Mystery Meat Bowl
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It was a beautiful day. The sun shined brightly on the rooftop of a small apartment building that overlooked the downtown area. A lone man sat in his wheelchair, enjoying the view from above as he watched pedestrians and cars pass by below. He had been confined to this chair for over thirty years due to an accident with a forklift truck at work.
This had left him paralyzed from the waist down, but it hadn’t stopped him from being able to enjoy life. In fact, he took great pleasure in watching others go about their daily business from his vantage point up here.
The man’s name was Leonard, though people called him Leo for short. As a young boy growing up in suburban New Jersey, Leo attended a private school where he excelled at sports. His prowess led him to play football for the local high school team. When he graduated, he went off to college where he studied aeronautical engineering.
After graduating, he landed a job at NASA and began working with rocket fuel before he became involved in a tragic fire that killed two colleagues. He never fully recovered from the trauma of losing those close friends and was fired after only a year and a half.
Leo spent several years recovering from the loss, but once he felt ready, he decided to move away from his hometown and try something new.
By chance, he met a woman while out on one of his many walks around town and they fell madly in love. She moved into his apartment and helped him explore the world once more. For a time, everything seemed perfect until one night when she disappeared.
Rumors started spreading across the city; some said she’d gone back home to New York, but Leo knew better than anyone that her disappearance wasn’t voluntary. Eventually, the police were forced to admit that they believed this mysterious woman had probably been murdered by someone unknown.
For days, Leo sat alone in his apartment pondering what might have happened to his beloved. Although he realized there was nothing he could do about it now, he vowed not to give up searching for answers. While most people would be content with moving on, Leo couldn’t help but feel compelled to find the killer who’d stolen so much from him.
Over the following months, he pieced together clues and began making connections between seemingly unrelated events. That eventually led to a breakthrough: the identity of the real killer. It turned out to be a strange coincidence that led to this discovery, but Leo had come to realize that coincidences often played a role in life.
One day, while having lunch in a diner near the campus where he used to teach, he noticed a stranger staring at him. The young man wore a white shirt underneath a blue jacket, which matched the color of his eyes. This young man, whom Leo later came to know as Justin, was a student at the university and in his senior year studying physics.
After finishing his meal, he returned to class and gave Leo a card. To Leo’s surprise, Justin asked if he could meet again, as he wanted to discuss a potential project they might be able to collaborate on. Leo agreed and arranged another meeting for a few days later.
At first, Leo was nervous. It had been a long time since he’d socialized with anyone other than his carer, and he didn’t really understand what it meant to make friends. Even though he had no experience of such things, Leo found himself opening up to Justin easily.
He shared his story with him and told him how he’d spent the last decade trying to find the person responsible for murdering his girlfriend. He also explained how he’d recently made a connection between one of Justin’s research papers and the death of his girlfriend. As Justin listened attentively, he agreed to meet Leo in another week to see if there was any way they could work together.
That evening, Leo sat down at his computer and looked through the emails he’d received over the previous weeks. He picked out three that looked promising and opened them. One contained a photograph, the second was a web address, and the third was a request to sign a petition.
He quickly scanned all three before deciding to open the email from the web address first. The photo attached to the message showed a man, who resembled Justin, lying face down on a bed. Blood covered his entire body, leaving a trail leading down the hallway toward the bedroom door. The sender of the email had simply typed: ‘I need your help.’
As Leo read the brief message, he realized he needed to act fast. At that moment, he realized Justin must have been murdered by the same man he’d suspected for so long. Leo jumped up from his chair and grabbed his coat from the rack above his desk. Immediately, he started dialing a number: 911. “My name is Leo Cohen and I live at 2123 North Elm Street,” he said calmly into the phone.
“Can you tell me what your emergency is?” the operator responded.
“Someone just sent me an email. There’s a photo attached, and it shows a man with blood all over his body lying face down on a bed. You have to send a squad car right away.”
A few minutes later, two police officers arrived and knocked on his front door. Leo answered immediately, and after showing them inside, he returned to the living room to wait. A short time later, he heard the familiar sound of sirens approaching. When the chief inspector entered his home, Leo stood up and greeted him.
The older man appeared tired and worn. His hair was thinning and he had bags under his eyes. The inspector informed Leo that the crime scene van had already arrived and that the coroner would be collecting the body soon.
Leo felt numb. It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
***
The next morning, Leo woke up early and went outside to stand in the cold air of the parking lot across the street from his apartment. He stared at the building, which was still shrouded in darkness. Leo waited patiently for sunrise, and when the sky began turning pink, he walked over to the entrance. He rang the bell and after a short pause, the door opened to reveal his carer, Alex.
Alex looked startled upon seeing Leo. She seemed surprised that he was awake so early, but her surprise quickly changed to concern. “Are you okay, Leo? I’ve called several times,” she said as she helped him into his wheelchair.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I guess I got caught up in my thoughts. Can we go back to my place now?” Leo asked.
“Of course,” she replied, and wheeled him out of the parking lot and onto the sidewalk.
By the time they reached Leo’s apartment, the sun had risen completely and was shining brightly. Leo took a few moments to stare at the light and then turned to Alex and smiled. “Thanks for coming to wake me up; I feel much better.”
“You’re welcome,” Alex said and handed him a cup of coffee. Leo thanked her and sipped the hot liquid slowly. After a moment, he spoke again. “Do you remember Justin? From the physics department?”
Alex nodded. “Yes, he came to visit me once. Did something happen?”
“Justin was murdered last night.”
Alex gasped and covered her mouth. Leo noticed tears welling up in her eyes. “Did you know Justin personally?”
“No. We met a couple of months ago and discussed some of his research papers. He seemed like a good guy.”
Leo paused for a moment and glanced at the ground. “He was. Justin was only twenty-seven years old when he died, and he was stabbed to death at the bottom of his own stairs in his home. They haven’t found any suspects yet, but I think someone needs to know what happened. I want to find out who killed him.”
“Okay,” Alex agreed. “Is there anything else I can do?”
“Yes, please. Send his colleagues and friends to my office today. It’s important that everyone knows what happened. If you could also ask them to sign the petition, that would be perfect.” Leo looked directly into her eyes. “I have to find the killer. I’m going to make sure he pays for what he did.”
Alex nodded. She understood Leo’s dedication to solving the case and knew she should play along. “Very well, Leo. Anything else?”
Leo hesitated for a second. “Could you give me a ride to work today?”
“Of course.”
After leaving Alex’s car, Leo walked toward the elevator. The doors opened, and he stepped inside and pressed the button for his floor. Moments later, the doors closed, and he rode back to his office. As soon as he arrived, Leo called his assistant, Rick.
Rick, who was sitting at his desk, raised his head and smiled. “Good morning, Leo. Are you ready for another day of torture?”
“I’ll try not to hurt you too badly.”
“Ha! Yeah, right. Listen, I’ve arranged for a few more people to come by later on. See if you can get them to sign the petition. Once that happens, we might actually get somewhere.”
“That would be great. Do you need anything?”
“Nope, just keep doing what you’re doing.”
Leo watched Rick continue working on his computer, and he felt pleased with himself for getting this far. Then he realized something. Without any publicity, the petition wouldn’t have a chance. People needed to see how many signatures were being collected. There must be something he could do to gain attention. Leo decided to take action.
Leo headed to the break room and poured himself a large mug of coffee. While he waited for it to cool, Leo pulled out his phone and called Alison. She answered on the first ring. “Hello, Alison,” Leo said.
Alison’s voice sounded tired. “Hey, Leo. What do you want?”
“Listen, I know you guys are trying to hide the truth about how dangerous this is, but I don’t think you realize the gravity of your actions. Justin was murdered. You’re playing with fire here, and I think you need to stop before somebody else dies.
Maybe someday you’ll understand, but until then, I will make sure everyone knows what’s really happening. And just so you know, I’m planning to expose you no matter what it takes.”
Leo ended the call and went back to his desk and continued writing. He hoped Alison would forget about it, but he doubted it. Leo was certain he’d made his point.
A couple of hours later, Leo received a message from Justin’s friend, Nick. Leo checked his email and saw that Nick had sent him an attachment titled ‘Evidence.’ Leo accessed the file and found it was a police report with a paragraph summary of Justin’s murder.
Leo read through the paragraphs carefully. When he got to the end, he noticed the date and time of the incident. He stared at the document, stunned. The date and time were just a few days after Leo’s conversation with Alison at the airport.
Leo didn’t know why Alison hadn’t mentioned it to him earlier; maybe she hadn’t been aware of what had happened. But now it all made sense: Alison was hiding something from him, and Justin had paid the ultimate price for it.
Leo held the phone to his ear and dialed Alison’s number. “It’s Leo. How did you get this information?”
“What do you mean? I found it online. It’s public record.”
“You told me you searched the database and couldn’t find anything. Now I know what you meant.”
“Yeah, well…it seems like I was wrong. That’s all you care about anyway, isn’t it? You just want to find whoever killed Justin.”
Leo paused for a moment and then asked, “Do you know where he was when he died? Do you know exactly what time it happened?”
“No, I don’t. Like I told you, the report doesn’t say.”
“What time would you guess it was?”
“Um, I don’t know. Late afternoon.”
“How late? One or two o’clock?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere around there.”
Leo thought for a moment. “Okay, thanks, Alison. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about this. I promise.”
“Why should I trust you? You may not know, but I know you’re lying.”
“Yes, I lied. I’m sorry. I’m a liar. Just remember that. Or better yet, just remember Justin. That’s what matters.”
Leo hung up the phone and sighed. He now knew what Alison had done. She’d used her position to block the police investigation into Justin’s death—a killing caused by someone else. Leo wasn’t sure why he cared, but he did. He wanted justice for Justin.
Leo began thinking of ways to expose Alison and prevent further deaths. He had one idea in particular that might work. Leo would need help, though, so he stopped and thought for a minute. Who could he get to help him? Leo looked to his right and saw Rick looking over his shoulder at the petition. He turned to Rick and smiled. “Hey, Rick, want to help me expose Alison?”
Rick laughed. “Yeah, you betcha! Let’s go!”
The End