Fan Fiction |
by Mimosa
“Has Sydney got back to you?” Raymond asked the moment Julian set foot into the room. Time was zooming in. They only have a little more than 12 hours to go before they had to turn in the report. And that also meant they had to transfer the body of the victim back to CID quarter. Julian looked exhausted with vivid dark circles below his eyes, but he was very excited at the moment.
“Just got this on email just now, Ray.” Julian produced a piece of paper “Take a look!”
“Great!” Ray exclaimed and jumped off the chair “I’ll give the lab a buzz, Julian.” He consulted his watch “You get Jessica jie and catch the 7:00 back there. Just stand by, okay?” He snatched his jacket “I’ll give you a call when it’s time.”
“Tara? What have you had so far?”
“You said the victim drowned?”
“Yes, that’s what the record said.” Raymond held his breath “Why? What did you find?”
“Well, believe it or not!” Tara chuckled “She would have been dead anyway. Her system was flooded with digitalis.”
“Would you mind” Raymond groaned “explain what it is, please?”
“Oh, it’s a medicine intended for the heart. People sometimes use it as a diet pill too. Too much of it would result in a cardiac arrest. The heart stops. Death followed in 2 to 3 minutes due to lack of oxygen in the brain.”
Raymond’s eyes lit up. “Could you identify her?”
“That’s a bit of a problem, Ray.” Tara said “I need more time, unless…”
“Unless… unless what?” Raymond asked eagerly
“Unless you could get me some samples from her children, Ray.” Tara said simply “I need their DNA’s profiles to reconstruct the mother’s. Then if this profile matches that of the digitalis woman here… Bingo!”
“You said their. Do you mean you need samples from more than one of her sons?” asked Raymond uneasily…
“Yes” confirmed Tara.
Raymond hung up, feeling trouble. Supposed he could get one sample from Gallen. How would he about to get another one? Roger was out of the question. Felix? How on Earth would Raymond approach Felix? Let him see if the others had any good idea. Raymond got into his rental car and sped toward the hospital.
“Julian?” Ray spoke quickly “Would you stop by the hospital on the way to the pier? I need you to deliver something.”
“Sure, Ray. I’ll have to pick up your sister anyway. I’ve just called. She is still there!”
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(Two blocks from ATC Building – Antex Corp. Location – 8:15 a.m.)
Julian’s finger was tapping on the steering wheel impatiently. It was the morning rush, which was at its worse on the first day of the workweek. “I don’t think we have time!” Jessica glanced at the car’s digital clock and muttered “Let’s split up, Julian! I’ll meet up with you at HKU.”
Before Julian would object, Jessica opened the door and got herself out. He rolled down the window and hastily called after her.
“What’s my number, Jess?”
She held up her cell phone “I have it here, unless you have changed it!”
“No, that’s it” Julian nodded “See you later then!”
His heart cried in joy. So she still kept his number.
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(ATC Building – Antex Corp. Location – Ground level – 8:25)
“Hi” Jessica said. “You’re Vivian Leung?”
“Oh,” The girl was slightly startled, but then she seemed to collect herself and greeted back friendly “Oh hi, we finally meet again!”
Jessica was puzzled… She didn’t remember seeing Vivian before. The girl was very pale. The dark circles accentuated her large eyes, rendered them a heartfelt sense of loss.
“When will your new series come out?” Asked Vivian, and that made things clear. Vivian had obviously met Hester before. Great, now it would help simplify Jessica’s task.
“Next month, Vivian” Jessica made up quickly “How’s everything with you?”
“Oh, not too good” a cloud shadowed Vivian’s large eyes. She suppressed a sigh.
“I’ve heard!” Jessica nodded sympathetically “How’s Mr. Wong holding up?”
“He will be alright.” Vivian blinked, speaking partly for herself “It takes time.”
“Yes” Jessica nodded “ Time will be the best medicine, Vivian”
Together, they’d walked into the peripheral of Antex Corp. Nobody questioned the stranger next to Vivian. She was assumed to be Vivian’s acquaintance.
“Vivian…” Jessica suddenly turned and caught Vivian’s arm “May I use the lady room?”
“Sure, that way Hester!” Vivian pointed “First right, then the second door on the left”
“Thank so much” She nodded, and quickly trailed off. She took the first right, but didn’t stop at the second door. Instead, she took another two right turns…
Vivian mumbled an absent-minded “No problem!” Her mind had never been so vague. All the events of yesterday blended into a shapeless mass. Vivian dragged herself toward her desk. Her mother had told her to take a day off, but Vivian knew Felix would need her assistance. The police had contacted him to go collect old Mr. Wong’s body today. His funeral affairs needed to be taken care of. And then another one would follow in a week… Gallen’s! Vivian trembled. She shut her eyes and clutched at the edge of her desk. So he’d gone. She would never have a chance to let him know she loved him more than a little sister would love her brother. He would never know he had taken a part of her life with him to the faraway land.
“Vivian,” Felix stepped out of his office. He looked like he’d spent the night there. “You don’t look well… Would you like a coffee or something? We have a long day in front of us!”
“Sure, Felix” Vivian nodded.
Jessica watched the two disappearing into the elevator before getting out of her hiding corner and slipped into Felix office. Closing the heavy oak door behind her, she moved quickly to the desk. It took Jessica only ten second to brush the keyboard and collected the dust-like article in a small zip-log bag. That should be plenty for Tara’s test. Jessica nodded satisfactorily and get back behind the door. She pushed it carefully ajar, and when seeing no one was watching, Jessica slipped out.
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(HKU Forensic Lab 9:30 a.m.)
“Hi, I’m Julian Cheung, CID!”
“Nick Cheung!” Nick extended his hand “I’m Tara’s assistant”
“Since when?” Tara snapped “Now get the vial over there for me and please be careful not to drop it!”
Nick rolled his eyes… “Not assistant. Slave is a better description of what I’m doing now!”
“It was you who insisted in coming here and bothering me, Mister!” Tara put her hands over her hips, determined to stare down her opponent.
“Please, would you two save that for later? We need the result!” Julian groaned “This is urgent!” He winked as he noted the time “I have exactly 10 hours and 12 minutes before my bosses strangle me!”
Before Tara would answer, a knock on the door was heard, and Jessica stormed in, breathless.
“Here,” She spoke between panting “Your Felix, Tara-mei. How’s the test going?”
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(Peng Chau Central Hospital – Quarter 3 – 5:25 p.m.)
Carmen placed the phone down, worriedly “Raymond, my uncle doesn’t pick up! I’ve left 9 messages all together, since we talked last night!”
“Hmm…” Raymond massaged his temples “We can’t wait anymore.”
“And I’m worried about him!” Carmen repeated
“You’re right!" A third person, who had sat silently in the far corner of the room, rose and spoke "We don’t have much time left. Let’s do it. I’ll fill in his part.”
“No, your injuries… I won’t allow that!” Carmen shook her head.
“We have no choice. And don't worry... I’ll be fine!”
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(HKU Forensic Lab, 5:50 p.m.)
Tara watched intensely at the final peak of the two spectra overlapped.
“MATCHING FOUND!” The screen blinked.
Nick jumped excitedly, while Julian reached for his cell phone.
“We got her, Ray! It’s Mrs. Wong all right!” Julian spoke quickly “Here’s Tara…”
“Hi Ray” Tara removed her gloves and picked up the call “Yes, the profiles match. So that’s one and the same woman. By the way, she wasn’t drowned! She’d most likely been poisoned by a large dose of digitalis, as I’ve told you earlier. Her heart stopped, then someone pushed her overboard. It looked like suicide.” She listened attentively for a minute “Yes, most likely. You could check, but from what you described, the father would most likely be killed with the same substance!”
“My God!” Nick exclaimed “She’s blood-thirsty!”
Julian and Tara turned and stared at him while Jessica nodded her head in agreement.
“What do you mean?” Julian asked sharply
“Well” Nick shrugged “It’s obvious, isn’t it?”
“Do you mind explaining to us?” said Tara “Because I don’t know what you’re referring to!”
Nick looked from Julian to Tara, then back to Julian. When he made sure they were serious, Nick shrugged again “Whoever killed Mrs. Wong 25 years ago must be the one who killed Mr. Wong now… And I see only one person who would love to do that!”
“Who is?” Julian was impatient
“The mistress, of course!” Nick rubbed his hand, proud of himself
“Oh no!” Julian exclaimed, and snapped his finger “Now I see what that sneaky Raymond has up his sleeve”
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(6:00 p.m. HK)
“Julian, are your men ready? Great! Let me talk to my sister, please…”
Julian passed the phone to Jessica… “Hi Ray!” She said
“Sis, are you ready?”
Jessica took a deep breath and nodded resolutely “Yes.”
“You do remember what to say, don’t you?” asked Julian anxiously
She nodded, and took another deep breath.
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Stay tuned! ;) We're zooming in time Zeroth, hehe...