The Ripper Puzzle: Chapter Four

Crystal and Eddie walked down the sidewalk of downtown L.A. They held hands as they walked through the brightly lit sidewalk, observing the area around them.

“What time is it now?” asked Crystal as she stopped at the end of the sidewalk.

“It’s ten to three,” said Eddie as he looked at his watch. “You think this was a good idea? There’s more than just Nathanial we got to be careful about,” noted Eddie as he turned his head to the other side of the street, looking at a group of young adults that looked like gang members.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” she replied as she placed her hand in her jacket pocket, turning her head the opposite direction. “I just wanted some fresh air. Besides, we’re not going to catch him just sitting around and waiting for the next murder to happen.”

“That’s true,” said Eddie with a sigh as they walked across the street. “I don’t like being exposed.”

“Well, he doesn’t know what we look like,” said Crystal said under her breath as she observed her surroundings, eyeing everyone closely. “I’m sure that’s why he chose to challenge the FBI.”

“Yeah, because he couldn’t possibly know who’s apart of the FBI, unless he’s been spying on us,” said Eddie as they walked past a black Chevy Impala with two men sitting in the car.

“I’m sure he already knows,” added Crystal. “Jack admitted that he tailed Richard, his family, and friends before he began his murders.”
“Or he infiltrated the L.A.P.D.,” said Eddie ruefully.

Crystal rolled her eyes and stopped, grabbing Eddie by the hand. “How many times do we have to go over this?” she asked as she looked at him with a stern look. “We talked to the Chief about Officer Hyde. He’s been with the L.A.P.D. for six months now. We did a full background check, Eddie. I admit, he does look a lot like him,” said Crystal as she crossed her arms. “I got that chill I get when Daniel is pissed when I saw him, but it’s not him. I wish it was that simple.”

“That makes two of us,” said Eddie as scratched the back of his head as a man with a worried look stepped out of a grimy hotel and walked hurriedly past Eddie to get to his car. “I just got this gut feeling…,”

“I know,” said Crystal as she kissed his cheek and grabbed his hand. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him and make him pay for his crimes. We’ll stop him before he commits anymore mur-”

A large explosion threw Crystal and Eddie off their feet. Crystal landed back first into the hard, cold cement as Eddie flung forward, smacking his head into the pavement. Hot debris fell on top of them as they tried to recover from the sudden attack.

“Eddie, are you alright?” said Crystal quickly as she crawled over to Eddie, who stirred at her touch. “What the hell happened?”

“I think there was an explosion,” said Eddie as he rolled over and sat up. Half a block away was a car shaped fireball; the intense smell of burning flesh swept over them as the fire raged.

“Oh God,” said Crystal as she placed her hand over her face in attempt to filter air, her eyes wide. “What the hell happened?” she said as she rolled to her stomach and pushed herself up. As she raised her head, her jaw dropped.

Standing just several feet away from them stood Nathanial. His cold, icy blue eyes stared at Crystal before his lips curved into a devious smile.

“J-Jack!” she yelled as Nathanial ran down the steps and down the block. She pushed herself to her feet, her body aching from the sudden blast, and took chase. She reached into her holster and grabbed her Glock. She stopped in the middle of the street and took aim at Nathanial’s head. Before she could fire a round, a black Chevy Impala slammed on the breaks, nearly hitting Crystal. The car drove and stopped in front of her.

“Hey, dumbass!” yelled a man as he rolled down his window and poked his head out. He had short dark hair and brown eyes, wearing a leather jacket and blasting 80’s music. “Go play cowboy somewhere else before someone runs your candy ass over!”

“S-Sorry, she said as she looked away from the man and down the block for Nathanial. To her dismay, he was nowhere in sight. “Damn it,” she said under her breath as she turned and walked towards Eddie, who laid on the ground with his hand over his forehead. She noticed a thin stream of blood running down his cheek. “Eddie, you’re bleeding! Are you alright?” she asked as she kneeled beside him.

“Yeah, I just bumped my head,” said Eddie woozily. He sat up and wiped the blood on the sleeve of his shirt. “He got away?”

“I got cut off,” said Crystal ruefully as she grabbed him by the arm and helped him to his feet.

“Great,” said Eddie sarcastically as the sound of sirens approached. “Did he cause that explosion? How did he do it?”

“Ivan must’ve taught him how to make a car bomb,” said Crystal quickly as she checked Eddie’s head. “Leon mentioned that Nathanial went to Ivan to show him how to build a bomb. This must be why he went to Ivan.”

A fire engine, ambulance, and three police cars arrived to the scene a few moments later. The firefighters were able to put out the fireball and injuries were minimal, but there was no saving Jack’s victim.

As Eddie was taken care of by the paramedics, a black van pulled up on the other end of the sidewalk, Reece Baker stepping out of the passenger side. Crystal sighed as Reece strolled towards her with an angry look upon his face.

“Here we go,” Crystal muttered under her breath.

“So, I heard you let Jack out of your sight?” said Reece aggressively as he reached into his coat pocket for his cigarettes and lighter.

“Some idiot cut me off,” she replied coldly. “Besides, we weren’t expecting to run into him right after a car bomb went off.”

“About how sure are we that it was him that set off the car bomb?”

“Well, Leon did say that Jack went to his brother to learn how to build a bomb. It is possible that he taught him how to build one.”

He lit the tip of his cigarette and took a deep inhale, turning his head toward the hotel. “Did we get an I.D. on who Jack killed?”

“Yes,” said Crystal as she reached into her pocket and grabbed a slip of paper. “While Eddie was getting his head checked, I asked a lady if she knew who it was that was in the car. She said that it was a guy named Uriah Addario. According to her, the guy was a sleaze that rented a hotel room twice a week.”

“Sleaze, huh?” said Reece before he took a long drag from his cigarette. “I want you and Patrick to check the room he was staying in. See if you can find anything that connects him to Jack,” said Reece as Eddie walked towards them. “And you; I want you to go home and sleep.”

“No complaints here,” said Eddie as he ruefully rubbed the bandage on his head.

“Go home, I’ll have Patrick give me a ride back,” she said as Patrick scoffed, walking toward the grimy hotel.
“Thanks,” said Eddie before he gave Crystal a goodbye kiss.

“See you,” said Crystal as she turned and followed Patrick inside the hotel. As she walked inside, Patrick already informed the clerk and received a copy of the roomkey.

“Ya not goin’ to believe which room this guy was stayin’ in,” said Patrick as he pocketed the key and walked down the hallway, Crystal right behind him.

“Which room?” she asked.

“Room three,” said Patrick with a chuckle. “Either that’s an odd coincidence, or Jack really marked him for death. Another thin’ too; the clerk said that Uriah usually came with a couple lady friends. This time, he came with a scary lookin’ fella.”

“You think he came her with Nat- I mean, Jack?”

“That’s what it’s lookin’ like,” said Patrick as they reached a dirty door with a plastic number ‘3’ at eye level. “This is it,” he said as he reached into his pocket for the keys and unlocked the door. As Patrick opened the door, a distinct odor of filth and dirty, sweaty sheets filled Crystal’s nostrils. She choked on the disgusting smell as Patrick walked inside and looked around.

“Well, I can see why people only pay per hour. Why would ya want to stay the night in this filth?” he remarked as he walked around and looked at the coffee stand. Two unfinished cups of coffee sat on the coffee stand with a piece of paper sitting beneath the cup. Patrick grabbed the Styrofoam cup and looked at the paper, chuckling softly. “Look at what I found,” said Patrick as he handed the piece of paper to Crystal. She took the note and read it.

49093156999

“Definitely him,” said Crystal as she pocketed the note and withdrew her cellphone. “I’ll have C.S.U. check over the hotel room. I’m not sure why he would meet with his victim. This makes the second victim that he has made contact with.”

Patrick chuckled softly. “Maybe he was having a bit of fun?”

Crystal rolled her eyes. “The bed is still made. Get your mind out of the gutter,” said Crystal as she dialed in the number.

Several hours later, well into the afternoon, Crystal yawned heavily before she downed a cup of lukewarm coffee. Updated information displayed across the smart board, and a digitized form of the notes Nathanial had left have been entered in the smart board.

“Hey, Crystal,” said a female voice from behind. The sudden voice made her jump out of her seat.

“Hey Mercedes,” said Crystal as she cleared her throat as Mercedes took a seat beside her.

“So, any luck figuring out the codes?” asked Mercedes.

“I got nothing,” replied Crystal. “Eddie is better at codes likes these. Without some sort of answer key, these numbers will be nearly impossible to decipher.”

“I got nothing either,” said Mercedes with a sigh. “I’ve been studying the behavior of the murders, and so far, I can’t find any connection between the victims,” she said as she crossed her arms and leaned into the chair. “The only thing that I can connect the three victims is the Eagle twins that saw Jack leaving the scene of the crime of Ivan’s murder.”

“But that could be coincidence,” added Crystal.

“Exactly; I think they were just there at the wrong time. The only other connection I could find with the victims is that they are all criminals.”

“Criminals…,” Crystal rubbed her chin in thought. “Maybe that’s a clue?”

“Clue? You mean he’s targeting criminals?” asked Mercedes, eyebrow rose.

“Yeah, think about it. So far, every victim has committed a crime in their life,” said Crystal as she moved Eddie’s laptop toward her and clicked on Ivan’s profile. “Ivan Foster was arrested in 1999 for building bombs and has gang affiliations. Second victim is Yasahiro Okabe, who is a known Yakuza Mafia member. He never served hard time, but we have a profile on him. And third, we have Uriah Addario, who operated one of the largest prostitution ring, and probably had a lot more than that,”

“Hm…yeah, I can see where you’re getting at,” said Mercedes after a moment of thought. “So, you think he’s going to go after criminals?”

“Yes,” replied Crystal with a quick nod. “I don’t know why he’d be going after criminals. They’re just like him; dangerous and are bound to be armed.”

“Maybe he’s doing it to make things more difficult?”

“It’s possible…,” said Crystal as she chewed at the end of her pencil. ‘Nathanial, what are you doing? What are you up to? Why are you killing these criminals? They don’t seem to have any ties to you or each other that we can see. Is he doing this to make the game more difficult for himself, as well as for us? It would be something like he would do. In Brittany’s notes, it seems that throughout the entire game, Nathanial constantly made the game more difficult for himself, like challenging Richard directly by kidnapping his family and letting Sarah go. Is that what Nathanial is doing here? Is he making not only the game harder, but his victims harder as well? It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that he is doing that. However, that doesn’t explain the victims, especially the first and third. Leon said that Nathanial spent at least a couple weeks with Ivan before he murdered him. While we don’t know the timeline for Uriah’s and Nathanial’s relationship, Nathanial was definitely spotted meeting Uriah in that hotel. We don’t have any witnesses close to the victim that can prove the theory that they were in contact further than the first time. What were they doing together? Why did Nathanial meet with his victim? Does he have a connection with all of his victims? Is he up to something that is bigger than what we predicted? It’s hard to tell. It doesn’t seem that Nathanial has any connection with Yasahiro…or maybe we just haven’t found it yet?’

“That’s cute,” said Mercedes, breaking Crystal’s concentration.

“Huh?”

“You and Eddie have that same look whenever you two are deep thinking. It’s cute.”

“Oh,” said Crystal, her cheeks turned a mild shade of red.

“That reminds me…Did you and Eddie tell the Chief that I was single?”

“Um, we weren’t sure…why?” asked Crystal in surprise.

“Because he asked me out on a date,” said Mercedes as she stood up and pushed her chair in.

“He must really like you.” said Crystal with a small laugh.

“I guess. I mean, he’s okay…But, I’m not looking for a relationship right now,” said Mercedes uneasily.

“Let him down easy,” said Crystal as she pulled the laptop closer and pulled up Yasahiro’s profile. “It looks like that he really likes you.”

“I don’t mix work with romance,” shot Mercedes as she turned and walked out of the room.

“I did, and I’m not regretting it,” said Crystal with a smile as she down the rest of her coffee and resumed her research on Nathanial’s victims.