Mariya's eyes were opened wide in shock and fear; the scene of the case was still fresh before her eyes, and this coincidence turned all the gears of her mind.
Her mind immediately went to her evidence board, and she tried to remember everything.
every piece of evidence,
every witness,
their alibi,
every picture of the scene,
every theory, she pondered every possibility, every single situation that can create this result…
But nothing.
This wasn't a lead; it was a question, another mystery in itself.
"You were born in the same year?" Mariya looked at Norman.
"But that erased possibilities of him being involved in that case. If you take a broader look, he might be involved in some other way—"
Norman rubbed his chin, and Dave interrupted him.
"But that doesn't erase the fact he is involved in the case one way or another!" Dave looked at Mariya.
Daniel was oblivious to everything happening around him. What is the Gosenji Case?
Why are they saying I am involved in that? Is it because of the tattoo? What is this tattoo? I still didn't even see it myself.
But then remembered something else…
"Excuse me? Before anything else, I must warn you, please don't lie, please don't try to lie in any way, I beg you; it was for your own safety."
"Our safety? The fuck do you mean by our safety? Are you threatening me, you young dick?" Norman walked to him and grabbed his collar.
"No, he is serious! He says he can't lie." Dave grabbed Norman's wrist.
"You can't lie, huh?" Mariya thought of her own way to check if this is true or not.
"Alright, boy, well then tell me—
"Have you ever killed someone?"
The silence stretched into the room, all eyes fixed on Daniel.
Daniel's face loosened up, and all the expression faded away; he looked straight into her eyes.
"Yes, I have, and not just one, maybe 10. I think I have 10 people in just the span of 2 days."
Mariya was looking into his eyes; she saw a weird call for help, like a child yearning for a shoulder to cry on, asking for help…
Mariya was silent for a moment and then put her shades back on.
"Alright, no one will lie in front of him; I trust this boy,"
Dave and Norman glared at her.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Norman yelled, Didn't you just hear what he said? He killed 10 people? 10 fucking people, for God's sake, are you going to ignore that?" Norman put his hands on top of his head.
Dave nodded along with Norman.
"I am with Norman in this; if he really killed 10 people, then we have to put him into custody. Whatever will happen after that will be decided by the police department."
"And what after that? Either he will be killed by the one who made sure that no loose ends remain, or he will get blamed for it, a court case will start, and by the time we reach any conclusion, we will be dead!" Mariya clicked her tongue.
"This boy will remain with me. I will start investigating by myself. You two—" She looked at them; in her face there was concern hidden behind a stern expression.
"You two won't speak a word about him. I need you two to cover this up. Dave, please—" Mariya looked at Daniel and took both of them outside.
"Well, we can't lie here, so let's go outside." She walked out with them while Norman complained.
"You seriously believe that nonsense? I really don't know where you are getting this stupid—"
Outside Now!" Mariya yelled.
"Yes, ma'am."
**
All of them stood together and started a discussion.
"Dave, you write the boy was a bystander and got discharged. Put this name and finish it. I checked the news; thankfully, there was no CCTV camera."
She wrote something on the back of a card: "I'll tell him; he'll follow your story."
"What will you do now?" Norman relaxed his shoulder and plopped on a seat close to the wall.
"And you? Are you going to face this alone? You know this isn't like anything? Even the biggest cases, even anything Mali does, are easier than this. The moment we walked into the crime scene,
I had a feeling this isn't normal, not natural, something—"
"Doubt is the last thing I need now, Norman. We have finally found a light in the tunnel, and I will see the end of it."
She walked into the room.
"He
My boy! Get ready!"
Daniel jumped up,
"Wh- why?"
"We're going."
"Where?"
"The Gosenji Apartments."