1st place

Nur Ariff b. Shaharruddin

1519859

(KOM)

This short story is fiction. The characters and places did not have anything to do with real living persons. The scientific content from the story is based on true facts but may be exaggerated.

 Genre: Thriller.

The Investigation

I have been killed once, but I am still alive.

Who is the killer? Who is the murderer?

Or it was just a shadow who act as a bystander?

Or a story from an unknown creator?

I just want to find the answer.

The true answer lies in “The Investigation”

The Investigation

          It was 3.00 am in the morning. It was still dark. The sky is black and only filled with the glimmers from the stars and the dim light of the moon. Only a few shops left having their lights on. The streetlamp helps to light the way along the slim road. The road seemed to be quiet during this time. Occasionally, only a few cars are seen moving fast through this road. A young man with a white neat shirt and a tie is walking slowly at the sidewalk of the road with a glass bottle of alcohol at his right hand. The light from the streetlamp creating a shadow of himself. From his gloomy face, he seemed very tired. As he walked slowly, his gait became a bit unstable as he about to fall from his feet. “Pon!” The sound of a car honking startled him, thus, he kept back up on his feet. Then, he kept walking slowly for a few distances without having any destination to go. Without he realizes, he is crossing the road. A red car was moving fast through the road and at that moment his ankle twisted and he fell on the middle of the road. “Pon!” The sound of the car honking heard loudly at his ears. As he looked at the source of the sound, he saw two bright light coming nearer to him. His eyes opened widely. “Ierk.” The sound of the brake was heard and “Bam!”

       At 7.00 am, the road had already been full of polices. The road became a bit busy than the usual days. "So, what happened actually?" Asked Detective Sherr to an officer there. "Oh, so you heard about this case? Oh, I forgot, you’re a detective, right?" The officer replied with a rhetorical question. Feeling annoyed by the question, Detective Sherr took a wallet from his trousers’ pocket and showed his badge to prove that he was serious. The officer said, "nothing much. It was just an accident." "Too early to believe it was an accident. It could be a murder." Replied Officer Sherr. "Good luck on your thought, then. Now if you excuse me, I want to get back on my work here". The officer walked away. “Fine, I will prove to you that I will crack this case!” Detective Sherr shouted. “Luke, let’s go cracking this case already. Go look for evidence and find some information from the witnesses.” Detective Sherr said to his new partner, Detective Luke. Thus, they went on searching for evidence and started to ask around. The answers that Detective Sherr only got from the people there is "I don’t know”, “I didn’t see it" and “Why do you even want to know?” After he had a few attempts to search for information, Detective Luke came, “I got some information regarding the victim. His name is Evan, a 22 years old man still studying in a college. I got his home and university addresses too if you want to find some information there.” Feeling weird but amazed with the information that his partner got for a short period of time, he praised his partner, “good job, Luke. Then, let’s go to his college first. See what we can find there.”

        Without wasting any time, they went to the victim’s college to investigate. As they arrived at the main gate, a guard stopped them and said “Hey, what do you want here?” Detective Sherr began to feel annoyed again by the next person who denies his credibility just like the police officer that they found at the place of incident earlier. He took his wallet and showed his badge. “Detective Sherr here. I want to go in for investigation purpose.” The guard sighed “Again? Fine. Go in. Just don’t do anything stupid and disturb anybody here.” The guard let them in. They searched for some contacts of the victim. They went to the principal’s office as they figured out this guy might know something about this case. “Can I come in? A serious matter to discuss here.” Said Detective Sherr in front of the principal’s office room’s door. He opened the door and move into the room immediately. The principal offered him a seat and he sat down to a chair as offered. Detective Sherr started talking, “I want to discuss regarding a case I supposed you might know. One of your student has been found dead in the middle of the road.” “Oh that. I feel sad hearing news regarding my student’s death but it had nothing to do with this college. Accident can happen anywhere.” They talked for a while. Detective Sherr did not get as many information as he thought from him regarding the case. The information that he got from the principal is that the victim is a very bright and excellent student. “Let’s move Luke.” Said Detective Sherr.

      After settled things at the college, they both moved to their next destination, the victim’s house. On the way to the destination, in the car, Detective Sherr asked his partner, “What do you think of this case? I don’t think it is just an accident. There must be a killer. He is a bright student and there must be someone who had been jealous and had grudge on him.” “Then who is the killer? We cannot just accuse someone.” Replied Detective Luke. “You’re right.” Agreed Detective Sherr. As they arrived in their destination, Detective Sherr, paused for a while as he looked at the house. He was thinking of something. “Something troubling you, Detective Sherr?” Asked Detective Luke. “No, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about this case.” They arrived at the house. It was a quite big and beautiful house. They knocked the door, but nobody is answering. Then, Detective Sherr tried to open the door. It was unlocked. He took the opportunity to come in and investigate. The house was empty and dusty although the furniture in the house was fine. He went to a small room in the house. There was a shelf with many books there but it was all dusty. His eyes suddenly became locked to a family photo in a frame found on a small table. It is a picture of two couples with their son in the middle and they looked happy. He glazed at the picture with his wide eyes and then paused for a while. “Luke, follow me to the police station. I have cracked this case.” He talked to his partner. “What? Really? Who do you think you are? Sherlock Holmes?” replied Detective Luke as he was shocked with his partner’s claim.

     Detective Luke just followed his partner to the car without any more questioning and move to the police station. Upon arrival, Detective Sherr rushed inside the police station. “I have cracked the case! I know who the killer is.” All eyes inside the police station were looking at him. A police officer who wears a neat police suit came near him and asked, “what’s the rush here now?” Detective Sherr replied “I have solved the case. The victim is Evan, a 22 years old student from Excel College. The day before the incident, the victim was just getting his grades for the end block exam and he got the highest grade. He told his parents about it and the family decided to go on a trip and then on the day of incident as they were on their destination by car and then…” He stopped for a while. The officer interrupted, “and then what?” Detective Sherr continue talking but with a soft voice, “and then they crashed with a lorry at the road. I was wrong. It was an accident after all.” The officer said, “Look, we all know that you are very clever back then but, I think you have mixed this with another case. The victim was hit by a car, he was not in the car and the victim’s name is not Evan.” Detective Sherr said back, “But my partner said that his name is…” “You have no partner! Now every time we wanted to send you to see the psychiatrist, you became aggressive but now, look, your condition is very severe.” The officer interrupted. Detective Sherr paused. He looked around at all other people in the police station. All of them looked at him with a sense of feeling sad and guilty. He thought deeply for a moment. Then, Detective Sherr asked softly, “I am not a detective, am I?”  

    The environment became very quiet at that moment. Detective Sherr became realized. He monologs with himself without any sound came from his mouth, “Detective Sherr… Detective Luke… Sherluke… Sherlock… When I was a child, I always dreamt on becoming Sherlock Holmes.. There is no Detective Sherr or Detective Luke. It was all a made up. It was my old college that I went to. It was my own house that I went to. I did not realize until now that I had just investigated my own case. When I was 22 years old, I had a car accident and my parents died because of that. Since then, I had a trauma seeing motor vehicle accident. My name is Evan. This case that I am investigating, I am the victim. The killer is this thing inside my head. Sometimes I even see things that were not there.” Tears fall from his eyes at that moment and a soft voice came out from his mouth, “I am Evan. I need help on this thing inside my head. You can send me to the psychiatrist now. I accept my illness.”

      3 years later, in a hall filled with numerous crowd, a man is talking in front of them “3 years ago, I have developed a mental illness called post-traumatic stress disorder. The thing that I realized is self-acceptance is an important aspect for our live. If not, the illness can kill ourselves silently. A silent killer. Mental disorders are not just myths. It is real. As for the people that had these illnesses, we should give our best support for them. Thank you.” Evan said in a motivation talk entitled ‘Mental Illness, a Silent Killer’

   

Words from the author:

Mental disorders are real. Some of us might just have depression but is undiagnosed. In this story, I touched about a mental illness known as Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is a mental health condition that is triggered by a traumatic event either by experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. Lastly, I want to remind to all our brothers and sisters. At times when we feel hardship or stress (a student might be stress about their exams and studies), do not let it interfere with our performance. Life can be a long way to go. Try wake up in the middle of night and pray to God. We will feel relieved. As for the people around us who has mental disorder, we should give them support.