Quick Tales

Detective Amelia Hartley stared at the phone on her desk, the receiver dangling as if taunting her. The cryptic call had ended abruptly, leaving her with more questions than answers. The voice was distorted, but she could have sworn it was a woman. She'd heard that same fearful whisper years ago, during her first major case—the unsolved murder of Senator Harold Thompson.

Amelia had been a rookie then, fresh out of the academy, eager to prove herself. The senator's murder had sent shockwaves through the city. He was found in his study, a single gunshot wound to his temple, a raven feather placed delicately on his chest. No signs of forced entry, no witnesses, and no clear motive. Amelia had been part of the team that investigated the case, but they'd hit dead end after dead end. The case went cold, haunting her dreams ever since.

Now, here she was, a seasoned detective, with another raven feather found at a recent crime scene—the murder of local businessman Robert Miller. The similarities were uncanny, but Amelia refused to believe it was a coincidence. She picked up the phone, dialing her old partner, Detective Thomas "Tommy" Davis.

"Hartley, what's up?" Tommy answered, his voice gruff from years of smoking.

"I need your help, Tommy," Amelia said, her voice grave. "I think our raven is back."

Tommy was silent for a moment before he sighed heavily. "Alright, I'll meet you at the station in an hour."

Amelia hung up and turned to face the crime board, the photos of Senator Thompson and Robert Miller staring back at her. She couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being watched, that the past was calling out to her, begging for closure.

The station was quiet when Tommy arrived, the late-night shift a mix of boredom and anticipation. Amelia led him to an empty interrogation room, closing the door behind them. She laid out the evidence—the raven feathers, the gunshot wounds, the lack of forced entry.

"You think it's the same killer?" Tommy asked, running a hand through his thinning hair.

Amelia nodded. "I do. And I think they want me to know it."

Tommy leaned back in his chair, his eyes scanning the evidence. "So, what now? We reopen the Thompson case?"

"No," Amelia said, shaking her head. "We need to look at this from a different angle. We need to find out why these two men were targeted."

They spent hours poring over files, searching for any connection between Senator Thompson and Robert Miller. It wasn't until dawn broke that they found something—a small news article tucked away in the archives. It was about a scandal involving Thompson and several prominent businessmen, including Miller. They had been accused of embezzling funds from a charity set up to help underprivileged children. The charges were dropped due to lack of evidence, but the damage was done.

Amelia looked at Tommy, her eyes wide with realization. "What if this is about revenge? What if our killer is someone who was hurt by these men?"

Tommy nodded, standing up from his chair. "Then we need to find out who else was involved in that scandal."

Their search led them to a small, rundown apartment on the outskirts of the city. The woman who answered the door was frail, her eyes haunted by a past she couldn't escape. She introduced herself as Elizabeth, the sister of one of the children who had been affected by the scandal.

"They took everything from us," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Our home, our dignity... They left us with nothing."

Amelia and Tommy listened intently, their hearts heavy with the weight of Elizabeth's words. She told them about the nights she spent crying herself to sleep, about the days she struggled to put food on the table. She talked about her brother, how he had never recovered from the loss of their home, how he had turned to drugs and eventually took his own life.

"I wanted revenge," Elizabeth said, her eyes filled with tears. "I wanted them to feel the same pain they had inflicted on us."

Amelia looked at Tommy, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. "Did you... did you kill them?" she asked softly.

Elizabeth nodded, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "Yes," she whispered. "And I would do it again if given the chance."

Amelia and Tommy looked at each other, the weight of Elizabeth's confession hanging heavy in the air. They knew they had to arrest her, but they also understood why she had done what she did. In that moment, they felt a profound sense of sadness—for Elizabeth, for her brother, for all the lives that had been ruined by the greed of a few powerful men.

As they led Elizabeth away in handcuffs, Amelia couldn't shake off the feeling that justice had not truly been served. The raven's callback had brought closure to an old case, but it had also opened up new wounds—wounds that would take time to heal, if they ever did.

The city moved on, the scandal fading into the background as new headlines took over the news cycle. But Amelia couldn't forget about Elizabeth and her brother, about the pain they had endured at the hands of men who were supposed to protect them. She carried their story with her, a reminder that even in the darkest corners of the city, there was still hope for redemption.

And so, Detective Amelia Hartley continued her work, her resolve stronger than ever before. She knew that there would be more cases like Elizabeth's, more stories of pain and loss hidden beneath the surface of a seemingly perfect world. But she also knew that as long as she was on the job, no one would be left behind—no victim forgotten, no crime unpunished.

For Amelia, every call was a chance to make things right, every case a step closer to justice. And in the end, that was all that mattered.