THE MISSING TIARA

Chapter 1 It was raining heavily. A small crowd gathered around the Marino Bay Cemetery. They were there to pay their last respects to Chris Bane, the most proficient private investigator they had ever seen. Now he was lying in a hearse with 3 bullets in his head. As they lowered the coffin in, a few people began to cry. Then, they shoveled the dirt back on and covered the grave with marble. The tombstone simply said Chris Bane (1959-2013). Chris had been investigating a series of murders which seemed similar. People suspected that The Mob had their hand in it. Earlier that day, Chris had received an anonymous tip-off that if Chris would meet him at the abandoned warehouse at the bay, he would get information which would be beneficial to his case. Suspecting something afoot, Chris had phoned his boss and asked for reinforcements. Soon, his friend and partner Max Layton arrived on his bike and spotted Chris. Both of them talked for a while and Max hid in a corner of the parking lot. Soon, he could hear tires fishtailing on the road. He waited for a minute and proceeded towards the car. A tall African guy stepped out of a Mazda compact and looked around for signs of people. When he was satisfied that nobody was around, he offered Chris his hand and said, Hey, Im the one who called you today. Ive got information which can help you. Chris took out a notepad and said, Lets hear it. Do I look like a fool, man? Its going to cost you. Chris held out a fifty dollar note. The guy took it and said, The guy who murdered all those people was Ma-. Before he could complete the sentence, a shot rang out and blood spurted out of the tall guys head. Take cover, shouted Max. He came out and started running in the direction of where the shot came from. Chris dived into the Mazda and pulled the Afros body inside. He fished his pockets for keys and found them plus a whole lot of other junk. He put the keys in ignition and started driving. After a while, he phoned Max. The phone rang for about a minute and then Max picked up and told him to come back. He drove back to the warehouse and got out. He found Max inspecting the area where the Afro was shot. The rain had washed the blood away but Max had managed to get a swab on his handkerchief. They ruffled through the Afros pockets and car but found no identification of him. Max phoned the MBPD and reported two murders and cut the call quickly. Chris asked, You got the guy who shot at him?No. Then why did you report two murders? Because there were two murders, Max replied. Chris didnt like the course the conversation was taking. He bent low and pretended to tie his shoes. But he was actually inspecting Max for weapons. He saw that Max carried a .357 Magnum revolver. He tensed and made a grab for Maxs weapon. Max sidestepped Chris and pulled his .357 out.Why? asked Chris. You came too close to finding out about the murderer. Keeping in mind my clients best interests, I am forced to do this. Sorry Chris. Ill take good care of your son.Then he shot Chris. Tom woke up to his buzzing alarm on a lazy Saturday morning. He got out of bed, pressed the OFF button on the alarm and looked out the window. The sun had just risen and people were starting to go to work or school. Tom went downstairs, still in his pajamas, picked up the paper, set it on his desk and went to brush his teeth. He made coffee and drank while he skimmed through the pages of the newspaper. There wasnt any interesting or new news in the paper; just the usual murders, scandals and sports news. Sport interested him very much as he was a soccer ace in college. He followed soccer

whenever he could. Bayern Munich had won again. He let out a silent cheer and went to take a shower. After the shower, he made himself a breakfast of bacon and eggs. All this went on very slowly. He wasnt afraid of getting late to work. His boss couldnt fire him because he was better than anyone in his field. Better than his father, they would say. He was Tom Bane, Private Investigator.