The Culprit Chapter 1

 

CHAPTER: - 1

 

 In early 2010, there lived a man named Harvey Dent. He was good to honest police officer. He was deputy commissioner of police force. He blonde hair, physic of an average body builder and had a skin tone white. Harvey was an honest man but sometime in greed of money. He could betray anyone. Police job paid him well but he like the thrill that money gave him. The one thing Harvey loved more than money was his kid Jeff. He had a family of three. Himself, Jeff and his wife or soon to be his ex-wife. His wife’s name was Melisa. He wasn’t on a good terms with her. He and Melisa had a love marriage. But eventually Melisa understood that Harvey loved money more than anything in this world. He was constantly working, going to parties. So she was fed up of that so she decided to separate ways from Harvey. Melisa was an astronomer with a decent pay at Starlight studio. Melisa was red headed with a slim body and very attractive. At Variety Hotel Los Angeles, she came to visit her husband who was invited there for an event. Harvey didn’t know she was there. He attended the event and got bored was going to his room in the hotel. He unlocks the door keep the keys on the table and starts to remove his jacket and he sees his wife sitting on the couch. Harvey smirks and put the jacket on the bed and says “What a nice surprise honey.” He goes near her. Tries to hug her but she pushes him aside and starts crying. Harvey got worried, ‘hey hey what’s wrong?’ Melisa turns toward Harvey and says, ‘Harvey I can’t do this anymore.’ Harvey got confused, ‘What are you talking about?’ Melisa wiping her tears says, ‘you. I cannot live with you anymore’. Melisa starts crying again and sits on the bed. Harvey is at loss of words so he leaves the room and comes outside the hotel. Orders a taxi and goes to a bar. Drinks there a bit and the bartender ask for the payment. He picks out his pocket and pays it with the card while the transaction is happening. He started looking towards his wallet and there he finds a coin with both side rough and it was very dirty coin. So he left it on the table of the bar and went home.

                          With the very next flight Melisa and Harvey came back to Philadelphia. They didn’t talk to each other during whole fight. Melisa taught if she made a mistake. Harvey didn’t ask one reason why she was divorcing him. Did he saw it coming? These taught were rolling in Melisa’s mind. They reached home in a taxi and Harvey asked to go on forward he’ll bring the language. As Harvey was carrying the luggage and entering his home. He felt for the first time that he was being watched. He taught it was just imagination and entered the house.

                          That whole day Melisa and Harvey didn’t talk to each other. Harvey had a day off so decided to roam around in the bar. While driving in the city there was a car behind him for a long time. He taught that he was being followed as soon as decided to stop his car, the other car turned right. So he ignored it and then he went his friends house Teddy. Teddy was colleague of his. His rank was just below Harvey. He was black in appearance. He was well-suited man. Harvey and Teddy were close friends.

                 Teddy opened the door for his friend and invited his friend inside. They sat outside in Teddy lawn drinking bear and Harvey told everything to Teddy and Teddy said, ‘everything is going to be alright man’. They were sitting in a wooden chair. Teddy looked at his side and found that his bear were finished so he called his wife Trisha, ‘Hey darling bring us some bears’. Trisha was Latin women with an accent. She was cooking with headphones on her ears so she couldn’t hear what teddy said. Teddy got up and went in to take the bear by himself. Meanwhile Harvey was lost in the taught and then he suddenly had feeling someone watching him and he got up saw here and there but nobody was to be found. Then he had dinner with Ted’s family and as his was driving home. He saw the same car behind him so geared up. The car behind also geared up and then turned right and the other car also turned right. So stopped his car and order the car behind to do the same. Both cars stooped. Harvey came out of his car. His saw an old maruthi Suzuki of green colour. There was a man in a black hoodie in a driving seat. He couldn’t see his face because of the light of the other car, ‘Turn of the engine jackass’ said Harvey angrily. As Harvey was closing in on the car the driver punched reverse gear. Harvey ran behind the car but couldn’t stop it.

                 As soon as Harvey came home and parked the car. He came outside the car and was entering the house and he again felt someone’s glare at him. So he searched the area and found nothing. While he was searching, Melisa was watching him from the window she felt something was wrong with him. Harvey couldn’t found anything so he went back to his house.

         Melisa and Harvey decided to live together until the divorce. It was awkward around the house every now and then. They weren’t really talking to each other. In the afternoon while Jeff was playing with his toy truck of red and yellow colour on the floor. He looked there he saw his father wearing a regular t shirt and some shots reading a book and drinking tea. And his mother doing chores of the house looking like typical maid. Although he was just 6 but he understood human emotions. He sensed something is wrong and asked a question to both of them, “Why are you both sad?” That sudden question startled Melissa and she dropped a utensil she was holding. The question also took Harvey by surprise but he maintained his composure, kept the book aside and called Jeff. He carried Jeff and put him on his lap and explained , “ Listen Jeff you are really small for this but I want you to know that sometime in life we are not happy with the decision we made but that’s okay. Knowing that we made a bad decision and going through it, is not okay. What matters that how make that wrong decision right. To suffer through it or to have a courage to call it quits? We just have one life and everyone deserves to be happy.” By saying this he saw towards Melisa and nodded. Seeing Harvey, Melisa started crying and she ran upstairs hiding her tears. Harvey sent Jeff to play with his toys and Harvey sighed in grief. He got up to put the book back in the shelf of his study room. After going in there he kept the book at its location and then he sat on the chair near the shelf. As soon as he sits on the chair he noticed that he saw his paper weight was missing. He thought to himself, “I have the only key to this room and other than myself no one knows where I keep my key and as I last remember paper weight was still on the table” He got up and started searching for paper weight. He found it under the table. Questions rambled through his mind. He searched entire house saw if anything was stolen but nothing was stolen. He thought it may be nothing and went in the hall room and sat on the sofa and the night went trough.

                 The next day, Harvey was going through some files in his office at his police station. Suddenly someone knocks the door, Harvey says “come in” .It was victor his lieutenant.  Victor was wearing a police uniform and had a thick moustache and brunette hair. Victor came in to do some daily chit chat ,” I heard you are getting a divorce. How are you doing?” Harvey replies, “Wow. Word gets out pretty fast around here. And we are still thinking there is mole between us.” Victor smiles and says, “No but seriously?” Harvey nods while peeking through some papers. “I will let you work. Just wanted to know how you are doing? That’s all” Victor says this while moving backwards to the door. Harvey interrupts, “Listen. Can you please do me favour and ask someone to guard my house. I know it’s nothing but I think someone intruded my house, I know it’s just a hunch but better be safe than sorry” Victor replies, “We’ll do” and suddenly phone rang. Harvey asked Victor to excuse him and victor went outside the cabin. Harvey picked the phone and on the other side there was Melisa, Crying, weeping. As soon as Harvey listens to Melisa crying his heart skips a beat, he asks, “What’s wrong Melisa? Are you okay? Why are you crying? Is everything alright?” Melisa wiping her tears, controlling herself says, ”Jeff is kidnapped.”