Chapter 3
Don looked at his brother with a worried look on his face. Of course he was worried about the case, but he knew how his brother could be if he was wrong. "How…How? How could it possibly…possibly be wrong? There's just no…no way," Charlie stammered, furrowing his brow as the equation sped through his mind. Everything checked out, he knew it did. He had made that mistake once. He would never had sent them if there was any way that equation was wrong.
"Sorry Charlie, but it was. We went to the predicted spot because there had been a disturbance call. As soon as we got there, we got a call that across town there had been a robbery/homicide that fit the style of our man. The place couldn't have been further from the spot. I'm really sorry, but it was wrong." Don gingerly touched his brother's arm, waiting for a reaction. He paid such close attention to Charlie that he didn't notice Manny's strange behavior. Her mind began to race, not with numbers, but with thoughts, ideas, and loopholes in Charlie's equation. She quickly reviewed everything that she'd been told, about the case, about the area, about Charlie. In a trance, she walked over to the map where the crime scenes were shown and where the assumed next crime scene was. An anonymous agent politely pushed past her and added the site of the actual crime. On a map, the predicted scene and the real one were more than six inches apart. This place couldn't have been further from the spot. 'He's right,' she thought. 'It's way too far away.' I came up with a simple problem…It was really easy; I've done it many times before. 'Maybe too easy,' she thought. I did a similar one not too long ago.
All the sudden, Manny saw a puzzle in her mind and one by one, the pieces fell into their place. She smiled and turned to face the agents.
"Nothing's wrong with Charlie's problem. There's no way math could predict this. Numbers can't predict the intelligence of a criminal." She looked at them, smiling coyly.
"What the hell are you talking about Everet?" Don asked, raising his voice. He was getting more aggravated with this case by the second.
"The criminal knew exactly what they were doing today. And I think they knew exactly what we were doing. This person is much smarter than you all took him for."
Charlie looked at her, confused by what she was saying and still mad that something had gone wrong. Don's face began to light up. He was beginning to understand it.
Authors Note: Wow! I can't believe I got a response so quickly. Everyone one here is so great! I love to read the stories from other people and it's cool to know other people enjoy my stories. I'm currently writing chapter 4 so any ideas would be interesting to hear. Thanks again for the support!
-Shelby