The Silent Reporter (A Police Procedural Mystery Series of Crime and Suspense, Hyder Ali #1) (8 page)

Nolan thought about it.  “I saw those marks too. If that’s the case, then he couldn’t have possibly hung himself.”

“That’s what I noted in my report.”

Another thought went through Nolan’s head.  “Did you find almost half a bottle’s worth of anti-depressants in his stomach?”

“No, as a matter-of-fact, I didn’t.  I even did a blood test and there is no trace of any medication of any kind in his body.”

Jessica Freeland was right when she said her dad never took any such medications,
Nolan thought
.

“Okay, thanks, Doc.” Nolan’s head was reeling.

“Sure, no problem.  I’m sure it’ll turn up somewhere.”

As Nolan left the coroner’s office, he wasn’t sure what to think anymore.

TWENTY-TWO

Hyder returned to the
Daily Times
completely confused.  On the one hand, he wanted to help Jessica by finding who killed her father, but on the other hand, there was no proof that her father was murdered.

Detective Nolan had proven that Professor Freeland’s death was a suicide.  No motive, no murder weapon, equalled no murder.  There was no other way to look at it.

Hyder sat back in his chair and closed his eyes.

When Jessica had stormed out of police headquarters, Hyder had tried to reassure her that he would do everything to find her father’s killer, but even he knew his words felt hollow.  He couldn’t tell if she believed him. 

She had thanked him for his help and left.

Hyder wished he could have done more for her.

The image of her leaving in tears bothered him.  Why was that?  Was he interested in her?

He wanted to say no but he knew that was a lie.  He was enamored of her.  Was it because she had appeared to him in the form of a damsel in distress?  She wanted Hyder to find who had killed her father.  Hyder wanted to do his part and find who actually did it.

Now he knew that was not possible, which meant he might never see Jessica again.

Hyder sighed.

He logged into the laptop, but quickly realized his mind was still dissecting what had just happened.

It was more than his attraction to Jessica that was propelling him to help her. It was also his strong sense of duty to Professor Eric Freeland.

It was Freeland who had encouraged him to follow his heart.  Hyder had come to Franklin U on a business scholarship.  He had hoped to become an accountant, but after spending time with Freeland, he quickly realized he was only doing it because of others.  What he truly desired was to be a journalist. 

In his second year he had changed his majors.  It wasn’t easy.  There was no money in journalism, people said. You’re wasting your education.  Do something that will secure your future. 

It was his mom and Professor Freeland who had kept him going.  Whenever he had doubts, he would always remember one of Freeland’s sayings: “If you are miserable doing something, why bother doing it all?”

Hyder would be miserable as an accountant. In fact, he probably would have been a lousy one, at that, so why bother pursuing it when his heart wasn’t in it?

He really missed Freeland.  He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t kept in contact with him after he had graduated.  While a student, he would make it part of his schedule to meet him once or twice a week in his office.  After he left Franklin U, he hardly took the time to visit him.

He did call him one time, though, and that was around the time he had been hired at the
Daily Times
.  He remembered how excited Freeland was to hear from him.  Freeland couldn’t stop gushing over his position at the newspaper.  Hyder had to remind him several times that it was only temporary, but that did not dampen his excitement.

He had promised Freeland that he would visit him, but he never did.

He now felt terrible for not keeping that promise.

It was maybe why, by trying to help Jessica, he was also trying to help himself.  He was trying to overcome the guilt he felt for time not spent with his mentor.

Professor Eric Freeland meant more to both of them than he had realized before.

TWENTY-THREE

Hyder was relieved when Lester walked in.

“What’s up, bro?” Lester said.  They bumped fists as a way of greeting.

Hyder shrugged. “I’m okay.”

“You don’t look okay,” Lester replied, looking concerned

Hyder rubbed his temples. “Yeah, I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“Well, I’ve got just the thing to make you feel better.”  From behind his huge girth, Lester brought out what looked like a DVD.

Hyder took it and his eyes widened.  “Is that the new NBA game?”

Lester smiled.  “Sure is. It’s an advance copy for reviewers.  I’ve already played it and noted my comments.  I’m not legally allowed to publish them until around the due date, but let’s say it’s
friggin’
amazing.”

“Cool,” Hyder said.

“I know you were kind of miffed about not being able to go to the Game Expo, so this is my way to make it up to you.”

“Are you allowed to pass it out?” Hyder asked.

“Probably not, but you won’t tell, will you?”

“No way!” Hyder replied, grinning.  “It’ll be top secret.”

“Good, cuz I’ve got it tracked and if you decide to do anything funny like, say, sell it to a third party for an undisclosed sum, then I will swoop in and karate kick you.”  Lester tried to raise his left leg but only got it up a few feet.

Hyder laughed.  “Thanks, bro.”

“Don’t mention it.”

As he watched Lester leave, he spotted a piece of paper next to the laptop.

It was the notice from the courier company.

Hyder looked at his watch.  He still had some time available to go collect the delivery.

Instead of taking the elevator, Hyder bounced down the stairs.

He hoped to be back at his desk in less than fifteen minutes, since the courier company was just around the block.  There were a couple of stories he wanted to follow up.  Dunny would soon come asking for material and he wanted to have something ready for her.

Hyder joined the line at the counter and handed the delivery notice to the girl behind it when his turn came.

She returned with a package.  It was thin and light. 

He signed for it and left.

Outside, he examined it.  His name and the address of the newspaper were handwritten.  He turned it over, but there was no return address.

Odd
, he thought.

He tore the edge of the envelope and found papers inside.

He pulled them out and realized they had been ripped from some book.

When he scanned them, his eyes went wide.

TWENTY-FOUR

Back at his desk, Hyder couldn’t believe what he was holding.

He kicked himself for not catching it from the handwriting on the package.  The papers were scribbled by none other than Professor Eric Freeland.

Freeland’s handwriting was unmistakable.  The way the R’s and the Y’s were looped, reaffirmed to Hyder that it was the professor’s.

The pages belonged to a diary.

Hyder paused.

Was it the diary Jessica had mentioned?  The one Professor Freeland always kept to himself? The one he himself had seen him scribble on?

He read the first page.

Today not going well, not knowing what's happening, desire to tell the truth which will make this difficult, maybe tomorrow will meet JVL and will go visit XLX Ltd. and take away the thing that is most important, but the bribes and corruption will continue until we stop it and the murder was something we should have taken to the police but not sure who to trust…

Hyder had to stop.  None of it made any sense.  He flipped to another page.

Received calls many times from XLX Ltd, but too afraid to answer, must stop meeting or else too dangerous, will have to slow down or will end up like auditor, the seeking of the original cannot be done, we have nothing to help us, must become more cautious, eyes are watching, the walls have ears, and life has become more precious…

Again, he had no idea what Freeland was talking about.

Orginal, original, we need the original, without it we cannot do anything, we have to find it, until then we don’t have anything…

Hyder kept going, spending the next twenty minutes going over the contents of all the pages, but when he was done he was more confused than ever.

It looked as if Freeland had written gibberish.  Was this the writings of a sane person?  Hyder wasn’t so sure.

Could Freeland had been so depressed that, prior to him taking his life, he had written everything down and sent it to Hyder? 

Why him in particular, though? Hyder hadn’t been in contact with Freeland for some time.  So why did Freeland choose him?

The reason was as cryptic as the scribbles on the pages.

Hyder went back to the pages, noticed that certain words and letters were underlined. He began jotting them down.  When done, he had no idea what any of it meant, but he knew who he had to contact right away.

TWENTY-FIVE

Jessica lay in bed, feeling terrible.

The trip to the police station had been a waste of time. 

The result she was hoping for had not happened.  Instead, she felt stupid for bringing Hyder along with her.

She had thought having someone else with her would make it easier in finding out the truth about her father, but that was not the case.

She worried what Hyder thought of her.  She wanted him to believe her.  Her father had spoken so much about him that she felt in many ways she already knew him.

She felt that she had let her father down by not proving to Detective Nolan her father had been murdered.

More importantly, she would never know what pushed her father to end his life.

She rolled over and stared at the alarm clock.

It was easier to watch time go by than ruminate on her current situation.

She wanted to close her eyes and shut out the noise inside her head.

She wanted to go back to the time when her father was still alive, when everything was like it was before. 

She heard a knock on the door.

“Yes?” she said, not even bothering to look up.

Chloe stuck her head in.  “Jessica, there is someone here to see you.”

Jessica turned over.  “Who?”

“I don’t know, but he seems to know you.”

Jessica pulled on a robe and went out.

She found Hyder standing in the hallway of the apartment.

“What are you doing here?” Jessica asked.

“I needed to talk to you,” Hyder said.  “It’s important.”

“Sure, come in.” While Hyder took a seat on the couch, Jessica quickly snuck a peek in the mirror.  She moved her hands over her hair, flattening any strands that were sticking out.  She hoped he didn’t see her do this.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

“I know I shouldn’t have done this, but I looked you up in the phone directory.”

“You could have called,” she said as she sat across from Hyder.

“I did, several times.”

Jessica realized her phone was still in her bag.  She was feeling so low that the last thing she wanted to do was talk to anyone.

“Jessica,” Hyder started to say, but stopped.  Chloe was in the kitchen.  She quickly realized she might be intruding on something private.  When she walked by Jessica, she gave her a smile.  Jessica knew what the smile meant. 
He’s cute.

When Chloe had shut the door to her room, Hyder said, “Jessica, I have to show you something.” He pulled out a thin package from his backpack. He removed a few sheets of paper and placed them on the coffee table before him. “This came through the mail,” he said.  He could tell she wasn’t sure why he was showing them to her.  “They are from your father.  These pages were taken from his diary.”

Jessica’s eyes widened.  She pulled them closer and began scanning them.

“What do they mean?” she asked, looking back at him. 

“I don’t know, but I made a list of certain words that were underlined.”  He showed it to her.

XLX Ltd.

JVL

Whistleblower

Bribes

Murder

Catch Them in the Red

Student

Money

Auditor

Don’t Trust

Pandora box

Hold Them

“I don’t know what they could be,” she said, looking up at Hyder.