The Missing Twins

HS BurneyThe Missing TwinsA Fati Rizvi Private Investigator Mystery First published by Big Twist Books 2023Copyright © 2023 by HS BurneyAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.First edition This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy Find out more at reedsy.com To my niece and nephew, who are twins. May they always love and care for each other, and never end up like Nadir and Nida Shah Contents Foreword Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ForewordMore Books in the Fati Rizvi Private Investigator mystery series: Book 1: The Lake Templeton Murders Book 3: The Lost Girl Join my newsletter to receive a free copy of the Fati Rizvi Private Investigator novella, Murder on the Ferry PRAISE FOR HS BURNEY“HS Burney’s The Lake Templeton Murders is a must read for all fans of mystery novels. This new writer is now added to my all time favorites. Her writing style is modern, engaging, and fresh.” “This was one of the best mysteries that I have read in 2021. One of the few where there were many persons who could be the guilty party. It was very well written and kept me guessing. The characters were exceptional and varied from different walks of life.” “This is the best book I’ve read in months. The heroine is unglamorous, unmarried and very clever. She’s a PI who loves the puzzles created by crime and uses every trick she can find to solve the puzzle.” “HS Burney writes beautifully and the narrative flows smoothly from page to page. Her prose is simple with just the perfect dose of literary embellishments and sensory details. The character development is not overwhelming, it is left just at the right balance at flat-to-round spectrum so that readers can remain detached from characters and focus on the puzzles in front of them.” “I like a book that captures my attention within the first few pages. This book did that. HS Burney has a writing style that is captivating and easy to read. I am a fan of Fati and hope there is more to see of investigator Fati.” “The plot is easy to follow, despite packing a lot in: murder, blackmail, embezzlement, drugs. The ‘closed off community’ set-up keeps the suspect pool relatively small and yet leaves plenty of scope for different personalities and potential motives, so I was kept guessing right up to the reveal.” Chapter 1 Saturday, February 29, 2020 “When was the last time you saw the twins?”Sana Azad looks at me intently, her saucer-like eyes brimming. Normally deep-set and thoughtful, today they are petri dishes of worry. But Sana’s anxiety didn’t prevent her from putting on makeup this morning. Her thin lips are lined with red to make them appear larger, the interior filled with a robust rouge: Sana’s signature look.“Last night at their birthday party at the Palazzo Hotel,” she says. “They turned nineteen.”A rite of passage for the Canadian teenager. The dawn of adulthood. A page turned on a new chapter of life. Ready to soar and carve out the corner of the world that belongs to them. A time ripe for escape from the parents’ nest.The twins can now drink, gamble, get married, buy cigarettes, and leave home – all without their parents’ permission. Perfect time to flex their wings and fly the coop.“Could they have gone somewhere else to continue the party? It was their first night at legal drinking age.”Sana’s eyes snap at me in silent reprimand. “They would have told me if they had.”Sana has an imposing presence. A proud woman, forty-seven years old, Sana boasts a tall stature, broad shoulders, and aquiline features. Her natural black hair is enhanced with frothy, coffee-colored highlights. Usually in a chic chignon, today it falls across her shoulders.Of Persian descent, Sana is a celebrated female leader, a start-up founder, and tech industry titan. She launched her company, Productiva Solutions, thirteen years ago from her five-hundred-square-foot downtown condo. Since then, the company’s proprietary productivity software has been adopted by multiple Fortune 500 firms.Sana called me this morning at nine a.m. Her children are missing, and she needs me to find them. It’s not the sort of case I dreamed of solving when I hung up my shingle: Fati Rizvi, Private Investigator. But Sana has deep pockets and marquis connections. And my business is run almost entirely on referrals.An hour and a half after she called, after a shower, a steaming mug of coffee – black, no sugar – and a quick internet search on Sana Azad and her family, I am sitting in her living room, which is half the size of my whole apartment, perched on a fabric sofa that probably costs as much as my monthly mortgage payment, iPad in hand,