Two days passed, they were on their way of further investigation when news of an unknown dead man was found on the third day. The man was not from around the town nor did anyone know him. His identity was investigated upon and they found out that he was a worker in the steel factory from another town, named Lavis, who was wandering in the roads all drunk. He was stabbed the same way Mr. John was stabbed, but no knife or further evidence was found in his case. The town was in news headlines and everyone was terrified and in utter shock. Ryan tried his best to interlink these two men but found no dots to connect. All they had was two dead bodies, a knife and an unsolved murder mystery. 

It rained cats and dogs for the next three days. On the fourth day, Ryan along with his team searched the area around the lake again, but found nothing. The next day was a Sunday, Ryan decided to take a day off from the case and walk around the park, and it was when he saw Darcy for the first time. She was this very beautiful and extremely attractive person, sitting alone in the park on a Sunday morning, wearing a short yellow dress and black boots, her reddish brown hair parted sideways allowing her locks to fall over her eyelashes, her eyes tinted blue and a pointed nose, lips pink as rose. Her smile was enticing with her blushed apple cheeks; she looked ethereal with a flower pinned behind her right ear. He couldn’t resist and approached her. Darcy was shy at first but after few minutes of talking, she was opening up. 

“So where do you live?” Ryan asked her.

 “I just moved in the town near the mountains, been just two weeks”, she replied. 

“So you live with your parents or siblings? Or friends?” 

“No. I live alone there. I lost my parents when I was twelve. Since then I grew up in an orphanage and now recently shifted. I work in a coffee shop and earn my living”. 

“I am extremely sorry to hear that, it has been quite a struggle for you, all the way alone. So don’t you have friends?” Ryan asked her. 

“Not many actually, kind of have trust issues so I stay away from facades.”

“Well yeah! That’s true; it’s hard trusting someone these days. Everybody wears a mask, I agree.” They giggled and exchanged looks after this. 

“So, did you hear about the murders in the town? It must have been terrifying for you; after all you stay there alone.” Ryan asked out of curiosity. 

“Umm, actually, I really don’t know who they were because I hardly got to time to socialize with anybody in the town. But if you ask me, I don’t feel terrified because there’s always two sides of a story and we just have to connect them”, Darcy replied with a straight face. 

“What do you mean by a story? You think there’s a reason behind these two murders and they are interlinked?” 

Darcy did not know that Ryan was the head of the investigating team. As he spoke to her about this, she smiled and said “I understand. In your profession it’s natural to suspect and interrogate anyone”. 

“Hey no! You’re getting me wrong I guess, I didn’t mean to make you feel like a suspect. I just want you to be safe because there are greedy and hungry men in the streets who can target you or threaten you, also that you live alone in the town where there has been two murders recently, I just wanted to make sure that you are safe”, Ryan calmly replied. 

“It’s alright. I understand. Thank you! I’ll make sure that nobody harms me and if I sense something I’ll surely inform the police”, Darcy smiled. 

They both go for breakfast in a nearby café and talk for a while. They were about to leave when Ryan received a call from his senior officer with an urgent notice to meet him. They hugged each other and exchanged phone numbers before they parted their ways. Ryan reached to the police station in a hurry and saw a middle aged man sitting by the corner of his room. He went inside and found Mr. Dooley, his senior officer sitting on his chair with a cup of coffee. He was offered the same, but he was already full. Mr. Dooley said that this man called the station this morning and wants to share something about the murders in the town. Ryan sat down on a chair and started the interrogation. 

“Tell us everything in detail, whatever you want to tell us, and we assure you we’ll keep your identity confidential”, Ryan said. 

“It was late at night when I was coming home from work, I saw a lady near the lake, sitting alone in the lake dockyard. It seemed strange to me, because nobody goes there alone at night, that too so late, and all alone. I called her out, but she didn’t respond. It was dark, I called her again, this time she just turned back and said she’s fine and there’s nothing to worry.”

“So did you see her face or anything that you can recall or perhaps help us to distinguish?”

“It was really dark, I didn’t have the guts to go and ask her because I was tired and honestly, alarmed of the cases that took place recently. I didn’t want to make myself a target and I just came home but I didn’t tell this to anyone.”

“When did you see her? What day?” Mr. Dooley asked.

“It was Monday probably, yes, Monday. It was around 10 in the night. It was the night before that unknown man’s body was found.” 

“So you are suggesting that this lady is a suspect and that she might know what all this is about? Do you think the lady to be the killer?” Mr. Dooley asked. 

“I don’t know. I just saw her, which might be a coincidence too. I mean, why would a lady kill someone? Women are gentle and soft, I don’t think this is any woman’s job!” the man replied. 

Ryan along with Mr. Dooley decided to talk about this with the whole team and then come to a conclusion. The team decided to stop at every house in the town and ask about any lady they find suspicious or any other suspects. Ryan hit the bell of the fifth house, and it was Darcy who opened the door. He was surprised to see her there. 

“Hey! You live here? How come I not know that? I stopped by this house for two-three times, but nobody answered. How are you by the way? And am sorry, I couldn’t call you because I was really caught up in the case.”

“No, it’s fine. I understand that. Actually I wasn’t home at the time you came, so maybe you missed out on this place. Well, I told you that I moved here two weeks ago, but ya, I probably didn’t mention which house. So what made you guys come here again?”

“A guy came yesterday to the station yesterday morning and told us that he saw some lady around the lake late night few days back, so just interrogating people on that. Do you suspect someone around here? Any lady or anyone else?”

“Umm no, I really don’t know people that well in here, so can’t really help you on that. Oh! Am so sorry, I didn’t even ask you to come in! Have a cup of coffee, ask your team to come in too, you guys are really working hard!”

“Its fine, some other day may be, today we are really looking forward to find something for the case, it’s been days and we still have nothing much in the hand. But, thank you for asking.” 

“Alright, you don’t have to be that formal with me, consider me your friend! And ya, feel free to call me any time after five in the evening, that’s when my shift gets over”, Darcy smiled and bid him goodbye. 

The team interrogated every house in the town, but didn’t hear of any lady. They were starting to think if the man made up the story to deflect us. He was called again and he was asked the same questions again, his answers were the same. He was adamant that he has seen a lady by the dock but couldn’t recall any feature because it was dark. A week passed, they found no further evidence to the case. Meanwhile Ryan and Darcy started bonding very well. They had calls after their shifts and met twice in the week. They decided to take things forward and planned to meet for a dinner date. 

 

“So, how’s the case going? Have you found anyone or any suspects? The news channels are all bullshit! They just cook the real story by adding some more spices and present a dish that is hard to swallow!” Ryan laughed at this statement of her.

“You know, the media is paid to sell bad dishes! But, yeah, we haven’t really found anything to meet the ends. Let’s not talk about all these now; we are here for a date not to investigate the case. Let’s talk about us today”, Ryan smiled and poured her a glass of wine. 

They enjoyed each other’s company along with the romantic music in the background. They were laughing, exchanging looks and holding each other’s hands. Everything was fine until Ryan asked Darcy to tell about herself. Darcy was reluctant to share anything about her past. Ryan felt like he was forcing her and thus he stopped to lighten the air between them and not spoil the night. Ryan thought of giving her the time to trust him and share things with him. He didn’t want to rush. On this note, their dinner was over and Ryan dropped her off to her house and kissed her forehead before leaving. 

The next morning as Ryan woke up; he received a call from the police station stating that they found another dead body near the lake. He rushed to the station and gathered with his team to check the body. Upon investigating, they find that he was stabbed too. Ryan noticed that his left fist was closed as if he had grabbed something inside. He somehow separated his fingers and saw a hairpin in his hand. It was now evident that the killer is a woman. Ryan found the driving license in the man’s pocket, he was Andy. Ryan recalled that he has seen him somewhere and struggling to remember that he called Darcy if she knew him too. 

“Hey, is everything okay? You sound tensed”, Darcy said. 

“Ya am good, just had to rush to the station, we found another dead body but he looks familiar. Do you know any Andy?”

“Andy? Well there’s one Andy I know, we work at the same coffee shop. Why?”

“Yes! Andy! Yes yes! This is him, Oh God! I’ll call you later, take care” and Ryan hung up the phone. 

Mr. Dooley heard that Andy and Darcy worked together at a coffee shop and asked Ryan to bring Darcy for an interrogation. Ryan was reluctant, he didn’t want to mix his personal life with his professional life, and he thought this could jumble things between them. But Darcy was the only person who could talk about in details about the man. Darcy was called for an interrogation, Ryan decided not to leave her alone in the room with Mr. Dooley as he assumed that she might get tensed and decided to stay in the room. 

“So, Darcy, tell me, how long have you known each other? I mean you and Andy?”

“It has been almost a month that I know him. He was a little strange type, he didn’t talk much and kept things to himself. He has a sister, sometimes he mentioned about her and they lived together. His parents were separated and then his mom died and since then they grew up alone.”

“Do you know anything about where he lived recently and where he worked before? Because the license we found is expired and has the old address, where we called and verified.”

“Umm no, he never mentioned about his work, but he probably lived in the Allies Street. I have seen him going there many a time.”

“Anything else? Who do you think can kill him? Any idea? Did he have any enemies or recently got into some duel with anybody from work?” 

“I honestly didn’t like him much; he was kind of a Casanova, may be his girlfriends’ got to know that he was playing around and probably got into a fight or so. Anything can happen.” Darcy gave a cunning smile. 

Darcy was freed and she went off to her shift at the coffee shop. Meanwhile, Mr. Dooley found something dodgy in her. He called Ryan to talk about her. 

“How long do you know Darcy?”

“Three weeks probably. Why? What does that have to do with the case?”

“No, didn’t you find her way to casual? She lives in the same town where there have been three murders as of now, and Andy being her co-worker, she wasn’t at all emotional. She was smiling and straightforward to whatever she was asked.”

“I don’t understand. She just clearly said she didn’t prefer that guy, and the fact that she recently moved to this town, she doesn’t have any emotional connection with anybody. And that’s pretty obvious! What’s bothering you?”

“Tell me what you know about her, I need to know.”

“I think Mr. Dooley, you are mistaking her. I like her, and I want to be with her, I cannot spoil things between us just because you find her emotions to be suspicious. She is strong, emotionally, which is evident. You just interrogated her; she answered all your questions, what is there to suspect her? Is it because the killer is a lady and you think she can be the killer because she is new in this town and nobody knows much about her? This is ridiculous!” 

“Connect the dots dear”, Mr. Dooley lighted a cigarette and smiled at Ryan.

Ryan slammed the cabin door and headed towards the lake dockyard. He wanted to search that place again all by himself in the daylight. He was infuriated and frustrated about everything that was happening. His phone beeped, it was a text from Darcy asking if everything was fine, he ignored the text and went on searching.

 Darcy was a twenty two year old orphan who lived alone in a small house near Adirondack Mountains, New York. She was 5’5 with a healthy manifest. She loved to stay in fashion. She was a happy camouflage in the streets. She moved to the city when she was only twelve and grew up in St. Maria’s Orphanage. Her past is a mystery. Nobody knew where she grew up and who her parents were. Nobody knew her whereabouts. 

Ryan didn’t get rid of the doubts instilled by Mr. Dooley and he blamed him for that. He wanted to prove him that she was innocent and had nothing to with all of these. Ryan decided to stay around the dock for the night. He hid himself behind a tree and kept looking around. It was all quiet around until he heard approaching footsteps. He saw someone walk towards the dockyard. 

“Darcy?” Ryan murmured to himself. He was shocked to her there, all alone by herself. He waited for a while but saw nobody else. She was sitting on the dock alone. He was in a dilemma whether to approach her or not. He waited but still found no one around except her. He finally decided to go and talk to her. 

“Darcy? Hi! What are you doing here? You are not supposed to be here, you know why. This place isn’t safe that’s why we have sealed it. Let’s go, before someone sees us, come on!” 

“Hey chill! I love this place man! Look how peaceful and quite it is here amidst all the city crowds and noises. And, I know I am not supposed to be here but this is where I find peace; I come here sometimes, stay here for a while alone and then head back home. Come sit here!”

“I understand, but you know I have to make people aware of these things so that they are safe”, and he sat beside her. 

They talked for a while, they laughed and held hands. Ryan confronted about his feelings to her, she blushed and then there was a silence. He was curious to know what she felt for him; he grabbed her and came close to kiss her. It was in fraction of seconds that Darcy became violent all of a sudden. She pushed him away and tried to run from there. Ryan was struck by this, he grabbed her hand to talk to her and stop her but she became aggressive. Darcy took out a knife from her jacket and was about to hit him, but he pushed her and managed to escape from there. He was struck with bolt from the blue. He was not prepared to see her in this way. He called Mr. Dooley and asked to come there as soon as possible. Darcy was still looking for him. Ryan somehow managed to camouflage himself into the woods and stood silent. He waited for his team to arrive as he was unarmed and he didn’t want to hurt her in anyway. Soon the police cars reached near the dock and Ryan came out of the woods hurriedly. He told everything that had happened. The team reached to Darcy’s house and broke inside. She was hiding in the bathroom and was resisting coming out. 

“Darcy please come out for God’s sake! No one’s going to hurt you, please come out, you will be safe. Darcy! Darcy! Please open the door!” Ryan screamed. 

They broke into the bathroom and saw Darcy lying down and her wrist was slit. She was bleeding profusely. They rushed her to the hospital. Ryan wanted to save her at any cost because he was in love with her. Ryan broke and started crying; Mr. Dooley sat beside to console him and offered him a cup of coffee.   

 “Darcy is not in her usual self anymore. She has completely lost control over herself. I want to help her but only if she wants me to”, Ryan told his Chief, Mr. Dooley.

Darcy was in critical state. They were suggested to appoint a psychiatrist for her betterment. She got a stitch and rested for the night. The doctor told Ryan that she had bruises all over the body which suggested as some kind of physical torture. Ryan knew nothing about her; he even asked some of her friends whom she mentioned earlier during their chats but nobody knew about her. She never wanted anybody to know about her. This bothered Ryan intensely. He visited St. Maria’s orphanage where she claimed to grow up. One of the sister said that she ran from her house when she was twelve because she couldn’t stand the separation of her parents and two days later her parents were found dead inside their house. She didn’t talk to anyone and kept everything to herself. She didn’t prefer socializing initially but after few years she was befriending people. 

Ryan reached to the hospital to check on her. He had called Mrs. Ella, a well-known psychiatrist and also his mother’s best friend. He asked to help her in his case to find the truth if Darcy was behind the killing spree or there was something else happening. Mrs. Ella assured to help him. The next day they both meet at her office. 

“Ryan tells me a lot about you. He is very dear to me. He wants you to be happy and cheerful just like the day he first saw you. Darcy, will you help us dear?” Mrs. Ella calmly asked her.

Darcy was nearly numb. She didn’t say a word and kept her head downwards. Ryan was sitting just beside her. He wanted to make sure that he was with her no matter what she has done or been through. 

“Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Tell me about your family”.

“There’s nothing much to know about me. I lost my parents, I ran away. Why is everyone asking me about my childhood? Will that make a good story for all of you to read and entertain yourself?” Darcy was becoming violent again. She had to be dosed with a tranquilizer, and then she fainted. It was tough interacting with her. She had to be hypnotized after she woke up because she had lost all her senses. 

“Darcy? Are you feeling good now? Would you like to talk?”

“Yeah, why do I feel dizzy? What did you do?”

“Nothing dear, it’s just a headache. It will go away. Give some time.”

Darcy was asked the same question again. She was asked about her childhood. It was evident that something from her childhood or past traumas was affecting her. Upon hearing the question, she broke down and started crying. Her face turned red.

“No matter how hard I try, I cannot forget the sins I have committed. I have sleepless nights where I feel they are staring at me, asking me why I did it”, Darcy said. 

“Sins? What sins? And who are ‘they’?” 

She drank a glass of water, wiped her tears and began telling her story. 

“I grew up in Lily Dale and lived in a small house. My father worked at the gas station and my mother was a chef. She made the best pasta I ever had. We had a dog, Marcel, and were a happy family until I was twelve. My mother had an affair with a rich businessman and enjoyed all the luxuries. She didn’t even think twice before leaving me. My father became a drug addict and started abusing me. The colony didn’t like our family because of the bad reputation. I became a slave to him. 

My mom flew Florida with no contacts of her. Other relatives didn’t prefer our existence. I grew up all alone, away from all the happiness of life, repeatedly abused by my father and other men who were his friends. I was molested often and my father earned extra pennies this way”.

“So, is the rough childhood bothering you?” Mrs. Ella asked.

“No. It is my actions. It was a Saturday night; I was over a friend’s house to celebrate her birthday. As I came home, my father beat me up and locked me in a dark room and starved me for three days. He didn’t like me socializing with people. On the fourth morning I hear a lady screaming from downstairs. I was too weak to even shout. I found a hammer around and started hitting the lock all terrified. I somehow broke the lock and managed to come out of the room. I came down and saw a lady lying on the ground with blood around her. I reached to her and that was my mother who came to visit me, was stabbed by my father and was bleeding profusely. I saw my father lying on the couch with a blood smeared knife in his hand. He was so drunk and intoxicated that he was out of his senses. I did not feel any emotion. I stood there numb. I took the knife from his hand and stabbed him. I was filled with indignation. I stabbed him again for all the tortures he had done to me. I stabbed him over five times for all the happiness he had taken away from me. I didn’t feel any empathy. I lied down next to my mother, she was struggling to breath. I told her everything that I had to go through after she left. But I killed her too, I could have saved her but I didn’t feel any regret. I was lying there like an emotionless creature. Marcel saw me doing all these, I threw him out of the window and he never came back. 

I cleaned the knife with soap, took a shower and changed my clothes. I gathered all my items, packed a bag and left for the city where no one knows me. I felt peace. I grew up in St. Maria’s orphanage, made new friends and lived there henceforth. Two days later the incident was aired in the news but there was no trace of the killer, no one in the town could tell where I was. The orphanage knew that I ran away a day before all of this happened. Nobody could trace the killer and the case was closed. I have been this beautiful young girl ever since with a bright smile. Nobody ever doubted me, I was happy”.

“Darcy, why didn’t you ever tell me all of these? Did you not trust me? Did I hurt you in anyway?” Ryan asked her. 

Darcy didn’t answer his question. She kept quiet. 

“Did you kill these men? Darcy?” Mrs. Ella asked. 

“I didn’t want to but they forced me. I never met them before. But all the three men tried to hurt me. They reminded me of my father. I couldn’t stand the sight of any further tortures. I had to kill them.”

“Why did you try to hurt Ryan then? He didn’t want to hurt you.” 

“I never let anyone come close to me after what I went through. The impact of my childhood is way scarier than I thought it to be. I thought he was one of them too, who wanted to take advantage of me and ….”

The whole session was recorded. Darcy was arrested for the crimes she had committed but she was also helped by Mrs. Ella to overcome her fears. Ryan proved to be the epitome of love. He never left her, supported and consoled her throughout the days she was in the prison. Her story was aired in news and people reacted to it in different ways. Many were proud of her to be this bold and feisty while many sued her for killing these men and not confronting their crimes. Darcy came out clean after almost eight years; they got married to each other and promised to be by each other’s side forever. They moved to Los Angeles and started a whole new life. Darcy was a completely different person now, with the help of all the therapies and treatment, she was changed to a kind and humble person.