"Detective!" A man dressed in police uniform called out to a lady a few feet away from him. She was in her early thirties, and dressed an affordable suit, she had this mature charm around her that enhanced her beauty.
The cop watched as she walked over to him.
"Found anything?" She said in a voice that sounded too angelic for a detective. She was nicknamed succubus, this was due to her out-of-this-world beauty, and the fact that it made men lower their guards even when they knew she's bad news, and could only helplessly stand like lovestruck idiots while she took them down. This was Detective Jemma Mensa.
"No ma'am." The cop said, "But from what we gathered, there wasn't any forced entry, nor any fights. This only means that…"
"Whoever came for them was someone they knew." Jemma interrupted him. She turned around and stared at the white drawing on the ground. They had cordoned off the entire neighborhood. Just then, a young man who seemed to be in his late twenties walked towards her. He handed her a white file.
"His name was Damon Andres Mateo. He is.. was, the leader of the Dragon's Head Mafia group. The woman and child were Maria Kanato, a Japanese lady, and Amelia Mateo. It seems they were his wife and daughter." The young man said.
"I didn't know the Dragon's Head leader had a family." Detective Jemma said as she turned sharply to her partner.
"No one knew. Apparently he kept it a secret for obvious reasons, and it seems this is that reason." her partner said.
Jemma stood for a while, then turned to the cop she was speaking with earlier. "Alright, it seems we're done here, time to wrap this up. It's a homicide. Tag and bag every piece of evidence and return to the station." Jemma said. She then turned to her partner. "Come with me, we're going to the Dragon's Head headquarters." She then walked out of the room with her partner behind her.
*
Jemma and her partner, Randall had just walked into the lobby of the Dragon's Head building when they saw Carlos Alberto, the vice-leader of the Dragon's Head group. Jemma could see he didn't appear troubled in any way.
"He seems too cool for someone who just lost his leader and friend." Randall spoke.
"My thoughts exactly. Come, let's…" she was cut off by the ringing of her cellphone. She took it out from her pocket and saw it the Police Chief. She could already imagine what he will say once she answers the phone call, and so she pushed the call to voicemail.
"Let's go have a talk with the vice-leader." Jemma said and walked forward.
"Good day Mister Carlos. I'm detective Jemma from the New Haven Police Department," she said while flashing her badge, "And this is my partner, Randall Ross." she pointed at her partner with her thumb. "We're hoping to discuss a few things with you." Jemma finished.
"And pray tell me, what does a detective from NHPD wants to discuss with me? I can assure you we run a legal business here." Carlos said with a smile on his face.
"This concerns a recent homicide that occured in Halos district. Three persons were killed, and one of them was the leader of your group, Damon Andres Mateo." Jemma said as she whipped out her phone and put it on record.
"I see, well, unfortunately for you detective, this is a family matter and I made it clear to the police chief that they shouldn't get involved." Carlos said with the smile still on his face as if he was starring in a drama.
Jemma stared at him for a few seconds in silence, and then turned off the record.
"Honestly Mister Carlos, I won't bat an eyelid if it was just your leader that was killed.. heck! Even if the entire street was littered with the corpses of your people, I'll simply walk the other street with a cup of coffee, humming a song to praise whatever god made it possible. But I can't do that.. and you know why?" She said while starring deep into his eyes without an ounce of fear, her tone became as chilling as the winter cold. "..because an innocent woman and a child were killed. And from what we gathered, the woman was raped before she was killed. So I don't care if you told the president the steer clear from this case, I don't give a damn.. I'll get to the bottom of this, and when I do, you won't feel so smug as you are right now. Think about that." Jemma then turned around and walked out the building with her partner behind her.
"Are you sure you want to do this? The Chief won't like it.." Randall said once they were inside the car.
"Fuck the Chief and what he thinks. This is a homicide, and those pigs in there are responsible for it. I just know it." Jemma retorted.
"But we have no proof, for all we know, it could be a rival gang getting back at them." Randall said.
"A rival gang going against Dragon's Head? And even know the leader has a family?. Let me ask a question, did you know the Dragon's Head leader had a wife and daughter?" Jemma asked as he turned on the ignition and drove off.
"No.. I don't think anyone except perhaps those close to him." Randall answered honestly.
"Exactly my point.." Jemma replied.
*
Meanwhile, back at the Dragon's Head headquarters building, Carlos decided on no longer going to wherever he initially planned to. Instead, he turned to the elevator, got in and whipped out his phone. He then whipped out his phone and made a call.
"I want to know why your wolfhound came sniffing about my family's affairs, did I not tell you this is a family's affair?" Carlos barked.
"I am terribly sorry Mister Alberto, I will ensure this doesn't happen again." The other side replied with a subservient tone.
"You be sure to do that, else I'll ensure you clean up your desk within a few hours, don't forget how you got to that position." Carlos said and disconnected the call. He dialed another number.
"I want you and your boys to go over to Halos district, clear off every piece of evidence, and find out if any of the neighbors saw anything, if they did, I want to make sure they'll keep their mouths shut. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Boss." The other side replied.
In other times, Carlos won't be so worked up concerning a mere detective, but this was different. Detective Jemma's father was a cop and he was killed during a gang gunfight, ever since that time, Jemma had dedicated herself to bringing down gang members, and everyone knew how ruthless she was.. if she said was going to kill you, you can be damn well sure she was going to kill you. This was the reason Carlos didn't doubt Jemma's words.
"If it really comes to it, I'll kill her as well. Damon is already dead, and there's nothing anyone can do to change that."