My Own Worst Enemy

Chapter 3

Shots were getting fired at irregular intervals in a firearms practice session in the Cantonment Police Complex. Officers were practicing their shooting accuracy. Two police senior staff sergeants, Farhan and Malvin, hurried through the practice session to rendezvous with Inspector Steven Lim, who was just finishing his grouping of shots on a target board.

"Sir!" one of the two police sergeants tapped Steven's shoulder. Steven stared back at the sergeants. He did not like being disturbed during his shooting practice. He removed his ear defenders and gave him a questioning look.

"The initial report for the accident is out. We need to speak to you in private," the sergeant continued.

Steven placed his handgun on the table and moved out of his cubicle to continue the conversation in a private and quieter room.

They walked to a small briefing room, and the second sergeant closed the door shut.

"The three men did not die because of the car crash. Someone shot them to death," the sergeant said.

"What? Shot to death?" Steven was shocked and began to think about the next course of action.

"I have another piece of news, sir." The sergeant continued.

"What?"

"One police coast guard was found dead at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal in a patrol cruiser boat. There were supposed to be two guards in the boat. So the guards and divers have been tasked to find the second coast guard. The first coast guard, his name is Azhar. Shot dead as well."

"Wow. 4 shooting cases in a night. Any links to both the cases? Steven asked.

"As of now, we are not sure. We have asked for all available video recordings from the Ferry Terminal. The Customs officer told us that she saw a woman wearing a police uniform coming out of the boat. She didn't suspect anything wrong and went to check the boat, and that's when she found Azhar's body, stripped bare to his underwear."

"Wow. We need to find that woman immediately. We have a killer on the loose. Worst still, she has a gun. Search the accident car immediately for any round. Ask the forensics to see if they can find out what type of gun and rounds have been used on the three men and Azhar. I need video recordings from the traffic cameras for the accident. I want to see footage of before, during, and after the car crashed into the tree, and I want to see footage from the ferry terminal. Let's see if there is any woman in that footage." Steven ordered.

"Shall we alert the public and the media?" the sergeant asked.

"No. Tell the media about the car accident. Maintain that it was just an accident, and the driver lost control. I don't want any words to be out about shooting cases and police coast guards."

"Yes, Sir!" the two sergeants saluted Steven and left.

Steven sat on the chair and had a quiet moment for himself. He looked at the plain whiteboard in front of him and wondered what was going on or what would happen next. Steven had just turned his night over from just being another day at work to having the immense responsibility to solve a case that Singapore had never seen in a long time. It has been fifteen years since he joined the Police, yet his promotion has been one of the slowest among his batch. Steven has been slogging on without recognition, other than some long service awards. The ranking has never been fair to him. Working hard does not guarantee any progress. It depends on whom the management likes and who are the excellent "cock-suckers or ass-kissers" at work. One would often find those types of people under the management tables.

Work has been boring for Steven ever since. It was always the same, every day. It was always about some petty thief, shoplifting, neighbor harassment, or motor accidents. The most "interesting" one would be some random suicide case.

No matter how hard he tried, younger chaps with zero experience climb up the ladder faster than him because they have the proper papers. The higher management does not understand that when they come face to face with a killer, no documents can save them except skills and experience. This shooting case was like God's sent to him. One that he had been waiting for fifteen years. One that can showcase him to the management. One where he can prove to them that their paper officers are useless, and he has always been destined for a better rank. He wanted to get the case solved as soon as possible, no matter what it would take. He gathered his senses back and decided to head to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to start his investigation.

Rajen finally took his shower. He messaged his friend, Guna, who was well-versed with antiques and history, to see him in the morning. He went to his bedroom and saw his wife, Lalitha, sleeping soundly. Should I tell her, he wondered. There is no sin bigger in this world than waking up a sound asleep woman. The woman deserved her sleep and let her have it. The jewel can wait another day, he thought.

He walked towards the bed and slowly slid into the blanket, trying not wake his wife up. He placed his head on his pillow.

"Are you okay?" Lalitha asked.

The sin committed.

"Yes. Good night. Love you." Rajen replied.

"How come you're back so late?"

Knowing that she was fully awake, Rajen thought he might just tell her about it.

He let a sigh out and climbed out of bed to the chest of drawers. He opened the top drawer, took the golden arch out, and gave it to Lalitha.

"What is this? Where you got this from?"

"I saw an accident on the way home. There were three guys in it. Two were dead, and the third one was badly injured."

Lalitha's facial expression changed to disgust. She could sense what was coming.

Rajen continued, " I went to help him, but I saw this. It looked super expensive and precious. So I took it and left the third man to die."

"What? What in the world have you done?"

"And, and the third man. He died"

"How do you know?"

"I went back again to help him, but he was dead when I was there. The police and paramedics were already at the scene."

"Goodness. And what do you plan to do with this?"

"I have messaged Guna about it. He will come around tomorrow morning and check if this is of any worth."

Lalitha examined the gems, the handcraft, and the diamonds in the golden arch. She turned it around and used her fingers to feel the craft. She noticed a black chip on it that did not look like part of the jewel.

She placed her fingers on it and removed it from the jewel.

"What's that?" Rajen asked.

"Looks like a processor." It took Lalitha a few more seconds before it set it. "Shit, I think it could be a tracking device."

"What?"

"Look! Call Guna! Let's bring this to his house now. I think it's not safe to keep this here. We need to do something about this," Lalitha said.

"Should we bring it to the police? Rajen asked.

"No. I think we are way past that option. It looks expensive. This might be just our lucky break from the rat race. Let's go to Guna's place," Lalitha told him, and they got up to leave.

"It's gonna be a long night," Rajen murmured and picked up his mobile phone to inform Guna, and they took off in their car. On their way, Lalitha removed the tracking device from the jewel and tossed it out of the car window. The device took a few tumbles before resting on the grass patch.