The Boy Who Solved Crimes

24: Praise

Tessa (from Forensics, chapter 1)

Aaron was a clever boy, he'd always had the foresight of a man whose lived a life as an impostor. He solved crimes too easily and I was proud to have him serving in our precinct. But lately, he's been acting weird.

I don't know. Just different.

He shows up to work each day and he's almost robotic. He hasn't even been messing with Bella lately, which is very strange considering he'd threatened Zya with telling his wife about his affair with Bella.

And yes, I know. Of course I know. I know everything. It is my job to know.

Zya, on the other hand, wasn't as bright. He may have outranked Aaron, but it was only because he'd spent many more years in his field of work. He was good at the paperwork, but Aaron was great at solving the mystery.

I still remember when I'd helped interview him a year ago. He had this bright smile that lit up the entire room, he'd made conversation with almost everyone there that day. He even asked me out for coffee afterwards.

A little player, he'd always been. He was a very handsome man. But I was far too interested for him to reciprocate. For now, all I could spout were nervous words about each case. And each time he had to be the one to approach me.

Another thing I knew about Aaron was that he never,  never ever played by the rules. He'd much rather go on a date than spend a few hours at a crime scene. It made me jealous, but there wasn't exactly anything I could do about it. I couldn't speak to the guy, much less ask him on a date.

Though I would've loved to go on a date with him and pick his mind a bit, he seemed to be thinking a thousand thoughts a minute. He just knew who the culprit was. He knew which crimes they'd committed and he'd pinpoint them easily in a line-up. It was like he was gifted with the ability to tell when people are dishonest. We didn't need a lie detector here because we had Aaron.

Aaron Paul. The man himself was what kept the Rosemond Precinct standing. I shudder to think about what we were like before he joined us.

I also know that he's going behind Zya's back to conduct his own search for a man he's mentioned a few times, but whose name slips my mind. All I know is that he is the father of a girl named Violet and that he was in jail for six years.

It's not much to go off of, but I've pretty much narrowed down who that man is. I just don't see why Aaron blames the deaths of two girls, and the admission of Luke Parker for the murder of those two girls, on a man who went to jail for science experiments gone wrong.

He seemed harmless. Especially considering his sentence was so short.

Dr. Robert Renae Dooley. It was a name I'd been repeating to myself all morning. Because I feared that Aaron was right and the Luke Parker was just a cover story for the true criminal. With Detective Paul's track record, I wouldn't doubt it.

Aaron had been missing for two days. It was like he'd disappeared off the face of the planet. I couldn't find track his credit cards or anything; I couldn't find him.

And that's what brings me here today. My hand was ready to knock on apartment 107 in the lot on Baker Street when the door suddenly flew open and my eyes landed on a gorgeous woman. Her hair reached slightly below her shoulders, dark and healthy. Her eyes held a reflection of the moon. And in my mind, I realized that Violet was probably the reason Aaron was so invested in this case. Because looking at this girl now, how could he not fall in love with her. I didn't want to feel jealous because that wasn't who I am.

"Oh, uh, hello?" She smiled at me, a skeptical lift to her brow told me that she didn't open this door intentionally.

"Violet Veowsalot?" I asked, but I knew who she was already. I didn't need further clarification.

"Um, who are you?" She looked uncomfortable, adjusting her black purse as she stared at me. She was dressed casually, probably heading to a grocery store.

"Yes, so sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you— knowing your history and all." I realized what I had just said and her eyes suddenly widened. I cleared my throat in hopes that she'd forget, "um, I'm Tessa Holstein. I work forensics at the Rosemond precinct. I work closely with detective Aaron on most cases, um..." I continued on and at the sound of his name, her eyes suddenly filled with concern.

"You drove an hour." Violet said, disbelief in her voice.

"Um yes, I was unable to reach your cell phone and this is an urgent matter." I said, "can I come in?" I asked and she pursed her lips quizzically.

"I was just about to go buy some oranges," she said. I looked around the empty building. The second floor was full of closed doors and shut curtains. I'd need to tell her now because based on the skeptical looks she kept giving me, this would probably be my only chance to ask for her help. She seemed like she trusted nobody.

"Aaron's MIA." I blurted out.

She stood there, looking at me with no expression for a few minutes. She looked as though she was trying to figure out what to say. Maybe she was just processing the bomb I'd dropped on her.

"He was last seen at the precinct interviewing a suspect," I continued on. "He's been missing for two days. I checked his home, I've called his phone many times. He..." I said, but she'd suddenly dropped her purse and all the contents splatted on the floor.

She fell to her knees and started picking them up, grasping the phone tightly.

"I saw him... three days ago. We had dinner together." She said and I tried to hide the stinging that I felt in my bones. I was jealous, she was beautiful. Of course she'd be having dinner with Aaron. She was in his league. Whereas I was not.

Stop, focus. I told myself.

She dialed his cellphone number and listened to it ring a couple times. I wanted to tell her that I'd tried that on ten different phones through twelve different co-workers earlier, but I let her go ahead. Maybe her call might produce different results.

I doubted it.

"That's weird." She muttered, calling him again. Then, she turned to me, "we got in a fight after dinner, I haven't talked to him since. I... oh my god!"

"If you're okay with it, would you come with me to the precinct. It's important that we keep you safe. We don't know what's happening and now with Aaron missing, he had been adamant on protecting you. We need to keep you safe before we can proceed."

She was crying, I hadn't noticed it a few seconds ago. But now, Violet's eyes were watery.

"Is he going to be okay?" She sobbed, putting the last of her things back in her purse and picking it up. She bit back tears as she watched me with puppy-like eyes.

"I can't answer that." I responded, suddenly uncomfortable where I stood. "If we leave now, we can be at the precinct by noon."

She took a deep breath in, "I need to sort some things out at work and in Rosemond first." She said. I was thankful that she wasn't the type of person to get hysterical upon hearing bad news. Though, I didn't doubt that inside she was going mad. She remained level headed as she followed me to my car and buckled herself in.

I just hoped that if we found him, and by the time it happened, we wouldn't be too late.

Aha, hi! It's been a while. Next chapter will be the dinner chapter. But I'll try to keep updates a bit more consistent so you don't have to wait like 3 months next time 😅 love y'all! Stay safe :)