The Man Who Doesn't Exist. Chapter III

 Finn had parked his old corvette just around the corner near Julien's house and he had asked Julien to wait while he brought it around. After a few minutes, Finn returned with his ride and stopped it near Julien's lawn. He opened up his passenger seat's door.

'Hop in boy!'

After Julien got in, Finn revved up the engine and started driving.

Man! This is the first time I’ve been in a car with Mr. Finn.

Julien liked Mr.Finn. He was the perfect neighbor anybody could ever want. And also, because his life was just so simple. He had quit being a detective 3 years ago and now worked in an advertisement company. Talking to him, made Julien realize the contrast in both their lives.

He had nothing to fear, no one to run from.

As Finn drove, Julien noticed that Finn had something tattooed under the elbow of his right hand. Finn caught him checking out his tattoo.

'Got this when I was back in college. This was my friend's favorite quote at that time.'

He rolled up his sleeve a bit more to reveal the tattoo and Julien read it.

"Peace inched closer to my soul, when I embraced the chaos in me."

Wonder what it means.

'Amazing!' Julien, exclaimed.

'Thanks, Mike!'

'Do you mind if I turn the radio on?' Finn asked.

Yes.

'Nope! Not at all!'

He turned the radio on and tuned it to a music channel.

♪...My Anaconda don't, my anaconda don...♪

'Aaah, this shit again! The music kids listen to these days!' said Finn, as he let out a loud sigh.

'I feel you.'

As he switched channels, there was just crap after crap similar to what was playing before.

'Alright, we'll be listening to the news now.' Finn announced, who was clearly frustrated with the music playing on the radio.

'...said the Senator. In other news, a cop who was on duty has been missing since the last 2 days. Police are conducting a search for him. He was last seen near the Walmart, downtown. His name is Brandon Hunter.'

'What the --!!' said Mr. Finn, not believing what he had just heard. The car skidded to a stop.

'No no no no!! This can't be happening.' Finn shouted.

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Back at Julien’s neighborhood, a man with a long black overcoat managed to break into Julien’s house.

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After a few minutes, when Finn calmed down, he started talking.

'He was my brother's colleague. Both of them were investigating a case together.'

Oh my! So his brother's involved too! Hmm, Interesting!

'He could not have just disappeared! And he wasn't one to go into hiding because of some trivial issue. He also wasn't weak, So, I don't think he was kidnapped too.'

Wasn't weak? Ha! All it took was one little purse to do it.

Julien had dropped his purse in front of Brandon and that was it. As expected of a cop, he picked it up and followed Julien all the way to his house. He kept him in his house for two days. Torturing him all the while. Cries of pain and despair gave him an indescribable high.

'This is definitely something related to the case he was investigating.' said Finn.

'What was the case?' Julien enquired, trying hard to maintain a straight face.

'Twelve years ago, a fifteen year old boy got kidnapped from his house and his parents were killed with their heads chopped off. It was brushed off as a crime committed for money.'

'Wow 12 years huh? So, what's up with taking the case now? Is there a problem?' Julien asked.

'Yes, the thing is, my brother thought that the culprit was the boy who was thought to have been kidnapped. He thought that it was done out of revenge as the neighbors reported that the couple apparently used to physically abuse the kid.'

'But is just a simple theory, based on some neighbor's statement, enough to base this whole investigation on?' Julien asked, feeling smug.

'You're right. Which is why, they looked into the case more deeply. And after some time, they were convinced that it wasn't done for money!'

What?

'There are two things that we need to consider. First, after conducting a medical research on their dead bodies, it was found that both of their hearts had stopped beating before the culprit chopped their heads off. Why would a thief, who's after money, stop to chop their heads off, who were dead in the first place?'

'Second, when the bodies of the parents were found in the kitchen, both of them had their golden wedding rings on their hands. The wife also had a necklace, platinum, which she was wearing at that time. Now, I'm no expert on thief psychology but if I was a thief, I wouldn't have left those behind.'

What? That can't be possible. She never owned any piece of jewelry as far as I remember. And both of them had sold their wedding rings off because of some money issues. What is this about?

'Great deduction Mr. Finn.' said Julien, flabbergasted.

'So, was anyone ever caught in that case?' Julien asked.

'Yes. A man named Danton. He was a gardener at their place. He was said to have been seen around their house when the murder had occurred.'

Okay. This is totally unexpected. We didn’t have any gardener in the first place. There is someone else who knows what actually happened that night. Who wants to save me. but, why would he plant the rings in their hands if he wanted to save me?

All these questions bombarded his mind from all directions. And for the first time in a while, he felt helpless.

There is definitely a bigger story to this. I just can't seem to find the link! I'm missing a bigger piece of the puzzle and if I get my hands on it, everything will fall back into place. But I have to take care of Mr. Finn first. He knows too much.

Right at that time, a car came speeding towards them from the opposite direction and drove past them making a few scratches on Finn's car.

'You stupid idiots! Watch where you're going you dumb morons!' yelled Finn at them. But they were long gone.

'Those stupid over-hyped teenagers man, are you alright Julien?' asked Finn.

'Yea I'm alr...--' Julien stopped mid-sentence.

Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Or was it my mind playing tricks on me?

Julien looked at Finn and saw his face change color as he realized his mistake. Finn tried to make a move but Julien was quick. They both tackled each other and then suddenly,

WHAM!

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As he opened his eyes, he tried to read his surroundings. He was laying down on some kind of a table and was tied up to it. His head was throbbing. As he looked down, he noticed the deep cuts made on his body. He was inside a closed shed and there was a man in front of him. The man noticed that he was awake and walked up to him.

'You know something that is not good for you!' he said, giving a wicked smile and raising his hands as he held a pair of cutting pliers in each of them.