Case File #6

(1st Crime)

After the meeting with Clair at the park, Sharna went home to review the files, she prepared her coffee and sat down on the couch reading them, but all she could find was proof of William and Derek's money transfers, the changes in Steve's percentages at the company and numbers, lots of them.

"This is endless!" she thought "There's no proof of any sort that they killed him"

Sharna was a little bit disappointed, so she decided to start working on another clue, the mysterious bartender. She opened her laptop and started researching about him, but all she could find is his CV applying for so many different job on several websites.

"He needs money, he had needle marks; maybe the drugs with Eva wasn't coincidence?" Sharna said out loud as Emily was walking near her.

"Have you found out anything new? Are you close to solving this?" Emily asked

"I don't know" she sighed "I have 2 more leads that I'm planning to work on tomorrow, but I'm not sure what comes next"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out then"

"I really hope so. Em," Sharna said "there's something though that I wanna talk to you about" she then told her about what happened with Johnny at the hospital "I'm really confused, I know we had to break up, but still I don't want to see him with this other woman"

"I know what you mean, of course you'll miss him, but you said it, you had to break up and you'll have to move on sooner or later"

"Is it weird that I just want us to go back to at least being friends?"

Emily laughed "I think you just wanna find a way to squeeze yourself back into his life"

"Distract me, please!" Sharna said joking

"Okay. let me help you detective, I'll be your apprentice. So what are the 2 new lead?"

"I have to go visit Eleanor and know why she left early, maybe she knew something or.."

"or was running from something" Emily added proudly

"Exactly! and I need to find the bartender who also left early after just pouring the drinks. I got his address, but nothing more, so hopefully I'll find him there"

"Maybe I can drive you on my way to work tomorrow?"

"That will be great, Eleanor's house is actually on the way"

After a while of chatting about the case, they both went to their rooms to get some sleep, but Sharna couldn't and she just kept tossing and turning in her bed, checking her phone every few minutes hoping it'll soon be morning.

"Maybe I should talk to Mr. Humphrey?" she thought thinking that maybe he knows best about Daniel Fisher. "Or maybe Jeff is lying and trying to frame Daniel?" her mind kept going back and forth between ideas unable to get some rest.

She then got out of her bed wore a hoodie on top of her PJ and went out walking on her toes so that she wouldn't wake anyone, it was only 4 am.

She walked around in the calm night observing the sky, the clouds and the stars until she met a familiar face from opposite the street, it was Johnny, so she decided to turn the other way before he saw her, but he noticed her first.

"Sharna" he called "is that you?" he approached her "what are you doing here at this time?"

"Walking, wondering, I don't know, couldn't sleep. You?"

"I have a long shift, I just went to get something to eat. Still working on the case?"

"Yes, my mind can't stop actually, it's all new and a huge responsibility knowing that there's a loose murderer that can commit other crimes out there"

"You'll figure it out"

"Will I? I'm not so sure. I know that I've always wanted to be a detective and through my 2 years with the police I've always begged Howard to let me do this, but now that I'm actually working on a real case, I'm not sure I can do it"

"His words are just stuck on your mind, but as soon as you solve your first crime, you'll realize how good you are"

"How come you weren't that supportive when I first told you, what's different now?" Sharna was a little bit angered

"We're not together now? The first time you told me I was irritated because you took such a huge decision in your life without letting me in as if I wasn't part of your life too"

Sharna was unable to reply after that, so she looked the other way when she noticed another familiar face getting out of the pharmacy, looking disappointed, it was Eva. She looked sad and a bit helpless and sat down on a close by bench.

"Look" Sharna said pointing at her "That's Eva"

"The one who had the pills?"

"Yes, but what is she doing out here so late?" Sharna wondered

"Why don't you just go talk to her?"

"I just wanna see if she's meeting somebody, before I can go talk to her" Sharna said then they were both silent for a moment before Sharna said "pretend you're talking to me"

"What should I say?"

"Umm.. How was your day?"

"Long, busy, I don't know the usual"

"Did you ask her out? Dr Watson"

"No, not yet"

"Why not?" Sharna asked, but received no answer from him. She then felt someone coming near and turned around, Eva was right behind her.

"Detective Sharna?" Eva said "what are you doing here?"

"I was gonna ask you the same question, are you meeting with someone?"

"None. I just came to the pharmacy to buy my medicine, but the stupid doctor says he needs a prescription, but I can't find mine and he doesn't believe me"

"Well, I don't mean to interrupt, but I'm a doctor and I believe it was the right thing to do, because some medicines can be used in the wrong way, but if you really need it you should get back to your doctor for another prescription" Johnny said

"Can't you write me one doctor?" Eva asked

"I apologize, but I can't"

"Eva," Sharna said "I've been meaning to talk to you. Do you mind going over there for a while" she pointed towards the bench.

"Not at all" Eva said

"Anyways, I'll need to get back to the hospital. Talk later Sharna?"

"Sure" she smiled and walked with Eva to the bench.

"So what did you want to talk about detective? Do you think I somehow have something to do with Steve's murder?"

"I think anyone of you could've had something to do with his murder"

Eva laughed "but I barely knew him, we only met on occasions and my husband was always on his side, so why would we want to get rid of him?"

"There are crazy reasons these days why people kill, just a few days back I was reading in the paper about this guy who killed his own mother to steal money and get drugs"

"That's awful"

"Drugs made him do this"

"If you're trying to imply that I'm on drugs, I told you before it's medicinal and you can ask your doctor friend"

"Do you know a Daniel Fisher?" Sharna said looking her in the eye to catch her if she lies

"I don't think so, I know Daniels, but I know no Fishers"

"Okay" she nodded "so one last question "who poured you the drinks?"

"The bartender?"

"Jeff?"

"No, not him, the one who left early"

After that conversation, Sharna was sure it was urgent to find Dan, but it was still too early to do anything, so she went back home trying again to get some sleep and this time, she succeeded. She was waken up hours later by Emily since she was going to drive her over to Eleanor.

They had a fast breakfast and then got into the car. "So where did you sneak to yesterday"

"How did you know about that?"

"You know I'm a very light sleeper, I mean thank God Tyler doesn't snort or I would've been screwed"

They both laughed "I went for a walk"

"Who goes for a walk at 4 am in the morning" Emily laughed

"I couldn't sleep, my mind didn't allow me"

"You have to get used to it,"

In a few minutes, they arrived and Emily parked her car right in front of the gate. Sharna got out and looked at the house, it was huge and fancy.

Sharna walked to the front door and rang the bell, a young maid opened the door.

"Can I see Mrs Eleanor? Tell her it's Detective Sharna Davis"

"Of course, come in" she lead her to the reception and said "I'll go tell her" then she got upstairs.

The room was huge and beautifully decorated, Sharna was worried to ruin the expensive furniture from just sitting on it, but she sat down a soft beige couch that seemed stable at first, but as she sat on it, she drowned in it and was trying to stand up when Leo came in laughing.

"Don't laugh at me young man, help me out" she said joking. He came to pull her up and she pretended that he actually helped.

"I'm here to meet your mummy, is she feeling better now?"

"Yes" he said "and no"

"Oh really and how is that?"

He didn't answer and walked to he other end of the room to get his toy car and show it to Sharna.

"Look, mummy got it for me"

"It's a very nice car. So do your parents fight a lot?"

"Daddy always angry. Do you wanna play" he said handing her the remote control, at this moment, Eleanor came into the room.

"Leo, I think the Detective would appreciate it if you stop bothering her" Eleanor said

"He's not bothering me, we're playing" Sharna smiled "but I would like to have a little chat with you alone"

"Sure, why not" she said "Meg" she called "come her and take care of Leo"

A young baby sitter arrived at the room and took Leo with her leaving Sharna alone with Eleanor.

"Nice to meet you Detective, I've only heard of you, from my husband of course"

"I hope you heard good things. Anyways, I wanted to ask why you left early that night?"

"I had to go somewhere then, it was an emergency"

"Funny, you're husband said something else, he said you were tired and even funnier, your son said something totally different. I remember he specifically said your husband made you upset"

Eleanor started panicking and didn't know what to say, but she decided to speak before appearing any more suspicious "I left for personal reasons that had nothing to do with Steve's murder, I didn't even know about it till later when Derek and Leo came back"

"You may think your reasons had nothing to do with the murder, but maybe it does and you don't even know it, so please be honest with me"

Eleanor was upset and looking the other way when she started saying "I saw my husband talking alone with the secretary and it seemed intense, my mind had to go to the worse place, I was upset especially that he didn't tell me what they were talking about and insisted it was business related and he'll tell me later"

"Do you mean Clair?"

"No, the other one, Tina. Yesterday she just decided out of nowhere to run away and travel that's what I heard from my husband's shouting at the phone." Eleanor looked angry and confused "I know there are things going on, maybe not what I thought then, but there's some ugly business going on"

"I'm sure he'll explain everything really soon and thanks for being honest"

Sharna then left and was on her way to Dan's address according to Jeff, she decided to call Fred before meeting Dan.

"Hello Sharna" he said as she dialed him

"Good morning Mr Humphrey" she replied "I don't mean to bother you, but I just have a couple of questions concerning Daniel Fisher"

"Yeah, sure I'd love to help. What do you need?"

"What do you know about him?"

"Not much really, he's been working for just a few months, he said he really needed the job, but he never stayed long in any of his previous jobs"

"Have you seen him since the incident?"

"No, but the place has been closed for investigation anyways"

"But it can't be a coincidence him leaving like that just before the murder especially that he told you his wife was in labour even though Jeff told me he's divorced"

"I don't know about the divorce, but from the short period I've known him, he doesn't seem like a murderer, but you're the detective not me"

"I'm going to his place now to talk to him then I'll tell you if I think he's a murderer or not"

Sharna reached her destination in half an hour and of course the place looked so dull after being at Eleanor's. She walked into the building and got to the 3rd floor where he's supposedly living. She kept on knocking on the door, but there was no answer, so she decided to ask his neighbors about him.

His next door neighbor was a man in his late 30s who seemed to do nothing but eat and watch TV. Sharna asked him about Dan, but he said he knows nothing about him and rarely sees him, but he assured her that he's not married. "I've never seen him with a woman" he said

She then walked to the neighbor opposite his apartment, she was an old friendly lady.

"Come in for tea and biscuit" she said

"I'm sorry, I don't have time. I just came to ask you about your neighbor, Daniel Fisher"

"Oh Dan, he's a good one"

"Is he?" she whispered, but the woman heard her

"Yes, he comes to drink tea with me every once in a while"

"Do you have any idea where he is?"

"Last I saw him was 2 nights ago, he came here in a hurry and left with 2 full bags, he didn't even stay to eat my lemon pie"

"Do you know where he went?"

"No, he didn't say. Maybe ask in his work places"

"Does he work in several places?"

"Yes at the Fred's Cafe and the dry cleaner shop by the end of the street, he once gave me a discount" the woman laughed

"I'll go then, maybe he'll be there"

"Aren't you gonna stay for biscuits?" she looked disappointed

"Maybe some other time"

Sharna left the building and walked to the dry cleaner, she was so eager to find him no matter how long it took.

She entered the shop and walked to the man sitting at the cashier "I'm here for Daniel Fisher, is he around?"

"I'm sorry Ms. but he hasn't been here in almost a week"

"Do you have any idea where he might be? It's urgent"

"He wasn't much of a talker, I don't know"

The owner of the shop was sitting in the opposite room listening to the conversation "Ms. why do you want Dan so urgently?" he stood out of his seat and walked closer to her.

"I'm a detective and I need to talk to him"

"About the money?"

"What money?"

"Before he left, he stole some money from here, not much, but it's still stealing. I didn't charge him though"

"Why not?"

"His daughter goes to school with my daughter, I know her mother left them and he's her only parent"

"How much did he owe you?"

"Not much I said and I forgive him about it, I consider it charity"

"So kind of you, so what school does your daughter go to?"

"South East Elementary"

"Maybe I'll find her there and she'll lead me to him" Sharna thought and left the shop heading to the school, she took another cab and in just a few minutes she was there.

She walked into the gates, through the halls and into the headmistress office. She went in after talking to the secretary and asked about Daniel Fisher's daughter.

"Lily, she's a very smart student, but sadly with everything she's going through, she had to take time off"

"What's going on with her?"

"Leukemia" she said sympathetically

"How old is she?" Sharna felt really sorry

"ten, but she's very strong and hopefully she'll get through it."

"Do you know which hospital she's staying in?"

She gave her the address and Sharna was really hoping that this would be it, she was tired of going to all of these places and disappointed from the result.

Later on, as she arrived at the hospital, she walked to the nurses at the front desk and asked about him, they pointed her to him and his look matched what Clair said about him.

She walked over to him and said "Are you Daniel Fisher?"

"Yes, I'm afraid I am"

"Oh thank God!" she said "I've been looking for you for so long"

"Did someone send you?"

"No, I'm detective Sharna Davis and I think we need to talk"

"Are you here to arrest me? I promise I will let you take me to the police, but just give me 2 days, my daughter needs me for her operation"

"I can't believe you're confessing that easily"

"It's something that I did and I knew I'll have to pay for it one day"

"You know it's a murder charge?"

"What? I get a murder charge for stealing some money, only because my daughter is sick and in need of it?!"

"I thought you knew, haven't you heard what happened after you left Fred's"

"No, I left with the reservation money, went home to pack and came here, I've been here since then"

"Steve, one of the businessmen was poisoned"

"And you think that I did it?"

"You lied about why you had to leave and you've been hiding, what did you expect I'd think"

"But I didn't do it and I only lied because I didn't want to accept pity money for my daughter"

"I can talk to Mr Humphrey and I'm sure he wouldn't charge you. He's a very kind man and he'd love to help"

He looked down saying "and that's the pity I didn't want"

"I know pity sucks, I was pitied so much as a child because my father died and I insisted he was murdered everyone thought I made it up cause I couldn't take it in, so I know how awful that pity look is, but you have to accept this for your daughter, because I'm not gonna let your daughter grow up fatherless if you're as innocent as you say"

He was silent, but grateful. He didn't know what to say or if he should say anything, of course he didn't want to go to jail for stealing that money.

"All I ask" Sharna said "is that you help me. Any detail can be important"

"No one touched the wine bottle except me, it was a new one."

"Someone must have specifically put the poison in Steve's glass or they would have all been poisoned and it must have been before it was served on the table, but after they were seated, so that person would know which glass would land in front of Steve"

"I remember something now, a woman came into the kitchen a few minutes before I came out with the glasses, after I poured the wine and said she wanted to check on the food. She asked me to have a look and see if the food contains green peppers because she's allergic to them, she must have put the poison in the glass when I was looking away"

"Can you describe her for me please?"

He started telling her about the woman's appearance as much as he remembered "I know exactly who she is!" Sharna said

"I have all the pieces now, but you have to tell the police, they won't just take my word. Are you willing to testify?"

"Of course I am"

"Thank you so much" Sharna said as she walked away leaving him. She grabbed her phone out of her bag and dialed Clair's number to ask her to meet at the park again.

"Any new evidence?" Clair asked as she approached Sharna from behind

"In fact, I know the murderer. Take a seat" Sharna said "They always say poison is more feminine in murders, but I don't like stereotyping"

"I don't understand"

"There was a very good reason why you had the poison in you bag" Sharna said "You were being framed. Jessica thought she planned a perfect murder, poisoned her husband in the presence of all of these people who had issues with him and then hid the poison in your bag, because she thought he was having an affair with you"

"It was not an affair, I was forced into it"

"Not the point, the point is she slipped like any murderer does, they always slip especially when they think they're too clever"

"But why are you telling me this?"

"Because I'm new and young and the police does not trust me. I need you to tell them what you told me and with Dan's side of the story the police will have enough evidence"

"I have no other choice even if I didn't want anyone knowing I'll have to talk. But it's really sad the girls just lost their father and now they'll lose their mother too"

"She didn't think of that while planning her murder, she just wanted revenge on her cheating husband and his mistress as well as to inherent his money"

"You have to tell the police about the money and give them the files for the sake of those girls" Clair urged her

"Of course I will" Sharna said. She was proud of herself for solving the crime and proving to herself that she can do it, but she couldn't wait to prove it to Detective Howard as well, so she went home to get the files, her notes and everything then headed to the police station.

Hey guys :) thanks for reading, Hope u enjoyed the first crime, there are still some related stuff, but they'll be in the next chapter because I thought this one was getting too long. Anyways, I really appreciate u reading, voting and commenting, so thanks again and let me know if u guessed it right ;)