TALES OF CRIME AND FICTION.

Here's a thing about curiosity; it doesn't let you sleep at night! After meeting that unknown stranger on the street, my mind kept on thinking about him while I walked slowly to my house. I couldn't understand whether he wanted my help or wanted to help me. why was he so keen to help me? I didn't even know him. My mind was already perplexed with the case and then this queer meeting was a whole next level. I drank my Espresso, half busy in thought. Then all of a sudden I remembered, he said something about the case too: "If you want to put an end to your dead end, try visiting the forest once more, you might find something of your purpose". How in the whole wide world did he know about the case? Was he one of the people involved? he was a suspect now. My mind was so busy with these questions that I didn't realize when I was standing on the doorstep of my house.

It wasn't a house, it was a flat and I lived in an apartment. so I entered the flat, passed the parking lot, and made it to the elevator. The parking lot was quiet, filled with cars. Silence crept through every corner; light or dark. I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button of the fifth floor. Maybe he was a figment of my tired imagination, I tried to satisfy myself to put a rest on my mind but, could not. My mind was formulating all kinds of questions, and most of them were about the Stranger and whatever he said to me. The Elevator reached the fifth floor and halted, Gradually the door opened revealing the corridor of the flat. The flat in which I lived was well made and was built in a very secure place of London. It was large and the apartments in it were also full of satisfaction. On each corridor were at least five rooms. My room was the first one. So, buried in my thoughts and hypothetical answers I took the keys and opened my room. When I opened my room, the train of my thoughts came to an abrupt end because in front of me, I saw my extremely messy apartment.

"Oh God!" I sighed "I completely forgot, I have an apartment to take care of"

The thing was that I lived alone. I had no family, well I had a family but I do not want to go on that story. I entered my apartment, closed the door behind me, and collapsed over a nearby sofa. the floor was covered with boxes of pizza and empty bottles of cold drinks and the table, the bed, and the counters of the kitchen were all filled with papers and dishes waiting to be washed. I kept the disposable cup of espresso on the table near me and the papers, I began to read again. I had no idea when my thoughts about the meeting and the case allowed me to sleep but when I opened my eyes again it was morning and the birds were chirping on the window on whose sills books were stacked. I sat up, rubbing my head. All of a sudden my mind just seemed made up, the questions were no longer there and only one decision echoed in my head: "Well, Allison let's go and explore the Dalby forest again". So, there I was; I got up, took a shower, and dressed up. I combed my hair, tying it into a messy bun again and wearing my white joggers, I stepped out of the apartment and locked it; walking towards the Elevator to go to the Dalby forest.

******************

The Dalby Forest had always been filled with people. It was a wonderful place to come with families, for biking, camping or even just sitting and relaxing. It was filled with children running around laughing and parents sitting carefree. But today was a strange day, for the first time the Dalby Forest didn't roar with the children's spirited laughter, for the first ever time it was deserted with only Police tape tied around every tree and only security guards and police officers roaming here and there. It was 9 a.m., usually when bikers biked around the forest. but, it was a dreadful sight to see; the same forest that looked so alive with human touch looked half alive without human touch. The only signs of life were shown by the plants and the birds flying in the sky.

"Detective" One of the officers raised a hand to greet me as I passed him to go towards the point of crime. I raised a hand to greet him.

The scene of the crime was near the only river that flowed through the Dalby forest and the river was where the bodies of the victims were found. it was at the far end of the forest, where only bikers went. it was mostly quiet on that side of the forest. So, I walked slowly towards the river, unaccompanied. When I reached the river I saw that its entrance was also blocked with police tape. I lowered myself to pass from beneath the yellow tape. The river flowed silently on its bed, and the reed sang in the swift wind. The sky could be seen clearly from the river side, it was cloudless and the new rays of the sun were falling on the water, making it glimmer. The forest was indeed very beautiful, but now that five murders were committed here, people feared it.

I stood on the river bed, my hands on my waist, and breathed in the fresh air before searching for clues.

"Well, Allison get to it," I thought.

and with these words, I moved closer to the river and stooped low to look for clues. I searched and I searched but, there was no clue that I could find near that river or around it. there were no footprints or any other material to show anything. I stood up straight after searching around for what seemed like an hour.

"He didn't say trying visiting the river, or the river bed. he said 'Try visiting the forest'" I gave a thought and with this thought I went back into the forest, walking further into the dense wild. I kept on walking and walking, the branches scratching my legs here and then. at length, I came in front of a clear area. I stooped low, my hands on my knees. I had no idea why in the world was I taking his advice.

"UGH!" I shouted frustrated, placing my hands on my head "He is in my head"

I turned around to my left, anger and frustration running through my veins, and there! that is when I saw, some bushes hiding what seemed to be a wooden sign. I walked towards it and pulled the thick bushes from the sign. it was an old wooden sign pointing towards the dense forest.

"More dense!" I sighed and then taking a deep breath walked on through the trees. that is when I realized that it was a pathway, well an old pathway that was now hidden with leaves and bushes. After walking for some time, I came across an old, cabin that I had never seen before. I walked towards it. when I came closer to it, I saw the door was covered with dust, I pushed it applying force and it opened with a squeak revealing a dusty inside of the cabin. it wasn't very big, just a single room with counters surrounding it, in the center of the room was a fromand the counters were all dusty. there was also a soft board on the wall right in front, of one looked form the prospect of the door. I moved inside, there was no light so I took out my mobile phone and opened its torch. the floor creaked as I walked and the whole room smelled strangely, as if of a chemical; a very strong chemical. I walked towards the Soft board and observed it, it was also old, the foam inside it hard as a rock and that is when I accidentally placed my hand on the counter beneath it.

"Gross." I drew my hand backward, it was all sticky and freshly wet!

I swiped my middle finger on that place and smelled it, it was a very strong smell, so strong that it set me coughing. I cleared my throat and looked at the old cabin.

"This wasn't here before," I said to myself "What is this place? and what connection could it possibly have with the murder? It seems as if no one has been here for a long time"

"No, it has always been here"

All of a sudden I heard a voice behind me and I hurriedly drew a gun from the pocket of my pants and turned around, just to find the same stranger standing in the doorway, dressed in the same black dress with shiny shoes and with his hands in his pants pockets. His hair was messy the same way. he walked towards me as I lowered my gun a little.

"How did you get passed the police? the security?" I asked him

"Oh, let's just say I have a way with the authorities around here," he said, calmly

"What do you mean? Did you bribe them? "I opened my eyes widely

He scoffed "What? no"

"You know what forget it" I moved my hand as a gesture of I don't care "Tell me this how do you know this place? this makes you a suspect, are you involved?"

"In the crime? No, in the investigation? Yes" He replied, walking towards the soft board

"What do you mean involved in the investigation? you said that you were not a detective"

"I am not, that you are correct about"

"Then, who?"

"So, you agree to take my help?" he turned around, a satisfied smile on his face

"No, I didn't say that"

"Well you took my advice and came here"

"It was a waste of time, this place hasn't been visited for years"

he became serious all of a sudden "Not years Miss Allison, Months. Six months but, it was opened recently"

"Recently?" I asked him "I saw the amount of dust on the door and its handle, did you not see?"

"See?" He looked at me "See we all do Miss Allison, but very few of us have the ability to observe. So I ask again; What did you observe on the door?"

I looked at him, a little confused but touched by what he just said, But I didn't answer him.

"What I observed were the spider webs" he replied

"What about them?"

"They are not real, they are handmade. They are expensive Halloween decorations"

"What? how can you tell that, they look real to me" I went walking towards the door, to see the webs, which seemed very real to me.

"Miss Allison, the real webs are very sensitive to human touch. they can catch drops of water and different insects but cannot take the weight of a human finger and can break easily. But, What I observed was that when I touched the web, it didn't break immediately, like it is supposed to. Its texture was stronger than the real ones" he explained to me

I looked at him "You are very observant"

"And the criminals were very intelligent, covering up every hole they could"

"Not that intelligent," I told him "You just figured it out"

"It was meant to be for you detectives, and as I can see; it worked" He gave a mocking smile and walked outside the cabin, I followed him.

"Alright!"

He turned "Yes"

I came towards him "Alright, I 'll take your help"

"That is good news to hear"

"But I would like to ask some questions"

"Anything, as long as it is not personal"

"Um...asking your name is personal"

"Oh, yes. My name is Matt Jones"

"Never heard of it"

"I never said you did, in fact, very few people know me when it comes to 'others'. but, the authorities are well aware of me"

"Why? Are you some important person?"

"That" he pointed at me "is a personal question"

"Okay, What are you looking for? I mean like why do you need my help?" I asked him eagerly

"That" he pointed at me again "is not a personal question but I won't answer it because it eventually connects with my personality."

"What can I ask you then? everything ends up connecting to you" I said, annoyed.

"Then don't ask anything and walk in silence" He inserted his hands in his pockets as he walked on forward "By the way I want to know some more things about the case"

"What?"

"Everything about it"

"WHAT? you are saying that you know nothing about the case?"

"No, I know whatever you repeated to yourself every night" He smiled at me

"What?"

"Yes. You know what, you are going to tell me about how you came across the bodies in the river?"

"Well, they were discovered by MetaX7...

"What in the world is that?" he interrupted

"What MetaX7?"

"Yes"

"It is a group of great minds who make discoveries on geographical and zoological levels. They were here on a mission and one of them found five bodies underwater and then they called us"

"So basically, the bodies were discovered by a team of geographical nerds?"

"your language to other professionals is very offensive," I told him

"I am not interested"

"What are you interested in?"

"Personal question"

"right. So Where are we headed?"

"To my car"

"Why?"

"We are going to go to each of the victims' families."

"But I already went there."

"One more visit cannot hurt," He said and increased his pace towards the river and I quietly followed him.

So I ended up partnering up with a strange person called Matt Jones and from here things started to be stranger than I ever thought they'd be. I had no idea who he was and what he was looking for but, his keenness to help me was just strangely overpowering and I had to accept his service. I also had to accept his methods and ways of solving crimes. He appeared to be one of those dangerous people who listen, think, and observe quietly and when they make a move they hit a Bull's-eye! I learned that about him in our first meeting and I had no idea how many more things would I learn about him till our last meeting.