I was crouching in a nearby bush and observed the scene through binoculars, by taking the advantage of a relative darkness due to late evening and quite a safe distance I felt comfortable that none of them could spot me unless I were to do something stupid. The man was finishing digging what appeared to be a grave for himself and his wife, he was bruised but did not appear to have any serious damage yet, his wife was tied up and gagged but otherwise appeared to be unharmed.

The entourage of armed men surrounded them from all directions, one person appeared to be out of place, at first, I thought it was a teenager but on the closer inspection it appears to be a someone no taller than 1 metre and 60 cm tall, in baseball cap, sunglasses, face mask and a pair of gloves, it is difficult to pinpoint any distinct features other than petit posture. What such a person does in such a place with such dangerous people remains to be seen.

The most important person in the whole group appeared to be Ciaran, boss of a local gang, responsible for multiple extortion, thefts, assaults, drug trafficking and a prostitution. I can only imagine the reason for his interest in the digger, but if what I am thinking is correct then he spares me the need to do it myself.

Normally my job would require me to call backup as quickly as possible, but who’s to say that I did arrive on time? Though his wife appears to be innocent, here only to pay the price for her husband's sins. Her only sin was to be blind with love as to not see who she was marrying.

“You will tell me your story in as many details as I deem necessary …”, I could hear a man say. It would be wise to listen, that should clear things up a bit. So, I did, and in the meantime, I recalled relevant events from my own life.

2 months ago:

I went inside the house, and my co-worker guided me to the crime scene. I went inside and past the boxes, in the living room the body of a victim in a pool of his own blood. Forensic team was gathering evidence, checking for fingerprints, hair, pieces of clothing, footprints or anything that could possibly lead to breakthrough. One other member was taking pictures of a body and blood patterns. Another was examining the lock.

“So, what do we have here?” I asked.

“Victim died around 6 hours ago, no sign of intrusion in the house, either they picked a lock, had a key or were let in by the victim,” said Liam while examining the body. “Two shots to the chest, first punctured the left lung, the other went straight into hearth.

“Any of the neighbours heard anything?”

“Haven’t talked to them, my job is in forensic. We waited for you to do so.”

“I’ll go and talk to them then,” and I did. Door was opened by an old lady holding a cat. “Hi, miss, my name is Gary White, and I am detective working on murder case in the house on the left. Did you hear any gunshots, people arguing or some sinister looking man walking around the neighbourhood? Anything that could help us solve the case?”

“I did hear a slight bang, but it sounded a lot like someone dropped a pot, it did not sound like a gunshot. Not like the one on TV at least. I did look through the window, but I did not notice anyone. Now if you excuse me, I need to go feed a cat.”

I went and asked other neighbours but to no avail, only the one who called us had any relevant information.

“So, you see, he was supposed to pick up daughter from kindergarten and he did not do so. He did not respond to phone calls, so they called me as I sometimes pick her in his stead. You see I was his aunt, remember him when he was a small runt himself and now such a tragedy. Mother died in labour so what will happen to the child now, I wonder.”

“Court will have to decide where the child will go but they will favour the closest of kin, if there is none or they are not capable they will go to an orphanage.”

“So, I went to his house, and he did not respond to my knocking, so I checked if the doors were locked, and they were not. And then I found him, such a tragedy, what I will have to say to my sister now that her son is dead?”

I excused myself and with all that I returned to the case and passed what I learned to Liam. “So, what was the caliber?”

“Guess.”

“7.62×38mmR?”

“Yep, Nagant M1895 again.”

“It is already the sixth case this month alone. Two shots to the chest, no witnesses, no evidence. Nothing, just a body with 2 bullets from some antique gun from the pre-WW2 era. It is getting out of hand, if we do not capture him quickly, more people will die, and we will lose our jobs.”

“Not like I can do anything about evidence if there is none. I know you want to capture him, but you know. We are not the only ones looking for him, it’s not like this is the only town he operates. Sooner or later, someone will get to him, and then, he is a goner.”

I went outside to get some fresh air as my heartrate was far above normal, I needed to calm down, to think clearly. Breath in, count to 4, breath out, count to 4. There must be something we are missing. No murder leaves no trace, we are just not looking good enough.