The Vanishing Weapon

Content Warning: Mature content

‘I will show you magic today, aunt Veronica!’ little Will came hopping into Veronica’s apartment.

‘Magic? What kind of magic?’ Veronica asked.

He took a glass and poured some water into it. Then took out the ice tray from the refrigerator and placed two ice cubes in the glass.

‘See, here! I have put two ice cubes in this glass.’

He covered the glass with his hands. Then, with great flair, he said, ‘Now, we will wait for one minute.’

Veronica leaned forward with great interest. After sometime he opened his hands, ‘Look! ice cubes gone. Vanished. Magic!’

Veronica laughed. A six-year-old had given her the answer she had been seeking.

***Five days earlier***

Veronica was standing in the living room of Advocate Stewart Schuman, whose body was lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. There was a cut at the base of his throat. Elliot Ross was issuing orders. His officers were scouring the house for more evidences. Two security guards were standing in a corner, looking anxious.

“Looks like a knife cut,” Veronica said after examining the body.

“Yes. Although it will be clear once we have the postmortem report.” Elliot looked troubled.

“What’s the matter?” Veronica had sensed his irritation.

“We have not found the weapon yet. The knife set in the kitchen is intact.”

“Maybe it was brought in from outside.” Veronica supplied.

“The security here is very stringent. Anyone entering the premises has to pass through metal detectors. Their bags are also scanned.”

“What about the guards? Do you suspect them?”

“It is a possibility. They have access to the house. In fact, it is one of them who notified us, when he came for a security check round. I have taken them into custody. I am questioning them.” Elliot said.

“Did he stay alone?”

“There is a cook. He has gone to visit his parents this weekend.”

“How convenient,” Veronica smiled. “Can you give me the list of people who visited him?”

“One of his assistants, Jim Spencer, paid a visit in the morning to consult him on some case. His sister, Rosalind Schuman, accompanied him for lunch. And the housekeeping staff arrived to clean the house late in the afternoon.”

Veronica took a tour of the house. Quite an expensive house. It was interesting how Schuman had managed to make so much in his brief career.

Everything was tidy and organized. Not a thing out of place. It required discipline to get to a position where Schuman was now. His study was a room full of shelves. All books arranged alphabetically. Another shelf was dedicated to his case files. It was fascinating how many trials he had won in such a short time.

Schuman preferred private cases, Veronica realized as she was reading the journal she had found in his study. It contained the list of all the cases he had taken. He catered to specific clients; it seemed. Those who were acquitted despite being guilty. That explained the wealth, Veronica thought.

The postmortem report confirmed that the weapon was a sharp object. Veronica asked Elliot about the suspects.

“The background checks on the security guards brought them out clean. Not a single charge against them.” Elliot said.

“I think they wouldn’t attempt such a thing, at least not while on duty. Too easy to detect.” Veronica said.

“Yes, and they didn’t have a motive either.”

“Hmmm. I am looking through his files. In case someone convicted earlier has been released now, and is back for vengeance.” Veronica had gone through the list of people who had been discharged recently.

“I interrogated Spencer and Miss Schuman. They, too, don’t have a cause to kill Schuman.”

“What about the housekeeping?”

“Those boys are assigned a house by the cleaning agency. They don’t know who Schuman was.”

“If only we could recover the weapon…”

“Yes, the damned weapon! We went through the house twice again, the next morning. I also searched Rosalind’s and Spencer’s houses. But all in vain. It’s as if the weapon has vanished into thin air.”

***Present***

“Here’s something to consider, Ross.” Veronica strode into Elliot’s office.

“And what is that?” Elliot smiled. He liked it when Veronica was so excited about a case. She was stubborn. Let nothing down until it was solved to her satisfaction.

“How about a knife of ice?” her eyes sparkled as she said that.

“Knife of ice?” Eliot was perplexed.

“What if I fill a mould of the shape of a knife with water, then freeze it?”

Elliot stared at her, open-mouthed. He took a while to regain his voice. “Oh, my God!”

Veronica only smiled.

“It would do its work and then dissolve. No weapon, no fingerprints, nothing. No one would ever know!” Elliot exclaimed.

“Yes, no one would ever know.”

“In that case, this becomes even more complicated.” Elliot shook his head in frustration.

“I wish to see the statements of all of those you have interrogated.” Veronica said.

“Sure.” Elliot gave the file.

Veronica pored on it for a while, entirely immersed, analyzing every word, looking for a discrepancy.

She had already spoken with Rosalind, Schuman’s sister, and Jim Spencer, Schuman’s assistant. Still, it was good to go over their statements. While at it, she also read about Brad Daniels and Albert Watson, the housekeeping staff.

Finding none, she returned home. Making a list of potential suspects seemed like a daunting task. But, now, probably that was the only option left. She was just halfway through the journal she had got from the Schuman’s study. It laid on her desk, beckoning her. She started reading again.

An hour later, she was still reading. Tired, she took a break. She was still mulling over the number of cases Schuman had won.

But one case particularly stuck in her head. Stan Daniels was convicted for the murder of a young kid. Something about it sounded odd. Daniels! That was it.

“What do you have on Brad Daniels, one of the cleaning staff?” She was back at Elliot’s desk.

“What do you want to know?” Elliot asked.

“Is there a connection between Brad Daniels and Stan Daniels?”

“Yes. Stan is Brad’s elder brother. What about him?”

“Stan was charged guilty of the murder of a young girl.” Veronica told him about the journal entry.

Half an hour later, they were at Brad’s place. Elliot was grilling him while Veronica searched his place. Tucked away in a corner of the attic, she found the knife mould.

She handed it over to Elliot. Brad was sitting in a chair. “He was innocent. He would hurt no one, let alone a child. Stan was passing through the area that night when he spotted the girl. She was hurt quite badly. He promptly took her to the hospital, where she was announced dead. The police found clear evidences that pointed to Nigel Barton. He was taken into custody. But then he hired Schuman. Schuman manipulated the case so that Barton was proved innocent and instead my brother Stan was convicted.”

“And so you decided to play judge?”

“I wanted justice for my brother and also for all the other innocent people who had suffered because of Schuman’s immoral practice. I had it all planned well. No weapon, no murderer."

“I must admit, it was quite clever of him to use ice,” Elliot said later that day. “And cleverer of you to figure it out.” He was impressed with Veronica. “Once again you have demonstrated, that you truly can see things that are not even present. It’s marvelous. Just magical.”

Yes, magical indeed. Veronica smiled to herself.