Title: Unmasking the Darkness<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you find it?\u201d Colin asked the officer who looked at him, a gleam in his eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis was hanging out of it,\u201d he replied, handing him a tarot card. \u201cWe were about to pry it open, but found a hidden button to push.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opening led to a large room, a round table with multiple ornate chairs stood as alert soldiers around it. On the walls, symbols written in red paint danced in jagged lines. The smell overpowering, sage and candle wax from the multiple candles sitting on the center of the table, burnt wicks from recent use. Their flashlights lit up the corners. Jim found a light-switch, the lights from above beamed a deep blood red. At the head of the table, a chair was pointing toward the back of the wall. Jim walked around and found the body of a woman, a tarot card peeked out from the pocket in her blouse. Her face was frozen with skin that bore the waxy pallor or death. Her lips tinged a faint bluish gray, parted slightly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo you recognize her?\u201d Jim asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grace came up from behind. \u201cThat\u2019s Vivian Cross.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHey, look what I found,\u201d the officer shouted from a recess in the wall. He pulled out a hard drive, connected with multiple cords. \u201cLooks like some sort of recording device with sound and video maybe?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLook Jim, on the table.\u201d Colin said. On the end of the table another small bell on top of a sheet of paper, names were listed including the suspects. An eerie sound, scratches on a wall, breathing of a beast surrounded them, then stopped. They gave each other a confused look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLooks like this device also plays noises.\u201d the officer said. Jim took a deep breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet\u2019s get the crime scene team in here. We need to bring in the suspects for a second round of questioning,\u201d Jim barked his orders and the officer scrambled, rushing toward the door. The lights above flickered. Colin and Jim jumped at the sound of low deep laugh that echoed around them, jumping from wall to wall. Were they being watched?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will gather them,\u201d Colin said, shivering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHey, look,\u201d Jim pointed to the very center of the table \u2014 a tiny bell just like found by the recent victim along with a sheet of paper, its edges burned. He picked up and examined it. \u201cIt\u2019s the same bell, what does the paper say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a list of names, including the three main subjects and victims,\u201d Colin replied. \u201cIt isn\u2019t the exact same bell is it? I thought that one was in evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colin was going through the list, his brows furrowed in deep lines. Jim looked around the room. You could almost hear his joints creaking and knocking together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI need to get out of here,\u201d Jim said, shining his flashlight at Colin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He watched the back of Jim heading back down the hallway. He had to run to keep up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lila, her back straight, sat in her chair across from the detectives. She grasped the edges of her seat, her eyes wide darting from one to the other, her breath came shallow and quick, as if she was preparing to run. When Jim set his eyes on her, she cowered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know Lila,\u201d Jim started, his gaze bored through her, \u201cwe don\u2019t like being lied to. I don\u2019t like being lied to.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her lower lip began to quiver controllably. \u201cI didn\u2019t lie. I told you everything.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe know about the fraud, Lila,\u201d Jim replied. Colin kept his eyes down, his expression neutral. He looked up and captured her gaze, tears beginning to well up, making her eyes look like pools of turmoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am so sorry. What do you want me to say? Of course, I knew Cassandra was looking into fraud here at the convention. She hounded people with her insinuations. I wasn\u2019t surprised when she ended up dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colin pushed the list of names. \u201cYour name is on here along with others. Does this relate to fraud?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lila glanced at the piece of paper, shaking her head. \u201cNo, this doesn\u2019t look familiar. She wasn\u2019t investigating me. I did see her and Edward arguing the day before. I overhead her saying she was going to expose the truth about something. Maybe he was a fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe said that he was trying to get closure, are you sure that\u2019s what he said?\u201d Jim asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cClosure for what?\u201d Lila’s body jerked in a single laugh, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I heard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat did you hear?\u201d Colin asked. Jim sat back in his chair, his arms crossed and waited while she looked back and forth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe definitely committed some kind of fraud. I overheard some conversations Cassandra had made over the phone. Blackmail and threats of exposure. Cassandra had promised to expose him to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne more question Lila, if you don\u2019t mind. We found a room, hidden within the conference center, did you know anything about it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lila looked at Jim with large doe eyes, shaking her head. \u201cI haven\u2019t, sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jim had maintained his poker face while Colin smiled and nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHave you heard of Vivine Cross?\u201d Colin asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a reporter,\u201d Lila said. \u201cShe was supposed to meet with Cassandra. I overheard their conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat did you hear?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe reporter wanted information,\u201d she replied. \u201cI didn’t hear the other end of their conversation, she was on the phone. You should talk to Victor about the blackmail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will,\u201d Jim said. \u201cPlease go with the officer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Victor leaned back in the chair with his arms crossed tightly across his chest, his jaw clenching so hard the muscle twitched. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor the third time,\u201d he snapped, each word clipped and cool, \u201cI don\u2019t know anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colin placed sheets of paper from the files in front of Victor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese are deleted emails we found on Cassandra\u2019s laptop,\u201d Colin said, watching him unravel. Tears started to well in his eyes, washing down his cheeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOkay,\u201d he said, \u201cCassandra had manipulated and took money from my sister. I was angry. I confronted her, but I didn\u2019t kill her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThanks for telling us something we already know. We overheard an argument in secret recordings in the secret room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSecret room?\u201d he asked, his eyes wild. \u201cHow did\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe found it and we found the body of an investigative reporter, Vivian Cross. Do you know her?\u201d Jim said stoically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI knew of her,\u201d he replied, \u201cbut I didn\u2019t kill her either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will figure out if you\u2019re lying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Victor pushed his chair back abruptly and left the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jim wore a slow, smug smile that curled at the corners of his mouth like he was savoring a private joke. Colin knew that smile. He was in his element. Jim sat back against the chair, fingers steepled in front of him, entirely at ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBring in Edward,\u201d he said, his voice carrying a slick, self-satisfied tone \u2013 measure and deliberate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Edward came through the door with a spring in his gait and his head held high. It was as if nothing had happened and nothing could touch him. Jim was ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHave you figured out who did it yet? I am hoping to get the convention back running soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt takes as long as it takes. It helps if people are honest with us,\u201d Jim replied. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want to know about these financial discrepancies,\u201d Colin had opened a file and placed a page in front of Edward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Edward sat staring at the sheet of paper, a copy of a ledger. \u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d His words came out slow, carefully weighing his words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe found it with Cassandra\u2019s things.\u201d Colin said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jim was getting impatient. \u201cYou must know about the secret room? We heard your voice on a recording, so don\u2019t bother denying it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Victor rested his elbows on the table, his head in his hands. His brows furrowed, concentrating, his eyes fixed on the wall behind the detectives. He was rigid, sitting upright, but the cracks began to show. He was tapping his foot erratically under the table. Then his shoulders slumped. The fight drained from his posture, and he sank into the chair like the air had gone out of him. The calm front melted, each word a drip of emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOkay, okay,\u201d he sputtered. \u201cWe have a secret society within the community. That\u2019s what the room is for. Only for those who pay. I am only trying to protect the event\u2019s reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got something,\u201d Grace announced through the open door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Copyright \u00a9 Rachel D. Knepp.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author\u2019s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means\u2014including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods\u2014without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in reviews or critical articles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Title: Unmasking the Darkness How did you find it?\u201d Colin asked the officer who looked at him, a gleam in his eye. \u201cThis was hanging out of it,\u201d he replied, handing him a tarot card. \u201cWe were about to pry it open, but found a hidden button to push.\u201d The opening led to a large […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5,17,7,10,11,4,20,12],"class_list":["post-330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detective-fiction","tag-author","tag-detectivefiction","tag-fiction","tag-shortstory","tag-story","tag-storywriter","tag-writer","tag-writingprompts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimebyrk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimebyrk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimebyrk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimebyrk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimebyrk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/storytimebyrk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":434,"href":"https:\/\/storytimebyrk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330\/revisions\/434"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimebyrk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimebyrk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimebyrk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimebyrk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}