The Devil's Harem

“Miss Jessica?” Jessica and Daniel had just stepped out of the car in front of Theation when a policeman waiting outside stopped them.

Jessica stopped and looked at the man from top to bottom before nodding in affirmation, “Yes.”

Hearing her, the policeman looked over her shoulder and waved his hand, calling out to someone, “I would like you to come with me to the police station.”

“Why?” Jessica instinctively took a step back.

“Please cooperate,” by this time, a few other policemen and women had arrived, “We don’t want to do it the hard way.”

“You can’t just come here and ask her to leave with you without any warrant,” Daniel came to Jessica’s rescue.

.....

“And you are?” the policeman looked at Daniel frowning.

“I am her lawyer,” Daniel pulled out his card and gave it to the policeman.

The policeman took the card, read it and threw it away before pushing Daniel away, “Go... Do whatever you have to.”

“... Please, ma’am. Don’t make it hard for us,” the policeman said without giving Jessica any opportunity to react, gestured for the lady officers behind her to come and bring her away.

“Hey... Don’t touch me,” As the officer tried to grab her arm, Jessica shook her hand away.

“Making a scene won’t help you. Do you want us to bring some media?” the policeman warned Jessica.

And the warning was efficient. Jessica halted her struggle. Theation had just streamed through the obstacles of public scrutiny, and another show won’t do them any good. With the consequences in mind, Jessica turned towards Daniel and, gesturing for him to do something, walked away surrounded by the police officers.

With Jessica gone, Daniel was left behind, dialling any number he thought could be of help.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Can you at least tell me why am I even locked in here?” Being brought to the nearest police station, Jessica, without any explanation, was locked behind bars.

“Say something,” Jessica continued to call out to the police officers.

“At least tell me how long are you going to keep me here?” Though she did not get answers to her questions, Jessica persisted.

“Hey! Don’t be loud,” the policeman who arrested Jessica yelled at her. All the politeness in his tone from before was gone down the drain, “Auhh, my head. It’s already busting with pain, and your voice is doing nothing but irritating me.”

“But...” Jessica thought that now that he had spoken, he might answer her.

“Shut up. Not even a squeak, or I will make sure you don’t see the sun for at least a week,” but the officer shut her up and, rubbing his temples, leaned back on his chair, “Someone get me a tablet.”

Getting rebuked mercilessly by the officer, Jessica finally gave up and silently sat back by the bars. Her gaze stuck at the entrance, hoping to see a familiar figure. The officers had confiscated her phone, not giving her the chance to call for help. Now it was all in Daniel’s hands.

And two hours passed in the wait, and when Jessica was beginning to lose hope, an old man walked in, supported by a cane in his hand. Behind the old man was Daniel, still on his phone. From his gestures, it looked like Daniel was trying hard to convince someone.

“Who is in charge here?” The old man walked into the middle of the station and yelled in his hoarse and weak voice.

“Who are you?” The officer opened his eyes and lazily asked.

“Are you the one in charge?” The old man walked toward the officer, “Why is my granddaughter locked up?” The old man asked.

“Who are you? Who is your granddaughter?” The officer asked as he snapped his fingers, and another junior officer came running, “Get me some coffee. I am starting to lose it.”

“... All the mess had to come my way today only,” the officer complained to himself as he looked at the old man, “Spit it out, old man? I don’t have all day to stare at your face.”

“I am Francis Wilson. Jessica Wilson, the girl over there, is my granddaughter,” the old man said, pointing towards Jessica, who had rejuvenated with energy once again at the sight of her grandfather.

“So?” the police officer asked.

“Listen, officer. Don’t try to act smart,” Francis was getting impatient with the lazy attitude of the officer, “Tell me, why is my granddaughter here?”

“Murder,” the officer looked at Francis with a smirk, “Your granddaughter is the prime accuse of a murder.”

“What rubbish,” Francis looked at the officer in shock. Not just him, Daniel and Jessica also could not comprehend what the officer was saying, “I know my granddaughter. She is innocent. Someone is trying to frame her.”

“That is not for you to decide,” the officer waved his hand, gesturing for the old man to leave, “Don’t worry, we will take good care of her.”

“You...” seeing the lecherous smile on the officer’s face, Francis lost his composure and grabbed the officer by his collar, “You don’t know who I am. Minutes, it won’t take me a minute to remove this uniform off your body.”

“Sir, leave him. Leave him, sir...” Daniel stepped in and tried to pull Francis away from the police officer. It won’t do them any good if things were to escalate, and Francis was also put behind bars.

“Oye... Lawyer... Take him away. I won’t care about his old bones,” After Daniel had pulled Francis away, the officer warned, “Wearing fancy pants, he thinks of us as his shoes... Don’t make me rough him up. His bones won’t last long at his age.” The officer had gone wild as well, “Shit... What does he think of himself?” The officer kicked his chair in frustration.

In all this fiasco, all Jessica saw was a ray of hope before it was extinguished once again. All Jessica could do from behind the bars was watch her grandfather being pulled away by Daniel.

“Leave me... let me show what these old bones are made of,” Francis tried to break free from Daniel’s arms, but all he could do was a struggle.

“... Just because I have stepped away from the focus, they have already forgotten about who I am?” Francis fumed in anger.

“Sir... Sir... Listen to me. What you are doing is not going to help,” Daniel tried to reason out with Francis, “We need to think of a solution first.”

Hearing him, Francis also had a few of his thoughts cleared. Nodding in agreement, he said, “You are right. Call the mayor.”

“Sir, before that, we need to find out what is this murder all about? Whose murder and when? If we don’t have a clue about the situation, the mayor won’t be of much help.” Daniel explained to Francis. Daniel had known Francis for a long time. In fact, along with their families being friends, he used to work under him before Francis asked him to help Jessica.

And this was the first time Daniel had seen Francis lose control. He knew that Francis loved his granddaughter, cared about her and wanted her to inherit his business after he was gone. But to lose his composure over her, this was the first, and to be honest, this was the first time Jessica had really gotten into trouble.

“True,” Francis nodded and then hesitated, “Then... I...?” Francis asked, pointing towards the police station.

Daniel nodded, “Whatever the case. You need to come inside with me and approach the situation objectively.” Daniel put stress on the word objectively.

Though reluctant to agree. For Jessica, his granddaughter, Francis followed Daniel inside the police station once again.

“Why are you here again?” The officer had just calmed down when he saw the old man come back. He put the coffee aside and stood up, ready for a brawl this time.

“Sir... Sir... Sir...” Daniel hurried forward and reached the officer before Francis, “Sir, we are not looking for any trouble. It’s his granddaughter in the lockup. Think of what he must be going through.” Daniel tried to pacify the officer.

“I don’t care what he is going through. Tell him to behave himself,” the officer was slightly assured after hearing Daniel, and he sat back, “You look like someone intelligent and civilised. Why did you let someone like him take the lead before?”

Daniel did not know what to say, the officer was badmouthing his former boss, but he could not just disagree with him. So all he did was smile, which was the easy way out, “Sir... If you could tell us more about the accusation against Jessica. It would help us think of our next steps.”

“Since you are respectful, let me tell you something. I don’t have a clue,” the officer said.

“Huh?” Now Daniel was confused, “You are saying, you have no idea about the murder, and you arrested her on what? A whim?” Daniel asked.

“I am only doing what I am asked to do,” the police officer shrugged, not caring about the looks Daniel gave him.

“Asked by who?” Daniel asked, trying to find out more.

The police officer pointed his finger up towards the roof and whispered, “The higher-ups.”

“Higher-ups?” Daniel asked, ‘What does it mean that higher-ups are involved. Is it really about murder then?’ Daniel thought as his eyes involuntarily turned towards Jessica.

The officer nodded.

“You must know something, shouldn’t you?” Daniel asked. Till now, he had nothing useful.

The officer looked around and then gestured for Daniel to come close as he whispered, “I know one thing. It’s an international case, and I think police from the place... What was it called? Something like Oo... Ul... Ullu... Yeah, it has something to do with Ullu.” The officer told Daniel.

“Ullu?”

* * * * *