All household staffs stood still in respect as their 'Young Miss' made her way down the stairs, dressed in her signature colour – Black.
"Good morning Young Miss," They all greeted, bowing their heads as she walked past them. She stopped walking when she got to the maid standing at the foot of the stairs.
"You," She spoke with an air of authority "Have the chefs bring in my breakfast. And add two cups of coffee with it. One for me, and one for my dad,"
"Yes Young Miss," The maid bowed and left.
The Young Miss looked back up the stairs at the line of maids who stood in the same position they had been when greeting her. "Get to work, all of you,"
They scampered back to their work zones.
"What is my schedule for today," She asked her butler as she made her way to the dining table.
"You have fencing classes this morning, and after that ballet. Then you would have brunch with your father in his office. And rest in the afternoon. You also have a lot of tutoring classes in the evening,"
"Hmmm," She murmured "Add dinner with my dad to the evening schedule,"
A maid dropped her breakfast on the table and left.
"Hold on," She said to the maid who dropped her breakfast on the table, in front of her. "I asked for two cups of coffee, but I see only one,"
The chef who had prepared her breakfast answered on the maid's behalf "Children are not allowed to drink coffee Young Miss. I'm doing this out of concern for your health,"
The Young Miss' brows were furrowed "Barry," She turned to her butler "Is that true?"
"Well there are other types of coffee that children can drink, though not often,"
"I cannot make coffee for children, that's–"
"Then you're fired!" The Young Miss interrupted the chef.
"Pack your things and leave this building. Barry, see to it,"
"Nanny, make me coffee,"
Her nanny nodded and bowed in response. She had been standing behind the Young Miss all these while, and so saw all that happened. The shock on everybody's face was evident. But that was just the Young Miss for you. Eager to start a beautiful Monday morning with drama.
She had such a bad bossy attitude. And she was just 8?!
---
~Scotland Yard
"I'm done helping you review these documents," A young lady stood beside a man who was busy on his terminal. The man looked up.
"Oh you mean you've finished. I just thought…" He said "You can drop it here," He patted a space on the desk.
"Of course," The lady said with a smile, dropped it and left – back to her own terminal. She looked around the office, everyone was busy with their systems. Everyone except her.
"Miss Knox, just the person I was looking for," A man walked up to her with stacks of paper in his hand. "Are you busy?"
How could she, when no one had agreed to add her to the TSOs platform so she could get information about what job they were working on.
"Do you need help with something?" She asked him straight. That's all they want from her. Help. Manual help. Like she didn't have the same qualification they had, or the same position.
"Yes I do. I'm so occupied with work on my system that I need you to crack this code. It's a new way criminals now communicate on the dark web,"
Riley gave him an unbothered look. "It's just so hard to do all these on paper. See I've got more important things to do with my time,"
And I don't, right?
"You could've just forwarded it to me on my computer,"
"Oh," The man laughed a little "I didn't think of that,"
Did you now. It wasn't like she hated her colleagues, it's just they were…quite arrogant. And she really didn't get along with them.
"Riley Knox? Is there anyone answering a Riley Knox here?" An Inspector walked in through the high-security doors with a key access card and asked.
"No. Never really heard the name Riley here…" The TSO closest to the inspector spoke.
It wasn't shocking that no one knew her. She had only been working here for five years.
"I'm Riley Knox," Riley raised her hand as the Inspector turned to leave.
"Great. Um, the Superintendent would like to speak with you," His voice delivered the message and turned to leave.
Everyone murmured amongst themselves, glancing her way. "Why?" The man beside her shouted "If I may ask?"
"Blimey I was just told to deliver a message," The inspector said and left.
"Well," Riley half-smiled, but quickly dissolved it "I've got to go," She stood and moved from her desk.
"Then who's going to do this?" The man asked with a worried expression.
"Ask…around. I'm sure someone will," Riley kept walking but glanced back to answer him.
"How about I drop them on your desk here," The man shouted, she was at the door now.
"I don't know how long my talk with the Superintendent is going to last. Maybe until the end of my shift," She said and finally left.
Outside the door, Riley did a victory 'yes'. This was the first time she had actually said no to someone. And it felt good.
---
"Miss Knox,"
Riley nearly jumped at the sound of her own name. She had been nervous since she was called. Anyone would be in her position. Seated across from her were senior officers. People who didn't call meetings unless something serious was about to happen.
Detective Superintendent Henderson and Detective Chief Inspector Mrs Miller.
Her big bosses. The same set of people who had persuaded her to apply from being a constable to being a TSO, claiming she had the brains for it. It wasn't a claim though. And she was paid higher so…
Riley sat up straight, her hands folded tightly in her lap.
She had only been promoted into the TSO a few years ago. At twenty-seven, that alone made her stand out.
Too young, some said. Too fast, others whispered. Even when it was 3 years ago.
She had worked under the Criminal Investigation Department for two years as a Detective Constable. A standard police officer involved in day-to-day action packed drama. She loved her job but she was still grateful to be redirected towards the TSU. After a year her gratitude dissolved.
She was now a Technical Surveillance Officer. Three long, exhausting years of late nights, encrypted systems, and tracing criminals who never wanted to be found.
It hadn't been easy. It had been nearly impossible.
When the Inspector told her it was a meeting that involved the superintendent and chief inspector, fear had crept in immediately. What if they were taking her promotion back? She wondered.
So what if she hadn't really been up and doing in this last three months.
She had worked hard in the TSU. Working while others were sleeping, striving when others had given up. She wouldn't go down without a fight.
"Miss Knox," Detective Superintendent Henderson said again, louder this time.
"Yes, sir," Riley replied quickly.
"We need to talk about something important," he said. "You remember the case involving unidentified suspects. The one we never closed."
He paused, watching her closely. That case had gotten her extra salary, approved by the commander himself.
"The air-gap case?" she asked.
Henderson nodded.
Her stomach tightened.
She remembered it clearly. Too clearly.
The air-gap case was the hardest investigation they had ever worked on. A criminal organisation tied to major crimes across the country. Bombings. Assassinations. Financial fraud. Human trafficking.
Every trail led to them.
And yet, somehow, they didn't exist.
Whenever hired criminals were arrested, they told the same story. They were paid to do the job. They followed orders. They never met the people above them.
When asked who their leaders were, they couldn't answer.
When their supposed bosses were found, they were already dead.
Every time, the same pattern.
A single gunshot. A 3D-printed .41 pistol. And spray-painted at the scene, in red, two letters:
EG.
No records. No communications. No financial trail.
After nearly a year of chasing shadows, the case had gone cold. The department had been forced to step back and focus on crimes they could actually solve.
But now, sitting in that room, Riley realised one thing.
They hadn't stopped looking.
"We never actually gave up on that case. In fact, we contacted some masters in the area of hacking to look into it,"
"We found a lead,"
Mrs Miller dropped a file on the table, just in front of Riley. Riley took a look at the file. It had the letters 'EG' written on it with red ink. "Open it," The Chief Inspector spoke quietly.
Riley glanced at the two senior officers across from her. It still felt like a test—as if they were studying her every move, watching, waiting… for something. Like one wrong move that could render all her sleepless nights useless.
The first thing that caught her eye when she opened the file was 'BlueCrest Tech'. Maybe it stood out because it was written boldly in black ink while everything else was in blue.
Riley looked up.
"That company is a tech firm," Mrs Miller, the DCI explained. "They produce and sell consumer products—smart watches, laptops, and similar devices. You probably know them. We did some digging and found that three of the arrested criminals had older versions of some BlueCrest devices traced back to them. Each criminal belonged to a different organisation and claimed they were hired by different people—but all said the devices were provided by whoever hired them."
"We don't believe BlueCrest Tech is the hidden organisation we're looking for," DSU Henderson interrupted carefully. "But we can't rule them out either."
He leaned forward slightly.
"We've already questioned several staff members at the company. Even the CEO cooperated. According to them, all older device models were disposed of years ago. Officially, they no longer exist."
Riley's eyes narrowed.
"That's the problem," He continued speaking. "Something doesn't add up. There's missing information, and we need to find it."
"We need someone on the inside. Not just someone who can talk to staff and observe behaviour, but someone who can spot digital traces. Someone who notices what doesn't belong."
"We need someone for this job," DCI Mrs Miller spoke. "After weighing the pros and cons, we chose you."
"You've proven yourself worthy of this case. I personally recommended you Miss Knox," Mrs Miller continued. They both waited for Riley's response. "I–I don't know what to say," Riley mumbled, but it was loud enough to be heard by the duo.
"I know, cases like this can leave you speechless and scared, but I know you're capable. And hey, you might just get promoted to become an inspector," Henderson joked.
That wasn't really a joke.
"I feel honoured…I will think about this mission"
"Take the file. Study it carefully. Report to the Chief Inspector's office first thing tomorrow." He paused then added, "I have a feeling that we picked the right person for the job,"
One by one, they stood and shook her hand.
Riley gave a small smile, or whatever was forming on her face. She took a look at the file again "E.G." She murmured. This was the first time she had been given such an important assignment. It was even an undercover job.
Heavens help her, she was no undercover officer. But amidst the obvious danger, she felt a thrill. Was it…
Excitement?