Investigation Diaries

  • 25 Jun - 01 Jul, 2022
  • Mag The Weekly
  • Fiction

Raymond, a teenage boy took out a book from the shelf of a public library and read its title:

‘Investigation Diaries’.

He sat on a chair nearby, opened the book and started reading the first story which was entitled: ‘The Assailant’.

The Suicide Note

Early in the afternoon, in an apartment of the Russell Street, a totally distressed woman Jill Rodger was wandering in her room. Her maid was preparing the lunch for her. Jill looks at the photo inside a frame, kept on her bed’s side table. It was her marriage photograph but she was standing alone in the bride’s dress. She thinks about her husband Wilson Rodger who never took a picture with her. And then she says:

‘I’m really sorry, forgive me for what I’m doing.’

She comes out from her room and gets a glass of water, and adds poison to it. She takes the glass of water back to her room. And then she immediately shuts the door.

A moment later, her maid leaves the kitchen and goes to the living room. There on the table she sees some particles of poison lying. She feels as if her mistress was up to something. She immediately rushes towards Jill’s room and opens the door in a hurry. She sees her lying on her bed and realises that it was a suicide attempt. She gets badly panicked and tries to wake her up by shaking her face and body. While doing this, she finds something written on a white paper. It was a suicide note. She thinks of reading it, but stops and feels as if it was not loyal to read something that was very personal to anyone. She rushes towards another room and picks up the phone and makes a phone call to Wilson Rodger.

‘Hello,’ Wilson answers the call.

‘Sir… Ma’am just committed a suicide.’

‘Suicide? What the hell are you saying?’ he replies angrily.

‘I’m serious sir, she just drank poison and there was a suicide note lying next to her body on the bed.’

‘When did this happen? How’s her condition?’

‘Sir, it’s way too worse, I think

she won’t…’

‘Okay, you just go and see what that suicide note says,’ he cries.

‘Okay sir, I’ll call you back

in a minute.’

She disconnects the phone call.

After that she rushes back towards her dead body and picks up the note. After reading it, she feels a little weird due to which she keeps it back as if she didn’t read anything in that moment.

Afterwards, she makes another phone call to a detective. The call is received after a while and a very blur voice replies:

‘Hello, this is Arthur Driscoll here, how can I help you?’

‘Sir, please can you come to our house?’ she requests, ‘if you remember us, Wilson Rodger and Jill Rodger, a couple who lived here.’

‘Oh, yeah I do remember them, who is this by the way?’

‘Sir, I’m the…’

‘…Wait, let me guess,’ he interrupts, ‘you’re the maid who served me with coffee that day.’

‘You do have a good recognising power, but right now it’s an emergency.’

‘Okay, I’ll be on my way.’

The call is disconnected, so she also hangs up the phone.

The Unexposed Detective

Half an hour later, the doorbell rings. The maid goes to receive the guest. She opens the door and sees a dark skinned, fat and old woman on the door. The maid smiles as an act of courtesy and asks:

‘Yes, how can I help you?’

‘Actually, I’m here to help you,’ the woman replies, ‘I’ve been sent here by Mr Driscoll.’

‘Oh, please come in,’ the maid says leaving a way for her to enter inside.

A moment later, the old woman and the maid are standing next to the dead body of Jill. Old woman says:

‘So, you just told me that your mistress committed a suicide an hour ago and without letting you know?’

‘Yes, but this suicide note is the problem.’

‘I see, so you don’t want Mr Wilson to know that you read this.’

‘Exactly,’ the maid replies.

‘Okay, I have a solution for this. I’m taking away this suicide note, you tell Wilson that before you could read it, Mr Driscoll came out of nowhere and took away the note from you.’

‘Okay but wouldn’t Mr Driscoll feel bad if I say anything like that?’

‘Not at all,’ the old woman replies leaving her home.

‘Hold on Ma’am, I just want to ask you something.’

‘Sure, go on…’

‘Mr Driscoll has never showed his real appearance. I mean the last time when he came to our house, he came in a disguise of a soldier with big beard that we couldn’t recognise his face. Actually, no one has ever seen his real face, can I ask him why?’

‘You already are asking…’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The woman you are talking to right now is in a disguise,’ a man’s voice is heard from the woman.

‘Hold on please…’ the maid says in confusion, ‘you’re saying that you are Mr Arthur Driscoll in a woman’s disguise?’

‘Yeah, now you got me…’

‘Unbelievable,’ she says getting impressed.

‘And the answer to your question is that my disguises are my biggest powers. If I’m successful today, then it’s because of them.’

‘But why do you dress up so poorly?’ the maid asks. ‘I mean you are such a well-known person, but you are always seen in disguises.’

‘Always remember that clothes don’t make a personality.’

Saying this Arthur Driscoll, the guy in an old woman’s disguise leaves.

This was Arthur Driscoll, a very strange sort of character. He was the unexposed private detective of Toronto. His real face and real voice was exposed to no one in Toronto except for the detective agency of Toronto who had given him his license of being such a detective and staying like this forever.

His career had started in an unusual way. In 1995 there was a very difficult case of investigation of a murder. Likewise, there was another case of murder and assault in 1997, which was also not solved. In 2001, two rape cases were filed but they were never resolved. And the most difficult of all was a case of robbery by a gang of three men in 2002, which was impossible for many other detectives.

Therefore, someone unknown to everyone in Toronto solved these all cases one by one in 2003. Who was he? He was no one other than the unexposed Arthur Driscoll, who had a very sharp mind in solving mysteries and clues. Other than the detective agency of Toronto, he took the permission of remaining unexposed, from the supreme court of Canada that was very much pleased with his performance of investigation and handing over criminals to them. Therefore they allowed him to remain behind the mask, unknown to everyone. But the jury of Supreme Court had a look of his real face and recorded his real voice, but they gave him a word of not exposing him.

So, from those years onwards, Mr Driscoll solved many difficult cases, by just investigating his criminal suspects without letting them know that the person standing next to them was no one but himself. He used different disguises, either of men, women or old people.

Nigel shall meet the Detective

Nigel Dahl, a twenty-two years old boy was a big fan of Mr Driscoll. He always wanted to meet him, but never got the chance. He was interested in solving mysteries and doing investigations by solving clues and puzzles, but he hardly got an opportunity to do that.

He had a billionaire father Steve Dahl, who was a very well-known industrialist of Toronto. Nigel’s real mother died when he was fifteen, due to which Steve Dahl married Stephanie Dahl. Nigel never liked his stepmother, as she was quite bossy. Therefore, he never stayed at the bungalow where his stepmother was settled. He lived in the apartment at the Silver Street, which was on his father’s name.

One regular day, Nigel was at his home watching a spy movie, until his cell phone began to ring. It was his father’s call he answered the call:

‘Hello Dad, what’s up?’

‘Guess what Nigel, today’s going to be a big day for you.’

‘Really, what is it?’

‘Today, I have to meet Mr Driscoll, so I’ll be taking you along with me.’

‘Really?’ he asks getting excited. ‘Dad, if you really take me then I’ll be very grateful to you, please, tell me when are we going there?’

‘We are going there at seven o’clock in the evening,’ his father replies.

They have a little more conversation during the call, and later Nigel turns off his cell phone, as he was excited about the evening.

That evening, while he was leaving home, he locked the door of his apartment. And on the corridor he saw Gerard, a guy of his age coming towards him. He gets a little annoyed and tries to avoid him, but Gerard says to him that too as a taunt:

‘So, how’s your mother’s relation with your father these days?’

Nigel gets angry on his comment, but still ignores him and walks away.

An hour later, Nigel and his father Mr Dahl had arrived at the bungalow in streets of Oakville. As they both step out of the car, someone furious comes towards Mr Dahl, who had red hair with some black hair.

He stands in front of Mr Dahl and says:

‘I haven’t seen you in a while Steve.’

‘What do you want Oliver?’

‘You fired me for no good reason. I was your best employee. And I’ll have my revenge.’

‘I don’t need corrupt and dishonest people in my factory. You lost your job because of your greed.’

Oliver grabs Steve’s collar and says:

‘Mark my words… I will not spare you. Almost five years have passed and I’m still jobless.’

‘You must be Oliver and I’m sorry for that,’ Steve replies calmly putting off his hands from his collars, ‘but right now you need to think about your wife and family.’

‘You don’t know who am I in reality?’

Steve walks away with his son ignoring Oliver.

Nigel meets Arthur Driscoll

Moments later, Nigel and Mr Dahl are sitting inside Mr Driscoll’s bungalow waiting for him to come. A minute later, someone comes in an ordinary citizen’s clothes but with a mask of a horrifying character as of a vampire. He says to Mr Dahl:

‘Good evening, I’m Arthur Driscoll.’

Both the father and son stand up and shake hands with him. After that, when they all sit down the detective says to them:

‘Yes, how can I help you Mr Dahl?’

‘Well, it’s a case of robbery, someone among my staff members has done this, I believe.’

‘Okay, give me other details in a hand writing form then I’ll work on your case, because I work on one case at a time and right now I don’t have any other investigation case.’

‘What about your fees?’ Mr Dahl asks.

‘Give me that after I solve your case…’

‘Okay…Anyways, I would like to introduce you my son Nigel. He’s a big fan of yours and wanted to see you since long.’

‘Oh, really?’ the detective asks pretending to be pleased.

Mr Dahl walks away from the room and sits on a chair outside the main door.

However, Nigel then talks to Mr Driscoll:

‘Sir, I am really one of your biggest fans, I just can’t believe that you are sitting right next to me with the mask.’

‘That’s no big deal, even a cat can look at a king, so why can’t a son of billionaire?’

‘You’re right sir,’ he chuckles, ‘but I want something from you.’

‘An autograph?’

‘No, I mean yes, but something else concerns me,’ Nigel replies, ‘it’s something you won’t allow me to, but still I would like to tell you that I’m very much interested in solving mysterious cases. But I never got a chance, so please can you just let me join you for one investigation.’

‘There’s something I would like to tell you Nigel. Remember this that my every big step has a bigger reason behind. If I’m working alone then it definitely has some reason behind.

But don’t worry I can give you something.’

The detective takes out a book from a bag kept next to him. He gives the book to him and says:

‘It’s not yet published in Toronto, but still you can have it.’

‘What is it?’ he takes the books and reads the name written on it.

‘Common Ways of Solving Mysteries and Clues, did you write this book?’

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