Chapter 4: Case-1, Final part: The puzzle piece
As Pierce moved towards the room slowly, he observed the shadow casting from the room. The shadow was definitely of a person. The person seemed to have a slender build. Pierce's thought process started running again.
'Since this anonymous person has a very thin build, there is a possibility that the person doesn't rely on strength alone. This raises the chance of him or her having a weapon as well. Anonymous is also in a room where usual people are not supposed to go in. Meaning, this individual will be extremely defensive and it raises the chance of him or her attacking me when I approach them. Other people could be in there too. I need to be careful.'
Pierce quietly went towards the room and peeked in the room. He saw a man searching through drawers and cabinets for something. By seeing his rapid pace and flaring eyes, Pierce confirmed that his target was too enraged to think straight. Perfect.
Pierce stepped back and made subtle noises by lightly shuffling his shoes against the dirt of the floor. As expected the man yelled out a "Who's there? Show yourself!", took out a knife and dashed outside the room. Pierce stuck out his leg just in time. The man who was too enraged to notice the leg, tripped on it and tumbled to the floor. Before the man regained his senses, Pierce took out a pepper spray can from his other pocket and sprayed it directly towards the man's eyes. Pierce then tackled the person and swiftly took off his tie. He then used it to bound his hands. Pierce paid no heed to the man's screaming and struggling. He cleared his throat to prepare with his 'interview'.
Pierce spoke in a commanding tone, "I will let you go after you answer one que-" "Who the f**k do you think you are to tie me up like thi-", He was interrupted by a forceful pull on his brown hair. Pierce chuckled and continued, "Let me ask away then. What is your relation with Nolan?" "Nolan who-" "Do not play dumb with me." "I don't know who you are, but I'm a fellow employee like you.....!" Pierce then pointed a gun on his head, "That's the last lie you will tell me." "What do you wan-" "I'm the one asking questions here. Who. Is. Nolan. To. You?" The man took a deep breath and replied, "You seem to have figured it out." "Of course I have. I just want to confirm it from you." "Why?" Pierce took a deep breath and said in a hostile manner, "Do not test my patience. The consequences won't be pretty."
His demanding voice startled the man. He felt like a dead body waiting to be tore off by the vulture named Pierce. He still found himself protesting against Pierce, "L-l-like hell I will tell you anything!" He then found out that his legs were not bound. He took this opportunity to kick Pierce off of him and rounded another kick on his hand. This resulted in his gun to fly off of his hand.
Pierce retaliated almost immediately. He tackled the man again and sprayed the formerly hidden pepper spray on his eyes again. This time he slid his fingers around the man's neck and applied pressure to the specific points of his neck. After much struggle, the man fainted.
Pierce then looked down at his soiled shirt and grumbled in frustration. "His filthy shoes ruined this shirt completely." After another frustrated sigh, he took a deep breath. "Alright, back to work."
Pierce held the man's shoulders and dragged him towards the back door. He then carried the man towards his car. He got a lot of suspicious looks from other people. To stay out of trouble, he took out his ID and showed it to the passers by. He then took out his briefcase from the locked car and took out the contact list of the department staff. He then called Seong Yoon.
"Ah hello, Detective Oh Seong Yoon speaking." "Ah, Mr. Oh, it's me, Pierce Williams." "Oh, Pierce. Do you need me for something?" "Can you kindly come to the firm? I need you to look after a prime suspect." Seong Yoon stood up from his seat in shock, "You found a suspect?! Don't worry, I am heading over right now! How-" "It's a long story. Oh yes, can you bring the spare black shirt you have? Thank you, I will explain everything after you come." "Wait, what happened to your shir-!"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Seong Yoon ran his fingers through his hair and laughed to himself, "Argh..... Mr. Williams what exactly did you do...?"
After a while Pierce finally met up with Seong Yoon. He noticed Pierce's soiled shirt and exclaimed, "Oh Gosh! Did you pick up a fight with someone?" "He had a knife. I'll explain later." Pierce took the spare shirt and went inside his car to change. After changing, Pierce rummaged through the suspect's pockets and took out a key with the number 2048 on it. He held it infront of Seong Yoon. "This will either complete this business puzzle, or put me back to square one. Wish me luck and don't let him go." And with that, Pierce ran off inside the building.
Pierce went up to the receptionist and showed her the key. He ruffled his hair a bit and mustered a smile before speaking, "Well, miss. Could you tell where the locker of this key is?" The receptionist pointed towards a room in reply. Pierce thanked her before going in.
Pierce eventually found the locker and realized it was in a poor condition. There were no files or cards confirming his employment here. He even had an odd coloured shirt inside. He found a small safe requiring a three digit passcode. He took the safe to his car after putting everything else in the locker in place.
Seong Yoon looked at the safe with curiosity and asked Pierce, "Where did you get it from? Are you sure you won't get in trouble for this?" "We won't if we solve this." "It seems to require a passcode." "That's what we need to figure out." "Maybe this paper is related. I found it in his pocket." "It's a contract with three conditions."
1. 'A' will receive one-third part of the money if the 'objective' is done perfectly.
2. This objective will stay between A and B only.
3. The X Spot must be taken care of at an extreme level.
By agreeing to this contract you are obliged to stay loyal to the conditions. The payment will be received almost immediately.
Seong Yoon looked at the torn end in annoyance. "The signature was ripped off." "So if this guy is 'A', who is 'B'?" "I believe we will find out after we open up this case." "Since the money is the reward it must have circled around his mind a lot." "So you are implying that the passcode is related to the reward, right?" "Mhm."
After a few moments of thinking, Pierce snapped his fingers. "Listen. He will receive one third of the money, right? And there are three conditions." "So the passcode could be either 313 or 133.... it's worth a try."
Seong Yoon entered 313
.....
.....
....
It didn't open.
"Try 133."
...
....
....
Click!
"It's open!" Seong Yoon picked up a key. "....Another key...?"
"Hey! Don't fxxking touch it!" "Looks like he has regained consciousness." Seong Yoon handed the key to Pierce, "I will hold him back. Go solve this case. I'll be waiting for an explanation." "Thanks."
Pierce was now roaming around the abandoned part of the building, trying to figure out the right place for the key. He suddenly remembered the room he encountered the man first. He ran towards it.
The room was perfectly arranged. Nothing looked out of place.
'Ah, no. I shouldn't jump to conclusions like this. There are clues. That's it! This whole perfect room is a clue. A room in an abandoned part shouldn't be this tidy. Let's see. The drawers and cabinets are too obvious. What about the pictures?'
"Aha! I knew it. Cliche but not too much." Pierce inserted the key on the revealed key hole on the wall. It opened up a little part of the wall. There was the missing money inside!
Pierce is now in the CEO'S room.
'A scared micro expression.'
"Ahahahahahahaha it's a miracle! You found it!" The CEO tried to snatch away the money but Pierce put it further away from him. "This isn't funny! Br-"
"It's not your money is it?"
A heavy silence fell in the room. The silence was interrupted by Seong Yoon and some policemen entering the room. Pierce took a handcuff from a policeman and cuffed Nolan's hands.
Seong Yoon instantly became confused. "Wh-what is going on...? Pierce, he's the client!" "And the culprit. Let me explain it to you." Pierce cleared his throat before explaining.
"You have definitely heard of the deal with this and the other company. It isn't an actual deal. It was a loan given to this company. But for avoiding controversies, both of them decided to call it a 'deal'."
Nolan enragingly shouted, "You don't know that!"
"Sir, kindly put your fingers away from your face, look at me directly in the eyes and tell me that what I'm saying is wrong."
.....
"That's what I thought. Okay, let's continue."
"You are probably curious about how I knew that. First off, Nolan lived his own life in luxury. But after his father died of old age, he was given the responsibility of handling the firm which a spoiled brat like him couldn't bear."
"I-" "Uh-uh. No fingers on your mouth and no fidgeting. Whatever you say, say it confidently or keep quiet. Moving on."
"As Mr. Oh here said, the other company is facing a loss because Nolan failed to pay back the loan in time. So, with his friend or whatever, he staged a theft to avoid paying back the loan."
Seong Yoon interrupted Pierce, "Why would he do that?"
"He was possibly trying to sell the firm. With the selling cost and the high loan, he would've been able to survive in a lazy way longer. In other words, he did all of these to escape the firm and live his spoiled life again. But he knew he couldn't do this alone, so he hired someone to play theif with him. He was none other than the security guard."
Both Nolan and the guard became startled.
"I realized that Nolan was trying to avoid the topic of the guard. Also, except him, no one else mentioned the lack of a guard. Which revealed that he was lying. Also I found this man in the abandoned part, where even employees are not allowed to go. So, obviously he had the consent of the CEO to repair one of the rooms there to hide the money."
Seong Yoon added, "Now I know why he was so dismissive of me."
Pierce leaned towards Nolan, "How long did you think you could hide? Officers, this case is now closed."
And with that the reign of Nolan Lochlainn came to an end.
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