Chapter Two

The murder!

Jams Hayes walked into the front doors of the Police Station where everyone was running everywhere in the lobby. Phones rang constantly in the background with the attached,” LAPD, state your emergency.” Through all this madness Hayes could make out Bennett who was talking to another officer with a strict face. It was rare of her to make such a face. She looked his way and made a surprised look, she said something else to the officer and she started hurrying in his direction.

“James! What are you doing here?” She said as she approached him with curiosity.” Do you not know what it means to be ‘suspended’?” She said jokingly as she punched his arm with more force than Hayes expected.

He looked around as he responded,” The Chief called and wanted me to come in. It sounded urgent on the phone… What’s going on here?” He said confusingly. He’s seen the building in frenzy like this before but there was something different in the air. Like the frenzy was for a purpose other than to get past a busy day.

“Geez, James, don’t you watch the news, or listen to the radio?” She said.

“I was out and about today so I did neither of those. Mind telling me what’s up?” He said with more demand than intended.

Bennett sighed heavily,” Are you familiar with the Kellin family?”

Hayes made an annoyed face,” Is that a trick question?” If you lived in Los Angeles than you are very familiar with the Kellin family. They own half of the city and are very wealthy to say the least. However, that’s not what made them well known to the city. They were a type of family that cared about the city they lived in, they donated to charities, sponsored some programs, and everything they could do to make the city a little better. There was the head of the family Alex Kellin, a business man, the wife; Sarah Kellin who wrote books against such things as racism, mistreatment of animals, and even some articles on promotion on education, then there was their 7 year old son Kevin who wasn’t quite old enough to do anything good on his own though he helped out at his family’s events. They adopted a girl named Kendra who was only 5 years old.

Bennett raised her eyebrows,” Well there was an incident over at their house on top of Grove Hill Boulevard. A break in was reported by All State around 3 am, when they called no one answered. We were contacted right away. Officers got to the scene to find the Kellin’s murdered. Kendra, the adopted daughter, has gone missing so we’re assuming she’s been kidnapped. Press is having a field day with this.” She shook her head.” It’s a damn shame too; they were making a difference in our community.”

Hayes took a second to register this unfortunate information,” Who’s on the case?” He said suddenly. At that moment the Chief appeared out of a swarm of officers.

“Hayes! About time you showed up. I want you and Bennett to take this case and find out what’s going on.” Raulings threw Hayes’ badge and gun into his hand. He looked at Hayes with narrowed eyes.” This is your chance to redeem yourself, so don’t screw it up.” He turned on his heels and vanished back into the crowd of officers. Hayes just nodded at his back as he walked off.

“You got it, Chief.” He mumbled under his breath. Hayes looked towards the door and started walking.” Let’s go, Bennett.”

Hayes stormed out of the building while placing his badge back on his blue jeans and his gun just below his back. Bennett was walking fast trying to keep up.” Ok, when we get there, we should make sure the bodies haven’t been messed with by anyone since the discovery. Get photos taken and question the neighbors about the relationship to the family. Is that alright with you?” She was looking at a folder but then glared at the back of Hayes’s head.” Hayes?”

He shook his head,” Uh, yeah. That’s fine. You take care of that and I’ll examine the bodies.” Without any more words exchanged they got into the cruiser and sped off down the street with the sirens cutting into the mid August air.

 

After five minutes of driving they pulled into the Kellin’s long driveway, after showing their badges to the cops outside the black gates,  that went uphill and made a slight ‘S’. Finally after 100 yards, they stopped in front of the house.

The house was a two story white house. It had two pairs of pillars on the front porch supporting a shelter above the door. The door itself was red with a golden handle with two see through windows on each side. On the side of the house was a two car garage, both of which were open along with the front door.

Throughout the front yard were cops that were talking amongst themselves with a stream of people going inside and out of the house. Some were cops and others were forensics.

“Ok, you go talk to the officers and see what they know so far. I’ll go inside the house and look at the bodies.” Hayes spoke softly while keeping his gaze on the open front door.

Bennett just nodded and walked away towards the officers. Hayes took slow steps into the house. He entered into a hallway that had wooden floors. On the right of the hallway was a arch entryway into the living room. To his left was another archway going into the dining room. Straight ahead of him was a wide staircase that went up then departed in two different directions. Right above the separation was a small balcony you could walk across to go to the other side of the second floor.

Hayes stopped a guy who was wearing a jacket that read ‘forensics’ on the back. In a very blunt voice Hayes said,” Show me where the bodies are.” The man who looked to be in his early 30s hesitated but slowly nodded after seeing the intensity in Hayes’s face.

The forensics man went up the stairs and went up the left stairway and pointed on the floor to see a small figure on the ground that was covered with a white sheet.” Who is this?” He asked to the man next to him.

“This is Kevin. He has multiple…” He was stopped short by a Hayes’s hand being held up.

“Don’t tell me how right now. Show me where the parents are.” Hayes forced himself to keep himself calm. The man nodded again and went farther away from the staircase until they got to a doorway with two white doors that were open. The man waved him inside and walked away after his name was called. Hayes slowly walked into the room and looked around. The room was pretty large but basic. A white carpet with a bed against the wall in the middle. To the left was a bathroom that had a small but fancy sink and a hot tub shaped bath. A dresser with a mirror attached to his immediate right beside the doorway.

Hayes focused his attention on the two figures laying under a blood stained comfortable, their heads covered by that exact same comforter. He nudged a guy that was writing down something on a clipboard,” Were they killed through the blankets or did you place the comforter over them.”

The guy took a second,” They were killed through the sheets but I covered their heads because their faces were scaring the rookie that is interning with the forensics team.” He said in a worried tone.” They entered the room with pink cheeks and left five minutes looking pale like they wanted to vomit. But if they want to get into this career then they need to suck it up.” Hayes looked in the guys direction.

“So what happened with these two?” Hayes asked in a forced professional manner.

The man, who looked to be around his fifties and slightly shorter than Hayes, looked down at his chart.” Well, they seemed to have been stabbed in the chest several times through the comforter. A few facial bruises and some bleeding on the nose. The male took a lot more damage than the female by the looks of it. But I’ll know more once I get them to autopsy.” He said in an English accent that was almost saddened.” The poor boy in the hallway got the same treatment though it seemed that his death was more of a quickened job than this.”

Hayes made a confused face and glared at him. The man saw his face and said,” The bruises on these two suggest that our culprit stopped to their damage, while the child out there was just stabbed three times. I’m guessing that the poor boy was going to live if he wasn’t by the stairs at the time this happened.”

Hayes put his right hand over his face then sighed.” Any finger prints or DNA findings that could help us find who did this?” He said very slowly.

“None that I could find. I spent the past hour in here searching for anything to help us find the guy. However, I couldn’t find any. The rest of the house has numerous finger prints, most of which are our victims’. The rest are from the maids that worked for the family.”

Hayes took a deep breath,” OK, let me see the bodies.” He walked slowly along the bed until he got to where the heads were. He lifted his right hand.

“Wait, before you do, detective. I will ask you to use these latex gloves. It’ll help me to find as little DNA from the good guys as possible.” The man handed him a pair and walked out of the room.

Hayes slid them on his hand and placed his right hand on the comforter. His hand slowly tightened around the edge of the blanket and even more slowly he pulled it back. Finally, in one effort, he threw the blanket down the bed until it rested around the feet.

Alex Kellin was on the right hand side of the bed. He was wearing a dark red silk pajama shirt and bottoms. But Hayes could still see the blood through the shirt. Sarah, on the other hand, was wearing a white night gown that was almost see -through. Still the blood stains took up most of the bed. It almost formed a puddle between the two bodies.

Hayes leaned over to examine the bodies; Alex Kellin’s chest was stabbed four times. The stabs were in the same area but they did not seem like they were aimed at a particular spot on the body. However, Sarah’s body was only stabbed twice and by the position of her body, she tried to reach for the nightstand where a white phone laid. Her left hand rested on the handle of the phone. The body of Alex suggested that he was dead before he could react. His eyelids were open to reveal blue eyes that were still screaming in fear. Hayes also noticed what looked to be a dried up blood tear rolling down his face.

Sarah’s face was slightly different though her hazel eyes also screamed in pain. Her mouth lay ajar as if she screamed just before dying.

Hayes straightened and ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He was unsure of where to start. No real evidence lying around to help him. A kidnapped child and three dead celebrities were on his hands. It was hard to stay professional when there was an innocent family that was now dead.

                At that moment, Bennett walked into the room with her pen in her right hand and a small notepad in the other.” Ok, so the Officers in the front of the house found some surveillance cameras around the house. They found the recorder in a cabinet in Alex Kellin’s office. They handed it over to us without much fuss this time. Maids said that they didn’t hear or see anything because they either live outside the property or in the big pool house out back. No maids are ever on duty past 9, it was Alex’s rule, I guess. Kendra’s room is clean of blood or anything that can help us. What about you?” She asked softly.

                Hayes was still staring at the bed as she spoke.” Parents were stabbed multiple times in the torso area and our suspect must have hated them because there are bruises on both of their face. Kevin, on the other hand, only got stabbed once with no facial bruises so my guess is that he got in our perpetrator’s way. I don’t know what’s with the Kendra’s kidnapping.” He responded without taking his eyes off the bed.

                “So what do you want to do now?” She said standing next to him staring at his face.

                “I want you to review the tapes and see if you find anything that could help us out. I have my own agenda.” He spoke slowly. He had some things he could do to try to find their man but it was never guaranteed.

                “I never liked your ‘agenda.’” She said concerned.

                “Don’t worry, Jessica, I’m just doing my job.” He reassured her. He turned and looked in her faces as he spoke.” I want you to pull up Kendra’s file and find her birth parents. If they’re in the state of California, try and get them to come in. I need to talk to them. I have to go find the doctor.” Hayes hurried out the door. His stomach tingled looking into Bennett’s eyes.

                “Hey, Doctor!” Hayes yelled as he jumped down the last steps of the staircase.

                The coroner stopped just before passing the front door and turned.” In the future, Detective, my name is Dr. Killington.” He said patiently.

                “And mine, Dr. Killington, is Detective James Hayes.” Hayes replied mockingly.

                “ Hm… too long to say. Mind if I call you ‘James’?” He said.

                “Yes.” Hayes said insulted.

                “James it is. What can I do for you?” He said quickly.

                “Whatever. Dr. Killington, I need you to find out what type of knife was used to kill the Kellins. Can you do that with just the markings?” Hayes asked.

                “Yes, I could do that. However, I won’t know until tomorrow. But I want you to help my intern move the bodies onto the gurneys. Faster I get them to the lab, the faster I can get those results for you.” The doctor suggested to Hayes.

                “Deal, I’ll be there first thing in the morning.” Hayes said quickly.

                “Alright, I’ll back up the van so it’ll be easier for the two of you to move the bodies on.”

                Hayes turned and saw the intern struggling with the gurneys beside the stairs. The intern had short, curly black hair and glasses on. He was pretty thin and was really young. From Hayes’ guess, he was about 21. He shook his head and walked over to the intern.” Dr. Killington asked me to help you with the gurneys and placing bodies on them.” Hayes said to the intern who was shaking like crazy.

                Hayes grabbed two gurneys and walked quickly up the stairs with the intern behind him. He got to the top and looked at the intern.” Where’s the third one gurney?” The intern stood there a second looking like a human waterfall with his sweat.

                “Right, be right back.” He stuttered and hurried back downstairs. Hayes shook his head again and walked to the parents’ bedroom and placed both gurneys on the floor at the foot of the bed.  Hayes then went out of the bedroom and stood next to Kevin’s body waiting for the intern who stumbled up the last step with the gurney.

                “Ok, I’ll handle this body. You go into the other room and you’ll see the other two. If you don’t think you can lift the bodies onto the gurney then wait for me. I’ll be right there.” The intern nodded and walked away shaking.

                Hayes popped the gurney up beside the small child. He looked at the small, lifeless body of a child. He knelt down beside Kevin and put his left hand underneath the body’s legs and his right underneath the body’s back.” Come on, buddy. It’s OK, I got you. You’re safe now.” For a second, it felt like he couldn’t breath. He hugged Kevin for a second and then slowly placed him onto the gurney. If the white blanket didn’t cover his face then Hayes would never be able to walk away from the body. He looked up with a few tears in his eyes and saw Bennett. She was leaning against a wall with tapes in her hands, looking at him.

                Hayes coughed quickly and hurried off to the parents’ room where the intern was struggling with Alex’s legs. Sarah’s body was on a gurney and most of Alex was. Hayes walked up and helped him. After they got his legs onto the gurney, Hayes slapped the intern on the back gently.” Good job.” He said impressed with the intern’s self determination. Hayes and the intern got all three bodies downstairs and into the van.

                He watched the van roll off down the driveway and past the gate where a wave of reporters stood with their cameras and mics pointed and freaking out over the vision of the coroner’s van.

                “You ok? You looked really sad lifting Kevin onto the gurney.” Hayes turned and saw Bennett standing behind him.

                “Yeah, just… you know.” He was looking into her brown eyes again.” Let’s go.” He quickly put on his sunglasses and hurried towards the car before she could reply.

Reviews

[Jazique]

I basically say the same thing as last chapter when it comes to errors that your spelling is spot on but, your grammar and possible punctuation may need a slight adjustment. Other then this; this was a very nice chapter. So sad. At times it always the innocent to go first especially since they have a better chance with an good after life. Even so the young go to early. Anyways I feel their is a history of James Hayes that we have yet been told and I want to see how it goes with Kendra's parents and Kendra because I suspect much of their involvement. Anyways this was a great interesting chapter with excellent descriptions done by you. So well done and keep up the excellent writing because I can't wait for the next chapter and good luck.

[HappyAccident]

Very Nice can't wait for more