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A boy with black hair and dark brown eyes drowning in tears stares at Deshya with a worried, saddened expression. His lower jaw trembles with a fear she can't yet understand, but when he finally speaks to her, her heart misses a beat.
- Please... My little brother... has been kidnapped…
Deshya opens her eyes wide. There's hardly anyone left in the playground. Tessa and Maruno haven't turned around, nor have they stopped to notice that Deshya isn't following them. The girl in the fox sweater stares at the boy she doesn't know, frozen in place, but her mouth finally answers him.
- Ki-Kidnapped...?
The boy runs his hand over his eyes, drying his tears, and nods.
- Y-Yes…
Deshya takes a step towards him and calms her heartbeat. The worried look on the student's face makes her pity him, and her empathetic side can't help but feel bad. They're both almost the same height and age, but Deshya really can't remember ever having seen him before.
- Can you tell me more about what's going on...?" Deshya asks him gently.
The boy dries his eyes again and asks the member of the 'Fox Incorporated' if they can sit down on a bench to talk about it. Deshya accepts without any problem and joins the same bench where Tessa and Maruno had been waiting for almost an hour while Deshya was in Spanish class. The boy sits down first and sighs, closing his eyes. Deshya pushed her fox tail back so as not to crush it as she sat down and looked at the student next to her.
- You can take your—
- My little brother, 'Byron Elrick', was kidnapped last night.
He cuts her off, having enough courage to be able to talk about it. Deshya closes her mouth and listens to the boy silently.
- Well, it was more today, I suppose... He's only 8 months old and... And…
Tears well up in his eyes and he swallows hard. Noticing that he's about to cry again, Deshya puts her hand on his shoulder and smiles.
- Don't force yourself…
He shakes his head and pushes Deshya's hand away.
- He... You've got to find him! My parents are worried, I'm worried, it's... I haven't been able to concentrate all day, I almost cried several times in class…
He bows his head and his hands shake.
- We... We don't know who kidnapped him, but... But we saw them!
Deshya squints.
- Have you seen...?
He nods and clenches a fist.
- On the video of the camera…
The boy turns his gaze to Deshya.
- My name is 'Michaël Elrick', I'm in Maruno's class!
Deshya can't remember ever having heard of him before. Whether it's his first name, his surname or his looks, she's convinced they've never met before.
- I need your help, please! I want my brother back! He's only 8 months old, he can't even talk or walk!
He cries out and the tears run down his red cheeks again. Deshya listens attentively, a hint of sadness gently piercing her heart. Although Michaël is someone she doesn't really know, seeing him cry like that hurts her. The tears streaming down his face are real, as is the worry in his voice that echoes in Deshya's eardrums. She understands his concern, given that his little brother has been kidnapped, but she can't hide it from him:
- You know, it's better to contact the police... I'm just a teenager.
She admits it with a touch of affection, hoping he'll find his brother. However, Michael grabs her arm, though she wasn't going to get up again now, eyes drowned in sadness staring at her.
- We—We have already called the police, but they haven't found anything yet!" he told her. I... I saw you solved several crimes last week, so... Please... I... I want to find my brother…
He collapses on the bench, crying his eyes out. He lets go of his arm due to a lack of strength and sniffles several times without hiding his feelings. Deshya wants to refuse to help him, not for lack of empathy, but because it's police work, but she can't get the words out. Seeing the weakened, collapsed boy in front of her, this 'Michaël Elrick' she doesn't even know, makes her heart beat with a melody that prevents her from speaking. He asks her for help, while the police themselves are on the case. Professionals are already on the lookout for Michaël's little brother, but he comes to her anyway, begging her to look for him. Deshya suspects he must have heard from his parents that Byron hasn't been found yet... He must have been worrying all day in class, hoping every minute that his little brother would be found, but no good news came out of his phone. Even with the police on the case, Byron Elrick still hadn't been found. So he asks Deshya for help. He cries in front of her, clinging to what little hope he can. He doesn't know whether to trust the police or not, because of everything he's heard in the papers and the lack of seriousness some policemen show. He wants Deshya, this student he's been respecting for a few months and who managed to solve some murder investigations last week, to help him find his little brother, whom he adores. Michaël doesn't know if she'll agree to help him, and he understands that it's the police who have to do it, but he still wants to beg Deshya to help him. Even though he understands that she's just a teenager, he also knows just how smart she can be. She isn’t just a cute girl who always keeps a fox sweater on her body, but also a nice person who does her best to solve mysteries... even murders, now. Michaël hesitated all afternoon before daring to ask her, but when he noticed that Deshya was going home, he managed to make the first move. He knows full well that she's likely to refuse and not waste time on someone she doesn't know, given that Michaël is rather shy, even associable at times. He assumes that he must go home and hope that the police manage to find the culprit behind this kidnapping. Unfortunately, he doesn't think he'll have enough energy to return to school the next day. At least, not until his eight-month-old grandson has been found.
- … Okay.
Michaël raises his head slowly towards the girl. On her face, a serious expression of surprise the student beside her, her tears stopped by Deshya's sudden response.
- It's the police who have to look for your little brother, but…
She helps him sit up again, supporting him, and nods, her eyes lit up by the sun still shining high in the sky, as well as her own emotions.
- I'll see if I can help you, Michael.
CHAPTER 28
⎾The Disparition of Byron Elrick ; The Request⏌
- Thanks again, Deshya! Thanks again...!
The girl blushed weakly as she ducked her gaze, one hand stroking her own red hair, the other on the strap of her bag.
- You'll thank me if I can help..." she says without even looking at him.
They're both in the direction of the Elrick house, about a 15-minute walk from the Tetazo school. Michaël has done nothing but thank her since she agreed to help him with the kidnapping of Byron Elrick, his baby brother. Deshya can't believe anyone would kidnap an 8-month-old baby. Whoever's behind this must be someone who deserves to be behind bars... for a long time. Deshya doesn't think it's smart to kidnap someone in general, but a little one who can't talk or walk? She doesn't give a damn about such a person's motives: she just wants Michaël to find his little brother as quickly as possible so that his parents could hold their son in their arms.
- You told me you saw the kidnapper in a camera, but which camera were you talking about?" she asks.
- I'll show you over there," Michaël replies directly.
She accepts without complaint, but the questions pile up in her head: if the police still haven't managed to catch the kidnapper, there's a good chance they just don't know their identity. In that case, either the person they saw in the camera is someone unrecognizable, or the quality of the video is too poor, or the culprit is hidden by a hood or long clothes, or even a wig... Deshya wants to imagine several theories, but she realizes it's no use: she'll learn more when she gets there. Of course, she managed to find the criminal before the police did, but that doesn't mean she's any better at it than they are: she's sure Sammy could have figured it out too. He's far from stupid or incompetent.
- I'm glad you accepted in any case…
Michaël blushed and smiled.
- I was afraid you'd say no... You're probably busy and you're so popular, it's scary to get close to you sometimes…
- Is he afraid to approach me...? Besides, I'm never really busy, ahah..." thinks Deshya, looking at Michaël.
She knows her own reputation at school and is well aware that some students see her almost as a celebrity, but this is something Deshya doesn't fully understand. Certainly, her habit of always wearing a sweater and a fox tail on her back makes her popular within the town, as everyone recognizes her easily, but that doesn't mean she's become a celebrity for all that. If she doesn't answer the phone and looks 'busy', it just means that she's so immersed in her book or series that she doesn't want to bother answering anyone, even Amora or her parents. What's more, she has the impression of being friendly and approachable with everyone, so it always surprises her to hear people tell her they don't dare talk to her…
- Here it is.
Michaël stops in front of a rather simple house, but one which proves that the buyers earn a good sum of money every month. It's a little smaller than Deshya's, with a retro garage door and six steps up to the porch. Deshya notices several cars parked in front of the house, one of which she recognizes…
- He's here, all right," she said with a smile.
This person she likes so much and sees every day. Michaël beckons Deshya to follow him and hurries up the steps. The girl takes her time, her hands in her pockets, her bag still on her back. She admires the neighborhood and notices that most of the houses are rather humble and medium-sized. The neighborhood seems quiet and comfortable, the cars are mostly outside and the street ends in a cul-de-sac a few meters further on. Michaël arrives at the oak front door and presses the small bell on his right. A brief second later, a female figure appears.
- Oh, darling.
With short blond hair curling at the end and a wrinkled face that doesn't hide her old age, Deshya immediately deduces that she's Michael's mother. She strokes her son's hair with a smile and, before asking him how he's doing, notices the girl standing behind him. Long, beautiful red hair hidden by a dark hood with fox ears, a sweet, young face with a cute little smile and a long, fluffy tail that's too big to hide behind her beautiful thighs clad in leggings. The woman blinks at her, her mouth half-open, but she finally speaks.
- Aren't you…
- Deshya?!!
The lady is getting her hair cut by a much younger man, with shoulder-length brown hair. The tips of her ears are pointed and her expression is as shocked as it is happy.
- What are you doing here, nya?!
- Hearing you say 'nya' at the end of your sentences makes you sound surreal, you know?" teases Deshya.
The police detective lets out a faint 'mph' before crossing his arms.
- Says the girl who wears a fake fox tail every day.
- I guess I can't win this fight..." she sighs.
Michaël's mother looks at the young girl, wondering what she's doing here. Her son answers her question:
- I'm the one who asked him to come and help us find my brother!
Sammy contemplates the boy before turning his gaze to the girl, who beckons to the detective.
- Aren't you fed up?" asks Sammy.
- What do you mean?
- First a murder that happens right next to you, then on the train, then on the bus, but now you're into kidnappings? A week hasn't even gone by yet…
Deshya scratches her cheek with an embarrassed laugh. She doesn't know what to say to Sammy's words, so she prefers to keep quiet. The police detective agrees to let her pass and Deshya thanks him. Michael chats with his mother on the porch, while another man is inside the house. When he sees Deshya, he frowns.
- What are you doing here...?" asks Gatito.
- Hi, dad!
Deshya takes off her shoes and smiles at him.
- "Hi, dad!" my ass! What are you doing here?!
- It was Michaël who asked me to help out at school, and I accepted, that's all..." admits his daughter.
- Michaël? Ah, the Elricks' son…
Gatito scratches his hair, grumbling, but he realizes that there's nothing he can do about it: now that Deshya's here, too, there's no point in forcing her to come home. He approaches her and looks her straight in the eyes
- I suppose you want to help find Byron Elrick?” he asks.
She nods seriously. Her father rubs the back of his neck and beckons her to follow. She complies immediately and follows him into the living room, where a man sits patiently waiting. His leg spasms and his foot taps the floor rapidly. He notices that the policeman has returned and turns around, but his expression changes directly from hope to disappointment. He sighs and bows his head.
- It's not someone who brings our son back, then..." he says sadly.
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- Sorry, that's not the case," replies Gatito, understanding his disappointment.
Deshya admires the living room, decorated with various vases on shelves scattered everywhere. The large television sits on a large wooden cabinet with many drawers, in front of several sofas surrounding a small glass table. The Elricks' father is sitting on one of them, on the sofa facing the switched-off TV. His blond hair is fairly short, and Deshya can see that his brown eyes bear a strong resemblance to those of Michaël, her son. She wonders if Byron has taken on his mother's genes instead, although she realizes this is a question she'll have to ask for later. She sits down on the sofa to her right and presents herself to the man.
- My name is Deshya, and I'm this policeman's daughter.
- Why are you here...?" asks the father, still disappointed.
- I'm the one who asked him for help!" replies Michaël, who has just arrived in the living room with his mother.
Sammy joins them. The son sits down next to his father, and his mother imitates him. Gatito remains standing, Sammy beside him with a detective's notebook in his hands. Deshya admires them all, finding the situation amusing: she really does look like a real detective. The man turns to the girl in the fox sweater.
- And why did you ask her for help...?" he asks, addressing his son.
- You know, she's the one who solved those murders last week!
- Oh, the two murders on the bus, that was her?
Deshya nods with a smile. Elrick's mother introduces herself.
- My name is 'Sally Crownin', this is my husband, 'Gammy Elrick'. Thanks for your help, little detective.
Her smile radiates across the room, and although age doesn't hide on her face, with an expression like that, she looks much younger than she really is. Gatito clears his throat.
- I'll go over the details again so my daughter can learn more about the case, if you don't mind?
They both shake their heads. Of course, Michaël smiled happily: the police would accept Deshya's help. This had been his fear after the girl had agreed to help him. Gatito nods as he looks at Sammy, who understands that he can talk about the kidnapping without any problem. He flips through his newspaper before explaining the situation to Deshya.
- At 01:35 a.m. on Sunday night, an unknown person broke into the bedroom of Byron Elrick, an 8-month-old toddler and son of Gammy and Sally. It was around 01:33 that the person allegedly broke into the house without making the slightest noise, waking neither the two parents, nor Michael, nor the baby himself. The culprit was filmed on the surveillance camera installed in the ceiling of Byron's bedroom.
- So that's the camera he's talking about..." thinks Deshya, remembering Michael's words.
Before Sammy can continue, Deshya cuts him off to ask her question.
- Wasn't it filmed by another camera?
Sally shakes her head.
- Unfortunately, the only camera we have is in our second son's bedroom. We can talk to him from our room through the camera's microphone, we can see if everything's okay without having to move if we don't need to, and sometimes we like to see him sleep before we go to bed," she replies.
- We think it's possible that the camera has been hacked, but that doesn't solve everything..." admits Gatito.
- What do you mean?
His daughter is intrigued, but Sammy beckons them to calm down.
- Let's go in order, otherwise it's going to be complicated…
They all fall silent and Sammy continues his explanation.
- The person filmed in the room's surveillance camera was dressed in a very long black jacket that reached about knee level, with the hood pulled up over his head, so it's impossible to discover whether he's a woman or a man. What's more, his height is very approximate and we can't see the color of his hair, nor its structure, so we can't discover anything about the suspect from this camera. Well, physically.
- Physically? Have you found any clues?" asks Deshya.
- I'll show you the video later. I'm wrapping up.
Sammy tucks his detective notebook into his pocket and crosses his arms.
- No fingerprints, no shoe prints and no clues were left inside, but that's true of the outside too. We have no clues as to the identity of the culprit, but it's precisely this lack of clues that made us realize something.
Deshya squints. It's Gatito who finishes the police detective's sentence.
- There are no signs of tampering, and the Elrick family leaves a spare key outside, albeit hidden, so it's certain that the culprit used it.
- Some of our friends know where the key is, just in case, because we trust them..." admits Sally.
- Is the key well hidden?" asks Deshya.
- It's not under a flowerpot or somewhere basic, but the key was still there. However, Gammy told us that it wasn't positioned the same way as the last time he put it there," Sammy replies. In short, it's certain that the culprit entered the house through the front door, opened it and left with the baby in his hands. We asked a few neighbors if they heard a car or saw anyone in the street around 01:30 in the morning, but unfortunately, no one seemed to be awake at that hour or to have seen or heard anything. There are one or two neighbors who are still at work whom we weren't able to question, but the Elrick family confirmed that they are people who sleep very early, or at any rate, before 1am.
- Could it have been someone who saw them hiding the key and therefore knew it was there?
Deshya has another, even more important question, but she decides to question Sammy and the family right afterwards. However, she gets an answer pretty quickly.
- We're being careful, and the key is currently on the side, so only the next-door neighbors, who don't know, could know..." replies Michaël's father.
- The question we're asking is about this kidnapping. Why kidnap Byron Elrick?" says Gatito, rubbing his chin.
That was the question Deshya was asking herself. If there had been blackmail or a ransom demand, she would have understood, but if that had been the case, she was certain that she would have learned this from the start. This case seems stranger than she expected... It's probably not just a simple kidnapping. Nevertheless, as long as she doesn't know all the details, she prefers to keep quiet and theorize later.
- Anyway... We don't have anyone who seems to have seen a single car, or anyone suspicious last night in the neighborhood or even a little further afield. The surveillance camera that films the outside closest to here is on the main road, one of the many for the big bank in Tetazo," continues Sammy. Unfortunately, even after watching it for a few minutes before and after the kidnapping, nothing can be gleaned from it. Some police officers have gone even further and others are searching the area very carefully, but unfortunately…
Deshya understands that nothing has been found yet. This means that the culprit was well organized and careful not to be noticed.
- I took it from this that the person must have been one who gets on well with the baby and knows how to look after one without worry, otherwise he would have been awake and crying when he was taken from his bed. Although it's not very clear on the video, which was taken by the camera in the child's room, when the culprit bends over the baby, you can see him quibble a tiny bit before taking him in his arms. I think the culprit wrapped a blanket around him to make sure he wouldn't be cold when they went outside, but that's just a guess.
- Why would you think that?" asks Deshya.
- It's the way the person moves. However, I'm going to show you the video, as I don't have much more to say about this case... We don't have many suspects and we were going to ask the Elrick family for the names of people who might have committed the crime, but then you came along.
- Haven't you done this before?
This surprises Deshya. Sammy shakes his head.
- We asked if they had any idea who the culprit might be, but they told us that no one around them could have. It's only recently that they've come to accept that the truth is probably quite different. What's more…
- What's more?
She questions Sammy with her eyes, but Gatito answers for him.
- You'll see it on the camera, but the culprit managed to find his way there in complete darkness, without even bothering to turn on a flashlight. We don't know if he turned on the lights downstairs, but Byron's room is very dark and the window had a closed hanging in front of it. In short, Sammy deduces that he's someone who knows the house well.
Deshya looks at the dark-haired policeman intently. She can't forget that he's a real detective who's earned his place in the Tetazo police force, one who's solved several murders and kidnappings in the past. He's far from stupid or unobservant, even if she is the one who has managed to solve crimes before. What's more, he's had to be on this kidnapping case since morning: the mere fact that he can't figure out who the culprit is means that the situation is very complicated. Sammy suggests that Deshya analyze the few seconds of video and she accepts, standing up. Before she can go, Michaël grabs her arm.
- I hope you find my little brother…
Deshya flashes him a reassuring smile, but answers nothing. Michaël lets go of her apologetically and the girl follows Sammy, while Gatito stays in the living room with the Elrick family. Deshya climbs the stairs behind the detective without even paying attention to the surroundings, pondering everything she's just learned. If they didn't get a ransom note, then there must be another reason why the culprit kidnapped Byron. What she hopes with all her heart is that he hasn't already... killed him. However, she quickly removes this thought from her mind: if that were the case, why take him from her home? Why kill him, an 8-month-old baby? She knows that some people have serious mental problems, but she can't imagine a situation where a criminal would come into a house illegally to simply kill a little child, without even bothering about the family around them. So she wonders what the culprit's purpose is... Nevertheless, she doesn't have time to think about it further, as Sammy opens the door to the parents' room and lets her go first. Deshya enters the room and notices the laptop open and switched on, showing black-and-white images on the screen. She approaches it and notices that it's the paused image of an infra-red surveillance camera... of a child's bedroom. In the wooden crib with its large rails, no baby can be seen. Immobile toys are attached to a bar above the mattress. Deshya recognizes these: they can spin in circles while a melody plays at a moderate volume, serving as a lullaby for the baby who should be sleeping in the cradle. Sammy offers Deshya a seat on the office chair with wheels. She accepts and wags her fox tail to avoid crushing him, before observing the computer screen attentively.
- The scene doesn't even last a minute, but it's the only lead we've got. Maybe you can discover something we haven't seen," Sammy tells him.
She doubts it very much, but prefers not to say anything and waits to analyze the video. She already knows what to expect, so she doesn't think she'll get anything out of it, but she'd rather take a look anyway. Sammy takes the computer mouse in hand and touches the bottom bar, including one of the application options, before letting the video play in front of Deshya's eyes. The sleeping baby is now visible on camera, sleeping calmly and comfortably in his cot. It's absolutely quiet. She notices that the camera also records sound, so she hopes to get any clues from the noises, although she doesn't hold out much hope. It films a good part of the room, although it focuses mainly on the cradle and probably zooms in on it. Deshya is impressed that the camera manages to capture such a large part of the room while focusing mainly on one part. This means that the room isn't very big either, even if she can't see everything. She notices that the door opens slowly and a first step is heard. It's a faint sound, but the camera's volume is turned up to maximum so she can hear it. The culprit in the long dark jacket strides silently towards the cradle. Deshya can now see the person's hood, hair completely hidden behind it. She leans towards the cradle and stays there for a few moments, moving her arms to surely place a blanket around the baby. The person lifts her body without making the slightest sound and starts to move away from the cradle, exiting the room, before closing the door behind her. Sammy pauses the video and crosses his arms.
- Well?" he asks.
Deshya touches the bottom of her lower lip, squinting.
- It's true that the person doesn't hesitate, and yet the room is totally dark... The curtains are closed and we can't see a single light source. What's more, even if we zoomed in on the person, I'm sure we wouldn't be able to see anything that would give us the slightest clue to their identity…
Sammy agrees with the teenager's words.
- Something's bothering me, though..." she admits.
- What is it?
She asks him if she can watch the video again, and he agrees. Deshya sees the person come into the room, stoop down, quibble for a few moments before rising again... and leaving the room. A short video that doesn't seem to give any further clues about the culprit. She goes back a few seconds, to the moment when the person takes the baby in his arms and squints. Deshya analyzes the scene again…
- Ah!
Now she notices what's bothering her. Sammy approaches her and places a hand on the back of the chair, questioning Deshya about what she saw. Deshya rewinds the video by a few seconds and points to the culprit, who leaves the room.
- This person... She seems to have a bit of a limp, doesn't she?
Sammy frowns: Deshya is right. When the kidnapper takes the baby in their arms and heads for the door to leave the room, they limp slightly. It's hardly noticeable, but Deshya noticed it just as quickly... Sammy hadn't even thought to observe this almost insignificant and invisible gesture of the culprit.
- What does that mean...?" wonders Sammy.
The video is now paused and the two detectives stare intently at the camera image.
- It may be the only lead we have to find the culprit..." thinks Deshya.
Someone close to the Elrick family who knows the hidden location of the key.
As well as a person who limped after catching the baby, although she seems to be hiding it.
These are the only two clues they have to find the culprit.