At around midnight Cormac woke up due to the train coming to a standstill. He noticed that it was snowing fiercely outside. “Ugh. Stupid snow. Why did it have to snow today, why not tomorrow?” blared Liam angrily.“Looks like this trip is going to take a lot longer than expected,” said Cormac and went back to sleep.

At around 2 o’clock a.m. Shay and Liam were woken up by a thud, in the neighboring compartment. Noah suggested that it was just a book but Shay seemed unsure thinking that it must have been something bigger but he let it go.  He called for the Wagon Lit Conductor, Noah Yates, and asked for a bottle of mineral water.  In the morning, the Wagon Lit Conductor entered the compartment with most horrifying news.
“Mr. Cormac, there has been a murder next door.”

Shay and Liam rush into the compartment in which the murder took place.  “My god,” said Liam. All the passengers were crowding around the murder spot. Two, crooked bodies lay on the ground, two women and In the apartment across from it lay another two dead men. Shay examined the bodies as he does great detective work. A man walks in nudging everyone in his path. “I’m Detective Lucas Patton from New York. I’m in the FBI.”
“Why how convenient,” said Shay. “I didn’t see you on the train”
“Compartment five. What is your name?”
“My name is Shay Cormac Mr. Patton”
“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cormac,” said Patton as he was shaking the latter’s hand. Quite a firm handshake of Mr. Patton, earning respect from Shay. Shay brought out a small box containing powder from his pocket. He dusted the room with the powder, checking for fingerprints.

According to the wounds, one of the dead men was brutally stabbed in the stomach eight times. Half of the blows were unnecessary. The second man had one bullet in his head and no other wounds. One of the women was stabbed once in the chest precisely and the other women had four bullet holes, two in the chest, and two in the head. Three out of the four shots were inaccurate based on where they hit. The clock in the apartment was cracked and was showing two o’clock.
“That’s it. That the time of the murder!” exclaimed Liam.
“The door of the compartment next to Mr. Cormac’s was bolted,” said the conductor to Lucas.

“Shay, its time for you to work your magic,” said Liam, staring at the lifeless bodies with horror.
“I too am feeling quite apprehensive Liam,” said Shay.

“No fingerprints and nothing is around to help us find the murderer through DNA,” stated Cormac, dejectedly.
“Shay,” called Liam, “Take a look at this.” In a dark corner of the compartment, there was writing on the wall. It stated RACHE in blood.
“What does it mean?”
“Leave this to me Mr. Reynolds,” said Lucas in an overconfident manner.

The detective was thinking for while but Shay already had come up with an answer. He was just waiting to see what Lucas’ theory was. “Ah. My assumption is that the murderer was planning to write ‘Rachel’ but was out of time and had to take off, suggesting that someone by the name of ‘Rachel’ is involved with this crime,” said Patton. He was acting as if he was Sherlock Holmes. “A legitimate theory of yours, but incorrect,” said Shay.
“May you explain why?”
“Oh yes of course. First of all, there were at least two murderers and the event took place at 2:00. If you observe the bodies closely, two of the bodies’ wounds were a lot more unnecessary and vigorous whereas the other two bodies’ wounds were precise and accurate with only one shot or stab. Also, if you pay close attention at the women who was stabbed once, the wound’s placement and angle  show that the killer used his left hand, so his left hand must be his dominant hand. My theory so far is that there were two killers, one left-handed person who was well trained and one right-handed person who was less trained. Secondly, ‘Rachel’ was not the word meant to be written. ‘Rache’ is German for ‘revenge’. You see Mr. Patton, imagination is a great servant, but a very bad master.

A lady’s handkerchief was on the ground on one of the bodies, the body killed by the right-handed person. “Ah ha! One of the killers is a woman,” Cormac exclaimed. “Mr. Patton, i would like you to find out who the victims are and any other helpful information. Lucas nodded embarrassed at Shay proving his speculation wrong.

Shay was quite sure that the two murderers were on the train for the reason that the raging blizzard outside was too fierce to travel through, unless someone was there to pick them up and they could not have possibly left while the train was moving. Shay decided to question every passenger in his train car in order to gain more information. Him and Liam called Lucas as well and the three went to the restaurant car to interview all the passengers. First came the passenger across from Cormac’s compartment. His name was Antonio Vasquez, a quite large Mexican man of around 30. “Did you notice anything suspicious during the night,” asked Shay.
“No. After dinner I watched a movie on Netflix on my Ipad and went to bed at around one thirty,” responded the man.
“Did you see anyone pass by,” asked Lucas.
“Yes first the conductor, then a tall woman in blue skinny jeans and a brown leather coat.”
“Do you know who it was?” asked Shay
“No I wasn’t paying attention enough and I was dozing off.”
“I am going to need your passport and address.”
Antonio did as was asked. Shay was not suspicious of Antonio at all and dismissed him back to his compartment.

Shay and Liam were deep in thought and running through the conversation that had just occurred. Shay concluded that there was nothing to be worried about in terms of whether or not Antonio was a part of the crime. However, there was the chance that he was lying but Shay did not consider this. He called the passenger from compartment number 1, Violet Lavery to the restaurant car.. “Hello Miss Lavery.”
“Hello Mr….”
“Cormac.”
“Oh Cormac. I’m sorry. A pleasure”.
“The pleasure is mine.”
“May I have your address and passport?” requested Shay.
“Sure.”

Looking at the her passport, the three knew that she was a very high classed woman so they had to talk and address her in a respectful and obedient manner.
“Did you notice anything suspicious in the night?”
“I heard a thud, somewhere around your compartment. And then someone running a few minutes later, and also someone knocking on the door, probably the same person.”
“That was the conductor being called by a passenger. And as a matter of fact, I heard the thud as well.”
“I also heard a door open.”
“Okay”
“After that I went to sleep.”
“Did you see anyone outside the train by any chance?” asked Liam.
“I looked out but didn’t see anything.”

Shay took a look out of a window on the opposite side of the train and was astonished. There lay a dagger and pistol on the snow. He exited the train to retrieve the weapons. First thing he did was check for fingerprints. Fortunately he saw them. Both weapons had the same fingerprints, so they must have belonged to the same person. The pistol was obviously suppressed. Shay was stumped about where the second person’s weapons were. The fingerprints belonged to Steve Fox, an amazing sniper who was in military service for 5 years. “But why in the world would an exceptional sniper commit murder with a dagger and pistol?” Shay thought to himself. He was dumbfounded and could not think of any explanation. He just moved on and continued to question the rest of the passengers.

Next came Mr., Mrs. Wayne, and their son, Bruce Wayne from compartment 6. The first thing that came to his mind when he saw Bruce was “What an awesome name. I wish I had the same name as Batman.”  But Shay shouldn’t have been jealous. He had the same name of the main character from the game Assassin’s Creed Rogue, a video game that Shay used love in his late twenties although it was a rather old game.

“I have some important information Mr. Cormac,” said Mrs. Wayne.
“What is it?”
“We saw three trails of footsteps outside the train.”
“We couldn’t see the end ,” said Mr. Wayne.
“First we would like your address and passport.”
Liam and Shay exited the train to see the trails. Both of them slowly walked along the trails observing them. After walking about 125 meters down, just as Mr. Wayne said, the trails stopped. Shay noticed a mark on the snow as if a part of a ladder was flat on the ground. He was wondering why the mark of a ladder would be on the ground. “Perhaps it was a pick-up. A helicopter may have flown in to pick the two assassins up and probably did not want to land because it would make a mark,” thought Cormac. “For all we know is that they are not on the train. But now comes the question, ‘How did they get on board the train ?’ ,“ asked Shay to himself.

All the snow was cleared out but Cormac requested the conductor to keep the train at a standstill because he didn’t want any clues to be lost. The harsh blizzard had turned into soft snow. The snow was rather enjoyable and Shay thought that it was pleasant. The next person that they wanted to interview was the conductor, Noah Yates. He was asked if he sa anyone walk down the aisle and he replied seeing a young woman in jeans and a brown coat walking with her back turned towards him. Shay then asked what the conductor did after 1:00. The conductor took a couple of seconds to recollect what he did and then spoke.
“First I read a book for a short amount of time. Twenty minutes later I gradually started to doze off. I woke up with a startle because the passenger in compartment 12, the compartment neighboring one of the crime’s compartment was continuously ringing their bell to call for me and I rushed to assist her.”
“Did you notice what she was wearing?” asked Liam
“Jeans and a blue tank top”
“What did she ask for?”
“Mineral water”
“Was her apartment an apartment with a door to the neighboring compartment?” asked Shay.
“Yes”
“And did you notice if it was bolted.”
The conductor took some time to remember.
“Oh yeah it wasn’t.”
“Did you see if the door that was the entrance to the train car was bolted.”
“It was.”
“What else did you do.”
“Oh I slept until morning.”
“Okay that is all I’m going to need from you Mr. Yates.”
“Thank you sir.”
“Actually one more thing.”
“What?”
“The passenger who you gave the mineral water to, when did she call for you?”
“It was almost 2:00”
“What was her name?”
“I have to check the list of passengers. I’ll be here in a minute”
A minute or two later the conductor came back.
“Her name is Linda Stockheim”
“Thank you”

Shay decided to check if Linda was in possession of a brown leather coat and blue skinny jeans. He knocked on her door and heard the reply “Come in.” When he entered the room he took a quick scan of the compartment. Her luggage was locked up in the corner and on a table next to her bed lay an unopened bottle of mineral water. “We have been checking all the passengers’ luggage because of the crime,” said Shay.

He looked at the door to the next door compartment and the door was not locked. He requested her to show him her luggage and she kindly complied. In her suitcase there was a pair of blue skinny jeans but no leather coat. Blue skinny jeans is a very common thing to have so the pair of jeans did not convey that Linda was a part of the crime. Shay rolled up the blinds of the window and peeked outside. There lay a brown leather coat right below the window and next to the train tracks.

Cormac walked up towards Linda. A drop of sweat trickled down her face. She was trying her best to keep a casual face but her face was pale with nervousness and fear. Cormac smiled. “Thank you for your time Miss Stockheim.”

Back in compartment 10 the two friends were chatting. “It was Linda,” said Shay “She let the killers in. When the conductor was not there, when he was getting the mineral water, she unlocked the entrance door and let the killers in. When the conductor came back, the crime had already taken place or was taking place. No one heard it because the gun was suppressed.”

“I see that you have uncovered most of the mystery”
“Yes”
“I’ve been thinking,” said Liam.
“An exhilarating exercise”
“Have you ever thought of being a detective? You have the talent.”
“As a matter of fact I have and I do have the talent. But it is not something that I am interested in. Engineering and athletics are the only two things that I am passionate for. No one should do a job just for the money, it has to be what that person loves. Only then would they be successful.”
“Yes I understand but you would do extremely well in such a career.”
“It is just something I do not want to do.”
Moments later Lucas knocked.
“Come in!” said Shay.
“I have the information you requested for,” said Lucas.
“Thank you.”

Laura Stark:
Age - 27, Job - California senator, from California, U.S.A., married to Anthony Stark, was on her way to Texas to see her husband who was on a business trip to sell Iphone 8.s’ made by Apple Inc.

Alessa Massoni:
Age - 35, Job - Cisco V.P., from Florence, Italy, mother of two, married to Celestino Massoni, on her way to Phoenix to meet friends.

James Blake:
Age - 52, Job - doctor, from Kentucky, father of one, married to Michelle Blake (Gutterson is her maiden name), traveling for vacation.

Alex Mezaro:
Age - 26, Job - CIA, from New York, not married, traveling for vacation

“Four random people. This makes no sense!” said Lucas with no clue what was going on.
“Alex Mezaro. Hmmm…… a familiar name,” said Liam.
“Yes it does seem familiar,” said Shay. The three men took a minute to think about the matter. A few minutes later, Lucas blurted out, ”He was in a very famous case. But this case took place a long time ago.”
“Oh yes. A famous yet tragic kidnapping and murder,” said Liam.
“Involving a little boy names John Jaeger and his sister Diane Jaeger kidnapped and killed by a man named Adelbert Stockheim,” said Cormac. “The children were found dead in an alley. Their mother died of a heart attack and the father committed suicide. Alex Mezaro shot Adelbert as he was not able to arrest him. Patton, find all his close relatives now.”
“Ok”
Lucas came back with the information right away. “That’s it!” said Shay. ”Hugo Rudolpho. Adelbert’s second cousin. A left-handed man trained in the army for five years and was one of the greatest fighters in Germany. His sister, Leyna, good fighter as well but was not in the army for as long. They most likely wanted revenge against Alex.”

“They didn’t kill four random people, they killed three random people. The fourth was the real target. The three others were for a cover up, to send us on a wild goose chase. These people are clever, but not clever enough,” said Liam.
“It is not Steve Fox. I am positive. Hugo and Leyna Rudolpho are the criminals,” said Shay.

After the train reached it’s stopover, Shay, Liam, and Lucas told everything to the CIA. Linda was sent to jail. The search for Leyna and Hugo was difficult. They were very clever people. The search lasted weeks. They were located many times but the attempts to capture them failed. A few weeks later, both of their passports showed up in Dubai. They were entering a flight to Germany. The CIA sent a special team to stop them at Germany. The chase was long but was finally a success. Both Leyna and Hugo were taken into custody. As of Shay Cormac, he continued his wonderful trip to New York and followed his passion of athletics and engineering.

Chapter 8

In his the morning of the third day of his visit to New York, Shay was watching the 54th Super Bowl and Colin Kaepernick was about to make a seventy-yard touchdown which would put them in the lead by 10 points leaving very little time for the Patriots to catch up. He got past half of the Patriots’ defense and was at the 20 yard line with two defenders in his path. Michael Crabtree was running along, ready for a lateral pass. They were at the 15 yard line. Will Kaepernick pass it, will he run it, or will he get tackled. The play was still going on and Shay was drenched in sweat with anxiousness. It was the moment of truth for him and unfortunately the channel changed automatically…to the news. Say absolutely hated the news. He never new how people could watch it for hours and hours every day. But this time the news was of much importance. A news reporter in a black suit and a plaid red tie was speaking. The headline was “BREAKING NEWS: NSA agent, Johnny English murdered in Manhattan”

The reporter said ”Breaking news, the famous agent Johnny English from the National Security Agency a.k.a. NSA was murdered in an alley in Manhattan on 3rd street. The body was found in a trash can and detectives do not have any leads. The NSA request the help of Shay Cormac, although he may not be a professional detective, he is of much brilliance as he solved the case in the Delta Eagle train which included the deaths of 4 random people”

“Come on! I came here to have fun, not to solve more cases. These detectives can’t even do it themselves. They souldn’t even be in that job. They’re to dumb,” yelled Shay furiously. “But I can’t say no to the NSA. I wish that I was stupid, like that Lucas guy. He thinks he is so smart but i bet all he does during his job is twiddle his thumbs and eat donuts all day. If I wasn’t this smart, I would be able to enjoy myself without being bugged by the CIA and NSA. But I gotta do what they ask.” and he took his bag and took off.