Murder In The Confined: Chapter 2

Now that I’m wide awake, I got myself a mug of coffee prior to occupying the sofa. I grasped the TV remote and raised my arm to turn it on as I sipped the perfect coffee silently and looked down.

“Breaking news; Javed Malik, Industrialist and CEO of the country's most valuable technology company murdered in an elevator.”

Instantly looked up. This is supposed fake news for sure. I checked the other channels, and it turned out to be true. I didn’t see how someone with significant security could be murdered. I left the coffee mug on the table and rose up prior to shaking my head.

Something in my pocket was vibrating. I answered a phone call from CID after lifting my mobile to view it with my jaw dropped.

“Shawn escaped from prison last afternoon.”

I didn’t move. I just asked who Shawn was, in a deep voice.

“The culprit in Miss Ashley’s murder case.”

“WHAT?!?!”, my voice was a bit louder, with frustration.

“Can you please come to the crime scene of Mr. Javed Malik’s murder case as soon as possible?”

“I’m on my way then.”

I rolled up the sleeves of my white shirt and got the key from the drawer alongside the TV before I ran to my bullet motorbike. I rode to the headquarters of India’s best technology company. 

It was a tall skyscraper with an office, a pub, restaurants, gyms and quite a few unnoticeable things. Everything was shut but a restaurant and a bar.

When I first glanced at the dead body in the elevator, I never spotted any wounds. His eyes were closed and there weren’t any weapons in the elevator. The elevator was more immense than the Great Barrier reef. There wasn’t any clue.

His personal manager was contacted abruptly, half an hour before he appeared. He was a thin man in black shirt and grey trousers. We were on the ground floor standing beside the reception. He walked to us, “I know it’s an emergency, I was stuck in the traffic.”

This man’s voice was somewhat deep. I was amazed that he apologized rather than investigating why he was called. And here was my first suspect.

“You should’ve told us if there was traffic. We would’ve arranged a video conference.” I continued to stare at him. 

He remained mum.

The ground floor of the building had the reception, an empty area with air conditioning, numerous sofas and elevators. I got my hands out of my pockets and looked at Alen, the CID officer, “Anyway, let’s start the investigation sir.”

He glanced at me and used a hand gesture and guided us towards one of the sofas. I just went to one of the officers, “Please get the CCTV recordings downloaded in a laptop to the bar in a few minutes.”

The dazzling sunlight entered through the untouched glass.

After the personal manager took a seat, I stood with my hands in my pockets again and commenced the investigation, “What happened yesterday when you last met him?”

“Mister Malik permitted me to make a move early last evening at around 6 o’clock, half an hour before he had a scheduled informal meeting with a few employees, in the restaurant.”

This man seemed anxious as if he’s going to be murdered the next second.

“Who were those employees?”

“I guess, one of them was Arun Thakur.”

“Can we move to the conference room? Please contact him on a video call right now,” I can’t have the traffic make me a man with bipolar disorder. 

He accepted that and we headed towards the conference room.

He was about to press the elevator call button, but I didn’t let that happen, “Wait!!” he looked at me, expressionless, “The dead body was discovered in the elevator, it’s not as safe as the stairs for now.”

He nodded his head prior to going toward the stairs.

If he were the murderer, there would’ve been a chance of him taking the stairs instead, but it’s always good to keep an eye on every goddamn suspect.

We were on the seventh floor, in the conference room. It was fairly large and well-kept, with a whiteboard on one side and a touchscreen TV on the other. I took the seat on the left side and three of us were in the room.

The personal manager connected a skype.

“Good morning, mister Arun,” it was a few minutes past eleven o’clock.

“Good morning,” it looked like he just got out of bed, with his hair messed up, and a low voice, he was trying hard to keep his eyes open.

“When did you meet mister Malik at the restaurant yesterday? And please tell me what happened exactly.”

He took a sip of water, “I met him at 6:30, and we discussed the next project while eating dinner. He paid the bill for me, and I left at around a quarter past seven.”

“Did he seem a bit ill or depressed?”

We didn’t find a suicide note, this was most probably a murder.

“The most significant project was going to start next week, so he was just a bit serious about it.”

“Um, OK thank you,” I left the call.

I stood a few feet away from the officer looking at the island on the TV screen wallpaper, “So . . . nobody met him after a quarter past seven.”

“Do you suspect anyone?”

“Let’s check the CCTV recordings, at the bar.”

The PM was gone, and we shifted the location to the bar.

The bar was heavenly with air conditioning. This was the best bar I’ve been to; it had a long bar-height white table with a TV screen behind on the side contrary to the counter. Waiting for the CCTV files, I took a shot of apple juice, and someone’s mobile rang.

As I let the shot glass rest on the table, “Sir, the coin bank has been robbed.”

“Sir, here’s the CCTV footage”

“Go for investigation. I’ll solve this murder.”

The officers were gone, but the man who helped me get the footage remained.

Everything was just the way it was told till Mr. Malik went to the restroom on the third floor, that’s where the restaurant was. He never stepped out of the restroom according to the cams. The cam in the elevator was destroyed a few hours before the meeting at the restaurant.

My head was dead after a lot of work. This guy can’t be an ordinary murderer, he’s surely intelligent, and if you want to get him, you got to stop thinking of cliche ways to find clues and suspects. I’m not so creative, though I’ve thrown many brainy lawbreakers into prison. I took a shot of white rum.

I went back to the recordings and thought in the cliche way, telling myself it was the last time for this case. As far as I know, three people carried suitcases that day. I called a security officer and asked the reason for the suitcase in the office. 

He told that two of the three came together, directly from the airport. The other guy had a newsboy cap, he came for an interview. I was told that his suitcase had a blazer and his documents for the interview, it was technically empty. He could just hold the documents and put on the blazer.

He was the one who got into the restroom, it was past midnight when he got out. He was the last one to use the elevator before the dead body was detected, and he walked straight out of the building. I was about to demand the officer to get the footage of the cams outside, but just then . . . phone call.

“Javed Malik and his younger sister, Afeeza Malik’s bank accounts have been looted in three various banks. Nobody was wounded in the banks. Security has been tightened in all the other banks of the city.”

“Where’re you right now?” I asked with a deep, serious voice.

“The Coin Bank.”

“I’m there”, I ended the call.

I ordered the officer there, “Get The footage of the cams outside and DM the footage of the time when he left to me,” I quickly told my number and gingerly put my mobile into my front-right pocket. I set out on my bullet, towards the bank.

There wasn’t a rabble, I perceived that the press didn’t perceive this yet.

“The employee with him near the lockers told that he went to the restroom for a minute, and he was gone, leaving the glass on the seventeenth floor broken.”

“Check the cams”

“That room”

“Let’s go then quick, who’s doing these many crimes in the city today?”

I got the footage DM’d to me. I and the CID officer entered, the room with two bank employees. While they watched for the robber, I watched the murderer. I leaned my right shoulder and bicep onto the wall and had the mobile down. 

He had his newsboy cap off and threw it into the bushes and took off his blazer, which was over a white skin-tight shirt, he had big biceps. I saw his big face with a perfect jawline as he walked beside the street lamp. It was Shawn.

“It’s him,” said the CID officer looking at the screen. I looked up to see the same face again.

“I predicted that the company would go down for a few days because of Mr. Malik’s demise, but the new CEO has already been announced.”

I walked out to have a look at the TV. A man with a black T-shirt and blue blazer was on the screen. It’s a criminal who murdered two people and robbed six bank accounts. And now he’s the CEO of a multinational company.

How did he do it? I perceived him as a brainless fool when he refused to answer why he murdered Miss Ashley. What does he want to do with a multinational company now?

I turned to the officer who walked out of the other room.

He looked frustrated, shaking his head, “Don’t arrest him,” I frowned, confused. 

“Commissioner’s order.”

“OK, good day,” I shook hands and left with a headache, I just wanted to know why Shawn did that.

It’s the next day, I can’t work for a few days.

“Shawn resigns as the CEO; no reasons have been disclosed. The COO is appointed as the CEO.”

I was informed that Shawn was boarding a flight to Dubai tonight.

I rushed to the airport. I spotted Shawn in a car, which was later stopped abruptly because of me. I requested him to answer a few questions. He agreed.

“Follow my car.”

We went onto an elevated hill; we had a perfect view of the airport and the runways. He was looking at the runways in a skin-tight black T-shirt.

I turned to him, to my left, “Why did you murder two people and rob six bank accounts? What exactly happened?”

“It’s a long story . . . Hear of Tim Anthony?”

“The great forgotten founder of the Multinational company, that you took over,” both of us were very serious, including our tone.

“Know how he died?”

“Suicide,” I was confused why he asked me.

He nodded his head prior to turning to me, “He was killed.”

“So how do you know all this?”

“I saw his demise,” I could feel the pain as his voice went a bit high, he was about to break down mentally.

I didn’t react, I was dumbstruck.

“I was twelve, Mister Malik was a part of the company, I don't know what position though, Tim Anthony was the CEO & Chairman. They were going to see land for the new industry in Mister Anthony’s BMW 320d. They ran out of fuel. Tim Anthony walked up here, he always had a licensed gun in his car and one in his office. Javed took the one in the car and walked up, I followed him. ‘I’ve always told you not to start trading with a few companies and start a few businesses, I’ll deal with everything now.’ And he shot Tim.”

“Then why did you murder Miss Ashley?”

“She was Mister Malik’s daughter, adopted, she always told him to leave the organization or backstab Tim.”

“How did you kill Javed Malik?” I shouldn’t forget this.

“I used pepper spray in his eyes when there was nobody in the restroom and choked him to death after telling him whatever I wanted. I stole his bank account information in his room in the building and broke his sister’s locker. Miss Ashley had an overdosage of sleeping pills.”

“How do you know everything that happened to Tim Anthony?”

He kept mum for a moment, “I’m his son, Shawn Anthony.”

Astounded, I had the last question, “Why’re you going then? Why did you resign as the CEO?”

“It’s not what I want. I just came for revenge . . . and some money. I have other goals to achieve.”

“And best of luck with that,” I let my hand forward.

“Please make sure, everything’s fair. The evil shall face the consequences.”

And we shook hands before he left for his flight.