CHAPTER 1

SUMMER

It was the beginning of summer , the best time of the year . The pleasant blue sky was serene and beautiful . As I slowly began to wake up, I could see the shadow of the clock on the floor of my room which was undoubtedly dusty . It was a quarter past eight . Just a little longer, I thought and as I began to doze off I was woken by the sound of the little birds on the tree outside .Lower your volume! I began shouting as if they would understand and keep it low . I waited a while but their volume ,only got louder .”How little creatures such as they, could make such a fuss one will never know “I sighed. I slowly got to the window and as I gazed outside I saw them chirping, fighting playfully for their share of the food . Their mother looked rather wistful hoping the nuisance would soon be over . I was now wide awake , yet lethargic and as I sat there on the bed and stared , I could see the sunlight creeping inside my window , revealing the mess. Piles of books laying around covered with dust, the sheets crumbled ,spread across the bed, clothes in every nook and cranny of the room , rather comfortable . It seemed like they wanted to be hidden and left undisturbed . It was as though the room had been calling out to me , begging to be cleaned . As I got of the bed, I knew it was time , time to tidy up the place .I blamed the sunlight for making me realize “ it was now or never” and began cleaning up. After what seemed like an age, it was finally done . The room was crystal clean . I was rather bewitched , didn’t think I had it in me . It looked brand new almost as if it belonged to someone else . I admired the room , and was rather flattered at this accomplishment . Yes it was a huge one ,and one that was much needed .I got ready, wore a pair of clean shorts and a shirt ,took one last look at the room and left .

We lived in a rather small house situated near the ocean in Miami ,and hence it was cool most of the day. We could see the waves splashing as they hit the rocks , people surfing , children playing on the sand arguing about whose sand castle was bigger. Couples enjoying the view of the ocean , smiling as the wave of air brushed against their faces. I always thought it was magical. The ocean isn’t just a mere water body , it hides a million secrets , secrets that drown and go to the bed of the deep blue ocean where no one can find them . It reminisced people of memories that might have been forgotten over time . As I waited for breakfast to be served, I glanced at the ocean and all the ships at the dock and thought “ what a wonderful sight “.

My mother was a singer , a rather brilliant one . She grew up composing songs , she usually liked to compose her songs sitting on the sand by the ocean .She loved the ambience and the fragrance of the saline water. “ the ocean lets me think” she says. She even sang at concerts . She had a huge fan base. Every time I mention it ,she smiles and says” oh hush now scarlet , I didn’t have so many admirers , just a few maybe .“ turns away, and changes the topic . I could hear her faint giggle. She was rather modest I would say. Believe you me, she was what one would call” the pop star of rock and roll” the Ariana Grande of the 80”s if u will. Autographs, pictures, invites to parties she had it all going on . Eventually she quit singing and is now a housewife . She reads a lot of novels ,bakes cakes and ensures my father isn’t screwing us again. He was an ex con ,who had been released not too long ago and was now looking to redeem himself, like that’s even possible after the things he’d done I thought .

During his time in prison, mum found it hard to keep it together . Income was inconsistent , but every month she saved a little which was just enough to keep the house running . Without much complaining ,we went on with hope that soon he would return and it would all go back to the way it was . She knew nothing much could be done now ,but she couldn’t help but wonder ,why or how he chose to become a felon . Not a single answer was right . Every now and then she would stare at the wall wondering if it was her fault . Even though deep down, I bet she knew that wasn’t true . Honestly to me it wasn’t all that surprising . I caught him drinking most of the time , I bet he even had cocaine stashed somewhere. He was into it all ecstasy , meth the whole package ,and when I confronted him ,he would tell me he’d stop, and beg me not to tell mum . I was only 14 when he was first taken, and rather naïve at the time and believed that he would quit sooner or later . He told me he was going to rehab and I couldn’t help but believe him. One day after much deliberation, I decided to tell mum assuming it would get her to stop feeling guilty or responsible ,to my surprise it only made matters worse .She was often worrying thinking about how amazing it would’ve been if she still had a music career and a stable income . She was a damsel in distress. I couldn’t be of much help but tried to boost her morale however I could. I suggested, she start composing again and get out once in a while to catch a breath and pass the time as it would keep her engaged . In the beginning ,she was highly reluctant, but after a while she started going and spent time near the water . It made her happy and it was a good change I thought . Eventually it got better and she decided to forgive herself and him as she knew it was the only way to move on . I was rather surprised so naïve she was ,I thought, for how could she absolve all of his crimes so easily ? I asked her a couple times and she just told me that it was the right thing to do . I decided to respect her decision even though, I was furious as hell . She was a big believer in second chances and said every one deserved another . So when dad finally came back, she gave him a chance to redeem himself and he promised he would . My relation with dad took a rather disappointing turn. I was mad at him why wouldn’t I be? . All the lying and drinking and after what he put me and mom through there was no way of forgiving him . Every now and then, he would try to apologize but it only got me even angrier . Mom kept telling me not to dwell on the past, and to come to terms with him like she did .It wasn’t an easy task however ,after several months I finally made my peace with him .

By now breakfast had been served. Pancakes with maple syrup and waffles . It was that kind of a day and my mouth was watering . I slowly took a bite and enjoyed as I chewed . It was a quite nice breakfast . I love how the syrup has a way making your mouth sweet the butter on the pancakes slowly melting on your tongue . This is what heaven must taste like I thought. I ate till my stomach was full and once I was done I decided to take a walk along the shore .

It was only a 2 mins walk to the ocean but I took my bicycle instead .

It was a yellow cycle with a basket in front . I liked to decorate it with flowers and was pretty good at It . Everyday I picked new flowers from a tree nearby and arranged them in sequence blue , red , white .The fragrance was to die for. “Ah it does look pretty, doesn’t it ?My mother replied smiling , yes Scarlet it sure does . I thanked them for breakfast ,waved goodbye and left .

I was now all set ,and rode towards the ocean in glee.

CHAPTER 2

THE OCEAN

Van Morrison once said” smell the sea and feel the sky , let your soul and spirit fly. It was true , I could literally feel it . Growing up I wasn’t much of a people person and mostly kept to myself. I fancied novels ,especially those that entailed solving a mystery . Sherlock was my idol. Although, I never did find a friend remotely loyal or sagacious as Watson .

The ocean breeze put my mind at ease , I began walking slowly ,enjoying the warmth of the sun. The sand stuck in between my toes ,the breeze gently brushed against my hair ,the sound of the waves as they rose and droplets of water splashing on me just as the waves hit the surface and began retreating , ships sailing far away towards the horizon as if they were chasing the sun . It was blissful, truly an amazing feeling . “I pity those who haven’t experienced this”. During this time of the day, there weren’t many tourists to be found, just a few children playing and their parents sitting at proximity ensuring they’re safety and hoping they wouldn’t make a scene . Apart from their faint voices that were occasionally heard, it was rather peaceful. One could only hear the sound of the ocean . As I continued to walk along the shore , I tripped and fell down on the sand . I got up embarrassed , and immediately looked towards them . They were still playing and their eyes were glued to the castle they were building, as if it would become real . I sighed with relief and realized that I tripped over a watch . It was an exquisite piece , it had a huge black dial surrounded by a silver frame . It was one of the biggest watches I had ever come across . I wondered whose it might have been ,it seemed to be an expensive one . The mere vision of this watch, reminded me of the present my dad had given me on my 13 th birthday as we were walking along the shore . Scarlet, he said “I have a surprise for you” I was pretty excited and as I took a peek at it, I knew at once I loved it . I smiled at him and thanked him .It was a present I grew rather attached to . I took it every where I went . It had a white dial and a turquoise blue frame . I was really fond of it .Little did I know at the time that, this too was one of my father’s doings, he stole it from someone and handed it to me . After he was imprisoned ,I removed the watch and hid it in a dark , damp place as it now resembled my perception of him. Once in a while I went to look at it as it was souvenir that reminded me of a better time and the ocean.

I now began to look at this huge watch closely and carefully as if it was some sought of treasure . I flipped it to look at the inside of the watch .It was remarkable .

I sat down with the watch held tightly in my hands and stared at the sun at the horizon . As I held it closer , I suddenly heard a sound, I was perplexed , confused and looked everywhere but I knew there was no one nearby . The sound came from somewhere closer . Suddenly I heard the sound again and this time I knew it was from the watch . I was frightened , startled I threw the watch and glanced at it in awe .How is it even possible, I wondered . After a while I gathered my courage, and went closer to pick it up . I was curious to find out more about this peculiar voice .

Trembling with fear, I lifted it and held it close to my ear .Nothing , I heard nothing. It seemed rather strange . I began doubting myself, was I just imagining this? probably hallucinating? But I did hear a voice, perplexed I stared at it bewitched . Not minutes later I heard a feeble voice again, it was a man , he was trying to say something I tried to listen carefully it sounded like he was in trouble . He was muttering something that sounded like “ help me tower??” His voice was breaking and his breath was unstable . Terrified I didn’t know what to do . What tower was he talking about ? Who was this man? How am I able to listen to his voice through the watch ? A million questions were floating in my head . I tried to reply . I said “ hello my name is Scarlet” who are you sir ? Are you in trouble ?Where is this tower? I kept asking but all I could hear was' help me tower' . The man kept repeating the same three words ,unable to say anything else. I started looking around to see if there was a tower in sight. I looked everywhere but couldn’t find anything . I was feeling helpless .' I can’t save this man if can’t find the tower' I sighed! By now, I was rather tired and decided to go back home. What an unusually strange morning! I then slowly got up, and started walking back. I decided to take the watch with me just in case although ,now I could no longer hear the man . I couldn’t shake the thought off and began questioning myself “what happened to him”? I wish I could help him not a few seconds later, I spotted a high roof of what seemed like a tower ,far away on an island. I was not sure if this was the tower the man was in, but I was eager to find out . I decided to take a trip to the island . There were many ships on shore, but I didn’t know which one would lead me to the island . I spotted a ship not far away that was just about to leave . I ran as fast as I could shouting “wait please wait” I was pretty loud. By now the tourists I saw earlier the kids and their parents, were staring right at me looking at me run as fast as I could. One of them said “come on leopard, you can make it “.I got to admit ,I hated the attention but I was flattered . I smiled through the corner of my mouth ,and waved at them as I almost reached the ship . The captain spotted me and said” if you're late you can’t get aboard mate “ I said kind sir “ you look handsome in those clothes “ he smiled , he knew I was trying to cajole him ,and get him to let me in . I pleaded him and told him I would be an obedient passenger . He stood there in silence for a minute . It felt like the longest minute ever. I had a feeling he wouldn’t let me aboard . But after what seemed like an age, to my surprise, he said welcome aboard .Thank you, captain! I said smiling . He asked me where I wanted to go to and I pointed to the island . I gave him a few dollars and got me a ticket . It was a 15 min ride to the island .I enjoyed the view. I could see small fish on the surface of the water .They seemed to be giggling . I could smell the salty water as the ride progressed , it was a briny.

Finally we reached the island . I thanked the captain and got off . I stood there as I saw the ship leave . It was so royal and graceful . I shouted goodbye in hope that the captain could hear me ,but by now the ship was far gone . I was now in the island hoping to find and rescue the man ,if he still needed rescuing . Hopefully he’s alive!

CHAPTER 3

THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

It was a lonely deserted island , not a soul in sight . It was surrounded by huge trees on either side , tress so tall you could barely see their tops . By now it was getting pretty late. A few more hours, and the sun would set . I still had to find a ride back home .I knew I had hurry up Although terrified, I decided not to give up , not after coming this far . No matter what, I had to save this man ,find out who he was or why his watch lay on the sand of the shore quite far away from the tower that he hopefully was in .I wanted answers, and was willing to overcome my fear and began walking through the woods. The silence worried me. I kept walking ,hoping I would soon find the tower . Minutes passed and nothing . I felt like I was walking into the abyss and was hoping I would find my way back . I decided to leave a trail just in case I got lost . After a while, I was rather tired and decided to search for some water . I looked around to see if there was a stream or any water body in proximity . Suddenly I spotted a building not far away, hidden behind the trees. I sighed with relief and started walking towards it .”finally” I said. I was hoping I would find the man and rescue him. I desperately wanted to quench my thirst first, and thought “maybe I’ll soon find water too”. As I got closer to the tower I wondered “ what if he’s dead ? What if he’s a serial killer ? I had second thoughts about going inside . But it was too late to change my mind I’d come all this way and I was extremely tired and honestly I was super curious . I entered the tower , there was a huge door at the entrance it seemed to be built several years ago . It was covered with spider webs and a lot of dust . The door knobs were on the verge of falling down . I pushed the door open with all my might and it made a loud unpleasant noise . Bats flew outside right above my head .I was lucky , I ducked at the right moment . I was horrified at the mere sight of this tower , it was pitch dark inside . The only light in the room, was the light of a candle on the table in the corner .There was palpable tension in the room . It was rather eerie and terrifying. Although I was extremely scared , with all my might I slowly started walking , I didn’t want to be heard and hence step by step I walked on my toes towards the candle. As I got closer , I began getting nervous wondering what or whom I’d have to face at the corner . I stopped right in front of the table and slowly peeked under it . A man lay there , blood smeared all over his body . I was now trembling at this sight . I didn’t know what to do . I just stood there in silence, and stared at the man . He looked so helpless . How long, must he have fought for his dear life I wondered. I couldn’t help but feel guilty I thought” if only I came sooner, maybe he would’ve been alive” . I could have saved a man’s life . But I knew I tried my best to get here and there was nothing I could now do, that would save him . He was a tall man probably in his mid 30’s , bulky , curly hair and wore a blue cap . He wore a shirt which was now missing a button , a pair of khaki pants .There were clear signs of a struggle .Blood was dripping from his chest. It was the only sound that was heard. It’s a strange color I thought as I kept staring at the crime scene. The man had been shot not once ,but twice and had lost a lot of blood. His shoes were untied and covered in mud . It was truly an acrimonious sight . The longer I stayed there ,the worse it got I could no longer walk and desperately needed water . I took the candle and began to look for water . The wax was melting quickly. I knew it was not long before it went of ,and the room would become completely dark . The place was horrifying , the ceilings so high, webs everywhere . I was hoping I wouldn’t walk into one .”One must never disturb the mighty arcane “, slowly but carefully, I kept going . I finally found a bag and as I opened it I found a binoculars , a map , a key and was lucky enough to find a bottle of water . I spontaneously opened the bottle and drank as fast as I could . I needed to get out before the wax melted . I took a look at the map and the other items in the bag . It must belong to the john doe over there, I thought . It all seemed so strange the bag , the man this was like a real life murder and I’s seen the victim . I couldn’t believe it. Before my very eyes, was a man shot to death . I was speechless , lost in thought I began to think ,this was all part of my fate . How else could this be explained? After a while I snapped out of it and went back to the table where the dead man was. I had absolutely no idea what to do now . Do I just leave him? Forget all this happened ? I didn’t want to call the cops as, after everything that happened with my dad , my mom grew to dislike cops. Their presence would get her nervous and furious . I don’t blame her after what she’d been through ,I suppose its only natural . She disliked engaging with them ,answering their endless questions etc . She was filled with contempt and was rather disdainful .I decided not to bring up the topic ever. I for one respected them, and honestly admired they way the work . They catch the bad guys and I have to confess, growing up, my dream was to work for the FBI some day .Although, after everything that happened with dad ,I figured there was no point in telling mum as I knew it wasn’t something she’d approve of .So basically dad wrecked this up too ,for me. My mother and I knew all along that what happened ,was dad’s doing. He was the only one at fault , not the police not anyone, but still ,there was something about cops that she found annoying . So reporting the body to the police was out of question . I would be one of their suspect , considering I found the body. I couldn’t do that to mom again . So I started thinking of what I should do to the body and eventually began to regret getting myself into this mess in the first place. I should have just left the watch I thought . But curiosity got the best of me . I sat down confused , just staring as the flame slowly grew dim. I can’t just leave him , and as I sat there in front of the man I began wondering and questioning myself “why was he here?” there has to be a good reason . I sighed ,confused. I began to examine the body closely and suddenly I found something in his wrist . I slowly opened his wrist to find some paper .It was small piece of paper, red in color with something written on it . I thought it was some sort of code . Something about it seemed rather familiar to me and I knew I could figure it out .

The paper too was filled with little drops of blood , but it seemed like he put a lot of effort trying to protect it . It definitely must have been something of high importance, considering he held on to it till his last breath . I knew I had to solve it in order to find out . Finally I would get some answers as to who he was ,and what on earth he was doing in an abandoned tower . After much deliberation, I decided to leave the body there and come back ,once I cracked the code. I took the paper , looked at the man and said” I will find out who did this to you “. I blew out the flame ,began walking quickly and got out of the tower . I closed the door behind me and left .By now it was pretty dark ,luckily I left a trail so I ran as fast as I could and was swift enough to find a ship . I boarded it, and went home . What a day it had been! I thought and as I ate my supper ,and went to sleep I couldn’t help but wonder who the murderer was. My mind was filled with thoughts . I had to figure this out on my own, I couldn’t involve anyone especially not my mom or the police , and even though I was afraid I couldn’t help but feel a tad lucky . I was now investigating a murder ! All those years of watching Sherlock ,solve murders finally paid off. I was now about to solve one Well I ought to try . I took one last look at the paper , hid it in a safe and finally went to sleep.

CHAPTER 4

PUZZLED

The next morning ,I got ready as fast as I could and began trying to crack the code. I knew I had to do it soon and get back to the tower as quickly as possible. All the while hoping that he would still be there, and that no one would find him as my DNA , my prints would be found on his wrist if the police found him and I would become their prime suspect . That being said, I wanted to figure this out on my own I was pretty excited . I’m not a sadist, but I’m not going to pretend this doesn’t make me feel excited I sighed ! I had to solve it first . So I took the paper out , sat down on the table and carefully began reading it . I knew it seemed familiar, but I couldn’t quite figure out why or how yet. It was a two lettered word the first word consisted of 8 letters , while the second was a 7 lettered word . Unlike the other letters , the last 4 letters of the second word were highlighted .Seemed rather strange to me . But I figured the only way I could decipher this was to solve the riddle written above . Which said:

“Can only be cut by one of my own,

Not something one can loan.

Color of the deep blue sea,

Either find me or let me be”

It seemed rather tricky I thought , but I wasn’t going give up just yet . I decided to decipher it piece by piece ,I started with the second half of it . “Color of the deep blue sea “, it was blue, but the first word was an 8 lettered word so blue can’t be it . The first two lines of the riddle made absolutely no sense to me . I worked out every possible angle .Three hours into it ,yet I couldn’t figure it out . The clock in the room rang every half an hour , I knew I was running out of time . The corpse would start decaying and sooner or later, someone would find out and all this would have been of no use . I kept pondering and was hoping I’d get lucky at some point . Blue , what else is blue I kept wondering , but I wasn’t getting anyway closer . I decided to take a break , go out and get some air . I took the paper ,placed it inside my pocket and left to take a stroll along the ocean.

I couldn’t help but think about the man . What if someone found him? What if forensics found my prints? I shouldn’t have been that careless.

Imagine if people assumed that I was the murderer ? What would that feel like . I couldn’t help but consider the possibility. I sighed “Ah the mind such a complex organ, makes me overthink and over analyze every single thought” annoyed. If I got caught, it would take a lot of time to be proven guilty , we’d have to hire an attorney too .I was familiar with the procedure . I knew I couldn’t get so much money form anywhere and I needed a cop that would believe me . The only way that I would be proven innocent ,was if I found the person responsible, which at the moment seemed like an impossible task ,considering I was way of my game . I was rather glum . I still had to try and make sense of the clue and who knows if that would even lead me to the killer ? The odds weren’t in my favor, and I was on a clock. I kept thinking slowly, trying to retrace my steps . It all started with me tripping over a watch . The most unique watch ever , I remembered thinking it was some sort of treasure . Suddenly my face brightened , a huge smile spread across my face . It struck me. The word treasure reminded me of something. The 8 lettered word could probably mean a blue treasure . I began thinking about gems and started naming them “ Ruby, Emerald , Topaz ,Sapphire . That’s it, it had to be Sapphire I thought ,it was the perfect word , it had to be right !I was glad I was now getting somewhere “ah it’s all thanks to the ocean again,” I thought with a smile . The second word must have something to do with gem too .After much deliberation I got it , it had to be diamond . “Sapphire diamond” . I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself. I ran back home as fast as I could, took a bag with the map and the key that I found , some water just in case and a cloth rubbed with alcohol which I put in my pocket. I wanted to take it in order to ensure that the prints wouldn’t trace back to me in anyway. I also took a pair of gloves and went to the port to get on a ship back to the island . I waved at the captain as I boarded ,“Ah I see you aren’t late this time miss", there’s still 5 mins before it starts. Well done! You’ve come really early he said sarcastically . Ashamed I stood there grinning, and didn’t pay much attention to the conversation . I had a lot on my mind .I needed to find the treasure soon and see if there was some other clue along with it that would lead me to the killer . I still had to figure out what I would do with the treasure once I found it . Should I leave it there or take it home with me? I was in a dilemma and just wanted to go as soon as possible . The loud horn as the ship reached the island made me jump out of my seat a little . I could feel my heart racing as the adrenaline was pumping through my blood. I was eager to find out the answers to all my questions ,now more than ever. As soon as the ship stopped, I thanked the captain and started running to the tower . It was noon by now and the sun was blazing , it was very bright and I had no trouble finding my way to the tower . I kept running through twigs , branches of trees and thorns , nothing could stop me . This would all be worth it if I found the treasure I thought ,and kept racing till I reached . I didn’t realize that I left my bag on the ship .The captain kept calling, “Miss I’m afraid you’ve left your bag “ miss , miss ,but I could barely listen. The captain followed me through the woods. He couldn’t keep up with me, but he knew he wanted to find me .He secretly grew fond of this little girl who was always late, and came to the same island every now and then . As he chased me, he couldn’t help but wonder what the reason was for me to come to an island so abandoned . He was curious to know and kept following me with my bag held tight . By now I had reached the tower . I went to see the corpse, which ill fate had worsened. It began decaying. Liquids were oozing out ,I knew it wasn’t long before the place started smelling. Something had to be done soon. I covered my nose with one hand and I reached out to get the cloth from my pocket to quickly rub his wrist ,I eventually realized I left my bag .” Ah such a foolish mistake! Once I was done , I stood up slowly ,and began looking everywhere for the treasure. I assumed it would be in some sort of a safe and that the key I found in the bag, would open it. I got the map out and began searching for a place the treasure likely would have been hidden in. All of a sudden, I heard a loud sound . It seemed like something had fallen off and shattered . I was terrified . Was someone else here ? Am I too late? I didn’t know what to do and decided to hide .I opened a large door that was next to me and guess what I saw inside? I was shocked, speechless , shattered to my very core . In that room, standing right beside a sapphire diamond, was my father . Imagine my reaction when I realized it was the same man, my dad , in a crime scene yet again?! Dad? I said ? My dad turned around and said, Oh my god scarlet is that you? What are you doing here honey? I could ask you the same thing I said. How do you even know this place? Are you stealing the diamond? How did you, How did you ..I started stuttering .. even know about this treasure .? Oh my god dad did you kill him ? Did you kill the man ?? Scarlet hush now ,please calm down my dad said .I’ll explain it all to you. Furious with rage , I said “ I don’t want to hear it , I thought you had changed you promised dad, you promised ! I’m not going to believe anything you have to say . You , YOU KILLED HIM !! I was not able to digest the fact ,and as I stood there in agony ,the captain walked in. He saw the body , the diamond and me . He stood there in shocked, unable to piece it all together and slowly said scarlet, he’s your bag. Without further ado ,he dialed 911 and called the cops.

CHAPTER 5

DAD

It all happened so quickly , it’s all a blur right now. I remember the cops coming in and cuffing him and taking him away . He didn’t even resist , he went voluntarily , it seemed as if he knew there was no way out . As they took him dad’s eyes were fixed on me he kept saying Scarlet, you have to believe me ,I didn’t do this I dint kill him! He was my friend, Scarlet please you have to believe me. It was hard for me to believe him considering the fact that he was an ex con and a murder isn’t something completely outside the realm of possibility . All the evidences pointed to him , he knew were the treasure was , he claimed that he was a friend of the victim and with his history how could one possibly think he’s innocent . He kept pleading me to believe him and as much as I wanted to. I just couldn’t .He promised he’d be a better man, and here he was, just screwing us all over again. He hasn’t changed a bit .I knew my mother would be crushed .She was just beginning to get her life back again and here he was ruining it for us all over again . I’d never been this angry ever. I couldn’t digest the fact that it was happening again. I chose to believe he’d redeem himself and I just got stabbed in the back . I stood there in silence , speechless. I didn’t want him to go but there was nothing I could’ve done. Even though I was mad at the captain for calling the cops I knew it was the only solution . If he’s left free, who knows how many more innocent people would become his victims .The captain was trying to comfort me , but it was of no use . I could feel the tears as they rolled down my cheek . I felt like I was in a time loop going through the same thing over and over again . It was heart breaking . The cops took the sapphire diamond along with them as they left . They said they wanted to ask me a few questions . I told the captain I could handle it from here . But he chose to accompany me anyway . It was a 30 min drive to the station . As we arrived mum was already there .The police had already informed her about the situation . She was crying and as she stood there helpless I began to think it was all my fault ,if I hadn’t found the watch in the first place or gone back I would never have seen him , the captain would never have called the cops . But this was the right thing to do, I thought as they prepped for my interrogation . Hiring an attorney would be of no use said mom , and I just nodded in agreement as I knew it in my gut it had to be him .The cops asked me several questions and I answered them as honestly as I could as I figured ,there was no point hiding anything and being proven as an accomplice to murder . The cops were pretty convinced with my story but kept telling me that ,I should’ve reported the body as soon as I found it . But since I was only 15, I guess they played it cool considering I was still a minor and well mainly because it seemed very likely that dad had done it . He had hit rock bottom I thought . Robbery was on one level highly wrong ,a serious crime , but murder woah ! I can’t believe he stooped to such a level. The captain was waiting with my mother while I was being interrogated and once I was done I thanked the cops and left to re join them .On my way out, I glanced at my dad, one last time and there was a certain look in his eyes, like he’d given up all hopes. Something about that look made me want to believe him .Well I suppose ,deep down its probably because I didn’t want to have to go through this again . But still he didn’t seem guilty at all . As I stood there ,he said Scarlet , honey I was an ex con I agree but please trust me he was my friend. His great grand father had buried some family treasure in that building and the man who died “ Luke rogers , he was suffering from an illness and wanted to find the treasure before it was too late . He was one of my oldest friends, and asked me to help him find it as, I was the only one he trusted . “No wonder he’s dead I said sardonically “ my father looked rather glum . No one could know about the treasure, that’s why we used to talk through a microphone implanted on a watch , we had similar watches . A week ago ,Luke called me and told me his condition was only getting worse and that he wanted to see this treasure before he died . We decided to go the tower two days ago , but I couldn’t make it that day as I was at home fixing our car . So Luke had gone by himself. He called me that night and told me he found a clue. He read it out to me whilst he was still in the tower and told me he would soon come and show it to me. He was very excited on the call . He told me he’d call me to meet him near the ocean at our usual spot . I waited for his call ,but he never did, so I assumed he was tired and went home and probably didn’t come to our spot at all . I thought I’ll phone him and meet him the next day . I tried calling and calling but he just wouldn’t pick up and finally when I went to the tower to my surprise, I found him dead . How do you think I felt scarlet ? Why would I kill him? He was my best friend honey .I would never hurt him . I couldn’t believe he was dead , couldn’t think of anyone who’d do this . He was such an amazing man , he wouldn’t hurt a fly . I sat there in front of him and started weeping . I knew no one would ever believe me if I went to the cops and that people would get to know about the treasure which was not something Luke would want. I figured I’d burry him ,and since he doesn’t maintain relations with any of his relatives ,no one would even come looking for him. If someday people did notice that he was gone ,they would just assume he died of his sickness as his health issues were the only thing that his relatives knew about . I’m sure he wouldn’t want anyone to know about the treasure. I am all he had Scarlet . I was shocked after listening to this story I wanted to believe my father but she still had a feeling he just made this up . I asked him what he was going to do with the treasure he found ? Were you just going to steal it , keep it to yourself ?No honey, I was planning on burying it with along Luke . It was his dream , his legacy to find his ancestors treasure . I would never steal it Scarlet. All those robberies I did a few years ago, those were for us so that we’d have more money. You guys deserved it. But I know now, that what I did was wrong and that is why I decided to change. You know that, don’t you? I even got a job now . I really have changed Scarlet . Please trust me I didn’t kill Luke . I was only trying to help him . Please believe me, help me . As he pleaded, I couldn’t help but think, what if he really had changed what if all he is saying his true? I knew the only way to be sure was to find the person who was actually behind It. Dad looked so small as he sat there behind bars , so innocent . I looked at him one last time and he smiled . I didn’t want to believe him just yet, but I decided to try and prove him innocent . I smiled back at him as if to say “ I will prove you innocent “ it felt like he understood , I waved at him and left to re join mum , who by now had been feeling a tad better thanks to the captain . We thanked him and left .

CHAPTER 6

MR ROGERS

That night ,I could barely sleep . The events of the entire day just kept reappearing in flashes . I couldn’t forget how amazing the diamond looked. It was sapphire, like the clue said and it was simply perfect . One could not take their eyes off of it . I didn’t look at it for long well as you know the cops took it , but even in those couple of minutes as I saw my dad hold it ,It seemed magical .I had a million thoughts on my mind ,but I knew the most important thing to do now ,was to try and prove my dad innocent . I didn’t know where to begin. Who else could’ve known about the treasure ? What was the motive ? How did he or she plan and execute it so perfectly without leaving a single trace of evidence behind. I figured that the only way to go about solving this, was to carefully find out details , but no one could know so I had to be discrete. But first ,I needed to clear my head . I needed to sleep . I have a big day ahead of me, and as I went to sleep I hoped I could do it. Find the guilty one so that my dad could come home . I wanted to believe he changed . Off late I began enjoying his company I didn’t want it all to go away . I looked at my present ,the turquoise watch, smiled ,and slowly went to sleep. The next morning I got up rather fresh .I grabbed a bite as fast as I could. Mum was shattered , she barely talked , one could see the disappointment on her face . I knew better than to initiate a conversation .I figured talking about it would only make it worse . So we ate in silence ,looking out the window as the waves kept coming . I knew the only way I could make all this go away was to find the killer as fast as I could . I had my work cut out for me. I went back to my room and , got my computer out and began doing some research . It had to be someone who knew about the treasure I thought , maybe it was someone in his family . I should probably check out his next of kin. I began browsing , searching and digging deep into Luke’s biodata . I was rather efficient and liked research work. I found my calling and was very into this . An hour had passed by and , nada , nothing .I barely had any hard evidence that could prove that someone else had knowledge of the treasure's whereabouts. From what I found out , dad was right , Luke had no touch with most of his relatives. Some of them died of old age and a few rather distant ones don’t even stay in the country .It was a dead end ,and I needed some sort of break through in order to move forward. I opened my dad’s mails to see if something useful could be found . There were just a bunch of mails from people in his new job . Nothing of interest .I kept scrolling and finally found a mail that was from Luke . I opened it and it read , ‘Hey buddy , hope everything is fine . I’m glad to know you’re out of prison and at home . I’ll be there if you need me let know. Sincerely Luke .’This was addressed to dad ,sometime back when he just got out of prison. They really were friends! It felt good to know that at least some part of what dad said was true ,but I had to find the killer to prove him innocent . I knew I didn’t have much time . I had to try a different angle , as I was thinking , it hit me I could check Luke's finances , his bank statements . As I got working, I finally spotted something , there was a transfer of 500$ from an account to Luke’s account about a year ago . It was from someone called, William jones. I wondered who this person might be , and started looking at his biodata . It said that he was an author a while ago but had been falsely accused of plagiarism and was now a teacher at a school. There were pictures of this man , he looked like he was in his 20’s. I wondered why this author sent money to Luke . How had he known him? Who was William ? So many questions lingering in my mind .I wanted to get to the bottom of this . I kept reading more articles ,trying to gather information about William . As I kept digging I tried to make sense of anything possible. Suddenly as I looked at the pictures , I realized that in one of the pictures , he looked like Luke from an angle . I wasn’t entirely sure but I had a gut feeling ,I thought he was definitely a part of Luke’s family .Probably his brother, I assumed . I wasn’t a 100% sure as, their last name differed .This was the only aspect that made me doubt myself, but this was the only hunch I had till now and there wasn’t much time to waste. So I decided to follow it , go with my gut . It’s a worth a shot, I thought and decided to pay William a visit .

I looked up his last known residential address ,it was a 45 minutes drive from my place. I quickly got ready and took a train to Hollywood, the city he lived in . I visited the city a couple of years ago ,It’s the nearest city to Miami and its honestly breathtaking . I was glad I could visit again although, now I had a specific reason and was on a clock . I knew I couldn’t waste time admiring it's beauty . I took a bottle and immediately got a train to Hollywood . Throughout the ride I was deciding on what to do. I was pretty certain it was him, who killed Luke. It made sense too , since the treasure was a family legacy . Perhaps William was after it too . He probably figured out that Luke was on the verge of finding it ,and killed him out of spite . He was probably greedy, and wanted to keep the treasure to himself and killed Luke cause, he told him that William wasn’t privy to its location . It made sense , I was pretty sure that William was the man I was looking for ,that is if, William was his brother . I will find out soon! By now the train had almost reached the destination . I was extremely nervous and regretted not carrying at least a pocket knife , you know just in case things got of hand , I’d need it for self defense. But I couldn’t do anything about it now. As the train stopped , I got off and took a bus to get to his location .According to my search, it wasn’t far from the station. I finally arrived at his apartment and was trembling by now standing in front of his door .I had second thought’s ,and wanted to go back , but just stood there nervous . All of a sudden the door had opened . I was scared to death . On the other side of the door was a man , he was dressed .It looked like he was going out to run an errand. He wore a red shirt and a pair of jeans and his spectacles were falling off and now were dangling off his nose . He was probably in his late 60’s and walked around with a cane . I was just staring right at him shocked. Hello, he said , how can I help you ? He kept greeting me, but I just stood there. He started waving his hands in front of my eyes and said hello dear ? I finally came to my senses and said ,pardon me , hello sir I’m Scarlet from Miami . Well hello Scarlet, he said please come in , how can I help you ? He asked politely .I sat down and said Mr William , do you by any chance know Mr Luke Rogers? Why yes I do, he is my brother replied William. I felt proud of myself for figuring it out ,and as I looked at him it became more evident , he did look like his brother the resemblance was uncanny . I smiled and said if you don’t mind me asking why is that you don’t share the same surname? Ah well , if you know Luke ,and since you took the time to come here for an interview, I suppose you already know my story .A few years ago ,I was falsely accused of plagiarism and it had ended my career . The cops didn’t bother listening to my side of the story and well, it was a rough couple of years . But I’m in a better place now . During my time as an author, William jones was my pen name and I grew rather fond of it . I decided to go with it although, my actual name is Richard Rogers . I finally understood . Mr rogers said “Was there a particular reason why ,you came here Scarlet “? I replied, yes Mr rogers , Luke was murdered and unfortunately my dad has been taken , he claims to be innocent and strongly believes that he is being framed . I’m trying to find the killer to prove him innocent . I chose my next words carefully , I felt rather ashamed , I knew this sweet man couldn’t have killed him it just didn’t seem possible , he walked around with a cane . It couldn’t have been him I thought ,and hence instead of confronting him , I politely asked if he knew anyone that could have done this . Mr Rogers was shocked hearing this, he’s dead ? Oh my god , when did this happen ? He looked so sad. I was sure it wasn’t him . I told him the entire story , about the treasure and the rest , leading to my surprise visit . Richard said with a long face ”ah that silly bastard always wanting to find the treasure “. I told him to give up , but he was so stubborn he just wouldn’t let go . Mr Rogers told me that he and Luke weren’t that close growing up ,but he secretly did admire and cared for him deeply. He also told me that the money he transferred was because he was sick and he probably required the money . Mr rogers was extremely sad and he said , my dear your dad must be very proud of you , such a brave soul, trying to prove him innocent. You must really care for him . I admire you and I hope you find the guilty one, and from the look on your face when you entered ,it seemed as if you thought I killed him didn’t you? I nodded ashamed . I apologize for ambushing you sir. He smiled and said ,no ,I didn’t kill him. I would never hurt him and I never actually believed the treasure existed . I was at the movies two days ago , he even showed me the tickets and a picture he’d taken at the theatres . I smiled sheepishly and thought okay ,so it definitely wasn’t him. His alibi also checks out . I said ,I’m so very sorry for your loss Mr rogers ,take care . He smiled through his tears and said thank you my dear . I hope you succeed in your mission, be careful he said and waved goodbye . I felt rather guilty for accusing him , he seemed to be a good man. As I got on the train home I couldn’t help but feel furious . It was another dead end . If it wasn’t Mr rogers who else could have done it I wondered. Was dad lying about his innocence ?I was disappointed , yet I knew I had to try and figure it out. I was running out of time but I couldn’t help it , I was trying my best .There had to be a loophole.

As I went to sleep I kept thinking about Mr Rogers . I pitied him, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him . He’d been through a lot and honestly, one fine day I definitely hope to bring him to justice . It’s wrong to be put on trial and be framed for something one hadn’t done. There are so many people, innocent people, suffering for crimes they haven’t committed . I hope to be a part of the team that brings them to justice one fine day!

CHAPTER 7

BETRAYER

The next morning I was back to work as usual . I was irritated , furious ,that it was taking so long to solve . I had to explore another angle . I wished I could go back to the crime scene perhaps I would find something new . But it was too risky , I could get caught and I wasn’t willing to risk it , not before I was done with the task at hand . To boost my morale I said to myself “ I’ll find the person no matter what “ and began my investigation . I decided to walk through the whole scenario from scratch . I tried to recall , okay so first I found the watch , the watch I said oh my god !I remembered something my father told me . He said that Luke had told him, that he would come to show him the clue . They were supposed to meet near the ocean , but dad was waiting for him to call when he arrived , so that dad could leave then . But Luke never called him , so her dad assumed he didn’t come .I tried to put the pieces together . If Luke never came , how did his watch end up here on the sand ? How is that even possible? “ I bet he did come here” . So whatever happened to him , it happened in that very place . But there were no traces of blood anywhere ,the next day on the sand. So he was probably taken ,most likely against his will to the tower and shot there . But who abducted him? Dad was the only one who knew about the treasure or his plans . So if it happened here , someone else had to have known . But who would that someone be ? Mr Richard rogers ,lived in Hollywood and Luke had no acquaintance’s anywhere nearby . I tried to make sense of it . What if there was another friend ? No that can’t be , dad would’ve mentioned it, and after all the research, it was pretty obvious that Luke didn’t have many friends . It wasn’t hard to believe that dad was all he got. I was annoyed, now more than ever as I was pretty close to narrowing down the list of suspects, well in a way at least , but I knew I didn’t have any solid leads . It was driving me crazy. By now I was pretty hungry and decided to head back home . I called out to my mum , but no one answered , I thought she was up in her room and went to call her , there was still no answer . So I opened the door and went inside . No one was there , that’s strange I thought, and decided to leave, as I was about to leave something in the room caught my eye . It was a watch , a watch similar to the one I found, similar to Luke’s. I was surprised , I thought that only my dad and Luke had those to communicate . Did mom take it from dad? Why was it here? I wondered . I started brainstorming ,what were the possible reasons for the watch to end up here , unless mom overheard the conversation and went to the ocean to meet him . NO, NO way , that couldn’t be it .Mom could have never done something like this . Besides how would she have known who Luke was . Why would she murder him? Something seemed off . As I stood there pondering ,my mom had come back . Scarlet, why’s the door wide open are you in there honey ? she asked . Yes mum I’m right here ,I replied. I took the watch with me as I left . I didn’t want to assume anything and decided to confront my mother ,I needed an answer . I went to my mother and said mom, I have something I need you to tell me and I need you to be honest please,” yes of course ,what is it honey. “Isn’t this dad’s watch ? Why do you have it in your room ? I asked and stared into my mother’s eyes as she stood there in silence . Mom ! Now shouting,I said , why do you have it? Don’t give me the” were you snooping around look” . Doesn’t matter if I was , answer me !! I yelled .Did you kill Mr Luke Rogers ? My mom stood there ,covered in guilt . Scarlet please honey, sit down calm down hear me out please, she begged . I sat down nervously, and my mother began telling me, her version of the story . She said she became friends with Luke a while ago. I introduced my self as Eve Raymond ,the name I was given when I was a singer , he seemed like a wealthy handsome man and in that second I just thought it would be cool if I went with Eve Raymond , rather than Julia . So anyway, I met him sometime when dad was in prison . I didn’t know he was a friend of your father’s . I was so lonely then you know ? She said crying .One day as I sat there trying to compose a song . I met this man who introduced himself as Luke and after looking at how sad I was , he comforted me . He was a good man and we got to talking , we spent the whole day talking and laughing . It had been ages ,since I enjoyed myself so much . It felt so nice Scarlet ,so nice .The next few days we kept meeting and eventually he began telling me all about himself . He told me about his ancestors hidden treasure and about how he was on a quest to find it . I was intrigued , we barely had money and a treasure seemed perfect at the time . We needed it , I felt like we deserved it . So I asked him if I could have it . I said, Luke I’ll help you find it ,but you have to give it to me please .My husband is an ex con , and we really need it. He didn’t know at the time ,that it was your dad I was talking about since ,well like I mentioned I introduced my self as Eve Raymond . So when I asked him, he politely declined my request , he said he’d try lending me a couple hundred dollars but he couldn’t give up the treasure as, it belonged to his family . I was obviously very angry to hear this, but I smiled through my anger and said of course , right, I’m sorry that was highly inappropriate . He said, it’s quite alright Mrs Raymond . I understand . It’s okay ,we’re good. Don’t worry about it . I smiled and I said anyway I would love to help you find it , I owe you that much after all you’ve helped me , been there for me during hard times . I shall gladly repay the service . You are a great friend Luke. He smiled, and said it would be my pleasure ,to work along your side, thank you ! My mother then told me that Luke told her that he’d contact her if he got any leads , but never did . I guess he had a feeling, I would take the treasure all for myself . Anyway whatever be the reason , eventually your dad came back and well I got busy ,and rarely found time to even pay him a visit . I tried to call him but he never lifted. It went straight to voice mail . That night ,when I overheard your dad talk to him I recognized his voice and I was shocked , I had no idea he knew your dad . The fact that he reached out to him and not to me , made me furious . So before he called your dad to tell him about his arrival , I went to shore I took my gun that I had stashed in a safe and found him . I don’t know what had become of me ,I forced him to tell me where it was but he wouldn’t say a word so I tortured him till he told me and we finally went to the tower. Even after we went ,no matter how much I persuaded him and how much force I used ,he wouldn’t fill me in on the details .I couldn’t control myself and filled with rage, I shot him twice and left the place. I knew, your father would soon crack the code and come to the tower anyway and when he finds the body and weeps, his DNA would all over the place. In a way I showed him some mercy , your dad was a looser who was going to screw us again sooner or later .So I thought why not frame him anyway . I also knew he would never think It was me. I even took the bullets with me so that it wouldn’t be retraced .It was a perfect murder. Scarlet you have to understand ,I did this for us so we would have the treasure to ourselves , I didn’t mean to kill him it just happened it was spontaneous. I lost control. I did this for us Scarlet , so that if anything happened again, if your dad did something again we wouldn’t suffer . I know I didn’t find the treasure anyhow , but I thought that no one would find the body so soon and your father would probably bring it home once he found it and I could steal it then. It was a flawless plan until someone found the body, I never thought they would, that soon. To my surprise ,it was you who found it .I didn’t expect it .Anyhow it was too early, and that’s why I couldn’t get a hold of the treasure and now it's with the cops, but its okay honey ,at least your dad who was anyway going to screw up sooner or later is already in prison . After listening to her say all this , I was literally speechless , I never ever imagined that my mom would be this crooked minded , and after all she’s done ,she was saying it was for me that she did all this . You BETRAYER ,who are you I yelled.? When did you become this person . We didn’t need that treasure .We were just fine with what he had , you didn’t have to kill him and you framed dad after what you did. You are no different than he is, worse even, he at least is truthful about the crimes he committed. You framed an innocent man for something you did . Luke didn’t have to die , dad is in prison because of you. Oh that’s where your wrong honey, your dad is far from innocent, he is easily capable of murder ! she said. You know what ? You’re right ,once upon a time ,if you said that, I would have believed you. But dad was changing he was a good person . He tried so hard to make up for what he did and you were so cunning you just couldn’t let it be could you ? You had to go and ruin it I said. You murdered someone , and you say it was perfect . It is far from perfect, it’s a an offensive crime and as someone who will always stand by the law, I will not let you get away with it, and to think you were innocent .I blamed dad for it all cause I never ever thought it was possible for you to do something like this and you framed him !! What have you become mom ? I’m ashamed of you and honestly I’ve had enough . It all made sense to me now ,Luke somehow managed to highlight the last 4 words of “diamond” mond, as in, Raymond “ Eve Raymond' . He left a clue and he clung on to it .This was why the code felt familiar I thought. I just couldn’t digest the fact . Mom kept pleading me to let it go , but I dialed 911 anyway , the cops came and as I explained everything they apologized to me and my dad . They let him go, and were now taking mum . As she left she said “ I’m sorry honey” . I just ignored her and stood next to my dad in silence and watched as she left . It was a total shock to him as well , but right now he was trying to pull it together and be strong for me . I appreciated it although ,I knew this was not something I could easily forget about . I just couldn’t believe it was real. But it was very real everything happening here was true .

CHAPTER 8

HOPE

The next few days were the hardest ones ever. I was beginning to feel like my life was one big joke . Everyone around me screwing up one after the other . The worst part was ,I hadn’t the faintest idea that my mother , a singer a pretty, sweet , sensitive women was even capable of something of this magnitude . I couldn’t even see the signs , she used to come back home happily and I just assumed it was probably because she finally was able to start composing again. I thought the ocean made her happy . Little did I know ,that greed got the best of her . It was completely out of the realm of possibility ,and she did all this for money. She’d succumbed to such a level . I was a pacifist and believed that one, should never resort to violence . I wish I noticed, I sighed disappointed . Every night I had the same re occurring dream , and honestly it terrified me . As requested by my dad , the police decided to burry the treasure along with Luke at the funeral . It seemed like the right thing to do . I sent an email to Mr Rogers ,where I told him all about the killer , he seemed to understand better than anyone and he was a really good listener . I told him to come to the funeral the next day . Mum was locked up and it was only me and dad , in the house . It was rather quiet. The next day I got up early and got dressed to attend Luke’s funeral . Dad and I, took a cab to the cemetery . As I got off, I spotted Mr rogers from a distance and waved at him . He smiled and waved back . I introduced him to my dad” this is Mr Richard rogers , Luke’s brother” . They shook hands and got talking. Mr Rogers thanked my dad for always being there for Luke . Dad nodded and said it was a great honour to have known him, he was in tears . The ceremony began there weren’t many people , just a few cops who offered to help and they got the diamond along with them . Mr Rogers said “ I wish we were closer “ as he looked at his brother who was now in the coffin . Bravo ! Luke bravo, you were so near to finding it , he said . If only you were here now , holding it ! It was a small ceremony everyone paid their respects , as I went forward I couldn’t help but feel guilty , my mum had shot him , this innocent man, and as I stood there it felt like I’d known him all my life . He was after all the reason why I had such an experience , even though the outcome wasn’t what I expected it to be , it was an adventure and well, I did catch the killer in the end . In a way I had him to the thank , I smiled ,and laid the flowers and said “ you will be remembered Luke “ ,hoping that he was out there somewhere listening to me . It was finally over and as we were leaving we thanked the cops , who yet again apologized for falsely accusing and taking in an innocent man ,and left . We said our goodbyes to Mr rogers and got back home . By now I was rather tired , I opened my laptop and decided to listen to some soothing music. I suddenly got a mail, I opened it , it was from Mr rogers it read,

Dear scarlet,

I cannot begin to imagine how you must feel right now , but I want you to know that eventually it will get better trust me. You are one of the most courageous girl I've ever met and believe you me , I bet you’ll become one hell of a cop .I am really grateful and thankful to you. Thanks for finding out who murdered my brother and proving that the innocent one was framed .There are many victims ,out there being framed , or accused of a crime they didn’t commit .The guilty ones walk away while the innocent suffer . With people like you in the future I bet that would change . Anyone can change scarlet , I personally feel that you can’t just take an ex felon in , before actually proving him guilty . “Once a felon always a felon “, that’s not always right . Although it seems to be the case, there are some people who are capable of change . I wish you best of luck in all your future endeavours . Be careful before you go on such missions . It has been a pleasure making you’re acquaintance . Take care Scarlet

Yours faithfully,

Richard rogers / William jones

My hope was now restored , I realized that there were people who believed in me . I knew I could make a change in the society , bring justice to the falsely accused . I am a teenager now , but with a lot of work and determination I could finally become a cop.

People change probably because of some trauma that they experienced or because of bad influences, we never know. One must always be careful and watch their backs , and even as I thought of this ,I smiled , it was a rather strange coincidence that It all started because of a watch !

As I slowly went to sleep I whispered “ Beware felons, Scarlet is coming to get you”!!

:: THE END ::

Discus