Present 15/03/24
“One day, one week, one month, one year, I already lost track of the time I have invested in discovering this mystery, but today is the day. I’m going to end with those bastards once and for all…”
(vital signs sound, and Dr. talking disappearing on the background)
1 year Ago
Entry 2.3.4 on the 15/03/23
“Dear journal, as I promised my mom when I was a kid that I was going to write everything happening in my life in her honor, because I'm not gonna let her death be forgotten, she was assassinated, and I was going to discover who killed her.”
“So, in case you people reading this don't know, my name is Angus Archibald, you can call me Archie. I’m a detective at the detective’s agency “The hidden hand” I have always been so good at maintaining my work as a detective in secret, no one knew this about me, with the exception of the agency workers and my dear mother. She was everything to me, my family, my best friend, my world, so you can understand when I say I’m gonna make him or her pay with blood, the one who killed her. I remember that day as if it just happened now.”
“It was on Tuesday, I picked my mom up in the morning to go for our daily caffeine shot, so we went to “Marco’s” the coffee shop on the 4th street.”
“Good morning mom, how was your sleep?”-
“Good morning my little boy, delightful indeed, how was yours?”-
“Very nice mother, thanks for asking. Shall we go to “Marco’s” for our regular coffee, or do you wanna try something different?”-
““Marco’s” “is perfect my little boy.”-
“After we finished there I left her at her house so she could get changed to lunch while I was working. At 12:45pm I called her to tell her I was on my way to pick her up. When she didn’t answer my call, I decided to get out of the car to enter her apartment, the view when I entered was unbearable; the dead body of my mom was on the floor, with three different knives around her, and her face was all disfigured from the knives' lacerations... I couldn’t see her. So I did the first thing that crossed my mind, I called the agency”
-“I know your mom rested in peace, she loved you so much, as much as you loved her, I am gonna investigate this case myself Archie. Don't you worry about anything” - Said Mr. Johnson, the agency director while he was examining the room searching for proof.
-Thank you director, I appreciate that gesture but I wanna do this myself, those bastards will repent ever touching my mom, even worse taking her life away.”
“That was when I started investigating, now I have two days searching for clues or tracks that can help me connect someone to my mother’s case, and I just found what I was looking for. While I was looking for proof inside my mother’s apartment, I found some shoe prints, size 9 and from a shoe reference that has only a few units in the city, 3 of them to be specific, so now I just have to track who these shoes are. It's now 9pm. I just sent someone from the agency to look for that clue, so I think he will have an answer tomorrow, this is all for today.”
Entry 2.3.5 on the 16/03/23
“So, Marcus just sent the information he got about the shoe references to my email, and today is a new day so who knows If I can trap these idiots today, so the 3 pairs of shoes were bought by 1 person, Stefan Sommerhalder, the CEO of Sommerhalder industries. I think he should receive a visit from the hidden hand agency’s detectives.”
“At 3 pm we went to Sommerhalder industries to talk to Stefan. It was obvious how the things were gonna happen, he denied everything blah, blah, blah, even though I am still suspecting him. I guess I have to find proof to officially accuse him from anything. I will, eventually I will. One useful thing I got from the meeting with Stefan was the shoe store where he bought the 3 pairs of shoes. I’m heading there right now, so I’ll write everything down once I arrive home.”
“So it is midnight right now, I just arrived home from an exhausting day investigating this. When I got to the shoe store with Marcus, we wanted to talk to the owner of the store, so he received us in his office, we started asking the routine questions”
“So, how many years have you owned this place?” asked Marcus.
“Not really many, we’re new to the game” the owner answered.
“Do you like running this place?” I asked
“It helps me support my family, so even if I didn't like it, I would continue running it” he said
“Mr. Mccann, right? Have you heard about Stefan Sommerhalder?” “It was me asking this time.”
“Mr. Mccann was tense and we knew we had him, until he took a weapon and started shooting, we tried to restrain him and shooted back, but we couldn’t so he left the shop running, and we lost our track to my mother’s killer.”
3 months Later
Entry 5.3.5 on the 16/06/23
“So, as I have said before in multiple entries, this hasn't been easy. 1 month ago I discovered that the owner of the shoe shop was trafficking drugs inside the shoes, and that the governor was covering it, but you must be wondering, what does this have to do with my mother’s assassination. Here comes the big track. Sommerhalder enterprises were exporting shoes to the rest of the continent, so they helped with the drug trafficking. They have been doing that since the very beginning, with different shoe shops, so they wouldn't be discovered, but they already are…”
Entry 365.1.2 on the 16/03/24
“As I went deeper into the web of deceit surrounding my mother's assassination, I stood upon a startling revelation. Through meticulous investigation and relentless pursuit of justice, I uncovered a connection between the drug trafficking operation and my mother's murder that went beyond mere coincidence.”
“One evening, as I worked through documents in my office, Marcus burst in with urgent news.”
-"Archie, you need to see this,"- he exclaimed, handing over a file.
-"It's about Mr. Johnson."-
“My heart pounded as I scanned every detail of the inside of the file, my eyes widening in disbelief.”
-"This can't be true,"- I muttered, my voice filled with anger and betrayal.
-"Mr. Johnson was involved in all of this?"-
“Marcus nodded.”
-"It looks that way. He's been pulling the strings behind the scenes, using the agency as a facade for his criminal activities."- He said
“His voice filled with disappointment as he discovered his mentor was everything he was afraid of. “
“Determined to confront Mr. Johnson and demand answers, I stormed into his office, my fists clenched in fury. "You son of a...!" I began, only to be interrupted by Mr. Johnson's calm voice.”
-"Ah, Archie, I see you've discovered the truth,"-
“Mr. Johnson said, his tone eerily composed. “
-"I must admit, I didn't expect you to uncover my little secret so soon."-
"You're a monster," I spat, my voice cracking with contempt. "You killed my mother, and for what? Money? Power?"
Mr. Johnson's smile was cold.
-"It's always been about power, Archie. And eliminating loose ends. Your mother was getting too close to the truth, so she became one loose end and I had to silence her."-
“Enraged, I lunged forward, ready to exact my revenge. But before I could throw a punch on him, the sound of approaching sirens was heard. The police had finally caught tracks of Mr. Johnson's illegal activities, thanks to my unstopping efforts to get justice.”
“As Mr. Johnson was dragged away in handcuffs, I felt a sense of closure washing over me. Though the pain of losing my mother would never fully fade, knowing that her killer had been brought to justice gave me a measure of peace.”
“In that moment I remembered the shoe attack that I got the last year, so I equally finished my investigation with that, but when I was heading to my mother’s apartment where I currently live in her honor, the sound of a voice I thought I would never hear again was captured by my ears, so I turned back and saw my living mom standing there, looking more healthy than I am. After some minutes hugging her and realizing she was alive, I started with the questions”
-“How are you alive? I buried your corpse!”- I exclaimed
-“Well you buried a corpse not mine, I think you remember the face of that corpse was all disfigured by knives' lacerations, so it couldn’t be recognized”-
She said later,
“You see son, I am the CEO of the hidden hand, so when I discovered Mr. Johnson was involved in illegal activities, I started investigating, so he wanted to kill me, but I am smarter as you can see.” she said.
“Ok, I think that is enough for today, even though I can sleep here?” I asked
“Of course! GOOD NIGHT, MY LITTLE BOY”
THE END
By: Juliana Castro Martínez, Step 9
