“Please leave me alone, why are you doing this? What do you want?”, the girl cried.” I can see the fear in your eyes, cry more. It excites me.” The man replied agitatedly. The girl being afraid closed her eyes and surrendered herself knowing what was going to happen next. There was a loud screech followed by a dead silence on a stormy night which engulfed everything.
“Last night, the Murray River was cursed with a murder and an accident which has aroused fear among the residents. The police are investigating the matter, but at this point, they are not conclusive of whether the events are connected or not. We will get back to you with more details. This is Ashley from News 18.” said the reporter standing beside the crime scene.
The police have cordoned off the area near the Murray bridge and the residents were advised to come forward if they have any clues regarding the case. Senator Brown visited the scene and met the first call officer.” Who is assigned with the case?”, asked the senator to the officer. “The case has been assigned to Sergeant James.”, replied the officer. “So, where is he? I need to talk to him.” said the senator. “He is on his way sir and he is one of our best.” said the officer. Hearing this, the angry senator said,” The elections are near and I have residents under fear. Make sure you get the killer or else you all are screwed.” The officer nodded and went on to know the whereabouts of Sergeant James.
Sergeant James arrived at the scene and met the first call officer to get the details. Sergeant James was a very intelligent man who was successful in cracking most difficult cases. But the last few months were tough for him due to his divorce and also due to ‘the cross man’. It’s the person he has been chasing for months who makes a cross on the forehead of everyone he kills. There have been over 10 murders in the past 3 months with same modus operandi and all of them were of women aged between 20 to 35 years. Sergeant James was sure when he heard about the murder that it would be him only. As he reached near the body, he asked the first call officer Oliver,
Sergeant James: Got any idea what was the time of the murder?
Officer Oliver: The murder happened between 1 to 3 am. Seems like our ‘cross man’ only, as same MO. The patrol car was near when they heard a loud scream and as they approached here, they saw him running. They chased him but it was a very narrow escape due to the storm and rain.
Sergeant James: Damn it. We lost him this time too. Inform nearby police and ask the people to stay alert.
Officer Oliver: Sir, apart from this there was an accident near the bridge. The car rammed to a tree and the driver faced severe injuries on his face due to the glass pieces. He is in surgery. He was identified based on his driver’s license.
Sergeant James: I don’t want to waste my resources on the accident case. I don’t see any connection of the accident to the murder. You handle it. Just keep me in the loop. It might be just open and shut case. I need to find that ‘cross man’ before he kills another woman.
A week has been passed and there was no clue where ‘the cross man’ might be. Sergeant James was becoming restless and so he visited the crime scene again to see if he missed something before. He called Oliver and asked where he was. Oliver replied that he went to see the person involved in the accident, Andrew Hopes for a statement as he was out of danger and could talk. James as he had nothing much to do went to have a look at the case.
As he reached there, he went directly to meet the case doctor and had a chat with him. The doctor said that when Andrew came for surgery, his face was very much damaged due to the glass pieces pierced on his face along with minor injuries to his vocal cord too and so they did a complicated surgery on his face and vocal cords due to which he will look and sound a bit different. Also because of the shock of the accident, his brain has lost his memories and he couldn’t remember his family and whatever happened with him. The doctor also focused on the fact that there was little damage to his brain, so the loss of his memories might be due to the shock of the accident.
Sergeant James then went to meet Andrew and take his statement along with Oliver. Seeing the police officers, Andrew’s wife blasted on both officers telling that it was an accident and she doesn’t like them bothering her husband as he was not well. She told the officers to get lost and come when his husband can recall anything. The officers left without taking his statement. Oliver on the way out apologized for the lady’s behavior, but James was not affected by any of the lady’s comments, instead, he was smiling. He was smelling something out of this and so he asked Oliver to give him everything he has till now on the accident case.
Its been a month and there was silence, no murders from ‘cross man’, which was unusual for him considering his past. Sergeant James was restless as he badly wanted to catch him and he too was surprised with this complex silence which for him was silence before the storm. Apart from that, he was disturbed with the accident case too. Andrew has given his statement which to an extent was acceptable to the situation but James’ gut was telling that there was more to it than what he was able to see. He needs to dig deeper.
Sergeant James went to the accident spot just to appease his gut feeling. What he found was astonishing. He abused himself for not looking at it before. He called Oliver and said,” Do exactly as I say and no one should know about it.”
A week later,
“You have everything we need?”, asked Sergeant James. Oliver replied affirmatively. “Today is going to be a very important day Oliver, you are going to learn a lot of things, so stay focussed.”
There was a knock on the door, Mrs. Hopes opened the door and was surprised seeing the officers standing. She being irritated said, “Why can’t you leave us alone? My husband told what happened. Why can’t you just let him take rest? It was just an accident.”
Sergeant James just showed him the official order which shut her mouth and Oliver went to find Andrew. It was an arrest warrant for Andrew or can we say ‘the cross man’. They took him to the police station for interrogation. In the interrogation room, there were some astonishing revelations.
James: What should I call you Andrew or ‘the cross man’ or by your real name Patrick Collins?
Patrick (smiling): Ooh!! Officer, you are good. By the way, how did you find me?
James: Okay so let’s make a deal. I tell you how I got to you and then you confess.
Patrick: Sounds good
James: First of all, let us start with how I got to know that you are not Andrew Hopes. Andrew Hopes is dead. You just used his identity to fool the police.
Patrick: How can you be so sure of that?
James: The car of Andrew Hopes was crashed twice. I have the crash report for the car. Now how can a person crash the same car at the same spot twice? Secondly, though you can deceive everyone with the face and voice change that you are Andrew and its because of the accident that you look and sound different. But what can you do about your blood and DNA? It can’t change. I have a body in the morgue which is screaming that it is Andrew Hopes. Also, to our benefit, it turns out that Andrew Hopes was a regular blood donor and his DNA matches to the one found on that body, not with you. So you are clearly not Andrew Hopes. But the interesting thing is that your DNA matches with those found on the dead girl’s body. So, who are you? You are Patrick Collins aka ‘the cross man’.
Patrick: Okay if that’s the case how did I do it?
James: Smart question and here is my smart answer. You killed that girl, but the scream attracted some attention from the police patrol. So you got terrified and so at that moment, you left leaving clues. Due to the storm and rain, you were successful in getting rid of cops and then you found Andrew Hopes car smashed with the tree. You thought of a plan. He was alive, you killed him. Then you buried his body nearby and smashed the car again so that you can get the glass pieces on your face and no one recognizes you. It was a nice plan and you felt so much pain for it. But you made a mistake you buried the body at the wrong place. I was convinced by your story at the hospital and was 90% sure it would have happened exactly as you described, but then I came here and saw that due to the rain and storm, there was a landslide and so the soil has been removed from certain surface and as I looked closely it seemed as something was recently buried and to my surprise I found a body peacefully lying. I did the post mortem and eventually, I got your game. Had you thrown the body with a heavy stone, the river flow was so strong, we would have never found it. But you see God plays a mysterious game and here you are. Now hold your part of the deal and confess.
Patrick: Impressive officer, you are intelligent. Okay, so I confess that I am guilty of killing eleven people and I take full responsibility for it.
James: You are mistaken, its 12 murders. 11 women and 12th one of Andrew Hopes who died of loss of breath and not due to the accident. Its 12 murders
Patrick: I haven’t killed Andrew Hopes. He was already dead before I saw him.
James: So, who killed Andrew Hopes?
Patrick: You know who? Think harder, you are intelligent.
James: No way, how can I miss this? That’s why every time we came to talk to you, she wouldn’t let us talk to you. Because if you get caught….
Patrick: She gets caught. She killed her husband and made it look like an accident and if there is no suspicion, then there is no post mortem and no post mortem means she walks freely.
James: Oliver, go and arrest Mrs. Hopes before she leaves the country. Alert everyone. Make sure she couldn’t leave the country.
A month later,
“In an interesting turn of events the murder and accident near Murray River have connection afterall and the wife who killed her husband and a serial killer who killed 11 women were charged today by the Murray river court. The detailed proceedings will shortly follow. The residents took a sigh of relief as the serial killer got arrested. This is Ashley from News 18 outside Murray River court signing off.”
“Last night, the Murray River was cursed with a murder and an accident which has aroused fear among the residents. The police are investigating the matter, but at this point, they are not conclusive of whether the events are connected or not. We will get back to you with more details. This is Ashley from News 18.” said the reporter standing beside the crime scene.
The police have cordoned off the area near the Murray bridge and the residents were advised to come forward if they have any clues regarding the case. Senator Brown visited the scene and met the first call officer.” Who is assigned with the case?”, asked the senator to the officer. “The case has been assigned to Sergeant James.”, replied the officer. “So, where is he? I need to talk to him.” said the senator. “He is on his way sir and he is one of our best.” said the officer. Hearing this, the angry senator said,” The elections are near and I have residents under fear. Make sure you get the killer or else you all are screwed.” The officer nodded and went on to know the whereabouts of Sergeant James.
Sergeant James arrived at the scene and met the first call officer to get the details. Sergeant James was a very intelligent man who was successful in cracking most difficult cases. But the last few months were tough for him due to his divorce and also due to ‘the cross man’. It’s the person he has been chasing for months who makes a cross on the forehead of everyone he kills. There have been over 10 murders in the past 3 months with same modus operandi and all of them were of women aged between 20 to 35 years. Sergeant James was sure when he heard about the murder that it would be him only. As he reached near the body, he asked the first call officer Oliver,
Sergeant James: Got any idea what was the time of the murder?
Officer Oliver: The murder happened between 1 to 3 am. Seems like our ‘cross man’ only, as same MO. The patrol car was near when they heard a loud scream and as they approached here, they saw him running. They chased him but it was a very narrow escape due to the storm and rain.
Sergeant James: Damn it. We lost him this time too. Inform nearby police and ask the people to stay alert.
Officer Oliver: Sir, apart from this there was an accident near the bridge. The car rammed to a tree and the driver faced severe injuries on his face due to the glass pieces. He is in surgery. He was identified based on his driver’s license.
Sergeant James: I don’t want to waste my resources on the accident case. I don’t see any connection of the accident to the murder. You handle it. Just keep me in the loop. It might be just open and shut case. I need to find that ‘cross man’ before he kills another woman.
A week has been passed and there was no clue where ‘the cross man’ might be. Sergeant James was becoming restless and so he visited the crime scene again to see if he missed something before. He called Oliver and asked where he was. Oliver replied that he went to see the person involved in the accident, Andrew Hopes for a statement as he was out of danger and could talk. James as he had nothing much to do went to have a look at the case.
As he reached there, he went directly to meet the case doctor and had a chat with him. The doctor said that when Andrew came for surgery, his face was very much damaged due to the glass pieces pierced on his face along with minor injuries to his vocal cord too and so they did a complicated surgery on his face and vocal cords due to which he will look and sound a bit different. Also because of the shock of the accident, his brain has lost his memories and he couldn’t remember his family and whatever happened with him. The doctor also focused on the fact that there was little damage to his brain, so the loss of his memories might be due to the shock of the accident.
Sergeant James then went to meet Andrew and take his statement along with Oliver. Seeing the police officers, Andrew’s wife blasted on both officers telling that it was an accident and she doesn’t like them bothering her husband as he was not well. She told the officers to get lost and come when his husband can recall anything. The officers left without taking his statement. Oliver on the way out apologized for the lady’s behavior, but James was not affected by any of the lady’s comments, instead, he was smiling. He was smelling something out of this and so he asked Oliver to give him everything he has till now on the accident case.
Its been a month and there was silence, no murders from ‘cross man’, which was unusual for him considering his past. Sergeant James was restless as he badly wanted to catch him and he too was surprised with this complex silence which for him was silence before the storm. Apart from that, he was disturbed with the accident case too. Andrew has given his statement which to an extent was acceptable to the situation but James’ gut was telling that there was more to it than what he was able to see. He needs to dig deeper.
Sergeant James went to the accident spot just to appease his gut feeling. What he found was astonishing. He abused himself for not looking at it before. He called Oliver and said,” Do exactly as I say and no one should know about it.”
A week later,
“You have everything we need?”, asked Sergeant James. Oliver replied affirmatively. “Today is going to be a very important day Oliver, you are going to learn a lot of things, so stay focussed.”
There was a knock on the door, Mrs. Hopes opened the door and was surprised seeing the officers standing. She being irritated said, “Why can’t you leave us alone? My husband told what happened. Why can’t you just let him take rest? It was just an accident.”
Sergeant James just showed him the official order which shut her mouth and Oliver went to find Andrew. It was an arrest warrant for Andrew or can we say ‘the cross man’. They took him to the police station for interrogation. In the interrogation room, there were some astonishing revelations.
James: What should I call you Andrew or ‘the cross man’ or by your real name Patrick Collins?
Patrick (smiling): Ooh!! Officer, you are good. By the way, how did you find me?
James: Okay so let’s make a deal. I tell you how I got to you and then you confess.
Patrick: Sounds good
James: First of all, let us start with how I got to know that you are not Andrew Hopes. Andrew Hopes is dead. You just used his identity to fool the police.
Patrick: How can you be so sure of that?
James: The car of Andrew Hopes was crashed twice. I have the crash report for the car. Now how can a person crash the same car at the same spot twice? Secondly, though you can deceive everyone with the face and voice change that you are Andrew and its because of the accident that you look and sound different. But what can you do about your blood and DNA? It can’t change. I have a body in the morgue which is screaming that it is Andrew Hopes. Also, to our benefit, it turns out that Andrew Hopes was a regular blood donor and his DNA matches to the one found on that body, not with you. So you are clearly not Andrew Hopes. But the interesting thing is that your DNA matches with those found on the dead girl’s body. So, who are you? You are Patrick Collins aka ‘the cross man’.
Patrick: Okay if that’s the case how did I do it?
James: Smart question and here is my smart answer. You killed that girl, but the scream attracted some attention from the police patrol. So you got terrified and so at that moment, you left leaving clues. Due to the storm and rain, you were successful in getting rid of cops and then you found Andrew Hopes car smashed with the tree. You thought of a plan. He was alive, you killed him. Then you buried his body nearby and smashed the car again so that you can get the glass pieces on your face and no one recognizes you. It was a nice plan and you felt so much pain for it. But you made a mistake you buried the body at the wrong place. I was convinced by your story at the hospital and was 90% sure it would have happened exactly as you described, but then I came here and saw that due to the rain and storm, there was a landslide and so the soil has been removed from certain surface and as I looked closely it seemed as something was recently buried and to my surprise I found a body peacefully lying. I did the post mortem and eventually, I got your game. Had you thrown the body with a heavy stone, the river flow was so strong, we would have never found it. But you see God plays a mysterious game and here you are. Now hold your part of the deal and confess.
Patrick: Impressive officer, you are intelligent. Okay, so I confess that I am guilty of killing eleven people and I take full responsibility for it.
James: You are mistaken, its 12 murders. 11 women and 12th one of Andrew Hopes who died of loss of breath and not due to the accident. Its 12 murders
Patrick: I haven’t killed Andrew Hopes. He was already dead before I saw him.
James: So, who killed Andrew Hopes?
Patrick: You know who? Think harder, you are intelligent.
James: No way, how can I miss this? That’s why every time we came to talk to you, she wouldn’t let us talk to you. Because if you get caught….
Patrick: She gets caught. She killed her husband and made it look like an accident and if there is no suspicion, then there is no post mortem and no post mortem means she walks freely.
James: Oliver, go and arrest Mrs. Hopes before she leaves the country. Alert everyone. Make sure she couldn’t leave the country.
A month later,
“In an interesting turn of events the murder and accident near Murray River have connection afterall and the wife who killed her husband and a serial killer who killed 11 women were charged today by the Murray river court. The detailed proceedings will shortly follow. The residents took a sigh of relief as the serial killer got arrested. This is Ashley from News 18 outside Murray River court signing off.”
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