Chapter 25: Searching for clues

Ivy went through the document Max had given her. It contained the list of all the victims of the organ trafficking case as well as the doctors and the hospitals involved in the crime. There were a total of sixty-seven victims and thirteen doctors had taken part actively in this activity. She scanned the list of hospitals that were named and she could recognize a few of them. She arranged the names of the victims and the doctors based on the hospital where the operation had taken place. Most of the victims were from the Citizens Health Care Hospital, with cases of thirty-eight from it alone.

Ivy remembered that her father had created a file of similar kind and it was somewhere in their old house. Aria and Ivy had moved out of the house as soon as their mother had passed away as they could not bear with the sad memories it held. They could neither toughen themselves and sell the house nor could they continue to stay in it.

Ivy's father had created a list of similar kind and he had locked it in his study. She knew the document must still be somewhere in there. Maybe it could help her in finding her father somehow. Though Aria and Ivy had looked through the study three years back, they could find nothing that could help in the search. But Ivy had a gut feeling that there was something in there that held all the answers. She pulled out her jacket and ran out of her house after locking it. She got on her street scrambler and rode towards her home at a fast speed. It was quite far from her current home. Yet she reached there within twenty minutes.

The gates were locked with a chain lock. She removed the key and inserted it into the lock. Due to it not being used for many years, the lock had become rusty. She tried to unlock it many times until it finally clicked. She removed the chain and pushed the gate with force. It opened with a creak. She walked inside and took a look at her home, reminiscing her childhood. It was the first time after the West sisters had left the house that Ivy was returning. They couldn't muster the courage to come back although they wanted to.

Everything looked almost the same, except for the grass that had overgrown and the paint on the house had faded. She walked to the patio and recollected the good old days when she and Aria would hide from their parents whenever they were asked to study. She smiled a little thinking about it. But the next instant, she came out of her thoughts. She had other important matters to look into. She unlocked the main door and took a step inside. The floor was covered with dust while there were spider webs at every corner. There was an unpleasant, musty smell. She immediately opened the nearby windows, allowing the sunlight and some fresh air to enter the hall.

Without wasting her time, Ivy strode towards her father's study which was on the first floor. She turned the knob and opened the door with ease. Although it had been three years without being used, the door was still in good condition. She looked around the small bookshelf near the door, the drawers, the cupboards and all other possible places where her father could have hidden a file. But she found nothing. Without accepting defeat, she tried again only to end up with the same result.

Ivy sat on the swirling chair dejected. She had come with the hopes of finding some clues only to reach a dead end. After sitting for around ten minutes, she tried looking for the last time.

"Maybe, I have missed someplace." She voiced pulling out the drawers completely. Nothing.

Her Dad had a hobby of collecting books. In his study, he had a collection of more than seven hundred books.

"I cannot go through all of these." Ivy sighed looking at the large stack of books. She opened the cupboard and pulled out all the items inside it. Nothing again. Suddenly she got a hunch. She tapped on the cupboard's inner walls. It sounded hollow. Her eyes widened immediately. She pulled out a stool and stood on it. She then pulled on the wooden sheet covering the back of the cupboard. There was a small rack at the back which could hold heavy items to a certain extent. The rack was stacked with documents. She took out all the documents and placed them on the table. She then arranged the entire room as it was before and stuffed the documents in the bag she had brought with her. The musty scent was suffocating her. She wanted to leave the house as soon as possible.

Ivy locked the door and the entrance gate and ran towards her motorbike. She jumped when her phone rang.

"Calm down Ivy. It's just your phone." Ivy patted her racing heart and picked up the phone. It was a call from Joshua.

"Hey Ivy."

"Hello Mr Martin."

"I have something to tell you. I am trying to find out more about the reporters who had previously tried to cover the news about the case you are working on now."

Hope arose in Ivy's heart. "Really?"

"Yes. But, all the information about it has been locked. I am unable to collect any feeds about it. I am sorry." Joshua's words immediately extinguished the ray of hope.

"Mr. Martin please try again. Please."

"Ivy I have tried all possible methods. It looks like someone powerful is blocking me from getting what I need." Joshua lied. He knew why he was not getting any information about those reporters. All the information had been locked on Noah's orders. He wanted to talk to him regarding Ivy's request. But Noah had flown to London as soon as he was discharged from hospital. So, he didn't get an opportunity to raise the issue.

"Please Mr. Martin. Please try again for my sake."

Joshua sighed. He knew he couldn't help her in any way. Three years back, he was one who had deleted all the files regarding the case on Noah's orders. Now, without Noah he couldn't make a decision alone. Ivy listened to Joshua's silence on the phone and didn't know what to do.

"How about this Mr Martin. Let's meet up. I'll tell you why I want the information." Joshua raised his eyebrows. He wanted to know why Ivy was interested in knowing about those journalists since the day she had asked him for a favor.

"Sure. Where shall we meet?" Joshua wanted to meet her too. He had been thinking about her since their first meet. He found her quite fascinating.

"I am not sure. I don't want to meet you anywhere crowded and I cannot ask a stranger to come to my house. Do you have a place in mind?"

"How about my office? I have a meeting up till 4 o'clock. We can meet after that." Who was he kidding? He was still at the Underground Base playing with the new toys. He was not done with them yet and it would take around three hours more for him to return to his office.

"Sure Mr. Martin."

"I'll text you the address."

Ivy sighed. She knew she had no choice other than to reveal her intentions to Joshua. Her phone rang again. This time it was a call from Kira.

"Hey Kira."

"Ivy come to Full Care Hospital right now." Kira sounded panicked and scared.

"Why? What happened Kira?"

"Max has met with an accident."