11- Shepperd's Last Case

11.

 

It was like Vaughn already knew what the envelope contained; he exhaled loudly then opened it. As expected, it was a petition of divorce filed by his wife Stella and the custody papers for their daughter Lauren. He was supposed to appear in court soon.

His only love was his daughter and no matter what, he did not want her to be nourished by his wife, whose only priority was her self-centered lifestyle, money, and clothes.

This wasn’t causing him to panic but the thought of losing his daughter to that woman made him angry. He knew that the future of his daughter, Lauren would be sacrificed, reduced to nothing, if Stella got her custody.

 

Vaughn was about to place the envelope in his personal folder when Captain Shepperd came into the room with a curious look on his face. Vaughn quietly awaited any question he might have.

“How’s it going? I had a talk with Allison and she told me what we got on the case so far. I do remember that report about a member of the main mob dying a year ago”

“Well, yeah. My sources at the FBI confirmed it. But they also added that even though they were never able to totally confirm this because of the burnt face of the corpse. As per the information they received was about the meeting between the mob boss Amila and Ross was being held there that evening “

“What about Brock Ashroff?”

“According to our records, he was the one who bought this house where Ross used to live a year ago. We got in touch with the company and the real estate agent who made the sale confirmed everything”

‘I see’ Captain Bill said as he seemed to be going through all the information over again in his own mind

‘When exactly did this guy Brock Ashroff buy the house?’ Captain asked curiously

‘Umm….Probably the week after Denver’s body was recovered from the warehouse’ Vaughn said after a quick calculation.

‘Could it be just a coincidence or the pit is much deeper then we think?’ Captain looked into Vaughn’s eyes with a sarcastic look then added up his point of view about the possibility

‘Have you considered the possibility of Identity theft? What if it is not as it seems?’

‘I am sorry. I am not sure if I’m catching up with you here?’ Vaughn interrupted to get Captain Bill to come the core point

‘I think Ross is the one behind all this. I don’t think it was any coincidence for Brock to buy that house. In fact it was just according to the plan’ Captain said and began walking over to the other side of the cabin. His old days’ experience was telling him that the whole scenario had more to it. But his gut was telling him that maybe Vaughn was right. 

‘You see, this was his plan. First Ross faked his own death. He then came back a week later to buy his own house but this time with a different identity. Brock Ashroff, as he knew that the FBI would be right after his a*s and he knew that even if his body was found, there wouldn’t be anyone to assure that since we had no way of identifying him” Captain said which geared up Vaughn’s curiosity in helping him put up the remaining pieces of the puzzle together.

“And he knew that anyone’s body with similar specifications could do his work so on the very first opportunity, he plotted a blast and simultaneously somehow had FBI involved” Vaughn said excitingly when Captain Bill took over again

“Just the way he wanted, FBI found a corpse and immediately thought it to be his grilled body…which was not’ Captain added.

‘It actually makes sense, sir. Once FBI was sure it was him, he knew that it was safe for him to start a new life so he stole the identity of Brock Ashroff and came back to buy his house.
He was certainly sure that no one would be looking for him anymore but…’ Vaughn said. “There is one thing I don’t understand though” He added. “Why would he buy the same house again when he had a different identity with which he could have gone somewhere else or chosen someplace else?” Vaughn asked bafflingly.

“The house had never been sold. Perhaps he still had belongings there. Things that he needed to start his new life. Why did he become Ross Denver again though? Why would he put his unknown identity in jeopardy?” Captain Shepperd’s expression was puzzled.

“Now sir, that’s when it gets more interesting. When I read the diary I acquired from his house, I came across the things that happened to him in the past. Somehow, it’s like he’s reliving the same life from years ago. Those incidents in the diary already happened to him. The guy lost his family a long time ago” Vaughn continued

 

The Captain was now stupefied. This wasn’t making any sense. Vaughn liked to tell himself that a man of his stature had surely seen worse but the emotion on his face said the contrary.

“This is what he mentioned in the diary. He wrote about his whole journey with such an excessive pain, it seemed like he almost regret it. He wrote about falling in love with Amila’s adopted daughter”

“He used to work for Amila Rehman, a very well-known Mobster but one day when he met her daughter, Eliza Rehman, and before he knew it they were in love. So he decided to leave the mob and start over. One thing that might interest you sir is that Amila’s daughter never knew about the work her mother did. They all convinced her that her mom was school principal and her Father Hamid Rehman - who was the mob boss at that time- was a N.G.O for children”

“Wow, there is more than I imagined’ Captain sighed, rubbing his tired face.

“The diary says that Amila never admired her daughter, Eliza as she was adopted because Hamid wanted to, and being one of the most powerful mob bosses, Amila was obliged to accept his decision’

“When Eliza and Ross realized that they were in love, Ross had to be the one to tell her about what her parents were up to all these years and about their true profession. Ross also told her about his work experience with her mother but since he was ready to leave the mob, somehow he managed to entice Eliza to forgive him for what he had done” Vaughn said, and due to exhaustion, he took a deep breath.

‘What happened then?’ Captain curiously asked

‘Then they got together and decided to get married and go someplace else where they could be together to have a nice pacific life but as it was , Amila was against this for her own apparent reasons, of course. Plus, she was about to lose a great asset of her mob business and she could not afford it…”

‘There was nothing she could have done though, since Eliza and Ross had Hamid Rehman’s support, and he was very influential. Hamid supported his daughter’s decision to marry Ross and her dream of having a nice life away from all this. The whole thing just made Amila angry. And she felt humiliated which gave her a fire for vengeance that existed till she got her turn to throw the dice in her favor” Vaughn added

“Is that when she burned down the place, killing her own husband?” Captain asked as he settled on the sofa over the corner, carefully listening to the story.

‘Apparently she waited a few years, Hamid had become weak due to his old age. This very first time her plan worked. Just after setting her husband on fire, Mrs. Rehman went to pay her daughter a visit. She met her grandson, Eliza’s child, who was named after her own father Hamid”

‘Amila then probably innocently dragged them out of the house. Perhaps of Eliza’s will since she certainly had no idea of her mother’s grudge. This was her best shot to have the revenge she had craved all those years. That was her moment’

“I think I know rest of the story” Captain interrupted, still trying to make out the rest of this whole puzzle.

He stood again, unable to stay put. This whole case was eating at him, and he didn’t like to spend too much time on his cases Thus, expecting Vaughn to agree to his view about the further take over he was about to present

“When Ross came back to the house he saw all the mess and his missing family but something made him sure that Amila was the one who took away his family. He decided to confront her so just when he got the lead about where his family was taken, he followed the trails that lead him to the warehouse where Amila was waiting with his family” Captain Bill sternly added.

“Now I know why they call you officer Sherlock, sir” Vaughn’s chuckle made Captain laugh; that is when Vaughn took over again

“Ross confronted her but was not able to save his family. And that is where the diary ends perhaps as per my assumption Ross then decided to start all over again and this time with a different name to make sure he is never caught’

‘So he plots a plan where he burns up this guy’s body and began a new life with a new identity?”

“No. I think he’s too smart to go about it the same way”

“What happened to Amila?” Captain asked

“This is one of the questions that only Ross Denver could answer…if that is even his real name” Vaughn replied

“And the other question is why he decided to show up again when everything was over. Why he came back to start the story all over again” Captain said

“Maybe he didn’t like the previous ending” Vaughn joked.

‘Whatever it is, we must get Ross before he does something crazy’ Captain Bill said, and then asked Vaughn to get the car while he get his gun and the jacket from his office.

Shepperd left the cabin to fetch his gun. Allison asked to tag along and he gave her a quick positive nod. She immediately picked up her jacket from the chair and followed him to Vaughn’s car.

They got themselves settled in the car with the eyes curiosity on each one’s face. It was about to be the most stupefying case in their lifetime.

This was the one case that had them running in circles, since the evidence never seemed to lead anywhere. Now they believed they were on the brink of solving the enigma. Detective Vaughn hoped it all was true.

This was Captain Bill’s last case with them but he hadn’t told them yet. He already knew how they’d react. He was finally taking a voluntary retirement. He had served the department with his honesty and diligence his whole life, which was the proof that he would be indisputably remembered.

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[Prritiy]

They got themselves settled in the car with the eyes curiosity on each one’s face. It was about to be the most stupefying case in their lifetime.

This was the one case that had them running in circles, since the evidence never seemed to lead anywhere. Now they believed they were on the brink of solving the enigma. Detective Vaughn hoped it all was true.
This was Captain Bill’s last case with them but he hadn’t told them yet. He already knew how they’d react. He was finally taking a voluntary retirement. He had served the department with his honesty and diligence his whole life, which was the proof that he would be indisputably remembered.

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somehow the last para means something more, something like prophesy, might be, whatever it is i want to read the end soon :)

best wishes

[Gaurav Walia]

I'll soon be uploading the last few chapters... Thank u

[Prritiy]

welcome :)