Evil people

"Finally," said Tracy Dixon to herself in a relieved voice. "Ah, I should switch off my phone before there are any calls that disturb my once-in-a-lifetime vacation," said Tracy while switching off her phone. When she was just about to switch off her phone, the name 'DEVIL' appeared on her phone screen. 

"Lord! When in the world will I be able to live freely?" she said to herself while attending the call.

"A body was found this morning. It was a man in his thirties. He was found dead in his house," informed Sergeant Cole.

"So??" asked Tracy with no interest but in a low voice. She tried to control her anger as she didn't want to spoil the mood of her vacation.

"So?? Tracy, you need to..." said Sergeant Cole but was interrupted, "Sergeant Cole, I am currently on my vacation. Kindly contact me after my vacation," grinned Tracy.

"Vacation?? How could you think about that now? Should I inform the Major?" blackmailed Cole.

"Fine!! Just stop it, will you? Details??" said Tracy with an annoying voice.

"It was a homicide. The victim's body had several cuts. Guess what tool was the cause??" asked Cole.

"Why do you ask, like it is something new? Knife as usual. Maybe a pen, considering the several cuts found in his body. Psychopaths love it when their prey dies slowly," replied Tracy while tying her short brown hair to a pony. 

"You do have one point correct, but the guesses are wrong. Psychopaths do love it when their prey dies slowly, but this case is different. The tool used was a hacksaw," replied Cole.

"Woah!!" said Tracy in a shocking voice.

"Wait a sec. How did you know that? The forensic department can't send the details that fast, you know," continued Tracy.

"Well, my uncle is a blacksmith. So, I know some of the tools. I once got cut by a hacksaw so, I know how it looks," replied Cole.

"So you mean he is a blacksmith too?" asked Tracy.

"Something like that. I checked his profile, and it turned out that he was a scammer. He scammed people through scam calls, and you need to see his account," chuckled Cole.

"So, are you concluding that he deserves to die?" asked Tracy while taking the car keys to drive to the police station.

"No. That punishment is way too much for a scammer. Law gives him the verdict. So are you coming to the scene?" asked Cole.

"Ok," replied Tracy and hung the phone. Memories about her dad flooded inside her mind. Her dad was a blacksmith too, and she loved him so much. Sadly, Tracy's dad divorced her mom when Tracy was 7years old. From then, she lived with her mom according to the court's decision.

**

(Crime scene - Max's house(victim))

"Did you send all the details to the Forensic department?" queried Tracy. Cole nodded, "Yes,"

Tracy walked around the crime scene to find evidence. 

"He was dragged, as there are marks imprinted in the mud. It seems to be wet. So the scene took place when it was raining," concluded Tracy based on touching the moist mud.

"Yes, it did. It rained yesterday. So, the murderer killed Max (scammer) at that time," replied Cole.

"If you look at the traces of mud, you can presume that he was unconscious when the killer dragged Max. Were there any signs of choking in the neck or something else?" asked Tracy for confirmation.

"No. There were only cuts found. But I am not sure as there was nothing unusual. We have to wait for the report from the Forensic department," replied Cole while handing the pictures of Max's body.

"Oh....what is this?" jerked Tracy. 

'My daughter always told me that people who do bad things are evil,' which was written vividly in red blood at the corner of the hall. 

"I did not see this. Maybe because the light doesn't reach here," said Cole.

"Excuses.." huffed Tracy while taking pictures from different angles.

"He had a daughter....sentiments," said Cole.

"A psychopath who has human feelings. It doesn't make sense. Never in my life have I heard that. But, if his daughter passed away before he turned into a psychopath, it makes sense," added Tracy while finding traces of blood in the hall.

"Did he turn into a psychopath because of his daughter?? But psychopaths lack empathy....." stated Cole.

"Stop....don't make a hypothesis with your hunches," said Tracy.

"My hunches are never wrong," said Cole proudly. Tracy ignored Cole and searched for evidence.

"There is no spill of blood. Also, he didn't clean the traces of mud, which means he didn't have enough time. Can I have a look at the CCTV?" asked Tracy.

Cole handed his phone and replied, "The CCTV's didn't work at that time,"

"What about the neighbors? Did they notice someone....." enquired Tracy.

Cole shooked his head.

"That means he was someone to be not suspect of," assumed Tracy.

Just then, Cole's phone rang. "Cole, there is a murder case. I will send you the location. Take Tracy there with you. The major asked," informed David, a colleague.

"Ok," responded Cole and hung the phone.

"There is a scene. We need to hurry there before major gives a lecture," replied Cole to Tracy.

**

(2nd Crime scene - Sarah's house(victim))

"The name of the victim is Sarah. She is in her twenties. If you ask the neighbors, most of them think of her as a nuisance. She likes to spread groundless rumors and steal stuff. And this is what we found," informed David.

"Oh! the same sentence....'My daughter always told me that people who do bad things are evil,'" read Tracy loudly.

"Even the cuts...." stated Cole.

"The cases are connected. Look at the sentence and the cuts," continued Cole.

"Even though they seem connected. Don't jump to conclusions," replied Tracy.

"What about the reports for Max's body? Is there any progress from the Forensic department?" asked Tracy to David.

"They said that Max's blood has mixed with Yervoy. Yervoy slowly made his cells lose consciousness. The rusted dust from the hacksaw affected him even more. Also, the report says that there was a time difference between each cut," reported David.

"The more the pain, the more the satisfaction. I assume he is a blacksmith, judging at the cuts," replied Tracy.

"Wait a minute. Send Sarah's blood sample to the Forensic department. Ask them to find whether this blood sample has been mixed with Yervoy or not?" added Tracy.

She grabbed Cole and said, "We need to check if there are similar cases to this,"

**

(Police station)

"'My daughter always told me that people who do bad things are evil,' This sentence...." said Tracy while showing a picture to Cole.

"This might be our only way to find out whether the cases are connected or not? Because there is no way. Sarah's case is a copycat. We didn't even release any briefing to the media," stated Cole.

Tracy nodded while searching whether there are similar cases in the files.

"Oh! There is. It happened a week ago. The same sentence 'My daughter always told me that people who do bad things are evil,' Wait I know...check the handwriting. Look at the letters written are in the same way. The same person?" said Tracy while pointing at three pictures that she spread out on the table.

"The same person?? What was the reason?? Even though psychopaths love killing, they have a selection for their prey. Why did he choose a scammer, a stealer, and a blacksmith?" asked Tracy.

"As I said earlier, maybe he is a blacksmith, looking at the cuts. The cuts aren't way deep and perfect for cutting metals. For sure, the murderer is a blacksmith," concluded Cole.

"Yes, what you are telling is true. The cuts are way too perfect. Even when you look from the outside, you can tell the wounds have the same depth and width. Let us check the photo over, in case we left anything," said Tracy.

"I heard your dad was a blacksmith. You sure have a great memory," replied Cole while looking at the pictures.

"Oh! Look at the report. The cut was open in pairs. The murderer most likely used both hands. Blacksmiths are 'trained' to use both hands, aren't they?" asked Tracy while looking deeper at the cuts.

"Yes, but I am not good at using my left hand. Most of the time, I prefer it to be at right, as I am a righty," replied Cole.

"Righty. The victim had been forced to take the medicines, which means the murderer held the victim tightly and injected the Yervoy with the other hand. He injected it perfectly as there seemed to be no external wounds or bleeding. Which means he is good at using injections. But at the same time, he could hold the victim tightly. Something is not making sense," Tracy held her hear head tightly.

"Blacksmiths are good at using both hands, but not both of the hands have the same power," replied Cole.

"Cole, check the victims. Especially the blacksmith. Ask around what--" continued Tracy.

"Ok, I know. What about you?" interrupted Cole.

"I am going to the crime scene," replied Tracy and rushed to her car.

**

(3rd crime scene-John's house(Blacksmith-victim))

"The cuts are clean. If he cut the victim's body many times, logically, there must be blood flooding, and some of them must be in the ground. But, there is none. Which means he cleaned the blood. Even though psychopaths are perfectionists, I feel this murderer has OCD," spoke Tracy to herself.

**

(2nd Crime scene - Sarah's house(victim))

"The most recent case has the most evidence," said Tracy.

"He must have cleaned the bloodstains.......Cleaned," said Tracy as the word rang a bell in her head. She rushed to the bathroom and searched, but there was nothing. She then saw the sink trap. 

"As none came to the crime scene, for sure there will be remains of blood," said Tracy. With all her strength, she opened the sink trap.

She took a cotton bud and wiped it inside the sink trap to find bloodstains. She then inserted the cotton bud in a small zipper bag. Later, she shook the sink trap. "Oh! There is something inside it," said Tracy while trying to remove it.

"It is a ring? It seems familiar. TRACY," read Tracy.

"Isn't this the ring dad gave me?" asked Tracy.

"What ring?" asked Cole while snatching the ring from Tracy. Tears filled her eyes.

"TRACY. Is this yours?" asked Cole.

"I have somewhere to go. Meanwhile, can you give this to the Forensic department and check whether two types of blood are mixed or not?" asked Tracy as a favor. She then took back the ring from Cole.

Before Cole could nod yes, Tracy hurried.

**

(Tracy's house)

"Mom!! Is dad alive?" asked Tracy as soon as she barged into her house.

She searched her mom in all the rooms.

"Mom!!" shouted Tracy.

"What, sweetheart?" asked her mom.

"Is dad alive?" asked Tracy.

"Why are you asking that?" asked her mom.

Tracy then showed the ring to her mom. "Look, this is the ring dad gave me. I still remember. He took it from me one week before your divorce. He said to me that he wants to engrave my name in it and would give me back. But he never did," explained Tracy.

"I don't know, sweetheart," replied her mom. Tracy immediately checked the photos of her dad and took one of the photos.

When Tracy was about to leave her house, Cole called and informed, "Let me talk first. John needed money. So, he used to borrow from his colleagues. That is why most of his co-workers tried not to get close to him. But there is this one guy who always sits together with John and helps him. I sent his picture to you and the forensic department results. You were right. Two types of blood were found in the cotton bud you gave"

 Cole then hung the phone. Tracy immediately checked the photo as she wanted to verify the person was not her dad. To her guess, the blacksmith who worked with John was her dad, William. The forensic department also showed there were two types of blood. One matched Sarah's blood, and the other one was blood type O+.

"Mom, what is dad's blood group? Do you remember?" asked Tracy.

"Of course. I do remember. He did get hurt once on his left arm during work and lost a lot of blood. I donated him some," explained her mom.

"So, he is O+?" asked Tracy. Her mom nodded. She couldn't stop the tears that were falling from her cheeks. 

"Mom, do you know where he lives?" asked Tracy. "I don't. But, I remember this place. He bought the house in your name. But there were rumors that the residential area was haunted," replied her mom.

"Just send me the location," sniffed Tracy.

Tracy then called Cole and said, "I think I know where the murderer is,"

"Tracy, just now, there was a witness. He is a delivery man. He said she saw William killing Sarah," informed Cole.

Tracy wept and said, "Dad,"

"Tracy, are you alright?" asked Cole out of concern.

"I am sending you the location," replied Tracy and hung the phone. She sped to the location her mother shared.

**

(William's house)

"Dad, are you in there?" asked Tracy. The door was open, so she entered the house. There were photos of her 7-year old self and her dad on the walls. She took out her gun and hid behind her.

"Dad!!" she yelled. 

William then came out from his room and said, "You have found me, daughter. I followed as you said to me. I punished the evil people just like you asked,"

Tracy controlled her tears and replied, "Dad, it is not late before you repent. Evil people should be punished by law,"

"No. You know, what people said to me in their last breath? They cried, 'Save me,'" imitated William.

"It felt great when I thought that a human's life lays in my hands. It felt like I am the god. I set the law," said William while smiling widely.

"No, Dad," replied Tracy.

Before Tracy could utter any word, the police barged into William's house and said, "You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney to defend you,"

David then handcuffed William. Tracy couldn't hold her tears anymore. "Tracy, It is alright. You are just doing your job," said Cole while patting Tracy's back to comfort her.

"Did you hear our conversation?" asked Tracy.

"The whole team did. That is why we barged in as soon as we could," replied Cole.

"He said I was the reason. If I had never said that sentence and visited him often, things wouldn't have turned out like this, right?" blamed Tracy herself.

"It is not your fault. Life has its plans. It was supposed to turn out this way anyhow," replied Cole.

"Right. Things were supposed to turn out this way anyhow," sniffed Tracy while wiping her tears.

**

(Epilogue)-(7years Tracy)

"Dad, people who do bad things are evil. They must be punished by law. They will be punished," said Tracy.

"You are right, sweetheart. They must be punished. What are you going to become when you grow up, Tracy?" asked William.

"I am going to become a police officer. I am going to punish people by law," replied Tracy boldly.

"Is it? Then from now on, I should call you Officer Tracy," chuckled William. 

"Yes, Mr.William. How can I help you?" imitated Tracy like a police officer.