ROSEWELL RAILWAY STATION
FEW MONTHS AFTER THE DISAPPEARANCE OF GARFIELD,WINSEL TOWN,1956
An old man was sitting on the wooden chair of the platform,checking his pocket for a snout. Cold weather of mornings always demanded a smoke rather than a cup of coffee. He spun his head to the clock. The train would be late, he was sure about that. The town has a history of many great warriors and leaders but none of the things in Winsel changed so far including the minds of the locals. Everyone was busy with their work.Nobody had the time for hearing one other’s story,their pain
“Yeah,got it”, withdrawn the last cig and smoked as if he got the key to the heaven. The old black coat and specs still gave him a first class outlook and the Daily express on his side reminded the thirst of a journalist he had been holding in the past. Yes, he was that man, the whole state searching for all these months, Mr.Garfield Bentley. Nobody thought about the incident happened on that night would shatter a man like him into this pathetic condition. “Why me?” Many times he asked himself the same question but the answers were always inconclusive, pointing to countless loops. It took about many months to convince his conscience mind getting an exact answer for that. “30 more minutes”, he whispered and glimpsed to the side where the train arrives. The day was so precious to him. The guy he was waiting for would definitely put an end to his last question,“Who killed Sarah Lorene?”
********
NIGHT, RALPRICE PUB, WINSEL TOWN,1954
"It was another bad day for him”, Sarah said to Rachel,sitting on other side of the table,
“Again refused his gifts?", in an expected way.Rachel had no wonder on this , she knew her attitude on boys, and called the waiter to fill the next round.
“3rd time,“, Sarah replied with a scornful smile and resumed,“He is a jerk,you know”.
The candles burning in the middle of the table created an ambient to tell such freaky love stories and rejections.
“A man is waiting for you,madam”.Rachel whipped her head to the side where the tubby waitress pointed.She gently moved her head to the light for a clear sight of him.He was a muscular, may be 6 feet tall, wearing an old black jacket and also looks middle-aged in the very first view.
“Don’t try to escape , Rachel”, the softness of his voice hid the emotions he had held and grabbed a seat beside them.Sarah never saw the man before.She had both fear and bewilderment in her face.“It was all ended after father’s death, I am not into that anymore”, Rachel’s reply confused Sarah a bit more.“I know the regret made you as a good girl, but we want the other, one last time”, the man had a warning tone in latter words.She always tried to walk way from those bad old days but the fate was still pushing her to wear the sin and regret of life.The smell of warm blood still didn’t vanish to a full level.The words of the man evoked the memories of many begging souls she had taken without any repentance.
“Walgan Gardens, tomorrow morning,I will wait for you”, in a sniggered way. The man then went in a quick rush to the car waiting outside.She was very upset, hooked up in the middle of indecisive thoughts. “Are you okay, Rachel”,Sarah interrupted her broody mind.“I’m OK “, she then finished her last round and went outside without saying a word.
*****
MIDNIGHT, PRIMROSE APARTMENT
Sarah glimpsed through the window. The room of Rachel could be clearly seen. Even though both were at two apartments, one could easily make out what’s happening inside it. “She didn’t sleep even at this time!", Sarah mused in mind and wiped out the dust for a better view of the side. Rachel seemed so frustrated and yelling at a guy in her room. “Who is he?", bunch of questions flashed across Sarah’s mind. Suddenly the guy pulled out the curtain of the window. Maybe, he saw her, or he didn’t want to see anybody outside. Anyway Sarah didn’t know what happened after that and went to bed with a restless mind.
MORNING,7:50 a.m.
“Open the door, Rachel”, Sarah knocked on the door multiple times but there was no response. The door was locked from outside. “How could she go without me?", she murmured and again span the knob to assure whether it’s bolted or not. “What happened to her?", and gently stepped her foot to the elevator. Suddenly something touched her leg. It was red, viscus.
“Oh my god, Blood!", Sarah shouted and cringed to one’s side. The blood pooled the door front in a few seconds. The security guards punted and cleared the entrance in a trice. The room hadn’t any signs of fight or theft except some books dropped from the wooden shelf. Rachel was lying on the bed, murdered with face down to the mattress. Signs of torture and scratch marks could be seen from the back, clothes were torn mostly, throttled to death. The killer wanted to see her pain, the yelling for mercy. She had been killed inch by inch. Not in the room. Maybe, in another place.
MORNING, 9 a.m., RACHEL’S ROOM
“Who saw it first?", Kevin Paul, Commissioner of Police asked George Middleton, the security staff of the apartment. Sarah was sitting at the corner of the room, weeping at the dead body. “Madam Sarah,sir”, George replied in a fright tone and turned his head to point out her.
“You were friends, right?", Kevin sat beside ,placing his gun on the nearby table of her.
After a pause, Sarah slowly responded.“She was... like.. My sister”, in a broken voice
“Has she had any enemies, what do you think?",Kevin lean forward a bit closer.
“No, but yesterday I saw someone in her room.A man”
“Boyfriend?", Kevin interrupted in a fast pace.
“Not in my knowledge. She was already frustrated with a guy met the day before yesterday. I don’t know more than that”, Sarah wiped her tears. Kevin didn’t ask any questions further. He knew her pain, the same one he had experienced in the past, the death of his best friend.
*****
1956-THE NIGHT ON WHICH SARAH LORENE’S DEAD BODY FOUND
MATHEW HAMILTON’S OFFICE, CHIEF OF POLICE
“So that was the first time you met Sarah”, Hamilton disrupted Kevin’s report, sitting in front , holding a cup of coffee in his hand.
“Yes, sir”, Kevin replied and resumed ,“But at that night Professor Marrdock, renowned criminologist, came to my office and What he had told absolutely amazed me ".
“What was that?", Hamilton became curious for his reply
“Before Rachel’s murder , two murders had taken place in nearby town which has this same torture pattern”
“But it can be a coincidence", Hamilton argued his finding’s
“No sir", Kevin continued, "the three has some relation with one another and also the finger prints points to one killer”.
“Who?”
*****
THE NEXT DAY AFTER RACHEL’S DEATH, MORNING 10 a.m.
PRIMROSE APARTMENT
Sarah’s room was locked from outside.“Where did she go?", Kevin asked to one of the security staffs standing at the elevator. Professor Maddrock was also beside him. “Sir, Madam vacated the room early morning”, security replied and withdrawn something from the pocket. “Madam gave this to me, for you”. It was a chit with something written on it. The message had a warning as well as arrogance in the entire words. A grin appeared on Professor, “The murderer went for another one”, Kevin saw the certainty reflected in Professor’s voice and kept on,“It was her,.....Sarah Lorene”. Kevin once again read the lines.
Time for another one,bye
