CRYPTIC: (Book One) Scarlet Shadows

Chapter Six - The First Sign

Part One

A week had passed, and none of the men at LPS had found anything seriously important involving the Mystery Woman case. Worthington had suggested that they should just drop it, because it was probably just a silly idea, that a lady who simply yelled at someone they knew, was a criminal. All four men were hesitant about the idea--Percival, most of all--and William, least of all. After a few minutes of discussing the possibilities and assumptions of this woman being some sort of criminal and the even stronger assumptions of her being innocent, everyone had decided to drop the case.

As disappointed as the men were, Oliver was finally relieved that he didn't have to do any more paperwork. But this also meant that the men did not have a case to work on, and therefore they would have to return home to Brighton.

They were to return home the next week.

The next week at the station, the men held their suitcases and carpet bags loosely in their hands, not caring that they were there. Their guns, in their holsters, lay almost nonexistent to them in their tuxedos. When they had come to the train station in Brighton to travel to Liverpool, their spirits were high and full of wonder, and they were ecstatic over what they would accomplish while working under Worthington. Now they were at the station in Liverpool--the one at which they had arrived only a few weeks before now; the one where their beloved friend Crane had picked them up--all feeling down and depressed, wondering what they would do now, and also wondering, what even is the purpose to life? They knew that they couldn't work for Worthington anymore, that their dreams of accomplishing something great under him were exterminated. They also considered the formidable possibility that they would probably have to separate. None of them wanted to talk about any of the issues, so they kept completely silent on their trip to the station, and they remained silent even as they boarded their train.

But just as Geoffrey lifted his foot to step gloomily onto his train, they all heard a single shout rise in the distance. Alarmed, they turned their heads, and saw a stranger running toward them, as if he were running for his life. Tall, thin, and probably in his mid-fifties, crowned with snow-white hair with baby-blue eyes and a mustache to match, the man was unrecognizable to any of the men.

When the man reached them, he was clearly out of breath, so William decided to speak up.

"Who are you, sir? Uh...may we help you?"

William suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side, and he discovered that Geoffrey elbowed him.

"What are you doing?" he whispered to Will. "This train is about to dispatch! We don't--"

"You men work for Worthington, do you not?" the man suddenly asked, making Geoffrey hault in his whispering speech.

The men exchanged looks, and William spoke up again.

"We do."

"Whew! Thank God I found you young men before your train took off. Anyway, I am R. W. Davidson, and I am here to deliver a message from Worthington himself."

The men again exchanged looks of shock and confusion, and, reading the confused expressions on their faces, Davidson provided a sufficient answer to their unspoken question.

"And no, I do not work for Worthington. I am simply a messenger that works near to his place. Here is the letter he has provided for you. He said it is crucially important. I must be on my way now; good day to you, sirs."

"Good day," Percival muttered as the man quickly walked away from them.

Percival unfolded the parched letter that he had received from the stranger and began to read aloud:

Dear Gentlemen:
I deeply request your return to The Liverpool Police Station here in Liverpool, and I wish for your return to occur as soon as possible. Crane has come out with valuable and starting information on the Mystery Woman case which, as you all know, was closed this past week. This woman is, in fact, a criminal, as we all had expected. I will provide you with more information upon your return.

Your friend,
Worthington

"'Your friend'?" Oliver repeated.

"Oh shut up, Ollie!" Geoffrey ordered, but with a happy tone in his voice. "I mean you hear all this wonderful news and all you're concerned about is 'your friend'? Ha! Look, gentlemen! We have a case!"

Part Two

When the four men walked into Worthington's office that afternoon, they couldn't help but wear vast smiles upon their faces. They were overwhelmed with joy and their hearts were flooded with relief after they heard the good news that the opportunity to work under Worthington was once again available.

"Please, gentlemen, have a seat," he said, motioning a hand to the four chairs sitting in front of his desk.

As they all took their seats, Worthington continued, "As you have heard from the letter I sent you, Crane has come out with some last minute information about this lady, just about five minutes after you left for the station."

He paused and opened one of his desk drawers and pulled out a file. The men saw that it was the same file he had pulled out a couple weeks earlier, but this time it appeared thicker. He pushed the file across the desk to the men and Geoffrey picked it up.

As he lifted the cover, Worthington went on to explain.

"We have learned that this woman's name is Ruby Scarlett, but we have reason to believe that that name is only a penname, due to the pure coincidence of her dress code."

Geoffrey flipped through the pages and photos through the folder as Worthington continued to explain each page and photo.

"Now this page holds probably our most important information on this case so far. We learned that she is keeping two people hostage--a man and and a woman. Although their precise ages are not yet available, the young man is believed to be an older teenager, and the woman is believed to be in her mid-teen years. They are confirmed as siblings. We are not sure yet why and where she is keeping them. However, as you see on the next page, you will see that that is a letter that Ruby left for us. It seems like she wants this to be a sort of clue game. She told us, as we saw in our very first photo of her, that her signature color is red. She hasn't provided any more information about herself. We will have to investigate from here on out."

When Geoffrey arrived at the back cover of the folder, he quickly flipped through the pages again, then closed it and placed it back on Worthington's desk.

"It...it seems like a very difficult case, Inspector," he said, his eyes fixed on his knees. He then lifted his eyes toward Worthington and grinned, "but we will gladly except, and pour our souls into it."

"Thank you, gentlemen," Worthington said as he and all the men stood. "Yes, it will be difficult, and even perilous. But I know you guys can accomplish this."

He gave each of them a firm handshake, and before they turned to leave, he said, "you may begin work tomorrow morning. Good evening, gentlemen."

The men gave a nod and watched as Worthington grabbed his cloak and exited through a side door.

"Well, this is it, men," Percival said with a broad grin as they exited the office. "We have our first clue."