Seven Targets

Chapter four

He was fortunate that neither of his parents had arrived when he got back home. But he had been amazed at the kind of independence Dave and Jason had. He had been shown different snapshots they had taken at different parties. He had never attended  a university party before except for a get -together celebration he attended at the high school. During dinner that night he was quiet all through as thoughts raced through his mind. He was old enough to start making some decisions himself and he’s about to make one, but the major obstacle was his dad and not his mum. Being a detective he has always been very observant and detailed on what he did, and where he went to. But he had resolved that he would attend the university party that was coming up which Dave had invited him to.

That night Detective Daniel rested his head on the pillow and hoped for sleep to come but it didn’t, his mind was still trying to fix the whole puzzle at the crime scene. No suspect had been apprehended yet ,but from the autopsy carried out on the dead body and the fingerprint points to Nicholas Dobson. But his whereabouts are still unknown. Also no record of his family or close relatives had been found yet,and the kidnapped wives and kids, what have they done to them? Would they still be alive?. Now the case had become two in one,that of murder and kidnapping of three victims. He gave a heavy sigh and closed his eyes, but he instantaneously opened his eyes and sat up. Then he picked up the file and went down to the living room. From the study of the files of the two cases in the city of Philadelphia. The first, Malcom farry, from his record and information obtained by the police and from the neighbors he was known as a businessman, but when the police trolled his apartment for evidence and information they came in contact with several packs of  Hallucinogens drug substances indicating that he was into drugs. Also, the second case, Mr Stephen, from the study of his profile he was a business man too. After his death the same packs of Hallucinogens drugs were recovered from his apartment also. This means that they were into illegal business.but how does this lead to their death?detective Daniel thought.

By Monday The following week,the news was published in a magazine by the CBS broadcasting inc and was delivered to him that morning. A reward would be given to anyone who knows the whereabouts of Nicholas Dobson. Robert, who picked up the magazine from the door, glanced through the subheading on the front page of the news and he recognized the surname, it was the same as that of Dave and Jason but he shoved it aside, different people can bear similar surnames these days. 

Later that morning at the university cafeteria Robert met with Dave and Jason who informed him of the location of the university party that was going to hold in a weeks time.they had agreed to hold it at their apartment.

“How about your mum?,she hadn’t objected to it?” Robert asked wondering why his mum would be comfortable allowing her boys throw a party in the home.

“Nah, she’s cool with it .”he said swinging his right hand  in the air in an indifferent manner”

“ This is not the first time we have had such.” he added 

“Okay.“

“I have not informed my dad or mum yet  though,”Robert said.

“Oh, you have to inform them?” David said and looked at Jason who also looked back at him and smiled back. 

Seeing the expression  on their faces he paused before answering.

“Um,  not really.” Robert responded feeling a bit mortified.

“Alright, good.”

Robert knew his parents would not allow him to go to the party. He however,decided not to tell them. He had never had to sneak out of the house before.He was going to look for something else to tell them he thought.

Detective Daniel had gone back to the crime scene that morning to see if they could get any information from M.r Andrews papers and documents. And true, his instinct led him right.when they arrived at his apartment, they searched the wardrobes in all the bedrooms when M.r Andrews wardrobe was opened,at the extreme top of it a medium box was there,when it was opened it contained a diary and several packs of drugs .When they opened the diary some names and phone numbers were written on it alongside an address. This evidence was taken to the station for examination and recording.Nancy the Made was sent for as she was to answer some questions. 

“What do you know about M.r Andrews' work?“

“ I don’t know much about him all I know is that he’s a businessman“she responded as she glanced into nowhere In particular.

“What kind of business is he into?”

“That I don’t know”

“But you've been working with him for more than a year, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“ Some drugs were recovered from his bedroom ,have you heard him converse with anyone before? maybe his business partners?”

“ Hardly, he always make calls in the bedroom, the only time I overheard his conversation on phone he was talking about a business trip”

“To  where?

“ I have no idea ,but I he often travels for business trips”

It was already 2 p.m that Monday  Detective Daniel had arranged for three patrol cars. They would be visiting Red brick roads  avenue at the lower north of Philadelphia,the address on the diary they found at Mr Andrews apartment.

Nancy was told to go back to her siblings house but would be called upon later for questioning.

After an hour and a half of driving, they arrived  at the address on the diary at Red brick roads avenue at an empty warehouse . Judging from the grave silence and no appearance of life,the warehouse must have been abandoned for for a long period of time.with his hands solidly wrapped around his gun on the right hand side of his duty belt,he opened the door gently as the other cop, two on each sides went round the ware house.when he looked inside , It was an empty building. The only occupants were just some dusty cartons , nylons and a thick wooden chair. Very exasperated he walked around the store. There were no CCTV cameras here and no trace of life also.Then what was this store used for? Detective Daniel reasoned.He had been assigned cases similar to this before but some of them left traces of evidence. When they were done scouting the whole warehouse he was heading towards the door when he abruptly stopped and bent down to take a glance  at the carton on the floor. Already covered with dust he could still see the name boldly written on it. The label of Hallucinogens drugs were boldly inscribed on it .So this would mean only thing, Mr Andrew was involved in some form of illegal drug trafficking. Detective Daniel took adequate pictures of the cartons and the police headed back to the station. When they were almost at the station a thought flashed through Detective Daniels mind. The last caller, who did he conversed with last before his death? quickly he picked up his phone and called  the telecommunications units.investigations was made on the last call mr Andrew made before he was killed. It was Kelvin Brian,a known drug dealer who had been caught on several occasions the previous year for illegal drug trafficking but had bought his way out of prison. 

The following day, Detective Daniel and two patrol cars visited Kelvin Brian’s clubhouse to bring him in for questioning since he was the last person M.r Andrew spoke to. When they arrived there, the club house had closed down and even his boys were not there.some staffs at the supermarket opposite the club house were interviewed and the found out that the club house had stopped functioning for about 7 months now.Two suspects were now on their list ,the fingerprints recovered from the crime scene had been that of Nicholas Dobson who was already on the run with the two kidnapped victims, and also Kelvin Brian who had a conversation with Mr Andrew for about 40 minutes the night he was killed.as they drove back to the station from the clubhouse detective Daniel was trying to piece the whole evidences in his head. fingerprints had been found on the dead bodies and the surfaces at the home where they were killed. Were they partners in the drug trafficking?Or were they just their victims?The only answer to these questions was if they could get any of the workers working for these two suspects.

At 6:21 p.m that Monday detective Daniel closed for the day and drove back home. He had been working tooth and nail to unplought the perpetrators of these crimes.He looked forward to his retirement after this case was   successfully processed and the culprits brought to book.That night at the dining table as usual. He asked Robert and Christine how school went. For the past few years since he was promoted from an officer to a detective he had been trying to balance the upkeep of his family and his effectiveness in his job. It has not been an easy one.

“How was school today?” He asked Robert who had been quiet during dinners since the day he told his dad about Dave and Jason. 

“Great dad.”

“And your friends?” 

“They are cool too.”

“ Dave and, what’s the other name?” He asked looking at Robert who tried dogging direct eye contact with him.

Detective Daniel  most times ,when asking him questions, does so as though he was interviewing a suspect or culprits and this makes Robert very careful when dealing with him because he had a way of telling if he was telling the truth or hiding something from him.

“Jason dad.“

“How was your visit to their apartment last week?”Detective Daniel asked, still looking at Robert.

“I didn’t go there dad” he looked at Daniel and quickly turned his face back at his plate.

Daniel already knew Robert was lying. All this while Stephanie was just staring at the both of them.

“Why not invite them for dinner this Friday.”

“Ok dad, I will tell them tomorrow .”

“Good, I look forward to meeting them.”