Chapter 3:

JAYDEN'S POV:

Shock. A terrible shock.

A Horrifying shock.

A Horrendous sho- " Ugh! Cut the crap already!" Cole snapped before I could finish expressing.

"What? I'm in shock!"

"You've been chanting the same thing nearly for an hour for fuck's sake, Jayden! Don't you have anything to ask? You're all clear?"

"Of course I have a lot to ask! First of all, it'd be better if you narrate the whole thing right from the start. Second of all, don't you think you owe me an apology? You knew everything all along and made a fool out of me! Third of all-"

"First things first. I wasn't aware of it all along. At the crime scene, I noticed you acting all weird near the bridge. And when I approached you, you were telling me that I would be surprised about something. But, literally, you were talking alone and you were kinda mad. It was weird. Later, you told me about your twin and that you were talking to him the other  time. It wasn't normal at all, so I filled Odette in with this information. She confirmed you didn't have a twin. So, I stopped you from telling George, avoiding  mislead of the case." Cole explained.

"What about the 'HM'? How come the criminal and my imaginary twin have the same initials? There's no way it's a coincidence, right?" I added.

Odette, who was calm all this time, began, "It's no coincidence. Whatever is the initial of the criminal, is your imagination of your twin."

I sat there confused, when Cole interpreted, "You didn't get it, did you? Look Jay, now, one is Hayes Miller and the other one is Hayden Maddox. In case, if the culprit's name was Lionel Messi, your twin would have been a 'Layden Maddox', and if he were a 'Shawn Mendes', the other one would have been a 'Sayden Maddox.' You got that?" he grinned.

"What if the culprit's second name wasn't M, as Maddox?" I asked him.

"Then, Obviously, second name from his foster family like, if he was a 'JB', your twin would have been a 'Justin Beiber', and if he was a 'CH', a Chris Hemsworth; if a 'RP', a 'Robert Pattinson.' Want more?" he grinned again thinking about the possibilities of his ridiculous theory.

"No, thanks. But what if-"I began when Cole interrupted,  "Good Night to you too! See ya!" he kissed Odette with a goodnight and went in scorning.

I turned to Odette, "Hey-"

"Night, sweetheart. Have a good sleep" she made her way to her room. What? Isn't it normal to have doubts? Whatever! Good-freaking-night.

To be honest, I wasn't ready to sleep. Will Ralpha come today? If yes, would she say the same thing? Or something more? How should I respond? Seriously, I wouldn't be able to digest anymore surprises. With these strategies on my mind, I dozed off.

As expected, Ralpha came. I wanted to ask her all about the powers. I was staring at her, thinking of the questions I wanted to ask her. She extended her hand for me shake. She looked right into my eyes, holding my hand.

"This is how it works. Look right into the person's eyes, while your mind wishes to see through them, with any of the physical contact."

I wanted to test her. So, instead of asking her directly, I cogitated the questions in my mind. 'What if I don't intend to see through? If I just want to shake, hug or pat them?'

"Genius" she smiled,"Your mind does what you want. There is no compulsion every time you get in physical contact with a person. You choose what you want. I can only tell you this much. Your strategy, your solution. Zor."

I woke up. Odette cooked us a lovely breakfast and we headed out. I went to my place before going to the station to get some of my things. I felt the emptiness without Jasmine. She was always interested in pottery and so she joined a Pottery Arts University in Budapest, Hungary. Damn! I'll miss her.

I drove to the station. As soon as I reached my office, Tommy greeted, "Morning, Mr. Maddox. Sorry to bother you early in the morning, but there was this man again; he stayed the whole night insisting on meeting you." That's when my phone buzzed. The colonel called in for an urgent meeting. "Yes, Tommy. Thanks for the reminder, but I really got to go now. Please collect his contact number and details, I'll talk to him after the meeting." I rushed to his office. He seemed to have a serious tone.

George, Cole and Zienna were in the office. "What's up?" I asked, crashing on the couch. "Interrogate him. Hayes Miller." George said firmly. "Isn't that over already? I heard he confessed. What now?" I asked him confused.

"Yes, he did. He told us the reason for the murder. His biological mother abandoned him when he was five; all he remembered about her was that she wore a lace headband everyday when she went to work. So, mentally he assumed that all the mothers who are nicer to their kids are evil and ought to be killed. But about that murder, there's a turning point; Go and interrogate him yourself." He stated and asked Cole and Zienna to cast around his house for more clues.

I went in. He was sitting there in the interrogation room with his hands cuffed. I studied him for a while. There wasn't a glimpse of fear on. He was as cool as a man chilling in a vacation. "We meet again, Officer." His lips curved into a smirk. I nodded with no expression shown on my face. "Nothing more to say, Officer. I've confessed everything so far including my reasons. Do you want me to repeat?" He stated.

"I know. I'm just curious to know how well your plan worked out."

"Pretty well I'd say. Katherine Harper. I saw her at a park with her family. She was too nice to her kid. I didn't like that, so I followed her frequently to execute my plan. But the kid saw me a couple of times. It wasn't a problem. He was distracted by my Jalopy, a kid after all", he smiled, "But there is one thing I still don't get it, Officer. How did you find me? I didn't leave out anything as far as I remember, and no human saw me too; well, except the kid. Then how?"

I smirked, "Not something for you to worry about. Then what about Charlotte Wilson?"

"Char..Who?" his brows furrowed.

"Charlotte Wilson. The other woman you murdered in the day time."

"W-What? What do you mean?" he was speechless.

"Cut it. Do you think you can pretend to be innocent after the 'HM' thing and the double tick tattoo? How foolish! The whole mankind in the local knows your way." I snapped.

"No! Officer! Something's wrong. Katherine Harper was the first and last person I killed. And I'm not that foolish to dispose a corpse at a crime scene, in the day time. I'm telling you the truth." He loaded, worried and baffled.

At Hayes Miller's Residency:

Third person's POV:

"Cole! Come here! I'm in the backyard!" Zienna cried. Cole rushed to the yard and sensed something was stinking like hell. "Eww! What the hell?"

They put on the masks and called in for the assistants to dig out the area. As they started digging, they witnessed an awful sight of rats and birds buried. Cole called Jayden immediately.

Cole: Jay, he has buried a lots of rats and birds in his backyard.

Jayden: What? Okay, there's more. Ask someone to check his where-about on the day when Charlotte Wilson was murdered. Come here as soon you finish the work.

Cole: Will do. Right away!

Back in the Interrogation room:

Jayden's Point of view:

"Rats and birds. Still want me to believe you?" I raged. He slowly looked up, " I admit. It was me who buried the rats and birds in the backyard. I've always lived killing the animals and birds. And when I saw Katherine Harper with her child, it triggered my past emotions and I killed her according to my plan. But that was all. I neither knew someone named Charlotte Williams nor did I kill her."

"It's Charlotte Wilson." I corrected.

That's when someone banged the door. It was Cole. I went out to see him, pausing the interrogation. "Did you find out?" I asked him. "Yes. He was home all day. There were constables going up and down there because of the Jalopy. He was home trying to negotiate regarding it." He informed.

I filled Cole and Zienna in with the interrogation incidents. We were confused, unable to find the loophole. Zienna began, "He's already been caught and there's no need for him to lie, right? With all the evidences against him, why would he lie about the second murder and admit the first one?" she said. Cole nodded, "Exactly."

Cole and I locked widened-eye gazes. I slowly nodded my head, lifting my eyebrows as if asking a 'Yes?' and Cole nodded in return with half excitement and half shocked. He quickly came to me. Patting me, he pushed me to the interrogation room. Zienna, who was clueless began, "What are you both doing? Bromance-ing? In such a serious situation?" she furrowed. Cole grinned, "Just man-talks."

I went near Hayes step by step, a bit reluctant. He was puzzled by the sudden change in my attitude. I sat on the desk in front of him, slightly leaning. I placed my hands on his shoulders and said, "Look, Hayes Miller. I want to believe you. But, you know, the forensic reports of both the murders match exactly, right from the method of executing, the lace headband, the double tick tattoo and the 'HM' mud carving. Just tell me. Let's get this over with already."

He was telling something trying to prove his innocence. I didn't listen to what he was telling. That wasn't my plan at all to listen to him. My aim was something else.

I looked right into his eyes.

After a while, I stood up. Looking at him, I slowly exited the room, walking backwards. As soon as I closed the door out, Cole ran to me, loading me with tons of questions.

I walked out and Cole followed me.

"He's telling the truth. He's got nothing to do with Charlotte Wilson."

***

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