Sins And Deaths - Chapter 1

1960: one of the worst years I had ever seen. Shattered lives, torn emotions, broken buildings - Britain turned into a disaster ever since the president's assassination. I began looking out the transparent glass window looking at the clouds pouring the water down the road. At the very bottom, I see people in their deathbeds desperate for food. As my mind was going past a million thoughts, I got phoned. 

 I could not help but wonder who would call me amidst this situation. I held the phone across my ear. ''Hello? I am Lia. Who is speaking?" I began. "Hello. I am sure you have not met me before. I need to talk to you about a serious yet private issue.", the anonymous person proceeded. "All right. And where may I meet you?" I said as he began to message me. I hung up and tapped my fingers against the table as I waited for his message. Not much time later, the text message finally got through. At this moment, I could not trust any of my senses. I was in despair to oblige at least one individual during this challenging period. As I shifted my eyes to the phone, I read the message, "Meet me at the mall. Don't text this number after. I will be wearing a blue hat. If I am not, then do not say anything. Wear a coat and reach the mall in ten minutes," as he blocked me with a sudden start. 

I was suspicious of the person, yet I followed my gut. I held my hand tight onto the coat. I wore it around my back, leaving a sleeve bare. I descended the stairs one by one until a wrong thought crossed my mind - the president is an evil person with a sinful mentality. I had many personal interactions with the president that inspire me till today. But his interviews were vague and not so precise. And I had a strong feeling that what we were going to be talking about was about the president. Soon, I reached the ground thinking whilst all the misery I see. I kept my head straight up tearing up inside to see Britain suffer this much. Trying hard to keep brave, I finally reached the mall. Someone with a blue hat and black clothes came near me. "You must be Lia. I hope I am free to tell you DARK SECRETS. You are a detective, so keep your head up high before it falls."

He held my hand, "Act along. This is private, we don't want to get caught." I was wrecked about what was going on. "Hello, sweetie. I love you so much. I want to take you somewhere more private." Remembering what he said, I jumped and hugged him quickly. "Aw, that is so sweet. I love you too." I could not believe what he told me to do. It was all for the sake of something. We went to the cafeteria and he started saying something in Spanish. "Can you get real right now? You expect me to hug you in public when everyone is sad and you expect the public to think we are having something else going on?" I yelled. "A detective keeps their head straight not too far above the limit. Amongst everything happening, you must protect yourself. You are signed up for the most perilous case you can get. You should investigate the death of the president and why no one is stepping up to be president." I was in shock. I could not believe what chance they had given me. "Oh my god. You, you called me here to do something risky during this time. I do not know what to say but I have been thinking about it lately and this day has not shown me any light. I will take it." He nodded in agreement. "Excellent. You will be paid a total of one million euros excluding the prize money you would be given by the police."

   

We opened our arms, scrunched our coats tightly to our chest and walked by to the nearest store we saw. I could see the person's anxiety right through his face. I was shaken to the soul. I took my car and drove to the dusty garage that had not been touched in months. Not much time later, I reached the place, opening the shutter with an unwelcoming and squeaky sound. When I turned my head down to look at my fingers, the dust turned the pale fingers into a dusty brownish hue. "Lia smith. Back to your old life", I said as I took a deep sigh. Ever since I have had a ring on my finger, I always thought about having a roof on my head. For my family's sake, I have put down the job of my dreams and decided to go for a stable job that does not include any falls and is something worth making a living out of. 

A million thoughts passed my head, I shifted my glance to the bulletin board opening my eyes back to that time when I solved every single case leaving open stars connected into a constellation. While I processed the dots, my eyes turned below to the table. The table was covered in grey dust. I swept my hand through it finding spots that had already been clear. It was obvious someone barged in. I found the unfinished documents laying on the floor and the cigarette standing. The cigarette showed indications of someone smoking it even when I left it alone. It was scrunched up - like someone had held it between two fingers. I gazed at the floor tapping my feet against the ground. 

I set the thought aside for a while and put my mind to focus on the president's assassination. I dusted off the computer and turned it on. I moved my mouse towards the search engine and started looking at the president's history the last day he died. I put my glasses partly near the eye and started scrolling. He woke up at 4:00 am, and some employees say he had not come to the hallway until 5:00 am. I kept reading to find out that he had just eaten his daily breakfast halfway but he looked satisfied to the workers. The record was beyond belief. No one should look underneath what I am doing. I went in search of all Britain and managed to find all the employees and arranged for a conference the next day. 

I put my hands into my pocket, squinting my eyes and looking at every single person struggling, walked to the meeting hall, and knocked the brass knocker that mirrored my glum face. I sat on the chair, and all eyes turned to me, and I was in the centre of the attention. "Perhaps it is a very sad situation because of the assassination of the president, everything is fallen apart. If this goes for long, you will have to keep your heads bent to the dictators. Do not be afraid to pull your jaw down and expose the bitter truth.", I remarked. All the heads turned to me, giving a sharp look in the eye. "Ma'am. This is Regna. I used to be the former assistant of the president. Right now, I work as a spy and I currently hold a fake passport for Britain.", said an anonymous person as she walked through the door.

She came and blew a puff from a scrunched cigarette. I reminded myself back to that time when I found a scrunched cigarette on my dirty gauge table. I rolled my eyes from the bottom to the top. Black heels with gunpowder, a mini skirt with filled pockets, and a white shirt tucked in.  "Stay out of this, please. I will meet you later.", I said as I was about to burst. "Oh, well. I will meet you.", she said while raising her eyebrow. She left the door creaking. "I will make this quick, and don't make this hard for yourselves. Tell me everything you have witnessed the whole month.", I demanded. Someone looked me in my eyes and stood up. "Excuse me. I know everything the president has done in the past few weeks." I clicked the pen one by one and squinted my eyes while broadening out my ears. "I woke him up in the morning the other day. I don't remember the date exactly, though. He told me to stay outside and that is very doubtful for a president to say that to a national spy. To see what is wrong, I put his security aside in the name of protection. He started writing a letter and barged through all of his closets to find the finest wax which is only used to seal confidential letters.", he stopped and bent his head down. There was complete silence in the room.

"Turn your jaws up...", I paused. "And keep it that way. Although this might be threatening for you, I will assure you all safety. You all have been called here for a reason. Every little detail helps. Amongst you all, I need to see some bravery. Speak up!" Silence took over the whole conference room. I gently stood up and hit my arms to see if anyone was going to state anything. Instead, that sent shivers to their bones. Feeling disappointed, I walked out of the room. But just then, I found a slight feeling of something rubbing down my ankle. Reminded of the association with gunpowder down the unexpected lady's heels, I bent down. I put my glove on and started touching the powder, then I held it near my nose and smelled it. "She was trying to kill me. Did she drop the gunpowder by accident or is someone making her do it?", I thought to myself. I walked to the waiting room to find her, but there was no trace. Opening my eyes out wide, I rushed to the security room. Quickly, I looked through all of the footage keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity.

Resume your reading from reading Chapter 2 which will be coming out about a few weeks later.