Suspicion

"You seem ready." Mr. Bianchi said as I came into the office with my brown leather jacket, orange cap, and my green trousers on.

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be? I'm ready to find out who killed my brother." I scowled at him.

"Alright then, shall we go?" Mr. Bianchi patted my head and smiled.

"Um, yeah." I didn't expect him to smile.

"Alright. The first place we are off to is Cyanide Hellfire." Mr. Bianchi took out a cigarette from the pack.

"What's that?" The place sounded like somewhere I don't want to be.

"It's a bar, miss." Lekkey walked up behind me and swung his coat over his shoulders.

"An underground bar, to be exact." Bianchi snickered. " In fact, I happen to know someone there who may know about the Violet Clove."

"Who may that be?" I questioned.

"Come with me and see."

After a long walk through the New York streets, we came across the underground bar, Cyanide Hellfire.

"Good evening." Mr. Bianchi talked to the person standing by the door.

"What business do you have here, Mateo?" The person asked.

"I'm here to see Kitty." Mr. Bianchi responded with a smile.

"I understand. You may come in." The doors opened and Mr. Bianchi walked in.

I was hesitant to go in. I didn't know what awaited for me in there.

"Don't worry, miss. It's safe to go in." Lekkey guided me by the hand.

"Oh, thank you."

As we walked in, I noticed many strange people. They were mostly wearing fedoras and were smoking. They had a smug appearance and were gambling. Indeed, they had the appearance and aura of someone who deals with the mafia.

"Kitty! My love!" I heard Mr. Bianchi gush out.

Turning towards them, I suddenly saw a shiny object pointed towards Bianchi. It was a dagger!

"Woah there, Kitty. What's wrong?" Mr. Bianchi backed away.

"What are you doing here, Mateo?" She walked closer to him.

"To see the beautiful Kitty, of course." He chuckled.

"Is she going to kill him?" I began to panic.

"No. This happens all the time between these two. They go way back." Lekkey explained.

"What?"

Lekkey turned his head towards me and grinned. "They were lovers."

"What do you want?" Ms. Kitty grabbed Mr. Bianchi by the collar.

"I want to ask you a question. Drinks are on me." Bianchi cried.

"I can't drink." I informed him. "I'm only 19."

"You can have soda water then. Lekkey too. I'll buy you a drink, Kitty."

"Fine." Ms. Kitty released him. "I want a screwdriver. It's going to be a long night."

After the big commotion, we all sat down. "So what is it that you want to know, Mateo?" Ms. Kitty asked.

"You know about the Violet Clove, correct?" Mr. Bianchi frankly asked.

"I do. May I ask why?"

"My brother seemed to have been part of that gang, but sadly, he died." I answered.

Ms. Kitty's face began to form pitty. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's alright." I nodded my head.

"However, something was off." Mr. Bianchi continued. "He had a three-leafed clover on his left wrist."

Ms. Kitty's glass suddenly fell to the floor after hearing what Mr. Bianchi said. "A...three-leafed clover?"

Her eyes didn't look normal. She looked, in a way, frightened.

"Is there something wrong, Ms. Kitty?" I hesitantly asked. I didn't want to ask. What was wrong about his tattoo?

"Could he have been the third leader of the Violet Clove? Why would he have died?" Ms. Kitty leaned her head on her hand.

"From what Ms. Berger told me, it seemed as if he was 'suicided.'" Mr. Bianchi took a sip from his glass.

"That can't be right. Usually in this type of gang, You aren't allowed to kill the leaders of the group." She explained.

"Could he have been killed by any of the other leaders?"

"No. He couldn't have been. In a gang, there is this type of thing called the 'gang code.' In gangs the lowest is the soldiers, and the highest is the boss. Leaders are one level higher than the soldiers and a level lower than the boss. You aren't allowed to kill anyone in your own gang, and if you do, you will be executed."

"I see. Then could it have been another gang?"

"It could have been. In New York, at the moment, the most powerful gangs are the Violet Clove, the Shed Ripper, the Green Gang, and the Crusaders. Anyone of them could have killed your brother. However, that would cause a big gang war. No one would want to do that. That would cause disruption in the peace they have between each other."

"Disruption?" I mumbled under my breath. That's true. Each gang serve different purposes. Violet Clove does drug deals. Shed Ripper are loan sharks. Green Gang helps out the police. The Crusaders make sure the environment is under "control." It wouldn't be good if they started a war.

"This is strange." Lekkey started up the conversation again. "Why would they kill? Unless, your brother did kill himself..."

I slammed the table before standing. "No. He didn't kill himself. I'm sure of it. He wouldn't do that!"

I could feel myself starting to cry again. I tried my best to hold in my tears.

"I believe you, Ms. Berger." Ms. Kitty smiled. "Maybe you guys should start questioning the other gangs. They may have answers."

"That may not be a good idea. They may be angry at the fact of us being suspicious of them." Mr. Bianchi began to think.

"That's true, but it's worth the try."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Could they have killed my brother?"

I felt guilty at the fact that I kept denying my brother's suicide. However, I wanted to do anything I could to prove that suspicion false!