Chapter 1
As the day began the street lights had barely come on but the city was awake. Men and women dressed in their suits ready for a day of work. If New York is the city that never sleeps then London was the city that never stopped working. Amongst the crowd of suits and polished perfect hair, Detective Ted Brooks, a dishevelled, disgruntled detective. His brown hair was scruffy and looked as though it hadn’t been touched in over a week, shirt untucked and the look of pure tiredness in his eyes. He hadn’t slept the whole night, tossing and turning, when he was in the dark they came running back to him, he never wanted them back. The only sweet salvation was the blaring alarm that arrived just as his eyes closed. He knew it protected him from what was to come.
He walked to the precinct counting his steps and wishing he could turn back a run to his apartment. He would sit in front of the television and drown his sorrows in bowls of chocolate ice cream and cake. He had been sober for 3 years and now sweet food was the only joy in his life. Due to this he had spent less time sleeping and putting more hours in at the gym. His life was one of tedious order and very little joy. He loved to hide there to prevent himself for feeling sorrow or guilt.
He had only just entered the precinct and had barely accustomed himself to his surrounding when a large booming voiced yelled across the crowded foyer “Oi boss! We got a big one, you’re going to want to see this.”. It was Robert Smithbrook. The only person he would tolerate talking to him like this ever. Questions ran through Ted’s mind. He knew from the look on Robert’s face he was going to busy today.
Robert Smithbrook, known to everyone in the station as Rob, was an imposing figure of a man. His 6”2’ stature made him easily the scariest detective but he was all soft inside. He loved his family and friends and was easily the nicest man to anyone he knew.
Agitated and intrigued he went to see what the case was. The closer he approached to his office, the nearer to his desk he got the bigger the knot in his chest became. Finally, he caught up with Robert
“Robbie what is it? A big murder case or theft?” he said with a wild look of bewilderment in his eyes.
“Well” he sighed “you know the rich guy Arthur Smith? Lawyer for those posh celebs. And he socialises with ’em?”
After a moment of consideration, he replied “OH! Him the idiot, what happened one of his mates walk into someone so now we should arrest him? Makes sense” Ted felt no compassion for him he thought that Arthur Smith and who-ever he chose to socialise with was most likely brain dead or desperate for attention. He sauntered around in sports cars with women and had no consideration for anyone else. He may have been perceived as the nation’s golden boy lawyer but Ted saw that it was façade and the only person Arthur Smith helped was himself.
“No No No!” he said desperate to finish the story “He’s DEAD! Sweet Lord at least let me finish a sentence”
“Sorry, sorry it won’t happen again” Ted said solemnly as if taking an oath
“It better not” Robert said in a jokey tone,
Ted replied “don’t forget who your boss is” with a small chuckle at the immaturity of his closest friend. Robert left handing him a case file with a pink post-it note saying ’London eye, 10:30’ the brown folder felt heavy in his hands. His intuition as a detective told him this was going to be more than he bargained for.
The folder felt heavy in his hand. The weight of the world felt as if it was rested upon his shoulders. One of Britain’s most influential men had been brutally, savagely murdered and it terrified him. No traces left at the eye not a partial fingerprint or a follicle of hair. The liver intestines and heart of Arthur had been removed and he was strung up for the world to see inside the eye. The scene looked pre planned like month and months of preparation had gone into this and all in all it felt poetic. A man of tremendous power known to be ruthless and who genuinely considered himself above us mere mortals.
He began to compile a list of suspects and people who Arthur Smith surrounded himself with. He initially began with the family. The man had a well-known family: his father a renowned business tycoon, his mother owning some sort of high end fashion line and was a typical socialite, his brothers owning multiple companies and showing up to every party with gorgeous models and influential people and finally his fiancé a gorgeous model type who looked more like a trophy on his arm than the woman he loved.
