She grasped tightly onto the cup of hot water trying to resist her hands from shaking. From the corner of her eyes, she could spot police officers, forensic scientists, and even first aid specialists making their way into her home which was now the crime scene. Her gaze was fixed on the hardwood floor when the shadow of a man crept up behind her.

“Miss Hsuan?” She nodded but didn’t dare to look up. “I am OCTB Organized Crime and Triad Bureau’s team leader, Wong He. You may call me Wong Sir,” he introduced. Before he began to interrogate her, he scanned the room of suspects. “You were the first to discover the victim. Think things through slowly and try to tell me every detail you can remember.”

“I was looking through some papers when all the lights turned off ...”

“Where were you when this occurred? Miss, please take this seriously and be as precise as possible,” he interrupted her chain of thoughts.

She nodded and began again, “I was upstairs in the study room looking through some personal files.” She glanced up at him and took his nod as a sign of reassurance before continuing, “All of a sudden, all the lights in the room shot off. Perhaps it was the bad weather. It happens quite a lot so I intended to wait it out. I can’t be sure but about ten minutes later, I decided to head down here to see what could be done. As I walked passed stepfather’s bedroom, a shimmering silver object caught my sight. I pushed the door open and there he was.”

“There he was? Dead or alive?” his tone of voice changed.

“He’s my stepfather!” she hissed, sensing his suspicion of her.

He turned a deaf ear on her sudden outburst, “You said you walked from the study room to the crime scene. How long would you say that took?”

“No more than a minute.”

“Au-Yeung Sir, did you discover anything?” Wong He turned his attention towards his partner who was descending the stairs.

“From the basic examination, all I can tell you is one, he died approximately one hour ago and two, the cause of his death is the deep cut on his throat. An autopsy needs to be performed in order to further the investigation.” Bobby held up a plastic bag which carried a lifeless watch, “This may come in handy.”

“8:47 ...” He looked down at his watch which read 9:56. “Ram, check when the electricity gone off. Give me the exact time. Wayne, walk from the study room to the crime room and get Ron to time it for you.”

“We can finally leave now,” Patrick said to Maggie who ignored his remark.

Wong He looked at Patrick and made his statement, “No one is to leave the house until the murderer is convicted,” before turning to his duties.

Kara had her ear against her room door. She quickly opened the door and pulled in a man when she heard his voice echo the hallway outside. “Did you do it? Was it you?”

“Do what? What are you talking about?”

“What am I talking about? Wah, you know what I’m talking about!” Yuen Wah walked over to the bed and sat down, trying to avoid any eye contact. “Tell me! Tell me!” she begged. “Did you do it because you found out that ...”

He looked up at her. “What did I find out?” He grabbed onto her arms only to feel her push away. “What happened to your arm? Let me see,” he resisted her struggle away from him and pulled her sleeve up, ripping it on his way. “He beat you? Was he abusing you again?”

“No,” she wiped away her tears to keep the situation calm, “Wah, tell me! Did you do it? Did you kill him?”

“Why do you care that he died? You should be happy!”

Kara found her body weaken at the cost of his words as she sat herself back down on the bed. Her mind was filled with thoughts on how to cover up for this man; she couldn’t let anything happen to him. She couldn’t.

Tavia was proud of herself for getting firsthand information on the unexpected death of the mafia leader. As she approached the front door, she was stopped by a pair of strong arms.

“I’m sorry Miss, but I’m afraid you can’t leave the mansion,” Ron firmly stated.

“I can’t leave? What do you mean I can’t leave?” She pushed and attempted to make her way around but he didn’t seem to budge. “Let me leave already, if I don’t get back on time I’m going to get fired!”

“What’s wrong?” the voice of another man interrupted.

“Wong Sir!” Tavia’s face lightened up as she saw a familiar face.

Wong He’s reaction was opposite to that of Tavia’s. The last thing he wanted was a reporter pestering him for inside information. He didn’t want to tell her what he was going to tell her, but he had to. “You can’t leave yet, let my team do our work and you’ll be out of here before you know it.”

“I need to bring this back to my boss,” Tavia tapped her pen against the notepad. “I need to get back before twelve o’clock. Can you just let me leave?”

“I promise I’ll let you go by midnight.”

Tavia dragged herself over and sunk down onto the couch. Every few minutes, she would look at her watch, afraid that she would lose her job any moment.

As everyone gathered in the living room for the second time, one could sense the change in mood. It was as if these people had a shallow view of life and death. They were no longer shocked and sad about the news, now they are only awaiting the instructions for them to leave. Maybe this was their way of life; death was only a part of the game.

“Can I leave yet, Wong Sir?” Tavia asked impatiently. It was almost midnight and she was still sitting like a statue in the same position.

“It’s quarter to twelve, you’ll be leaving in fifteen minutes.” Tavia opened her mouth to talk but he cut her off when he caught sight of his colleague coming. “Any evidence left behind?”

Bobby pulled him aside and lowered his voice, “I can’t say this is evidence of any sort but we found nail varnish remover under nine out of his ten fingers.”

“What about the last?”

“Nothing.”

Wong He sighed and signalled his team to prepare to leave. He turned around to see Tavia eager to leave so he made his statement quick and clear, “Alright, you may all leave but be expecting a visit from us within the upcoming ...” He was interrupted by a high pitched scream.

The crowd looked at one another, panicked. “It came from the garden,” Jessica pointed. Everyone dashed out of the house, afraid that another crime had been committed.

The moon hung comfortably amongst the stars on this dark night. The grandfather clock sung its rhyme, it was midnight. Upon arriving at the garden, Jessica bumped into a well-built figure that seemed to be rushing in the opposite direction. “Who are you?” she asked.

“Sorry Sir,” Ron took the gentleman by the arms, “Come along with us.” He looked at Jessica for her to direct them towards the garden.

At the crime scene were two women dressed alike. One sat lifelessly on the chair while the other tried to rid the blood on her hands. “They’re the maids of this household,” Jessica explained. “What happened here?”

Wong He stepped up beside the maid when he realized she wasn’t going to give Jessica a response. “You have to let us know how you discovered her. We want to help you. If you remain silent, you will be our first suspect. Look at the blood on your hand.”

The maid looked at him, her voice trembling as she spoke. “I didn’t. I didn’t kill her. I ... came and she fell over ... I pat her and she fell over. I didn’t ... she ...”

“Are you trying to say that you saw her sitting here in the garden and when you came to pat her, she fell over? You found her dead?”

“Yes. Yes. Yes. And then blood, lots of blood.”

“Let me further the interrogation with her,” Ron offered.

“I’m sorry, Au-Yeung Sir. I guess you can’t leave yet.” Wong He shrugged his shoulder. He watched as Bobby examined the dead body. Something was wrong here. Is this not revenge on the mafia leader as he had been suspecting all along? Now that an innocent victim has been added to the case, he has to work things up fast before another innocent life is lost.

“Look.” Wong He stepped up beside the forensic scientist. “The slit on her throat is very similar to that of the first victim. Her cut is relatively new. She must’ve died less than thirty minutes ago. Also, I examined her finger tips, there is no nail varnish remover but I found a piece of thread and a tiny hole in her finger.”

“She might’ve witnessed the first crime which ultimately led to her death.”

“I don’t doubt this possibility. My job is done here; the rest is up to you. However, I’ll stick around in case you need my professional opinion.”

“Thank you.”

For the third time that night, everyone gathered in the living room. This time, the atmosphere resembled that of the first. Unexpected events are occurring in this mansion. Everyone had the same questions floating in their mind. Who else is going to be victimized? Or better yet, who will die next?

The loud thunderous call from the middle-aged man startled everyone. “What do you want from me? I’m telling you for the hundredth time that I didn’t kill anybody. You can’t make me stay here. I know law; everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Now, let me leave, would you?”

“If you know law then you should know that I can place a charge on you for not co-operating with the police,” Wong He managed to add.

“Louis?” Everyone directed their attention to the girl who entered the mansion. “What are you still doing here? Boss spat all over my face. He wants to know when you’ll be back with the photos!”

“Tavia, where have you been?” Wong He asked.

“I left when you told me I could do so,” she told him.

“Why are you back then?”

“I came to take Louis back with me. We work for the same company, he is our photographer. My boss is going to murder me if I don’t take him back right now.”

Jessica barged in on their conversation, “Murder is not a joke. Don’t use inappropriate words in a situation like this.”

“Okay, let’s get out of here,” Louis darted up and pulled Tavia along with him.

“No one is to leave the mansion,” Wong He announced.

“What?” Louis and Tavia said at once.

“This is all your fault,” Tavia whispered, “If I lose my job then ...”

“I’ll lose it with you,” Louis finished her sentence.

“Let go of me,” Kara struggled away from Ron’s strong force.

“Who do you think you are? Just because you’re a cop, it doesn’t give you the right to abuse a lady,” Yuen Wah forced Ron’s hands off his love.

“What are you doing, Ron?” Wong He asked.

“Look,” he pointed towards her hands.

Author’s Note:
Hello my dear readers, I hope you are all still here because I am back. What do you know? I put up the forwards around a year ago and this is just the first update. Originally, this update was supposed to be posted on July 9, 2010 but many of you might have known that Winglin deactivated most of the old accounts. Fortunately, I managed to get them activated again. Winglin has already deleted some of my older stories but I will be updating the ones that are still here. Next on my list is 2012: End of the World and after that will be an update for Community Service. Stay tuned and leave some comments!

For any readers who are also reading my other stories, please let me know which story you are most interested in and I will update that first. Here’s a list of my stories:

Psychomysteries (p_vivien) – This one is deleted but I will repost if anyone’s interested.
Community Service (cs_vivien)
2010: End of the World (eotw_vivien)
Next (n_vivien) – This is the one you’re reading right now.
Valentino (v_vivien)
Unmapped Destiny (ud_vivien)

Next

Chapter 1

Midnight Call