Litigant by Sarah F (mystery books to read TXT) 📖

outside, Ronald stopped walking and sighed.

"What did you call me for?" Nathan asked Ronald who had turned to face him.

"We have to present her in Court this Friday. We are supposed to keep her here till then but after hearing her story, which looks like a movie script. I don't believe that anything she is saying has even a tad bit of reality in it. First she's says she killed herself and now she formulates a horror story. I suggest we drop the investigation right here and let her lawyer deal with it. In the end she is going to end up in an asylum after all," Ronald explained throwing his hands in the air making Nathan to think through.

"Something is telling me there is more to this. I can feel it. Let's hear her out completely and then decide," Nathan replied shaking his head thoughtfully.

"Do what you want to do dude, but I'm out of here. I don't want to hear anymore of this crap." Ronald stated before exiting to his cabin.

Nathan looked at his departing colleague's back before he made his way back to listen to Andrea's story.

An amused looking Oliver was seated behind the polarized glass watching Gemma and Andrea converse.

"What did I miss?" Nathan asked taking his seat beside Oliver.

"A lot brother, a whole lot!" Oliver sniggered.

"Care to share that with me?" Nathan asked turning to look at Oliver.

"She said that she killed herself because she had taken her position and then kicked her self out of her own life! Can you telling something like that?" Oliver bust into laughter.

Nathan gave him a pointed look.

"Dude it's hilarious and absolutely crazy!" Oliver said between his terrible attempt to stop his laughter.

"Just shut up, will you," Nathan replied focusing his attention back to the ladies behind the polarized glass.

"Do you have any idea who she was or from where she had came?" Gemma questioned.

"Actually, no. At first the things that I had to do were done by someone else behind me and whenever I used to enquire people about it, they would look at me as if I was bat shit crazy and tell that it was done by me. In that period of time, I felt as if my memory didn't serve me well but later on when I saw her, I knew that I didn't remember anything because I didn't do anything. It was all done by her and people thought that it was me who did it..." Andrea explained.

"Okay," Gemma stressed nodding her head before continuing, "did you... Did you ever have a... an appointment with a therapist or a... Psychiatrist?"

Gemma hesitated the last word. Andrea's face was void of any expression as soon as she processed Gamma's words. Soon the her face was flushed red and a scrowl appeared.

"You think I'm crazy? You think that I'm insane, don't you?" She yelled lividly.

"No, Andrea. That's not--" she cut Gemma in the middle as she shouted, "then what do you mean? I am not insane and I'm not lying! This happened to me. It had really happened to me, so why doesn't anyone believe me?"

She pushed her chair back and stood up while her hand shook the table vigorously showing how angry she was. The left out pasta and water from glasses had fallen all over the table and was also starting to dirty the floor.

Gemma shrieked in fear seeing an angry Andrea before her. The plates and glasses shattered on the floor spreading the tiny pieces of shiny glass all around the room. The forks clinked on the floor.

"Get her off out there!" Oliver shouted as he and Nathan ran into the room. Andrea had struggled with her handcuffs so badly that she had somehow managed to rolled the table sideways and cause the chairs to fall. The room was now an utter mess with pasta, pieces of glasses, water and forks spread around the room.

"Let's get you out," Oliver stated pulling a shocked Gemma out of the door while Nathan tried to get hold of a thrashing Andrea who was shouting at the top of her voice, "He came into my life and planned everything! He got her into my position and then they pushed me out of my own life! No one believes me. Everyone thinks that I'm crazy, well I'm not! I'm not crazy and this whole thing is a trap. Someone set me up. I was left with no other choice other than killing her! I killed her! I killed the girl who posed to be me and took my place. I killed her, I killed myself but he still roams out there freely!"

Nathan's attention was grabbed by the word 'he'.

"Who is he, Andrea?" He asked her as his hands wounded around her to stop her struggle.

"It's all his doings. He wanted this and he is getting what he wanted!" She's continued to scream.

"Andrea, WHO IS HE?" Nathan shouted shutting Andrea up who was panting like a dog. There was a moment of silence as tension in the air was building up. Nathan knew that what Andrea was going to reveal was the key information, a thing that will give a lead to this case and he needed to learn it.

"Who is he?" He repeated he question just an inch away from her face making her feel warm and safe.

Maybe, just maybe he will help me. He will understand me. She thought as she looked deep into his eyes that showed trust and promise that she hadn't seen in anyone else.

"Chris. His name is Chris," she breathed.

 

4. Now

 

Nathan helped Andrea to sit on the chair after Nathan cleaned the mess up and set the furniture back in its place. As a precautionary step, Oliver got Nathan to drug her. Her outburst didn't hurt or caused much damage to anyone or anything due to the handcuffs but still it was destructive enough.

"Yeah, now you tell me about this Chris guy," Nathan breathed sitting on the chair before her.

"Chris Terrence. I met him four months ago on a train back home after I shifted to my new apartment. He approached me for help. He didn't have a cell phone and he had to call someone urgently so he wanted to borrow mine. I told him the truth that I didn't carry a cell phone around. He was so anxious that he borrowed a dollar from me to call at a calling booth.

Now that I recall, he kept looking at some direction. I thought that he was looking at something or someone. I was tired so I ignored my suspicion and carried on my way.

That was the first time but later on we bumped into each other a lot and I felt this weird feeling like he was hiding something. He was always worried and constantly kept scanning the area around him. I felt that he was crazy and perhaps paranoid but then he started saying things to me, things that gave me goosebumps. At first I thought that he was insane and told cock and bull stories but then I realised that he was serious. Whatever he told was true, the deeper I dug, the more shocking it turned. At last, two months ago, I started experiencing the same. But it had stopped for him. I don't know why or how, it had stopped for him but started for me. They left him alone and started replacing me. And strangely, the procedure continued from that very step where it had stopped for him," Andrea said dizzily her voice slurred.

"Andrea, you need to explain me clearly. Who are they? Where does this Chris Terrence live?" Nathan questioned.

"They are dangerous, that is what Chris said." Andrea's head ticked back and forth due to the drug.

"Andrea, where does this Chris live?"

"Beside the comic stores down the lane of my house," the last few words slurred into distant as she fell forward and slumbered on the table. Nathan quickly got up from his place and marched out of the room. Oliver was leaning on the wall while Nathan stopped before him and held his collar. Oliver's boring expression turned into a confused one.

"Why the hell did you get me to drug her, Oliver? You know it very well that we aren't suppose to use it without permission from court! Look at her! She is unconscious! What will you tell if someone sees her like this?" Nathan demanded through his clenched teeth.

Oliver pushed Nathan away from himself and straightened his shirt.

"You saw her, you saw how wild she had become. She's a lunatic here, Nathan. And loons tend to behave in that way. I did what I had to do. I am trying to keep the building from being destroyed while a very sick person is in it and you ought to respect my action," Oliver poked his finger into Nathan's chest before adding, "oh, and don't worry about others. They are smart enough to not waste their time in this part of the building unlike us. No one is going to come around here anymore until the court gives it verdict. So you don't have to worry about anything."

"You are insufferable!" Nathan exclaimed throwing his hands in the air.

"Breaking news, you are worst," Oliver retorted moving away from Nathan.

Nathan knew that he was just wasting his time here bickering with a dispecable person, he needed to find who Chris Terrence was and what was his role in this case.

Commanding Oliver, "get me Andrea's house address, I'll go pay a visit to this Chris Terrence," Nathan walked out of the place.

_______________________________

Nathan knocked at the door for fifth time as a irritated sigh escaped his mouth. He had been standing there for fifteen minutes and no one was bothering to respond him.

"Do you need any help mister?" A voice caused Nathan to whip his face towards the direction of the voice. An old lady, in late eighties stood behind him carrying a bag of veggies.

"Yeah, please. I'm from Wichita police department. Does anyone named Chris Terrence reside here, ma'am?" Nathan climbed down fleet of stairs to stand before her.

"I'm afraid no one by that name stays here, officer. In fact this is the first time that I'm hearing that name," the lady replied.

"You sure ma'am? Someone's life depend on this," Nathan explained.

"I'm hundred percent sure. I have a very good memory. I would have known if any person by that name lived around here but unfortunately no, there is no Chris Terrence here," the lady replied as she started climbing the stairs and pulled out a key to open the door.

"Please come in officer. It's so rude of me to keep an officer standing out here," the lady chuckled.

"It's alright ma'am. I must get going but if you ever hear that name, please give a ring to me. Here, this is my card," he handed her his card and took a leave. A frown had edged into his features. There was no one called Chris Terrence? Was Andrea playing a trick on him? Were others right that Andrea was mentally ill? Was he wasting his time behind a loon?

His thoughts were disturbed as he heard a hissing sound, "pssst....pssst..."

He turned around to see a hooded guy with more than half of his face hidden,