The Mysterious Cycle | #wattys2019

Chapter 1

Sometimes, life brings chaos out of nowhere. Especially for the hardworking and fair detectives who slogged for hours in their precinct and tried to ensure justice prevailed for the ones who deserved it. The 44th precinct of Manhattan had such detectives. All this was not to say that their life was miserable or that they didn't enjoy but it was just that sometimes even a moment would change their lives. Their loved ones were always in trouble but that didn't deter them from serving the place they loved the most.

The precinct was very huge. It was a huge and a new building with latest technology, high tech detectives and cops and some well-built structures. It looked quite sophisticated and had enough room to accommodate fifties of inmates. There might be approximately 70 employees in all with detective Rhodes, the head of them.

The atmosphere in the precinct was quite mellow, just like the weather outside, as compared to how usually it would be. Each table had tons of papers and files providing information about various victims and the accused. But the work load for the six of them in the past one week was quite less, after resolving the murder and the burglary of a family in the suburbs. It was past 7 PM, time to lock the office and head home.

Naomi Shales and her husband William Shales were deep in discussion about how they should have a vacation to some pleasant and a beautiful place for their break which was long due. Eleanor Woods was a woman in her 30s, often teased as a nerd by her fellow colleagues, had a cup of coffee on her table, untouched. She was gazing into the computer screen intently, reading about some famous detective and his achievements. On the other end of the office, the booming laughter of Sebastian, Mike and Chris could be heard throughout the office which made Eleanor grimace. 

"I think it's time we lock the office and head home..." Eleanor said as she shut her computer.

 The Shales were already packing up to leave. "We're already on it. We're going to hit the road to the Great River Road tomorrow at dawn." Will said, with a smirk on his face. "We won't appreciate any sort of disturbance for another week." Naomi said frowning. She was always a grumpy woman, thought Mike.

 "We're going to hit the club. Care to join us El?" Chris asked with a blush on his face, his crush on Eleanor evident.

"No. clubs don't interest me." She said plainly. Chris's face fell. "Well, I am not surprised to hear that from you, nerd." Mike laughed stressing on the word nerd. Mike was the cocky one out of the entire lot.

"Hey!" exclaimed El as she threw her hands to her chest, faking her disagreement. She never took his jibes offensively, because she loved what she did.

" Hey Mr. Shales, could I have a word with you in private?" asked a tall and bulky man with salt and pepper hair and dark black eyes. It was Mr. Rhodes, the head of the precinct.

"Sure, sir", Shales nodded as he made his way to the cabin of Mr. Rhodes.

After a brief moment, when everyone had started to wonder what took Will so long, he came out of the cabin, his lips pressed together. "Here he is", said Seb, excited that their shift was over and they could finally hangout.

"What's wrong honey?" asked a now impatient Naomi. Never had she seen her husband this way.

"It's Trevor Hill", sighed, the detective.

Everyone in the room was shocked, they had dealt with tons of cases but this one was huge. Trevor Hill was the budding sensation of Manhattan. He was a pop star based in Manhattan and was considered to be the biggest star in the 21st century.

"Trevor Hill? Damn." said Mike, shocked to his guts.

Chris was almost in tears when he said," He was everyone's idol. Why would someone kill him?"