SEVEN TARGETS

In the early a of Friday morning when the moon had displayed its full shape and the stars had taken their positions on the cloudless sky of lower south in Philadelphia, the occupants of walnut street had been aroused from sleep by the sounds of two rapid gunshots around 3 a.m. that morning. Mr. Andrew, a business guru, had been hacked to death in the living room while Betty, his wife, and Megan, his daughter, were kidnapped. Nancy the cook however escaped as she stayed out of sight and hid in the closet in her room where she was before the armed men came in.

After they had left she came out and saw Mr. Andrew in the pool of his blood, Then she started screaming out of fright. She remained at that spot till the neighbors who heard the gunshot called the police department.

15 minutes later they arrived at the scene with three patrol cars. Nancy was sitting beside the little staircase outside sobbing. When she saw them she stood up and followed them in.

Mr. James, a light-skinned and clear-cut young man in his Thirties was the police cop on duty in the district that night. He came close to the lifeless body and pressed the side of his neck with his middle and index finger, after which he signaled to the other patrol officers who immediately inspected the whole apartment to be sure no one was there. Mr. Andrew was covered with a white cloth. As the medics carried his body away,the sounds of the ambulance faded in the distance away. " What time did this happen?" Mr. James asked as he took out a short notebook and pen. Nancy, who by now had lost her voice because of excessive crying Responded in a whimpering tone.

" at precisely 2: 49," she said trying to calm down.

"Why were you up by that time?"

"I was also aroused by the footsteps on the staircase"

"What did you do when you heard footsteps?" Mr. James asked Nancy again while taking down the details.

" I headed towards the door, but stopped when I heard the banging on Mr. Andrew's bedroom door." Nancy's room was at the extreme right corner of the passage upstairs.

" When I heard the slams on the door I still waited by the side of the door with my hand by the handle of the door. She continued, If Mrs. Betty or Mr. Andrew needs me to do something for them they usually Call my name, so I waited when I had not heard them calling "

"The footsteps, how many were they?"Mr. James asked.

"I don't know, but they were more than two."

She paused for a while and continued. while one of them was slamming on Mr. Andrew's door I heard other footsteps approaching Betty's door and mine." she said as she pointed in the direction of the passage with her right hand and clutched tightly to the jacket she was putting on with her left hand. The weather that night was wintery.

" What did you do after that?" Mr James asked.

" I slowly ran and hid in the closet beside the wardrobe In my room. When he came he opened the door and paced around the room for some seconds and went out."

Mr. James carefully took down these pieces of information and other details. He went upstairs to inspect the rooms and staircase. When he was done he told Nancy she would be going to the station with them.. She was reluctant at first but later considered it better than staying alone in the apartment. They went out and entered the car. She sat at the back, in the middle of two other cops while Mr. James sat in the front seat.

The case of murder and kidnap especially in the city of Philadelphia had not occurred until recently when two other similar cases were reported to the police department. The first was Malcolm carry, who was annihilated in the bathroom. His two sons alongside his wife were kidnapped by the bandit. They have had no clue as to their whereabouts till now . The second was Mr. Stephen, a newly married man who was also nabbed on the couch in the living room of his apartment while his wife was kidnapped. All two cases were similar and investigations are not making any headway. No concrete evidence was left and no eye witness had been around. All efforts to trace Their hideouts had been unproductive. The men were killed while their wives and kids were kidnapped.

Quickly, Mr. James looked back and asked Nancy.

" Can you identify the voice of any of the men?" He asked her looking at her face which had protruded because of tears.

"Neither of them spoke a word," she replied.

Mr. James thought for some seconds before facing forward.

Probably they made gestures, he thought. There was no CCTV camera in the apartment which would have made it easier to get clues about the men's faces. Several thoughts sprinted through his mind. The last two similar murder cases were still under investigation since they occurred. When they got to the station a file was opened for the case and Nancy was told to write a statement narrating what had just happened. luckily, this was the only case with a witness. the previous cases left no inkling and the case had made no progress. The residents and neighbors were interviewed and neither of them gave them concrete information that would give a blueprint of the bandit's whereabouts. By the time Nancy finished jotting down the incident it was already 6 a.m. The news was already on tv. As soon as Mr. James finished preparing the case file for its prosecution and notified the Commander. Commander Kenneth Omar decided to transfer the case to detective Daniel at the fifth division whose previous record of investigating similar cases had been successful.

Down at South Broad Street at the fifth police division, at Exactly three minutes past 5 p.m. that Friday evening detective Daniel started looking around the office to see if there was anything left undone for that day as he prepared to go home.

Daniel McPherson, who is a middle-aged Man who looked younger than his age, with a shaven light skinned and keen eye. He had served as a police cop at the Philadelphia police department (PPD)for the past two decades and seven years. He is married to Stephanie and they both have two kids Robert McPherson who would clock sixteen in a month, and Christine McPherson who was just seven years old. Daniel and Stephanie had Robert a year after they got married But Christine came very late as both couples had to live separately for a long period while Daniel was investigating a murder case in another State. As the day comes to an end he anticipates his retirement and looks forward to processing the last crime case on his desk after which he would retire. He anticipated spending more time with her and the kids which he had not been able to since he became a detective. As he arranged the files on the table, and thought about the couple whose apartment was broken into by a burglar his phone buzzed. He quickly picked it up. it was the commander calling, he wondered what the purpose of the call was.

"Good day sir".he said sitting up.

"Evening detective. The commander responded in a thick and commanding voice which often airs superiority and his blistering presence.He continued.How close are you to rounding up the case of the burglary at Bradford avenue?" He asked.

"Almost sir".Daniel responded, reaching out for the case file which he just closed and kept in a corner on the table.

The patrol officers on duty three days ago had received a call from a couple at Bradford avenue to report the case of their burgled apartment. The burglar who had watched and saw that the couples were not around had opened the back door to their flat with a pin and hauled away some of the gadgets in the apartment. Unfortunately, the next-door neighbor who saw the couples go out had heard strange sounds coming from the couple's apartment and saw a car parked near the driveway. Luckily she took note of the car number And alerted the police. Unfortunately for the burglar he was caught on the scene and taken to the station.

"I want you to hand over the case to detective Desmond".He said, pausing for a while before asking. Is he on duty?"

"No sir, he's scheduled to resume by noon tomorrow".Daniel replied still queerish as to why he called.

"That's fine. Hand over to detective Desmond. I want you to oversee some cases on my desk and you are the best man to head the investigation team". The commander said,not waiting for Detective Daniel's response he continued. Stop by at my office on your way tomorrow to pick up the files"

"Copied sir" Detective Daniel replied in a rather cranky voice while he continued.Sir".

"I'm with you". The commander responded.

"The case of the burgled apartment at Bradford street is supposed to be my last after which i.........

"I know. Commander Kenneth cut in and quickly added, we would talk about that tomorrow when you come".

"Alright, sir".Detective Daniel replied.

"Ok, take care".

As Daniel hung up the phone his countenance changed. This was going to overturn all his plans with Stephanie. He wasn't sure how she would feel when he informs her of this new case. She would be saddened as they had been looking forward to the event they had both planned to attend that weekend and a lot of preparation had been going on towards it. He was still in his thoughts when his phone buzzed again. Still the commander, he picked up the phone with a mixture of joy and frostiness.

"Yes sir". Detective Daniel said as he picked up the phone with his right hand and with his left hand he closed the file on the table. "Yes detective, be prepared to go carry out investigations at the crime scene Tomorrow with the team Alright?"

"Noted sir".Daniel replied, camouflaging the disappointment in his voice.

As he hung up the phone he dialed Desmond's number, informing him of the case he was to take over from him when he resumed the next day. He cleared his desk, arranged all the files in the locker then picked up his jacket. Beating the traffic home was one of his pursuits that evening.