100 Ways to Solve a Murder-Chapter 91: Czar Murdoch

7 hours after the abduction.

Location: Hangar

Sam struggled on her knees, arms duct-taped behind her back.

Her left brow was bleeding, her cheeks both swelling. And she could taste blood in every breath she took.

Her clothes were drenched from sweat, and her muscles ached to be released from those zip ties.

*smack*

A hand strikes her and she falls to her side by the force, her head spinning as her own panting breath fogged before her.

It was cold, she knew but she couldn’t feel it anymore. For her body was turning numb. Her mind was full of haze and her eyes glazed over for a moment. Mind bouncing on the past, her only escape was going back to her memories.

Flashback, 8 months ago

Levi and Sam stood by the morgue,

"You stopped seeing him," Levi said across her, hinting on her lover. Sam raised a terrorized brow, they were in the morgue and they were FAR from alone.

Janet and Marco stood just a foot away from them, conversing and they both paused waiting for Sam to answer. Or for Levi to reveal more about this ’him’ she was seeing.

She glared at Levi, and for 3 seconds the psychologist was lost as to why she was glaring at him.

Till Marco, joined in the conversation, "So, you’re dating someone?" Marco asked, intrigued. She told him she didn’t date and Sam thought he must picture her a liar now. She sighed defeated, "No. I’m not dating anyone." Sam said.

Marco sent Levi a questioning gaze, Levi simply ignored his silent inquiry, knowing he’ll probably get smacked on the head by the redhead if he said another word.

"Really? That’s it?" Marco pried the two, jealous in Levi’s behalf with this mysterious ’him’.

Sam chuckled,

"Relax, Marco. No one’s replacing Levi." She assured jokingly, measuring the open wound on a carcass before her.

Marco felt relief and was about to expel a sigh when Sam added.

"Its just sex."

Marco and Janet’s eyes widened in surprise,

"W--what?" The two said in unison, completely taken aback.

While Levi chuckled under his breath.

*smack*

There goes peace leaving her body, and here comes the surge of pain taking her back to reality.

Back to Hell on Earth.

He pulls her up by her short red hair, she could barely get on her knees. Everything ached, and he slaps her again.

She collapses to one side, blood trailing down her mouth.

She felt like a fish out of the water. Like a bat blind in daylight.

And for a moment she blacks out,

"Wake up Sammy, you know I hate being ignored." a man said, cooed like a bastard, she thought.

She can’t forget that voice, not in her lifetime.

It was Czar Murdoch, her cousin.

Dirty blonde, grey-eyed Psychopath.

That’s what he was, most women would even say he was charming & passably good looking. Broad shoulders, and tall. He looked like someone who grew up in money, and most women found that attractive...success.

He was clad in some custom made suit, while she had on but a pair of off-white cotton pajamas adorned with her own blood.

Bloody fantastic, she cussed in her mind.

She could just imagine Anna, pulling her hair out of frustration. It was her people that were keeping her under surveillance, to keep her safe. She was far from safe now.

She was going to die and she knew it.

She was going to die painfully, and he was going to enjoy every minute of her torture.

He always did that.

He was sick like that, setting cats on fire, torturing animals, abusing his babysitters.

Mental illness definitely ran in the family. She blamed her genetics, on the positive side they were geniuses.

But mostly lunatics, but geniuses nevertheless. Depends on how you see things right? Half-full or half-empty?

An example was her uncle, Jason Murdoch, a manipulative arsehole, the man was considered the best blackmailer to have ever lived. He had blackmailed not only politicians, celebrities but also high profile criminals. He takes great pleasure in finding people’s weaknesses, and he doesn’t even do it for money. He had money, he was a Media mogul after all. CEO of his own News network.

Instead, he did it simply for the thrill of making them do his bidding. So their secrets will remain secret to the world.

Basically, dance monkey, dance.

And her brother, Ivan Fredricksen, secretly a top-notch hacker-slash-criminal, who had major anger management issues.

And her grandmother, the mother of all dragons, who basically created all the monsters in the Fredricksen Family. A manipulative Liar, who will do anything to keep the Family name spotless.

And her, the traumatized genius who can’t forget a thing she sees, wonderful.

And there he was, Czar, her crazy-two-faced-cousin. Smacking her around just because he can’t let go of the fact that she broke his nose when they were kids.

How she wished she could break his stupid nose again.

...

20 Years ago

Sam ran through the woods, Ludwig in tow. Her giggles echoing with the chirping of birds, hitting bushes and branches on their path.

"Hurry up, Ludwig!" She said, excited, running towards the town, where her grandfather worked as a Family Doctor in his private clinic.

She passed the receptionist Eva, "Sam! Your granddad’s busy!" Eva chided, which the ginger head ignored by skipping and opening the office door and closing it shut in one swift motion.

She stopped on her heels when she saw a familiar stranger, she’d seen him years before in the house.

He had a blonde mane, grey eyes, and a look that reminded her of a hyena. The man wearing a classic blue suit studied her, recalling the record she had of the child.

Samantha Camille Fredricksen-Murdoch

DOB: February 12

Record: Age 11, lived in the US for 7 years.

Parents: Lilian Fredricksen (Mother)-Deceased, Christian Murdoch (Father)-Deceased,

Sibling/s: Ivan Gregor Fredricksen-lives in the UK 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Guardians: Monica Murdoch (Grandmother), Carl Murdoch (Grandfather).

Records: Diagnosed with moderate to severe Autism at 2, Selective Mutism at 4.

IQ result Tested: 206, Suspected Eidetic Memory, can read 20,000words per minute. MENSA member at 7yrs old, Engineering student at Caltech.

Sam looked closely at the man and her grandfather, and she could see the resemblance. They were clearly related.

"Samantha." Jason Murdoch greeted, smiling down at her like a predator. He leaned closer towards her from his seat on the couch. Carl, her grandfather remained quiet at his desk, watching the exchange.

"Even prettier than your mother, if that was even possible." Jason complimented, offering his hand. She took it and shook it firmly.

"Yes?" He said curiously at the expression on her face. "I remember you. You brought grandma flowers, you were thinner then." Sam said, releasing his hand.

Jason’s eyes widened in surprise and disbelief, turning to look at his father then back to Sam.

"That was 8 years ago, you were but a toddler." He recalled it was a few months after her parent’s demise when he came by to see his parents.

Sam nodded, "I remember," she stated confidently.

"Indeed. Jason Murdoch, I’m your father’s older brother and your uncle." He said, grinning from ear to ear. A grin that reminded her of a predator playing with his prey. She just stared up at him, no expression whatsoever.

Jason turned to his right,

"Czar," he beckoned, and a boy a few years her senior walked from behind him.

Jason smiled down at Sam, "This is my son and your cousin, Czar. He’ll be staying with you for the Summer." He said.

Sam looked at her grandfather who sat silently in his chair,

" Is that true, Granddad?" Carl nodded, a clipped smile on his face. He was clearly not as enthusiastic at the idea as his eldest son was.

He’d heard of what a troubled child Czar was, almost beating to death one of his classmates, and setting one of the neighbors’ cats on fire.

Jason clapped his hands together once,

"Very well then, I’ll be seeing you soon," he said, taking his leave.

Sam walked with

Ludwig, her 5-year-old Border Collie...named after one of her favorite composers Ludwig Van Beethoven.

To her left was her cousin Czar, who was shooting her dog a predatory look.

"How old is he?" He asked, smiling grimly.

"5." She said.

His grey eyes bounced back to her green ones, and a wicked smile spread on his lips.

"You’re Ivan’s crazy sister." He spat, and she shot him a glare, yet she remained silent. She was working on her anger issues, one Dr. Martin pointed out months ago during one of their sessions.

Czar snorted, as they continued to walk back to the house.

"The girl who was sent away, the disgraced child of the Fredricksen’s." He added mockingly, aware of the gossip going around his extended family in the U.K.

"Shut up," Sam says, balling her hand.

He did not listen, "Autism wasn’t it? Crazy, and autistic. Incapable of social relationships. Mute for a time too, now you can speak, what a miracle!" Czar exclaimed sarcastically. Finding her reaction hilarious, he picked a couple of stones on the ground and started throwing it at Ludwig. The dog whimpered and tried to make himself small.

"Stop that," Sam warned, not liking how the boy, who was introduced to her as her cousin was hurting her only friend.

Czar moved his hand to throw rocks at the dog again, more forceful this time. He liked how it whimpered, asking for help from his master.

He laughed at that, looking down at his visibly non-threatening and smaller cousin.

What will she do? She was a foot shorter than him and she was skinny.

Sam pushed him with enough force, Czar took three steps away so he wouldn’t fall.

"I said, stop it. Or I’ll hurt you." She warned, her nose flaring.

He glared down at her, grinning.

Only knowing her for 2 hours, Czar took the statement as a bluff, he should have known better.

With a stone in hand, he raised his hand aiming to hurt Ludwig again. Sam saw red, and it wasn’t her hair.

She gave him a right hook, "Aaaawwww!!" Czar shrieked, holding his broken and now bleeding nose.

He angrily tackled her to the ground, though his size was his advantage, she was able to use his momentum, she already had her brown belt in Judo making him fall to the ground.

A punch on her face she ignored, while she repeatedly punched him back as she kept him on the ground. The boy grunted beneath her, struggling.

"Samantha!" she heard her grandmother’s cry from a distance and she stopped. She looked at their house just a few meters away, and her grandmother stood there by the open garden a look of disappointment on her face

Sam got off from his groaning body, and walked back to the house, followed by Ludwig. The older woman shot her a displeased look, while she helped her Czar back to his feet.

Czar embraced the older woman,

"She just assaulted me, Grandma. I don’t know why" he said, crying.

Sam was grounded, the first in months. She sat on her bed glaring down at her bruised knuckles, her cousin was a liar, just like her brother she thought. He promised her that he was gonna take her home, but 2 years after she was still there.

*smack*

"Oh! Dear me, sorry cousin, did that hurt?" Czar asked feigning concern holding Sam’s chin harshly, forcing her to look up at him as she remained restrained.

"You have no idea how sad I am right now that you can’t see me, I would have loved to see the look in your eyes when you discover it’s always been me," he whispered to her ear.

He gripped her hair backward, and his face hovered over her, looking directly at her wide green eyes.

He smiled wildly, pointing a blade centimeters from her eyes. But she couldn’t see it.

He sighed in disappointment, he can’t see fear, only confusion in her eyes. No, he corrected, he will see fear from her soon.