The Sign of Three

Looking at the documents, she saw the pictures of the dead body in the woods. Saoirse realized it wasn't as descriptive or exposing as the pictures of victims nowadays. Her heart was thumping quickly, and she felt like she could jump high because of ecstasy; however, Saoirse didn't show her excitement since she is known to have a frigid personality. It was the first cold case that she was going to work on. Saoirse recalls the captain of the precinct, saying that it was the sharpest case mentioned in the history of the country. After all, after the body got found by four adults, they suddenly disappeared with no traces left behind. The case happened twenty-one years ago, and no one has discovered any leads, only a few pieces of evidence.

The captain of their precinct, Dean, has informed them about the complications present in the case, especially since it happened in 1999, about a decade ago. Saoirse, though, got interested in the case and started looking for more documents about the victim and her relatives. It became tough when she realized her family died, and so did her close friends; however, the idea of looking at the CCTVs came to her mind, and she started looking for the tapes in 1999. When she found where the victim went to, Saoirse sprinted to the place, which she later found out that the site belongs to the victim's grandfather. She entered and saw a dimly lit library with frescos surrounding all of the walls and ceiling. Saoirse looked at the right and saw an old guy sitting on his desk with his eyebrows knitted together while reading a book. After a while, he looked up, and with a surprised face, he greeted her, "Oh, hello! What a surprise!" Saoirse smiled and bowed her head, "Good evening, Mr. Mortimer. I'm here to ask a few questions about your former granddaughter, Elena." she said. He sighed and stood up, saying, " Well, you are welcome anytime. What do you want to know? "

Saoirse sat down on the luxurious, red chair and started questioning him, " Do you know anything about what happened to your granddaughter or any of the four adults?" "Unfortunately, I do not. If I did, I wouldn't have stayed silent all this time," he replied with a sorrowful expression. After a few questions, Saoirse decided to get up since it seemed like he didn't have any information about his grandchild, but before she did, her phone dinged, signaling that she has received a message. Taking a peek at her phone, the old guy said: "Who's that?" with a confused face, Saoirse answered, "My boss.", "It's funny how your boss and Elena's boss have the same name. Dean Langston." he said. Saoirse got even more confused and asked, "Dean Langston was the name of her boss? What was her job, again?", "Oh, I don't know! All I know is that she just used to be away from home most of the time."

After two months, Saoirse kept on searching more; she didn't even use any help from her colleagues. Even when they offer her their cooperation, she refuses. After all, she wanted to prove to her captain that she can get promoted. Every day, Saoirse kept getting more and more frustrated by the lack of any evidence and any leads. One day, she saw Mr. Mortimer in the police department looking left and right as if he was trying to find something or someone; then, both Saoirse and he locked eyes, and he immediately sprinted towards her, "Ah, Miss Abbitt! I was looking for you. I want to show you this letter I found in my granddaughter's drawer." he said panting heavily; she took the letter and started reading it silently; as Saoirse was reading, her eyes kept growing from the information revealed, and at the end of the message, the name mentioned made her gasp lightly, "Sir Lavender" she whispered.

Saoirse wanted to talk to Dean, so she told him to see her at the London Bridge. "Hey, Saoirse, what's up. Why didn't we talk in my office?" he questioned. She started speaking in a low but audible voice, "Sign number one; you liked her, but she didn't. She liked her friend. Sign number two; her four close friends supported her but didn't support you." she paused for a moment then completed, "And finally, sign number 3, the letter she wrote." while Dean's expression started changing, her smirk kept getting wider and wider as she conveyed the sign of three, "Hmph," he said arrogantly, "What a pretty little thing. A detective who is accusing her captain. A higher rank police officer compared to a lower rank one. Do you think anyone's going to believe you, sweetie?" he challenged. "Thank you for confessing, capt." she chuckled, "Mr. Dean Langston, You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will get used against you in court." Dean widened his eyes as he saw the police cars arriving and pointing guns at him, confirming his arrest.

After he got arrested, Saoirse was the only one left at the scene. Her eyes started forming tears as the person she trusted the most ended up being the one who killed five people horridly. The betrayal made her heart and mind weak; she started sobbing loudly, and as if the sky felt the sadness flowing from her, it started crying as well. This dishonesty changed her from the cold person everyone knew to a fragile girl who didn't trust anyone anymore.