100 Ways to Solve a Murder-Chapter 167: Breithlá shona duit

One month ago.

"Marco, this way!" Levi yelled as he ran faster, as fast as his legs could take him. His long coat billowing behind him, curly hair bouncing at every step. Marco, right behind him. The two turned a sharp corner, stepping on puddles without a care in the World. It was 15minutes before 10 in the evening, the setting was dark and gloomy, and it wasn’t just the weather talking.

Anna asked him to take a case three days before; it was a case that involved some sensitive and top secret information concerning an ongoing covert mission of SIS. The information was stolen; how they did it was what Levi was trying to figure out and the reason behind it. Millions of lives were at stake, till finally, he had a lead--

And that lead took them to an abandoned Warehouse turned junkyard; Marco shifted to the slicked blond behind him as they quietly crawled through the chain-link fence, "why is it always a warehouse? Do villains take classes? Villain101--the guide to World Domination." the bearded man cracked a joke, trying to find humor in their situation. His eyes scanned the place; the building had a corrugated iron roof, dungy brick walls with years of spillage stains from the leak in the gutter, and piles of old broken, dirty tarmacs.

The corner of Levi’s lips curled up, "It would seem so." he commented, surveying the scene before them. In the distance, he could see the car, and with the portable binocular from his coat pocket, he checked its plate, and a smile crept on his lips.

"Jackpot." Levi said, turning to Marco, who he noted was eerily silent. His eyes widened in surprise at the view before him. Standing behind the bearded man was a man, holding a gun at the doctor’s head.

"Jackpot, indeed." the man spoke, pointing his Glock at them.

"Please, tell me you called your sister." Marco said, arms raised in surrender, and as if on cue, the sound of a chopper from a distance distracted the man’s attention. Levi took it as his chance to attack; he threw a punch his way while Marco grabbed the gun from his hand, successfully taking it. They then struck him swiftly with it, knocking him out cold. The two exchanged looks, both panting a little out of breath. The bearded man realized he had enough action for one day; Anna’s cases had always been on the dangerous side of things. Not once had he come home unscathed, but admittedly the cases she provided were still the kind he couldn’t turn his back to. Life had always been at stake one way or another.

It was 15 minutes later when the platinum blonde stepped out of an unmarked shiny black car; her crimson red business suit stood out of the dreadful scenery. Marco cleared his throat after shifting to Levi and noticed that the two siblings were annoyingly fashionably dressed.

"Well done, baby brother." Anna said as she approached the two men, with a smile on her perfectly made-up face. Blonde hair curled in 50’s style, but her cotton white gloves stood out the most in her already eye-catching attire. She strutted forward, leaving some of her crew of uniformed armed men to keep guard. Vigilant.

She beckoned the duo to follow as she led the way to the Warehouse, where a weapon deal was supposed to commence that evening. Standing by the two closed iron doors were two men in black-suits; she gestured for them to cut the padlock with a bolt cutter then dismissed them.

Anna turned to Levi and Marco as the door remained closed for their inspection.

The two stood in anticipation; behind the door, Marco expected a load of weaponry to be sold to a terrorist group.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Anna offered, turning to her sibling. Levi grinned, and he pulled the doors open.

*POP*

Marco stepped back, suddenly surprised; a load full of confetti blasted at their faces, but mostly Levi, who stood in front. The light switched on, blinding all of them for a second or two, and when Marco opened his eyes, he noticed the people standing there. The boys, Mike, Joe and Alex, Davies, Elle, Janet, Mr. and Mrs. Whitehall, Lisa, Lizzie, Jones, and even Palmer were standing in the middle of the Warehouse; satisfied grins spread on all of their faces. Marco noted the cake in the middle of the room behind them, the place decorated with colorful balloons and flags, causing his jaw to drop.

Anna turned to Levi on her right, "Happy birthday, baby brother," she greeted, entering before the two, her hips swaying as she did.

"What?" Marco said astounded. "But the Weapon of mass destruction?" He asked Levi, baffled. Levi growled, slightly annoyed. He knew what was happening and, more so, who was responsible.

"Did someone call me?" the familiar voice came from behind, causing them all to turn, and realization dawned on Marco. It was Sam all along.

A wide smile stretched on the bearded man’s face, making his eyes crinkle. "Oh," he said.

Levi narrowed his eyes at her. "You." he said.

Now it makes perfect sense, Marco thought. Why she ’wasn’t’ in the country, why she couldn’t possibly give a hand with their week-long case.

Levi then glared at Anna, who was pouring herself a glass of champagne from the table.

"Anna." he almost growled in annoyance, while Marco snorted, amused at the situation. He and Levi were being played for the past week; all along, Anna was feeding them information. All along, there was no danger.

Anna shrugged on her spot, "It was her idea." she gestured to Sam, muttering, "I’m only here for the free booze. She said she’ll be serving Dom Pérignon Rosé," she said, talking like a true Irishwoman, lured only by alcohol.

Sam approached the slicked blond, wrapping her arm around his waist. "You’re welcome." she said, pecking his cheek chastely while the slicked blond shot her a glare. Marco chuckled, watching the two’s exchange, and patted Levi on the back while Sam made her way inside the small party. "Happy birthday, mate." Marco greeted.

"Cmon, dear. It’s your birthday." the old woman said, gesturing for him to come in. He finally did, and everyone wished him a happy birthday. He was forced to wear a ridiculous looking paper hat and blow candles on the cake and take pictures with everyone.

Though Levi feigned annoyance, everyone saw through it. They knew he was happy.

Marco stood beside Sam by the table of food, "So, Great Britain was never in danger." he said, grabbing a slice of cake. The redhead smiled softly at him, "Nope, Anna and I planned it." she said, eating as well.

Anna approached, holding a glass of Dom Pérignon Rosé in her manicured hands, "It was all you, I only provided the leads." she said.

Marco turned to the others, "How long did you guys know?" he asked, causing everyone to look at each other.

"An hour ago." Davies estimated when he received the call, and everybody else agreed by nodding. Everything had been planned and anticipated; it was a very elaborate gift. And everyone knew, it was well thought of. The details on the ’case’ were so intricate that even their resident sleuth Levi Jackson fell for it.

"There was even a car waiting for us." Jones shared, recalling getting picked up from work.

.....

"That was impressive." Lisa commended the redhead minutes after eating her second slice of cake. Sam shrugged, smiling as she looked at Levi a few feet away. He was frowning as he wiped the frosting young Lizzie accidentally placed on his precious suit jacket. "Thanks, well you know him. Figured, he’d enjoy the chase." she said.

Lisa smiled sheepishly as the slicked blond’s eyes rested on her, and she left her cake on the table as she approached the two. She took Liz from the blond, helping her wipe away her sticky hands.

Levi, in turn, moved towards Sam, eyes darting around, making sure everyone’s ear-shot.

"You had me fooled." he told her; Sam shrugged. "Not long enough." she said, knowing full well the psychologist had figured it out sometime before he came to the Warehouse. "Impressive, nevertheless." He admitted silently. Letting everyone believe Sam had fooled him, which she found quite gracious of him.

"So, when did you figure it out?" She asked, drinking a glass of champagne.

"11hours ago, when I interviewed a suspect. The subtle tremor in his hand made me question his whole persona. A surgeon with young onset Parkinson’s disease? Sus." the blond replied casually, earning a nod from Sam. She wasn’t aware some of her hired professional actors had underlying diseases, something only his observant eyes would have identified.

"Nice touch on leaving Marco and everyone in the dark." He tried to compliment, causing Sam to smile; she wished she could have actually surprised Levi---it was, after all, a Surprise Birthday Party. But it was him; after all, it would be highly ambitious of her to expect a 100% success rate.

Sam playfully elbowed him, "Good acting though, everyone but the three of us know I got you fooled." she said, hinting at the other genius in the room, Anna. They both turn to look at the older Jackson, who was casually talking with Davies and Jones. A few feet away from them, the duo noticed Elle talking with Mike; she giggled at something he said, causing Levi to frown. Something hit him; the redhead watched the blond’s reaction in the corner of her eye, causing her to giggle at his reaction. Levi turned to look at her with a genuine scowl on his face.

"When did you?" He asked vaguely, eyes bouncing back to the two in the distance.

"Oh, sometime 3months ago." Sam confessed. "And you didn’t think to tell me?" Levi scoffed. "Where’s the fun in that?" Sam said, laughing at him.

"By the way." Sam said abruptly, pulling an item from her pocket and handing it to Levi. She didn’t bother wrapping it, knowing full well he could figure it out anyway.

Levi took it, a small box and opened it. Inside was a wristwatch. The blond inspected it, knowing full well it was tampered with, professionally based on his observation, and he shot her a look. "Water resistant, solar powered. Automatic Atomic Time Synchronization from GPS Satellites...and there’s a tracker inside." she said, 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Pointing at the middle crown, "..pull once, push back, pull again, it activates. It will only tell where you are when you want it to." she further explained.

She turned to look him straight in the eyes, "Emergency only, Levi." She added sternly, hinting at the weight of what may come if not used wisely.

Sam smiled at him, "Breithlá shona duit." she said, wishing him Happy birthday in Irish.