Time Moves Backwards

A story I'll admit, I was a bit pressed on time for, so the ending is a little sloppy.

                               

The phone was ringing in my ear at four in the morning. I forced my eyes open as I rolled on to my back. I reached out for the phone, but ended up knocking it on the floor.  Sirens went off outside my window as fire trucks zoomed by. Someone probably set another apartment building on fire. I pressed the speaker button on the phone stand instead of reaching for the phone that was on the floor.

            “Hello,” I said harshly.

            “Ah Detective Perch, glad to see you’re up bright and early,” The voice came from what sounded to be an old man with a cold.

            “I told you I was psychic Rino, I knew if I wasn’t up you would call and put me in a very bad mood,” I snarled.

            “Well, we’ve got a job for you. There is an interesting case in the warehouse by Lacer Street. The victim is punched full of strange black holes.”

            “Fill me in on the details when I get there.”

            Lacer Street wasn’t far from my apartment. It was only a short walk, which was good because I was almost out of gas anyway. I travelled two blocks down the sidewalk to the intersection of Lacer Street and Cherry Road. I walked over to the warehouse. The warehouse hasn’t been used in years. The construction company was planning to tear it down by the end of this year.

            I entered the warehouse where the pungent smell of smoke entered my nostrils. All of the professional detectives and police officers were surrounding the body as if it was Saturday night football. I pushed my way through the haze of smoke and crowd of people in uniform.

            The body came into view. It was a man who looked to be in his 30’s, blond hair; Caucasian, green eyes, and bound to a chair. His ankles and wrists were bound with an interesting new rope I had never seen before. The victim was covered in small black dots covering his body.

            “So, what do you think? Pretty interesting case huh? No one can figure out how he died. No fingerprints on the scene. No clues to be found anywhere. Not even footprints left in the mud outside the warehouse. Whoever it was that killed him, he must have been a professional,” Rino said as he pushed his way through the crowd.

            “Ah Rino, What a fool you are. I see why you have always failed to get your License as a Detective and instead stay as my lackey. This case is easier to solve then the time a man held a knife over his wife’s dead corpse and said ‘I didn’t do it.’ The black holes on the man’s body signify he was tortured. The wounds were made by an old torture tool that was basically a powerful version of the cattle prod. The small square underneath his shirt showed the man had a heart condition. The torturing of the cattle prod combined with his heart condition is a lethal recipe. The only thing I can’t figure out is what his hands are bound with. It looks almost like…human hair.

           

I was dead on. The hair was tested in the lab with the results returned within a week. The hair belonged to a girl presumed to be dead over 6 years ago. Her murder was never solved and her body never found. I went as a Rouge detective for this moment in my life. Now I finally have a clue to her.

            She was a friendly girl that went by the name of Sandy. I met her during college. We went to the same school, New York University. We began dating after a few weeks, but suddenly she stopped returning my phone calls, I lost all contact with her. She had no family, so I called the police. They found blood stains in her Dorm room, she didn’t have a roommate. The Department never bothered to find out who killed her, the only reason they had her name even was from me. She was a no body in their eyes because she had no family. The police dropped her case after barely looking.

            That’s when I dropped out of college. I decided to solve the case on my own. The problem was that I had no clues. I started solving cases around the U.S. and turning in the evidence for money. I never graduated college, so I couldn’t get an actual license. People knew I was the best and accepted that though. The crime with Sandy was done by a professional. No real evidence was found making it a hassle for the police which was why they dropped the case. I decided to only search for the difficult cases for more clues.

            Rino was my main man in these cases. He was an FBI agent who informed me of when there was a case that just didn’t make sense to anyone, no matter where in the world it was. The most recent cases have been turning up in Italy.  I wasn’t quite sure why I was searching outside of the U.S. for a girl whom probably died in New York, but I ran out of options and clues to find her. The only clues I have is a lock of her hair and a strange watch I had never seen before. The watch’s hands moved in the opposite direction from what they should be. They seemed to be counting down to something.

            The case in Italy was solved in no time with my help. The murder weapon was found in a trash near by. It looked like a rocket that shot out electric charges. It was a strange device indeed.

 I sent the lock of hair for testing in the lab for any type of evidence they could find. They said they could give me an answer within a few hours, so I simply drank a couple cups of coffee in the lounge while I waited. The room was filled with marble pillars and cold floor tiles. The only place to sit was an uncomfortable red couch to the side. The only sound to be heard was the squeaking of wheels as the scientists in the room wheeled their instruments in and out of the room in the back. The radio was turned on as one of the scientists passed.

            “War has broken out in England, fear of missile strikes in major cities…”

I got up and turned the radio off as one of the scientists came out holding the lock of hair in a small plastic bag. He placed the lock of hair on my lap.

            “We may have found something. It isn’t a whole lot, but we found traces of mineral only found in southern parts of England. The hair was strangely well taken care of. It seems as if the person is still alive secreting sebaceous fluids in order to keep the hair healthy, either that or whoever used this hair was very good at keeping it in top condition. It isn’t a whole lot of information, but at least it gives you a continent to look on,” the scientist stated.

            “Thank you, I appreciate the help.”

            I took a large swig of coffee as I exited the building. Could she be alive? I never expected it to be true, but the pieces seem to be falling into place. I walked immediately back to my apartment and pulled up my laptop where I ordered plane tickets to Britain. The apartment was a dusty room with a single bed and a small bathroom in the back. A table with a single chair sat in the corner of the room next to the window. The window only showed the bustling streets below so that the lonely person in the apartment could watch all the lively action occurring below.

            I hopped on the earliest plane to Britain which was within a week. I was lucky that the plane was not delayed as they most often are. Maybe Italian airports are more organized than Americans. When I arrived in Britain, I immediately got a rental car and a decent apartment. I didn’t expect this case to be easy to do and I wanted to be prepared for it.

            Rino supplied me with information via phone on cases in the area. Mostly just common crimes of murders and stealing, but one day I got an interesting call.

            “Hello, Detective. I would like to cordially invite you to a meeting of mine, your company would most certainly be appreciated,” the dark voice said.

            “What is this meeting? How did you get my number?” I questioned. My number was unknown to anyone except Rino.

            “That is unimportant, but I would like to say I have a guest of mine you may know. You may be wondering why you haven’t heard from Rino in the past couple days.”

            I cringed at the man’s terrible voice. It had a dark eerie tone to it, but at the same time it had a screeching undertone that made one grab his ears, close his eyes, and wait for it to be over.

            “I have had times in which Rino doesn’t contact me in days. There is always crime, but Rino only supplies me with information about the difficult cases. I’m assuming this time is different though huh? I know your trying to prevent me from hearing your real voice using some phone blocker, but seriously can you change it a little? It is going to make my ears burst.”

            “Come to the apartment down the street and go into room number A101. The rest of your questions will be answered there,” the voice faded away as the phone began beeping to show that he hung up. It had a soothing sound compared to what noise that voice made.

            I knew it’d be a trap, but I decided to go anyway. I traveled down the street staring at the signs on the wall. One said, “Protect our troops with bonds and they’ll protect you with guns.” The sign had a rather large picture of a modern cannon on it. I snuck around the back of the building and climbed up the fire escape. The whole alley smelled of sewage and garbage. I looked inside the window, but the whole room was dark. I could vaguely see the outline of a man pacing back and forth across the room. He had a limp to his figure and seemed to be talking one the phone.

            I pulled out my trusty gun, it wasn’t loaded since I wasn’t a licensed detective, but I did like having it for protection. I opened the window and entered the room. The man with the limp immediately turned to me wide-eyed.

            “How? What? Why?” asked the man, clearly confused he began running. He bolted down the hall. I gave chase. It was strange; no civilians seemed to be in the building.  A lot of army pictures were hanging on the wall. Proud men in uniforms with their families, all-smiling. We passed a hallway with many windows to the outside parking lot. Police cars were swarming the building. I never contacted them though. Why are they showing up?

            The man in front of me ran into the front lobby. The place was still completely vacant. The man pulled up a phone and shouted into it.

“Now!” He screamed.

I instinctively pulled out the watch that counts backwards. The arrows were both pointing to the normal twelve o’clock spot, but instead it said 0:00. The man I was chasing ran off down a corridor to the back rooms. I ran out into the parking lot waving my arms at the crowd of police officers about to enter the building.

“A missile is coming!” I shouted.

My phone began vibrating in my pocket. I picked it up. Rino was on the other end.

“What is going on? It seems you set a whole lot of officers into panic about a missile?”

“Thank god you’re safe Rino, a missile is coming, no time to explain. Get everyone out of the parking lot now!”

The police began getting into their cars and starting their engines. I was already across the street by now. A whistling sound began. It became louder and louder. The clouds separated as a bright white rocket broke through them. Before all the police could safely escape, the explosion occurred.

After the damages were assessed a few days later, 16 police officers were killed and 37 were injured. I sipped on a strong cup of coffee as I read the paper. I couldn’t save anyone. I couldn’t see this coming. Now the case I have searched for may have faded into darkness forever.