At just twenty two, tall and striking with stormy grey eyes and a sharp jawline, William was a final year student at the prestigious Aegis Police Academy in England. Though he was academically brilliant, there was something deeper behind his reserved nature. When he asked for an internship at the CID, which was a surprise to even his professors, he stated that he admired Captain Patrick and wanted to learn from him. The truth was much deeper. 

Patrick, head of one of the CID’s top departments, was in his late thirties. Known for his sharp instincts and a flawless track record, he initially dismissed William as another overconfident recruit. But in just two weeks, something shifted. Captain Patrick had already started seeing him as more than a colleague. 

No one at CID knew William’s real reason for being there. Twelve years ago, his parents, both respected officers, were killed in what was officially declared an “accidental” car fire on their way to apprehend a notorious drug cartel. William never believed it. The case was suddenly closed without explanation by the CID. During his years at Aegis, William quietly pursued the mystery. One day, going through a box of old evidences, he found a diary, not just any diary, it was his mother’s. It detailed their final investigation, mentioning a powerful drug cartel called Dravex, its snake emblem and the threats they’d received before their deaths. That same day, William decided to join the CID.

On William’s eighth day in CID, Patrick and William were assigned to investigate a body that had been discovered floating in the River Calder. During the examination, Patrick noticed a small tattoo of a snake on the dead man’s neck. Patrick dismissed it, but William froze, having seen that emblem before, in his mother’s diary. The initial assumption was that the cause of death was stabbing, but the autopsy revealed that the man had been injected with drug. A later search of his home turned up parcels of drugs and money, all stamped with the same snake symbol. Patrick assigned Anna and Joseph to investigate the snake emblem.

That night, Patrick noticed William acting strangely. Thinking the young man was overwhelmed, Patrick took him out to dinner to help him relax. During dinner, Patrick drank heavily, burdened by the thought that the same drug network had killed his parents. Trying to break the silence at dinner, Patrick asked casually, “What do you think about that snake emblem, Willy?” William, already wasted, murmured, “It’s Dravex…the Cartel”. Second later, Patrick’s phone buzzed. Anna confirmed that the snake emblem belonged to Dravex.

Patrick didn’t ask William how he knew. Instead, he carried the now barely conscious William to his apartment. While settling him into bed, Patrick noticed a photo of William’s parents and beside it, a diary. Curious, he flipped it open. His expression changed as he read pages filled with names of politicians, snake emblem and death threats. Everything was connected to

Dravex. Everything William had kept secret. Patrick realized then that William hadn’t come to learn; he had come to get justice for his parents. Patrick, once a young CID officer himself when William’s parents died, had always felt guilt over that case. Because he knows that his father closed the case under orders from higher political powers. Patrick looked over the sleeping William and whispered, “I won’t let that happen to you.”

The next morning, Patrick called William. “There’s a case, a missing girl. We all need to go.

Come quickly.”

“I can’t captain. Not feeling great,” William replied.

“Want me to come by?”

“No need. Just bed rest.” 

But William was lying. He knew most of the team was out to investigate the case. It was the perfect time to sneak into the old CID archive and search for the documents related to his parents’ murder case. As he dug through old files, the door creaked open. It was Patrick.

“Looking for this?” he asked, holding up a file.

Without saying anything, William tried to walk past him, but Patrick grabbed his wrist and locked the door behind them.

“William, I think it’s time we had a proper conversation, without any interruptions.” Patrick said with a smirk.

“You tricked me, didn’t you?”

“I knew you lied this morning. I figured you’d come here. I saw the photo of your parents on your desk and your mother’s diary. You probably don’t remember, but last night, drunk, you said that the snake emblem belonged to Dravex. I tricked you today because I was worried.” William stayed silent.

“You want revenge. But Dravex is a vast network. They have politicians behind them. If you act rashly, you’ll end up dead. Like your parents.”

“Anyhow, I don’t trust CID.” William snapped. “You know your father shut down this case without cause. If I give this to the CID again, it’ll just get buried.” Patrick grabbed his arm. 

“And what? You’ll go it alone? Risk your life? Your parents sent you away to protect you. You think they’d want you to walk into the same fire?”

“They trusted the law, and it got them killed. If I fail, at least I tried. You don’t need to care so much. I barely know you.”

Patrick looked at him, torn between duty and emotion. “Maybe. But I know you. And I care. Just one chance,” he pleaded. “Let me prove I’m not my father and help you to get justice.” A long silence passed. Then William quietly said, “We’ve got work to do.”

Meanwhile, Anna, Joseph and Henry were investigating the home of the missing girl. Her name was Gwen, a student, in 11^th grade at Crownbridge International College. She lived with her grandmother, who had raised her by doing odd jobs at neighboring houses. Gwen, an exceptionally bright student who entered college on a scholarship, also took a part-time job to support herself while studying. According to her grandmother, Gwen had been behaving strangely for the past two weeks, coming home late in luxurious vehicles, carrying large sums of money and appearing unusually pale. Her grandmother grew concerned but assumed it was due to work-related stress. 

While searching Gwen’s room, Anna and the team found luxury items she couldn’t afford with her part-time jobs. Suspicious, they questioned her grandmother, who said Gwen had never disclosed where she worked. She noted that although she previously earned little, she had recently started carrying large amounts of money. 

Anna immediately informed Patrick of all the findings. Patrick and William then headed straight to Gwen’s school. There, they met Gwen’s class teacher. She admitted that Gwen had been behaving oddly and had fainted three times in the past week. She also mentioned that Gwen’s best friend, Sally who was always with her.

Patrick and William questioned Gwen’s friend Sally, who confirmed Gwen’s recent strange behavior and possession of luxury items. Sally revealed that Gwen had been secretly meeting a man during lunch breaks and getting into a white BMW parked near the school. Although Gwen always returned to class after the lunch break, she never explained these meetings. Neither the teacher nor the principal had granted her permission to leave, raising concerns about who was helping her leave school unnoticed.

While Patrick was lost in thought, William suddenly broke the silence by asking whether Gwen had a boyfriend at school. However, Sally avoided eye contact, prompting William to gently explain the importance of knowing everything about Gwen to help save her. After a brief pause, she finally spoke. She revealed that Gwen had been receiving special attention from their new English teacher, Mr. Ralph, who had joined the school about a month earlier. Despite other students needing help, Mr. Ralph gave extra lessons only to Gwen, showing her special attention in class. This favoritism led to gossip, and Gwen eventually told Sally that Mr. Ralph claimed to love her. Mr. Ralph was absent that day. The principal claimed he had left town for a funeral.

Suspecting he was fleeing, Patrick instructed the team to locate him. They tracked his phone and arrested him at a luxury hotel in the Cotswolds, bringing him to the CID for questioning. At first, Ralph denied any romantic involvement with Gwen, insisting he only helped her with study. However, security footage showed him assisting her into a BMW, forcing him to admit the relationship. Ralph confessed that during a dinner at Marino Luxury Hotel, they encountered Arnold, a powerful politician and former employer of Ralph’s father. 

Arnold demanded a night with Gwen, and when Ralph refused, his family was threatened, his parents were attacked and his younger sister was kidnapped. The next day, to protect his family, Ralph sent Gwen to Arnold. He admitted that Gwen begged him for help after being sexually assaulted, but he ignored her pleas. Though he didn’t meet her privately again, he later observed her meeting Arnold during lunch breaks, possibly for money. Learning of Ralph’s father’s connection to Arnold, Patrick summoned him for questioning.

Ralph’s father revealed that Arnold hosted night parties for his foreign guests every day, where young girls were brought in to entertain them. He described the girls’ behavior as unusually cheerful, with no signs of distress, even though they were clearly being exploited. Moreover, he said that he saw officials from the Dravex drug-dealing network frequently attending these parties. He stated that during such parties, the foreigners selected the girls they liked and afterward, Arnold sent them to the foreigners’ countries for money. He further revealed that at the end of the night parties, unconscious girls were taken into small rooms at the back, where he saw many small bottles bearing the Dravex serpent logo.

At that moment, William, who had been quietly listening until then, startled everyone with a sudden revelation. He explained that the bottles contained a Dravex drug that made the girls behave oddly; once injected, they would lose all sense of awareness of their surroundings, causing them to appear unnaturally cheerful despite being abused. William warned that if they didn’t act quickly, Gwen and the other girls might be sent abroad that very night. The whole team agreed with William and Patrick said, “We act tonight.” 

That night Patrick, William and the team with other CID officers entered the party disguised as waiters and guards. There, they saw Arnold was seated with several foreign guests and politicians surrounded by young girls, but Gwen was nowhere to be seen. Driven by urgency, William rushed to search the back rooms for Gwen without informing Patrick, convinced Gwen must be there. Patrick tried to stop him, but Anna insisted it was the right moment to arrest the heavily intoxicated Arnold. Then they arrested Arnold and others, all still unconscious. After handing them over to the team, Patrick rushed to the back rooms to find William, who, by this time, had already found Gwen.

As William was about to enter Gwen’s room, he heard footsteps and quickly hid under Gwen’s bed. Two tense men entered and injected Gwen with a drug, one of whom was addressed as “Sir Josh.” William recognized the name from his mother’s diary as the leader of Dravex. He was the one who had threatened his parents. He then overheard plans to send Gwen to Singapore. Then second man left, while Josh remained unaware of William hiding beneath the bed. 

As Josh turned to leave the room after injecting Gwen, William sprang out from under the bed, grabbing him forcefully and pushing him back inside. With a gun pressed to Josh’s head, William finally stood face to face with the man he had spent years hunting.

“Why did you kill my parents?” William demanded.

Josh remained silent. The silence only fueled William’s anger. With one hand pressing the gun tightly against Josh’s head and the other grabbing his throat, he repeated, louder and fiercer:

“Why did you kill them?”

Finally, Josh said, “You’ve grown up, William. I doubt you even remember me.”

William, surprised, responded angrily, “Don’t play with me. How do you know me?”

Josh revealed that he had once been a close friend of William’s father and he had spent considerable time with William’s family. William was stunned. At that moment, Patrick burst into the room, urging William to lower his gun, but William ignored him and pressed the gun harder into Josh’s skull.

Josh then confessed, “Even though we were once friends, William, your father got in the way of my business. You have no idea how much I lost because of him. He never liked the business I was running. I warned them to stay out of my way, but eventually, they targeted my younger brother to get to me. That’s when I decided to end your family’s interference for good. And yes, Arnold helped me.”

Patrick, still trying to de-escalate the situation, pleaded again, “William, lower the gun. Let the law take its course.”

Josh laughed and said, “Yes, William. I killed your parents. You should’ve seen them how they screamed, how they cried, dying slowly, painfully. Well, here I am. Kill me. You’ll never get another chance like this.”

Patrick’s voice cracked with emotion. With tears in his eyes, he said, “I’m the son of the man who closed your parents’ case, William. But you’ve worked with me long enough to know I’m not my father. If you kill him, you’ll become a criminal yourself. You’ll spend years in prison. Think about what your parents would feel if they saw you like this. They tried to keep you away from this life, to protect you. I’m asking you one last time, trust me. Let the law handle Josh.”

Josh cut in again, taunting, “Your Captain’s father closed your case once, William. This time will be the same. In the end, even he will bow to political pressure. So go ahead, kill me. At least then, no one can close this case again.”

William tightened his grip, one hand choking Josh, the other holding the gun against his forehead. Patrick could barely hold back tears.

“I know I have no right to stop you,” Patrick said, breathing heavily. “But not all CID officers kneel to politics. The law still means something. Just this once, trust me, Willy. I can’t bear to lose you.”

Just then, William heard the sounds of CID vehicles outside. He realized the rest of the team had arrested Arnold and others. Only Josh was left.

Over time, William and Patrick had developed a strong relationship. Patrick had always looked out for him, even cared more about William’s future than William himself did. Even if William didn’t trust the law, he could still trust Patrick. So, at the last moment, William chose to trust Patrick. Then he threw the gun toward Patrick, kicked Josh in the stomach and handcuffed him. Patrick stood frozen, unable to process what had just happened.

William smiled and walked over to him.

“Why the long face, Captain?” he asked with a grin. “From now on, I’m going to trust you completely. I’m handing Josh over to you. Let’s finish this quickly. We’ve got a lot more to talk about.”

He patted Patrick on the shoulder and walked out.